Heather Smith Thomas - Storeys Guide to Training Horses

STOREYS GUIDE TO TRAINING HORSES

Ground Work Driving Riding

SECOND EDITION

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Rebekah Boyd-Owens, Sarah Guare, and Deborah Burns
Art direction and book design by Cynthia N. McFarland
Cover design by Kent Lew
Text production by Erin Dawson

Cover photograph by Dusty Perin/ www.DustyPerin.com
Photograph on page v by the author
Illustrations by JoAnna Rissanen, except for pages 7 and 271 by Jim Dyekman,

by Elayne Sears, and pages 458459 by N. J. Wiley

Expert review by Rhonda Massingham Hart
Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

2010, 2003 by Heather Smith Thomas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

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Storey Publishing

210 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Heather Smith, 1944

Storeys guide to training horses / by Heather Smith Thomas. 2nd ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60342-544-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-60342-553-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. HorsesTraining. I. Title. II. Title: Guide to training horses.

SF287.T46 2010

636.10835dc22

2010009651

To my daughter, Andrea

Your early love of horses and riding was a joy and a help to me as we rode on the range and worked our cattle. As soon as you were big enough to get on a horse by yourself, you began helping train our ranch horses.

I wanted someday to dedicate one of my books to you if I ever wrote one on horse training because you were my training partner with so many young horses. Then in July 2000, you nearly lost your life in a terrible fire. I feared that our wonderful days of riding and training together were over. But you hung on and eventually fought your way back to physical fitness. Its a long, hard road for a person recovering from severe burns, and some things are never the same again, but now, nine years later, you are riding and helping me train horses again.

I am very glad to have this opportunity to dedicate a book to you and so thankful that you are here and able to read it. I am also grateful for your help in looking over the manuscript, just as I have been thankful for all your help during the past 29 years in training our horses.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO TRAIN A HORSE, familiarize yourself with the basics of good horsemanship and be aware of general safety practices. You should also be a good rider and adept at handling horses. The first two chapters of this book are an overview of the fundamentals of good horsemanship and safety and a discussion of horse psychology essentials a trainer must know to properly handle and understand an equine pupil.

Next, the book covers training the horse, starting when he is a baby and moving step-by-step through his growing years. You will learn the manners and habits he should be taught as he grows and as you begin his education as a riding or driving horse. Finally, further schooling and retraining of a spoiled horse are discussed.

You can use this book as a basic training manual for starting any horse: the childs riding or driving pony; horses for Western pleasure or trail riding; horses for working a farm or ranch; horses for English riding and jumping; and horses for any other sport or competition. Youll also get advice on how to handle and correct an older horse with bad habits.

Its always nice to start with a young, unspoiled horse, but sometimes you acquire a horse who is already ill mannered or afraid of people and you must figure out ways to correct his bad habits or overcome his phobias. Its also important that you do not spoil a young horse as you train him, or create more bad manners or problems in an older horse. This book can help you avoid common mistakes that novice horse owners often make.

Many methods of handling and training horses are discussed, and some may seem contradictory. There are a number of approaches to training a horse or dealing with a specific problem; some work well for certain horses but not for others, and sometimes you must resort to something completely different.

As a trainer, you dont always have ideal conditions or the ideal horse. You dont always have the opportunity to imprint a newborn foal or a chance to trailer-train a young horse before you have to haul him somewhere. You may acquire a yearling or two-year-old who had no early training and have to start kindergarten lessons with a horse who is bigger and stronger than you.

To help you, this book will cover the basics, provide some alternatives to traditional training styles, and offer encouragement to be creative and, if necessary, occasionally come up with some approaches on your own. The important thing is to be in tune with your pupil, constantly evaluating what is best for him in each phase of his training and in each lesson. If you always put the horse first choosing methods that will work best for him and moving forward at his individual pace you will do a good job. Your ultimate goal is to see how well you can train your horse, not how far you can progress within a certain time frame. Be patient, and progress at a speed thats right for him.

Horses are often our best teachers. We shouldnt force a horse to conform to our favorite method but instead should strive to accommodate his needs, adapting our training programs to whatever it takes to gain his trust and respect.

Some advice and some discussion of methods will be repeated in various chapters, as they apply to different phases of training or working with a horse under different circumstances. The goal of this book is to help you with all of these phases or circumstances to create a positive and willing partnership.