Courtesy of Downunder Horsemanship Many horses become wary of the bit and find ways to avoid being bridled because they’ve had their mouths hurt from the bridle being taken off incorrectly, allowing the bit to
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Category: Clinton Anderson
Training Tip: Avoid Losing Your Temper When Desensitizing Your Horse
By Clinton Anderson Training isn’t about emotions or feelings, it’s all business. It’s about how much the horse tries. Resistance is normal, especially when you’re introducing a new object to your horse. It’s very common
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An Exercise to Slow Down a Speed Demon
By Clinton Anderson If you know your horse has a tendency to turn a leisurely trail ride into an all-out race, set the situation up at home so that you can safely correct him before
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Understanding Hot-Blooded Horses
Courtesy of Downunder Horsemanship While the Method works on all types of horses, every horse will require you to vary your approach slightly. I break horses into two broad groups – hot-blooded horses and cold-blooded
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Your Horse Anticipating You Can Be a Good Thing
Courtesy of Downunder Horsemanship Anticipation is a common problem that plagues horses in all disciplines, particularly horses that are hot-blooded and sensitive. Horses are great at predicting our behavior and learning our habits, and it
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Treats Should be a Surprise
By Clinton Anderson One of the most important rules of feeding treats to your horse is that you should never give a horse a treat when he’s expecting it. Whenever I give one of my
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Your Imagination is Your Greatest Tool
Courtesy of Downunder Horsemanship When it comes to training your horse, your imagination is your greatest tool. The more creative you can be in your lessons, the more interested your horse will be in his
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Tying a Horse in the Trailer
I often get asked if it’s OK to tie a horse in the trailer using my rope halter. The answer is absolutely. I tie all my horses in the trailer using my halter and lead
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: One Step at a Time
Written by Clinton Anderson When you begin to teach the horse to load onto the trailer, the first rule is to completely forget about the trailer. Act like loading the horse onto the trailer is
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Mouthy Horses
Written by Clinton Anderson When a horse gets mouthy — he nips or nibbles shirt sleeves, jackets or the lead rope — the behavior is often brushed aside. This is especially true with young horses,
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Kicking in the Trailer
Written by Clinton Anderson Because horses are prey animals, when they are made to go in tight, narrow spaces – such as a trailer – it’s natural for them to feel trapped and claustrophobic. When
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Introduce Scary Objects to Your Horse
Written by Clinton Anderson Trying to protect a horse from objects he’s scared of only makes the situation worse. I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself. Your horse is afraid of fly spray, so you slowly
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: There Are No Shortcuts
Written by Clinton Anderson Too often, I meet people at tours or we’ll receive letters in the office saying that they have a problem that needs fixed. Everyone wants a quick fix, a magic cure that they can
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Light Hands = Light Mouth
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Light hands, light mouth.” I disagree with that. I say, “Light hands that pick up softly and= hands that release quickly make a horse’s mouth light.” For example, you could
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Training Tip with Clinton Anderson: Horses That Gape Their Mouths
Written by Clinton Anderson A horse that constantly gapes his mouth or chomps on the bit has one of a few things going on. He might have a dental issue and the bit could be
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