Creating A Bond

[HorseManiac]

I have a new horse and I would love to have a special bond with him! Can anyone suggest anything I can do with him to help with this 'creating a bond' process lol :p:)

[kirstie]

Hi there are many ways to bond with your horse, spending time with it, grooming, talking to him/her or join-up another way of getting a horse to trust you.

Here's a link to a thread i started to create a bond with my horse it might not but it has somehelpful tips.

http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68780

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!:) :)

[Yann]

As well as fuss and quality time together most horses will be happier if they know exactly where the land lies with you, so it's important to set boundaries in your everyday handling and be quiet and consistent about them. Groundwork exercises will help the process too, simple stuff like moving the horse backwards and forwards, yielding the quarters and shoulders and making sure they lead politely at your shoulder or behind you, and stop when you do without running you over. It's normal for a new horse to try and test you a bit when they've found their feet to see if you're reliable, don't take it personally :) Kelly Marks has a booklet called Creating a Bond With Your Horse that might be useful.

[HorseManiac]

kk t whats a join up?

[iloveshearer]

have you read the heartland books, they explain the join up method well, aswell as ways of gaining horses trust etc

[kirstie]

Join-Up training methods are most simply expressed in the process of starting raw horses. Without the use of pain or force the trainer persuades a raw horse to accept a saddle, bridle and rider. Working in a round pen, one begins Join-Up® by making large movements and noise as a predator would and begins driving the horse to run away. She then gives the horse the option to flee or Join-Up®. Through body language, the trainer will ask, "Will you pay me the respect due to a herd leader and join and follow me?" The horse will respond with predictable herd behavior: by locking an ear on her, then by licking and chewing and dropping his head in a display of trust. The exchange concludes with the trainer adopting passive body language, turning her back on the horse and without eye contact, invites him to come close. Join-Up occurs when the animal willingly chooses to be with the human and walks toward her accepting her leadership and protection. This process of communication through behavior and body language and mutual concern and respect, can be a valuable tool to strengthen all other work with horses.

[Sezza]

Do nothing! Sit in your horses paddock and do absolutely nothing! Best way to create a bond. Let your horse decide if he wants to be with you, let him come over and investigate you in his own time. He may come over he may not. Pat him if he touches you, otherwise leave him alone. Stay for half an hour, or longer, then leave (feed if needed, but dont halter him or do anything with him other than pats and cuddles if he allows it). This can have a huge impact on your relationship with your horse.

Working wonders with my boy! And trust me, it can be so much fun! Nothing beats the feeling of having your horse wanting to be with you.

[LodgeRopes]

we have tried a new method, well for us anyway, clinician Dan Sumerel has a book called Finding the Magic. It appears to be classic round pen work until you apply a couple of simple but important differences.
Here is some over simplified examples...
#We always encouraged a horse to come in off the fence whenever it showed the signs of wanting to come in. But STS (Sumerel Training System) wants to keep the horse out there and moving until the trainer wants it to come in...seems a little 'hard' but the difference it makes when you do ask the horse does come in to you is amazing.
#We use a lot of vocal commands. In STS silence is the norm, it does seem to keep the horses eye/ear on you all the time and does seem to 'amplify' your body cues/movements and the horse gets really in tune with your actions and takes its cue for movement & speed from your action.
#When a horse does decide to come in off the fence and join trainer in the centre of the round yard, we always petted/rewarded the horse. With the STS method, you with hold the petting and just stand in a neutral position, this is a reward because all pressure is taken off the horses. Petting/stroking etc etc is with hled until a suitable time....it then seems to mean more to the horse.

We tried the STS on our new appy stallion, he was jumpy before and we did not want him to become reactive to cues, we wanted him to be responsive. After the first attempt, the difference in his attitude and general behaviour was amazing. The next day he saw me picking up the training stick with flag...he ran to the round yard and was ready for the work out before i got there...that says a lot for the system.

I know there are thousands of training options, but it may be this one just suited me and this stallion, but the STS is cheap, just buy ONE BOOK, it is a an autobiography, great story and a simple to apply 'how to' section that seems to work real well.

good luck with it all.......
cheers

[Francis Burton]

I second Sezza's quiet, easy-going, non-coercive approach. Doing less and taking more time to do it - that really does work and you will learn things about your horse and yourself. Of course you can do other stuff as well, but when a horse actually likes you that is a great foundation on which to build trust and gain respect.

[FRED]

:) Maybe we could give this method a name,'The Sezza' method ;) ,its the way I have worked with Dakota, its working brilliant. He has a reputation,but I have yet to see it and doubt we will.-

Dakota follows me quietly about the fields, he has even jumped up the rung of the pecking order ladder to see his mate didn't charge at us one day while Im fixing a fence,pure natural body language{normaly he's happy to play second fiddle to his field mate}Just goes to show how much stability and trust works both ways, without any tools,trouble or FORCE.
Very proud of him and Im sure he's proud of us too.
Dakota and Ato will eat together from the same bucket,remarkable the spin off from our less is more, ways.

[HorseManiac]

thanks guys! big help!! thanks so much!! keep em comning if anyone has any more ideas!!

[Sezza]

LOL Fred. "The Sezza" method sounds great, but really I got it from Parelli which I started a few months ago. Its the first thing parelli gets you to do, and something I think is brilliant. Many horsey people (including me before I started parelli), think that they have to be doing things with their horses all the time. Especially when they lead a busy lifestyle (like me!) and horse time is limited. Human nature I guess. So for me it was a huge relief when the Parelli system says to just do nothing. Spend undemanding time with your horse. It makes a huge difference to the way your horse views you, you learn a lot, and it is fun. I also find it very relaxing and good for me (as I live in the suburbs/city, work full time etc) to just get out to the horse paddocks in the country on weekends, and just sit there with my horse enjoying the peace and fresh air.

Oh, and I dont mean to be pushing parelli on anyone, I just think this one little aspect would be hugely beneficial to a lot of people and their horses.

[Bronya]

Hacking out solo works wonders. You go out and encounter things together, and your horse HAS to trust you on where to go and if things are safe. Your horse also learns that life with you is fun, and that you're a good person to be with - you make the right choices, keep him/her safe, know the good places to go! It gives you time to get to know each other without any other distractions.

Bonding does take time though. In my experience, full bonding (not just 'I trust you') takes about 6 months. It's only then that they're 'yours', and once they've made that decision, you've bonded (as evidenced by my pony, she knows she's the second one, and is happy to have other human friends, and can even be quite possessive about them, but if I don't pay enough attention to her, she gets really upset. She likes to feel still 'mine', whatever, because I'm mum, and if you've really got a problem, or are really scared, only mum will do!).;)

[FRED]

LOL Sezza.

Don't mind to admit this, for years I have read pages of Parelli info: re working/being with horses from the ground.
The two Parelli demos I have attended in the UK were excellent.

I suspect I have been blessed with 'horse sense' when I see some of the things going on in general, with horses.

I do wish more was said/taught about horses re their hearing and eye sight ,so much is taken for granted I think, all to much is explained away, flight animal.

Personally I could have gone the join-up route, we have found no need. I do like Monty Roberts,having seen him work with a very dangerous horse and the horse responding well to join-up.

Oddly it seems, if I were to take ALL the judgments about the BHS {British Horse Society} into account, my last years instructor/trainer was absolutely brilliant, in one to one teaching of horse training and riding {with a very sharp horse who had no understanding of the word..plod}we were great friends, this horse and I to.:)

[Susie xx]

Have you heard of Buddy Training? Have a look at www.naturalhorse.org which is Chuck Mintzlaff's site, he has great success with disadvantaged teenagers too, and Frank Bells articles on www.thehorsewhisperer.com and see if friendship training might be for you. Of course your friend is someone you respect and trust and not someone you may kick or bite, but kindness, consistency and real love are fun.
Susie xx

[april89]

Sharing positive experiences with your horse is often very effective and once groundwork is set up it is very easy to use it also in riding. Introduce your horse to a lot of different but safe scenarios and ensure that they enjoy it overall. ;) (no horse will initially belive leaving a field of grass behind is a good thing!:p ) It will mean that in the end they will look fowards to working with you just because it is different and stimulating and they too are therefore getting something out of it. They will also begin to trust you as nothing you have asked them to do has given them a reason not to. :rolleyes:

This worked very well for the first pony I had on loan. She was very green and there was no-where appropriate to work her so initially there was a lot of catching her just to get her dinner after a short walk down the road and this moved on to taking her to new places and meeting what were initially very scary horse boxes at a local show (where we just went so she could look) and by the end she didn't blink when one went straight past her. When I first met her she was (really) scared to leave her friends and her field. :eek: By the end of the summer she couldn't wait to explore somewhere new. :D

Hope this helps and that everything goes well!:)