http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips58.html

It's so important to lay down as the first layer in any horse's foundation, deep bonding so that the horse will trust more when I ask them to do something. Without trust, you have nothing.

 

After bonding with foals, I prefer to baby step them to understanding pressure and release in the first place via using just a length of twine to start, or any small piece of rope. On this note, I carry around with me at all times when training something called a "training string," that comes in handy for sooooo many things (early foot handling, all kinds of things), including for this purpose: working with a foal on yielding, first lesson. It has a loop on the end, so it can be used in a multitude of ways. The training string is made up of soft, yet strong, yacht braid material. It has a leather popper at one end and a looped end at the other. The uses for this tool are literally endless! Small enough to stuff in a pocket. To check out or purchase this training string online on my web store: CLICK HERE

With that twine or training string draped around the baby's neck, near the pole, I will ask for the head to come down by grasping the two ends and holding the rope pressure downward steadily. The second the foal gives a head move down -- any movement downward, even just an inch -- I release the pressure instantly. If the head shoots up, the pressure remains, like a bungee cord. The release only comes with a downward movement there. But it's important to reward with the release for the smallest try, slightest change in the right direction. Baby step progressions are not only fully acceptable to reap that release, but is how they learn best. In horse training, all horses learn from the release of pressure what it is we want, not the pressure itself, so it's real important to get our release timing split second instant, the moment the horse gives anything in the right direction, to communicate properly there "right answer." And then I repeat. Until the foal's head is down to the ground via releasing pressure incrementally until we get there. Very quickly the horse has learned that when pressure is applied via the rope there, the head is to come down (yielding to pressure).

Once the baby has mastered head down, yielding to pressure there, then I use the twine or rope or training string to teach the horse to turn to the side, which, in essence is the beginning of teaching leading. Again, baby steps. Pressure/release for the smallest try, slightest change. You can do this exercise with the NH halter/lead combo, as well. I just find twine or a small piece of rope like the training string is a pretty handy, effective way to begin with the youngest of foals for a first lesson. After that, I will switch to NH halter/lead combo.

If you start this lesson in the NH halter/lead combo, you just have to make sure you're not tugging on the baby's neck in the beginning, as he's climbing this learning curve for understanding pressure/release. We can't have a baby pulling back on the rope and getting in a fight there; the baby's more-fragile-when-young neck could get injured. Use the end of the 12 foot lead rope around behind the foals's rump while he's wearing the halter, in the beginning, and use pressure/release to teach him to lead. Take the time to teach pressure/release (yielding to pressure) patiently, and quickly the horse gets there, but it is all about having instantaneous release timing for baby step progressions, not asking for the whole thing at once. And the foal gets there quicker. And we definitely don't tie a foal (to anything!) until he fully understands and responds consistently to giving/yielding to pressure. A foal can get seriously injured if it is tied before understanding how to yield to pressure; I've, sadly, even heard of foals breaking their necks when tied before they understood how to yield to pressure there. So, it is something to take seriously. But with the right communication tools and methods, as I described here, they get there in understanding yielding and then can be lead, tied, etc.

Incidentally, our Whispering Way™ Foundation Training Series: Complete Guide to Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training, Featuring Bob Claymier 3-DVD set teaches more about early foal leading/starting (more on that video is below).

Beyond that, you need to put a full step-by-step training plan in place for the long run so that you skip nothing important in their foundation. And for that I would suggest applying horse whispering/natural horsemanship training techniques in a very clear step by step program, which you can learn more about in my DVD set, the Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System, and you can order that here: CLICK HERE

After watching the videos, and after learning and applying the methods, you, as the horse's primary teacher will have taught the horse:

• How to be bonded to you more deeply so that he trusts you to the max and he will be far more willing to do whatever you ask, even when he is in doubt;
• That you both have a "bonding place" (a "safety zone") to come back to always, from then on, if he's ever upset or afraid, on the ground (or later, in the saddle); we plant a one-rein stop in the foundation of every horse, on the ground first, so that in the saddle, it is automatic. This keeps you safer and the horse more rational, and feeling supported, bonded, connected more deeply emotionally to you.
• How to relax him when he is tense about something before he is called upon to react negatively.
• How to have him yield easily, in any direction when asked -- he'll learn how to yield properly to pressure to receive the release of pressure. All horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, not from the pressure itself;
• How to progress bonding to even deeper levels to the point of downright intimacy; makes a horse feel like he never had it so good being with his owner!
• How to move him from the rear, and him learning to do that rationally, which is so important to teach a horse to do before you ever ride them, and which you'll be using for a lot of other things like trailer loading, going in and out of a gate, into a stall, and so many other places/situations; this also teaches a horse that you are in charge of their feet.
• How to address effectively any fears (and his reactions to them) that you flush out in his behavior at any given time; my program focuses greatly on finding the fears before they find you and fixing them -- safely on the ground first! Even lay folks can do this. It's all about: safety. This then builds a far more rational, confident, happy horse, because, in essence, you have effectively raised his "fear/anxiety bar." And you will have taught him simultaneously in the process, how to turn to you for nurturance support when/if he is ever afraid or upset.
• How to do all this first on the ground, then later in the saddle, in that order.
• How to keep you safe and the horse safe at all times, throughout all of this --- always my biggest training focus.

This video set will help you to lay down an even stronger, more solid and trusting foundation under your horse there that will then serve you well, tremendously, actually, when you do step up into the saddle. By the time you complete the steps, you will have a transformed horse. The final steps are in the saddle and those exercises will more deeply plant into your horse's foundation the one-rein stop/the "safety zone," and more, that will turn him into a far, far more rational, trusting, happier -- and safer -- horse in saddle as well.

And you can do this yourself if you just back up and learn a few things yourself there. This video set will get you there the fastest with your horse, which is why I'm recommending this route. It's designed for anyone on any level, horse or human, to get professional trainer-like results.

And incidentally...my Whispering Way Complete Training Package contains all my videos and training tools that you need to train or retrain your horse as it grows, doing this yourself the natural horsemanship Whispering Way. You can check out/order the Whispering Way Complete Training Package on my web site here: CLICK HERE

I'm a very strong believer that every horse owner is their horse's primary teacher/trainer whether they realize it or not. Every time you are with your horse, he is learning something. You just want to make sure he's learning what you want him to learn, not what you don't want him to learn! Natural horsemanship training techniques are gentle, effective, and powerful. Works with every horse every time!

But it's real important to back up and break down all teaching steps in a way that you are releasing baby-gives, allowing the horse to feel the release for the right answers incrementally, so that they learn that's really what you want.

For more about when to start horses in saddle, read this:

http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips2.html

Incidentally, I'm a big proponent of Foal Imprinting, which helps baby horses get off to a great training start from the getgo and that is also taught in our Whispering Way™ Foundation Training Series: Complete Guide to Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training, Featuring Bob Claymier (more on that video is below). And you can check out more information on this topic on my Foal Imprinting page here:

http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/FoalImprinting.html

And here's another link you might take the time to read over -- another weanling-starting problem/training tip section:

http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips63.html

One last link on my site that I think might help you there -- to learn a little more about natural horsemanship and prey animal psychology in general -- my "What is Natural Horsemanship" link here:

http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/WhatIsNH.html

Hope all this helps and good luck to you there!

Complete Guide To Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training Featuring Bob Claymier Includes THREE DVDs with a total of over four hours of video instruction and live demonstration covering every aspect of a successful breeding program!     3 Set!   The Complete Guide To Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training 3-DVD set includes a total of over four hours of video instruction featuring Natural Horsemanship trainer and expert horse breeder, Bob Claymier. Over one and a half years in the making, the Whispering Way™ Foundation Training Series Complete Guide To Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training is the first video series to show you the entire horse breeding and early foal care process. Expert horse breeder Bob Claymier guides you through every step in a successful horse breeding program -- from selection of the mare and stallion, to mare care and exams, to actual live cover and artificial insemination breeding procedures, to foal birth and imprinting, and finally on to early foal handling and training. Each step is documented with live video examples and is accompanied by expert commentary from Bob and the highly experienced veterinarians, farriers and others that help make his breeding program so successful. Three DVD Set The Complete Guide To Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training is presented over three included DVDs:     Volume 1: Mare and Stallion Selection, Collection, Exams and Breeding (1 hr, 21 min) Mare and Stallion Selection, Ultrasound Procedures, Stallion Collection and Live Cover Breeding, Artificial Insemination and Pregnancy Check     Volume 2: Late Stage Pregnancy, Foal Birth and Imprinting (1 hr, 22 min) Late Stage Pregnancy, Foaling Kit, Foal Birth, Foal Imprinting     Volume 3: Foal Care and Early Training (1 hr, 26 min) Veterinarian Visits After Foal Birth, Farrier’s First Visits With Foal, Halter Training the Foal, Weaning the Foal About Bob Claymier Bob Claymier is the owner and operator of Desert Rose Ranch Arabians (www.desert-rose-arabians.com), a breeding, training and field boarding horse facility located near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the heart of Virginia horse country. Bob provides on-site daily care of the horse facility and trains and shows their younger horses. He has studied and practices all training methods that can be described as Natural Horsemanship, where a calm bonding and loving relationship is developed between humans and horses. His breeding, foaling and foal care program ensures that all foals born at his facility receive the finest handling and training, and he participates in all births and imprints his foals immediately upon birth. Bob’s goal is to produce safe, loving, people-oriented horses that are stamped with his gentle training methods. NOTE: In addition to mare care and foal care/early training, this DVD set contains explicit live video of many important aspects of the overall horse breeding process, including: mare pre/post pregnancy ultrasound exams, “live cover” breeding with mare and stallion, stallion semen collection methods, artificial insemination, and actual foal birth.   Total Running Time (3 DVDs): 4 Hours 9 Minutes   Complete Guide to Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training, Featuring Bob Claymier Video Set Testimonial Quotes Click Here:     To order the Complete Guide To Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training, Click Here:

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