Kicking and Chronic Issues

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Kicking and Chronic Issues

Welcome to your next issue of "Horse Class," your how-to source for equine tips, tricks and solid foundational training brought to you by horsemanship101.com and John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman. Note that articles (as credited) in certain premier issues were co-written by Josh Lyons (John's son) - and much credit is due to Josh's amazing insights.

John Lyons has often been commended on his patience. And he'll usually say something like: "I'm not patient. The patient person deals with a horse's problems for years. Me, I fix it just as quick as possible. I look as if I'm patient because I've found that if I lose my temper or I'm rough on the horse, then the horse becomes an unwilling partner and the training takes much longer - if it even happens then at all." John isn't one to suffer a bad habit year after year. He fixes it. Today.

Does your horse have "issues" that you've just sorta learned to accept? Did your horse come to you with problems created by a previous owner? Are you ready to fix those problems?

This issue of our newsletter delivers two articles. The first is a fun look at trail horses that kick. The second describes how "being consistent" just might give long-standing problems the boot.

- Horses That Kick on the Trail: Shouldn't you be seeing red?
- Why Does My Horse Still Have This Problem?: Find out how being consistent can fix old problems and prevent new ones.

You'll find the first article (it's short) in its entirety below. The second ("Why Does My Horse...") is sampled below. To read it in its entirety, simply follow the link provided or visit Horsemanship101.com/Articles.

And remember, our earlier issues can be found 24/7 at Horsemanship101.com/Articles. Most can be printed out and saved for easy access later.

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Horses That Kick on the Trail

Have you ever seen a red ribbon tied to a horse's tail? What does that ribbon mean? It means "Stay away from me. My horse will kick your horse."

Does that make you mad? Maybe it should. You've gone to a lot of time and trouble to train your horse, to teach it that it is never okay to act up or kick somebody else's horse - but the guy next to you with the ribbon skipped the whole process. The days you worked on gaining control over your horse, he spent going to the movies. You put in the hard work it takes to build a safe horse; they skipped the process entirely.

How about I take a rope and throw it at that red ribbon? Their horse might kick and it might buck. And it might make the rider turn around and say "What the devil did you do that for?" And I might just answer "I'm telling your horse's butt to stay away from the end of my rope."

It is our responsibility to train our horses and make them safe under all circumstances. If your horse jumps at the sight of a tractor, don't get mad at the farmer. Spend more time training your horse.

The opposite is also true: While the guy with the ribbon should have trained his horse better before hitting the trail, you should train your own horse to deal with other, poorly trained horses. If their horse can run backwards kicking at your horse, then you need the control it takes to duck out of the way. Teach your horse to focus on you, to stay out of fights and to behave itself by being steadfast in your training.

this article can also be read online

Why Does My Horse Still...

Your horse is a living, breathing thing with emotions, desires, strengths and weaknesses. And while he may be trained to your liking today, keeping him there is going to take consistency on your part. By the same token, if your horse has a problem today then its "inconsistency" that might have got you there.

Here's inconsistency: You pick up the rein. Your horse tugs back and you think to yourself "Oh, I just don't feel like dealing with it today." Bang! You've just taught your horse that some days he can get away with pulling on you. Now he'll begin testing you. Every day he'll pull to see if maybe this is the day he can get away with a little more. A seed has been planted. A little problem grows into a big headache.

Here's consistency: You pick up the rein. Your horse tugs back. You take the time to hold onto that rein until the horse softens and gives. (You might also want to apply a little extra motivation at that moment like increasing the speed, disengaging the hips, adding a bit of pressure, etc.) You respond this way each and every time, 24/7, 365 days per year.

It's your job to be consistent simply because horses become mirror images of their owners. Let's say you buy a horse and the horse pulls on the bit like he's trying to rip your arms out of their sockets. Well, you can blame the previous owner for that behavior for only about three months. That's it. Three months. After that, it's your fault because three months is enough time to change your horse if you're being consistent and truly working toward fixing the issue at hand. The other guy might have created the problem, but four months later you've either allowed the problem to continue - or you don't know how to fix it. Obviously something you're doing isn't fixing the problem. Does this sound like you? Ask yourself: What am I doing to allow this problem to continue?

keep reading this article

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