Question: I had horses years ago but I never dealt with them, my kids did everything. Now I bought one for my grand daughter and I pretty much know nothing about them but the basics. I was wanting you to just send me as much information that you can on how to train one right. She's too young to really do anything with her, but my grand kids are 2 and 1 and I want the horse to be well mannered and trained right for them.
Thank you
Carlyn
From Panelist Laura
You're right about your new horse being too young for much training, BUT you
do need to insist on good manners. It's a lot easier teaching her to lead,
not bite or kick you now than when she is much older & bigger.
Start your leading sessions after she has had time to get out her energy
running & playing. When you lead, be careful not to apply
much force to the
side - don't yank her head around, try to keep her spine straight.
It is
easy to injure babies by pulling around on them too much. This
doesn't mean
that you should let go of the lead if she wants to take off, just don't
snap
her head around towards her rump. If you have a gentle older
horse around,
it helps to lead a baby next to an older horse until they get used
to moving
forward with you.
I could go on with a whole long list of do's & don'ts, but since
you don't
have much experience with horses, I would strongly suggest you find
a good
trainer in your area who is familiar with working with babies and get
help.
Starting them off right will save everyone a lot of grief in the future.
Laura
