HOW TO MAKE YOUR HORSE STAY
This is a very useful trick as you may want your horse to stand while you grab a coat, put obstacles out, see to someone injured, the list is endless. Remember though, staying on his own is against all his natural instincts.
Many people have different words they use or call it a different thing, such as grounding, but it is all the same to the horse. You will need to use a word that is easily recognised by your horse, I find “stay” not easily responded to, so I use “stand” and make sure the “d” is pronounced clearly.
Make your horse stand.
Put your hand up and say “stand”, or whatever word you choose, and move a step away from your horse. Make sure you keep your hand up.
If he-
A- Stays, walk back to him and MYNAT (make your noise and treat)
B- Walks towards you, push him back to his original spot and try again, making the gap smaller until he stands while you ask him, then MYNAT. Repeat getting the gap further apart.
Gradually get the gap further and further apart and the time a little longer. If your horse moves at any point, walk back to him, put him quietly in the original point and repeat at a stage he found easy.
Soon you will be asking him to stand and he will stay still until you go to him again. This is a very neat and easy trick but will take practice to extend the time you are away from him.
Final Thoughts
Remember not to leave it too long between practicing this, as you can’t expect your horse to not do “stand” for weeks, then ask him to “stand” and expect him to stay while you go off.
The reason, as I pointed out earlier, is because staying on his own is against all his natural instincts.
Have fun with this one and I look forward to seeing how you get on.