5

The Yearling and the Two-Year-Old

THE TIME TO UNDERTAKE GROUND WORK in preparation for riding and driving the young horse is when he is between one and two years old. Up to this point, you have been gentling, handling, leading, tying, grooming, picking up his feet, and getting him accustomed to basic care.

If you started training when the horse was a foal or weanling, you can now build on those early lessons. If, however, he spent his early life at pasture with Mama and his adolescence with a group of other youngsters with no handling, now is the time to start his training in earnest and to gain his respect, trust, and obedience.

Crash Course for an Unhandled Young Horse

Sometimes you don’t have a chance to handle a horse as a foal or weanling. Maybe you acquired a yearling or two-year-old with no previous training and must start at the beginning. This can be a challenge, but it’s not an impossible situation if you start by gaining the horse’s trust and respect and take things step-by-step.

GELD THE MALE

A male horse should be gelded well ahead of formal training, so he’ll be fully recovered from surgery before you begin. All colts not intended for breeding should be gelded as yearlings if they were not gelded as foals (see Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses for more information on this topic).

Safety Precautions

Most training books and articles on starting the horse under saddle (or to pull a cart) assume that this is a horse you can catch, lead, and tie up. But if he has not learned these basics, you will have to provide them to a pupil who does not know the proper way to relate to his teacher. If he has not learned the basics of restraint and respect, he may hurt you just trying to get away from you or reacting in alarm to something to which he is not accustomed. In everything you do, consider safety first. Think ahead to what the horse might or could do as you are working with him. (See chapter 1 for more on safety.)

Don’t expect him to act like an experienced, well-mannered horse. If he’s not used to you and doesn’t know what to expect from you, he will react with self-preservation instincts (flight or fight). His first reaction to something may be to try to get away — perhaps right over you — and if he can’t get away, he may try to protect himself. Be prepared, and don’t put yourself in harm’s way.

Catching and Haltering

If you have lots of time, you can put an untrained horse in a small pen and gradually gain his trust with feed (similar to how you would gain the trust of a weanling; see pages 105–7), at which point you can touch him, halter him, and continue from there. But sometimes you have to get a halter on him sooner than that. With an independent or skittish individual that doesn’t want to trade his freedom for food, you must corner him to put on a halter. Then you can leave the halter (or even a trailing rope, if necessary) on for a few days so you can quietly catch him in the small pen and speed up the handling and gentling process (see page 106 for more on this technique).

Generally, the older the horse, the more difficult it is to confine and corner him for the first time. Plan it so neither of you will get hurt; you don’t want him crashing over or through a fence or running over you. A safe way is to gently herd him into a small pen (with safe, tall fencing) inside of which you have created a catching chute made with portable panels.

USING PORTABLE PANELS

A. If the young horse eludes capture, use portable panels to create a chute.

B. Confine him gently in the chute.

C. Then carefully halter him when he is immobilized.

If he’s in a pasture, make a small catch pen in the corner, using panels, and put his feed and water in it so you can close the gate while he is inside. Use a few portable panels inside the catch pen to make a wing to head him into a smaller alleyway created by the panels, then swing shut the last panel behind him. Then you can slide the panels closer to him, making a “chute” where he can’t go forward or back or turn around.

Make sure the panels are securely fastened to the existing fence and that the fence is strong and safe. If it’s a wire fence, put panels on the inside of the wire. Work slowly and quietly, and don’t excite the horse. Once he is secured in the panel chute, carefully lean over the panel near his head and put the halter on him. This method allows you to capture a semiwild horse without trauma, so you can begin to train him. You can then leave him in a small pen where you can easily get hold of the halter without having to corner him.

For a horse who’s spooky about being haltered, carry a spare halter when you catch him and slip it on over the one he’s already wearing to get him used to having your arm around his neck and slipping the halter up over his nose. If he tries to leave, you’ll be able to hold him with the halter and rope he’s wearing. If you do this every time you catch him — and repeat several times if he needs to learn not to fear it — he’ll soon stand quietly for haltering, and you won’t have to leave a halter on him.

SAFETY FIRST

If you leave the halter on for a few days in the small pen, make sure it fits snugly, so he can’t rub it off or get a foot caught in it, but not so tight that it cuts into him. There should be no protrusions in the pen that it could catch on. If you leave a trailing rope on the halter, make sure it is long enough that you can pick it up without having to chase the horse; the bigger the pen, the longer the rope should be. Your horse soon learns you can catch him whenever you walk into the pen and that running off or putting his head in a corner won’t prevent his being caught, and eventually he’ll quit his efforts at evasion. This is safe to do only in a small pen. Never leave a trailing rope on a horse at pasture.

Round-Pen Training

Many trainers use round-pen training to build a better relationship with a horse, especially a green horse who hasn’t had much handling. Rather than using physical force to dominate an untrained horse, the trainer uses her knowledge of horse psychology and body language to influence his thinking (and therefore his actions) and to establish a level of communication that allows for quicker acceptance by the horse. Round-pen work can also change the mind of a hard-to-catch horse.

With the horse in a confined area, you can take advantage of how he thinks and reacts to persuade him that a human is not so bad after all. A round pen is perfect for this; it has no corners into which he can retreat. The pen should be 50 to 60 feet across — any larger and the horse could get too far away from you; any smaller and he may feel trapped. There is also more risk of getting kicked in a small pen. There should be good footing, so if the horse gallops, he won’t slip and fall or hurt his feet on rocks. If you don’t have a round pen, a square one will do; just put portable panels diagonally across the corners to block them.

Don’t overdo fast work in a small round pen, especially with a young horse; it may put too much strain on his legs.

Advance and Retreat

The horse is a flight animal; his first reaction to anything strange is to run. Round-pen training takes advantage of this instinct. The horse can travel in circles until he gets tired and starts thinking he’d rather not run; soon he’ll realize the human in the center of the pen is not so scary after all and that it would be much better just to figure out what the human wants him to do. The round pen gives you a position at the center of his activity; you have control over his motion and direction.

Early trainers who started using round-pen methods with wild or untrained horses found that with patience they could change a horse’s mind from fear and flight to trust and respect — and willing obedience — within a very short time. They were able to accomplish in days or even hours what it took other trainers weeks to do. A few hours of patient round-pen work transformed a wild horse’s attitude much more quickly and completely than traditional methods of “breaking” that involved force; it also provided solid ground work for a trusting relationship.

Those who first tried this type of training had noticed that when Native Americans caught wild horses, they started by chasing and driving them away, often for days — never letting them rest, keeping the pressure on. Then, abruptly, the horsemen would wheel around and ride slowly away. As soon as the pressure was gone, the wild horses would turn and follow them back the way they had come. The Native Americans would travel to a large enclosure, with the horses following them, and lead them into it.

This technique of advance and retreat is an example of the way a horse responds to pressure. Relieve the pressure, and he reacts. Relief from pressure — the method of give and take, press and release — is a more efficient way to train a horse than with force. Trainers call this response by the horse joining up, or locking up, because the horse comes into a willing and obedient relationship with a human.

In this way, training can be accomplished with no violence; the horse responds on his own. The objective is not to conquer him physically with ropes, but to engage his mind and make him a willing follower. This is first accomplished by driving him away (around and around the pen) until he gets tired of it and wants to renegotiate the relationship.

The Goal

One aim of round-pen work is to make the horse want to follow you rather than run away. The ultimate goal is to create willingness: the horse should be willing to have you touch him all over, pick up his feet, put on his saddle and bridle, and start mounted lessons. Once you can engage his mind, you can control his body. A round pen lets you gain this control because in this confined area the horse can’t avoid you.

How to Do It

As previously mentioned, round-pen work not only instills willingness in the unhandled horse, but it also helps make a better relationship with a horse who already knows you, especially one that is unsure or hard to catch or one that doesn’t accept your leadership. All you need for this training is a whip, a rope, or a lariat — something to swing to encourage the horse to move.

Bring him into the center of the pen, and rub his forehead with your hand. Then turn him loose, and move away from him and to the rear, out of kicking range. When you are behind him, toward his hip, or when he takes off, drive him away with a rope or whip, raising it toward his hindquarters. He should take off at a trot or gallop. Some trainers throw a light rope (or a halter, still holding the end of its lead rope) at the hindquarters — something that won’t hurt him but instead will startle him into taking off. The horse is retreating, so you advance, quietly keeping pressure on him, swinging your arm, waving the whip or coiled rope at him—whatever action it takes to keep him circling the pen, but not so much that it scares him. Make him keep going, but don’t get within kicking range. Walk in a smaller circle in the center of the pen, your body opposite his hip.

Maintain an aggressive stance — look as if you will chase him if he slows or stops — so the youngster will trot or gallop around the pen at least five or six times; then make him go around it in the other direction. To have him change, step across the pen to a place in the circle ahead of him; this blocks his forward motion so he’ll turn and go the other way. Keep him going in the new direction, moving toward his hip to encourage him if he slows down. Practice changing directions at different locations around the pen until you can work the horse consistently in either direction and have him change direction when and where you request it.

After he has gone around the pen several times both ways, he should be looking for an excuse to slow down. Start asking him if he’d like to stop all this hard work, paying attention to his body language to detect when he might be willing to listen. To let him know that you’re asking the question, coil your rope or lower the whip and take a more submissive body position. Don’t look at your horse directly. This is your invitation for him to stop retreating and come to you. Watch his ears: His outside ear will still be monitoring his surroundings, but soon his inside ear will stop moving, his head will tip toward you, and eventually, he will put his head down toward the ground. He is rethinking his flight reaction and wants to stop. He wants you to take off the pressure. He’s ready to listen.

Have him make his turns toward the center of the circle, toward you. Back away from him as he turns, to draw him toward you. If he stands and faces you but doesn’t come, walk toward him in arcs. Don’t come at him directly; he’ll view that as confrontational behavior and retreat.

TURNING TIP

You can dictate whether the horse turns toward the fence or toward the center of the circle. When you move in his direction at a sharp angle, he’ll probably turn toward the fence. If you give him more space, he’ll probably turn toward you as he changes direction. This puts you in control of his actions.

If he lets you walk up to him, fine. If he takes off before you get to him, make him go back to work for a few more laps around the pen, then let him stop again. As you move closer, do so with your body a bit sideways, as if your attention is elsewhere. This is not as threatening as a direct and focused approach, as often taken by a predator. Keep a nonthreatening, matter-of-fact, neutral stance — that is, show more of your back to him than your front. He should move toward you (join up) and touch your shoulder with his nose.

ROUND-PEN TRAINING

Encourage him to move around the pen, circling around you. Walk in a smaller circle behind him.

Ask him to change direction by stepping in front of him.

After several circles around the pen and changes of direction, ask him to stop and face you and relax. Then encourage him to move again. After a few more circles, the horse will reconsider his evasiveness, wanting to slow down and not work so hard.

Eventually, he’ll decide he’d rather join up with you than have to keep traveling around the pen.

When you can approach his head, rub his forehead, then walk away, moving in circles. He should follow or at least keep his head turned in your direction. If he doesn’t follow, your circle will bring you back toward his rear. Put him to work around the pen again, staying out of kicking range. After a few lessons, he’ll follow you when you let him stop and invite him to follow. He should voluntarily follow you to the center of the pen and stand relaxed as you rub and touch him all over both sides of his body.

RELEASE TIPS

Release of pressure may be accomplished by backing up, stepping right or left (away from the horse), or just relaxing your shoulders or leaning back. It depends on the horse; see what works to have him feel the release and give a response, so you can tell he is approachable and no longer nervous or resisting.

This is the point at which an experienced trainer can take a previously unhandled horse and start picking up feet, progressing to saddling, and so on, because the horse is now relaxed and willing and trusts this person who has given him relief from pressure.

Fine-Tune Your Communication

Done properly and patiently, round-pen training has many uses. First you use body language to control his speed and direction; he responds to you, stopping and facing you when you ask him to. You create a foundation for a higher level of communication, such that he will follow you without a halter as you control his movement around the pen.

With body language and practice, you can direct his turns to the inside or outside to change direction and walk up to him wherever he is without his attempting to walk away. You can teach him to step away from you on cue, so he’ll never crowd you when you lead him; step sideways away from you; turn forward again to face you. Soon you can turn him in any direction, on cue, with just your body language. It takes time and patience and the ability to read the horse’s body language to know how much pressure — or release — to give him with your own body language and when.

If a horse is scared or nervous, go easy and don’t make too many continuous circles; he may become immersed in the idea of flight and unable to think. Make changes of direction and changes of speed to keep his attention on you. Let him stop and make his turns toward you whenever he wants to. Later, after he’s not scared, let him stop only when you ask, so you stay in control. Some horses get lazy. Keep in tune, adjusting your approach as the horse changes his attitude, so you can keep proper timing and the proper amount of give and take, pressure and release.

Leading Lessons for the Yearling and Two-Year-Old

The most basic horse-training principle is control of the horse’s movements. He must learn to go forward freely when asked. Teaching a horse to move forward at halter is usually simple; the harder part is teaching him to move forward just at your command, how fast to go, and in which direction. He must learn what Whoa means and that he can’t drag you, run by you, or pull back. You usually want him to use a brisk walk; neither a prance pulling you along nor a dull plod, with you pulling the horse, is desirable.

Unity between horse and rider starts with good leading — the rapport gained from ground handling. The horse who refuses to lead properly will be a frustration, whether you are trying to show him at halter, lead him into a trailer, or trot him for a soundness check at an endurance ride. No matter how good he is under saddle, if he doesn’t handle well from the ground, there will be times he’ll disappoint you.

BE PATIENTLY PERSISTENT

If a horse backs up in an attempt to get away, go with him, keeping the same light pressure on the rope. If you are working in a small area, he can’t pull clear away. Patiently stay with him; he’ll stop backing up eventually. Keep the same light pressure on the rope until he finally takes a step toward you. Be patient. The last thing you want is a tug-of-war. Even if it takes several days for first lessons to sink in, it’s better to avoid a fight. You want good leading manners for the rest of his life.

Beginning Leading Lessons

When teaching a foal to lead, you have his mother for him to follow. Following is not the same as leading, but it’s a place to start. Teaching to follow is also a way to start the older youngster. If you’ve worked with him enough to be able to catch him, you can start leading lessons in the pen or even in a stall. If he’s still a little scared, use a small area so he can’t get up much speed or get clear away from you. Progress to leading lessons after he’s become sufficiently accustomed to you and won’t be trying to charge over you to get away.

To teach him to lead, use light pressure — not a hard pull, or he will brace against you. Stand several feet in front and to the side (it’s easier to make him take a step to the side), and put just enough pressure on the lead rope to take out the slack and make him a bit uncomfortable. He may fuss, but eventually, he will take a step toward you. It may be on purpose or by accident, but that doesn’t matter. When he makes that step, instantly release the pressure.

Ask for another step, then release pressure again, until he learns he can get release of pressure by stepping toward you when he feels a light pull on the rope. Teach from both sides. Don’t ask him to come straight ahead until he comes to a light pull from the side. A goal of a few steps is enough for a first lesson; quit before he gets tired of it and balks.

To teach the horse to lead, stand several feet in front and to the side, and put just enough pressure on the lead rope to take out the slack (enough to make him uncomfortable, but not enough to fight it), and eventually, he’ll take a step toward you.

Rump Rope

Use a rump rope on a horse who is exceptionally balky or lazy, just as you do when teaching a foal to lead (see page 87). First give him a chance to learn to give under pressure of just the lead rope. If he refuses, use a rump rope rather than trying to pull harder with the lead rope. He is much stronger than you are; getting into a pulling contest will always end in your defeat.

For a rump rope, make a loop that won’t get larger or smaller; you don’t want it to tighten when you pull on it. Put the end of it through the halter, so it pulls in the same direction as your lead rope; if the horse runs by you, it won’t slip off his rump.

Always ask for a step first with light pressure from the lead rope, and follow up with pressure on the rump rope if he fails to respond. Your horse will find that it’s more comfortable to move when you ask with the lead rope; he’ll know he’ll feel the rump rope if he doesn’t. As soon as he steps forward, create slack with both ropes. Once he knows what to do, you won’t need the rump rope. When he responds to light pressure on the halter and moves forward when you ask, he has learned to follow. Later you can teach him to lead properly, but first he should learn Whoa.

Teaching Whoa

Learning to stop on command is one of the most important things to teach a horse; it keeps you in control of his actions whether you are leading, longeing, driving, mounting, or riding. You must get him leading, however, before you teach him Whoa. Otherwise you may confuse him if you ask him to stop; he needs time to learn one command before you teach another. If you give a light tug on the rope immediately after you say Whoa, he’ll get the idea and will soon stop without the tug. Let him stand a moment each time you stop him, so he realizes that Whoa means to stop and stay stopped.

THE POWER OF THE VOICE

Every horseman uses the voice in training and handling a horse, to soothe, encourage, calm, stimulate, and, sometimes, reprimand. The horse who knows you can be easily encouraged or soothed just by the sound of your voice; likewise, he will be deterred from bad behavior by your tone. If you encourage him to move out freely as he is being led, he will be more likely to do so.

Use of Voice and Whip

To lead a horse properly, walk beside his left shoulder as he moves freely beside you. To accomplish this, you must instill more action and willingness than the horse would normally exhibit, encouraging him to move briskly beside you rather than just following. This can be accomplished with the help of two aids — your voice and a whip.

Many trainers teach a horse to move by clucking with the tongue. The cluck tells him to move or to move faster. To teach this, first tap him gently with the whip at the same time you make the clucking noises, so he will associate the cluck with moving forward. Then give the tap slightly after you cluck, if he doesn’t immediately move in response to the clucking cue. He soon learns to respond to the cluck, knowing that if he doesn’t, he’ll get some other form of pressure as follow-up, such as a touch of the whip on his hind-quarters, and he quickly learns to move at the sound alone.

The whip, as an extension of your arm, enables you to touch parts of the horse’s body you could not reach otherwise. When you are standing beside his shoulder, you can touch his hindquarters, and he knows immediately that the touch comes from you, even though you are merely standing beside him. He realizes you are controlling him at both ends at the same time.

When teaching a horse to lead, ask him to move forward beside you, clucking to encourage him. Hold the whip quietly in your left hand, the whip trailing behind you so you only have to move it a little bit to touch his hindquarters. He should be able to see your hand. If he doesn’t move, tap him lightly on the hindquarters as you ask him to move forward. If he still doesn’t move, tap him again. Then, as he understands and takes several steps forward beside you, praise him, and let him know by your voice that he has pleased you. If you ask him to move forward by using the whip, keep a little slack in the halter rope, giving him freedom of head movements — that is, no feeling of restraint — as he walks forward. If held too tightly by the halter, he’ll be nervous, not understanding the conflicting demands of being urged forward while being held closely.

BE GENTLE

If touching his hindquarters with the whip makes a horse jump forward, don’t pull on his halter or discourage him; he’s just trying to do what you ask. Tap more lightly next time, and move forward with him. He’ll learn that a touch of the whip will follow your verbal request to step forward, and he will begin to move at the sound of your voice or cluck without need of the whip.

After he learns to lead properly, you won’t need the whip; your horse will understand what you want. It is important to stop using a cue as soon as the horse responds, whether the prompt is a touch of the whip or your leg pressure, use of the reins, or pressure on the bit or the halter. Release of pressure or the halt of a cue is the horse’s reward for doing the right thing, and his response will be swifter in the future.

Holding the Lead Rope

Your hand on the halter rope should be firm but gentle, like your hands on the reins when you ride. The way you use your hands is one of the factors in determining how your horse will respond and how subtle your cues can be.

Your hand maintains contact with the horse via the lead rope. Your hand should be passive, not active. All too often a trainer pulls at the horse in an attempt to pull him forward or pulls back on the halter if he tries to go too fast. The main purpose of your hand is to regulate the length of the rope. As long as the horse walks quietly beside you, there is no tension on the lead rope because neither of you is pulling. The weight of the rope itself is enough to keep sufficient contact between the horse and your hand. Don’t give him too much slack; 8 to 12 inches is usually sufficient to maintain good contact.

If he walks too slowly and drops behind, don’t try to pull him forward. Use the whip, pointing it at his hindquarters. A horse instinctively resists being pulled; the harder he is pulled, the more he pulls back. Avoid the common mistake of trying to pull him forward. Even if he’ll lead as you pull, he does it reluctantly, with head and neck braced. He will respond better and more quickly if you just tap him gently on the hindquarters with the whip to remind him to move forward or to do so more swiftly.

TRAINING TIP

The value of the whip in training depends on how you use it. Always use it quietly and sensibly. Never use it for punishment. If the horse fears it, its effectiveness as a training tool is lost. If he trusts you and has never been abused by a whip, he will respect it and respond to it as an extension of your arm.

Keep your hand passive. Tension on the rope will then be created only if he tries to go faster than you want. If he bolts forward or prances, he pulls on your hand. Resist this pull passively. Don’t yield if he pulls at you, but do not pull on him. Let him do all the pulling; your hand acts as a fixed point. He’ll usually stop pulling — most horses don’t continue to pull unless they’re pulled at.

The difficult challenge when leading an uncooperative horse is to be unyielding but not to pull at him. It’s easy to pull on the horse without realizing it, for to pull when pulled at is just as instinctive for humans as it is for horses. Try to keep your hand steady.

When he realizes he is meeting an unyielding object but is not being pulled at, he will cease his exertions. An exception might be a young or flighty green horse or one that is frightened into shying and bolting. This kind of jerk on the lead rope is hard to meet by a simple fixing of your hand; you may have to let out a few feet of rope or even travel a few feet alongside him while still concentrating on passive resistance, letting him do all the pulling. Then when he stops, the release of tension on his halter is immediate and automatic; he will realize he is rewarded by release of pressure when he stops. He will come to understand that he is supposed to travel beside you at your speed.

Your hand on the lead rope should be firm but gentle. Strive to keep your hand passive. Tension on the halter should occur only when the horse is going too fast.

DEVELOP GOOD HANDS

The principles that apply to riding also apply to leading. The term good hands is equated with a fine, light touch. Poor hands means poor horsemanship — sloppy or rough use of a bit, pain or confusion for the horse. Even when teaching him to lead, you need good hands. At this early stage in a horse’s training — the ground work before you ride — deep impressions are made in his mind from experiences he will never forget. Even the most elementary stages of training are extremely important. A horse can become quite spoiled at any stage, just by the wrong kind of handling; leading is no exception.

Turn in Both Directions

When leading the horse, turn him right as often as left. It’s easier to turn to the left because that’s the side you lead from, and many horses are awkward when going to the right simply because their handlers haven’t practiced turning them that way. If from the beginning you make him go to the right as much as to the left, he will be easier to lead. You will have much more control; he won’t get into the habit of circling around you to the left when he’s nervous or walking all over you because he won’t go to the right.

To turn him away from you and to the right, extend your arm under his chin and give short tugs on the halter rope in that direction, turning his head to the right. He will quickly get the idea and start turning that way as soon as you extend your arm under his chin.

If a horse constantly veers into you and pushes you to the left, don’t let him circle around you to the left; this puts him in control rather than you, and he’s pushing into your space. If you’ve taught him to go to the right as well as to the left, ask him to circle to the right when he starts pushing into you, and that will solve the problem. Also handle him from his right side so he won’t become one-sided and awkward. Get him accustomed to being led in both directions and from both sides.

Teaching a Horse to Back Up at Halter

When a horse has learned to back up, you gain more control over the horse’s movements. This move is essential if he must learn to back out of a horse trailer. You want him to be able to back up as easily as he leads, without you having to jerk on his halter or push on his chest.

Beginning Backing Lessons

To teach him to back up on cue, halt the horse, face him (standing beside his head), reach under his jaw, and use intermittent backward pressure on the halter (never a steady pull). The pressure should be gentle. If he doesn’t understand, tap on his chest as you put pressure on the halter. Ask for one step, but repeat this several times during a training session. After a few lessons, your horse will be able to back several steps at your request.

When asking him to back up, use a series of short tugs on the lead rope. Use clucks to encourage him to move, or teach him the verbal command Back, if you prefer. Because you always cue in the same tone of voice, the horse will associate the command with the proper action, especially when it is reinforced with a gentle tug on the halter.

If necessary, push on his chest or tap gently with the butt of your whip to encourage the first backward step. Slow, rhythmic tapping will make him want to back away from it. As soon as he starts to take a step back, praise him and release all pressure or stop tapping so he knows he did the right thing. Then ask for another step. If you ask for just one step at a time, halting the pressure instantly when he responds, he will quickly get the idea. Soon he’ll back with just a tug on the halter and your verbal command, and you won’t need to tap on his chest.

Ask the horse to back up by tapping on his chest and giving short tugs on the halter. Both cues should cease the instant he starts to take a step back.

ANTICIPATE AND REWARD

Release pressure as soon as a horse starts to shift weight or pick up a foot, not after he takes the step, or the reward comes too late. Release should come the instant he thinks about backing; he’ll get the idea quicker. If he doesn’t back away from light pressure, don’t add more pressure or he may brace against it and be less able to move his feet. Give a little side-to-side motion with the halter while maintaining light pressure; this won’t give him so much to brace against. You want him to back up at a light touch.

Backing as an Aid to Slowing

If you have taught the horse Whoa and Back, you have more control if he gets nervous and wants to go too fast. Stop him, and make him back up a few steps. Do this quietly and without reprimand, so he learns that if he goes too fast he’ll have to stop and back up. If he wants to charge, dragging you along, stop him and back up repeatedly until he figures out that he shouldn’t do that.

Beginning Tying

If the horse wasn’t trained to tie as a foal, use a method that won’t injure his neck if he pulls back strongly (see Safety Tip on page 138). The yearling or two-year-old is large and strong enough to hurt himself if you tie him by the head. Use a body rope or tie him to an inner tube secured to a fence post (see page 94). The rubber tube stretches if the horse pulls back but will still hold him — and minimizes the risk of hurting the horse or breaking the rope or halter.

Gradual Adjustment to Restraint

In preparation for first tying lessons, to minimize risk of pulling back hard or pulling back while you are still tying the rope, acquaint your horse with restraint by the rope, using a long halter rope looped around a post with you holding on to the end of it. Bring him to the fence post, loop the rope around it, and groom him or work with him without his being tied. He gets used to being next to the post, but if he steps back, he is not solidly restrained and does not panic. He learns the feel of mild restraint but does not become claustrophobic. He is also less apt to pull back strongly because you are there to reassure him.

PATIENCE

Learning patience while he is tied makes his later training easier. Though he’ll need to learn to stand still for grooming, for having his feet handled, and for mounting and dismounting, tying will have taught your horse the patience required for learning these things. It also teaches him to respond and yield to pressure. If he pulls back while tied, the post holds firm. If he moves ahead, he has an instant reward (slack). After he learns to stand tied, he is more responsive when being led; he has learned not to pull away.

Once he is at ease with this, gradually move farther away, still holding your end of the rope. The post is still holding him, via your rope; he realizes that he is restrained by the post, not by you. Yet you can still play out rope if he pulls back a little (which he might do if he’s unsure about being restrained by the post instead of by you). Usually, he’ll pull back only a step or two, as the rope is not holding him tightly, but when this results in some pressure, he’ll step right back up to the post again because he has learned to “give” to pressure from his leading lessons. This gets him used to the idea of standing by the post and not pulling back hard.

SAFETY TIP

Be careful when tying a horse the first time; you don’t want fingers caught in the rope if he pulls back while you’re tying the knot. And don’t be in the way if he pulls back, then lunges forward or he may smash you.

To be out of harm’s way, use a long rope and run it through the inner tube or around the post, then tie it to the next post down the fence, at a safe distance from the horse. If you take a couple of dallies around the post, this will help hold him if he starts to pull back before he’s tied.

If your rope is long enough, you can stand quite a bit away from him relaxing or leaning against the fence, perhaps, so he thinks he is tied to the post. You are still there, however, in case he needs reassurance or needs to be moved back to the post if he pulls back a little. From there, you can progress to tying solidly with a body rope or to an inner tube, and he is less apt to set back with all his might; he already knows about being restrained by the post.

To get a horse gradually used to being tied, use a long rope and dally it around a post, so you can give or take up slack as needed. Move farther and farther away in subsequent lessons so he will realize that the post, not you, is holding him.

Don’t leave him tied too long the first few times; 10 to 20 minutes is enough if he behaves. You just want him to know he has to stand there. If he sets back, pulling back hard, leave him tied until he resigns himself to standing quietly for a little while; then reward him by turning him loose. Don’t untie him right after he’s pulled back or he may think he gets his freedom by pulling back. Gradually tie him for longer periods.

Perfecting His Tying

Tying is one of the best ways to teach a young horse patience as well as control. By the time he is a yearling, he should be well trained to tie. If he is not, give him beginning lessons as previously described (see pages 137–38).

Make It a Regular Part of His Day

To perfect his ability to be easily and reliably tied, tie him often. You want your horse to accept tying as part of his day. Even if you don’t have time for much training, make it a habit to halter and tie him, and leave him tied in a safe place while you do chores or other things nearby where you can keep an eye on him. This practice will greatly further his training progress.

SAFEGUARD THE KNOT

If the horse plays with the rope, nibbles the knot, and unties it — some can undo a knot even with the rope put back through the loop — put the end of the rope where he can’t reach it. Dally it around the post and make the knot on the next post, or run the end of the rope down the back side of the fence and tie it again on a lower pole or rail, where the horse can’t reach it.

At first you can tie him in his stall or pen — any familiar place where he will relax (just be sure not to tie him where there are any loose horses). When he is comfortable with that, lead him to a safe spot in the barnyard, and tie him there. Leave him tied for an hour or so each day, at various places. Don’t make the mistake of always tying him in the same place or that will be the only place he will feel at ease while tied. For a while he’ll be impatient, maybe even nervous, about being tied in a new place, but soon he’ll realize impatient pawing does him no good. And because nothing is hurting him, he will resign himself to waiting and will learn patience.

If you gradually expand his experience and tie him in a safe spot along the outside of the arena fence or in the barnyard, the horse will get used to the activity around him and learn to relax and stand wherever he is tied.

Lessons in Blanketing

Some horses live outdoors and are never blanketed; others are blanketed for protection from cold weather during turnout if they spend most of the time in a stall, for warmth if they are clipped for winter, and for protection from sun or mud to keep the hair coat nice for showing. Putting something over a young horse’s body can be scary for him, so prepare him for it. The blanketing process can be a way to accustom him to the feel of something on his back for later lessons in saddling. If your horse will have to be blanketed, give him some lessons first.

Gradual Steps

For his first blanketing session, choose a used blanket that already smells like a horse (the familiar smell will be less frightening than would that of a brand-new blanket). Use one that fastens at the chest so you can put it on and take it off easily.

Get him used to it gradually. Hang it on the fence or over the stall door so he can smell it while you groom and handle him. Don’t let him nibble on it or pull it off the fence or door; the sudden movement may frighten him. Work in a familiar place, so the only thing new and suspicious is the blanket. Let him smell it for several sessions, if necessary, so he gets over any fear before you try to put it on. Once he is at ease with it, you may be able to put it on, in gradual steps, in just one session. It may take several lessons to accomplish, though, so take as many sessions as he needs.

After he is accustomed to the sight and smell of the blanket on the door or fence, hold the halter rope with one hand and slowly bring the folded blanket to his nose. Keep it folded small at first; it will be less scary that way. If he backs away, let him. Wait until he is relaxed again. Once he lets you put it close to his nose, allow him to sniff it until he is satisfied it is harmless.

Keep it well folded so the straps won’t flop around, and rub his neck with it, gradually rubbing more of his body as he accepts it. Work over to his shoulder, around his chest, down the front leg. Do this on the other side after he is relaxed about it. Then drape the blanket over his withers, and let him feel its weight for a few minutes. If he’s comfortable with that, move it around.

After the youngster accepts this, slowly slide it over his back and rump, still standing at his shoulder, out of kicking range, and keep hold of the halter rope to control his movements. If he tries to walk forward or move around, halt him. Work with a slack lead, putting pressure on the halter only when he moves. You don’t want tension on the rope or he may feel confined or turn toward you, swinging around his hindquarters.

If he swings away and the blanket slides off, try to catch it — slowly and gracefully, in order not to startle him with your motions — so it won’t fall in a heap and frighten him. If it falls off, start over again at his front end. Remember to work from the other side as well. When he seems ready to have the blanket put on, secure all straps so they won’t dangle and bump his legs (this first time, you won’t be fastening them on him), fold the rear part of the blanket over the front so you can set the front portion over his withers, then carefully unfold it over his hindquarters.

HOLD, DON’T TIE

Don’t tie a horse for blanketing lessons; he may panic because he cannot step away from it. Have someone hold him for you at first. If you go about it gradually, however, you can probably give him these lessons while holding him yourself. If at any time he panics, be patient and stay calm; don’t force him. Go back to earlier, more comfortable steps.

Fold the blanket tightly and keep straps from dangling so the horse doesn’t perceive it as something big and frightening. Rub his neck with the blanket.

When he’s calm about having his neck rubbed with it, drape the blanket over his shoulders and withers to get him used to its weight, then rub it around a little.

After you put it on this way several times and he exhibits no fear or resistance, fasten the straps, starting with the belly band or surcingle, making sure he is comfortable about having straps against his body before you actually fasten them. Once he is relaxed about wearing the blanket, lead him around to get him used to the feel of it. The first few times you actually turn him loose with it on, stay nearby and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.

Continue the Leading Lessons

Don’t neglect the young horse just because he is not mature enough to start riding or driving. Work on leading lessons. Most horses lead reasonably well without much formal training. They learn from general handling, such as being taken to water, out to pasture, and into a stall for grain, for example. To lead well, however, and to always be under perfect control, a horse must learn a bit more. He must learn not to hang back on the rope, not to lunge ahead, and not to gawk and dawdle. He must learn to travel beside you at the speed you want.

Leading at the Trot

After he leads well at a walk, teach your horse to lead at the trot. To trot, start moving faster yourself while clucking or while giving the verbal command Trot. He will generally start moving faster when you do. It’s easy to teach voice commands such as Walk and Trot, which will come in handy later when teaching a horse to longe, if you always use the same tone of voice for a certain command. Walk should be said in a soothing voice to help persuade the youngster to slow down from a faster gait; Trot can be said more crisply. Most youngsters quickly learn to speed up when you tell them to trot, especially if you start moving faster yourself as you say it.

Another cue is to start moving your feet faster in place for a second as you give the command. You may have to use the whip to help him realize you want him to trot. If the horse doesn’t speed up when you give the command while trotting in place, reach back and touch his hindquarters with the whip.

After he realizes what you want him to do, he should start trotting when you give the command, and you’ll no longer need the whip. A few individuals are lazy or too independent, however, and don’t want to lead at a trot. It may take several lessons, and perhaps more forceful taps of the whip on the hindquarters, to make them realize the easiest thing to do is trot alongside you when you ask.

Advanced Leading

Take the young horse for walks to expose him to new experiences. By this age he should have had enough lessons to be manageable at halter. After you start riding, there may be times when you’ll have to get off and lead him through or around difficult obstacles or hold him when he encounters a noisy truck on the road for the first time. He must be dependably halter trained to trust and stay by you in all situations. A few leading lessons out in the big wide world are a good idea if you have not already done this with him at a younger age.

Trail Work from the Ground

Many tasks will be easier for him during early riding lessons if your horse has had some prior experience. If the first time you ask him to step over a log, cross a bridge, or walk through a puddle is when you are on his back, it may be a challenge to convince him he can do it. Horses raised in big pastures have an advantage: they may already know how to walk through water, go through bushes, and get over downed trees without fear. A horse reared in confinement, however, or even in a small pasture, may be afraid of things he hasn’t encountered before. Ground work can prevent problems later.

Advanced leading lessons include walking over poles or posts laid out on the ground. If your young horse balks or tries to avoid stepping over them, cue him by gently tapping him on the hindquarters with a whip. Once he figures out he can step over them, gradually raise their height by putting blocks under the ends until he must step higher, as he would if he were going over a log on the trail.

He may be afraid to cross a wooden bridge; simply the noise of his feet on the wood is alarming. Create a “bridge” on the ground, made of wood planks, for him to practice walking across. If this is scary to him, he may resist. Take as many sessions as he needs to learn that walking over it is nothing to fear.

Ask for just one step at a time, using the pressure-release technique. Reward him for even the slightest try by release of pressure and with verbal praise. Don’t pull on him. If he steps forward and there is no release of pressure, he will quit trying or become more afraid of the obstacle. Let him realize that moving forward — when you ask him for a step — brings relief from pressure on the lead rope and no more tapping on the hindquarters with the whip and that balking or moving backward brings pressure and tapping. If you are consistent and patient, eventually, even a very skittish horse will learn he can step on the “bridge” and walk over it.

Crossing Water

A young horse raised in confinement may have had no experience with water. Lead him through puddles or small streams. When he learns it’s okay to get his feet wet, he will be easier to ride through water later, and you won’t get stranded at a stream that lies between you and your destination. A large rain puddle can be used to advantage when teaching him to cross water, but he may try just to walk around it — he sees no reason to go through it if he can go around. A shallow ditch or stream is often better, as he must cross it to continue on his way. If you have access to a field or pasture with irrigation water running over it, lead the horse around in it. If everywhere he goes is wet, he’ll soon realize he can’t get away from the water and will discover that it isn’t hurting him to get his feet wet.

CROSSING WATER

The filly is led to the ditch. She is nervous and wants to turn around and leave.

By moving to the opposite side of the bank, the trainer presents the horse with a chance to check out the water. She smells and tastes the water. She is beginning to lose her fear of this obstacle because she isn’t forced across it.

A helper offers the filly a bite of grass as enticement. Her desire for grass overpowers her fear of the water. There’s no pull on the rope, no force to resist, so she decides to come across. Once there, she receives an immediate reward of food.

For the first water lessons, be sure you have lots of time and patience. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him cross it — it has to be his idea. If you resort to force, his reaction is to resist, and he will associate water with punishment. He won’t want to come near it at all the next time.

Patience works better than force. If you can lead him to the stream or ditch and hold him beside it for a while, he will eventually relax when he realizes you are not asking him to cross it. After he relaxes enough to nibble grass along the edge, he may become brave enough to sniff and snort at the water. A bold individual may paw at the water and check it out during the first lesson, but a timid one will not want to get that close. Just becoming comfortable enough to nibble the grass beside the stream is enough for one lesson.

In subsequent sessions, you can get your horse to step into the water or across it. One method is to make sure he is thirsty when you take him to the stream. A youngster that has drunk out of a tub all his life needs to learn he can drink from a stream. If he’s suspicious and fearful, wait patiently until he relaxes and checks it out. Once he realizes it’s water, he will eventually drink. If the young horse is allowed enough time to figure out what water is all about, he’ll learn he can get his feet wet with no bad consequences.

Longeing

The word longe (or lunge) simply means to exercise a horse on a long line. Longeing can be a good training tool, but too much work on the longe can be harmful physically to a young horse. When you work him at fast gaits on flat ground, he must lean inward to keep his balance while moving in a circle. This puts a twisting strain on the legs. Footing with some give to it is better than hard ground.

Longeing is probably more valuable as a training tool than as exercise. As a training aid used in brief intervals, it helps teach a horse to balance himself and gain better coordination, as well as become more responsive to the trainer. It can help him become more supple by encouraging him to bend on the turns, striding shorter with the inside legs and longer with the outside legs. And it’s beneficial whether you’re starting a young horse or reschooling an older one to regain respect and control. Just don’t start longeing too young. If he is too young to ride, his bones are still immature and he is too young to longe. It’s best to wait until he’s two years old.

Equipment

Handling a longe line safely and efficiently requires practice; you want to keep fine-tuned control of your horse without getting into a tangle. One way to get a feel for how to handle a longe line before you attach it to the horse is to snap it to a fence and practice with it until you can feed it out (backing away) and take it up (moving forward) without having to look at it, always maintaining a light tension on the line. You must learn to handle the line equally well with both hands. But before you can practice, you’ll need to have the proper equipment and know how to use it.

The Cavesson

When longeing a horse, it’s best to use a longeing cavesson (see drawing below), especially when starting a green horse, rather than a halter. Be aware that a halter that slips can put pressure in the wrong place or damage the horse’s eye. Most halters do not provide the amount of control necessary to effectively train a green horse. A well-fitted halter will work adequately, however, for longeing a horse who already understands what to do.

A longeing cavesson is designed to stay in place and has a heavy, padded noseband that gives control if you need it. The line is snapped to the center ring at the front of the noseband, just the opposite of snapping to the ring on a halter (behind the jaw). When pressure is applied to the line on a cavesson, the nose piece presses against the soft cartilage on the horse’s nose. You have more control to make him decrease speed or to turn when he is trying to go too fast, for example, or to run out of the circle and away from you.

A cavesson is better than a halter for teaching a horse to longe because the longe line can be attached to the front.

You need a longe line — flat nylon webbing 20 to 30 feet long — with a swivel snap that can turn as the horse circles, thus preventing kinks and twists in the line. Webbing is less apt than rope to slip through your hands if the horse tries to buck or run off. Some trainers use a heavy, stiff, small-diameter rope, such as a lariat, because if used properly it gives better control and feel of the horse. It works best if it has a swivel attached. Most trainers prefer nylon webbing. The webbing won’t burn your hands as readily and is easier to handle. It’s wise to wear gloves, especially with a rambunctious horse who may pull.

The Whip

Your whip should be about 5 feet long with a 6-foot lash. This makes a good popping noise if you snap it, which encourages the horse to go forward. It is rarely necessary actually to touch him with the whip. He should not fear the whip; you should never lash him with it. Before you try the longeing lesson, a few preliminary sessions might be needed to get the horse used to the whip’s being pointed at him or waved if he is skittish about it.

If you used a whip properly when teaching him to lead at a trot, the horse should not be afraid of it. If he hasn’t seen a whip before, acquaint him with it gradually. Show it to him, let him smell it, move it around, move it slowly and gently over his back. Usually, one short session is enough for your horse to accept it (see page 64).

Your body position, reinforced with the action of the whip, is what encourages the horse to move around you in a circle. If you “drive” him from the rear, he will move forward or go faster.

Your voice will eventually become your most effective cue as your horse learns what you want, because you can’t reach him with the whip when he’s making large circles. The popping of a whip, however, can reinforce voice cues, encouraging him to move forward or change from walk to trot when you command it. The whip is an aid, in the beginning, to help your horse understand what you want.

When teaching him to longe, hold the whip a little behind the horse, about 2 feet off the ground, and not pointed directly at him. To encourage him to move forward, bring the whip up and down behind him, touching his hindquarters if necessary. As soon as he understands, you’ll need to raise it only slightly to obtain the desired response. Practice until you feel comfortable using the whip in either hand. It may be awkward to handle the whip with your nondominant hand at first, and doing so will take more practice.

The Round Pen

Use a small enclosure when first longeing. A 60-foot round pen is perfect for beginning sessions at a walk, although not for extensive work at faster gaits, because the circle is too small and will put too much strain on the horse’s legs. If necessary, you can make a temporary barrier with poles set on sawhorses or barrels. A small round ring gives the horse the idea of traveling in a circle without being able to make a wider one or pull away; you can keep him under control. A square pen is harder to use; there he can get into a corner and become confused. If you are using a square pen, block off the corners with panels or poles.

Once the horse learns to longe well, you can do it anywhere, even out in a big open field. But the green horse may try to pull away from you or buck and play in a large area, or he may make his circles irregularly shaped. Until he learns, stick to an enclosed area—preferably a ring or pen about 60 feet in diameter.

PROTECT HIS LEGS WITH BOOTS

When working in circles with the young green horse, such as when longeing, it’s a good idea to use splint boots on all four legs. These are like shin guards and have padding along the inside of the leg. Most fasten with hook-and-loop closures and can be put on and taken off quickly and easily. If the horse strikes his lower leg with the opposite hoof, as some young horses do when first learning to trot in a circle, the boots help protect the cannon bone.

Beginner Longeing Lessons

The first step is teaching your horse to circle around you. Do the first lesson with a halter and lead rope until he gets the idea. If you are using a cavesson, lead him with it before you begin, to familiarize him with it. When stopping, put a little pressure on the rope so he can get the feel of the cavesson pressing against his nose.

Hold the rope or longe line in your left hand when he is traveling to the left and in your right when he goes to the right. The whip is held in the opposite hand. Back away from the horse a few steps and stand slightly to his rear, even with his flank but out of kicking range. From this position you can encourage him to move in a circle. Most horses want to turn to face you until they understand what you want.

To start him forward, raise the line, cluck or give the command Walk, and tap gently on his hindquarters with the whip. You may have to walk in a small circle beside him in the beginning, driving him in a larger circle around you until he understands. The key to longeing is your stance and position in relation to the horse. From where you stand, you are holding him in position between the whip and the line; you thus have control over his speed and movements. If you get too far forward, he will slow, stop, or turn to face you. If you get too far back, he may be able to pull or rush forward and, therefore, be out of control.

As he begins to move in a circle, gradually play out more line to let him make larger circles. The first lessons will be small circles until he learns the pattern and how to stay controlled. The goal at this point is to keep him moving at a calm walk. After a few minutes of work to the left (generally the easiest way to start him), stop him with Whoa and a tug on the line; then start him in a circle to the right. For the first lessons, walking and stopping are enough. Longe him for the same amount of time in both directions.

GET HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT

If you’re inexperienced at longeing or have a stubborn pupil who doesn’t get the idea of circling, it helps to have an assistant for the first lesson. One person can work the longe line while the other travels alongside or even behind the horse, if necessary, with the whip, encouraging him to move forward in a circle. After the horse gets the idea, you’ll no longer need a helper.

In the beginning you may have to stop him, walk to his head, turn and reposition him, then start in the opposite direction. Later you can teach him to reverse direction with voice commands. You may find that he is more reluctant to circle to the right unless you have taught him to lead from both sides. You may have to spend more time perfecting his circle to the right.

Larger Circles

Don’t ask the horse to move any faster than a walk or very slow trot while making small circles. A fast trot or canter can injure his legs (and will make you dizzy). Don’t work too long during the first few lessons — 10 to 15 minutes is plenty. A little progress each day is enough. The green horse must strengthen his muscles and joints.

After he travels nicely in small circles, gradually increase the length of the line so he can make larger circles. Keep him out at the edge of the circle by pointing the whip at his hindquarters. Some horses try to cut in on the circles, and you have to be more forceful, directing more aggressively with the whip. Others pull strongly on the line, almost leaning on it — but this is better than having slack in the line and risking a tangle.

Use Proximity and Position

Sometimes a lazy horse will stop when out on a large circle, knowing he’s too far for you to reach him with the whip. If this happens, reexamine your body position; it is this more than anything else that cues the horse. Always be slightly behind and to the side, almost in a position to “drive” him. In this way, when you encourage with the whip, it is his natural impulse to go forward. If you are even with his head or slightly in front of it, his inclination is to stop or turn toward you. To stop him, then, you will step forward as you say Whoa and give a tug on the line. Once he has that figured out, you should be able to stop him from any gait while working on the longe.

KEEP LONGEING LESSONS SHORT

The young horse can be trotted as soon as he learns to walk in a circle and stop on command. But he should not be galloped until he learns better balance and control. To avoid leg injuries, never trot him on a longe for too long a time; 10 to 15 minutes of longeing — walking and trotting — is enough for any lesson. It’s better to have a short lesson every day than a long one once or twice a week. A horse is more likely to become bored and misbehave when you overdo a lesson.

Teaching Voice Commands

From the very first lesson, the horse should be taught to respond to your commands. When teaching voice commands, always use a firm, clear voice and be consistent in the way you say each individual command (Whoa, Walk, Trot, and Reverse) each time you use it. A horse understands your tone of voice rather than the actual words; you’ll confuse him if you give the same command in different ways or different commands in exactly the same tone of voice. He will soon know what you want, however, if you are consistent in the way you give commands and in your body position as you encourage the proper response. Body language is also very important in communicating with the horse and reinforcing your voice commands. Horses are extremely observant; once they understand what something means, they will obey the slightest cue.

Trot

To encourage a lazy youngster to move faster than a walk, you may have to step slightly behind his center for a moment, urging him forward with the whip as you give the command to trot. Insist that he trot and not merely speed up the walk. Don’t let him gallop, play, or buck. If he gallops, calm him back to a trot with a soothing voice (Easy is a good command for slowing) and apply a little more pressure on the longe line. If he begins to buck, kick, or come into the center of the ring, emphatically drive him forward, even if he begins to gallop. Never allow him to kick at you or cut into the ring; he must learn to stay out on the edge of the circle.

Walk

To slow the horse, give the command to walk. Step slightly forward, giving a few tugs on the line if he is reluctant to slow to a walk. If he tries to stop rather than walk, take a quick step back behind his center and encourage him to keep moving. Work at proper angles with the horse’s body to encourage proper response.

Whoa

Make sure your horse learns what Whoa means (it helps if he already knows the command from leading lessons). If he is reluctant to stop, you may have to direct him toward the ring fence to force him to stop. But most halter-broke horses will readily respond to your Whoa and a pull on the nose. Once he is stopped, let him stand a few moments before allowing him to move again. He needs to learn that Whoa means to stop and stay stopped. He should not move forward until you tell him and should not be allowed to take several steps before responding to Whoa. He needs to know it means “Stop now.” If he is reluctant to stop, go back to reinforcing Whoa during leading lessons. If he tries to move forward when stopped, give another pull on his nose and repeat the command.

Teach your horse to stop and stand when you tell him Whoa.

Come Here

Teach the horse to come to you by giving the Whoa command, then, after he has stood for a moment, say Come here and pull on the line a few times (pull and release, pull and release), encouraging him to come. He will get the idea. At all other times he should stay on the outside of the circle.

Change

As he progresses, you can teach your horse to reverse direction without having to approach him and turn him around. When he stops on command, he will generally turn his head toward you. Take advantage of this in teaching him to change direction. If he is traveling clockwise, bring him to a stop and hold him there, facing your right hand. Then step to the right, at an angle to his shoulder, while giving him the command Change. Change hands with your line and whip at the same time as he starts the new direction.

KEEP HIM GUESSING

Don’t always stop in the same place or ask a horse to change direction at the same spot. Don’t give the same commands at the same place in the circle. If you do, he may start thinking he’s supposed to start trotting at that spot every time he goes past it or to Whoa at the same spot. Avoid this tendency from the beginning to save a lot of trouble later. He must learn he has to obey every command properly, wherever and whenever you give it.

After he begins to understand, he will watch your hands and how you move. When he sees you change hands with the line, putting your whip in the other hand, he’ll know to change direction. At first you may have to step almost completely around his shoulder and move a little behind him to indicate what you want him to do.

Don’t Overdo Fast Work

A good walk and trot are generally all your horse needs to learn on the longe. Most youngsters get very excited at the canter and try to speed up, buck, or pull you out of the center of the circle. Speed also puts more stress on the legs and increases the risk of slips and falls for the horse.

As an aid to prepare for saddle work and in small sessions, longeing can teach patience and control. Your horse will learn to work quietly at a walk and a trot, with strong, stable gaits, bending to the circle and obeying voice commands. It will be easier to start him under saddle, as he will have better balance and more strength and will be more obedient, too. (See page 146 for more on longeing.)

PEACE OF MIND

Learning to be led from another horse is good for any horse. If you and your horse ever part company out on the trail — on an endurance ride or in the hunt field, for example — it’s nice if he’s cooperative about being led back to you by another horseman.

Ponying the Young Horse

Ponying means leading one horse from another. The pony horse is the one you are riding; the ponied horse is the one being led. Ponying can be a good way to exercise a horse who can’t be ridden or to help train the green horse in preparation for riding.

If you have a reliable saddle horse, ponying across country is a more natural exercise for the green horse than is longeing. The latter can be hard on legs because the constant circling creates torque on joints when done at speeds faster than a slow jog. Longeing can also become boring to a horse. Ponying teaches the young horse about the big wide world outside his pen or stall and how to travel on trails, across gullies, and past or through all kinds of natural obstacles.

The young horse learns to accept being led anywhere, and new situations the two of you encounter are not so strange and frightening when you start riding him. A calm pony horse also serves as a good example for him. He gets an introduction to what will be expected of him. You can talk to him, calming or encouraging him, getting him used to voice commands. He becomes accustomed to your being “up there” on the horse next to him — similar to being “up there” on his back.

Ponying is a good way to get the young horse more physically fit before you ride him, especially if he lives in a stall or pen where natural exercise isn’t possible. Ponying over the hills with a saddle on will help get him “legged up,” or conditioned, before he has the extra weight and stress of a rider. It also can put miles on an exuberant horse to settle him down before you get on him for the first time.

Some energetic youngsters try to buck, gallop, or play on a longe line, which increases the risk of injury to young legs if you use longeing to take the edge off high spirits. Instead, pony the fractious horse over hills or pastures in a more controlled manner, giving him the many miles needed to settle him down before you come back to the training pen to get on him.

Use a Dependable Pony Horse

When teaching a youngster to pony, use a quiet, well-trained mount that responds to your cues. You don’t want your mount spooking or shying at the youngster’s antics; you’ll find it hard to hold on to the young horse, especially if the two start pulling in opposite directions. You don’t want your horse balking at obstacles and becoming a bad influence on the green horse or bucking you off if the lead rope gets under his tail. A few lessons first from the ground — moving the rope across his rump and over his body — are a must for the horse you will be riding if you’ve never led another horse from him before.

USE CAUTION

Ponying is most practical when you have adequate open space. In an area with few trails or pastures, of course, it may not be an option. If there are obstacles or frightening situations around every corner, ponying would be counterproductive for teaching the young horse — and even dangerous. Never pony an inexperienced horse along a busy road, for example, or in places where you don’t have much room to maneuver both horses if a problem arises.

Your mount must have good manners. The young horse may harass or jostle him, but no matter how disruptive the led horse might be, do not allow your mount to bite or kick him. Your horse must neck-rein, be very responsive to leg cues, and remain under your control at all times.

You must be able to maneuver him perfectly as you lead the young horse alongside. Your horse may have to sidepass, back up, or even spin around quickly to enable you to keep control of the led horse. He must be able to walk through, over, and around obstacles at your command. On a narrow trail, he can’t be allowed to hog it. You may need him to move out into the rocks or bushes sometimes to give the green horse enough room on the trail.

Proper Equipment

Make sure your saddle, especially the girth or cinch, is in good repair and fits the horse you ride so it won’t be pulled sideways if the lead horse spooks and pulls you strongly to the side. Have a strong halter and a long, thick, soft rope for leading the green horse. A large-diameter soft rope is less apt than a small-diameter hard-twist or nylon rope to cause a friction burn on your hand if the youngster tries to pull away. A leather lead strap will work if it is long enough; it won’t burn your hand as readily as a rope can.

Wear thin, pliable gloves to protect your hands, but first make sure you can handle the lead rope without losing it. Tie a knot in the end of the lead rope to give you more leverage for hanging on if you do come to the end of it. The rope or strap should be at least 10 feet long to give you extra leeway; you may lose hold of a short rope if the ponied horse spooks or pulls back.

Holding the Rope

When handling the rope, loop the extra length through your hand. Don’t hold it in a coil; if the horse pulls back, a coil can encircle a hand or wrist and drag you off. Hold the extra rope in loops. That way, if the youngster pulls back and you must let go of a loop or two, you still have some loops left.

HE SHOULD KNOW THE BASICS

Make sure the young horse knows the basics of leading before you try to lead him from another horse. He should be very well halter trained. Then you won’t have to drag him with the other horse, and he won’t try to drag you. He will respond to restraint from the halter and know Whoa. If he is reluctant to lead from another horse at first, enlist a helper to follow him with a whip to encourage him.

Remember: A coil is circles of rope (such as a coiled lariat, for example). A looped rope or strap is held in the center and has neat loops on each side of your hand. These can never encircle your hand or arm like a coil. You can always drop a loop to give more slack if needed.

You can drop a loop or two to give him slack all at once if need be yet still keep hold of the rope. Sometimes you must play him like a fish, giving him some line, taking in some, letting him have slack if he suddenly spooks or needs more rope to go around an obstacle in his path. When that moment is past, you can then quickly take up the slack again and have him right where you want him, with his head beside your leg.

First Ponying Lessons

The first few times you lead the youngster, do it in a small pen or paddock, where he can’t get clear away if he does pull free. Do all your first lessons at the walk until you know he is going to cooperate and be manageable. After he leads well at the walk, try some short trotting sessions.

For first lessons have someone hand you his lead rope after you are mounted and ready. If you don’t have a helper, position the green horse to the right of your own horse, parallel with him and with his head about even with your own horse’s shoulder. Put the lead rope across your horse’s withers where you can hold it as you mount from the left side. If need be, mount your horse from the right. Once mounted, adjust the rope in your hand as you want it and ready yourself to start off.

When you first move off, the led horse may not understand that he must come, too. Start him off at an angle; pull him toward you a little to get him moving. If you have help, the ground person can encourage the youngster from behind until he gets the idea. If the led horse already knows your voice command Come here or is accustomed to moving at your clucking signal, this will also help.

Keep the led horse’s head even with your shoulder, about level with your knee, to give you good control. Never let him get much ahead of you or he may try to pull ahead more or kick at your horse. If he tries to go too fast, give a few sharp pulls on his halter. Don’t let him lag farther back, either: your horse may try to kick him, or he may get the rope under your horse’s tail.

Out in the Open

Once he figures things out and behaves, take the green horse out of the pen and into wide-open areas, and gradually add trotting to his lessons. Do some hill climbing if the terrain warrants it. Tackle new challenges as you feel your horse is ready. If he’s spooky about going through brush or other obstacles, don’t leave the main trail until he gains more confidence. The last thing you want is a bad experience where he might pull away from you. Progress to new challenges only when you are in full control and the green horse accepts your guidance.

Some horses balk more than others and require more lessons in ponying before you can take them out of the small pen. A few are so independent that they need some sessions with a stout pony horse and a strong saddle horn so they can’t pull away. Some are no fun to pony and not safe. If they are not controllable in the small pen, don’t take them out. You are better off skipping this aspect of training until they are older and wiser. They will be easier to pony after a few years of being ridden. Most young horses, however, adapt quickly to being led from another horse. They are sociable and therefore willing to go where the pony horse goes, making this aspect of training a useful transition from ground work to ridden lessons.

Keep the head of the ponied horse about even with the position of your shoulder and about level with your knee.