Exercising confidence with a horse
Only when the horse trusts its owner can a partnership develop between the two. But which confidence exercises can be carried out and, above all, how?
What you need:
- Riding arena
- Round pen
- Halter with a long rope
- foil
The escape animal horse
Mutual trust between humans and horses is particularly important due to the following facts:
- The horse is a flight animal. This means that the horse will always try to flee as soon as it breaks out in fear or panic.
- A harmonious relationship can only develop between the rider and the horse if the horse can fully trust the rider. The horse must always have the feeling that the rider is of a higher rank.
- The more trust the horse has in its owner, the easier resp. Unpleasant situations such as a visit to the vet, transport by trailer, farrier, etc. run more smoothly.
Perform meaningful confidence exercises
Distributing treats and stroking the horse at the same time does not lead to the necessary trust. This would only warp the horse. You can carry out useful confidence exercises as follows:
"My horse bites me all the time" - what to do?
Do you have the problem that your horse bites you and others all the time? You know the ...
- Take the horse to the riding arena or a round pen. You can do various exercises in these places so that the horse loses its fear of certain things.
- For example, lay out a shiny tarp on the floor. You are suggesting a dangerous puddle that crackles too. Take the horse to this tarpaulin and let the horse sniff it. As soon as the horse shows no fear, you can give him a treat. In the next step you go with the horse over the tarpaulin.
- You can also use the tarpaulin for sagging: Place the tarpaulin on the horse's head or neck.
- Use a whip to stroke the horse all over. Losing fear of the device is also a kind of trust exercise.
- You can do the above exercises with anything the horse is afraid of. You can tell whether the horse has built up enough trust in you when the horse is no longer afraid of these objects.
Develop the confidence exercises with the horse
- Go into tight spaces with the horse if the horse is afraid of them.
- Alternatively, you can practice loading the horse. Only when the horse has enough trust in you will it go into the trailer willingly.
- In addition, you can go for a lot of walks on horseback. In this way the horse also loses its fear of many unpleasant things that await him in the big, wide world.
- With regard to upcoming vet visits, you can also do confidence exercises: Connect for fun the horse, demonstrate a syringe with your fingers or use a cannula to give the horse applesauce Mouth. With this the horse loses fear of the administration of medication.
How helpful do you find this article?
