Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

i bet some of you people were hard to toilet train when you were little.

in order to control a horse's body, you have to control the head.  a lot of the problems being described in this thread are a result of horses being ridden before they have had the proper ground work and preparation. i can stop any horse from rearing, without beating, or whacking or anything like that at all.  most horses rear because they are tensed up, scared, or mad.  if you do the right kind of ground work with the horse,  teaching them to flex and give their head to both sides, do lots of one rein stops in both directions, get that horse's neck soft and supple, then the rearing problems generally just disappear.  you cant get this done in 15 minute sessions twice a week, though.  be prepared to work and hour a day for five or six days a week and maybe for two or three weeks, depending on the horse.i have done this with lots of horses.  horses that had formerly been ridden with tiedowns, when i get done with them, you can throw the tiedown away.  it takes patience, repitition, and it is work.   but it is very rewarding, and the horses that i have fixed dont have knots on their heads.  ed kilpatrick, sneads florida