Join Up: How to do it, and what does it do?

[sarahbeth]

I've read in a book that you make yourself look dominant, and you keep the horse away, then you turn around, and wait for the horse to come near you.

Is that the real way?

And I know it makes the horse trust you more..are their any other effects?

[Kerry Claire]

The join up is a bonding process between horse and owner. The horse learns to trust and respect you. To join up with your horse, you need to drive it away from you so you are like the dominant horse in the herd. This makes the horse respect you and wish to be around you, so when you stop driving it away, it will follow you. I think the average time needed for some response is 20-30mins.
To join up with your horse, it is best to have a round pen although it is possible to join up in an arena etc. Drive the horse away from you by chasing it around the perimeter of the arena. If you throw your arms up in the air it will make you look bigger and more dominant. It sounds strange but it works. Some people also throw the soft end of a lunging rope out just behind where their horse is if it will not keep running away from them. Keep eye contact with your horse and continue to drive it away from you until you see the four signs:

licking of lips
Smaller circles around you
ears flicking towards you
lowering of head

When you have seen all four signs, drop your arms and stop eye contact etc, cut across your horses path and walk slowly away from your horse with your back to him/her. If it has worked your horse should follow you, so praise him/her. A stronger bond can be made by repeating this process every so often. Sorry for such a long explanation, but I hope it has helped.

[sarahbeth]

:) I'll try that. Thankies! Have you ever done it before?

[taffy]

I'm not really into NH - but I can see the ideas behind Join Up and it looks really interesting.

[Kerry Claire]

Yes, I successfully joined up with a rescue pony that I used to look after, shortly before I broke him in.

[Tootsie4U]

Its really quite technical and if you dont reward each stage, the horse will be confused. Some of the signs can be hard to see. If you haven't seen it done, I caution you against trying it yourself as you can easily confuse your horse and you'll end up with less trust and respect.

[felicitie]

I have been working in the round pen with a horse, to join up. i like to join up with a horse before starting them under the saddle.. so they know that they can trust me the thing is.... hes so good that now he wont go away from me to be excersised!!! i dont know what to do.. i have done join up quite a bit with alot of other horses and this one just wont work.. almost like he would rather follow me around than have his excersise.. he is not broke so i cant ride him. should i just go ahead and start riding him?

Please help! thanks