Breaking a horse to ride & breaking 2 ponies to a cart!

[Anonymous]

Howdy!
I have a very large Freisian cross that is about 8-9 years old. She has been out to pasture for a very long time. I wanted to break her to ride. She is very gentle, & does well under saddle, but I've never broke a horse before. I want to learn how. She seems like she would be easy, but then again she may not. Anyways I put the saddle on her & does well but she won't go. I kick her I slap her on her butt, I try to turn her. She just turns her head around & looks at me, like what are you doing. Is their any tip that someone could give me? :?:

Also we have 2 adorable painted ponies I want to train to a cart or buggy. Well really I need a couple of harnesses & a cart first. Does anybody know Where I could get one? & on training them how should I start out? :?:

If anybody has some advice or tips on breaking my horse & 2 ponies I could sure use it. :?:

Thank you,
Ellie May

 

[Linda]

As a start, I would guess your horse either was never taught cues, or you are not using the cues she was taught to respond to.

I would suggest having her evaluated by a good trainer. She just may need a round pen refresher course. On the other hand, you may need some teaching so you can more easily handle her and gain the response you are asking for. You shouldn't have to either kick her or slap her on the butt to get her to move out.

You can work on making a clucking sound whenever you lead her and want her to move. Don't attempt to drag her around. Hold her lead rope with some free lead between your hand and her halter, stand by her shoulder, and cluck to her as you walk forward.

This basic response to cues is so ingrained in our 6 horses that one can be standing by an open gate to a corral, and will enter the corral when I make a verbal clucking sound. Sometimes the horse will look a little baffled when it finds itself in the corral, but the response that got the horse into the corral was an automatic one.

There are also leg cues to be considered. My oldest horse will move out if squeezed with my legs, while all subsequent horses have been trained to stop if squeezed. Our horses will stop and back with only a squeeze of the legs and a quiet verbal cue.

It's difficult to tell from your post just how much training your horse may have had.

These are just some ideas to start you thinking. Find a good trainer and pick their brain. Read up on Ray Hunt and John Lyons and watch their videos if you can. Better yet, attend one of their seminars.

Good luck to you!

Howdy!
I have a very large Freisian cross that is about 8-9 years old. She has been out to pasture for a very long time. I wanted to break her to ride. She is very gentle, & does well under saddle, but I've never broke a horse before. I want to learn how. She seems like she would be easy, but then again she may not. Anyways I put the saddle on her & does well but she won't go. I kick her I slap her on her butt, I try to turn her. She just turns her head around & looks at me, like what are you doing. Is their any tip that someone could give me? :?:

Also we have 2 adorable painted ponies I want to train to a cart or buggy. Well really I need a couple of harnesses & a cart first. Does anybody know Where I could get one? & on training them how should I start out? :?:

If anybody has some advice or tips on breaking my horse & 2 ponies I could sure use it. :?:

Thank you,
Ellie May

 

[TR]

I have to agree with Linda. Sounds to me that this horse doesn't know what is being asked of her. I've found this to be quite normal with horses being started. They have to be taught how to move out with you on their backs. I usually start them on a longe line or in a round pen with basic verbal cues. "Walk Out" for walk, "trot" and a cluck for trot, and a kiss for a canter or lope. Oh, don't forget "Woah"! I usually vary my voice tone with each command too, just in in case its the tone of my voice they're responding to instead of the command. By starting them with verbal commands like that, I've given them something to relate to when I get on them for the first time. So when I get on them and ask them to move out using familiar voice command cues, they usually understand that its all the same except for me being on their backs instead of the center of the ring. If they don't get it, then it helps to have someone walk beside them while you're giving the familiar cues. Once they get that, I introduce leg cues along wth the voice cues, then slowly back out of the voice commands as they pick up on the leg commands. All during this transition, I stay almost completely out of their mouth. Just gentle guidance to either keep their head straight or to gently tip their noses in the direction I want to go in. Usually done with a halter and lead ropes as this is what they're used to. Sometimes I'll introduce a snaffle bit and headstall under the halter with leadropes while I'm working on moving out and leg cues, sometimes not. It depends on how confused they seem. Too much new stuff all at once tends to frustrate the youngsters, but then again, some seem to handle it all relatively well.

I've done this on a longe line and pasture for years and years, and have just recently gone to a round pen, and I have to say, having the structured environment of a round pen or a smaller enclosure rather than the wide open spaces of a pasture really helps. It takes time, but I've never been on a time line when it comes to this, so I've let the horse tell me when he was ready to move on to something new. I've also found that it helps me to to have a goal or a certain accomplishment for the ride in mind when I get on them, and to immediately get off once that goal is reached twice. That ends up being the starting point for the next ride. Lots of praise, and "Good Boys or Girls" goes a long way too.

Basically, there are about a billion ways to break a horse. I think the key is to find a way or a combination of ways that you're most comfortable with. Linda's suggestion about talking to a trainer or watching one start a horse, as well as John Lyons videos and/or seminars is excellent advice. Once you're comfortable with a method, it translates into calmness and security for your horse.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Linda]

Very good advice, TR!

Recently I was working one of our young horses in a round pen at our horse trainer friend's house. I was telling the horse to "walk" and our friend suggested a better term was to tell the horse to "step." I asked her why, and she mentioned that "whoa" is very similar to "walk" which, with some horses, could be confusing. She explained that, of course, you always want your horse to whoa when told.

The tone used for every command is different, too, and I think that is very important.

These wonderful folks had trained my arab, and did a great job with him. So, the next time I rode him and got to difficult terrain, I told him to "step." Even though my friends had taught me the various cues they used to train my arab, "step" was one we had missed. When told to "step" my arab took the tiniest, most careful, slow steps down the side of the cliff and everyone, including me, was so very impressed. This horse is very sure footed to begin with, and to feel and see him walking so very carefully down that cliff was amazing. So, now I work all of our horses with the "step" cue instead of telling them to walk.

When my friends started working with my 2 year old quarterhorse filly a couple of months ago, they were able to ride her without a problem from the first day. She is an amazing horse. I had worked with her in the round pen extensively, and she would follow every command from the ground that you might use when riding her. Greg got on her in the round pen the first day, as she was so calm, and she just stood there licking her lips. He gently bumped her with his feet to get her to move out and she just stood there. I told him she knows all of her verbal cues, so he told her to step and she just walked out. He was laughing so hard, and praising her every way he could think of. He called over to us, "You got to see her first steps!"

She backed on command, turned on her hocks, walked and trotted to command. The next day, he saddled her, put a halter on with the lead rope tied up and let him follow her loose as he rode another colt across the creek and through the hills. When he got to the far end of his ride, he switched the bridle and halter between the two horses and rode her back home, with the other colt following. He said she seemed to really enjoy her time out in the hills, sniffing everything and experiencing the rugged terrain. She gave him no problems on the ride home. Within 3 days he was using her in the indoor arena to work a mechanical calf for cutting and reining. She's home now, after 30 days of riding, and will have a well earned rest over the winter, giving her time to mature. Our bargain was for him to ride her for 30 days, but he wants her back in the spring, as he enjoys working with her so much.

This filly was my husband's horse, but he gave her to me as a Christmas present. I was so surprised and pleased. I have to admit I shed a few tears, too. Happy ones.

 

[Anonymous]

Howdy,
Well that helped a little, thanx! But what about my ponies, I'm looking for a cart built for 2 & some harnesses, but most of all where do I start on breaking them to pull a cart? :?:
THANX,
Ellie May
P.S. They are only about 5-7 months old too. I just broke them how to lead they follow like a puppy dog. ;-)