My name is Pat Elder and I own Rosa Roca Training Stable in Oklahoma City, OK. Welcome to my blog!

Here at Rosa Roca, I specialize in natural training for Miniature Horses and American Shetlands. Natural training means teaching in a way that the horse can understand. As much as we'd love to be able to explain to our horse what we want him to do, it won't work. "I'd like you to walk into this horse trailer, Smokey. I know it looks dark and scary, but it's safe. So, just walk in without a fight, okay?" But the horse won't understand that. To him, you're still asking him to walk into a strange, dark cave that frightens him.

Think about horses in the wild. They are herd and prey animals. They rely on a strong leader to keep them safe and tell them where to go. Our domesticated horses still have all of their wild instincts. They want and need a strong leader. If they don't have one, they will become the leader and will dictate where they go and what they do. We must become the leader our horse needs so that he will follow us with respect and a lack of fear.

Horses react to danger, whether real or imaginary, in predictable ways. Their first line of defense is their speed. When faced with something that frightens them, they run away. If they can't run, they fight. They bite, they kick, they buck. It's our job as trainers and owners to teach the horse to curb his natural reactions and to think, instead.

Correct training is important for every horse, whether he's a show horse or a backyard pet. No one wants a horse that they can't catch or that kicks them if they step into his stall. But what everyone needs to realize is that every single time we handle a horse we're teaching him something. We might be teaching him that's it's okay to bite us or step on us. We might be teaching him to pull against the halter and drag us around when we lead him. We're not teaching him these things intentionally, but by not correcting the problem, we're actually reinforcing it.

My Natural Horse Training techniques give the horses I’m training a strong leader to follow. I gain their respect by making them move and stop when I tell them. In addition, the horses at Rosa Roca get the opportunity to overcome their fears and to develop trust in their handlers. I do a lot of the preliminary work in the round pen, where my horses learn that plastic bags, bouncing balls, and paper sacks are not objects to fear. They learn to face me rather than turn their heels or run away. They work over small jumps which strengthens their muscles, builds their endurance, boosts their self confidence, and gives them something new to think about.

Rosa Roca has successfully trained horses and ponies of all temperaments and abilities. I can teach your horse the things he needs to make his life, and yours, better and happier. My methods are safe and consistent, and they're easy for horses and their owners to understand.

COMING NEXT: some roundpen methods that WORK to gain your horse's respect and trust.

MEANWHILE: Check out my books and training videos at smallhorse.com

Prey animals like horses all exhibit a flight or fight response to danger, whether real or imagined. A horse's first line of defense is their speed. When something frightens them, they run away and wonder what it was that startled them later, at a safe distance. If they can't run, they'll try to fight. They might strike with their front feet or kick with their rear. They might bite. They might charge and try to run over their attacker.

We as humans probably aren't in terrible danger of being killed or seriously injured by our Miniature Horses, and even our bigger Shetland Ponies, if they try to fight. But it certainly isn't something that most of us ever want to experience, either. Neither do we want to be dragged away by a panicked horse every time something frightens him. And, let's face it, most of us would feel a lot better if we knew that our horses weren't living in constant fear of things that can't possibly hurt them. And, if our animals could speak to us, they'd likely tell us that they don't want to be afraid, either.

So, how do we teach our horses to overcome their fear? By frightening them and letting them live through it. It's not QUITE that simple, but it's not hard, either. It's called desensitizing – teaching the horse not to be overly sensitive to a frightening object. Here's how to do it.

Take your horse to a safe, enclosed area. A round pen is perfect if you have one. Otherwise an arena or a small fenced lot will do. It's just important that if he can't get away from you. Put him on a lunge line that's at least15' long. Tell him whoa and back away from him, putting yourself in a safe spot which is neither directly in front of him or directly to the side. You want to be at an angle from his shoulder and at least 5' away. This way, if he runs forward or strikes with his front feet, you'll be too far to the side to get hurt, and if he spins to kick you'll be too far forward for him to hit you.

Keep him on a loose rein but not so loose that it touches the ground between you and your horse. Pick up the tail end of the rope in your free hand and twirl it slowly in the air at your side, on the side AWAY from your horse. Does he try to run away? If so, just keep twirling. Resist the urge to yell "Whoa!" or to try to stop him with the lunge line. Let him run a circle around you while you continue to slowly twirl the rope.

NOTE: Don't look him in the eye as you're doing this. Keep your posture very non-threatening. In other words, don't look as if you're trying to chase him or make him run. Instead, be casual. You just happen to be standing there twirling the rope while you're holding him.

Eventually, he'll stop running in circles around you. It might take a minute, it might take 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, just keep slowly twirling that rope. Whatever you do, DON'T STOP TWIRLING!

As my favorite Aussie horse trainer is fond of saying, "Horses don't learn from pressure. They learn from the release of pressure." In other words, if you stop twirling that rope (releasing the pressure) while he's still running away from it, you've taught him to run away from it. If you keep twirling until he stops (and more on this in a minute), you've taught him that if he wants the twirling to stop, he has to stop first. When the rope stops twirling, that's the release of pressure. Whatever your horse is doing when that twirling stops is what he'll learn to do when he's frightened.

Okay, so he finally stops. Keep twirling for a bit and look at him. Are his eyes still wide? Is he braced to run at any moment? If so, keep twirling. Make sure your posture is non-threatening (you're not chasing him, remember) but don't stop twirling until he shows you some sign that he's relaxing or until he stands there for 15 seconds or so. What are the signs of relaxing? He might lick his lips, he might lower his head an inch or more, he might cock a hind leg, or he might take a deep breath. As soon as you see ANY of these signs of relaxation, or as soon as he can stand still by himself for 15 seconds or so, stop twirling the rope and tell him "Good boy."

Walk up and pet him if you'd like to. Don't fawn all over him, though, because he needs to think about what's just happened. If you want to pet him, fine, but just run your hand down his nose or pat him on the shoulder, then back away again.

What do you do now? Start twirling that rope again. Keep your body relaxed and casual and let your horse do whatever he needs to do to cope with the swinging rope. If he runs again, fine. Don't ask him to stop just keep twirling. When he stops for 15 seconds or stops and relaxes, you can stop twirling.

How many times should you do this in one session? Until he quits being afraid of the twirling rope. It's that simple. You're trying to teach him that if he runs from the swinging rope, it will only keep swinging. Only by stopping and facing his fears will the twirling stop. When he learns this lesson, then you've accomplished the task.

Depending upon how long this session has taken and upon how tired you and your horse are, I recommend that you switch hands with the rope and twirl it on the other side of him. Just because he's stopped being fearful of it on one side doesn't mean he's not going to be afraid of it when it's on the other side. In fact, he probably will be.

Ever wonder why your horse might spook from something when he passes it the first time but doesn't spook when you come past it from the other direction? It's because he's seeing it out of his other eye. A horse might be terrified of a white plastic sack on his right side but totally okay with it on his left side. Part of this is because we normally handle our horses more from one side than the other, and part of it is that that's just how a horse's brain works.

Whatever you teach on one side you have to re-teach on the other. If you've had a hard session already, the other side can wait until tomorrow, but I recommend that you desensitize both sides with the twirling rope on the same day if you can. Eventually, he'll just cock an ear towards it and look bored. When that happens, Congratulations! You've just desensitized your horse to a twirling rope.

In later sessions, you can twirl the rope harder, smacking the ground with it. You can twirl it closer to him, a little closer each time, until he can accept it without fear slapping the ground right beside him. It probably won't take as long as you think it will unless you have a really frightened, reactive horse. Most of our Miniature Horses will learn this lesson in a surprisingly short time.

Next blog: more desensitizing and the start of sensitizing (teaching our horses to be soft and compliant to our cues).

So you've desensitized your horse to a slowly swinging rope. Hopefully, you've taken this step all the way through and your horse can now calmly accept you slapping the ground with the rope close to his feet. If not, you need to keep working with him, stopping the swinging whenever he stops and relaxes and getting the rope closer the next time.

NOTE: Don't tippy-toe around your horse. The only way to get him desensitized and unafraid of a swinging, slapping-the-ground rope is to REALLY do it. Slap the ground hard with it (but be sure you don't accidentally slap HIM with it!) until he can tolerate it without fear. Don't plead with him or soothe him with your voice. This is something HE has to learn on his own. Believe me, he will.

Assuming that you can no longer frighten your horse with a swinging, slapping-the-ground, twirling rope no matter which side of him you do it, then you're ready to move on. The next step of desensitizing is to get him used to the rope actually touching him.

Stand in your safe spot (at an angle from his shoulder and about 5 feet away from him) and swing the rope gently back and forth – away from him and then along the ground towards his feet. After yesterday's lesson, this shouldn't bother him. If it does, continue to do it, first on one side and then the other, until he's no longer afraid of it.

Now, gently toss the end of the rope across his back. I say "gently" because you don't want it to slap him or sting him when it lands. When it lands on his back, immediately pull it off and toss it at him again. Just as in the first lesson, if he runs or acts frightened, keep doing it. Under no circumstances should you stop tossing that rope across his back until he's comfortable with the idea. Don't tell him "whoa" and don't yank on his head. Let him learn this lesson himself.

What if he spooks and gets so far away that you can't reach him with the rope? Just keep tossing it in his direction until he calms down and relaxes. Then step up closer and start tossing it over his back again.

Do this on both sides. When he's able to stand still for at least 15 seconds or when he stops and relaxes, stop tossing the rope at him. Reward him with a few minutes rest and maybe a brief pat on the face or shoulder. Next, still standing in your safe spot, toss the rope across his neck. Remember to do it gently so it won't hurt him. Do this on both sides until he's relaxed then start tossing it over his hindquarters and around his back legs. He's likely to object to this a bit more. No problem. Just keep doing it until he's okay with it. If he runs, keep throwing it at his hind legs until he can stand still comfortably with the rope gently hitting and even wrapping around his hind legs.

Again, do this on both sides. Remember, just because the left side of your horse can tolerate the rope around his back legs doesn't mean that the right side of him can. It's important to work until BOTH sides are happy and relaxed.

When he's bored and about to go to sleep (or at least relaxed), then you can stop the desensitizing for the day. Now, we move on to sensitizing.

To be responsive and easy to handle, a horse needs to be sensitive to our commands and cues. Ever have a riding or driving horse that was "hard mouthed?" All that means is that he was insensitive to the bit. With a little work, even the most hard-mouthed horse can learn to be light and sensitive. Here's how to do it.

Stand beside your horse right about where the girth or cinch would go if he had a saddle on, facing him. In other words, stand right behind his shoulder and right at the front of his ribcage with your belly button pointed toward his belly. Hold the lunge line in the hand closest to his tail, leaving some slack in it. With the hand closest to his head, reach down and grasp the lead rope about 2 feet from his halter. Holding tightly to the rope, move that hand up and grasp his withers, right where his neck joins his back. The rope should feel tight. Hold it there until you feel a little release of pressure that means that the horse has turned his head slightly in answer to your pull on his halter.

NOTE: I highly recommend a rope halter for this step. Its thinner nose band discourages a horse from leaning on it and pulling on you. If you don't have one, though, use the thinnest nylon or leather halter that you have.

What if, instead of turning his head, he just pulls harder or starts to turn in a circle? Follow him. Lay your free hand on his hip, maybe even grasping the hip bone on the far side, and stay with him. Try not to let him get away from you. You need to continue that pressure on his nose until he yields to it, even if it's only a fraction of an inch. Some horses will do this in a minute or two, but with some it will take up to 15 minutes. Believe me, he'll give in eventually.

For the toughest horses who insist on running circles around me, I often drape the end of the lunge line around their butt so that I can use it to discourage movement.

The second that you feel even the slightest slack in the rope, open your hand and let go of the rope (but continue to hold it with your other hand, the one on his hip, so that he won't run off). Remember how we learned that a horse learns not from pressure, but from the release of pressure? Well, your immediate release of the pressure when he yields will teach him that all he has to do to get you to stop pulling on him is to give you his nose.

The first several times that you do this, your horse may only give you an inch or two of slack. Each time, reward him instantly by letting go of that rope. When you think he's grasping the concept, start insisting that he give you a few more inches of slack. In other words, if he's been turning his head 2 inches to get his release, start making him turn his head 5 inches before you release him. By slowly increasing the amount of "turn and give" that you require, you'll eventually have him turning his head completely around and touching his side with his muzzle.

As with all lessons, do this on both sides. When your horse is giving you his head softly (even if he's only going halfway to his side instead of all the way), stop for the day.

You've done well! Your horse can now tolerate a twirling, slapping-the-ground rope, a rope swinging across his back and neck and around his hind legs, and he's giving softly to the pressure on his halter instead of pulling on you and being stiff.

If you've done your homework, your horse should now be able to tolerate a rope being twirled beside him, smacking the ground near him, and being tossed lightly over his neck, back, and around his hindquarters and rear legs. For the next step, I use something lighter than a lunge line – I use my lunge whip.

Stand again in your safe spot, at an angle from his shoulder and about 5 feet away. Hold your lunge whip in the hand farthest from him and hold the lead rope in your other hand. Just as you did with the end of the rope, start swinging the lash of the whip along the ground. Is he okay with that? If not, keep doing it until he relaxes. If he's fine with the idea, then start lightly swinging it across his back, neck, and eventually around his hind end and back legs. It shouldn't bother him much if the other lessons were completed successfully. If he has any issues, keep doing whatever scares him until he can tolerate it.

NOTE: There's no timetable in horse training. Don't rush. If you can breeze through all of these lessons in one short session, wonderful! If each lesson takes you five or even ten sessions, that's fine too. Just don't move onto the next step until your horse is okay with the one you're working on. If you see any serious regression (such as if your horse suddenly can't or won't tolerate the rope beside him) temporarily move back to the earlier lessons. He should remember them quickly and be ready to move on.

Once your horse is comfortable with the lash of the lunge whip touching him on his back, legs, hips, and hind legs, start draping it over his head, between his ears, and around his front legs. This is a great way to get a horse over being ear-shy! When he stops flinching away, use the end of the whip shaft and briefly rub his forehead or the side of his neck. Give him a few seconds to think about his lesson before you continue. Rub the whip under his belly, between his legs, and up and down the sides of his body. By the time you're ready to quit for the day, he should be tolerant of the whip lash touching him anywhere.

That's enough desensitizing for the day. Now, drop the whip and step up beside him in "sensitizing" position. Reread the previous post if you don't recall it. Grasp the rope about 2 feet from his halter, draw your hand back to his withers, and wait for him to give you some softness on the rope. As soon as you feel any slack, let go of that portion of the rope as his reward. With any luck, you'll soon have him turning his head at least halfway and maybe even touching his side with his nose. Repeat this lesson on both sides. If one side is "stiffer" than the other, work a bit longer on that side until it's as good and soft as the other side.

Well done! Tomorrow, we'll move on to more in-depth desensitizing and teach your horse not to fear plastic bags!

Almost every horse in the world is afraid of plastic bags. Why? Because they blow in the breeze and make a noise. Those are two of the most common "triggers" that frighten horses into either running or fighting. So, as good owners, we need to help our horses overcome this fear and to realize that a plastic bag isn't going to hurt them.

Take your horse to your enclosed area or round pen.

NOTE: If you don't have a round pen already, it's time to build one, as you'll really need it very soon. These can be made of corral panels, wooden rails, or (my favorite) heavy wire cattle panels and t-posts. I recommend a round pen that's 35 to 40 feet across. Any smaller and you risk getting kicked or run over by a rambunctious horse, any bigger and you'll be doing a lot of running.

Okay, let's get started. Take a white plastic bag (Walmart bags work perfectly) and tear a hole in the bottom of it so that it won't balloon up with air. Run the lash of your lunge whip through both of the "handles" and tie a single knot.

Stand once again in your safe spot, at an angle and a few feet away from his shoulder. Make sure your body is relaxed and non-threatening. Holding the lunge whip in the hand farthest from your horse, start to bounce the bag up and down as far away from your horse as you can get it. Chances are it will frighten him and he'll try to run away.

Let him. Just keep following him, making sure your language body isn't threatening. Keep bouncing that bag! Remember, if you stop bouncing it while he's trying to run away, you're actually TEACHING him to run away from it. Only stop bouncing it when he can stand still and face you, and hopefully show some signs of relaxing and accepting the frightening thing. When he does, stop bouncing the bag, tell him he's a good boy (or girl, as the case may be) and give him about 30 seconds to think about what's happened. Then, start bouncing that bag again.

Continue with this until you can no longer frighten him with the bag far away from him. Now, move it slightly closer and start bouncing it again. As before, don't stop if he runs away. Just go with him, resisting the urge to yell "Whoa!" or to jerk on his head. Let him find out for himself that stopping and relaxing will get him what he wants – for that darn bag to stop bouncing!

When he can handle the bag this close to him, move it even closer. Don't, however, try to touch him with it. He's not ready for that yet. And don't forget to repeat the lesson on the other side of your horse. Hopefully, by the time this session is over, your horse will be comfortable with the white plastic bag bouncing right beside his feet. Work with it in front of him, too. Again, start far away and gradually get it closer as your horse learns to tolerate it. Eventually, you should be able to flick it back and forth on the ground right under his nose without frightening him.

When you've gone as far as you feel you can go with this lesson, stop and sensitize him again. Get him to softly turn his head in response to your halter pressure. By now, hopefully, he'll actually touch his side with his nose, or at least bring his nose close to your elbow. Remember, you don't want to "pull" his nose around. You want him to yield to the halter pressure by giving his nose to you willingly. When he seems softer than the last time you handled him, it's time to move on to something new. Let's teach your horse to lunge, shall we?

NOTE: If the horse you're working with is a weanling or young yearling, don't do a lot of lunging with him. Their bones are so soft at this age that the pressure of running in a tight circle can damage them. Ten minutes or so should be the maximum for a youngster, while an older, more mature horse can tolerate up to 20 or 30 minutes.

First, take the plastic bag off of your lunge whip and tuck it away in your pocket. You won't need it again today. Now, move into your safe spot, only this time step back a few feet further. You want to start at least 10 to 12 feet away from your horse.

Hold the lunge line in your right hand with the whip in your left. If you want to, gather the end of the lash up and hold it against the handle, so that you won't accidently sting him with the lash. Raise your right arm from the shoulder and point up high to your right. This is the direction you want your horse to move. Of course, he doesn't understand what you mean, so we'll have to teach him.

Make a sound to encourage him to move. Personally, I use a clucking sound for walk or trot and a "smooch" or kissing sound when I want him to lope. To make this lesson simple, I'm going to assume that you're using the same cues that I use. So, keep pointing to your right and cluck.

Chances are extremely good that nothing will happen. This is where your lunge whip comes into play. No, you're not to beat him with it. You're only going to use it as an extension of your arm. Tap the side of your horse, whatever part of him you can reach with the lash end of the whip. The idea is to annoy your horse and get him to turn away from it and turn towards your right. If he does, immediately start tapping his hindquarters to get him to go forward. Meanwhile, continue pointing and clucking.

The second he takes even a single step forward and towards your right, stop clucking. Keep your arm raised, though, as a visual cue of where you want him to go. If he stops after only a few steps, and he probably will, start tapping him again. If he's turned to face you, then tap his shoulder, neck, or even the side of his head. If his side is facing you, tap his hindquarters. Get him moving again. As soon as he starts going in a circle around you (hopefully at a trot or lope), stop giving your verbal cue and gradually lower your arm to a more comfortable position.

Let him continue around the circle several times. If he's trotting, great! If he's walking, cluck and tap him with the lunge whip until he speeds up. If he's loping, let him, but remember that we're not trying to wear him out. If he wants to slow down to a trot, allow him to do so.

Try to ask him to stop before he stops on his own. To do this, move your lunge line to the hand holding the whip and slide your now-free right hand up the rope towards his head. Pull backwards toward your body and say "Whoa." If he stops, pull enough to get him to face you and tell him he's a good boy. If he doesn't stop, slide your hand further up the rope, say "Whoa" again and pull. Do this as many times as it takes until he stops and faces you. Then, let him stand there for a minute or so to catch his breath and think about what he's learned.

Okay, what about the horse that just doesn't seem to get it? You're pretty sure you've done everything right and your horse is still standing there facing you, refusing to turn sideways and start moving around you in a circle. Or worse, he's running backwards and seems completely confused. What now?

First of all, resist the urge to move around him in a circle trying to get behind him. Instead, keep your feet planted firmly on the ground and keep pointing, clucking, and tapping him with that whip. If he's running backwards, let the fence help you. When he backs up against it, he'll have to either just stand there and be annoyed with the tapping of the whip or he'll have to move left or right. If he refuses to move or just doesn't get it, tap a bit more forcefully. Remember that you're just using the shaft of the whip, not the lash, so you're not hurting him. But you HAVE to get your point across to him, no matter how firmly you have to tap him. Just keep increasing the pressure until he at least turns slightly away from you. If he makes even the slightest attempt and actually takes a step away from the whip with his front end, stop tapping and stop clucking for a few seconds.

He's got to learn that by moving away from the pressure of the whip, even slightly, that the pressure will stop.

Now, start pointing, clucking, and tapping again. If he takes another step away from the pressure and towards your right, stop applying pressure in the form of tapping and clucking. Keep pointing. Hopefully, he'll move off to your right and start lunging. If not, point, cluck, and tap until he does.

NOTE: Horses understand body position and they understand a strong leader when they meet one. But the more dominant your horse's personality is, the longer he'll resist the urge to obey you. You HAVE to become the "alpha leader" in his mind or he's never going to respect you and do what you ask without fighting about it. Be as firm as you need to be but as gentle as possible until you get your way. But don't quit with a lesson until it's clear that he understands it and that he's trying to do what you're asking.

When you have him lunging, at least one direction, stop for the day. Do a little sensitizing before you put him up to make certain that he's staying soft and supple for you.

Tomorrow's session: Teaching him to lunge both directions and turn and stop on command.

In the last session, you taught your horse to lunge a little, at least in one direction. Today, we're going to expand on that lesson.

Start off as you did yesterday, facing your horse and about 10 to 12 feet away from him. Using your whole arm (the hand holding the lunge line), point where you want him to go and cluck. If he doesn't immediately start lunging, and he probably won't, use your lunge whip to tap him until he does. Don't let him be a lazy butt and only walk around you. Make him put a little effort into it and at least trot. If he insists on loping or galloping, let him, but encourage him to slow down to a trot. The cue I use is "Trot," said very slowly so that it comes out more like "T-t-t-t-r-r-r-o-o-o-o-o-t-t-t-t." Something about saying a word slowly like this tends to make a horse slow down.

NOTE: Don't, whatever you do, use the word "Whoa" to make him slow down. Whoa doesn't mean "go slower." It means "stop and don't move until I tell you." Think of it as your emergency break and only use it when you want a complete and total stop.

Let him make a few circles around you, several if he's really fresh and wanting to run. Watch closely for any indication that he's about to slow way down or stop. You want to be the one who decides when it's time to stop or turn around. It can't be his decision. If he does stop or try to turn before you ask, don't let him. Make him go back the same way you asked him to go.

Let's teach him to turn on command. First, stop him by switching your lunge line to your whip hand and sliding your free hand up the rope towards his head. Pull back towards your body and say "Whoa." Step back towards the center of the pen if you have to so that you can pull his head towards you. As soon as he stops (no matter how many times you have to repeat the "Whoa" cues), switch hands with your whip, point with your rein hand, and ask him to change directions. If he doesn't immediately move off in the new direction, start tapping whatever part of him you can reach with your whip until he does.

Once he's changed directions, let him go a few circles then repeat the stop and direction change. Do this several times until you can see by his reactions that he understands the lesson. When you think he's got it, tell him "Whoa" and make him stop and face you. Reach up with the end of your lunge whip and rub his forehead or the side of his neck.

TOMORROW: Teaching your horse to respect your personal space.

Have you ever just sat and watched a herd of horses? If not, I recommend that you do so. Notice that there is one dominant horse. If that dominant or "alpha" horse decides that he or she wants to stand in a certain spot, the others move away. If not, the alpha horse will pin his ears at them. If they still don't move, the alpha horse with show his teeth, bite them, or swing his hips toward them and kick if necessary to get his point across. The other horses are just not allowed to be in the dominant horse's space.

YOU must become your horse's alpha leader. Why? Because you don't want to get stepped on, kicked, or bitten. If your horse respects you as his alpha, he won't crowd you, push you out of his way, nip you, or do any of the other things that are annoying and potentially dangerous to us humans.

But how do I gain my horse's respect, you ask? You've already started. By making your horse move when you tell him to, and by dictating where he moves and how fast, you've taken a big step towards making him respect you. But, there's more work to be done. We're going to teach your horse to back away from you when you ask him.

Take your horse to the round pen or enclosed area. With your lunge line in one hand and the tail of it in the other, take a single step back from your horse (at an angle, remember, so you won't be directly in front of him).  Pretend that there's an invisible circle around you, at least the length of your arm, and make the decision that your horse shouldn't be within that circle unless you invite him.

To make him back out of your circle, shake the section of lead rope that's between your hand and his halter. Start by shaking it back and forth and annoying him with it. He'll probably raise his head and hopefully move at least one foot backwards. If he does, wonderful! Stop shaking the rope. Remember that he'll learn from the release of pressure, which in this case is that the rope stops shaking.

If he doesn't move, and he likely won't, shake the rope harder. Annoy him until he moves, shaking the rope harder and harder until you get results. Make him uncomfortable. If he still won't back up, you might try shaking the rope up and down so that the metal clip of your lunge line bumps the bottom of his jaw. He HAS to move at least one foot backwards before you can stop.

Every time he moves a foot away from you, reward him with a release of the pressure. In other words, stop shaking the rope and let him stand there for a moment or two as a reward. Once you get one step consistently, start asking for two steps. Keep shaking that rope and annoying him until he takes at least two steps away from you. Then stop and let him think about it.

What if he just won't move? That's where the end of your lead rope comes into play. Swing the end of it against his chest, firmly enough that it gives him the incentive to back up. Pop him a little with it if necessary. He can't be allowed to just stand there and ignore you when you ask him to back up. You're the alpha, remember? He HAS to learn to obey you.

Once he's backed away from you at least 2 or 3 times, draw him up to you by pulling on the rope. Pet his forehead. Tell him he's a good boy. Then take a step backwards away from him (just to give yourself enough room to stay safe) and shake the rope again. Be as firm as you have to be but as gentle as possible until he backs away.

When he's doing this consistently, move on to something else. This would be a great time to practice your lunging. Point in the direction you want him to go (always point with the hand holding the lunge line) and make him lunge around you. Practice his stops and turns. If he lopes, practice slowing down to a trot as you learned in a previous lesson. If he walks, cluck and bump him with your whip until he speeds up.  When he's lunging well both directions, make him stop, go up to him and pet his face briefly, then shake the rope and make him back away from you.

From now on, with every training session, you should practice making him back out of your space. Eventually, you won't have to, as he'll learn not to come that close to you unless you invite him by pulling him close with his lead rope. Also, remember to practice sensitizing him. You don't have to do this with every training session, but you don't want him to forget it, either, and go back to being stiff and heavy on the halter.

When you're finished with his training for the day, walk around with him for a few minutes. If he crowds you, bumping into your arm or side while he's walking, tug sharply on the lead and make him back out of your space. From now on, he's never going to be allowed to crowd you or bump into you. If he does, correct him by tugging or shaking the lead until he backs away. Then, go on walking as if nothing has happened and give him the chance to make the mistake again.

NOTE: Resist the urge to try to prevent your horse from making mistakes. The only way he'll learn is by actually making the mistake (in this case, crowding you) and being corrected for it. You can hold him at arm's length away from you from now until the end of time and he'll never learn to respect your space. Make him responsible for learning the lesson.

NEXT LESSON: More lunging equals more respect.

Is your horse working well on a lunge line, stopping and turning on command? Will he consistently back away out of your personal space when you shake his lead? If not, work on those lessons for however many sessions it takes for him to learn them before you move on to this lesson.

Now, we're going to combine helping him overcome another fear with gaining more of his respect.

All horses are afraid of tight, confined places. It's instinctual. Consider horses in the wild. If they get trapped in a tight, small place, they're more vulnerable to predators. Most of our Miniature Horses don't have as strong a "wild instinct" as full size horses do, but they're still horses. Fear of being trapped is why many horses hesitate to go through narrow gates, into dark stalls, or onto horse trailers. It's self-preservation.

We need to teach our horses that we're not going to do anything that we think will get them hurt. They need to learn that if we say to do something, that it's safe and they needn't be afraid of it. They need to learn to trust us and to respect our opinion.

Take your horse back to your round pen or enclosed area and get him started lunging. This time, however, let him go only about half a circle before you stop and turn him. Once he's gone half a circle in the other direction, stop and turn him again.

Is he being lazy in his turns? Does he just slow down to a stop, face you like he's bored to death then step casually through his turn? If so, we need to light a bit of a fire under him. You're the alpha leader, remember? What do you suppose would happen if he did this with the dominant horse? He'd probably get bitten or kicked for his lack of respect. When the alpha says, "Move!" your horse needs to pick up and go, quickly. No, not out of fear, but out of respect. There's a big difference.

So, if he's lazy in his turns, encourage him to move faster. When you ask for that change of direction, promptly move your whip to the other hand and pop him a little on the butt. Make it as uncomfortable as it needs to be to really get him to turn and trot or gallop off into the other direction. You shouldn't be abusive, but you have to get your point across. "I said move, and move now!"

When he's starting to turn with a little snap to his movements, stop and reward him with a few moments of rest. Now, I want you to move closer to the fence. Stop when you're about 10 feet away from it. Ask your horse to lunge between you and the fence. As soon as he does, stop and turn him. When he passes between you and the fence going in the new direction, stop and do it again. And again. After the first few times, start inching closer to the fence. Eventually, you want him to go through a space only 5 or 6 feet wide, with the fence on one side and you on the other.

If the confined space frightens him at any point, hold your position and work on that until he's comfortable. In other words, if you get so close to the fence that he starts refusing, don't go any closer to the fence until he can pass between it and you without fear.

What is he learning here? To respect your judgment. He's also learning that small, confined spaces are safe if you tell him that they're safe. So he's also learning to have faith in your decisions and to trust you.

When he seems comfortable with this exercise, move on to something else. Now would be a great time to pull that plastic bag out of your pocket and continue desensitizing him with it. As before, tie it onto the lash of your whip, step into the center of the pen where you'll have enough room, and start bouncing it far away from him. If he's unconcerned, keep moving it closer and closer until it's bouncing right beside his feet. Remember to do it on both sides and in front of him, working longer on any spot that you have trouble with. Don't quit with him for the day until he's at least as good as he was the first time you worked with the bag. Hopefully, he'll be even better today.

If he's hot or bothered when you finish, or if you just feel he needs the practice, work on a little sensitizing, bending his head several times to each side, to relax him and to soften his responses.

TOMORROW: Stepping up the difficulty level.

Today, we're going to do some more work with the plastic bag. Another think you'll need to have on hand are a plastic tarp (it needn't be too large, but it shouldn't have holes in it that could catch his feet). If you don't have a plastic tarp, an old blanket or bed sheet will work. If you don't have that, use a sheet of plywood (no nails, please!) or even some paper feed bags that you've torn open along one side and the bottom so they're bigger and will lay flat on the ground. Your horse is going to learn to go over them.

First, though, let's get him used to the plastic bag actually touching him. Tie it as before on the lash of your lunge whip. Stand in a safe spot and make sure he's not afraid of it on the ground in front of him or on either side of him. Now, with your body in a casual, non-threatening position, toss the whip lash and plastic bag across his back. Immediately pull it back so that it drags along his top line between his neck and tail and falls back to the ground. In other words, don't just leave the bag there dangling along his side.

If he gets frightened and has to run around you in a circle, let him. Just keep flicking that bag across his back. If you stop toss the bag toward him when he's running away, you're teaching him to run away from it. Keep doing it, even if you can't actually touch him with it because he's running too fast, until he is able to bring his fear under control and stop on his own.

NOTE: I've had customers ask me, "What happens if my arm gets tired?" My answer is always the same: Too bad! Toughen up and keep doing it. If you stop now, you're going to teach the wrong lesson.

Eventually your horse will accept the plastic bag being tossed and dragged across his back. When he does, stop doing it for a few seconds to let him relax. Switch sides and teach the same lesson. When he accepts that, start flicking the bag around his hindquarters, around his legs, and even dragging it between his ears and down his face. By the end of this lesson, we'd like him to tolerate that flicking, dragging plastic bag anywhere on his body. If you can't get that far with him in one session, find part of the lesson that he CAN tolerate and work some more on that before quitting. In other words, if he can handle it across his back but not around his legs, go back to tossing it over his back for a few minutes until he's calm. Then you can quit for the day with this exercise.

Give him a few minutes to think about this lesson. Tie him to a fence post while you get ready for the next lesson. Drag your tarp (or blanket or plywood or whatever else you're going to use) to the opposite side of the pen and place it on the ground close to the fence. Untie your horse and move with him to the center of the pen, well away from the spooky thing that you're soon going to ask him to walk over.

Get him started lunging. Don't ask him to cross the scary object yet. Just ask him to go past it while he lunges for you. When you think he's ready (and you'll know this whenever he quits shying the tarp as he passes it), take a couple of steps closer to it so that he'll have to get closer, too.

Chances are very good that your horse will veer around the tarp at first. To do so, he'll have to come in closer to you. Shake that rope at him when he does to let him know he needs to stay out of your space. But don't let him stop lunging in a circle around you.

Eventually, after 3 or 4 or 10 or 20 times around the circle, he'll do one of three things: he'll trot or canter over the tarp (which is exactly what you want!), he'll jump the tarp, or he'll stop right in front of it and stare at it like it's a coiled rattlesnake.

If he trots or canters over it, that's great! Lunge him over it a few times, then reverse his direction and lunge him over it a few times that way.

If he jumps it, that's okay. Just keep lunging him over it. He'll get tired of jumping it soon enough and he'll actually trot or lope over it.

But what do you do if he stops and stares at it, probably braced to make a fast getaway? Let him stand there. Yes, that's right, just let him stand there and look at it. If he wants to sniff it or paw it, that's wonderful! Let him. Don't do anything unless he loses interest in it or he whirls the other way and runs off.

If he simply loses interest in it, use your cluck and whip to ask him to go forward. If he whirls and runs the other way, stop him, reverse him, and ask him to lunge across it again. This might happen several times, but eventually he'll go across it, even if only one foot actually touches it.

If you've had trouble getting him over the tarp, then stop him as soon as he touches it with even one foot. Pet his head briefly. Let him know that you're pleased. Then go right back and ask him to cross it again.

You should end this lesson only when your horse is calmly crossing the object that he's afraid of. Don't give up. Some horses are particularly careful about stepping on things that frighten them. But this is an important lesson in trust and obedience. Make sure your horse learns it well.

In future lessons, drag out that tarp again and make sure he'll still cross it. Bring in other scary things (but make certain that they can't hurt him or get caught on his hooves) and teach him to cross them. Use the things we've already mentioned: blankets, bed sheets, plywood, paper feed bags, or anything else you can think of. Teach him that if you say it's okay to cross, then it's okay to cross and you expect him to do it.

Next lesson: Turning him loose in the round pen.

Today we're going to take a brief break from the round pen work so I can tell you about what I did Monday evening. My good friend Leesa Conley of Daystar Miniatures purchased a four-year-old Miniature stallion at the High Hopes Auction the other day. He was a little pushy and disrespectful when she bought him, but not terribly so.

I had only worked with him once on Sunday, a short round pen session on a lunge line where I started desensitizing him just a little to the lead rope and lunge whip lash and I'd started asking him to be soft and give his head (sensitizing). Well, Leesa called me Sunday evening and said that when she was putting his blanket on for the night (he's body-clipped), that he'd slammed her against the wall with his hip and wouldn't move away. He'd also been hard to halter because he kept turning his head as far away from her as he could, making her have to reach around him.

So, I worked with him for a few minutes Monday morning and he was perfectly fine with me. That's typical. He recognized me already as an authority figure but he had zero respect for Leesa. So, I went over there Monday night to show her what to do.

NOTE: This will not work on a really hard-to-handle horse and is not, in any way, a substitute for the lessons in respect that I've outlined in this blog. It will, however work for you if you need to make an impression quickly with a horse who has already had some training and who is already fairly well mannered. He was just trying her to see if he could get away with being disrespectful.

I sent her into the pen with a rope halter and lead (she'd had a wide, comfortable nylon halter on him the night before). He met her at the gate with his ears forward, wanting to be petted. I told her to pet him once and then I had her cluck and send him to the far end of the pen. There, he stopped with his rear end to her. I told her to swing the end of the lead rope repeatedly against his butt until he turned to face her.

NOTE: Make sure that you're standing far enough back so as not to get kicked. Also, you're not beating him with the rope, only snapping it a little against his hindquarters to make him uncomfortable.

As soon as he faced her, she stopped swinging the rope and told him he was a good boy. I had her approach his head and halter him. Already he was better, as he made no attempt to turn his head away from her. If he had turned his head away, I'd have told her to step back, shoo him away, then make him face her again. She would have done this as many times as necessary fo make him face her and not try to avoid the halter.

Next, I told her to take two steps backwards away from him and to swing the lead from side to side until he backed away at least one step. When he did, he was allowed to stand there and think about it for a moment then Leesa pulled him to her, petted his face briefly, and shook the rope again. She backed him up 4 or 5 times this way, reinforcing "I'm the boss. Give me room."

Then, I had her move him until his right side was against one of the fences. I had her step to his left side and sensitize him, making him bend his head for her. He already knew how to do this, at least a little, and it didn't take but 30 seconds or so before he yielded to her. She did this a few times on each side, using the fence to keep him from swinging his butt away from her.

With that lesson behind them, I had her move him to the center of the pen and step out about 3 feet from his side. Then, I told her to swing the lead rope in a circle near his hindquarters, not actually touching him with it, and cluck to get him to move. As soon as the hindquarters stepped at least one step away from her, she stopped swinging the rope and clucking and told him he was a good boy. (If he hadn't moved his hindquarters away, the pressure would have been stepped up until the rope was actually popping him on the butt.) After a few times of doing this on both sides of him, I had her lead him around to see if he'd crowd her. He didn't. But, if he had, I told her to immediately jerk on the lead, shake the rope if needed, and make him back away.

Then, she blanketed him. He tried one time to move away from her, testing his limits, but a firm "Whoa!" from Leesa made him change his mind. He gave her no further trouble as she adjusted and fastened the blanket.

Is the problem fixed? No, not in one 10 minute session. He'll probably try pushing her around again. So, I told her that each time she goes into his pen to repeat the lesson. She probably won't have to do as much from now on. In other words, once or twice of backing him away, once or twice of making him step his hips away, and once or twice making him give his head should remind him of who is in charge.

After you initially gain your horse's respect, if his manners lapse and he starts pushing on you or bullying you again, remember this 10 minute "reminder" lesson.

REMEMBER: Your horse should respect you but not fear you or anything that you do to him. Imagine for a moment that you have three employees. We'll call them Bill, Phillip, and George.

Bill is intimidated by you. He's always nervous when you're around, stutters and stammers when he talks to you (that's IF he talks to you at all) and you always have the feeling that he thinks he's going to be fired or slapped upside the head at any moment.

Then, there's Phillip, who is annoying in quite another way. He's always getting into your personal space, way too close for comfort. He likes to slip his arm around you or swat you on the behind as you pass him. He treats you like a high-school chum or a drinking buddy, not like his boss.

George, on the other hand, is always polite. He's comfortable around you. If you give him a project, he follows instructions to the best of his ability. He doesn't talk back or try to belittle you. You feel like you can trust him. In other words, he treats you with respect.

You want your horse to be like George: not intimidated, not pushy, but you want him to know his place. YOU are the leader, the alpha herd member, the boss, and your horse should understand that and not try to push you around or crowd you.

Most Miniature Horse owners tend to not require respect from their horses. They just don't see it as a big problem when the horse pushes on them, runs into them, steps on their feet, or shows other signs of disrespect. Just because your horse is little doesn't mean that he can't hurt you or that he shouldn't recognize you as his leader.

Teaching your horse to respect you doesn't mean that you can't pet your horse, hug him, or even kiss him. It just means that those things have to be on YOUR terms when YOU want to do them. He can't be allowed to set the rules.

TOMORROW: Working your horse loose in the round pen for the first time.

Today is when you're really going to need that round pen.

NOTE: If you still don't have one and are absolutely not going to get one, then continue to work your horse on the lunge line while you do this and subsequent lessons. You can still get your horse trained.

As before, take your horse to the round pen or enclosed area. Work for a few minutes on sensitizing him. By now, he should be giving you his head (turning and giving you slack) with very light pressure from the halter. If not, work on this daily until he feels as light as a feather to you.

Work him on a lunge line for a few minutes to make sure he remembers how to go where you point, stop, and turn. You also want to burn off a little of his extra energy, so if he's wanting to run and buck, continue lunging him until he's ready to slow down and go to work.

When he's listening well to you and lunging like you've taught him, start teaching him the "Look at me" command. Tell him "Whoa," pull him to a stop, then bend forward slightly at the waist, extend a hand toward him invitingly, and tell him "Look at me." Hopefully, he'll turn his body to face you and watch you with his eyes. If he doesn't, use a pull on the lunge line to make him turn toward you. If he mistakes the cue and turns completely in the other direction, tell him "Uh uh!" and turn him back to face you.

Once he's looking at you, relax the pressure on his lead, straighten up, and tell him that he's a good boy. Let him stand there for a few seconds, then ask him to complete the turn and go the other direction for a circle or two. Repeat this several times until it seems as if he's getting the idea that he's to turn and face you on command.

Now, unhook his lead or remove his halter and turn him loose. Point, cluck, and make him trot or lope off, using your whip to reinforce the cue if needed. Let him go a round or two then stop him. To do this without a lunge line, take 1 or 2 big steps toward the fence several feet in front of him, then immediately back up a few steps, bending forward at the waist and holding out your hand. Tell him, "Look at me."

NOTE: The point of stepping toward the fence in front of him is to "block" his forward motion. Backing away has two purposes: it gives him enough space that he doesn't feel trapped and feels like he has to turn his head away from you, and it also tends to "draw" his head away from the fence to follow you.

If he stops and at least turns his head to watch you, tell him he's a good boy, relax your body position, and let him stand there for a few seconds as a reward. Start him forward in the same direction and repeat the exercise a few times. Hopefully, each time he'll turn to face you when he stops.

If he doesn't stop when you step toward the fence in front of him, you may not be blocking him completely. Try again, this time stepping more aggressively towards the fence in front of him until you find the exact right motion that works.

What if, instead of stopping, he reverses and runs the other way? Then you've probably blocked him too much. Next time, aim for a spot further ahead of him on the fence. With some very sensitive, reactive horses, you'll actually have to step towards the fence on the opposite side of the round pen from them then back away to draw them to you. Again, try several positions until you find what works for that particular horse.

When he does finally stop, try to get him to look at you. If he turns his body and faces you, excellent! If all he does is turn his head toward you, that's okay. It's a starting point. If he won't look at you at all, try to get his attention. Wiggle the whip on the ground in front of you. Call his name. Clap your hands. Jump up and down and crow like a rooster if you have to.

As soon as he looks at you, relax and tell him he's a good boy. Then, switch hands with your whip, point with your other hand, and send him off in the other direction.

Hopefully, he'll turn towards you (as opposed to turning towards the fence) and go the other direction.

NOTE: I don't like for a horse to ever turn his butt to me. Even if it's only to turn around, showing me his butt instead of his head is a sign of either fear or disrespect. I certainly don't want him to be afraid of me (and if your horse still is at this point, you need to regress to more desensitizing before working loose in the round pen) and I can't tolerate disrespect any more than his alpha herd leader would.

So, if he turns his butt to you, give him a sharp verbal correction. I like to use "Uh uh!" All of my horses (and my dogs and cats, for that matter) learn this correction. It means "Don't do that. I don't like it." As soon as you say, "Uh uh!" make your horse turn back so that he's facing the same way he was before you asked him to stop. It doesn't matter HOW he turns at this point. The correction is to get him back to where he started before he made the mistake, regardless of how he gets there. When he is once again facing in the right direction, it's okay if he takes off at a trot or lope instead of just standing there. Just make him go a few rounds then try again.

So what if he does stop when you ask but instead of looking at you, he turns toward the fence and runs the other direction? Again, give him a sharp "Uh uh!" and make him turn back around by any means necessary. If this means jumping in front of him or smacking the ground with your whip, that's fine. Again, it doesn't matter HOW he turns at this point, since it's only a correction. The point is to let him know immediately that turning toward the fence is a no-no.

Let him go a few rounds then stop him again. Bend forward, hold out a hand, and tell him to look at you. If he gets it right, wonderful! If he just stands there ignoring you, start him moving forward for a round or two and then stop him again. Keep doing this until you get at least one correct stop where he'll at least look at you. As soon as he does, reward him with a few minutes of breathing time.

Some horses pick this up right away. Some seem to take forever to get it. Be patient. This is an important lesson. If all you get in this session is him stopping and turning his head toward you, then that's enough. Obviously, we'd like it better if he'd turn his whole body towards you, but we can work more on that later. Be happy with small steps if that's the best you can get.

This can be a stressful lesson. When you've made some progress and want to stop, work on something easier for awhile. Bend his head both ways several times, toss the lead rope or lunge whip lash across his back and hips for awhile. The idea is to help him relax and unwind by letting him practice something he has already mastered. Don't put him away or turn him loose until he seems happy and even slightly bored.

NEXT LESSON: Troubleshooting your round pen work.

Learning to work loose in the round pen, learning to turn towards you and not away from you, and learning to face you on command are some of the hardest lessons that you will ever teach. They are the hardest lessons for ME to teach, and I've been doing this for a long time. Don't get discouraged. Be diligent and it will all fall into place eventually. Who knows, you might have one of those easy-to-train horses who gets it right the first time and who never makes a wrong move. But, if your horse isn't quite that quick to catch on, this session will hopefully offer some insight into what to do.

Take your horse to the round pen and review what he has already learned. Make sure he'll work both ways on the lunge line before turning him loose in the round pen. If he doesn't yet know how to stop and face you on command, go back to that lesson and work on it until he does. Whether it takes one more session or 12 more sessions, make sure he will stop, face you, and reverse towards you and not towards the fence. If he's still being disrespectful and showing you his butt, remember to use the "Uh uh!" correction and them make him go several times around the pen in the same direction you had him going before he stopped.

The point you're trying to make is, "Do it right and you'll get a short break. Do it wrong and you'll have to work harder." Horses, like most people, are lazy at heart. Teach him that doing things the right way (in other words, you way you ask him to do it) is the easy way. It will earn him words of praise and a few minutes to catch his breath. Doing it wrong means he has to work harder by running around the round pen more times.

Soon, his sense of self preservation will kick in and he'll start trying to find the right answer. When he finally does it right, reward him by stopping all pressure and letting him rest and relax for awhile. That will reassure him that he's done it correctly.

I've trained some horses that just never seem to get the "Look at me" command. They're not necessarily stupid or defiant; they just don't seem to grasp the concept. These might need a little extra help.

If your horse is this way, try these tips with him. Step slowly toward the fence in front of him and, with the shaft of your lunge whip, GENTLY tap the side of his face nearest the fence. Annoy him into turning his front end a step or two towards the center of the pen. As soon as he takes even one correct step, stop tapping and take a step back. Tell him he's the smartest horse in the world and let him relax. Then tap him a bit more and try to get another step or two. Your ultimate goal is to get him to turn his body at a 90 degree angle from the fence, with his head toward the center.

What if he turns toward the center in response to your tapping but then keeps turning and starts around the pen in the other direction? That's okay. He DID turn correctly, after all. Let him go a circle or two then ask him to stop and face you again. Use your lunge whip to tap him away from the fence if you have to, like you did before. If he makes another complete reversal, let him. As long as he's turning toward you (and the center of the pen) instead of towards the fence, accept it. There's plenty of time to refine the movement later.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

What if you've been tapping your horse on the side of the face for 5 minutes and he's not turning away from the fence? Try this to help him. Drape the lash of the lunge whip across his neck right behind his ears. Do this from a distance. In other words, don't walk up to him to do it. After you've draped it across his neck, move the shaft down and forward then back up again, so that the lash actually wraps around his throat. Do this twice, so there are two wraps around his throat. Now, wrap the remaining lash (and there won't be much length left to use) around his muzzle. You've just made a halter of sorts. Gently pull his head towards you while telling him "Look at me." Remember, if you pull too hard on the lunge whip the lash will come off. As soon as he completes the turn, or has at least turned off the fence a little ways, gently unwrap the lash and tell him what a smart boy he is. Let him stand there while you rub his face or shoulder with the whip so he'll think about what he's learned.

When you think he's doing as well as he's going to for that session, catch him and reattach his lunge line. (If you have trouble catching your horse in the round pen, there will be a session on that next time.) Work on other lessons that he has successfully learned. Help him to relax and realize that he's done well.

NEXT: Dealing with the hard to catch horse.

A surprising number of the horses that I train are hard to catch. This is one of the reasons that I suggest working at first on the lunge line. Once you turn one of these horses loose in the round pen, catching them again can be a real challenge unless you've got a few basic lessons behind you.

If you do have a hard to catch horse, make certain that he's as desensitized as you can get him while on the lunge line. Don't just desensitize him with the lead rope, whip lash, and plastic bag. Find more things to use. An old towel, a paper feed sack, a rain coat, will all work. Be creative. Handle him as much as you can. Get him used to your hands touching him and rubbing him. If you find areas where he's sensitive and doesn't want to be touched, work more on those spots until he's comfortable.

When you're lunging the hard to catch horse, frequently stop him and draw him close so you can pet him, then send him back out to lunge some more. Try to teach him that by coming up to you and letting you pet him, he gets to stop working for awhile.

Now, when you think you can probably catch him in the round pen, go ahead and turn him loose. Work on the round pen lesson above. As soon as he's stopping and facing you fairly consistently, it's time to see if you can touch him.

Have him stop and face you. Swing your lunge whip so that it's behind you, dragging on the ground, but don't drop it. Turn your body at an angle so that your side is facing your horse. Don't look at him. Instead, look at the ground. Keeping your body nearly sideways to him, hold out one hand and SLOWLY step towards him.

You're trying to look the least threatening that you can. Approaching a horse straight on and looking him in the eye is how a predator moves. Don't look predatory.

Even though you're not directly looking at your horse, you'll still be able to see him out of the corner of your eye. At the first sign that he's going to bolt and run away, freeze. These signs might be a raising of his head, a half step backwards, or a shift of his weight to one side. Give him a second or two to relax then start SLOWLY forward again.

Anytime it looks as if he can't handle it and is going to run, stop. Give him time to calm down before you take another step. If he bolts anyway, swing your whip around and encourage him to run around the pen a few times. Don't chase him like you're angry, because you don't want to frighten him, but make him move. What you're saying is, "If you won't stand still, then you're going to have to work harder."

When you stop him next, again move your whip behind you, lower your gaze, and start slowly approaching him with your body turned sideways to him. After you do this o a few times (or a few dozen times!), you'll eventually get within arm's length of him. DON'T try to catch him or even touch him. Instead, just continue to hold out your hand near his muzzle and see if he wants to touch you. Don't look at him. Whether he makes any more to touch you or not, turn away after a moment and walk back to the center of the pen.

NOTE: What you're saying here is "See, I don't want to catch you. That's the last thing on my mind."

Point, cluck, and make him work circles around you for awhile. Then stop him and approach him again, the same way; slowly, one hand outstretched, with your side towards him, looking down. Once you reach him, decide whether or not you think he is ready to be touched. If he's wide-eyed and ready to bolt, don't try to touch him. Instead, let him sniff your hand if he wants to. Either way, turn away after a bit and return to the center of the pen.

Point, cluck, and make him work some more.

See where we're going with this? We're telling him, "Stand still while I approach and I won't even TRY to catch you." Eventually, you'll be able to actually touch him. Don't try to catch him yet, though. Just touch his forehead or his muzzle VERY BRIEFLY before you turn and walk away. Reinforce the "I don't want to catch you" idea. Work him some more and try again. Each time you should be able to touch him for a few seconds more.

At some point, you're going to want to catch him for real. If he'll let you, move up to his side, drape your lead (or the lash of your lunge whip) around his neck and catch him. If he won't let you get quite that close, then carefully wrap the lash of your whip around his throat as described above. Wrap it around twice and maybe even around his muzzle and he's effectively caught unless he really panics and bolts.

The good news is, most horses learn to get caught in only a session or two. If yours takes longer, that's okay. All horses learn at their own speed. If worse comes to worse, you can always leave him in the round pen for the night if he just refuses to get caught. You can work on it again tomorrow and for as many days as it takes until he'll let you walk right up to him.

NEXT: The hard-to-halter horse.

Okay, so you've worked with your hard-to-catch horse and you can now walk up to him and slip the lead rope around his neck. Is he still hard to halter? Does he turn his head away from you or toss it in the air? The latter isn't usually a problem with our little horses, since they're short enough that we can still reach them. But it is a sure sign of disrespect.

So, let's teach him to hold his head still and towards us so that we can easily halter him.

I suggest that for this lesson, you put your lunge line around your horse's neck just behind his ears. He'll be without a halter for much of this lesson, and we don't want him to run away from you and learn that he can escape that way.

Stand at his left side and place your right hand on his neck behind his ears. Using your thumb and forefinger, press the tender spots right behind his ears. Chances are, the first thing that he'll do is to toss his head or try to jerk it away. Be prepared for this. You want to keep your hand there so that he has to deal with the pressure.

Eventually, he'll drop his head a bit. It might only be half an inch, but reward him instantly for that small attempt by releasing the pressure. Pet him briefly then put your hand back on his neck and press with thumb and forefinger. He might well toss his head again, but keep up the pressure until he drops his head, however slightly. Instantly release the pressure and praise him.

Repeat, repeat, repeat, until he's consistently lowering his head in response to your pressure. He should, by now, be keeping his head down between your attempts to lower it, so each time you ask, you can get him to drop it a bit lower. Eventually, if you're persistent, you should be able to get him to drop it clear to the ground. Going to this extreme isn't necessary, but it is a good lesson in obedience.

Now, try raising his head and see if he'll drop it down with a very light pressure. If so, wonderful! If not, continue to work with him until he will.

To teach him to turn his head toward you, reach across his neck and place your fingertips against his cheek or jaw on the opposite side from where you're standing. Stiffen your fingers and press against him. Make him uncomfortable. As soon as he turns even slightly toward you, release the pressure and praise him.

Remember, he will likely try several things, such as tossing his head, lowering it, or walking off, before he finds the right answer. Keep applying pressure until he thinks about turning his head toward you. Then reward him with a release of the pressure and a word of praise.

Continue working with him, both on lowering and turning his head, until he's good at it. Then, slip on his halter. Pet him for a few minutes, remove the halter, and ask him to lower and turn his head toward you. If he does it with little effort on your part, this lesson is finished for the day. If he doesn't, keep working with him until he's soft and willing to give you his head.

NEXT: Dealing with the super lazy horse and the super hyper horse.

All horses are different and all horses require a slightly different approach when you're training them. Some horses are super lazy and will try your patience to no end as you try to get them to exert themselves. Others are so hyper or reactive that you despair of ever getting them calmed down. Today, we're going to discuss dealing with these two extremes.

The super lazy horse will not want to move out of a walk when you're working him, whether on the lunge line or loose in the round pen. This is the horse that drags behind you like a dead fish when you lead him. Sometimes he'll stop for no apparent reason and you can't get him moving again. If he does "stick" while you're leading him somewhere, you need to learn to "untrack" him. By this I mean that you don't want to continue just pulling him forward. This will get you into a pulling contest with an animal who is probably stronger than you are.

Instead, step away at a 45 degree angle and then pull. You'll pull him off balance and make him take at least one step. Usually, after he is "un-stuck," he'll start to lead again. If he stops again, step to the other side at a 45 degree angle and pull him off balance again. Eventually, hopefully, he'll tire of the game and decide that leading isn't such a bad idea after all.

If you really get stuck with a hard-to-lead horse, resort to a butt rope. This is similar to what we used when we started sensitizing our horse. Put your lunge line on him and drape the last few feet of it around his hips in a big, loose loop. Then, start to walk. If he doesn't lead, give that butt loop a sharp tug. Again, don't try to drag him with it because it may not work. Even if it does, it's not teaching him anything but to let himself be dragged. Instead, use sharp tugs on the butt rope as an incentive to get moving. As soon as he does, make sure the loop isn't tugging on him at all. That's the release of pressure that's going to teach him to follow where you lead.

The super hyper horse is just the opposite of the lazy one. Instead of dragging behind you, he's constantly trying to pass you or to take off for the far pasture, regardless of the fact that you are leading him. With this kind of horse, it's best to actually let him run past you. But have a good grip on the lead and jerk him backwards and slightly to one side as soon as his shoulders go by you. Try to spin him around with the force of your pull. You're telling him, "Run by me and I'll try to jerk you off of your feet." You won't ACTUALLY pull him off his feet, of course, but the pull should be hard enough and quick enough to change his direction.

I had one particular horse in training that was so bad about running past me, it took me nearly 5 minutes to lead him from his stall to the round pen, a distance of only about 40 feet. Every time he charged past me, I set my feet, gripped the lead tightly, and pulled backwards with all my weight. I'd spin him around, but his momentum would actually carry him past me again, so that I'd have to turn around to keep him on my right side. Then, he'd take off past me again two steps later.

Around and around we went, but by the time we'd gotten to the round pen, he was beginning to think that charging past me wasn't such a good idea. He got better every day after that, partly from the respect he starting getting for me in the round pen, and partly from the endless circles we'd do on the way there.

The important thing to remember while dealing with either the lazy or the hyper horse is this: you have to be in control of speed. Dragging behind you or running past you are both a sign of disrespect. Do you think the lazy horse would hurry if an alpha herd member said to do so? Absolutely! And do you think an alpha horse would let the hyper horse charge past him to the feed trough? Nope, at least not without consequences.

And that's, essentially, what our horses have to learn. Actions have consequences. If they learn to play by our rules, things go much more smoothly and comfortably in their lives. If they choose to ignore our rules, however, they won't like the results.

NEXT TIME: Obstacles in the round pen.

Once you start training your horse to respect you, it's important that he moves when you need him to. So, if you're grooming him and you want to groom the other side, don't move. Instead, lift the arm holding his lead, point him to the other side of you, and cluck. Make HIM move so you don't have to. This is what he expects from an alpha leader and reinforces that YOU are that leader.

Do the same thing during training sessions. When you want to sensitize or desensitize the other side of your horse, HE should be the one to move, not you. Go back and read the "Teaching respect on the lunge line, continued" post. Use the same method that you used to get your horse to lunge between you and the fence to get him to change sides. As soon as he's stepped past you, tell him "Whoa," praise him, then continue your training or grooming.

It will save you some steps and help confirm your leadership role.

The round pen is a great place to introduce your horse to obstacles of all sorts. If you don't have a round pen, any safe enclosure will work as long as your horse works well on a lunge line. If he doesn't, refer back to earlier lessons and teach him this important skill.

One of the first "obstacles" that I teach my horses is a plastic tarp. If you don't have one handy, a plastic trash bag or stall shavings bag will do. (Split them down one side and along the bottom so they'll open up into a larger rectangle.) Do this on a day without much wind, as you don't need it blowing just yet. At first, pile it up near the center of the pen (but NOT where you'll trip over it) and just lunge him around the pen first one way and then the other. Remember, he has to get used to seeing it out of each eye.

When he's paying it absolutely no attention, move it a bit closer to him but not directly in his path. In other words, you want him to pass by it but not step on it yet. Keep it piled up. Continue to lunge him around it both ways until he's comfortable.

Now, spread it out. Hopefully, it's not too big (a tarp 6' X 8' or 8' X 10' foot would be ideal). Put it close enough to the fence that there's only a small gap of a couple of feet for him to travel where he won't crash into the fence and he also won't have to touch it yet. Remember, it'll look entirely different to him when it's lying flat than it did when it was piled up. Lunge him around it.

NOTE: First of all, use a safe tarp, not one with holes that could trap his feet when he finally does cross it. Also, take the lesson only as far as you can go in one session. If he's terrified of it, don't try to get him to cross it today or even go too close to it. Give him as much time as he needs to get used to seeing it.

If you get to a point that your horse can't handle the tarp and refuses to get near it or to lunge past it, back it off a bit. Move it slightly more towards you and slightly further from him. Continue lunging him. Eventually, he'll get used to it and you can, if you wish, move it back towards him a little bit.

Don't, whatever you do, quit in frustration before you've made your point, which is "The tarp won't hurt you. Trust me and lunge past it." If he has to run really fast to get by it, that's okay for now. If he gets to it, whirls and runs the other way, tell him "Uh, uh" and make him reverse again. Try to get him past it again. You'll succeed if you're diligent.

What if he gets close then makes a huge leap and lands somewhere on the far side of the tarp? That's okay, too. At least he's being obedient and passing the tarp like you've asked him. But, don't stop there. Keep lunging until he's comfortable enough to travel at a reasonable speed between the tarp and the fence. The last thing that you want is to end the lesson while he's still afraid of it.

Don't try to get him to step on the tarp today unless he's REALLY laid back and totally unafraid of it. That particular milestone can be handled on another day.

When he's completely comfortable with the tarp at the closest distance to him that you can manage, stop him, praise him, and go do something else. He may be a little stressed. Fall back into some easier lessons, like desensitizing with the lead or lunge whip lash and sensitizing (bending his head). Do these away from the tarp so that the pressure of being close to it is removed.

NEXT: More work with the tarp.

One of the horses owned by my good friend Leesa Conley (Daystar Miniatures) is a pintaloosa gelding named Las Vegas Lites WM. I started showing Vegas, who is a multiple National Top Ten in Driving and Showmanship, in Obstacle Driving last year in addition to his other classes. At one show, there was a tarp laid out as a faux water obstacle. The horse in front of us had successfully crossed it. But as Vegas and I approached at a trot, a breeze blew through the show arena and the tarp partially lifted off the ground, tumbling a bit and no longer flat on the ground.

I made the decision to not stop and let them reset it. Instead, I proved the willingness of my horse by trotting over it anyway, even though it was still blowing. Vegas didn't hesitate, bless him, and he placed very high in the class.

Well done, Vegas!

 Remember that whenever you handle your horse, you're training him. If you go into his stall or pen to catch him and he turns his butt to you, don't just walk past it to his head and halter him. If you do that, you're teaching him that turning his butt to you (a sure sign of either disrespect or fear) is the right thing to do. Instead, take a few moments and fix the problem. Swing the end of your rope against his butt and tell him to face you. As soon as he does, tell him he's a good boy and go ahead and halter him.

Even a trained or partially trained horse can "revert" to previous behavior. I have a horse in training (we'll call him Scoot) who certainly knows by now that he's supposed to face me respectfully when I approach him. But yesterday, when I walked into the stall, he turned his butt to me. I swung the  end of the lead at him so that it smacked him in the butt. Then I told him to face me and held out my hand. He obediently turned toward me then continued his turn until he was facing away from me again.

I had to repeat the "smack and call" three times before he finally stood still, facing me like he was supposed to, and let me put his halter on. Could I have just walked past his butt to his head and haltered him? Sure. But I would have been teaching him that turning his butt to me was okay. And it CERTAINLY isn't.

Remember not to accept any disobedience or shows of disrespect from a horse that you're training. If you see a problem develop, even though you think it's minor, fix it then and there. If not, that "minor" problem will likely be a "major" problem the next time you handle him.

Hopefully, you've worked with your horse as many times as necessary and he's now comfortable passing the tarp. It's time to get him to actually touch it and trot over it.

Start as you did in previous lessons, with him either loose in the round pen or on a lunge line in an enclosed area. Work him near the tarp again, gradually getting it closer to the fence. At the first sign that he's afraid or overly cautious of it, work more with the tarp in the same spot until he's comfortable.

Now, move the tarp to within a few inches of the fence. Turn it so he'll be crossing it at the narrowest width. Having it extend more toward the center of the pen will make it more difficult for him to cut to the inside and go around it.

As if nothing new is going on, ask your horse to trot around the pen and over the tarp. If he does it the first time, praise him! If he jumps it, let him. Eventually he'll get tired of exerting that much energy and he'll trot across it. If he dodges around it, just continue lunging him the same direction, but this time, as he approaches the tarp, take a step or two closer to it. This "closing the gap" maneuver on your part will discourage him from cutting into the center of the pen. Continue moving a bit closer to the tarp each time he nears it if he continues to dodge to the inside, but don't get run over!

If he whirls and goes the other way, correct him with a sharp "Uh, uh!" and make him reverse. Remember, he needs to learn to face his fear.

Eventually, one of two things will happen. Either he'll just start crossing the tarp or he'll stop and look at it. If he does the latter, let him. He's trying to figure out if it's safe to cross. As long as he's looking at it, let him stand there. If he loses interest, make him go forward over it.

What if he wants to sniff or paw it? That's wonderful! It means he's checking it out. Let him look, sniff, and paw as long as he wants to, but as soon as he looks away, make him go forward.

Soon, you'll have him crossing the tarp like it was nothing. It's time now to introduce some new obstacles. Do these exactly the same way. Start with it near the fence (or if he's really afraid of it, near the center of the pen) and lunge him, moving it closer and closer until he's crossing it comfortably.

Some of the obstacles that you can use are an old bed sheet or blanket or a piece of plywood. You can also trot him over small logs. Wooden fence posts make great logs, as do heavier pieces of PVC piping. Don't use thin pieces of PVC, because they'll roll if he bumps them and could trip him.

Other things you can do to help your horse learn to face new objects without fear is to tie plastic Walmart bags or plastic streamers to the fence, drape tarps or sheets over the fence, or position lawn chairs or other scary things just outside the fence.

The more things you can find to "scare" your horse with, the better, because as he learns to overcome his fear of each of them, his confidence and courage will increase, along with his trust in you as his alpha leader.

NEXT: Teaching your horse to jump the Natural Way

Most horses in training, especially during a difficult session, will "regress." That means that they'll suddenly start getting worse instead of better. This is perfectly normal and not something you should worry about.

For example, I was trying to teach a young horse to accept a plastic bag dangling from the end of my lunge whip. At first, he was very frightened of it when I was bouncing it up and down on the ground about 6 feet away from it. He ran in several circles around me (with me still following him with the bouncing bag) before he was finally able to stop and face it. I stopped to release the pressure, praised him then started again. Soon, he was able to handle the bag bouncing right beside him without fear.

We had the same problem when I moved the bag in front of him. He was afraid of it again.  But I knew he would be, since now he was seeing it out of both eyes, so I just continued desensitizing him with it until he lost his fear of it.

Now, he that he could tolerate it on either side of him and in front of him, I started swinging it high over his head and smacking the ground with it first on his right side and then on his left. He got a bit wide-eyed but this didn't really bother him too much. I stopped, praised him then moved the bag back to his right side. Suddenly, it might as well have been a cougar coming to eat him! He acted terrified of it!

But, fortunately, I was expecting him to regress at some point. It had been an anxious training session for him and his brain had suddenly kicked out of "thinking" gear and back into "reacting" gear. He ran about 20 circles around me before he finally remembered, "Oh yeah! It's just that plastic bag thing!" As suddenly as he'd started, he stopped, looked down at the bag, and took a deep breath. From then on, I couldn't frighten him with the bag anywhere near him. (I wasn't trying to touch him with it yet.)

So, when your horse "regresses" suddenly, and he will at some point, just keep on working and don't get frustrated or angry. Remember that he'll start thinking again in a few minutes and everything will be fine. Just hang in there and keep training until that happens.

 If a horse in the wild is running for his life and something is in his way, he jumps it. Our domestic horses will hopefully never have to run from a cougar or pack of wolves, and most of them are just lazy enough that they don't want to jump anything, particularly if they can just go around it.

I've seen some Miniature Horse owners teaching their horses to jump by leading them towards it with someone chasing them with a whip. Will this work? Probably. But there won't always be someone behind them with a whip. So, why don't we teach our horses that jumping is fun and easy? Then we won't have to have someone chase them.

To get started, turn your horse loose in the round pen. If you don't have one, you can do this lesson on a lunge line. Place a single log about the size of a wooden fence post along the path your horse will be lunging. Put one end of it against the bottom of the fence and point the other end toward the center of the pen.

If you've successfully completed the previous lesson (and if you haven't, go back and work on it until you do), then your horse should have no trouble trotting over this little obstacle. After he's been over it a couple of times, it's time to get him to jump.

I make my jump standards out of piece of 4" X 4" square post. On the bottom, four short 2" X 4" boards form the base. I drilled holes through it at 3" intervals and used a jump cup made out of PVC pile. Standard jump cups work just as well and you don't have to make them yourself. Want I DON'T suggest using is long, heavy nails driven in at an angle for the jump rails to sit on. If your horse should ever crash into the jump standard, these could be a hazard.

What if you don't have a jump standard and don't want to have to make one? There are lots of other things you can use. Get a muck bucket and turn it upside down. Two bricks or large rocks, one on each side of the jump rail, will keep the rail from rolling should the horse bump it. That's important, because you don't want your horse to learn that all he has to do to keep from jumping it just to run up and bump the jump and it'll fall down.

If you're fairly certain that you horse isn't going to try to run over them, a stack of concrete blocks will work as a jump standard. Position the holes in the blocks so that you can slide the jump rail through them.

The first jump your horse takes is going to be VERY low, no more than 10" to 12" tall. "X" jumps are perfect, since they direct the horse through the center, the lowest point, and teach him not to jump too close to the jump standard. Since I use wire horse panels for my round pen, one end of each jump rail goes through the fence, while the other end either sits on the jump cup or on the ground at the base of the standard. (See the photo and you'll know what I'm talking about.)

For a jump this size, you only need 2 jump rails. Later, when you're doing bigger fences, you'll need a third to place flat on the ground at the base of the jump. This "ground rail" helps the horse's eye to gauge the height of the fence.

Now that you have your jump in place, lunge your horse over it several times in each direction. (If you have him on a lunge line, be sure to lift the line over the standard as he jumps so you won't pull it down behind him).

As with the tarp lessons, if he refuses to jump by whirling and running the other way, correct him verbally and make him reverse and try it again. If he dodges to the inside of the pen, toward you, to avoid it, just continue lunging him around the pen and try again, this time moving your body a bit closer to the fence to "crowd" him into it.

Be patient. Some horses take to jumping right away and others don't. I had one Shetland in training that jumped like a 3-legged antelope – which is to say, VERY awkwardly. But, after a lot of practice, he learned how to do it properly. Just keep the jumps really low until they figure out how to do it.

What if your horse knocks the fence down? Just whoa him and reset it, then make him jump it again. If he continues to knock it down, it's probably because he's just being lazy or your jump rails are way too lightweight. ANY horse can jump a foot-high crossrail, but you might have to motivate him to move a bit faster. If all else fails, try saying "Hup!" just as he gets to the jump as a reminder that he needs to put some energy into the effort.

How long should you wait until you raise the jump? I'd suggest lunging your horse over the low crossrail for at least several training sessions before you go any higher. Then, raise it a little every 2 or 3 lessons until you get it to a height where both of you feel comfortable.

NOTE: I don't suggest making a weanling or young yearling jump anything higher than 12". It just puts too much strain on their joints at this tender age.

Jumping is not only a valuable training tool, but it's great exercise for your horse. It'll build up his muscle strength, his stamina, and his confidence. With many horses that I'm training, there's ALWAYS a low jump in the round pen. They go over it on every single round they make.

NEXT: More work with the tarp.

 Why should your horse trust you? "Because I love him," some of you will say. Wrong. Just because someone loves you doesn't mean that you trust them, does it? Let's say you have an admirer who claims to be in love with you. He says, "Here, hold the end of this rope and jump off this cliff. Don't worry. I'll keep you from falling and pull you back up. Trust me because I love you." Would you jump off the cliff? Not if you have an ounce of sense.

Now, if he started off asking you to trust him in small things and he always proved trustworthy, then maybe you'd go ahead and jump off the cliff when he asked you. But trust, just like respect, needs to be earned.

So, just loving your horse and caring for his needs are not reasons, in the horse's mind at least, that he should trust you. You have to prove yourself to be worthy of his trust. We do this by putting them in situations that they perceive as dangerous and we "save" them. Of course, there's nothing really dangerous about a tarp or the end of our lead rope unless we choose to beat them with it, which of course we won't do. But to the horse, they are potentially dangerous. They move, they make noise, and they're unfamiliar. By allowing our horses to become frightened of these objects, and by making sure that nothing about them actually causes injury, then they learn that a tarp or a lead rope in the hand of a human aren't really dangerous.

See how easy that is? Any time that you find your horse afraid of ANYTHING, as long as that thing can't really hurt them, then it's our job as trainers and owners to prove that to them. How do we do that? By frightening them with the object and by having them live through the experience with no injuries.

If your horse is afraid of spray bottles, fill a spray bottle with water and spray the air near them. If they have to run, let them, but keep spraying. When they stop and relax, stop spraying for a moment as a release of pressure. Then, spray again, a little closer to them. Again, let them get frightened if they need to, but stay with it until they can accept it. Pause and praise them. Spray again, closer still.

Keep doing this, first on one side of the horse and then on the other, until you can spray them all over with the water and they are no longer afraid of it. And remember, when you change sides, the horse should be the one to move, not you. You're the alpha leader and you should be able to stand still and have THEM switch sides for you.

"Okay," I can hear some of you saying. "What if my horse is only afraid of the vet?" Then whenever your vet is there, start "desensitizing" your horse to him or her. If another horse needs treatment, tie the frightened horse up nearby so that he can get used to the proximity of the vet without anything bad happening. If your vet is willing (and most of them will be, because they don't want a horse to be afraid of them), have the vet feed them a treat, a handful of hay, or hold a bucket with a bit of grain in the bottom. If your horse is REALLY afraid of the vet, this would be enough for one day. In other words, don't ask the vet to pet your horse unless you (and the vet) have the time to work with the horse until he can accept the petting. Each time your vet comes by, have him pay some positive attention to the frightened horse. Soon, the fear will go away.

We want our horse to be respectful, confident, and unafraid of anything that we do to them.  That will make for a lot of happy horses and happy owners!

I love my horses, but I don't let them get away with misbehavior or disrespect. Why? First and foremost, because I don't want to get hurt. If I do, I can't feed them or care for them. Secondly, letting them get away with things only encourages them to try to get away with even more. I don't want to get hurt and I don't want anyone who comes around my horses to get hurt. Also, I don't want to get angry at them. If a horse pushes into you or knocks you down, it's human nature to get angry. But showing anger will only frighten your horse or make him angry in return. Believe me, you won't want either of those things to happen.

So, when you're working with your horses, pay attention to what they're doing. If they're pushing their limits and not being respectful, correct them. If they're trying to lead you, by pushing ahead when you walk them, give a sharp jerk on the halter and remind them of their place. If they're ignoring you and gazing longingly across the pasture, tug their head – and their attention – back to you. A brief correction now can save a lot of time and grief in the future.

We'll assume that by now your horse will trot or canter willingly over your tarp. If so, it's time to go a bit further. Start off lunging your horse over the tarp again as a reminder of former lessons. If he's frightened of it, continue working at this stage until he isn't. First, turn him loose in the pen. Then, tie a rope to one corner of the tarp and drag it around.

Is your horse afraid of it now? Very likely. He's used to the tarp being a stationary object (unless you live in Oklahoma, where NOTHING is stationary because the wind is always blowing!) and now suddenly it's come to life.

You don't want to chase your horse with the tarp, but drag it around like you're just smoothing the dirt with it. Be casual, but every now and again, give it a shake or two. Pay no attention to your horse. If he stands still and ignores the tarp, that's great! If he gets frightened, let him run if he needs to. Either way, continue dragging that tarp around until your horse accepts it calmly.

Now, go up and re-halter your horse, but keep the tarp at a distance from him if he still seems wary. In other words, don't expect him to stand still while you drag the thing up under his nose if he's still acting nervous. Once you have him haltered, lead him in your right hand (with some slack in case he tries to run) and drag the tarp with your left. You want a few feet of space between him and the moving tarp, but you want him to see that it's beside him. Be watchful for any sign that your horse is going to bolt. Don't let him run over you or burn the lead through your hand. If he panics, which he probably won't at this stage, then try to stay with him while still dragging the tarp.

Only let go of the tarp if you feel in danger of either being dragged by a frightened horse or of being run down by him. If he is still so afraid of the tarp as to do either of these things, then go back to just dragging it without him. But, and this is very important, you need to get him to accept the tarp beside him before you end this session. Otherwise, you're teaching him that if he doesn't want the tarp beside him, all he has to do is run away or run over you.

For the horse who is truly terrified of the moving tarp, try lengthening his lead and dragging the tarp right behind you, with the horse trailing even further behind. Let him "chase" the tarp, if you will. In his mind, the tarp is now afraid of him and running away. It will give even the most timid horse confidence. If he steps up close enough to try to sniff or paw it, stop and let him, then start walking again and letting him follow the tarp.

Remember, whatever you do on one side of your horse, you have to do on the other. Switch hands with the lead rope and keep the tarp a few feet away from him with the other hand.

Continue working with this until your horse has absolutely no problem with the tarp moving beside him.

NEXT: Draping the plastic over your horse.

Don't start this lesson until the horse is comfortable with the tarp moving everywhere near him. That means in front of him and on either side. He should also be comfortable with plastic bags on the end of the lunge whip being tossed into the air on either side, in front, and even back and forth over his back or head. If he can handle all of this and act bored, then it's time to move on. If not, continue the previous lessons until he's ready to move on.

With your horse on the lunge line, do a quick review of the last few lessons to be sure that your horse is completely over his fear of a plastic bag on the end of your lunge whip lash. Now, standing in your safe spot at an angle from his left shoulder, toss the plastic bag to the far side of your horse, but instead of keeping it high in the air as it goes over him, let it settle to the ground beside him so that the whip lash is draped over his back. Gently pull it back toward you so that the plastic bag drags up onto his right side. Stop and let him think about this.

He might want to turn his head and look at it. He might even want to turn and sniff it. Let him. You want him to investigate until he's comfortable. Either way, only leave the plastic bag there for 15 seconds or so, then continue dragging it across his back and flip it off so that it lands a few feet away from him.

What if he runs or spooks from the bag when it touches him? Follow him, leaving the whip lash draped over his back if at all possible. That means that the plastic bag will still be touching him, or at least will still be within inches of his side even if it blows in the breeze he's creating by running. If it comes off, stop him, toss it again to the far side of him, and draw it up until it touches him.

Continue doing this until your horse loses his fear of the plastic bag on his right side. Now, ask the horse to move so that you are standing on his left side, still at an angle from his shoulder. Using the whip lash, toss the bag across him and drag it up until it touches his right side. Leave it there for 30 seconds or so if he stands still. If he runs, follow him, leaving the bag in place if you can. Then pull it off and toss it over him again.

If you've desensitized him well with the bag all around him, this lesson probably won't be too difficult for either of you. Once you can drag the bag across each side of your horse without him being afraid, vary the routine. Toss it over his hip, over his shoulder, even over his neck (but leave his head for last, when he's completely comfortable with it touching him everywhere else). Your ultimate goal is that the plastic bag can touch him anywhere on his body without frightening him. When he reaches that point (whether in this session or a later one), it's time to move on to the tarp.

He's never seen the tarp anywhere but on the ground and possibly on the fence, so stand a few feet away when you pick it up. If it's a very large tarp, fold it in half or even in quarters so that it's small enough to handle easily. You don't want to trip over it. Pick it up and shake it a little. Remember to look casual as you're doing it, not threatening. In other words, don't make your horse think that you're going to throw the tarp at him and bury him with it.

When he can handle you lifting and shaking the tarp, step closer to him and rub it briefly against his side. Withdraw, then step close again and repeat. If he has to run, let him, but keep the tarp up off the ground and follow him with it.

Don't get kicked! Remember to stay in a safe spot away from his hind legs just in case he feels he has to kick at the tarp monster and kill it before it kills him. Soon, your horse will settle down and will let you rub the tarp against him. Do this several times if necessary until he's relaxed. Then lay it across his back and let go of it. If he runs now, it will fall off, of course. If that happens, stop him, approach with the tarp again, rub it against his side then drape it over his back again. Prove to him that it's only a tarp, not a cougar, and that it can't possibly hurt him.

Don't give in to the urge to sweet-talk him into accepting it. The most you should say during this (or most other sessions) is a calm, matter-of-fact, "Whoa." Resist the temptation to tell him, "Easy, boy. It's only a tarp, boy. Calm down now, boy." He needs to learn to accept the tarp because it's, after all, only a tarp, not because you coddled him through the experience. (More about this tomorrow.)

Once you are able to drape the tarp across his back without him being afraid, move it around. Slide it off his hips, drag it up over his neck, and eventually up onto his ears. Slide it off his side and do it again. And again. Continue to work on one side until your horse is completely at ease with the tarp, then go to the other side and repeat the lesson.

I don't recommend that you ever pull the tarp completely over your horse's face. Horses hate having their vision blocked, even for a second or two. Yes, you can get him used to it, but something as large as a tarp is not where you want to start that particular lesson. Save that for a smaller plastic bag or his slinky hood.

Now that you've desensitized your horse to having a tarp draped over him, the sky is the limit! Use anything you can find – old bed sheets and horse blankets work great – and teach him to accept anything that you choose to drape or toss across him.

 I had someone ask me the other day why I didn't advise people to tie their horse up for some of the lessons. "Wouldn't it be easier," he said, "if he couldn't run off when I was training him?"

The answer is no. Horses are prey animals. They react very adversely to being trapped, and tying a horse up makes him feel VERY trapped. Imagine trying to throw a plastic tarp over a very frightened horse. If he's tied up and can't run, his other instincts will kick in and he'll start to fight. He'll kick, he'll strike with his front legs, he'll swing his butt around and try to flatten the person holding that terrifying tarp. He might sit back on the halter and try to break free. He might even lunge forward and try to go through or over the fence he's tied to.

No, tying a horse up during a lesson is NOT something you want to do. Only by always giving our horses a way out, by always letting them know that they can run away if they have to, will we teach them that running away is not the answer. Let them make the mistake then show them that there's another way. Teach them that by not running, we'll take care of them. The pressure will go away and everything will be fine.

Don't tip toe around your horse. I see a lot of people, especially when doing something that they think will frighten their horse, moving entirely too slowly and trying to soothe the horse with their voice.

"Whoa, boy. Easy, boy. It's only a blanket, boy," is NOT the way you want to have to blanket your horse from now on. Instead, desensitize him with it and convince him that it's perfectly safe. Then you can just walk up and toss it across him from either side without him being afraid. Now THAT'S the way to blanket a horse!

In the same vein, resist the urge to pet him too much. No, I'm not advocating that you stop loving on your horse. But leave that for after the training session, when he's not supposed to be learning something. If he's trying to concentrate on his lesson, a brief touch to his face or neck won't distract him, while a five minute "love and hug" session will.

This will be the LAST entry in this Natural Horse Training hub. It's way too long already. I will, however, be starting a new blog very soon, which will cover even more Natural Training methods. I'll include things like how to deal with the horse that kicks, that bites, or that's hard to catch or halter. I'll teach you how to train your horse for in-hand obstacle (trail) classes. I'll teach you how to safely tie your horse, how to deal with one that won't load easily into a trailer, and I'll even show you how to start your horse in driving.

I'll post the link here when I've got the blog up and running. In the meanwhile, please recommend this hub to all your friends, and keep training your horse the Natural way!

Pat Elder

Rosa Roca Training Stable

Oklahoma City, OK

rosaroca.net

http://miniaturehorsetraining.blogspot.com/

Please stop by! I've already posted the first training lesson - How to Deal with the Kicking Horse.

And remember: these methods will work with any horse, Miniature or full-size. So, send all your horse-owning friends over. They'll thank you for it when they start using my training methods and find their horses much more respectful, less fearful, and much easier to handle.

If your horse has a problem that you're dealing with, please let me know and I'll write a blog entry telling you how to fix it!