TRAINING YOUR HORSE IN 6 EASY STAGES

TRAINING FOR RIDING - in 6 easy stages

Give your youngster the best possible start as a riding horse by following this simple procedure.

NB. This is a potted version. The full story can be found in my Training for Riding ebook

Training a young horse for riding is about getting him used to what we want. It is a process which should flow logically from one stage to the next. Each stage leads on naturally from the one before and takes the youngster forward in a way that he can understand.

	STAGE 1. Make friends with the horse Before you can do anything, the youngster must be quiet and easy to handle in every respect. If he has any doubts, fears or suspicions before you start, things will only get worse later on. He should be friendly, trusting and confident in himself, good to catch, lead, tie up and generally easy to do.
	STAGE 2. Basic obedience Working in hand, teach the horse to respond to voice commands for walk on, stand still and trot. Do this by showing by example. You do what you want the horse to do. Reinforce with a verbal command - which must always remain constant.
	STAGE 3. Lunging Lunging serves as a transition between work in hand with basic obedience and riding. Use the voice commands and whip aids to obtain quiet, obedience in walk and trot. This should be achieved in 3 sessions of about 15-20 minutes each. Lunging may be omitted if you don't feel confident.
	STAGE 4. Introducing the saddle & bridle Most well handled youngsters do not object to the saddle. Place gently and girth up lightly. Leave to settle for a few minutes. The first time, he may make a grab for the bit, thinking it is good to eat. The next time, he will be less willing so make sure you ask the horse politely to open his mouth before inserting the bit. Leave him to chew on it (literally!) for 5 or 10 minutes. (This is called 'mouthing'.) Remove the bridle and repeat over the next 2 days.

STAGE 5. Backing
It is useful to have a handy helper here. A portable mounting block also makes the job easier. Note that the horse is not held or restrained. He should stand quietly throughout the procedure.


1. Gently lean over until the horse is taking your full weight and stay there for a few moments. It is useful to lead the horse about a bit.	2. Come back to standing. Make much of the horse, then place your foot in the stirrup. Slowly start putting weight on the stirrup.

3. Practice getting up and down a few times until the horse is comfortable and familiar with it. When the time seems right, carefully proceed to mount normally.	4. The first few steps are the critical ones, so the rider must sit and do nothing. The helper asks the horse to walk on by walking forward herself and using the voice command.

Repeat the whole exercise the following day. After a few minutes of quietly leading around, the rider picks up the reins and joins in. Aids are accompanied by clear voice commands so the horse understands immediately what is wanted.

STAGE 6. THE REAL TRAINING!

All you have done so far is accustom the youngster to the saddle, bridle and rider. He now has to get used to everything we expect of a riding horse and the best place to start is with plenty of loose-rein hacking with as wide a variety as you can manage. This may surprise you, but the best schooling a young horse can have is 'the school of life'.

Hacking comes more naturally to the horse than anything else we ask him to do. Carrying a rider and submitting to their requests and demands is not natural. Going out hacking makes it as easy as possible for the horse to get used to aids, all the more so when they are used as the need arises.

It is so much easier for the horse to learn to turn, stop, increase and decrease the pace when he is going freely forward.

Additionally, out hacking, the horse develops confidence, which is what we want above all else.

NB. The young horse in training should learn to hack out alone. If you take him out in company, he will develop a dependence which is hard to break.

When he is easy to ride out and comfortable with the outside world, he can be introduced to jumping and even low-level competing. A showground is an exciting place for a horse that has never been before. This is something else he has to get used to.

This is how you lay the foundation of a safe, reliable, all-round horse that is willing and able to do anything. He will now be much more amenable to the discipline of formal schooling - if that's where you want him to go. Otherwise, he will be a perfectly good ride without it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.