What is BASICS?
The word basic means: "forming a base, a fundamental, an essential ingredient, a principle procedure".
Horses do not act on emotions (as we do). Horses re-act on instinct, to you, their environment and other horses. So when working with your horse remove your emotions and see the response for what it is, instinct, and don't take it personal.
A horse is a herd animal. He belongs to a herd of other horses. In that herd there is a leader, and all the horses will look to that leader for their boundaries, safety, love and respect. That lead horse has a tremendous responsibility to the herd. Now having said that. When you are with your horse there is a herd of two, your horse will either lead you or follow you. In the herd of two, you must lead and teach in the ways he should go. A leader is one who guides, one who leads with respect and knowledge showing the way. It is not one who punishes. It's one who controls with care, using a gentle but firm guiding hand. This will instill trust and respect between you and your horse.
Communicate as his leader. Communicate means: to make known, to give to another; transmit, to give or interchange thoughts, information etc., to be connected.
Be his leader. (Not a bully). Take the responsibility for your horse's boundaries and safety while giving love and respect, which will be given back. But you must earn and expect it. In this way there should never be a question in your horse's mind who leads the herd. This will make him feel safe and he will willingly follow. It's his nature and he will respond. Never give your horse mixed signals as to who is his leader. Make it easy for your horse to feel safe to have you as his leader/teacher. You are responsible for him and he is responsible to you.
Now on with the training.
From the last training tip you should have your horse moving around in the pen comfortably. He should want to stop and look at you. This is great. It's the beginning of connecting up with him. He is showing you respect and looking to you for his next move. When you see he wants to stop, and you are ready for him to, then say, "whoa," before he stops, and let him stop. If he doesn't, then move him off a little faster than he is thinking about going. By doing this, it is now your idea, not his. He will not move far before he starts wanting to stop again. Repeat as before when he stops. Take a step or two backwards, and stand still. See if he is ready to turn his head and look at you with both eyes. If he does, great. Walk over and pet him. (If he turns away when you walk towards him, move him off). If he doesn't look at you with both eyes or is smelling the ground or looking outside the pen, move him off. Remember how to move him off from the first article in the September issue. Use the invisible line at his withers. Step towards his front with room for him to see you and prepare to slow and stop. Repeat as before. Always move him off slow without scaring him. Remember to reward him with a pat. This is a critical part of his training. This will lay the foundation for everything you will do with him. When he is turning his head towards you, then he is also turning his hips away. This is what you want. Pretty soon he will start turning his front end towards you, not just his head. Then, as you stop and step back, he will start to turn his head, then front feet, and then take a step toward you. This is what we are after. Do this on both sides, in both directions. Take your time, but don't over do this. Babies have short attention spans and tender legs and joints.
Once this can be done well every time, then move on to the halter. Now you will be teaching him how to move off of pressure. When asking your young horse to follow you with the halter, step slightly to the side. Apply pressure by taking the slack out of the lead rope, which will make contact with your horses jaw. Then, hold that slight pressure and wait for him to give to it by turning his head towards you to find his reward (release of pressure). It is very important that you don't yank or jerk on the lead rope. Doing that will teach him to set back, throw his head, or jerk and run off. This is the opposite to what you want to teach him. This is a very important lesson, and it must be done without pain or fear. A horse that will not lead well is a disaster waiting to happen. We'll pick up here next issue.
Remember, every time you work with your horse, he is learning from you. You are ALWAYS training, or un-training your horse. Take your time because you should and because you have this precious time to take. Teach, don't force, the lesson. Stop before you need to and end on a positive. Even if you have only worked for 10 minutes, if you're getting what you ask for, then stop. Don't push it. Have a great time with that young horse and your rewards will be great.
