Should i smack my horse

There is a good balance where the horse feels safe, relaxed and content to hand over the decision-making role to the person. This is an earned position in the partnership. Horses are smart enough to realize that people are not horses, and that a human who kicks and growls and slaps is not a herd boss, just a human who lashes out.

When you are riding with a friend and your horse pins his ears at the other horse, he is giving feedback that he is uncomfortable! Growling and slapping him only makes him even more uncomfortable. Ride with a larger space between you or trade places. Make decisions that prove to your horse that you are looking out for him. He will trust and respect you, and he will see you as a good leader for keeping him safe.

The saddle may cause pain from poor fit, the girth may be too tight, you may tighten too abruptly, or the horse simply hates what comes next the ride. It's OK to hit your horse to survive a dangerous situation. That's taking the first meaning of the word.

It is not OK to hit your horse to punish them for something that's already happened. Their brain works quickly and generally operates in the heat of the moment. Only then is action required from you. After the moment, when calmness overcomes the horse, he can think more clearly and enjoy a rewarding connection with you, but in the moment, you must act, you must lead, you must not be afraid to express the first meaning of the word hit, according to this article. You must be able to bump, tap, stimulate, or defend.

One more last thing, but this really is the last thing. Light physical contact is more meaningful and helpful to a horse than visual stimulus. In the world of natural horsemanship, there is a technique that I wish would not be used so frequently. Here is how this ugly technique works: If you ask your horse, while on the ground, to circle around you, and you notice that she isn't responding to your suggestion to go or go faster, some naively trained practitioners will whack the ground with their stick really hard to drive or scare the horse into motion.

I hate this technique because, if you knew more about horses, you'd know they respond better to light physical contact than to fast scary visuals. Besides, who would want to scare their horse into motion anyway? It doesn't make sense! The last thing I want is for my horse to be afraid of fast scary motions from me.

I want them to read me. I want them to see when I want something and when I don't, regardless of my hands and speed. Instead of hitting the ground to scare the horse forward, a soft brush of the whip on the horses shoulder or a tap from behind, doesn't hurt the horse and can help them understand your intention much sooner with much less confusion. If the horse is too far away, the stick might not reach and therefore touch the ground instead, but my intention is always to make contact.

Light contact at first. Because horses respond better to light physical contact to reinforce your intention then they do to heavy visual stimulus. I encourage you to re-read the first few paragraphs of this article. Learn to use words in a different way. Learn to accept multiple meanings and embrace a stronger sense of leadership that's more flexible to challenging situations. By the way, if you haven't yet, take a look at the Horse Mastery Group. Give yourself a chance to truly grow your own leadership, regardless of your level, you will be welcome into the group.

I had a mare who was acting up and I thought about smacking her, but thought twice. I got off her and checked the saddle and girth and finding nothing, looked at her feet.

Her shoes had come loose and were bothering her. I learned a lesson I did not forget. I'm a writer, and my current project, a YA fantasy, depends heavily on the relationship between the main character, a year-old girl, and her horse. One of my colleagues, who grew up on a horse farm, told me that as soon as he read that the girl forms a bond with the horse, he stopped reading, saying that horses don't "bond. What's your opinion?

Also, what reading would you recommend to research this topic, that of the relationship between horses and their owners? Scflo, absolutely tell the trainer. Even if he's not inclined to worry about the "feelings" of the animals - punching a horse in the head can cause serious injury they're not as prone to head injuries as some animals because of the shape of their skull, but horses absolutely CAN get a concussion if you hit them hard enough or in the wrong place and the owner wouldn't be happy!

I have witnessed some of the stable hands coming into work hungover and punching the racehorses in the head and chest just to get rid of their aggression, i think this is so wrong, but do i tell the trainer in charge or keep my mouth shut? To me this is complete and unnecessary abuse, am i wrong?

Maybe the horse doesn't want to be what you want him or her to be for yourself or others. Take a few minutes and grasp that concept. The horse isn't here just to accommodate you and your needs. I beleive hitting a horse with abuse it not wrong and its not abuse we have to use them to be able to have contact with the horse and gets its attention.

It was no accident. They were professionals, training to make and sell show horses. I think the shine had long worn off the job and they were in a place where they didn't care about the horses 'feelings' for lack of a better word.

They had so many horses there to train and care for plus a reputation to uphold in the show ring. I think they forgot somewhere along the way what it was they loved about their work and why they had gotten into the business. I heard them tell stories about horses they had loved so I know they must have started out differently. At one time this stable had many wins in the show ring and sold fine quality show horses.

I believe they would put out great Show horses if they changed their training tactics. They certainly have the experience they need the patience. They clearly didn't know what they were doing. Any training method that causes a horse to bleed is abusive. Needless to say, accidents can happen I've seen it more than once. We live and learn. It's unfortunate that we make other people and animals suffer during the process but, such is life. I haven't seen or spoken to them in a long time so I don't know if they have learned better training methods yet.

I sure hope so. I don't know what kind of bit they were using but they are professional horse trainers, they knew what they were doing. It was very upsetting to me seeing them train, especially when my Mother's horse Nathan the love of her life was brought in from the ring with his mouth cut and bleeding that after a horrible ride. He was yanked this way and that way and the trainer dismounted to whip him once before getting back on him and finishing his 'training'.

It sounds like your horse had never gotten a true release. Also, a mouth should never be bleeding. I say 9 times out of 10 because I once witnessed an incident with a pony.

His owners put him in the mild jointed eggbutt that is very much the 'if in doubt' bit in the English hunt and show jumping community. He got crazier and crazier, and then they realized his bars and gums were bleeding. They were using a cheap bit that was not stainless steel. Cheap bits often contain a lot of nickel I don't blame the owners for that one - who would have thought of it without having encountered it before? You are so right "it is often much more effective to work the horse until the misbehavior ceases and then immediately end the schooling session.

Ending the schooling session once the horse has done what you want is, of course, the ultimate 'release'. The trainer used a whip first for everything. Sometimes the horses mouths would be bleeding when the trainer was done with 'training' the horses. As a result my horse hated to be ridden, pawed anxiously and would act up badly when being ridden.

We were ignorant about horse training that was the only place and those were the only people we were associated with concerning our horses. I took my horse home to our farm where she has been now for several years.

IN the meantime I learned more about dog training, clicker training and positive reinforcement training. I clicker trained my horse and stopped training every time we had success even if that meant only 5 minutes of training. My kids can ride her now, she loves to be ridden and acts disappointing if she isn't.

A complete turnaround from the way she was before I trained her. I am so so so glad I learned positive reinforcement training techniques. I use those same techniques on my children, co workers and family members with great result. Health Problems. Freshwater Pets.

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