Horse round pen training was made famous by the Horse Whisperer, but the truth is you don't have to be a magician to be able to do it yourself.
All it takes is knowing how to recognize the signs the horse is using to communicate with you.
In this article, we're going to describe a process anybody can use for round pen training that can be applied to any horse.
For starters, before you begin you should know what horse round pen training is all about.
The primary reason this is done is that it's a way to firmly establish leadership with a horse.
In place of traditional horse breaking methods, horse round pen training utilizes techniques based on the way horses in wild herds act amongst each other.
In addition, we'll do a couple of things that are designed to mitigate the predator-prey relationship that necessarily exists between a human and her horse.
So basically we're dealing on two levels here.
We need to convince the horse that we're the herd leader, and we need to get her to trust us as a predator.
That sounds like a tall order, but understanding a few things about horses actually makes it simple.
Round pen training of the type we're describing here is done "at liberty", that is we take the lead rope off the horse (you can also remove the halter if you want to).
Lesson number one is that dominant horses in a wild herd move the other horses around.
A round pen allows us to mimic this in a controlled fashion.
We can control when the horse starts to move, which direction she moves, how fast she moves, and when she can come to rest.
By doing that we automatically assume a leadership position in her mind.
The round pen also allows the horse to explore her nature as a prey animal.
As a prey animal, when threatened, your horse wants to escape and evade, and she must investigate all options for escape available.
The round pen makes this simple because she only has two options to flee-to the left and to the right.
Start by sending her out to your left.
In the beginning of the exercise, do this assertively yet gently.
Use your body language to put pressure on the horse.
You can lift and point your left hand to direct her to the left, and then use the lead rope or a carrot stick to put pressure on the hip area.
Eye contact is very important.
Look directly at your horse to put pressure and give her the signal to move away.
As she moves, put pressure so that she moves at a canter.
Have the horse go around about five times.
Then send her out the other direction.
As she is going around the other direction you can begin to look for signs from your horse that she wants to talk.
In horse round pen training, there are four signs we're looking for.
These are an eye/ear on you, a lick of the lips, going around in smaller circles, and lowering of the head.
These mean in turn respect, comfort/trust, trust, and submission.
When she lowers her head she's accepted you as her leader and is asking to be let back into the herd, so to speak.
When you've picked up these four signs from your horse, try taking the pressure off.
Walk backwards away from the horse in a kind of spiral pattern, and exhale.
Now take your eyes of the horse and turn your body at a 45 degree angle to the horse.
At this point, you'll want to try walking up to her.
But don't do it all at once or directly.
The goal here is to approach at a 45 degree angle, and avoid getting anxious about walking all the way up to her.
If you apply too much pressure she'll get the impulse to take off again.
So, avoid direct eye contact by looking down at the ground as you get closer, and stop when you sense signs she is going to run off.
If she does run off again, remember that is her choice.
Don't try to discourage it.
Instead when she runs off again push the horse, and have her go around a few more times and repeat the process.
At some point you'll be able to walk all the way up to the horse and you can assume a leading position so that she is off to your left shoulder.
At this point, invite her to hook on, or follow you.
If successful you will find the horse following your every move.
This is the conclusion of the exercise, as she has accepted you as her leader.
All it takes is knowing how to recognize the signs the horse is using to communicate with you.
In this article, we're going to describe a process anybody can use for round pen training that can be applied to any horse.
For starters, before you begin you should know what horse round pen training is all about.
The primary reason this is done is that it's a way to firmly establish leadership with a horse.
In place of traditional horse breaking methods, horse round pen training utilizes techniques based on the way horses in wild herds act amongst each other.
In addition, we'll do a couple of things that are designed to mitigate the predator-prey relationship that necessarily exists between a human and her horse.
So basically we're dealing on two levels here.
We need to convince the horse that we're the herd leader, and we need to get her to trust us as a predator.
That sounds like a tall order, but understanding a few things about horses actually makes it simple.
Round pen training of the type we're describing here is done "at liberty", that is we take the lead rope off the horse (you can also remove the halter if you want to).
Lesson number one is that dominant horses in a wild herd move the other horses around.
A round pen allows us to mimic this in a controlled fashion.
We can control when the horse starts to move, which direction she moves, how fast she moves, and when she can come to rest.
By doing that we automatically assume a leadership position in her mind.
The round pen also allows the horse to explore her nature as a prey animal.
As a prey animal, when threatened, your horse wants to escape and evade, and she must investigate all options for escape available.
The round pen makes this simple because she only has two options to flee-to the left and to the right.
Start by sending her out to your left.
In the beginning of the exercise, do this assertively yet gently.
Use your body language to put pressure on the horse.
You can lift and point your left hand to direct her to the left, and then use the lead rope or a carrot stick to put pressure on the hip area.
Eye contact is very important.
Look directly at your horse to put pressure and give her the signal to move away.
As she moves, put pressure so that she moves at a canter.
Have the horse go around about five times.
Then send her out the other direction.
As she is going around the other direction you can begin to look for signs from your horse that she wants to talk.
In horse round pen training, there are four signs we're looking for.
These are an eye/ear on you, a lick of the lips, going around in smaller circles, and lowering of the head.
These mean in turn respect, comfort/trust, trust, and submission.
When she lowers her head she's accepted you as her leader and is asking to be let back into the herd, so to speak.
When you've picked up these four signs from your horse, try taking the pressure off.
Walk backwards away from the horse in a kind of spiral pattern, and exhale.
Now take your eyes of the horse and turn your body at a 45 degree angle to the horse.
At this point, you'll want to try walking up to her.
But don't do it all at once or directly.
The goal here is to approach at a 45 degree angle, and avoid getting anxious about walking all the way up to her.
If you apply too much pressure she'll get the impulse to take off again.
So, avoid direct eye contact by looking down at the ground as you get closer, and stop when you sense signs she is going to run off.
If she does run off again, remember that is her choice.
Don't try to discourage it.
Instead when she runs off again push the horse, and have her go around a few more times and repeat the process.
At some point you'll be able to walk all the way up to the horse and you can assume a leading position so that she is off to your left shoulder.
At this point, invite her to hook on, or follow you.
If successful you will find the horse following your every move.
This is the conclusion of the exercise, as she has accepted you as her leader.
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