If you have been following this series, we’ve been discussing how to teach your horse basic ground training commands including “come to me”, “move away from me”, and “whoa” or stop. Now I am going to share tips for teaching your horse the fourth basic command- how to “back”. Make sure your horse is consistently responding to the first three commands before introducing this lesson.
Read More
If you have been following this series, we’ve been discussing how to teach your horse basic ground training
commands including “come to me”, “move away from me”, and “whoa” or stop. Now I am going to share
tips for teaching your horse the fourth basic command- how to “back”. Make sure your horse is
consistently responding to the first three commands before introducing this lesson.
Backing is an excellent exercise to improve communication with your horse and sharpen your reactions to
control his body position.
Horses need to respect four major ground training commands: “move away from me,” “come
toward me,” stop, and back. In my last two articles, we covered the “come to me” and “whoa”
commands. In this article I will give you the steps to teach your horse the “move away from me”
command.
Before starting, make sure that your horse is properly equipped. He should be wearing a properly
fitting halter, with a longe line, and leg protection. I prefer using a longe line over a lead rope for
ground training, but will use both terms in these articles.
Horses need to respect four major ground training commands: “move away from me”, “come
toward me”, “stop”, and “back.” In the last article I gave you the steps for teaching your horse the
“come to me” command. This time we will include the “whoa” command. I am taking this lesson
plan directly from my 6-part Longevity Training Video series where I demonstrate each
maneuver with several young horses.
Before starting, make sure that your horse is properly equipped. He should be wearing a properly
fitting halter, with a longe line, and leg protection.
Horses need to respect four major ground training commands: “move away from me,” “come
toward me,” “stop,” and “back”. In this article I will give you the steps to teach your horse the
“come to me” command.
Before starting, make sure that your horse is properly equipped. He should be wearing a properly
fitting halter, with a longe line, and leg protection. I prefer using a longe line over a lead rope for
ground training, but will use both terms in these articles.
No matter what the horse’s age, I introduce these commands first in a confined, familiar location
like stall, round pen, or small paddock. Remove any distractions such as buckets or hay.