how to train a horse - duuration/PROCESS

TRAINING STEPS

The old cowboy method which still exists today is mounting a horse and bucking him out in order to “break” it; we know the problem with that technique is that the horse was NOT trained “educated it was BROKE! The modern method is to educate a horse to be ridden. If you’re interested in training a horse to be ridden, there are some steps to be aware of in order to make the process; successful, long lasting, easier and certainly a lot safer for you and your horse:

Build a Bond
Understand the Natural Survival Instincts every equine is born with 34
Complete an Evaluation with a diagnostic report identifying; Who the horse is, What it knows; What it offers willingly and What it needs
From the Evaluation Diagnostic report develop; horse specific Foundations of Ground and Mounted Training Plans. Without proper plans a goal is just a dream.
Master the Foundation of Ground Training Plan
Educate the horse to wearing a saddle
Prior to the first ride use a dummy rider
Implement the Foundation of Mounted Training by mimicking the exercises used in the ground work
The more Undesirable personality traits the horse as the longer it will take to Educate the horse

For Additional tips please read:

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE

If you are the trainer; only you and your horse can answer this question without missing any steps without missing any steps in the training plans and not until the work is already done! There are many other factors that will impact the training; just some of the things that you will learn, attain and appreciate over time are as follows:

The amount of time spent, the effort put forth, the willingness of your horse, past experience,
The undesirable/desirable personality traits of the horse because the more undesirable a horse as the longer it takes to educate the horse
Your experience level owning a horse, ground and mounted training
Taking the time needed to complete each training Level. Your objective should always be to remain safe while setting high goals. What will help you in the process is experience, which cannot be obtained quickly.
If you are able to work your horse every other day three to four times a week the following are reasonable expectations!
Most complex skills and behaviours that we teach the horse are really just foundation skills that have been expanded or repackaged. We run into problems later with more complex skills if the horse has a weak foundation. If we build a strong foundation from the beginning, then later skills are easy to teach.
In the end, prior and proper preparation pays off. It’s important to make sure we have horse specific Foundations of Ground & Mounted training plans with logical steps to teach whatever we’re working on. Also we must make sure the horse understands what has been taught, is comfortable and relaxed before we move onto the next task.

The amount of time this takes depends completely on the horse and the handler/trainer. If we train at the horses pace, we save time and effort in the end. I hear many people talk about their horses going out for 30 days training but if a horse is not trained, there is not much that will happen in the first 30 days and it will not be safe for a beginner rider. Horses learn by repetition and it can take up to 150 repetitions of a task for a horse to really learn that task so it becomes a habit. That means, after you have asked a horse to walk by squeezing your legs and the horse has walked forward for about 150 times, it will probably be trained to go forward at the walk. Will it be trained to pick up a lope/canter lead after this? Probably not! The truth is it takes much longer to finish a horse than what most people realize. If you are not a trainer, then it is important for you to work with a trainer. There are many subtleties to horses that are only learned by working with and handling many horses. A person who has been working with horses for only a few years just cannot see many of the subtleties of horses, unless that person worked with many horses for many hours a day during that short time. There is no substitute for time and experience.

PLEASE NOTE:

Based on the information collected we developed horse specific step by step progressive; Foundation of Ground and Mounted Training Plans and Implementation Strategies specific to each horse. Even with proper horse specific training plans; we will encounter problems if we:

Lack flexibility in the training plan and/or the trainer
Not enough consistency, too much variety too soon
Not recognizing and addressing early tension
Asking the horse do to something he wasn't prepared for
Punishment/harsh corrections and/or lack of praise
Too much discipline too early preventing
Pushing the horse to hard when he hesitates
Ignoring tension
Pushing /coaxing rather than waiting and allowing
Not enough release of pressure
Not waiting until the horse is calm
Too much repetition once the horse is confident
Not establishing lightness and following a feel
Bribing with food rather than using it for as a reward for a task well done
Lack of creativity and imagination
Too much physical exercise, lacking emotional and mental exercises
Micro-management and Perfectionism not allowing it to develop too much demanding
Asking for things before the horse is ready for it
Asking for his all every time; over doing it, horse becomes dull and not responsive
Not enough variety; you need consistency and variety for your horse
Not enough relaxation, balance and time to process the information
Asking for too much for too long, too fast and too quick.
Start riding when too young