How to Bond with Your Horse

There are many ways to bond with a horse, from spending quality time together to doing fun activities - they all contribute to a loving and trusting bond with your equine companion.

One of Lilo and I's favorite things to do is sit together in the pasture and enjoy each other's company. I will either read a book to him, sing to him, or give him lots of scratches. This is a great way to bond because you are not asking anything of your horse, you are just being together, in the moment!

Another way to bond is by finding what your horse likes to do the most. For example, Lilo loves to play with the yoga ball and the tarp. He likes to paw at them, chase the ball around, and bite at the tarp. These activities are also great for desensitizing, and this builds lots of trust. 

Lilo having fun playing with the yoga ball!

The base of any relationship, for me, is trust and understanding. Once your horse knows that he can trust you, and you treat him like you would any best friend, the both of you will share an everlasting friendship! 

Websites: http://royalgrovestables.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-bond-deeply-with-your-horse.html

http://www.womenandhorses.com/newsletter-august2005.html

Horse Care in Hawaii

As we know, Hawaii is very wet! This makes the horses more likely to develop skin funguses such as rain rot, or hoof problems such as thrush. For Lilo, I like to dry his feet out when we come out of the pasture with thrush buster or durasole, this also helps harden his feet as he is barefoot. Lilo has once gotten Whitelines Disease (a hoof disease) and part of his hoof had to be carved out and treated for about a week! 

Because we get a substantial amount of rain, our grass flourishes all year around! But this also gives the horses a higher chance of obesity or founder. If your horse is at risk for these, it is best to put them on a feed that is low in sugar, and easily digestible. Or you can use a grazing muzzle/pen rotation to keep their weight normal. Because our grass is so high in sugar, I feed Lilo pellets that are low in sugar and protein called Timothy. 

Because our weather doesn't change much throughout the year, except that we get more rain in the winter and more sun in the summer, we do not need to use heavy blankets to keep them warm, except when it rains for a while without stopping. This prevents rain rot and hypothermia (although it is rare!).

How I Introduce Tackless Riding

The way that I introduce tackless riding to horses is by learning every cue from the ground first. I will ask the horse to walk beside me by clucking and walking forward (when riding, I would shift my weight forward), ask for a stop by saying "woah" and putting my hands up, turn by walking a certain direction (when riding, I would shift my weight in that direction) and motioning my arm in that direction, and for backing up, I would say "back" and back up (when riding, I would shift my weight backward). 

To learn more complex maneuvers, such as trotting and cantering, I would simply raise my energy and say the word. Horses can feel everything that you feel, so if you were to raise your energy, they would as well.

While learning to ride tackless, I always use positive reinforcement! This makes it fun for the horse, and they will be more willing to learn.

Picture credits: 

Zara Allen (second picture)

My Opinion on Punishment

Everything that a horse does is either what they think they are supposed to do, or what they feel that they need to do (instinct). If a horse does something "bad", in my experiences, it is almost always because they were scared. They felt threatened, or they were worried that they'll get hurt. So, instead of punishment or pain, the horse that I am working with and I work together to find what the problem was, and fix it. I never ever hit horses, yell at them, or do anything to cause them pain. 

Lilo lives in a pasture with 8 other geldings, and he is very scared of a few of them! When we are walking back to the pasture, many times he'll stop and he won't move, because he is afraid of the horses hurting him. So, I show him that he is safe with me, and that the horses won't hurt him. I calm him down and nicely ask him to follow me (NEVER demand!!), or we take a different route. Because he puts so much trust in me, he knows that I will lead him to a safe place.

Punishing a horse for being scared creates the opposite of trust. It usually also causes resentment! Trust is the base of any relationship, so to do something to take that away can often break the relationship. And in all of my time with Lilo, it has been the most effective problem fixer!

             

                         Lilo leaving his herd to come and play!

For more information, here is a website: http://theperfecthorse.blogspot.com/2010/02/punishment-why-not-to-use-it.html