These days everyone wants to bond with their horse. If yo want to bond with your horse, you’re going to earn his trust first. This id done by becoming a leader for your horse. Bonding with your horse includes two types of activities, excercises that earn trust and respect and laid back activities that just involve spending time with your horse. #1. Keep up Groundwork- Groundwork exercises are vital for establishing a good relationship with your horse. Your daily routine with your horse should include a groundwork session with your horse no matter how well trained or behaved he is. #2. Touch Your Horse- Your horse should allow you to touch him all over. Also, you should be able to touch him and have him remain in relaxed state. This means you should work on dropping his head, and have him keep his head lowered. Then you should be able to touch him all over without his head coming up. This includes picking up his feet and his tail. #3 Save Treats for Downtime- A horse won’t respect you if you ask him to do something with a treat, or attempt to calm a spooky or scared horse with treats. Save treats for grooming or visits to the pasture. #4 Use Good Body Language- When you’re with your horse, don’t look tentative or slouch. Horses are looking for strong body language which is the sign of a confident leader. So keep good posture and walk out assertively when you’re with your horse. #5. Groom Your Horse- Horses love being groomed aand grooming your horse is a good way to establish a relationship with him. Take some time for long grooming sessions and rinsing with a horse in summer months. Its an easy way to bond with your horse. However make sure you don;t do this without working on leadership, otherwise your horse might just take the opportunity to dominate you. #6. Sit with Your Horse in the Pasture- The simple act of spending time with your horse without asking her to work is a good way to bond with your horse. Take a chair out to the paddock and just sit down. Let her go about her horsey business. If she comes over,offer a pet and some soft words. #7. Take Your Horse for a Walk- You’re going to look silly to the neighbors. They’re going to wonder why you’re not riding the horse, but taking a walk down the trail with your horse is a good way to bond. Put a lead rope and halter on your horse and take a day now and then to take him out just for a plain walk. Let him do some grazing on the vegetation growing on the side of the road (if you have any in your area). Just take an easy going stroll without asking your horse for much. This is a good way to get your horse to being out on the trail. If he’s barn sour it lets you work on that without the issues that come along with riding your horse.
Archive for August, 2010
Do herbal and homeopathic remedies work on pets?
Just like humans, domesticated animals like dogs, cats, and horses are affected by the health hazards of modern living. Pollution, poor nutrition, stress and unhealthy lifestyles can lead to a variety of illnesses and conditions that are very similar to those experienced by humans. In fact, many, if not most pet health concerns can be addressed by helping your pets to live a healthier lifestyle. While it has its place, conventional medicine for animals and ‘modern technology’ have failed our pets in many ways. According to pet expert and author CJ Puotinen, most holistic veterinarians and animal health care professionals list annual vaccinations and commercial pet foods as the major contributory cause in the rising rates of chronic illness in pets today. Similarily, Juliette de Bairacli, respected author and renowned animal breeder, points out that contrary to the belief that mass vaccination and antibiotic use will contribute to a decrease in disease, the opposite has in fact proved true. Like their human counterparts, today’s pets are becoming more vulnerable to chronic disease and ill health. This has led many veterinarians to search for alternatives and to espouse more holistic methods of keeping our pets healthy. “In the wild, animals instinctively seek out healing herbs to help them when they are ill or undernourished. In fact, Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine, respected dogs very highly for their ability to seek out and eat medicinal herbs in the wild. This ability is shared by other animals, including cats. We are coming to realize that nature oftens has the answers-but animals have always known this! Natural medicine can help your pet just as it can help you. While there is always a place for conventional veterinary medicine, natural medicine can compliment conventional veterinary care and in many cases do just as well.
Horses: Its All About Timing
A good way to desensitize your horse is to do what Parelli calls “extreme friendly game”. To do it, all you need is to put a halter and lead rope on your horse, and hold him there while you swing a carrot stick around his body. This is basically a stick with a rope attached to the end. This can take the place of a standard whip or crop. Having the rope on the end is a really nice training aid, you can get your horse’s attention by swinging it and hitting the ground with it, or giving your horse a little smack with the end of the rope if he needs it. The idea behind extreme friendly game is to start standing in front of your horse, and begin swinging the rope of the carrot stick vigorously over the top of your horse’s head. If your horse isn’t 100% bomb proof, this is going to freak your horse out. After swinging it over the head, you want to walk entirely around the body of the horse, swinging the rope around smacking the ground with it. When a horse is desensitized, he will just stand there calmly. If your horse walks toward you do not make the #1 mistake many horse owners make, by asking for a backup which is re-inforcing his escape impulse. You don’t remove the bad stimulus until the horse stops moving. Asking the horse for a back-up is appropriate, because you don’t want a horse invading your personal space and risking inkury. But, you should keep the rope swinging over his head as you ask for the backup. Then, stop swinging the rope when his feet stop moving. This teaches the horse to remain calm when feeling threatened. Under your direction that is. Well this little example shows that when you do things with horses can have large consequences.
