As your horse moves in a circle, it's your job to keep him honest and keep him against the fence - not taking shortcuts through your space. If he does try to take a shortcut across the pen, and he very likely will try it, you need to move him back out against the rail by smacking the ground or pointing the whip at his shoulder. Keep doing that until he does a few nice clean rounds staying against the rail. Stop him and praise and pet him. Once that is almost automatic, it's time to change directions and work on the other side. If he was working right to left, now it's time to work him left to right.
The goal in this direction is the same as it was in the other direction. And here's some good news, in many instances once the horse has already learned what you want on one side, they may not take as long to train on the other side.
That being said, it's important to keep in mind that the sides of a horse's brain are not connected as they are in humans. So what a horse learns on one side has to be completely retaught to other side. Some horses display noticeable "good side/bad side" learning behaviors. You will be able to tell if this is the case with your horse once you have had the chance to work from both sides.
This is a popular topic of discussion and debate on horse websites. So what you teach a horse on the right side must be taught equally thoroughly on the left side. There's not better example of this than lunging. But don't let this discourage you. It just needs to become part of your training routine to work both sides of your horse in every single lesson.
Start your lunging lessons with the basics of start, walk, and stop. Next you'll teach him to trot and lope. Signal the trot by raising the whip to about a 45-degree angle. Raise your shoulders and trot. If the horse doesn't trot, cluck to him. If that does not work, crack the whip. Once in the trot (you and your horse - bet you didn't think you'd need to be in such good shape did you?), maintain your body and whip position. Your horse should trot until you tell him to slow down by relaxing your shoulders, dropping the end of the whip, and slowing to a walk.
For the canter, raise the whip a bit higher than for the trot and kiss to the horse. And yes, you will be running as well. The nice thing about this process, aside from the fact you will be in great shape when the two of you are done, is that the horse will have learned to listen to you and respond to body and voice commands. It's always a very special feeling to see the end results of patient and loving training.
The goal in this direction is the same as it was in the other direction. And here's some good news, in many instances once the horse has already learned what you want on one side, they may not take as long to train on the other side.
That being said, it's important to keep in mind that the sides of a horse's brain are not connected as they are in humans. So what a horse learns on one side has to be completely retaught to other side. Some horses display noticeable "good side/bad side" learning behaviors. You will be able to tell if this is the case with your horse once you have had the chance to work from both sides.
This is a popular topic of discussion and debate on horse websites. So what you teach a horse on the right side must be taught equally thoroughly on the left side. There's not better example of this than lunging. But don't let this discourage you. It just needs to become part of your training routine to work both sides of your horse in every single lesson.
Start your lunging lessons with the basics of start, walk, and stop. Next you'll teach him to trot and lope. Signal the trot by raising the whip to about a 45-degree angle. Raise your shoulders and trot. If the horse doesn't trot, cluck to him. If that does not work, crack the whip. Once in the trot (you and your horse - bet you didn't think you'd need to be in such good shape did you?), maintain your body and whip position. Your horse should trot until you tell him to slow down by relaxing your shoulders, dropping the end of the whip, and slowing to a walk.
For the canter, raise the whip a bit higher than for the trot and kiss to the horse. And yes, you will be running as well. The nice thing about this process, aside from the fact you will be in great shape when the two of you are done, is that the horse will have learned to listen to you and respond to body and voice commands. It's always a very special feeling to see the end results of patient and loving training.
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