Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Horses- A Guide to Owning And Training Your Horse- Section Two

SECTION TWO

Now that your horse has settled into it's new home you can begin to do things freely with it, now you might be able to walk up to Him/Her whereas before when you approached he/she would shy away from you or look at you wide eyed. You may begin desensitizing her to the many new things at your barn. She will be scared the first few weeks, buildings are different and in different places. Just be kind and understanding and this process will go over smoothly.

If you don't handle your new friend kindly or understandingly in the beginning it could come back to bite you later. There is a difference between spoiling your horse and being abusive. When you have a new horse you don't let it nip you or bite you whenever they please. That would not be suggested as abusive, thats teaching the horse what you his/her owner will not let him/her get away with. A lot of Horses are not given the chance to adjust, and their owners get them working and expect them to just accept everything and become subtle like they had been there their whole lives. Horses who aren't given a chance to adjust are more likely to be scared of new locations for longer. Whereas if you spend your time thoughtfully and kindly your horse builds a stronger trust with you and is only scared of new locations for a little while.

SO MUCH ALIKE

Horses and Humans are so much alike, you wouldn't think they would be but they are. A horse can feel how it's owner feels, if you go somewhere and you get nervous your horse will be nervous too. But if you're relaxed your horse will be relaxed. Horses feel very much the same way humans feel, when you're excited your horse feels a little excitement too. If you ever decide to show your horse you will feel this unique bond. Maybe when your running barrels you'll feel that extra give coming home, a small clue that your horse is just as happy as you are. Or getting that perfect footing in your dressage pattern you feel so proud and at the moment that feeling swells you feel your horse put more bounce into his step. He feels how proud you are and even though you can't tell horses are usually proud of us too. They're our friends when were sad, our hope when we have none and they're someone we can talk to when you feel that no one else can quite understand what you mean. You know your horse will always understand and he/she will always be on your side.

This is why it is so important to make sure you're horse suits you, especially if you're a green rider.

Horses are Prey animals so it is only natural to them to be a "Flight" Animal. When a horse is spooked their instinct is to run. This is what they would have done in the wild, and what they still do today. Now Many horses learn to trust their riding companions, and will not run or buck when they are spooked by something. Because they trust their rider they leave the decision to them.

Horses are also herd animals, they don't like leaving their herd or being alone because alone they are less able to protect themselves. Horses will get over this eventually, and they get over it by learning to trust their masters (Companions) You don't want your horse to be "Buddy Sour" or "Pasture Sour" because these could give you problems when you go places. You might be going on a trail ride and your horse realizes half way down the trail that her pasture mate is not there. She will become agitated and possibly disobedient. What's worse is when your horses are together, and one strays from the other farther up the trail possibly, and you and your horse want to walk. Your horse will become upset because her friend is suddenly gone. Correcting this problem early is the best solution.

You can Correct Buddy Sourness by keeping your horse away from it's pasture mates, and visiting her several times a day. She/He then learns that you are their pasture buddy. When you go places the only person they need to worry about is you.

Being Pasture sour is a whole other matter, This means that when you go to retrieve your horse they don't want to come. Or run away from you as if playing, and then running off to eat grass. If you have a split pasture and you have one designated as your Outdoor Arena, your horse may see fit to be Balk while your riding. This means stopping and sticking their feet into the ground, they won't move no matter what you do. In serious cases the horses will buck when kicked or swatted on their Croup.

Chapter Three: The Practices Of Riding

In this chapter we will discuss each practice of riding and why they are so interesting and beneficial.

English Riding:

English Riding is very useful because it teaches you balance. Balance is key when you're riding, if you don't have the correct balance then you're going to either ride crooked or feel like you're falling off all the time. English riding began in England and was originally used in the Calvary. Women always rode Sidesaddle and the men rode in a different type of english saddle which had a rise in the front. English riding today can be difficult, because it is a motion between you and the horse. In Western Pleasure they're judging the horse but in English they're judging the Horse as well as you. English can also be useful when riding for short periods of time. Western Saddles can be heavy and need to be girthed up quite a bit before you get on. An English Saddle can reference to only minutes needed for Girthing Up. The only disadvantage to riding English is you have to have exceptional balance, often Novice riders feel nervous because of their lack of balance/ confidence.

Another Form of English Riding would be Dressage, Dressage is a form. The rider and Horse enter the arena with a planned out session. Which is done to music, Judges will score you/ rider on how the horse moves, how you move and how you move with your horse. Dressage is not like Huntseat pattern wise, Dressage patterns can be up to five minutes long whereas a Huntseat patterns can take a mere two or three minutes to complete. Dressage they are mostly judging the horse, Huntseat their mostly judging you.

Polo is another form of English riding, Polo is a game played by horses and their riders. The idea of the Game is to whack the ball from your horse and get it to the goal. Polocrosse is a "Kid Safe" form of Polo though most adults play it as well. In Polocrosse the rules and game-play are basically the same but instead of having a gold club looking stick you have a net sort of thing in which you would scoop the ball up and swing to towards the goal. Or to another player.

There are so many forms of English riding, Sidesaddle, Dressage, Huntseat, Polo, Jumping, Polocrosse and of course Endurance.

WESTERN: Western riding became popular by the Cowboys, the cattle drivers. Western Saddles were designed for comfort, durability and the ability to last a long time. Money was different back then, and Four Dollars now would seem a mere trifle when back in the old days it could be the Equivalent of Four Hundred Dollars. And saddles weren't cheap, now luckily for them most of the time when they bought a horse it came with a saddle. Unless they were in an auction or a large sale.

Cowboys didn't know about the Saddle Tree either, or how it should or shouldn't fit your horse. They just knew that the saddle had to be durable and fit the horse at least a little without causing pain. And some of them weren't that kind, they didn't show their horses back then. They were work animals, and they did their job well.

Stockseat: This is a Western Pattern, designed to show the Judges how much control you have of your horse. No speed is involved, just your Basic Walk, Trot and Canter. And A Stockseat Pattern usually consists of straight lines and rounded turns. Some sections may ask you to Post, This is when your body moves up and down with the horses motion.

The Judges look for a smooth Canter and Trot, they look for control and team work.