How to Train a Horse With Ease

Training a horse is never easy, but you can certainly make it a little easier by adhering to a few simple rules. When training horses you have to remember that every horse is different and all horses response differently, but if you understand a little about how a horse thinks, then you can talk to the horse more easily and in a language it understands. The correct reinforcement and punishment techniques can make the difference between a successful and failing training program.

Things You'll Need

  • Teats the horse enjoys
  • Halter and lead rope
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Instructions

    • 1

      Reinforce good behaviors with a treat quickly. Horses have a very short memory, so give them a treat quickly when they do the right thing. Generally the treat should be offered within a few seconds for the horse to associate it with the behavior correctly.

    • 2

      Move slowly. Never try and do too much in one session or try to teach too many things at once. If you move slowly and allow your horse and you to develop a relationship and grow together, then you'll get much better results than moving quickly and running into problems.

    • 3

      Find the reason your horse misbehaved. If you can find the reason your horse behaved badly then you will be able to treat the cause of the problem, not the symptoms. Don't frighten your horse and leave it trapped between two things that frighten it, otherwise you could find the relationship you've worked hard to build breaking down quickly.

    • 4

      Correct undesirable behavior. Even worse than treating the symptoms of a bad behavior is avoiding it completely. Horses are large, powerful animals and allowing them to behave badly can quickly become dangerous. As you did in Step 2, focus on correcting the cause of the bad behavior and you'll get the behavior under control quickly.

    • 5

      Be consistent. This means you should punish your horse for the same things and praise it for the same things every time. If you waver and punish your horse some days but not others, then you'll end up confusing it and your horse won't understand whether you do or don't want it to behave a certain way. Constancy is one of the most important elements for ease in training your horse.