Training Tips

QUESTION: Dear Sylvia, I have 2 horses, a paint & an American saddlebred. Both are used mainly for trail/pleasure riding, and a lot of the time, my dad & I ride together. But his horse (the saddlebred who is 16-years-old & was a barrel racer) has been rushing home. I have tried everything I know to do, including trying to get his mind off of going home, making the right thing easy & the wrong thing hard and lots of other methods. Pain has been ruled out & I use a tom thumb snaffle bit on him. When I ride him by myself just back the road without the other horse, he is fine, he doesn't rush home at all. But when the other horse is riding along he's awful! He ignores everything we ask of him & just bolts straight for home. I can't figure out why he is doing this when it's just when the other horse is also being ridden, because she minds her own business. I would like to try to get him on the right track because occasionally he tries to rear if he is really upset, but not very often. I would like to continue to use him as a trail horse because he has never spooked at anything and is really dependable (when going away from home!). He has such a sweet disposition and is very willing whenever you ask him to do something else and I was wondering if you have any training methods I could try with him. I am about desperate because if we can't find a way to help him calm down, then we may have to get rid of him because my dad is scared to ride him, and so I usually ride him, but I would like to be riding my own horse because I feel that I am letting her down when I don't ride her. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks again.

REPLY: Hi. Thanks for writing. Actually this horse still has holes in his training foundation that you can plug up yourself -- I can see them from here. And it's a common problem with former racetrack or barrel racing horses. You need to plant into his foundation the one-rein stop and I go over that in detail here: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips94.html

Practice what I teach there in a confined area first, thoroughly, until the horse has it down completely before ever riding him out again. And even when riding him out, practice it dozens of times before going out on a trail, until it is absolutely automatic in this horse, a reflex.

All of the that (and much, much more) is taught in my Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD set. Usually it helps to see this natural horsemanship art taught visually, to really understand how it is all done. You can get that DVD set here: CLICK HERE

I would also like to suggest switching bits. The tom thumb is too harsh and he is going to react the opposite (running off) with it, rather than what you want (slowing down), and he will run right through that bit rather than stopping. Bits don't stop horses -- good foundational training does! I would suggest switching to a full cheek snaffle bit, which is less harsh as you reschool him, using the exercise I directed you to above. I go over bit issues here & what full cheek snaffle I recommend: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips5.html