Training Tips

QUESTION: Hi Sylvia. I have been riding about 4 years so I am a very inexperienced beginner rider. I have owned my quarter horse mare for 2 1/2 years now. She was purchased as a "beginner" horse. She was 6 at the time. I don't have the privilege of riding very often.

My problem began about 1 year ago. I had ridden her quite a bit last year. I rode her on a LONG trail ride (didn't know at the time it was going to be like that), up a mountain trail, on a rocky trail. I rode with gaited horses and they really pushed me to "get up my horse" because they didn't want to wait on me. Her feet were very sore after the ride and she started balking on me. I realize it was my fault, unintentional, but still my fault.

After that, she became the uncatchable horse. She had always been "spooky" of plastic bags, etc. She has gotten worse - spooky of a lot of things. Well, I haven't been able to ride lately, but rode (mistake) for the first time this weekend on a trail. She did really well to begin with. We rode for about 45 minutes and she was better than she had ever been (up & down some terrible hills), but she was spooking at a few things - her spook under saddle is a snort and really watching things.

Her trot is awful so I decided to be brave and pick her up into a lope and follow my kids. She loped about 4 or 5 "lopes" and then started bucking. She bucked me off - HARD. She stopped after a few steps and stood there. I got back on. Rode on off because I figured I did something wrong.

She did fine until we started up a terrible hill. My daughter basically loped up the hill on her horse. Well, I just let mine head on up the hill and about half way up, she bucked again and off I came. My husband got on her up another hill and if she is asked to lope, she bucks. I ended up having to lead her back to camp, due in part to my hurting rear end and her so wired and nervous I was scared to ride her.

I was told not only should I have ridden her more often, but I was feeding her too high a feed (we were recommended to feed her 8 lbs a day of a 14% feed to help her get more weight - not sure why because she is an easy keeper). She is in a large pasture with 3 other horses, so she isn't kept up at all. Of course, the nutritionist that recommended using the feed (company representative) said that protein had nothing to do with how a horse behaved, wouldn't give it excess energy and make it "wired." I don't know. I just know I am terrified to try to ride her again. I don't know when she may do this again. Can you suggest anything that might help? Thank you.

REPLY: Hi. Thanks for writing. First: I disagree with whomever is telling you that the feed couldn't be a cause of wiredness. In my experience, it can be. Especially feeding a sensitive horse over 10% protein is renowned in training circles as a source of over-wiredness in some horses. The best experiment to do is: remove the horse completely off the supplement feed for several weeks and see if you see a difference; most people do see a dramatic change very quickly. It really is a common problem out there -- more than you might think! Too many people over-grain their horses period, and the result is often: a spooky, over-sensitive demeanor in the horse. Most normal, healthy horses actually need little to no grain at all if they have free access to good grass/hay, and that's the truth. For now, try taking your horse off of grain and let the horse have free pasture grass access and I think you are going to see some of the problem licked there. But not all. Some of this is a training issue, but also the above needs to be addressed as well, I think.

What I think is also going on there is, your horse still has some serious training foundation holes, but you can plug them up yourself -- safely on the ground first. And I think the best route you could go right now, to keep you safest and the horse progressing more positively there, is to think about getting my Whispering Way™ 12-Step Total Training System DVD set, because there you will be shown how to rebuild your horse's foundation yourself, more safely and more thoroughly, to create a safer horse all around. Not only will it show you how to desensitize your horse so it is no longer spooky, but it will also show you how to build a "safety zone" into your horse's foundation, to call upon in any emergency, including checking "bucking thoughts" at the door before it happens, not after. I think it would help you a lot there, multi-directions.

You can read here a few of the many testimonials we have received from others following my program, world wide: TESTIMONIALS

The package I would recommend for you in particular is my Whispering Way™ Training Essentials Package, which contains everything you need to apply my 12-Step program, including:

*Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVDs (3 DVD set)

*Whispering Way Natural Horsemanship Halter/12' Lead

*Whispering Way Training Wand

*Handy Quick Reference Pocket Card

Incidentally, in the process of running your horse through my 12-step program, it is also greatly going to build your own inner confidence simultaneously, you'll see!

One last link I wanted to direct you to on my web site is about making sure your saddle/tack fits well so the horse is not experiencing any pain (pain is often the source of bucking behavior, but so also is lack of proper training -- a still-spooky horse is not properly trained yet):

Saddle Fit - How to tell if horse's saddle fits well and what to know about pad

What would I do if called in to work with you and your horse? Exactly what I said above -- I would plug your horse into my 12-Step program to flush out the foundation holes, and fix them safely on the ground first. But you can do this yourself, too! That's what my DVD set is designed for -- and it is even very user-friendly for beginners. My program focuses 100% on safety at all times.

Hope this helps and let me know if I can be of any further help to you there!

Further Help for Horses That Buck
Stop Bucking Downloadable E-Book Course
Written by John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman

Five-day E-book course teaches you how to make your horse quit bucking

Is this you? "I love my horse and I don't want to sell it but... it's trying to kill me."

• He explodes with no warning!

• I can't put anybody else on the horse

• He won't canter - he just bucks

• My horse is a lawn ornament

• I can't ride with my friends

• Will I break something today?

• One more time and he's going to the auction!

There is a way to truly break a horse from the dangerous habit of bucking. If you've you got the time and patience, the "Stop Bucking" online study course, written by John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman, will guide you through the process of transforming your horse into a calm partner. Not just a series of exercises, the course first arms you with the theories behind the material, enabling you to "think out of the box," to tailor your plan to your particular horse and situation.

You will not fix your horse in five days. That's not the promise. The promise is that you will find the tools and understanding you need to begin the hard work of "retraining" your horse in this study course.

Each chapter gives you a plan, a goal, some theory and homework. It may take you a week - and it might take you months to go through this material. Regardless, when you arrive at the other side, you will have made significant progress in your horse's training. Here's a rundown of the five segments:

• Day 1: "Don't Even Think of Getting On Until..."

• Day 2: "What Do I Do If My Horse Does Buck?"

• Day 3: "One Inch At A Time" and "The Calm Down Cue"

• Day 4: "The Crash Taught Me This" (Don't Make This Mistake)

• Day 5: "Demon Slaying" with Speed Control

The document is 23 pages long and comes in a format that every computer can read and print out called "pdf."

For more information, and to order Keith Hosman's Stop Bucking E-Book, CLICK HERE