Horse training!

      We have started a new horse training course.  It is called Pat Parelli Natural Horsemanhip.  We have been going to a friend's house to watch his movies and read about how to train horses.

We have learned some interesting things. First, I learned that a horse has a right brain and a left brain. I will explain what I mean. When a horse is left brained, they are using the thinking side of their brain. They are calm, willing to learn. When a horse is right-brained, they are not thinking. They are trying to protect them self from you. A horse thinks you are his preditor. A very intersting thing is, a horse can read you like a book. The second thing I learned was when trying to catch a horse in a pasture you have to let  the horse come up to you. If the horse is bad at catching you, you have to be patient. The other thing you can do is to lay down on the ground and wait for the horse to come up to you.  Also, when catching a horse, you have to smile and be all friendly. Remember a horse can read you like a book. So when you go into the pasture and if you are smiling the horse can sense that you won't hurt them.

My first thing I have tried was to sit with my horse for 30 min. The first time I did it Addie came up to me right away and that was a good sign. Then she would walk away, then come back to me and sniff me. If the horse touched me, then  I could try to touch the horse. I had to sit really still and not make any noise. When I tried this the second time I gave my horse treats. That was not good for me to do that because I learned that I have to get the horse to come to me.  Giving a horse a treat will just make the horse like the treats instead of you.

I want to learn a few things too. I want to try to pick up my horse's back feet without being scared. I can do the front easily. I also want to learn how to train my horse to trust me more.

This is a whole new world for me!