All of the exercises are designed to develop a calm, thinking, responsive mount. I do these exercises with all of the horses that come to me for starting. Horses that come to me for a tune-up will learn many of them. How much time I spend on each exercise or how quickly I go through the list depends on the horse. If a horse seems comfortable with an exercise, I check it off and move on. No sense drilling something they already know!
For instance, Ranger is fairly comfortable having his feet handled, so I haven't had to spend too much time on that. I could move on to the next thing. On the flip side, Ranger is always wanting to invade my space, so I'm constantly reinforcing to him to be respectful and stay out of my "circle" unless I invite him in.
For convenience, I listed all Desensitizing and Sensitizing Exercises separately. In practice, I usually alternate a sensitizing exercise with a desensitizing one. I don't have a hard and set rule about the order I follow either. Again, it depends on the horse.
Training a horse takes time and patience, followed by consistent maintenance. There are gadgets out there that appear to help a horse overcome a problem, but I've found those gadgets usually mask the problem without overcoming the underlying cause. I would rather take the time to train a horse correctly from the start, than end up with more problems latter on. Did I mention that horse training takes a time and patience?
Roundpen-control speed and direction, start to learn to face up Desensitizing Exercises Proximity Approach/retreat Rub with stick-everywhere! String Toss-back, rear & front legs, neck Leadrope toss-same Spanking the ground-both sides Spanking the ground in a V Helicopter String Plastic grocery sack Tarp Saddle blanket Feed sack Ears Jumping up and down Jefferies Method Play drunk man Clock run at horse Groom Hobble Saddle Bridle Swing stirrups Slap stirrups Tap with hand Tap with stick on saddle Saddle bags Objects tied to saddle Tie up for thinking time Jump rope lead rope over head Squirt bottle (weather permitting) Bath (weather permitting) Obstacles- tires, ropes, hose, logs, etc. Kids, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, balls | Sensitizing Exercises Lunge Stage 1 Lunge Stage 2 Y0-yo Backing-marching Backing-waving Backing-tapping Backing-give to pressure on face Soften at poll Flex w/halter Flex w/ bridle Pick up feet-fetlocks Pick up feet-chestnut or hock Lead by the feet Yield the hindquarters Yield the forequarters Porcupine-all over Follow a feel-turn and go Flex and yield hindquarters Leading behind Leading next to Circle or Focus Driving Circle Driving Stage 2 Ground driving Open mouth Whoa Sending (Squeeze) Sidepassing Transitions-walk, trot or gait, stop, back Trailer loading-if needed or requested |