KBR Horse Training Information Exercising Body AND Mind

Developing Confident Horses
Part Seven
Putting the Concepts to Work

Getting ready to climb aboard.

This page is a continuation from Part Six. Success: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Our efforts are intended to produce horses that have social connections with their handlers and riders, maintain confidence in a wide variety of situations and under many different conditions, and are safe to handle and ride. Therefore we focus heavily on relationships, communication and confidence building early on in the process. After a horse is completely comfortable around people, being handled, being placed in challenging situations and being ridden (comfortable with a rider aboard, including in challenging situations) we will then move on to the finer points of equitation. That's not to say that we don't engage in activities designed to produce a soft feel on the line or reins, flexion, suppleness and a consistent response to various cues, but our primary objective is for the horse to feel confident before we worry about him becoming competent. An anxious horse is a potentially dangerous horse. A confident horse will usually consider his or her handler's or rider's cues and respond more consistently if things become confusing or stressful. As stated previously, there are a number of sensible techniques that can be applied for the training and development of reliable horses and it is not the purpose of this feature to delve into them. Our message in this presentation is that simple, basic engagement of the horse through effective communication and mutual respect - including an understanding of how a horse's emotions work and how they affect learning and safety - can consistently produce safe and trustworthy mounts. Once the horse is safe and reliable, we can then proceed to the finer elements of saddle work. Performing a "pre-flight check" before sitting in the saddle. (Horse's second time being saddled.) We interlace bareback experiences with saddle work. This is a new experience for "Napoleon" but he can still clown around. Getting right to it. Second time under saddle. Back on the obstacles used during ground schooling. Note how even with the new experience of packing a rider, Napoleon carefully focuses on the obstacle. Later - second day under saddle. Casually exploring the stable. No pressure, just confidence building. Doing a "pre-flight check" off lead in the large arena with additional stimulus and other horses present. A few minutes later. Barbara is on board. (Napoleon is her first horse.) Every horse is different and each horse should be approached as an individual. (Please see Part Three if you have not visited that page already.) Your individual success will depend on how well you recognize and apply the approaches that are most appropriate for your particular horse. However if you place a high priority on confidence and communication, the training (or retraining) process should be much safer. Also please remember that the horses presented in this feature are being developed as rescue mounts. While we presented some of our "pre-flight" activities, we do not recommend vaulting or standing on an unfinished horse or taking obstacles under saddle without having undertaken the necessary "bomb proofing" activities so that you know the horse can deal with such activities confidently and quietly. A failed vaulting or standing attempt or an undesirable reaction on the obstacle course can undermine both the horse's and rider's confidence. Please also note that this information has been presented for illustrative purposes. Any ideas or advice from any source, including this feature, should be considered in the context of the reader's environment, level of experience, the behavior and experience of the horse, and always with due regard for safety. If it doesn't seem safe, don't do it. If it isn't getting results, don't continue it. Observe, think and adjust as may be reasonably appropriate. More complete descriptions of specific training approaches that we use can be found in our Training Section. To view the horses and members of our mounted team, please visit Meet the Mounted Team. These horses have also been trained in equine scent detection. To see how we approached that training, please view Equine Scent Detection, Part One.

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