Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

hi linda,  start out real basic by just using your lead rope.  flip it over the horse's back, neck, under the belly, around the butt, around the legs,etc., until he stands still for all that.  it might take a while.  jim holland had some good suggestions about scary stuff to expose your horse to in order to keep them from freaking out.  you can hang objects from the saddle so that they will dangle on the horse's legs and under his belly.  get him used to being led around with things bumping him. then use an old saddle, put it on loose and lead your horse around.  you will probably find that you cant get the saddle to slip on its own when you want it to, so pull on it until you have it on the horse's side. walk him around like that for a while(take care to stay out of his path if you need to)  then, when he can tolerate that real well, pull it down farther until you have it under his belly.  again, just be careful, but be confident. it will probably take several sessions of 20-30 minutes a day for about a week to get him where you feel confident that he is ok with all that.  you cant just do it one time and expect the horse to be fine.     in one of the frank hopkins articles i read, he said he used burlap bags stuffed full of hay, and hung them on the saddle.  frank also said that a lot of horse problems are because of "too much patting".  he means pampering.  so make your horse work, but you have to work too.   i also practice falling off my horse, and teaching him to stand there and not run off.  it is not as silly as it seems, and doesnt usually take very long.   good luck.    ed