Being Confident Around Your Horse

Despite their size horses are actually quiet and gentle animals and when dealing with horses most people are intimidated by their size and don’t act confidently around them.  Even the most experience rider can be intimidated by a horse, that’s okay we can help you handle your horse with confidence.  Confidence is the key to getting the horse to do and go exactly where you want them to.

Patience is key

Patience is one of the most important attributes when you are dealing with a skittish horse.  Horses can be frightened by almost anything that’s why you need to be the confident one.  Your horse needs to feel safe while you are around, this is what allows a horse to bond with its handler or rider.

Moving around the horse

You need to learn to move in the right way around your horse so that you don’t frighten them.  It really isn’t difficult and after a while it will become second nature to you.  Horses have their own personal space and you need to respect that, you will pretty quickly be able to tell when you’re in their personal space.  Their posture, attitude  and movement will all change and it will find a way to express discomfort.  Respect the space and it will be easier to bond with your horse.

Making your horse nervous

Kicking, bucking and lunging are pretty good indicators that your horse is very unhappy.  This isn’t typical behaviour of a happy horse.  If you are trying to saddle your horse and it is doing any of that or moving away from you that means you are making your horse very uncomfortable.  You need to calm your horse down first, dealing with a skittish horse can be a challenge that’s why patience is important.  Try and figure out what aspect of your behaviour is frightening your horse.

Try and understand your horse

Understanding your horse is an important skill that you are going to need, it will also come with time.  You need to be able to understand how your horse is feeling at any given moment, this will help you become more confident with your horse.  Even if you aren’t the best rider you can still handle your horse confidently.  You need to be patient and kind, creating a comfortable space with your horse.  You can’t just manhandle the horse and never ever beat your horse, that is unnecessarily cruel

There are two approaches you can take when dealing with your horse, the first is to jump on and force the horse to do what you want.  That may involve using spurs or a crop.  The second, and this is an approach that yields better results is to go softly with the horse.  This will work better if you have a skittish horse, start by walking with them until they get used to you then you can start riding.