Get Your Horse Training Questions Answered!

Are you struggling with training your horse? Wondering what feeds work best? Ask specific questions to a panel of top Trainers, Practitioners and Clinicians on training, general care, feed and nutrition. Click on this title and leave us a reply/question, or go to Horseman’s U.com and use the email link on the right hand side. We look forward to hearing from you!

APRIL REEVES, Clinician, Instructor, Trainer – Level 3 English: Flat/Dressage/Hunter/Jumper, Level 3 Western: Flat/Reining

To view Video On Demand go to Video: Horseman’s U.com, where you’ll find clips from Pro Trainers DVD’s, ‘juicy’ training information, interviews with top Clinicians and more!

“Wow, what an amazing response. I learned so much. Thank you.” Ken Zelez

Visit April Reeves at WordPress for her new blog: Horse Training Chronicles. In this blog you will find valuable training tips and follow each horse and rider/student as they move through their training program day by day.

“First blog I read after waking up.” Jeannie

What training can we put on a young Andalusian that trips all the time?

Question: We have a 4-year-old Andalusian cross filly who trips a lot when being ridden. The other day she went right down on her head. What can we do to prevent this? We are taking her away to be evaluated.

Answer from April Reeves: This question was from my area so I went to watch the filly.

How can I get my Oldenburg to not over-jump everything?

Question: My 6 year old Oldenburg over-jumps everything then lands in a big heap with a grunt. These are 18″ to 2′ jumps. On occasion when she jumps correctly she is lovely and talented, but has this over jumping quirk that manifests itself especially over a new fence. We have changed fences, flowers, coolers, etc without long term success. Help please!

Answer from April Reeves, Horseman’s U.com: Many horses jump too high when learning. There are many reasons for this:

What do I (and my mare) need to know for lower level dressage? How can I evaluate my foal for dressage?

Question: I’m interested in beginning to do some lower level dressage with my mare. I know there are terms like extended trot, but what are some other major terms that I would need to know? What types of movements would my mare need to be able to do in order to go through lower level and the more advanced levels? I also have a newborn foal who I think would do well at dressage but I’m not sure. How can I tell whether or not the foal will excel at dressage just by watching him play and run in the pasture with his dam?

Answer from April Reeves, Horseman’s U.com: Lower level dressage is called the ‘Training Levels’, and is judged on the basic foundation a horse is trained to. Those basics include:

My Quarter horse mare needs better canter departs.

Question: I have a Quarter Horse mare who is very calm tempered which I love. My problem is getting her into a canter. She is willing to walk, trot, but when I give her the cue to canter she resists and sometimes very strongly. My instructor says to use a lot of leg which I’m trying to do but she still tries to get out of it. I’m not pulling back when I ask her to go into it. If I use a crop she is better but still doesn’t like it. I can get her to do it but it’s always a struggle. Will it get better with more practice? I would love your thoughts/advice.

Answer from April Reeves: Using more leg is not the answer and this is why. Horses should be obedient from the very first signal (aid), and that signal should be a very light pressure in order to obtain what you want, at exactly when you want it. If you find that a horse does not respond the first time, nor the second time, and not any time after that, it’s likely (100%) that the horse will never respond to a soft aid, or any aid for that matter. The more you ask without response, the duller your horse will get, as you are effectively training the horse to be dull. We, as humans, usually think the horse is being bad, but we unconsciously train our horses to be dull and disobedient. Just as the horse will pick up a new request when the request is clear, they will also pick up dullness and lethargy with the same enthusiasm if you nag them.

If we are predators, how can we ride horses?

Question: If we are predators, how is it that we are able to connect and work with horses?

Answer from April Reeves: This is a very interesting question and deals with an understanding of psychology as opposed to training. Horses can accept humans into the herd; what they don’t accept or like, is a human with predatory behavior.

Moving around a horse cautiously or too slowly is predatory behavior. It can cause some very violent reactions in horses, and is the main cause of horses becoming aggressive towards humans. While we believe we are being careful, the horse believes you are lining him up for dinner.

I am the new owner of a surly TB. How can I start him?

Question: I have recently brought a new 5yr old thoroughbred called Roger. We brought him off a kind lady who said he was in extremely poor condition (very skinny) when she got him, so she was fattening him up. We are now feeding him specially and he’ll look beautiful soon but I want to retrain him natural horsemanship way. I’m 15 and have just been starting with the basics like good manners and a bit of bonding time with grooming. He’s good under saddle and stops dead but I want to go further. Being a racehorse he was surly mistreated as he’s flinchy when I touch him anywhere and this happens on and off. One day he’s fine and the next he doesn’t like me. He also has a catching problem and he’s clingy to my other two horses which is really annoying. I want to have a good bond so he can be happy with me and not be so anxious. I have read everything possible but not enough. Where can I start? Who can i get lessons from in Australia?

Answer from April Reeves: Since I do not live in Australia I am not connected with too many trainers there, but I have searched the web and found numerous Natural Horsemen who give clinics and I would suggest you audit one of their clinics first, and if you like them, take your horse in one later.

I have a yearling and I don’t know how to train her. What can I do with my yearling?

Question: I have a filly named Kahlua and I need to be her trainer but I don’t know what to do with her. What can I do with my 1 year old horse?

Answer from April Reeves: A green horse and a green rider is not a good combination, so I will give you some suggestions on how to go about learning how to work with a young horse. It will take you time and dedication, but without it, any words I write here will not help you much. You need to see and feel it for yourself.

I have a tough, nervous 2 year old to train. Can you help?

Question: I’ve been hired to train 6 horses this lady “rescued”. There are 3 three year olds, 2 two year olds and one yearling. They’re all fillies. Two of them are full sisters (and their grandmother on both sides is the same horse) and both are extremely flighty, nervous and skittish. I’ve gotten the three year old fairly well calmed and workable, but the two year old is another story. I’ve separated her, put her in a stall with a run so she gets hand fed hay and grain daily. The first day I tried to lunge her in the round pen it took me two hours before she’d let me touch her – now it only takes me about 15 minutes – so we are making progress, but… If I go into the stall and pet her, she’s ok for a minute but then any little thing and she’ll freak out. I haven’t even begun to put a blanket on her, brush her or work with her feet. They had to sedate her both to trim her feet and vaccinate her. I know this is hereditary since her sister is the same way, only not quite to this extreme. My question is, will she settle down and become a decent horse after a while or will she always be this way? And any tips to help her settle would be appreciated.

Answer from April Reeves: All 6 horses have the opportunity to be not just good, steady mounts, but each in their right can find a job to do that they excel at – even the 2 year old.

My horse chokes on his tongue when I take up contact. Is this possible?

Question: I have a gentle 16hh gelding who is lovely in all ways except when you are riding him and you take contact. The dentist has said there is nothing wrong in his mouth.  I think his tongue gets ‘bunched up’ behind the bit and then when you take the contact it ‘chokes’ him. Is this possible? Can you help?

Answer from April Reeves: I have run into this about 25 years ago and it was caused from the horse’s tongue backing up in his mouth. We could only figure it was a habit and not a medical issue. The owner tried everything in the softer bits but the owner would not try a high port bit. I have a high copper port with a roller, which she eventually broke down and tried and it worked!

My horse suddenly refuses to turn left. Any ideas why?

Question: I have a blk/white paint/qrt horse. She is 4 yrs and I’ve had her 2 yrs. She’s a good horse but the last 2 weeks she wont turn her head left when on her back; she starts to rear up but on ground work she turns her head left. I don’t know what is going on but she started to do this 2 weeks ago.

Answer from April Reeves: It could be a number of things: tooth problem, training issue, back problem or lameness. Let’s try to diagnose each one and find the appropriate solution. It is a bit unusual for a horse to suddenly not want to turn when she has been good for you previously.