| Business Advertising Web Design Links Contact Us | ||||||
|
||||||
Making your horse easy to catch!How many people out there hide the halter when they try to catch their horse? This situation and many other schemes are employed by people with hard to catch horses. Catching a horse does not need to be difficult. We can teach our horse some basic lessons that can make him easy to catch. There are several reasons why some horses are hard to catch: Lack of respect If your horse does not respect you, he may feel that you are not able to protect him if he is caught. Therefor he would rather not be caught by someone that is not a capable leader. Fear Horses are prey animals and when they are afraid they run away from what scares them. How we approach our horse When you approach your horse, do you try to sneak up to it and catch it before it runs away? Do you walk up too quickly and scare the horse off? If you sneak, your horse will wonder what their "fearless leader" is afraid of and if their leader is afraid there must be danger. This leads back to a lack of respect. If you are too aggressive when you approach, he will think you are mad and he will fear you. This relates to their flight instinct. You should approach them with confidence, as if you know they will just stand to be caught. A conditioned response Your horse will learn what it needs to do to avoid capture. From bolting past you, to staying just out of reach until you give up or simply running off when you enter the field. If your horse is rewarded for poor behavior, it is only natural that this is the behavior they will display. The solution to most problems is in the preparation. You should teach your horse to be caught before you need to catch him. We need to teach our horse that being caught is better than not being caught. To do this is not difficult but consistency is the key. Respect and trust are very important factors in having a horse that is easy to catch. You should work on these things first. Teaching a horse that has never been handled is a little different. The concept is the same there is just a little more time and detail involved. There are many ways to teach a horse to be caught but for this article I will concentrate on one. This exercise is for the halter broke horse that will only sometimes allow you to catch it. Some horses that run away every time you try to catch them consider this a game. If they let you get close then run away they may think that it is great fun. To teach them to want to be caught rather than run away from you, you need to take the fun out of their game. First, you need to stop trying to catch them. Then you simply do not let them stop moving. This can be done in a round pen or in a small pasture. The larger the pen the more exercise you will get. When they run away do not chase them off but follow them and when they stop push them away before they move away on their own. Do this for several minutes. They will get tired of being pushed around and will want to stop. When they want to stop, it is important to keep pushing them away. You will do this until you give them permission to be caught. They can not decide that they will finally stand for you or they are still in control of the game. If you keep pushing until you offer to let them be caught, you have made their game into your game. When they do not make the rules the game will not be fun for them to play. When you finally let them be caught make it comfortable for them. Let them learn that when they are with you life is good. Rub them rather than patting them. Let them catch their breath and relax. Then let them go. You should be ready to repeat the whole process a few times since the longer they have been hard to catch the longer it will take to teach them to want to be caught. This is an important lesson for horses to learn and if your horse is hard to catch, you should take the time to teach it to them. Every time they move away from you when you want to catch them push them away. As they get better to catch you will not have to push them very far before they will want to be caught. They will remember that moving away from you is not as fun as they once thought. Will Clinging 2004 (c) |
||||||
2002 - 2004 (C) All Rights Reserved |
||||||