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Teaching your horse to stand is one of the most important skills you can teach your horse.
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https://coachmansdelight.com/stand-class/
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I don’t have access to an arena. Must do exercises on the road so can’t really change direction and go against traffic. What do you suggest?
Focus on the basics in the driveway or hitching area. On the road, plan out your standing spots ahead of time. Always plan to stay slightly ahead of the horse. If you expect 30 seconds of standing is achievable, stand for 20 seconds so you’re sure to move off before the horse asks to move off.
He’s behaving perfectly for everything, but as soon as we go on the road he refuses to stop and stand 65% of the time. He won’t stop more than a split second and will pull on the reigns, go side to side and forward no matter what I do. At those times it’s impossible to “stay ahead” of him. I can’t seem to figure out why he sometimes will and sometimes won’t. So I know to end the exercise after he does it right, but how many times, all total should I attempt stops? Are longer lessons more or less effective? Or Should I stop after the first time he stops and stands properly?
Shorter, successful sessions are more effective than longer sessions.
“He won’t stop more than a split second and will pull on the reins” ~ Don’t give him the opportunity to pull on the reins. The purpose of the ground work is to train him to stand without any “hands-on” support, which in the carriage translates as contact on the reins. He should be standing in the hitching area, and in the driveway, at the end of the driveway, without contact on the reins at all.
You might just focus on that skill in the driveway, and at the end of the driveway. When you have a few successful sessions, then perhaps go 20 yards up the road, stop, return home.
He behaves perfectly everywhere including the driveway. Once on the road he’s very inconsistent. Should I end the lesson right after his 1st successful stop and stand? I was wondering if getting out of the carriage on the road and doing the box exercise might help.
Wow, I can’t believe how well this is working! It’s like I have a new pony. Today was windy, and I didn’t lunge him first, and I had no assistant. He stood perfectly still for hitching and until I was in the carriage and asked him to walk on. Amazing. So I drove him on the road (I don’t have access to an arena) and practiced stopping and standing. Sometimes he would and sometimes he wouldn’t. So more to work on. But such improvement! Thank you!
Today, after several days of doing the stand in the box exercises, I saddled and hitched up my pony and got in and out of the carriage numerous times and he stood still perfectly the whole time, not moving until I asked. Was it a miracle, just a fluke, or the result of the exercises? I wonder if he isn’t a mind reader and he knew we weren’t going anywhere! I’ll do the same thing tomorrow, and this time without an assistant since that is my goal. How many times should I do this before following it up with a drive, assuming he behaves each time?
I forgot I had this course and just watched the videos and downloaded the materials. When hitching, you state to get an assistant–well, that won’t be happening. I don’t have anyone around so I have to tie. The other thing I was wondering is how you get the horse past wanting to eat grass while you are trying to stand. It’s great to train on dry surface, but these minis don’t get out much on grass, so at shows he’s a real bear about wanting to eat the grass. I can’t really blame him but it seems like I’ll be spending all of my time correcting him from eating and he won’t even be thinking about anything else.
Thanks for this course and the combination of videos and printed materials.
RMartin
On the going it alone thing: Ya, that’s the situation many people are in. If getting help even the 5 minutes it takes to hitch is impossible, you’ll just have to insist on much better respect in the pre-hitch training.
On standing on grass: Yes, it can be challenging, but standing in work mode is much different than standing for hand grazing. You’ll need to impress upon your pony that there is a difference.
Also, it’s not like you’re asking the pony to stand for the whole afternoon on grass without eating. It’s just a few minutes here and there.
If they can’t keep their snouts out of the grass for even 1 minute, the pre-training up to that point was probably not as successful as you thought.
Another Question From The Inbox:
Q: I have noticed that my horse does really well for about the first 7-10 minutes in the training session, but then he starts moving on a more frequent level as the time progresses. It’s like “okay, enough of this let’s do something else!” He is a very playful horse and has a fun personality. I always try to end any session on a good note but it’s really difficult to end that way if I am constantly correcting. This behavior also starts about the time I give him a treat. Today I am going to try giving no treat at all to see if that is what makes the difference in his attitude. If the treat is not the problem, do I stop the lesson, because he has completely lost interest or continue and correct, correct correct?
A: You may be getting too greedy with your stand times. 7-10 minutes standing is a long time, especially for an active horse. Sure, in time that will not be a problem, but there will also be further context like: “Let’s stand here at watch a bunch of ring classes.” or standing for clipping, the vet, farrier, or something like that.
Standing for longer periods of time is something that is an accumulated skill. Let it build over time.
For now, you know you can get 7 minutes. Cool… next session, let him off the hook at 6:30. That way you’ll get the chance to end on a positive note of him doing his job well.
Oh, and if he’s bratty about treats, he’s taking advantage of you.
Here’s a question from the e-mail that I’ll reply to here so everyone can benefit:
*Q:* “One question has come up for me that I don’t think was answered, if it was I apologize for not seeing it. I have done 3 stand sessions with my horse in the last three days. My question is how long should I stand in one position before I move on to the next position? For instance, you have several stopping positions in the “around the world” section, so how long do I stay in each of those positions?
A: That’s a “play it by ear” thing. With some horses I can move from one place to another relatively quickly without them reacting. Perhaps 30 seconds to a minute at each station. Other horses, I have to be MUCH more incremental. I have to make smaller movements, and stay at each station for longer for the horse to be confirmed in the stand.
Q: Also, if my horse has to be corrected do I start from that position of correction and for that length of time again?”
A: No. It’s not a formula. You do what you have to do to communicate to your horse that standing at that moment is the most important thing that he focuses on doing.
Hi. I’d love to see this …..but it will be 2 am in Ireland. Will you be recording it….please??
I sure will be recording tonight’s broadcast.
Of course, there are also several hours of video available here already.
Enjoy!
Hi, Andy,
I enjoyed the online class for stand last night. I am very hopeful it will work on my horse. There’s a in-hand trail horse challenge offered in the local show. In it horses have to ground tie while the handler walks around the horse and picks up a hind hoof. I have been doing this with my horse and he stand well but not always where I want him to, like in front of shafts to harness him. I tried standing him inside the box this morning. It’s harder than it looks. He goes sideways and back anywhere but in the box. By the time he moves all around I have to make another box. He did it fairly well today and I will work some more tomorrow. I’ll keep it up until he stands in the box. Thanks for this advice.
My very first online course. However, the times for live session is USA time
What time would that be in the Uk
Sorry to be a bit dim. Never done a live course
Hi Gillian,
I’m sorry that I forgot to put the time zone converter here. (I’ve updated it now)
You might have to be a night owl to attend. It would be 2am GMT.
Of course, you’ll get all of the recordings and materials regardless, so if you don’t want to stay up that late, it’s perfectly acceptable to just view the class once it’s through.
Andy