Desensitize your horse to plastic bags.
Horses are naturally afraid of objects that move and make a noise, something that the plastic bag does both of. Desensitizing your horse to plastic bags will increase his tolerance of strange objects and acceptance of your tools. Remember, your goal as a horse trainer is to desensitize your horse to as many objects that move and make a noise as possible. Many horses are afraid of plastic bags, but by using the Approach and Retreat Method, you can teach your horse to use the thinking side of his brain, rather than just reacting with panic. The more objects that you can desensitize your horse to, the quieter he'll get and the quicker he will learn to use the thinking side of his brain when he gets scared.
Establish your personal space
As a trainer, you need your horse’s respect and attention in order to teach him and gain his trust. Establishing your personal space will help you stay safe while doing just that. The first thing your horse has to understand is that you are fragile and he needs to be careful around you. I honestly don’t believe that most horses intend to hurt us. They just don’t realize that there’s a massive weight difference. Consider the weight difference between you and your horse. Your horse is roughly ten times your weight. He’s in a 1,300 pound category and you’re in a 130 to 200 pound category. By establishing your personal hula hoop space, you’ll keep yourself safe while working with your horse and earning his respect. Your horse should only enter your personal space if you specifically invite him to come up to you. Otherwise, he should keep a respectful, safe distance.
Why Start in the Round Pen?
Round penning is a great tool when it comes to training horses because you can get the horse to use the thinking side of his brain without over stressing him, making the learning process as easy as possible for both you and the horse. Below, I’ve highlighted several advantages of the round pen and why no matter what stage of training your horse is in, he can always benefit from round pen training.
Teaches your horse to catch you.
Before you can train a horse, you have to be able to catch him. If
you can’t catch him, you can’t teach him anything. I like my horses
to be able to basically catch me. Meaning that they give me two
eyes, yield their hindquarters and face me. Then I can put the
halter on them and get on with the lesson. If you can’t catch your
horse very well, how is the rest of the lesson going to go? Not good
because the horse is always going to be trying to avoid you or
running away from you showing you two heels.
You are not connected to the horse.
Anytime you are connected to a horse through a halter and lead rope,
you’re a lot closer to him. The closer you are to a horse, the more
vulnerable of a position you are in. If a horse goes to kick at
you, run over you, or do something disrespectful, the chances of you
getting hurt are a lot higher since he’s close to you. I always
recommend that people with dominant and disrespectful horses start
out in the round pen for that reason. The round pen puts a little
bit of distance between you and the horse. By working the horse off
line, I can stay a little further back and still be able to
establish the basic fundamentals.
In order to get a horse’s respect, you have to move his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and always reward the slightest try. The more you can move your horse’s feet forwards, backwards, left and right, the more respect you’ll get. The more the horse moves your feet forwards, backwards, left and right, the pushier and more disrespectful he will become. A lot of horses that are pushy and heavy can’t actually canter with a halter and lead rope around you without dragging you off your feet. But in the round pen since the horse isn’t connected to a line, he can canter. The round pen fence will keep him on the circle, not you. When you free up a horse’s feet and get him to move forward, his mind frees up as well and his resistance disappears.
