Groundwork Basics - Good Ground Manners are the basic building blocks
of horse training.
Before taking a closer look at why groundwork is so important in creating
and maintaining a sound horse owner relationship, let's take a moment
to see how the dictionary defines groundwork:
"That which forms the foundation or support of anything; the basis;
the essential or fundamental part; the first principle."
So how do you instill those good ground manners in your horse? By understanding
how your horses mind works of course.
Do You Understand the Basics ?
Be the leader :
Horses are herd animals and are mentally wired to look up to the leader
of the herd. In a herd, which is the natural situation for a horse, there
is a pecking order (order of dominance). The stallion and lead mare are
the leaders.
 Every
other horse below them in the pecking order will look to these two to
find out how to react in a given situation. If the leaders are calm, the
others are calm, if the leaders are running for their lives, the rest
of the herd is right behind them.
It's the leaders job to keep an eye out for danger. In other words, the
leaders signal to the rest of the herd what is dangerous and what is safe.
The herd has 100% faith in their leaders. They follow blindly. They do
not think rationally or for themselves.
This horse behavior makes a horse very easy to train.
You use this horse behavior to your advantage when you’re training
your horse, the leader of the herd needs to be you, and yes your horses
herd can be just the two of you. You must demonstrate, through your tone
of voice, your body language and your confidence, that you are the leader.
For example, you cannot expect a horse to walk calmly past a barking
dog if you are frightened yourself. If there are situations around your
horse that scare you, you need to be inventive and work out how to avoid
the situation without your horse seeing you as weak.
If your horse often barges or charges you, you must avoid the trigger
situation until you have established dominance in other situations. Get
outside help if you need to. A horse generally weighs 10 times more than
a human, so don't expect to out muscle your horse when it behaves inappropriately.
It is crucial that you become the leader in your herd, so your horse
follows you. If you don't your horse will naturally assume the leadership
role and end up dragging you around.
Be Repetitive :
It is not widely known that a horse can take around 60 iterations of a
lesson to get it. That's right; you may have to repeat the exact same
lesson 60 times before your horse understands what you are trying to teach.
To put this in perspective, if you see your horse once a week and teach
the same lesson once each time, then it may take over a year for your
horse to learn it. Of course you may try the lesson more than once a session
and you may see your horse more than once a week, but it takes time and
patience to train a horse effectively.
The good news is that you can successfully train your horse to behave
well in any situation. This applies to all horses, whether they are young,
old, previously poorly trained or have been neglected or abused.
You can teach your horse to lead, to tone down aggressive behaviour,
to be calm or to get rid of other bad habits such as rearing, biting,
and kicking using basic repetition. But remember that horse training takes
as long as it takes, 60 repetitions is just an average.
Be Consistent :
Being a leader also means having a zero tolerance policy towards your
horse invading your personal space or disobeying your requests.
In the herd, the pecking order is often challenged. Stay vigilant as
the pecking order is never set in stone. If you get slack, the horse will
start to dominate you. Be firm, consistent and persistent in applying
your rules.
You're either training or de-training your horse every moment you're
with him. Mind the small stuff. It really does matter. Your horse will
test you in small ways to see how serious you are. If you don't hold your
ground over your space or do accept a tardy response to a request, you're
effectively eroding the respect he has for you. 'That's ok, I don't really
mean stop when I say so'. This is then a green flag for your horse to
try on bigger and bigger misbehaviours.
For example, don't let your horse kiss you. Not just for reasons of hygiene!
No, letting any horse nibble or kiss you is sending him down the slippery
slope of developing a biting habit. After all, a bite is just a firm nibble
isn't it? And a biting problem is not one you want to be dealing with.
Painful for you, and difficult to get rid of. In this case, no kisses,
no nibbles, no bites, ever.
Be firm, be consistent and be persistent in applying your ground rules.
Absolute CONSISTENCY is the key to fast and effective training.
Build Trust :
One of the biggest reasons horses lack good ground manners is the fact
they don't trust or respect the people who are handling them.
 Trust
and respect go hand in hand and once you have attained that, the rest
of your training is so much easier.
As leader (when you earn respect), part of your job is to keep your horse
safe (when you earn trust). That's safe from his perspective, not yours.
You might think he's perfectly safe in a trailer, but if he's never been
in one you'll need to show him that you're willing to go into one and
that other horses agree it's safe too.
Your job is to prove to your horse that no matter what goes on around
him, he will not be harmed when you're around or wherever you take him.
Angry bullying won't work. Losing your temper won't work. Banging his
teeth with the bit, slapping him unexpectedly on the rump, making loud,
sudden noises and impatient gestures won't help either. Let your horse
know where you are and what you're up to as much as possible.
Be calm, be considerate, be affectionate, be patient. This is the only
path that leads to your horses trust and without trust there's no training.
It's an essential ingredient for a long and happy relationship.
Be fun :
No one, not even a horse, enjoys all work and no play. Remember to make
your lessons enjoyable. Your aim is to encourage your horse to look forward
to being with you.
What your horse likes will be individual to your horse, but most horses
have a place on their body they like having scratched or rubbed. This
can be a reward for obedience.
Many horses enjoy the mental stimulation of a lesson if it doesn't involve
endless repetition. More than half an hour on any one lesson at once is
too much. 10 or 15 minutes is enough.
And horses like variety in their work, so trail ride one day, jump work
the next, groundwork the next. Mix it up and keep it interesting.
A bored horse is a crabit horse, and anyone in a bad mood is likely to
misbehave.
Provide Comfort :
Your horse enjoys living a comfortable life. That means, a life free from
stress, from irritants and definitely free from pain.
You can use your horses requirement for comfort in your training regime.
Basically, you are looking for non-painful but annoying or irritating
things you can do to encourage your horse to do as you ask. The key is
to remove the irritant immediately your horse does what you have asked
it to do.
Stopping the annoying thing you were doing is his reward for doing as
you asked. This is the most effective and yet gentle way to teach your
horse to do what you ask.
One example of irritant training is a technique called pressure and
release.
An example of pressure and release:
If you wanted your horse to turn its head to the left, you would put your
hand in the halter strap and gently pull to the left just slightly. As
soon as the horse begins to turn his head left, let go of the halter,
releasing the pressure, and praise your horse quietly.
If your horse were to pull to the right instead, you would continue to
apply gentle pressure to the left until your horse complied, then release
and praise again.
Through patient and consistent repetition, your horse will learn what
you are asking.
This is the pressure and release training method in a nutshell, and can
be applied throughout your horse's training.
Remember this; Your horse is learning every
time you are and being a good horse trainer is about the quality of the
training not the quantity.
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