FAQ

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

A: Well, they are all different, but for a starter volume, I suggest Understanding the Ancient Secrets of the Horse’s Mind, available for order here.

A: Mount in a corner.  That reduces by 50% the directions in which he can move.  After mounting, sit quietly for a while and then dismount.  In fact, if every time a horse is mounted the rider would sit quietly for awhile and then either dismount or go in a different direction each time, green horses would not learn to move off as soon as they are mounted.  We teach them to do this.  The learn to anticipate and we can prevent this by always doing something different.

A: Load some syringes with applesauce, syrup and molasses.  Every day give such a treat.  When it is time to worm, put some of the treat on the outside of the syringe.

A: Yes, flooding a clipper shy horse can be dangerous. Tie him in front of a feed bucket or manger. Buzz the clipper. Immediately give him a treat (slice of carrot, a mint, or a pinch of sweet feed). A small treat. Repeat this 10 – 20 times over 2 – 3 days. We want to make a dinner bell of the clipper. Each day, move a little closer, but don’t rush it. Eventually you should be able to rub his back with the clipper. Initially, do that for just 2 seconds, then give the treat. Remember to take lots of time. Eventually move to his withers. Then his neck. If he resists, back away. That will reassure him. If it takes a month to get to his ears, fine. Back away whenever he shows fear. Reward whenever he tolerates it. 

A: The one-leg hobble alone cannot solve your problem. Can your mare be rehabilitated? Yes! But do I recommend that you, at 63 accept such a challenge? Not if we are sensible. You should do one of two things. Anything in between is asking for an eventual disaster. It’s not worth the risk:
1. Put her with a good trainer for at least 3 months. It’s cheaper than a skull fracture. Drop by as often as possible to make sure they work with your mare daily.
2. Sell her and get a safe, gentle, well mannered horse. There are lots of them around who need homes. Check 4-H and ETI.  Perhaps a girl is going off to college or an older person is quitting riding and their horse needs a home. As a half Arab she should sell for enough to help buy a new nice horse.

A. The twitch, like the bit and the spur, is a legitimate tool in horsemanship, but like the others, it is often used improperly and harshly. No horsemanship tool should ever be used in anger or impatience. Because some people do so, other people often disapprove of their use in general, which shouldn’t be the case.

A: Training a mule should NOT be different than a horse. I have used identical methods on both with equal results. However, mules must be trained the way horses should be trained. Horses are more forgiving and throughout history horses have been mostly improperly trained. The exceptional unforgiving horse was labeled an “outlaw.” If the traditional coercive, insensitive, forceful methods are used on mules, they usually end up as the stubborn, untrustworthy, disagreeable creature that tradition portrays them to be. Properly handled, the mule can make an extraordinary animal, superior to the horse in several ways. Several of my books and videos include mules: Imprint Training, Handling The Equine Patient, Understanding Horses DVD.

Q. Some trainers encourage food treats, and some abhor them. What is your opinion?

A. Food rewards (not treats) are the most powerful way of reinforcing behavior positively. But—they must be used correctly or they can encourage behavior problems. Be sure you use food rewards appropriately. The Spanish Riding School uses them, as do most circus trainers.  Shawna Karrasch, a former dolphin trainer, has a DVD available on the subject, On Target™ Training.  Allen Pogue, a great trick horse trainer from Dripping Springs, Texas, also has a DVD, Using Treats as a Training Tool.

A. No! His behavior is the result of inept training. He needs to be started over, from scratch, in a halter, side pull bridle, or hackamore. This must be done by a skilled trainer—it will take time before he can gradually be reintroduced to a bit.

A: Horses are highly reactive creatures.  Any detected unfamiliar sensory stimulus ( odor, touch, sight, or sound) will precipitate a flight reaction--or--an aborted suppressed flight reaction.  Thus it is IMPOSSIBLE to completely avoid frightening stimuli.  What we CAN do is handle horses so as to AVOID unnecessary fear as much as p possible.  Our goal should always be 100% respect and zero fear, but realistically that can never be completely attained.

A: My EARLY LEARNING video has a section on teaching to tie. So does UNDERSTANDING HORSES. I also recommend the Blocker Tie Ring invented by Ted Blocker. He may have a video. As for her feet. Go very slow and gradual rubbing her withers and back progressing very very gradually to her feet. Take a few days to reach the feet. Read UNDERSTANDING THE ANCIENTS SECRETS OF THE HORSES MIND. Always tie high.

A. I believe that next to teaching a horse to lead gently and quietly, teaching them to back on command is an important prelude to further training. I teach horses to back differently than most trainers do. I do it from the horse’s shoulder, facing the same direction as the animal (just as I would if I were riding). I do this using a halter, and, if necessary, intermittent pressure applied to the chest using something like a dull hoof pick. As always when training horses, if there is the slightest response to pressure in the desired direction, reward the animal instantly by removing the pressure and using praise and gentle stroking.

A: It is not rare for a weak foal to be unable to nurse, but imprinting as nothing to do with it. Foals are born fully nourished and so not need to nurse for hours. In 54 years of handling countless foals I never had such an experience. In fact, I have found that the newborn foal straining to arise while being handled is STRONGER once it is allowed up, probably due to the isometric exercise it experiences. Your weak foal was born weak as foals sometimes are and handling it postpartum had nothing to do with its difficulty nursing.

A: This is the most commonly expressed concern and it is absolution unfounded.  In fifty years of experience I have never had a mare reject an imprint trained foal.  Moreover, in those mares that reject foals because they are afraid of it, imprint training overcomes such rejection.  The mare is reassured and habituates to the foal's presence as the handler works with it while it is lying on the ground.   Also, mares which were imprint trained at birth remember it, and calmly observe the process when it is done to their own foals.  This in turn reassures the newborn that, being a precocial species, is keenly aware of all that it senses and of the dam's attitude.

A: Yes, but not at the time of birth.  Dogs are an ALTRICIAL species, just like us humans.  Development and learning ability is delayed.  Puppies imprint at 6 weeks of age.  If you'll think about it, that's when the wolf cub crawls out of the den and sees its mother and pack members for the first time. 

PRECOCIAL SPECIES, such as horses, goats, deer, chickens, etc. imprint as soon as they are born or hatched.  They must follow mother to stay alive.  Their greatest learning period is during the hours and days after entering the world.

A. That’s true for any training methods. Imprint training is easy to do. For novices, I recommend a minimum team of three people; one holding the mare AFTER she gets up by herself, and two to work with the foal. To avoid mistakes, don’t experiment. Follow the steps that I have done for over 50 years, on countless foals, with a 100% success rate. Do each step exactly as instructed, as you would follow a recipe. By adhering to these instructions, good results are guaranteed. For more information on imprinting your foal, see the section on Imprint Training, below.

A. It’s not unusual for a weak foal to be unable to nurse, but imprinting has nothing to do with it. Foals are born fully nourished and thus need not nurse for hours. In 54 years of handling countless foals, I’ve never had the experience you describe. In fact, I’ve found that the newborn foal straining to arise while being handled is stronger once it’s allowed up—probably due to the isometric exercise it experiences. Your weak foal was born this way, as foals sometimes are, and handling it post-partum had nothing to do with its difficulty nursing

A: This is most common in first foal mares that are raised in an unnatural environment where they never experience newborn foals.  In my experience this is most common in the Arabian breed. 

A. No! It is submissive behavior. Ignore it, and be gentle. It will soon disappear.

A. The incidence of disease varies from area to area and according to the seasons. Ask your local veterinarian. He or she knows best.

A. Immediately. Any male not intended for breeding should be gelded as early as possible. I have done mine before one week of age. It isn’t traditional, but nobody can look at a mature gelding and tell if he was gelded at one day of age, one week, one month, or one year. When my clients asked me “when should I geld him?” My answer was always, “yesterday”

A. I recommend a hoof supplement containing Biotin. Use it generously. Ask your vet to recommend a really good farrier. Special shoes may be needed until the problem is solved. Also use a hoof dressing containing LANOLIN on the wall and coronet every day.

A. To some degree, it’s a matter of preference. Straw, tanbark, wood shavings, and even chopped-up newspaper have been used. The important thing is that it’s clean, and that the stall is mucked daily. In the United States, the most popular beddings are straw and wood shavings (avoid walnut). For a foaling stall, I prefer clean straw.

A. Horses evolved in cold climates and handle low temperatures better than very hot weather.

A: Bran is very high in phosphorous and excessive feeding can cause bone disease because excessive phosphorous with calcium absorption.  It causes a disease known since the Roman times as "Big Head."   A once a week bran feeding is OK.  I do it, but I do not recommend daily bran.  You can try 2 pounds mixed with some Psyllium.  It helps prevent sand colic.  A Saturday night bran mash was traditional in some regions prior to an idle Sunday.

A: I am an enthusiastic supporter of the mustang adoption programs.  When I started practice, mustangs were shot, roped, crippled, trapped, and most condemned to make dog food.  Today, thanks to the art of what is popularly called "natural horsemanship", mustangs born in the wild and never before handled by humans can, in a few days, be made tame, calm, bonded with humans, and trained to carry a rider.  What other species, previously unfamiliar with humans, especially a prey species like the horse, can be so gentled and tamed? 

I am happy about the trend for several reasons:
1) It provides a home for many mustangs which are terribly overpopulated costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
2) It enables people to buy good horses that are properly started, sound, and resistant to unsoundness problems common in horses started too young, and all at a low cost

Many of these horses are quite attractive, they have good feat and most are not too large.  So many people ride unnecessarily large horses.  Lighter weight horses tend to remain sound longer than heavy horses.  After all, truce wild horses usually weigh between 600 and 800 pounds.  That's what nature intended.  It was mankind that bred larger and larger horses for work and for warfare.  Natural selection over several centuries has made most mustangs strong, agile, intelligent, sensible and inclined to live in a herd environment.  So they readily bond with humans if handled properly. 

Several prisons now are involved in programs wherein inmates, using "natural horsemanship" methods, are training adopted mustangs and eventually selling them to the public.  Included are the state prisons of Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon.  Not only are some of the inmates rehabilitated, but the trained mustangs are eventually sold for sizable prices.  Everyone benefits.

A: You can click the Appearances link above to see where I am going to be speaking.  One regularly scheduled event I would highly recommend is the annual Light Hand Horsemanship clinic in Santa Ynez CA that is held each May.  You can visit the Light Hands website for more information.