Hippotherapy

Can I break my horse by riding her everyday?

I don't have any professional training but I can get on my horse and ride her in a roundpen, I just need to work on er flexion more. Can I break her myself? How do the old cowboys do it?

Public Comments

1. It is possible. However, you should probably take a lesson from a professional trainer on your horse once a week or once ever few weeks. Doing this would keep you from training your horse wrongly which would take a lot of time to undo.
2. yes you can. If you are worried about her bucking you off you can lungde her alot righty before you ride her and the she will be tired and wont buck you off. Also it is alot easier if you use another trained that knows how to do what your trying to teach her and your horse will follow. The best thing to do is to get it to trust you and then keep ridding her everyday and spending time with her. I know all of this from experrince I just broke my horse and she is and exxellent quarter horse mare now.
3. Yes, you can probably finish training your horse to ride. If you're riding her in a round pen alright, just continue working with her until she seems to respond to your cues. You don't have to ride her every single day, but it's good to ride several times a week. Just try to build on the lesson from the day before, and repeat what she already knows. I would suggest getting some horse training videos or going riding with an experienced horse person who can give you tips and ideas. If you have a friend who has successfully trained horses, they could be a lot of help to you. You would still be riding her, but it helps to pick other people's brains for suggestions and advice. Don't worry about how the old cowboys do it. If you're riding her, you don't need to "break" her; just put more time on her. When she will obey your rein cues and stop and go through her gaits for you fine, she's considered "greenbroke" and you just need to ride her a lot until she's used to a lot of different situations and is gentle and responsive under saddle. Remember when riding a "green" horse, it's all about rewarding them for the right behaviour. That's the only way they understand that they just did the right thing. For instance, when you pull back when she's walking around the round pen, continue pulling steadily until she stops. INSTANTLY release, and that rewards her and tells her that when you tighten the reins you're looking for her to stop. If she carries her head too high or resists the bit, or tosses her head a lot, you can use the rein pressure to get her to drop her head and flex. As soon as you see any slight drop of her head, instantly release the rein pressure and she will learn that a little contact on the bit means she needs to lower, or give, her head. There are a lot of things she will learn if you reward her the instant she does the right thing. It's all about making the right thing easiest for her. Good luck. Like I said, the best thing you can do without spending a lot of money hiring a trainer, is to get a friend who knows horses and go riding with them.
4. Uh, no. Riding EVERY day is not the absolute way to go about it. Horses could use a break too. Flexion can be done in many ways. You can stand on the ground and pull her head around and hold it there. Many horses I see just dont like to, not that they cant. So hold it until you feel them relax and let them go. Tell them they're good. Another method is side reins you use while lunging. You have two ropes and they connect with the bridal that connect with the saddle. Inside rein is shorter than the outside, pulling the head towards you. It teaches them to give into the bit. I found this the most affective way to go around with my horse. Horse opinions and trainers all have different says. It really depends on the owner what to do.
5. It sounds like she is broke out already if you are riding her... being 'broke out' just means the horse has had someone on it, and has been lightly ridden. If you are asking if you train your horse, you can, but you will most likely teach your horse a slew of bad habits if you don't have an experianced persons help. If you ever need to sell this horse it will be very hard if she has had bad training under saddle. You should have someone come out and help you with your horse to make sure both your horse, and you stay safe. You also shouldn't ride a green broke horse every day, it will need some time off. Also if you ride a young horse too hard at first you will create mental and physical problems for your horse later in life. A horse should be broke out around 3, and only lightly ridden at first. I would really strongly suggest you get a trainer or instructor to help you with your horse asap.