# How to give a horse confidence?



## IPHDA (Jun 7, 2009)

You do not make them as much as you select them from birth and then give them the support and exposure to be confident.

Riders can either give confidence by riding their horses or instill fear by making the horse feel like they are on their own by just sitting there being taken for a ride. Rhythm and support with hands and legs is important to any horse but especially to the ones that are a little insecure. If you offer support to a confident horse they will charge into anything you ask them to. you can develop a horses confidence to a point, but mostly confident horses are born not made.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Just to save myself a ton of typing.
The Road of a Horse Trainer: Watch the line.


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

smrobs said:


> Just to save myself a ton of typing.
> The Road of a Horse Trainer: Watch the line.


very good article.


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## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

smrobs, that IS a really fine article!

In a nutshell: Your horse can only be as brave as you are. --Pat Parelli


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## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

I'd suppose just get them used to things of all sorts, and don't make a big deal about getting past it, just show them that it is okay. (Not in a babying manner, however.) And reward them forgetting past it, but slowly wean them off the rewards. That is how I would do it, but I'm not that hardcore of a rider so I haven't tested my theory that often.

My horses are pretty much bombproof with any loud noises, however. Seeing as they are used to it. They are pastured near a road, so they see vehichles of all sorts. (Semi-trucks, cars, trucks, Skidsteers, tractors.) Aswell as joggers, birds, dogs, children, random debris, etc. Don't try and tiptoe around a horse's feelings constantly. Then they will learn that that stuff is just absolutely terrible and to make a big deal out of it every time they see it.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

That horse you speak of doesn't come out of the womb that way. While some are more predisposed to others to insecurity or braveness, it all comes down to the individual horse and it's training. 

I try to keep it simple. Be consistent. Don't baby them. Don't overface them. Push them a little more each time and let each horse develop at it's own pace.


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

Horses are pack animals, they decide what to do based on the most dominant mares reactions. Be the pack leader, and your horse will have confidence and trust and take its leads from you.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

You develop a horses confidence with small steps that teach a horse how to deal with fear. You can't stop a horse from being scared but you can teach a horse to react in a different way than it normally would. 

The whole message that is lost on the Big-time clinician crowd with the tarp and large bouncy balls is not to teach your horse to walk over a tarp or chase a six foot red ball but to react to scary things in a different way then is normal for them. I have been riding horses for 27 years and I have yet to come across a situation where I had to walk over a large blue tarp or chase a large ball. Since you can't plan for every eventuallity you have to prepare your horse to react the way you want it to when confronted by unexpected outside stimuli. If you walk over the same tarp in the same place you are setting yourself and your horse up to fail. If you allow your horse to refuse you are doing the same thing. Expose your horse to new things and do it in a manner that strenghens your leadership and develops the horses curiousity.


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Smrobs love that article. The same can be said about people.
Kevin's, I think exposing your horse to tarps, balls, and things is also as much about the horse as the rider. Both of you learn how to deal with a stressful, scary situation.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

kevinshorses said:


> You develop a horses confidence with small steps that teach a horse how to deal with fear. You can't stop a horse from being scared but you can teach a horse to react in a different way than it normally would.
> 
> The whole message that is lost on the Big-time clinician crowd with the tarp and large bouncy balls is not to teach your horse to walk over a tarp or chase a six foot red ball but to react to scary things in a different way then is normal for them. I have been riding horses for 27 years and I have yet to come across a situation where I had to walk over a large blue tarp or chase a large ball. Since you can't plan for every eventuallity you have to prepare your horse to react the way you want it to when confronted by unexpected outside stimuli. If you walk over the same tarp in the same place you are setting yourself and your horse up to fail. If you allow your horse to refuse you are doing the same thing. Expose your horse to new things and do it in a manner that strenghens your leadership and develops the horses curiousity.


 ^ Right on


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## missmellow (May 4, 2011)

Thank you so much for this article!!
Yesterday I worked with my 3yr old for a good hour. it was the longest session he's ever had and I pushed him. hard. I asked so much from him and he tried his hardest to please me. he would occasionly just stop and turn his head to see me as though he was asking "what on earth do you want me to do?? I don't understand!" But he kept learning and I kept pushing until I finally felt that he was going to reach a breaking point. So we left our arena and took a relaxed jaunt around the yard before I unsaddled and brushed him down. He was pretty sweaty and I spent half my afternoon worried that I may have asked too much of him. That I might have pushed him too hard...
This article makes me feel as though I wasn't wrong in asking so much from him. In fact, it has me pumped up to go out and ask for some more


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## reiningfan (Jan 7, 2008)

I have a 2 year old that is worried about darn near everything. When I snap a lead on him though, he becomes a much more confident horse because he trusts me not to take him into a bad situation. 
I do a lot of in hand work with his type of horse. I set up trail obstacles, take them for walks through the ditches & fields, pony them, just about anything that can get them some exposure & experience. 
Some horses are just born less confident and need a confident handler to help them through it and develop enough confidence that they aren't relying on their handler all the time.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Toymanator (Jul 31, 2009)

AllThePrettyHorses said:


> I've always wondered...what's the secret behind those horses that will do anything, go anywhere, with any type of rider, no fear, resistance or refusal? How do you make a horse like that?


I will agree with most everything that has been said. My initial thought was, how do you give a horse confidence? Well, you start with the rider... 

The more knowledge and confidence the rider has; in knowing what they want to accomplish, and how to ask the horse to do it. The more effective the communication transmitted to the horse becomes. The result will be a horse with more confidence.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

> Since you can't plan for every eventuallity you have to prepare your horse to react the way you want it to when confronted by unexpected outside stimuli.


^ This.

And miles. Miles, and miles, and miles. Riding anywhere yu can get, and dealing with what you encounter in a calm, clear way. I teach my horses to look to my guidance in a scary situation instead of switching to instinct. We ride mostly on the outskirts and through our city - So traffic, bikes, people, dogs, golf, underpasses... They deal with it all.


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## AllThePrettyHorses (Dec 15, 2010)

wild_spot said:


> And miles. Miles, and miles, and miles. Riding anywhere yu can get, and dealing with what you encounter in a calm, clear way. I teach my horses to look to my guidance in a scary situation instead of switching to instinct. We ride mostly on the outskirts and through our city - So traffic, bikes, people, dogs, golf, underpasses... They deal with it all.


But how? _How _would you teach the horse to look to you for guidance in scary situations? How do you come out of those scary experiences with the horse having more respect and trust for you than when it went in? How do you teach it to not react to fear? How do you actually do it?


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## reiningfan (Jan 7, 2008)

How I do it is to start on the ground. Lead the horse around, getting it to listen and respect you by teachings manners. 
Then I start slowly adding things like ground poles, a trail bridge, etc. Getting them to walk calmly over those will help get the horse to trust that you won't be taking it into situations where it might be hurt. You can even use a tarp because although they are often scared of them, a tarp rarely jumps up and bites them. 
I also teach them to load and unload in my trailer, walk through ditches, around vehicles and such. Every time they do something with you and don't get hurt, their trust in you should increase. 
I do the same sorts of things under saddle once they are going well.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AllThePrettyHorses (Dec 15, 2010)

reiningfan said:


> How I do it is to start on the ground. Lead the horse around, getting it to listen and respect you by teachings manners.
> Then I start slowly adding things like ground poles, a trail bridge, etc. Getting them to walk calmly over those will help get the horse to trust that you won't be taking it into situations where it might be hurt. You can even use a tarp because although they are often scared of them, a tarp rarely jumps up and bites them.
> I also teach them to load and unload in my trailer, walk through ditches, around vehicles and such. Every time they do something with you and don't get hurt, their trust in you should increase.
> I do the same sorts of things under saddle once they are going well.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I get that, but what about when you're alone, on the trail, miles from home, no other horses or humans around, and you meet something really, _really_ scary (for a horse)? Those situations that test your leadership to the max. How do you get through those successfully, with the horse trusting and respecting your authority? There's only so much that walking over tarps and bridges at home, with the other horses in the paddock a few hundred feet away, can prepare you for.


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## CecilliaB (Jan 21, 2010)

AllThePrettyHorses said:


> But how? _How _would you teach the horse to look to you for guidance in scary situations? How do you come out of those scary experiences with the horse having more respect and trust for you than when it went in? How do you teach it to not react to fear? How do you actually do it?


Well, if you have already established seniority with your horse and your the leader that answer is simple. Stay calm, keep your heart rate down, don't let adrenaline get the better of you. Don't grab at your saddle, yank on their face, curl up into a fetal position....and for goodness sakes don't scream, don't even whisper "Oh my god oh my god oh my god"  You know that saying "They can smell fear"? It's true, smell it sense it, feel it whatever...they get the point and will be more then happy to follow your lead. Equally they sense when we are relaxed and confident. If YOU don't think the boogy monster is so bad then why should your horse?

Stay calm, in control, firm but not demanding hands and a sure but soothing voice. Deal with the situation and get control and then be on your merry way. I don't like some of the very popular methods of "Lets stand here and stare at it and see what the horse does" Uhm....sure give him a sec to check it out and then busy his mind with what you want him to do? Scared of water, ok lets walk around, lets sniff it, now lets go threw it. No big deal, no fuss!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

To be honest, I don't do squat on the ground.

All my horses can lead, go backwards, sideways, pick up their feet, and load on a float. That's about the extent of it.

I have horses to ride them, so that is what I do. 

Before heading out on the trails, I make sure I can control each part of my horse seperately - Head/neck, shoulders, ribcage, and hindquarters. 

When i'm on the trail, I have loose reins. I'm never holding onto my horses face.

If we reach something scary, I sit relaxed and let them decide how they are going to react. They are allowed to look, that's not a problem.

If they start to spook, jump around, speed up/slow down - I flex their head away from the scary object and use my leg to keep them travelling the same line. Gently at first, but I can turn it into a leg yeild with bum toward scary object and head away if I need to. I don't get mad, but I insist.

Once we are past it, I drop the rein and continue on. I don't stop and make them sniff anything - that teaches them to stop what they are doing and take their attention off me. I teach them to give their attention and control of their body to me, and I will get them past safely. Every time we encounter something scary and I get them through without them being hurt, they get a little more confident in my judgement.


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## reiningfan (Jan 7, 2008)

Horses need experience. When they are green and you start riding them out of an arena, you need to ensure that you don't put them in dangerous situations. The more they get ridden and see that you are a confident leader who doesn't put them into a dangerous situation, the more they trust you. 
That said, when it comes down to it, if they see something that truly scares them, they can still react like the horse they are. When that happens, you need them to be trained enough to be able to disengage them and get their attention back to you.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I think in the end, what it all comes down to is how confident YOU are as a handler/rider. 

I have ridden horses over the years that their owners were in awe that the horse didn't buck, bolt, spook, or pull any nonsense with on the trail. Why? Because I'm confident and work the horse in such a way that keeps his focus on me, and not his surroundings. 

Too often, when a horse is focused on something scarey we, as the humans are focused on getting our horse to look at it. Forget about that aspect, and get him to pay attention to you instead; he needs to look to YOU for leadership, not look at the scarey object and keep focusing on that object. Work him around and near those things, but keep him focused on you, don't let his mind wander to the thing he wants to stop and spook at, keep his feet moving, and his mind engaged.


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

I've said the same thing mom2pride. It isn't about giving the horse confidence per say. It is all about the rider. If you are trained, in control of your emotions, can refocus an animals attention to you and confident in yourself, this will give a horse his confidence. 

What you are concerned with is "the what ifs". Don't focus on that. Because that is where your body becomes tight, tense and out of control. That is felt right down to the horse. I had to train myself how to breath, what to focus on when my horse saw a scary object and how to be the one to show her she wouldn't die if she passed by an object. That in itself gave her confidence and trust that her rider wouldn't put her in a dangerous situation. Start small. Work up to the big. Baby steps.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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