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Common Mistakes Horse Owners
Make
Being a horse owner brings with it many
responsibilities and an important part of that is not teaching your
horse bad habits.
Many serious, and potentially dangerous bad habits in horses started
as little annoying (maybe even cute) habits. Stopping bad habits
forming is easier than fixing them when they become serious problems.
After spending several years fixing these problems for people it was
obvious many of them came from some common sense areas as follows...
Not teaching the horse to lead. It is surprising how many problems
people have handling a horse properly. Generally you will find a horse
that is hard to do anything with on the ground (grooming, loading into
floats, etc) comes back to either the horse was never taught to lead
properly or has been aloud to develop bad habits when leading. The
size and strength of a horse makes being taught to lead properly a
very important lesson, and one that should be reinforced whenever you
handle the horse. Do not let the horse pick up bad habits to start
with. Think about the things you do with a horse on the ground... The
majority comes back to leading, loading onto a float, in and out of
stalls, moving a horse around during grooming, etc. All of these and
many more have a basis in leading. If your horse does not lead
properly start teaching it today.
Letting a horse move off when mounting. This is a very common error
for people to make. It may not sound like a very big problem until you
have seen what can happen. Someone is mounting a horse, the stirrup
iron or their boot is a bit wet, the horse starts to move off and they
slip and end up on the ground and stood on by the horse. Things like
that don't happen do they? Yes and it has the potential to cause
serious injury and even death. Don't risk it, teach your horse to
stand while you are mounting until you give the command to move off.
Acting as a playmate to the horse. Yes you can have fun with your
horse but the horse must understand you are not an equal or lesser in
the herd. Horses are herd animals and within a herd there is a
hierarchy. You need to have your horse look to you for leadership not
see you as its equal or lesser member of the herd.
Rushing the horse when learning something new. Some people do not have
the patience to teach new things to their horse and get bored or
frustrated quickly. Take your time when teaching anything new to your
horse and you will get more progress than rushing. Introduce new
things in stages and do not move onto the next stage until the horse
is comfortable with the previous stage. Always finish a lesson on a
positive note as it makes it much easier to continue the training the
next day.
Letting the horse have its head when going home. This is a common
mistake for young riders. It does not take young riders long to
realize it is easier to make the horse go fast on the way home so why
not do it. What these riders do not realize is they are forming the
habit in the horse of rushing home. Many horses I have seen that are
bolters started in this way. A bolting horse is not only dangerous to
the rider but the horse and innocent bystanders as well. The easiest
way to fix this problem is not to let your horse get into the habit to
start with. Get into the habit of walking the last quarter mile home.
This not only helps eliminate this fault but also gives your horse
time to cool off after a ride.
Giving up when teaching something new. This is related to rushing a
horse when learning something new. Do not start teaching your horse
something unless you have the time and skills to complete the task. If
you find yourself out of your depth ask for help from someone more
experienced. Follow the same guidelines outlined in number 4.
Not checking your tack before use. How does this relate to bad habits?
Your horse bucks and you think that is just the way he is... A small
splinter of wood in the saddle cloth or saddle digging into my back
would make me buck too. Your horse fidgets when being girthed. Same as
above or a girth that has not been cleaned and has sweat and dirt
embedded in it is not very comfortable. My horse throws its head all
the time. That sharp bit of metal on that old worn bit would make me
throw my head in objection too. As you can see poorly maintained tack
can cause what appear to be bad habits in your horse. It only takes a
minute to check your tack before each use and can save a lot of
trouble.
These points should help you and your horse overcome some of the more
common problems people encounter. Often we overlook the little things
when looking for solutions but it is often the little things that
create larger problems down the track.
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