Things You'll Need:
- Basic Tack - lead rope, halter, long-whip, etc
- Treats - carrots, apples, horse-cookies, etc
- Patience, Patience, and MORE PATIENCE
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Step 1
Before you walk, you must learn to crawl. The same holds true with horses. Before you halter or teach a horse to lead, you must first become its' friend. Just like dogs, horses can learn to crave human companionship and affection. Spend time with your horse on an individual basis, just scratching him on his itchy places and talking softly to him. Horses have very sensitive hearing. Save loud praise or corrections for times when you need them. Special time is quiet time. Breath into his nostrils after he is relaxing and leaning into your hands while you pat and caress him. Try and groom him and rub your hands all over him while he is free and loose - put him in an enclosed area if necessary at first - but ideally he should come to you in the pasture and desire your touch and affection. Just as a dog would come to you in the yard.
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Step 2
Once you have gained his trust and friendship, introduce the halter and then repeat everything you have just done, but with the horse haltered. Now he has gained even more faith in you, and knows that just because he is haltered does not mean things will change. This article will assume the horse is already trained to lead, tie, and listen to commands such as "Whoa". Now you want to train your horse to do various things - so it is time to introduce the "reward". Ideally the reward should be your scratching him on his withers and making much of him, just as patting your dog and telling him he is a good boy. However, just as with dogs, you can provide an edible award that will really get his attention. These are usually reserved for tricky things the horse will have to work out.
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Step 3
For example, to teach a horse to "bow", halter him in his stall and hold a carrot between his front legs. When he reaches for it, make him reach a bit father and praise him as he does, then give him the carrot. Very soon your horse will catch on and bow lower and lower. Next, stand to your horse's side and ask him to do the same thing. He will soon learn he has to bend his leg to get the carrot. The first few times he bends low, it may startle him and he will jump up. Allow him to do this and do NOT punish him. His instinct tells him it is not safe to be in that position, and he will have to learn from you that he is safe and that he will get that yummy carrot if he is willing to bend down low for it.
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Step 4
Just as with dogs, horses are very smart. You will be surprised at how quickly your horse will catch on to these training methods. Use the whip only to move his body around as you need it (NOT as a punishment) and reward him whenever he achieves even the slightest progress towards what you want. There are tons of training articles that will teach you methods for various "trick training". Remember that your horse is NOT a dog, but you can use rewards and patience to train any horse very much as though he were an over sized canine.
