How to Tame a Horse or Pony
Linger nearby as it grazes, or spend time talking to it in its stall., Make sure you talk to it so it can get used to your voice., Hang out for a couple hours each day, and take as long as the horse needs., Make sure it's comfortable with you...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Linger nearby as it grazes
Let it loose in a round pen to just hang out, and watch it for a while.
If the horse is afraid of people, keep doing this until it settles down and starts grazing nearby.
If you notice it start paying more attention to you (looking at you with its ears forward, licking its lips, etc) you can move on to ground work, as these signs mean it's interested or comfortable with your presence. -
Step 2: or spend time talking to it in its stall.
Otherwise, you can sit nearby and read a book
- the point is for it to get familiar with you.
Take your time doing this! , If you try to rush the horse's training, you or the horse can get hurt. ,, If it's hard to catch, or you're breaking it for the first time, you may need to keep it turned out in a small pen for the time being.
If it needs a refresher, get it from the paddock or stall, and put it in a roundpen. , It's ideal to remove the halter when doing this, but if the horse is hard to catch, you may leave it on.
If the horse is dangerous, or tries to rear up and thrash at you, go back to lingering nearby as it grazes.
Do this until the horse comes to you.
You want it to be comfortable with you to proceed in its training. , If the horse isn't familiar with people, it may move to the rail on its own, as it's trying to get away from you.
In both cases, talk calmly to the horse, and use slow, deliberate movements until you can start lunging.
Raise the whip in one hand (or both if you need the leverage to operate the whip) and swing the line toward the horse's haunches. #*Don't crack it just yet.
If the horse is easily spooked, you can get it moving just by the sheer motion of something coming toward it.
If the horse is used to being lunged, you may crack the whip. , This tells the horse it is doing something right, and will allow it to focus on you, as opposed to the whip.
Don't worry about what gait the horse takes on at first, just focus on keeping its hooves moving.
The horse might pin its ears and buck at you
- this is okay, just make sure it's not attacking you (horses will buck when being lunged, and they'll return to the rail soon after.) Crack the whip each time it bucks, to discourage it from doing it again.
If it starts getting more dangerous about kicking at you, next time you crack the whip, let it sting the horse.
Some trainers (and owners) will oppose of this, but if it's becoming a habit, the horse needs to associate the bad action with something uncomfortable, such as the sting of a whip.
It doesn't have to be a full-on lash
- the grazing of the edge is enough to sting it.
Think of the whip as an extension of your arm
- when the horse does something bad, it should be your instinct to correct it.
In this case, if the horse gets dangerous about bucking out, you need to correct it by making it uncomfortable.
If the horse is afraid of you, a simple crack of the whip (not stinging it) will usually be enough to keep it from doing it again. , Keep on the horse
- if it starts slowing down, encourage it to keep going. if you're working in a small arena, there might be corners or gates the horse might try stopping at.
Find out where the horse will usually stop, and prepare to crack the whip as it approaches the next time around.
You need to get the horse to focus on you, not on escaping.
If the horse does get "stuck" in these areas, leave the center, jog toward the horse on the side opposite you want it to go (approach on the right if you want it to go to the left and vice versa) and crack the whip.
Don't get too close, as the horse will almost always buck out at this. , After the horse has tried exploiting every nook and cranny (and failed) and has calmed down some, stand still, lower the whip, and look at your horse Tell it to "whoa" even if it doesn't recognize cues. This inactivity tells your horse that you are no longer driving it, and it can stop.
The horse should stop and look at you.
If not, that means it doesn't trust you yet.
Regardless, if the horse stops, praise it.
Tell it "Good boy/girl" and go back to slow movements.
Some people may find this to be the perfect opportunity to attempt the join-up, however it's best to switch hands with the whip, point in the opposite direction, and to get it to move in the other direction.
The horse will try its games again, so remember the spots it tried to stop at, so you can be prepared to drive it forward.
Horses have to be taught on one side, what they were taught on the other, so you may find that the horse will be as rambunctious as before.
Keep doing what you did when it was going the other way, and soon the horse will be calmed down and should be trotting (or cantering) past the problem spots.
Praise the horse each time it ignores corners and gates, and remember to keep the whip lowered when you're not using it. , If it trots after cantering, and you want it to trot, make it canter again and tell it to trot after a few strides.
You want it to listen to you, not do what it wants.
Even if the horse trots when you want it to, if you didn't give it the command, it will see that as something it can get away with, and not something you told it to do. , Keep looking at it and tell it "whoa." This is a perfect time to get the horse familiar with commands if it's not already, but make sure you remember your body language.
At this stage, your inactivity is what tells it to stop, not the words.
Only later will it start associating "whoa" with "I need to stop."
If the horse is still unfamiliar with you, simply turn around. (If the horse is familiar with you, turn and walk away after you pet it, and stay in the center facing away.) If the horse trusts you, it will walk up to you, or follow you.
This is what we call the join-up.
You may put the halter back on or clip the lead back on the halter if the horse successfully joined up.
If it hasn't, you can try again with another lap or two in both directions, or you can leave it at that for the day.
Short sessions are better than long sessions, and always try to stop on a good note.
Keep doing this every day until the horse joins up, and even if the horse did do it the first time, it's good to start out each training session with a join-up, as this gets the horse focused on you, and helps build trust.
Even with seasoned, trusting mounts, the occasional join-up will keep it in shape and give you both something to do when you can't ride or don't have a lot of time in your current schedule to exercise it under saddle. -
Step 3: Make sure you talk to it so it can get used to your voice.
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Step 4: Hang out for a couple hours each day
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Step 5: and take as long as the horse needs.
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Step 6: Make sure it's comfortable with you before moving on.
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Step 7: Try to catch it.
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Step 8: Let it loose.
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Step 9: If you can safely be in the round pen with the horse
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Step 10: grab a lunge-whip and adopt the center of the pen
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Step 11: forcing the horse out toward the rail.
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Step 12: After the horse is moving
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Step 13: lower the whip - don't drop it.
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Step 14: Keep the horse going around the pen
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Step 15: letting it canter or trot as much as it needs to.
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Step 16: Once the horse is moving
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Step 17: jog back to your place at the center and keep it moving.
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Step 18: Don't let the horse break its gait without you telling it to.
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Step 19: Stop driving it again.
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Step 20: Praise the horse for stopping
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Step 21: and if you can
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Step 22: walk up to it and give it a pat.
Detailed Guide
Let it loose in a round pen to just hang out, and watch it for a while.
If the horse is afraid of people, keep doing this until it settles down and starts grazing nearby.
If you notice it start paying more attention to you (looking at you with its ears forward, licking its lips, etc) you can move on to ground work, as these signs mean it's interested or comfortable with your presence.
Otherwise, you can sit nearby and read a book
- the point is for it to get familiar with you.
Take your time doing this! , If you try to rush the horse's training, you or the horse can get hurt. ,, If it's hard to catch, or you're breaking it for the first time, you may need to keep it turned out in a small pen for the time being.
If it needs a refresher, get it from the paddock or stall, and put it in a roundpen. , It's ideal to remove the halter when doing this, but if the horse is hard to catch, you may leave it on.
If the horse is dangerous, or tries to rear up and thrash at you, go back to lingering nearby as it grazes.
Do this until the horse comes to you.
You want it to be comfortable with you to proceed in its training. , If the horse isn't familiar with people, it may move to the rail on its own, as it's trying to get away from you.
In both cases, talk calmly to the horse, and use slow, deliberate movements until you can start lunging.
Raise the whip in one hand (or both if you need the leverage to operate the whip) and swing the line toward the horse's haunches. #*Don't crack it just yet.
If the horse is easily spooked, you can get it moving just by the sheer motion of something coming toward it.
If the horse is used to being lunged, you may crack the whip. , This tells the horse it is doing something right, and will allow it to focus on you, as opposed to the whip.
Don't worry about what gait the horse takes on at first, just focus on keeping its hooves moving.
The horse might pin its ears and buck at you
- this is okay, just make sure it's not attacking you (horses will buck when being lunged, and they'll return to the rail soon after.) Crack the whip each time it bucks, to discourage it from doing it again.
If it starts getting more dangerous about kicking at you, next time you crack the whip, let it sting the horse.
Some trainers (and owners) will oppose of this, but if it's becoming a habit, the horse needs to associate the bad action with something uncomfortable, such as the sting of a whip.
It doesn't have to be a full-on lash
- the grazing of the edge is enough to sting it.
Think of the whip as an extension of your arm
- when the horse does something bad, it should be your instinct to correct it.
In this case, if the horse gets dangerous about bucking out, you need to correct it by making it uncomfortable.
If the horse is afraid of you, a simple crack of the whip (not stinging it) will usually be enough to keep it from doing it again. , Keep on the horse
- if it starts slowing down, encourage it to keep going. if you're working in a small arena, there might be corners or gates the horse might try stopping at.
Find out where the horse will usually stop, and prepare to crack the whip as it approaches the next time around.
You need to get the horse to focus on you, not on escaping.
If the horse does get "stuck" in these areas, leave the center, jog toward the horse on the side opposite you want it to go (approach on the right if you want it to go to the left and vice versa) and crack the whip.
Don't get too close, as the horse will almost always buck out at this. , After the horse has tried exploiting every nook and cranny (and failed) and has calmed down some, stand still, lower the whip, and look at your horse Tell it to "whoa" even if it doesn't recognize cues. This inactivity tells your horse that you are no longer driving it, and it can stop.
The horse should stop and look at you.
If not, that means it doesn't trust you yet.
Regardless, if the horse stops, praise it.
Tell it "Good boy/girl" and go back to slow movements.
Some people may find this to be the perfect opportunity to attempt the join-up, however it's best to switch hands with the whip, point in the opposite direction, and to get it to move in the other direction.
The horse will try its games again, so remember the spots it tried to stop at, so you can be prepared to drive it forward.
Horses have to be taught on one side, what they were taught on the other, so you may find that the horse will be as rambunctious as before.
Keep doing what you did when it was going the other way, and soon the horse will be calmed down and should be trotting (or cantering) past the problem spots.
Praise the horse each time it ignores corners and gates, and remember to keep the whip lowered when you're not using it. , If it trots after cantering, and you want it to trot, make it canter again and tell it to trot after a few strides.
You want it to listen to you, not do what it wants.
Even if the horse trots when you want it to, if you didn't give it the command, it will see that as something it can get away with, and not something you told it to do. , Keep looking at it and tell it "whoa." This is a perfect time to get the horse familiar with commands if it's not already, but make sure you remember your body language.
At this stage, your inactivity is what tells it to stop, not the words.
Only later will it start associating "whoa" with "I need to stop."
If the horse is still unfamiliar with you, simply turn around. (If the horse is familiar with you, turn and walk away after you pet it, and stay in the center facing away.) If the horse trusts you, it will walk up to you, or follow you.
This is what we call the join-up.
You may put the halter back on or clip the lead back on the halter if the horse successfully joined up.
If it hasn't, you can try again with another lap or two in both directions, or you can leave it at that for the day.
Short sessions are better than long sessions, and always try to stop on a good note.
Keep doing this every day until the horse joins up, and even if the horse did do it the first time, it's good to start out each training session with a join-up, as this gets the horse focused on you, and helps build trust.
Even with seasoned, trusting mounts, the occasional join-up will keep it in shape and give you both something to do when you can't ride or don't have a lot of time in your current schedule to exercise it under saddle.
About the Author
Ann Roberts
With a background in science and research, Ann Roberts brings 2 years of hands-on experience to every article. Ann believes in making complex topics accessible to everyone.
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