Often times we work with a horse and we are told about things in their past that might not be good. So how do you train a horse that has been beaten, neglected, etc.? The same as you would train a horse that has had no training at all.
Don't put a label on a horse, they live in the moment, they dont live in the past. Dont train them expecting them to kick, bite, run away, etc. Get a thought and a purpose in  your head of what you are going to do with that horse at that moment and then ask the horse to do it.

If you think of their past and what you expect they will do when you ask them to do something, it comes through in your feel and your body language. A horse can feel that also. Instead think about what you are asking the horse to do and set up your body and just ask.  You might be surprised at what the horse has to offer.

An example is an owner leaded a horse. In the past this young horse would run, buck, rear, strike and intimidate the person leading it.  The person leading the horse would walk in fear, sending the horse a message that there were things to fear so it better act on its instinct and also be fearful.  The owner of the horse was asked to walk right out with the thought that this horse was going to walk/follow as any well trained horse, and walk with confidence. The owner did this and the horse followed like any well trained horse.

The horse will partner with the person who is doing the asking, they dont partner with the memories of the past, they live in the moment.

Posted by aaequestrian at 1:23 PM PDT

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Iliad is our belgian draft horse. He came from CBER and was owned by one of my students for about two years. There was an issue with children and biting, so now he resides here on Allen Acres.

I've been able to start moving forward again with his training. He does really well in his groundwork; leading, backing up, crossing the forehand, crossing the hindend, lateral flexion, and doing really well with the join up in the round pen. He also does well with ground driving. 

There is one area that I've found that he has an issue, and that is switching from one eye to the other. He does well clockwise in the round pen but he does not like it when I work on his right side when he is close to me. This could be dangerous when up in the saddle as he might become startled or frightened if I were to do something on his right side.

To get him comfortable I have been doing a series of simple ground exercises on his right side. Lead, stop, and back up. I pause between each of these things to let him soak it in and learn. He is doing really well and he is starting to show he is a bit more comfortable by slowing down his breathing, showing a relaxed eye, licking and chewing and lowering his head. 

Posted by aaequestrian at 4:39 PM PST

Updated: Sunday, 15 February 2009 5:17 PM PST

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