Skip to Content

You don’t need to be a professional horse trainer to help your horse be more responsive to your cues, behave better when being handled on the ground, and even perform tricks on command. In the section, we collect horse training ideas that are usable for the average horse owner.

6 Benefits of Lunging your Horse before Riding

If you want to improve your riding skills and make your horse more responsive, lunging before a ride is a great option. If you lunge before you ride, you will also increase both your and your horse’s fitness! Lunging a horse before riding has many health benefits for you and your horse. These health benefits …

Read More about 6 Benefits of Lunging your Horse before Riding

4 Dangerous Behaviors Your Horse is (Probably) Getting Away With

Horses are enormous creatures – legally, the largest pet most people can own- so staying safe and enjoying horse ownership requires being able to recognize and retrain dangerous behaviors before they cause an accident or injury. In this list of surprisingly dangerous behaviors that many horse owners reinforce, I explain how some things horses do …

Read More about 4 Dangerous Behaviors Your Horse is (Probably) Getting Away With

Can Horses Roll Over? Trick Training & Related Questions

Most people have never seen a horse roll over, so it’s not surprising that one of the questions I hear most often about horses – especially from kids – is whether horses can roll over. In fact, horses can roll over, and in this post, we will explore some norms about how often horses roll …

Read More about Can Horses Roll Over? Trick Training & Related Questions

How to Teach a Horse to Fetch: Tips for Trick Training

Training a horse to fetch a ball, a hat, or any object on command is possible- it just takes practice and patience! In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps I use to trick train horses to retrieve objects on command. Teaching a horse to pick up an object and bring it to you …

Read More about How to Teach a Horse to Fetch: Tips for Trick Training

Horseback Riding without an Arena: Easy Tips

A riding arena is often considered to be essential for serious riders, riders training young horses, and for those preparing for horse show competitions- but not everyone has access to an arena. While training a horse without an arena can be a challenge, with a bit of creativity, you can successfully ride, train, and prepare …

Read More about Horseback Riding without an Arena: Easy Tips

How to Teach a Horse to Pick up the Correct Lead

Canter transitions can sometimes be tricky for even skilled riders. When we talk about picking up the correct lead, we tend to think of it much as we think of a “trick” or simple trained behavior, rather than a complex interplay of training, balance, and timing. Actually, getting your horse to pick up the correct …

Read More about How to Teach a Horse to Pick up the Correct Lead

23 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Horse Trainer

[Jump straight to questions, or keep reading] With so many different approaches to horse training, methods, and even riding disciplines, knowing how to choose the right horse trainer for you and your horse can be difficult. The process can be made a bit easier by considering what your goals are for training, the individual needs …

Read More about 23 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Horse Trainer

Teaching a Horse to Drive using a DIY Training Cart

Teaching a horse to pull a cart can be tricky. Many trainers argue that breaking a horse to safely drive and pull a cart is more challenging than simple saddle training- and for good reason: many horses initially have a strong reaction to the sensation of the long shafts on the side of their body …

Read More about Teaching a Horse to Drive using a DIY Training Cart