# The true meaning of groundwork?



## Zimalia (May 8, 2011)

I use a lot of Clinton Anderson ways on my young colts. Actually, on all my horses.

By ground work, it's a means of getting your horse to see that you are the leader.

For your horse, he needs to stay out of your space. He's biting, pushy, etc. Do you have access to a corral? I like working in a corral cause then they can't get away from you. You are in an enclosed area, and so are they.

When you get in there, start by just twirling your lead rope next to him. He stands and you're at his shoulder neck area, and your hand is up to ward him off if need be. Start twirling the rope next to him. Do both sides. Slap the ground with it as well. Once he gets over this and accepts that it's not going to kill him, move to the other side. Do the same.

Then stand in front of him, same thing.

This gets the horse used to the fact that it moves, and it's not going to kill him. The action alone will keep most pushy horses back. 

Then start tossing the rope around his feet and legs. Front, then rear. Gradually work up to where you're tossing it over his back, neck and all over him. 

If this is not keeping him off you, and he's still being pushy, use a whip and back him off. He's to stand there, out of your area, until you invite him in. If he doesn't want to stand, move his feet. 
If he knows how to gyp (you guys call it lunging) get his feet moving. Change his direction often. 
Then, ask him to stand out of your space again. If he doesn't want to, move his feet some more. The idea is you want him to realize air is a precious commodity and you're in charge of it. If he will stand out of your space, he can breathe and rest. If not, and he's pushy, get him going some more.

Watch Clinton Anderson on RFDTV if you have it. If not, he's got a website where you can see a lot of his stuff. 

I use his methods and they work very well for me. I don't mean to be a walking talking commercial for him, but it's just what works for me.


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## Marecare (Jan 1, 2009)

I very much agree with your frustration about the use of the words "ground work" LauraLA.

The problem is that each person will have different interpretations of the approach.

What each handler is looking for is a functional and working relationship where cooperation and communication is flowing back and forth.

10 people are going to have 12 ways of going about it and it is really up to you to decide what is right in your situation.

Do you have a mentor or experienced teacher to help you?


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I think what ground work does is establish you as the herd leader in a way that the horse can understand it. If done successfully, it can then translate into moments when you have issues under saddle or in situations such as picking feet and bathing. Many times people who do ground work talk about horses understanding release of pressure. I think about when horses fight in a pasture. The fight ends when one of them gives up and moves away. At first the "fight" is two horses rearing and kicking. Once the alpha is established, it turns into a simple nasty look or simple twitch of the ear. When we're riding and our horses do something we don't want, first time out we probably have to use a loud correction to fix it, but then can move onto softer things. Case in point, I recently had a big trailer loading problem with my horse. It was also manifesting itself in grass dodging when I was leading him. A simple 30 minute refresher course in ground schooling and he now steps onto the trailer willingly and stands like a statue in a grassy field when I'm on the other end of the line. At first I had to be very loud, backing his butt up 20' or more whenever he attempted to graze. Very quickly that turned into an evil look and then he stopped trying altogether. 

I also get frustrated when I head people continually talk about ground schooling but still cannot get on and ride down a trail alone. I can say, in my experience, or rather the way I apply the concepts, ground work does translate into respect from the horse in other areas. That's my 2 cents.


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## raywonk (Jan 9, 2011)

Lunging a horse is ground work. Asking them to move thier sholder over or thier but. Asking them to put thier head down when asked. Backing when you ask. It sounds vage but realy everytime you ask him to move his feet you are saying i am boss. They more he moves away form you and where you ask him that is the key it has to be what you want not what he wants the more you put your self in the boss role.
So a horse comes at me when i walk into stall like they are going to bite I do not run out cause that means he is boss. I throw my hands up make him stop and then back him up. 
Dose that help some.


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## GeminiJumper (Jun 12, 2008)

I also follow Clinton Anderson's ground work methods. 

To gain a horse's respect on the ground, you have to work with all of his body parts and teach him to stay out of your space.

Working all of his body parts would be moving his forehand, ribs, and hindquarters. Start off with the right tools. A stiff rope halter, a long lead line, and a carrot stick of some sort. A dressage-length whip with an equally long string attached to the end. 

The first exercise to work on is disengaging his hindquarters. Have lead rope in left hand with your hand about a foot away from the snap. Keep your hand up by his face. In your left hand you hold the carrot stick. Body language first. Some horses respond by you merely staring at their hindquarters. Then move to hunching over like a predator about to attack their butt. Next, tap the air with your carrot stick. 1, 2, 3, 4. Nothing? Tap the air harder. If still nothing, whack their butt. As soon as they swing it away from you, stand back up. Your left hand is up in the air to keep their head from swinging towards you and doing other rude behavior. Reverse for the other side.

Next exercise to work on is yielding the forehand. Again, lead rope in left hand up by horse's face, about a foot from the clip and carrot stick in right hand. Begin by tapping the air by the horse's face with your left hand. If there is no response, you can either hold the carrot stick in both hands and pump the air or use it to tap their shoulder. Remember, if the horse makes any sort of correct attempt, release the pressure or quit doing what you're doing. For this exercise, when done correctly, the horse should pivot on that outside hind leg and the inside hind leg--the one closest to you--should step OVER that leg, not behind it.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

I think the biggest issue people have is groundwork can't just start and stop when the bad behavior does. You can't "do groundwork" as the bad behavior is happening and hope to really teach him. Obviously the measures can be taken to correct the bad behavior, but if the groundwork basics aren't present, you are forced into a situation where you are much more likely to have to get physical and aggressive to get your point across.

If a horse is pushy, we do endless exercises respecting my space. He learns to become loose in the halter and respect where I am. When I first got my filly, she wouldn't move for anything using the halter. So I would use my body and walk purposefully towards her neck/head, and simply walk into her. Bump her, get her attention, wave my hands up, anything to get her to move away from me and then reward her. She needs to learn to watch me at all times, and move into or out of my space as my body language asks. We did endless exercises with turning on the haunches, turning on the forehand, backing up, walking at my shoulder, abrupt turns. Your body is a great tool, the horse has virtually no power at his head, and if you make a big enough commotion by it, he WILL respond by moving away from you. Combine this with using the halter to direct him, and you will very quickly find yourself having a horse light in the halter and easily directed by soft pressure. You're not JUST teaching him to respond to pressure, you're teaching him to ALWAYS pay attention to where you are and be focused on the next command. This is respect, this is becoming the alpha - keeping them ALWAYS waiting for the next move.

This will play into issues such as sunscreen on the nose. When he learns to respect pressure, it becomes easier to place your hand on his nose and hold it down with no force - he respects the pressure enough to not fling his head up. If he does, immediately go into a groundwork routine - backing up, turning, FOCUSING on you. Keep repeating until he understands that the incorrect response means work for him.

The weakest part of the horse is his head - due to his neck, it's the best "leverage" point we have. It's our ability to control a 1,000 pound animal on a lunge line, simply by dropping and tipping his nose in. It's our ability to MAKE them respect our space - you throw your hands up and get bigger, not many horses will challenge that and WILL back down. Remember, whoever takes a step first back is the one who's losing the battle of wills. Don't let him move YOUR feet, you make him move HIS.

In essence, groundwork is the tool we use to become smarter then the horse. He's bigger, stronger and faster then we will ever be, but we have the ability to be smarter and use his size and structure against him. It's understanding equine language, and the mechanics of how they think and using somewhat illogical responses - such as using a single hand to stop a 1,000 pound animal from running us over. 

It's the ability to stop thinking like a human, and start thinking like a horse!


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Groundwork is a very vague term but it essentially means that you are working on the ground. Even leading the horse can be groundwork.

I like to use Clinton Anderson's methods also. The main points of groundwork are to establish respect, leadership, personal space, and manners.

The first thing is safety and the horse staying out of your personal space. Start by having the horse on a line/lead rope. Anytime the horse looks away, snap or jerk the line to get the horse to give you both eyes. If the horse moves toward you make a big commotion and get the horse to back away. You want to develope a radius of about 5 feet around you that the horse is not allowed in until you can control his feet. If the horse does enter it, back him up or send him away.
The second thing in groundwork is teaching the horse you conrtrol his feet, when he goes, where he goes, and how fast he goes. If you have a round pen or corral would be the best but a lunge line could work but not as easy. Start by getting your horse to just move. Next you start establishing direction, if he changes direction without asking, get after him to go the correct way. Finally, you start changing the direction. As the horse learns to change direction, you change the direction more frequently.

Other things in ground work are backing up, yielding fore and hind quarters, side passing, flexing, sending the horse between yourself and objects or anything controlling where his feet are and the direction his feet go. Like I said earlier, even when leading the horse you are training. If the horse is pulling you forward or dragging behind, you are training the horse that is ok. The horse should walk where you want, I think it is with the head directly to my side. Some will say that the horse should follow you like a shadow. However and where ever you want that horse to be, you must correct it if they are not there.

I know I didn't get too into how to do each thing because there is too much to explain on here. I hope this gives some help, but I would recommend finding someone local, a trainer or someone experienced in working with horses, to help you.

As for the sunscreen, can you normally rub the horses face? If so, start by rubbing and then put a small pea size amount on your hand and rub again. Repeat and slowly increase how much you put in your hand until you get enough on. Sunscreens usually have a funny smell and horses don't like it by their nose because it hinders their sense of smell. They rely on their sense of smell to help keep them out of danger, being a prey animal.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

When thinking of using ground work to establish who's boss, or who is leader, it's also good to think that you are not in a battle. It's not like your horse must lose and you must win. You are not adversaries. Your horse needs a leader. You can actually help him to be happier if you can be the leader. Where there may be something that feels like confilict is where he thinks that he is leader and from his point of view, you have stepped out of line and he is trying to discipline you and get your respect. 
So, you have to change his view on these things. That's where ground work comes in. And it might be ugly at first because you will be upsetting what he thinks is the norm. BUT if you can change his point of view, he may turn out to be a happier horse because he now has a leader, and it's not himself. Too much work and worry to be a horse leader. much nicer to have someone else do it.

But as for the specifics, I guess Clinton Anderson is as good as any, as far as learning the mechanics of moveing the horse around. Moving the horse does definintely get the horse to focus on you , and focusing on your for direction, means respect for you. He is "feeling" of you. THAT is what ground work is about.

Ground work is about getting the horse's mind to be on YOU. Gotta give him a reason to be thinking on you. The reason that is beneficial for riding is that if you can get him thinking on you while you are on the ground, you are much more likely to have his thoughts with you when you are in the saddle.


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

Ditto Clinton A. He has a no nonsense way of applying groundwork as a building block for respect and future training. Horses need leadership. If you dont know what it means to "do groundwork" and be able to get your horse to obey any request, you should get his groundwork videos or a trainer that can show you how to apply the method and gain control of the horses whole body.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

To me, groundwork is first about attitude, for horse and handler. An attitude of leadership and high expectation from the handler, and an ultimate attitude of respectful giving and submission from the horse. Some people don't like the word submission, tagging it with implications of "breaking," "forcing," etc., but the point remains that the horse is submitting to the direction and influence of the leader. I like Dennis Reis' phrasing here: Giving without giving up. 

Next, the different exercises that fall under that groundwork umbrella are tools to influence a dominant horse attitude to become more giving and submissive. For example, a horse who is dominant with his neck and shoulders, ramming into the handler's space, can benefit from yielding the forehand to pressure. Applying the aids with the correct attitude, and feel for the smallest change in attitude from the horse or attempt at complying with your request is a way to explain to the horse that you are the leader of your 2 member herd. You can move his feet before you move yours, you can direct his movement, and you can position him however you want. Every time he yields to you is confirmation of your leadership. Every time you yield to him in some way is a reason for him to question your leadership ability. This is assertion and demonstration of leadership ability that the horse is hard-wired by nature to understand. 

Horses want to have leaders - a horse without a leader is in charge of his own safety, just as the alpha mare of the herd is in charge of the safety of the herd. It's stressful to have to constantly monitor your safety; horses don't like to be stressed, and look for leadership. The thing is, some horses have very high standards in a leader (or low opinions of a given handler), and will test constantly to make certain that the person asserting the leadership role is capable of doing the job. That is why it's a maintenance thing: because the horse sees you as a capable leader today doesn't mean that you'll still be capable tomorrow, and he needs that assurance. 

That's where the overall attitude comes in. As the human practices good equine leadership, that attitude of leadership becomes habit, and horses are amazing at reading body language, attitude, and intentions. Some horses, in the hands of a strong leader, need very little use of the formal groundwork exercises/tools to acknowledge that leadership. As an individual horse/human team goes, over time and with consistency that relationship of human/horse, leader/follower, alpha/beta, 51/49% needs less and less maintenance as long as the attitude of leadership is maintained. Attitude, knowledge, and feel (including an ability to read the horse) are huge parts of what make a true horseman. 

Sorry for the novel there, but my 2 cents on the matter. :wink:


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## LauraLA (Feb 7, 2010)

All these answers are wonderful. And have really helped me to understand the real meaning of ground work. Thanks so much!

I will have to check out clinton anderson's videos and books.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DutchFeather (May 9, 2011)

I just got a 3 y/o QH filly. Although she was sacked out, had ropes thrown around her, lunged, and had good ground work done before I got her, they also gave her mixed signals by hand feeding her treats EVERY TIME they went to the barn/pasture. So now, she's pushy, in your face, and disrespectful even though she knows how to disengage her hind and front and lunge etc. So another part of ground work, is also teaching a horse respect about personal space. I personally, never give my horses treats from my hand, as my new filly has proven, even the best ground work can be spoiled by a horse who is spoiled.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Just remember. The best training method is the one that works for you. All horses are different. No one training method will fit all circumstances, but if you see enough different ones, you'll see common threads of things that work for you.


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