INTRODUCTION TO IN HAND TRICKS AND TRAINING
In-hand tricks and training are a very important part of your horse’s education.
You do not need to have your horse dancing with you or learning to lie down with you, but they do need to learn to stand still when asked, pick their feet up easily and move over when you need them to, which is what in-hand training is.
Everyone has different ideas on how to train their horse so I am showing you how I do it. You should try it, see if it works for you and your horse. If it doesn’t, work out why and tweak it until you find a system that works for your partnership.
Points
To start in-hand training you and your horse must have a basic level of respect for each other, so leading a difficult horse section should have been mastered.
You should wear strong footwear with excellent grip. Hat and gloves are recommended.
The horse should wear a headcollar or halter. The thin halters mean the horse feels your contact on their head more acutely, but I aim to have my horse respond to my actions with the minimal aids, so use their normal headcollar. If I had a new horse that was showing little respect, I would definitely use the thinner halters aiming to swap to the normal one as soon as possible.
This time should be for just you and your horse. There is no point in trying to train your horse whilst having a chat with your friend about what you did last night. Equally, there would be no point in training if your horse’s best mate is just going out in the field unless you are quite advanced in your connection.
I use the carrot, not the stick method. This means I reward the horse for even thinking of doing the right action rather than punishing them for the wrong result. The reward may be in the form of pressure release, praise or by treating.
When I ask for an action I reward instantly by release of pressure or by making a noise and giving a treat. I give pony nuts called “cool nuts”, they are non heating or fattening. The noise I use is “psst”, but you can use any noise that is distinctive and can not be confused with any other word or noise. Some systems use a little machine that clicks or squeaks, these all work on the same principle.
I use a noise before treating as this stops the horse being too demanding for treats. They learn there is no point in rooting around or snatching at my pockets for treats, as they wont get one unless I make the noise.
If you want to teach, a trick start at a very simple point then work up from there. For example, if you are teaching “stay”, you would not start by saying “stay” and just walking off, your horse has no idea what is happening. You would start by moving only a step away and work up little by little, until eventually he will stay while you move jump wings or go out of sight (I cover this trick in more detail later on in this section).
Keep your training sessions short and rewarding for you and your horse. 10 minutes several times a day is better than one large session.
If things are not going well do not stress. Stop, have a break, then start on another trick you are good at. Go back to the place where you were having difficulty when you are feeling happy and relaxed. If you keep running into issues at a certain point, analyse why. Could you try it a different way? Is it too big a step? Have you given clear enough aids? Is your horse getting confused with another trick? You must work out what the problem is, remember your horse is just being a horse. He does not want to do all these moves, you do, so you must make it simple, fun and rewarding for him.
Before starting trick training I use the horse’s name to get his attention and to let him know I am going to ask him something.
Never put yourself or your horse in danger.
Final Thoughts
These tricks and training are an ideal way for you and your horse to connect.
The sessions should be fun and rewarding for both of you, even if it is just the point of having a few minutes where the two of you are giving each other your full attention.
If at any point you get stressed or frustrated do not carry on working, as your horse will feed into your negative thoughts.
Have fun and I look forward to seeing the lovely connection you and your horse can forge together.