Oh this is perfect! We just brought home a yearling stud colt with minimal handling besides running in and out for dinner. He’s super friendly but we’ve noticed he likes getting in our space and turning his butt toward us in the pen.
I bought a yearling last year and he had a really bad injury so we didn't work with him much other than cleaning and treating his wound and grooming him, etc. He was awesome for all of it and couldn't have cared less when I set a saddle pad on him. He had the winter off from pretty much everything other than being fed daily and getting lots of pets. Now the weather is starting to warm up and I'm just not sure where to start with him. He's easy to catch and about 80% halter broke but he REALLY wants to play and doesn't know his size and power, so I'm kind of afraid of him.
Any pointers on groundwork? I got a filly that whirled around and kicked me in the ribs and kicked my mother in her leg. We are alright, and I've been working on her with different videos but none seem to help lol
Hey Angel! Glad to hear y’all are alright! We have an entire foundation ground work series which will be very helpful plus we have an entire young horse series with the raw training sessions of me working with our yearlings, Weanlings on these basics. videos.coltonwoodshorsemanship.com
What would you do to get one to trust you ? I just bought a yearling who was untouched till a month ago well when you get her caught she will lead on halter fine and you can pet her but when it comes to catching her she just don’t have enough trust in humans to allow us to walk in and catch her it takes sometimes two hours. I just try to keep her feet moving till I get her calmed to where I can get near her but yesterday she started turning her but at me and try’s to keep it facing me. Do you have a video that shows something to help with this ?
Jacklynn, great question and theres a lot to this and it is all fairly simple- yet it oftentimes requires us to be open to changing the way we think and approach certain situations. When I approach any horse I'm focused on reading their body language as that is how they communicate to us. So let's set the stage for an example- I approach the gate, the horse watches me enter, I'm watching the horse. As I turn to latch the gate I've stepped a few feet closer to that horse and they've turned their head away from me starting to disconnect and preparing to leave if I were to get much closer. I'll latch the gate, keep focused on the horse's eye and take a step away from them adding the distance back in that the horse felt like they could visually look and connect with me. Oftentimes here, the horse will notice you adding that comfortable distance back in and they'll turn and look. I'll pause and wait... breathe. Yes I've got a halter in my hand, Id love to catch the horse, but I'm not there to catch the horse. I'm there to communicate with that horse. To show them through my body language and action that I can read their language and adjust myself to fit their needs. By this I mean that if I close the distance between that horse and I and they start to feel too much pressure I may just pause my feet or even back away (taking action based on reading how the horse feels). This is what good leaders do because ultimately the #1 thing a horse needs from a leader is to feel safe and in order to feel safe that leader must be able to tell when their partner, their horse, their follower does not feel safe and then the leader must take proactive action to help that horse feel safe again. That right there creates trust and a deep relationship. Us as people, it's important to realize that things such as trust are created by HOW we do things. Our intention, visualization and mindset are so crucial to our horses. So if I enter the field and the horse walks off I may first start by just trying to catch that horse's attention and if they focus on me for a second I pause, try to connect with them and wait. They may drift off pretty soon but at least we had a moment of connection. If the horse is walking off at a pretty good pace with no mental intention on connecting I may just start following them (kind of like a new horse put in a new herd may do). This can take a bit of following around but oftentimes a horse will eventually slow down or even pause their feet and look back at which point I'd stop my feet, recognize their moment of connection and see what happens (they kind of look back as to say 'what are you doing back there following me?' and we can mentally think 'Hey, how are you doing?') The other initial approach option we have is for a horse that may stand pretty still but kind of blocks us, this horse I may ask them to move their feet a little and then work on that mentally/visual connection. However this doesnt sound like what you're initially dealing with (however it turns into it but I'll explain why). You mentioned you try to keep her feet moving until she calms down- I'd implement some of the approaches above as a starting place. Horses are fight or flight animals so if by her walking off shes using her flight instinct to get away from the pressure of human presence. However by you asking her to keep moving around, what is happening is- the very thing she is concerned about is continually adding pressure. After a period of time she 'finally' stops. You're probably then associating her finally stopping with her calming down but the fact is shes probably just thinking "well me moving away from this scary human isnt working cause she keeps pressure on me so I'll try something different. How about stopping and when she gets close I'll turn my butt and maybe I'll have to kick to get that scary human away." Of course Im making up a dialogue here for the horse so dont take any of that personal- but it is probably pretty accurate. So what is important is if you enter the pen, you dont keep applying pressure but you try to reduce it by creating distance or you may just follow in behind her until she connects. By recognizing that the filly is walking off to feel more comfortable and then you taking action to help her feel more comfortable- that will create deep trust. When you enter that pen, the goal is to increase communication and connection with each other. Use it as a fabulous opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills of reading her body language and responding with good timing and smoothly. Toss aside the goal of catching her to start with because I can guarantee if the filly is that apprehensive about being caught shes not truly OK with being led and groomed, shes just obliging. You focus on this part of the conversation and you'll be able to catch her sooner and sooner each day- heck she'll probably start meeting you at the gate. It just takes patiences, presence and intentionality. Once you do get up close to her you may not even touch her, you may just hang out, let her touch you. Walk away. If she takes a little snack you may give her a nibble (not as bribery but just as a gesture of good faith that you're there to truly be a friend for her). And once you do start actually catching her and leading her be mindful of what you do and how you communicate with her because you'll have spent all that time (which honestly may not take too long) showing her you're aware of how she feels so that cant go away once you got her caught. It becomes part of everything you do with her. Relationships are relationships whether its with a horse or human. They go deep right inside of us. We've got to be there to serve our partner, especially when we desire to be the leader. Hope this helps you and your filly along your journey.
@@Coltonwoodshorsemanship thank you for your reply. I will definitely start implementing this in our every day life and just focus on the trust and relationship. This makes 100% sense and explains how I feel like she feels and reacts.
Hey Kyle- here is the link to our Professional Horseman’s School. Our next session starts in just 2 months! www.coltonwoodshorsemanship.com/professional-horsemans-school
Oh this is perfect! We just brought home a yearling stud colt with minimal handling besides running in and out for dinner. He’s super friendly but we’ve noticed he likes getting in our space and turning his butt toward us in the pen.
I appreciate my young ones to be brushed too, but Thanks for this video!
I bought a yearling last year and he had a really bad injury so we didn't work with him much other than cleaning and treating his wound and grooming him, etc. He was awesome for all of it and couldn't have cared less when I set a saddle pad on him. He had the winter off from pretty much everything other than being fed daily and getting lots of pets.
Now the weather is starting to warm up and I'm just not sure where to start with him. He's easy to catch and about 80% halter broke but he REALLY wants to play and doesn't know his size and power, so I'm kind of afraid of him.
Any pointers on groundwork? I got a filly that whirled around and kicked me in the ribs and kicked my mother in her leg. We are alright, and I've been working on her with different videos but none seem to help lol
Hey Angel! Glad to hear y’all are alright!
We have an entire foundation ground work series which will be very helpful plus we have an entire young horse series with the raw training sessions of me working with our yearlings, Weanlings on these basics.
videos.coltonwoodshorsemanship.com
@@Coltonwoodshorsemanship awesome thanks!
Youre welcome
GBR!!!
Do you have training videos for sale
Yes we do- We have an entire Video Library
www.videos.coltonwoodshorsemanship.com
What would you do to get one to trust you ? I just bought a yearling who was untouched till a month ago well when you get her caught she will lead on halter fine and you can pet her but when it comes to catching her she just don’t have enough trust in humans to allow us to walk in and catch her it takes sometimes two hours. I just try to keep her feet moving till I get her calmed to where I can get near her but yesterday she started turning her but at me and try’s to keep it facing me. Do you have a video that shows something to help with this ?
Jacklynn, great question and theres a lot to this and it is all fairly simple- yet it oftentimes requires us to be open to changing the way we think and approach certain situations.
When I approach any horse I'm focused on reading their body language as that is how they communicate to us. So let's set the stage for an example- I approach the gate, the horse watches me enter, I'm watching the horse. As I turn to latch the gate I've stepped a few feet closer to that horse and they've turned their head away from me starting to disconnect and preparing to leave if I were to get much closer. I'll latch the gate, keep focused on the horse's eye and take a step away from them adding the distance back in that the horse felt like they could visually look and connect with me. Oftentimes here, the horse will notice you adding that comfortable distance back in and they'll turn and look. I'll pause and wait... breathe.
Yes I've got a halter in my hand, Id love to catch the horse, but I'm not there to catch the horse. I'm there to communicate with that horse. To show them through my body language and action that I can read their language and adjust myself to fit their needs. By this I mean that if I close the distance between that horse and I and they start to feel too much pressure I may just pause my feet or even back away (taking action based on reading how the horse feels). This is what good leaders do because ultimately the #1 thing a horse needs from a leader is to feel safe and in order to feel safe that leader must be able to tell when their partner, their horse, their follower does not feel safe and then the leader must take proactive action to help that horse feel safe again. That right there creates trust and a deep relationship.
Us as people, it's important to realize that things such as trust are created by HOW we do things. Our intention, visualization and mindset are so crucial to our horses.
So if I enter the field and the horse walks off I may first start by just trying to catch that horse's attention and if they focus on me for a second I pause, try to connect with them and wait. They may drift off pretty soon but at least we had a moment of connection. If the horse is walking off at a pretty good pace with no mental intention on connecting I may just start following them (kind of like a new horse put in a new herd may do). This can take a bit of following around but oftentimes a horse will eventually slow down or even pause their feet and look back at which point I'd stop my feet, recognize their moment of connection and see what happens (they kind of look back as to say 'what are you doing back there following me?' and we can mentally think 'Hey, how are you doing?')
The other initial approach option we have is for a horse that may stand pretty still but kind of blocks us, this horse I may ask them to move their feet a little and then work on that mentally/visual connection. However this doesnt sound like what you're initially dealing with (however it turns into it but I'll explain why).
You mentioned you try to keep her feet moving until she calms down- I'd implement some of the approaches above as a starting place. Horses are fight or flight animals so if by her walking off shes using her flight instinct to get away from the pressure of human presence. However by you asking her to keep moving around, what is happening is- the very thing she is concerned about is continually adding pressure. After a period of time she 'finally' stops. You're probably then associating her finally stopping with her calming down but the fact is shes probably just thinking "well me moving away from this scary human isnt working cause she keeps pressure on me so I'll try something different. How about stopping and when she gets close I'll turn my butt and maybe I'll have to kick to get that scary human away."
Of course Im making up a dialogue here for the horse so dont take any of that personal- but it is probably pretty accurate. So what is important is if you enter the pen, you dont keep applying pressure but you try to reduce it by creating distance or you may just follow in behind her until she connects. By recognizing that the filly is walking off to feel more comfortable and then you taking action to help her feel more comfortable- that will create deep trust.
When you enter that pen, the goal is to increase communication and connection with each other. Use it as a fabulous opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills of reading her body language and responding with good timing and smoothly. Toss aside the goal of catching her to start with because I can guarantee if the filly is that apprehensive about being caught shes not truly OK with being led and groomed, shes just obliging.
You focus on this part of the conversation and you'll be able to catch her sooner and sooner each day- heck she'll probably start meeting you at the gate. It just takes patiences, presence and intentionality.
Once you do get up close to her you may not even touch her, you may just hang out, let her touch you. Walk away. If she takes a little snack you may give her a nibble (not as bribery but just as a gesture of good faith that you're there to truly be a friend for her).
And once you do start actually catching her and leading her be mindful of what you do and how you communicate with her because you'll have spent all that time (which honestly may not take too long) showing her you're aware of how she feels so that cant go away once you got her caught. It becomes part of everything you do with her.
Relationships are relationships whether its with a horse or human. They go deep right inside of us. We've got to be there to serve our partner, especially when we desire to be the leader. Hope this helps you and your filly along your journey.
@@Coltonwoodshorsemanship thank you for your reply. I will definitely start implementing this in our every day life and just focus on the trust and relationship. This makes 100% sense and explains how I feel like she feels and reacts.
You’re very welcome!
@@Coltonwoodshorsemanship Wow. That comment alone got you a new subscriber. Looking forward to more!
Thanks for joining us on this journey Kelly!
PHS
Hey Kyle- here is the link to our Professional Horseman’s School. Our next session starts in just 2 months!
www.coltonwoodshorsemanship.com/professional-horsemans-school