Horse Information - Path of The Horse

Today, I would like to talk to you about why horses shy. I am sure a lot of people would like some idea of why this can happen. There are of course many reasons why a horse shies, and it is sometimes very complicated to say exactly what it is. Many times, however, the horse shies because something spooks him and he wants to get back some control. So instead of performing the act that he is being asked to, he shies. In those circumstances, the best way to get over it is opposite to what most people do. The traditional thing to do is try to get the horse used to the object in question. Instead, try this. Ride your horse past the object, do not pay any attention to it and continue on your way. This way gets the horse over the idea that he needs to control the situation.

Another reason that a horse might shy is because he is afraid of having you on his back. So the best thing to do is to work with him from the ground and get the horse to understand you better and accept your leadership using the Waterhole Rituals™. I know my own horses would never think about shying with me but would shy with a stranger. The reason is that a stranger would not have good leadership ability with my horses, so the bond of trust would not be there.

I had one woman at a horse training seminar with me that always suffered from her horse shying. The problem was that every time her horse would shy on the trail, she would pat him and say, “Good boy, it’s OK.” Well, that caused that horse to become the biggest shying horse I ever saw in my life, because he just wanted to be patted and told that he was a good boy and you can’t blame him!

So when I’m out there riding the trail and my horse becomes nervous, I will sometimes take the alternative approach and just ride him home again. Once there though, I will turn around and ride him out again to the same point that he was nervous before. If he starts to get nervous again, I ride him back home again and back again and keep doing this until he will go down the road quietly enough.

To learn more about Carolyn, her lifelong relationship with the horses and her quest to findthe ideal communication method between man and horse, visit Carolyn Resnick's siteand read her book Naked Liberty published in English and German (Tochter Der Mustangs –Daughter of the Mustangs).

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