Horses can become nervous for a lot of reasons. Abuse, neglect and lack of human interaction and sometimes it's due to their emotional make up and they are naturally a little more skittish than other horses. Fortunately, working with your horse on a steady basis will help him become desensitized and learn not to react to people, places and things he would have previously feared. Another name for this type of training is called "bombproofing".

Basically, the training entails exposing your horse to things that make him nervous (one thing at a time) to the point he accepts it as part of his daily routine and no longer fears nor even pays attention to the object or place.

The process is simple, first allow your horse to approach a suspicious item from a distance and work him slowly closer and closer to the object. He will stop as soon as he isn't comfortable any longer. This is the distance you need to bring him in from. If you're riding, dismount and lead your horse slowly forward and talk to him and reassure him he's okay. He may not make it to the item the first or even fourth time you try this and that's okay. Repetition is the key to getting your horse comfortable. It must be the same every time or the process won't work. Meaning, when he approaches the object that makes him skittish such as a car, he needs to know it won't do anything different every time he sees it.

Once he will be get near enough to touch the object, allow him to sniff, taste and bump the object with his head, in this way he'll learn it will not hurt him and soon he'll get bored with it. You can use this method with almost everything your horse is exposed to, just remember repetition and constant, patient training is the key.

Labels: horse, horse-training

In many cases if you're looking for family oriented horse and you have your heart set on a boy, consider a gelding, or rather a male horse that has been neutered.

Stallions were originally the horses used in battle because of their aggression. A stallion would be taken in to battle by a rider because the horse would usually fight as well with their teeth and hooves. A stallion is a thousand plus pound animal that is full of male hormones and can be as territorial and aggressive as he can be alternately sweet and nice. When neutered (made into a gelding) the stallion will lose most of his aggression and the sweet and nice parts of his personality will be brought out.

A gelding makes a wonderful companion animal and you'll find if you don't have to fight the hormone battle that is raging in most stallions during your training period, it will go much better. The territorial and challenging aspect your horse's personality will be greatly lessened and his want to please and be a companion will be increased.

Gelding is best done on young horses. Some vets won't work on an older horse and in many cases, once the horse has reached maturity, gelding him won't damper his stallion spirit too much. Once you've removed the hormonal rush factor in your horse, you'll be seeing a wonderfully trainable animal that will make a fabulous companion for years to come.

Labels: gelding, horse