Alternitive Ways Of Correcting Your Horse!

Alternitive ways of correcting your horse!

As equestrians, we know the importance of correcting a horse’s ‘bad’, undesired, or harmful behavior. But not all of us feel that we are very successful in correcting our horses, and others are wary of the 'old,’ 'traditional,’ and 'cowboy’ ways of correcting a horse(which is more like punishment). I’m not bashing anybody who believes in the traditional ways, I’m only providing alternatives because every horse is different and every horseperson is different, too! These methods are meant to be effective and stress-free.

Correcting common 'bad’ horse habits on the ground

Pawing - a lot of horses will often paw to ground with their front hoof, usually when standing tied. There are many different reasons why horses do this, but I see people correcting them in the same way: whacking the horse with their hand or a tool. This is often painful for both horse and handler, and ineffective in a lot of cases in a lot cases. Instead, next time your horse paws, simply walk up to their neck/head area and really get in their space, then start pawing the ground with you own foot, nearby where your horse is pawing. Horses will more than likely respond to this by stopping, as this ’“mimicking” is a way that horse naturally establish dominance.

Rubbing - I think that most equestrians agree that real life unicorns are a terrible idea, as a common habit that horses exhibit is rubbing their head on their person. Whacking the horse in to correct this is a commonly practice, but horses generally jerk their heads up in response, which puts the human in a dangerous situation. Next time, try the “mimic method” and rub back up against the horse’s head.

Rearing - while lounging or working a horse on the ground, sometimes the horse will face you and rear up. This is usually an act to test you dominance, but there are other reasons a horse may do this. If the horse did not seem to be acting out of self-defense(meaning striking at you with harmful intent), walk toward your horse confidently back them up when they do this. Lead rope are helpful for this, because you can really enforce your dominance, but your confident presence should be enough to make your horse 'submit’ to you, as long as you know what you are doing.

Correcting your horse under saddle

Most unwanted behaviors can be corrected by backing your horse and/or turning them in tight, uncomfortable circles. Horses who refuse jumps can be corrected with persistence and literally “lowering the bar." There are lots of problems that riders have, too many to list, so I will keep this limited and general, but feel free to ask me for advice on something specific! (I don’t know everything but I am always eager to help if I can)

Devices and equipment

The Carrot Sick - this piece of equipment looks just like an orange whip. It is special, though, as it absorbs shock and prevents any real pain or harm on the horse(although you should not be hitting your horse with a whip in the first place). Test it on yourself!

The Buck Buster - I am not one to throw money and new equipment at problems, but there is this thing called to Buck Buster that is basically a halter that you put on under your bridle and attach to your saddle. It prevents the horse from putting his/her head down to buck. I have not personally used it, but if your horse is really bad about bucking or you are training a horse, it seems like a useful and humane product.