Has anyone started their horse through NH methods?

[KainerAndJenny]

We plan to start JD using NH methods. He is a yearling now, still plenty of time to go.

I am hoping to train him more western style so that his aids are more from seat and legs and less to do with his mouth.

Anyone have experience or advice they would like to give?

Thanks :)

[Tulla]

Hi K&J,

We (myself & boyf) use a kind of mixture of methods with our two young uns!
To be honest its whatever works for you and your horse, like what methods do you practise yourself? I would have always been trained the BHS way and not having a huge amount of experience training my own horse i don't have any specific method like I would if I had been training for 20years. I have been learning a lot about the more natural methods and find them a lot more suited to my own opinions and ideas than the stricter more rigid BHS way where everything is done to the one book. Now I'm not insulting this system, i do find that it comes out in me even when i'm trying to avoid
it, the proof is there that it works and I will be doing more exams in that system, I just have found that personally I prefer a more 'relaxed'(for want of a better word) way to train my own horse and I assume that with more and more experience I will build up my own system, but anyway back to the subject,boyfs horse also called JD! has been started with totally NH methods and it really has worked for him. However it does take more time to refine the aids, his neck reining is still a work in progress.

Whatever you choose, best of luck with it and would be very interested to hear about your progress.

[KainerAndJenny]

Hi K&J,

We (myself & boyf) use a kind of mixture of methods with our two young uns!
To be honest its whatever works for you and your horse, like what methods do you practise yourself? I would have always been trained the BHS way and not having a huge amount of experience training my own horse i don't have any specific method like I would if I had been training for 20years. I have been learning a lot about the more natural methods and find them a lot more suited to my own opinions and ideas than the stricter more rigid BHS way where everything is done to the one book. Now I'm not insulting this system, i do find that it comes out in me even when i'm trying to avoid
it, the proof is there that it works and I will be doing more exams in that system, I just have found that personally I prefer a more 'relaxed'(for want of a better word) way to train my own horse and I assume that with more and more experience I will build up my own system, but anyway back to the subject,boyfs horse also called JD! has been started with totally NH methods and it really has worked for him. However it does take more time to refine the aids, his neck reining is still a work in progress.

Whatever you choose, best of luck with it and would be very interested to hear about your progress.

Thanks for your reply! What a coincidence about their names!!

We have been reading books and watching tv and getting to know everyones 'way of doing things' and from that we do what we feel works for both us and our horses.

One thing that I do want to do is concentrate on not concentrating on his mouth if you know what I mean!
We have been told that, traditionally, the mouth is 'made' first. After riding western trained horses in Spain, I don't want to do this. I realised that we (well, I) 'use' Kainers mouth too much, because that was the way I was taught.

With JD I would love if I could ride bitless and teach him this through NH

[Tulla]

ya its strange isn't it, although his stands for Jack Daniels... not sure what that says bout him but there ya go!

With the hands thing, maybe you could get instruction on riding Kainer with a bitless bridle. You probably know this but bitless bridles can be just as severe as ones with bits so maybe get some experience yourself before starting the little one with it.
I personally don't have much experience with bitless bridles so am not one to tell you how to go about your business tis just an idea!

[KainerAndJenny]

ya its strange isn't it, although his stands for Jack Daniels... not sure what that says bout him but there ya go!

With the hands thing, maybe you could get instruction on riding Kainer with a bitless bridle. You probably know this but bitless bridles can be just as severe as ones with bits so maybe get some experience yourself before starting the little one with it.
I personally don't have much experience with bitless bridles so am not one to tell you how to go about your business tis just an idea!

JD are our initials (jenny, dave), thought it was cute :blushing:

Yes, you are right abouth the bridles and I do plan on trying with KK, but my mistake, what I really mean is to ride in a halter mainly, not necessarily a bitless bride. I would love to just go out there and try riding him in a halter but I'm scared! :blushing: (i mean K, not JD :))

[Tulla]

Aw that is so cute!
Well go find yourself an enclosed sand arena and give it a shot!! Even if Kainer gets a tad excited/strong he has to stop eventually! And if anything does happen the ground will be relatively soft and bouncy...
Trust him and have fun!

[KainerAndJenny]

Aw that is so cute!
Well go find yourself an enclosed sand arena and give it a shot!! Even if Kainer gets a tad excited/strong he has to stop eventually! And if anything does happen the ground will be relatively soft and bouncy...
Trust him and have fun!

You are so right :D

[JJsmum]

Yes, you are right abouth the bridles and I do plan on trying with KK, but my mistake, what I really mean is to ride in a halter mainly, not necessarily a bitless bride. I would love to just go out there and try riding him in a halter but I'm scared! :blushing: (i mean K, not JD :))

I have ridden JJ in a halter and find him more responsive - trying to source a bitless bridle for him but size is an issue (of course). Anyway, give it a go with Kainer, he might surprise you (in a good way).

[Red Rosette]

We plan to start JD using NH methods. He is a yearling now, still plenty of time to go.

I am hoping to train him more western style so that his aids are more from seat and legs and less to do with his mouth.

Anyone have experience or advice they would like to give?

Thanks :)

I would have thought seat and leg aids would be used in all starting metods, nobody I know who uses traditional methods would harden a young horses mouth. You have obviously come across a few rogues and they are in all disciplines Im afraid.

[intouch]

If you keep an eye on this forum and Irish NH Society, you'll find ads for upcoming clinics including "western" - get along to some of them and you'll learn lots about bringing on youngsters. There are as many ways of training as there are horses - the more you learn, the better equipped you will be!

[Welsh Girl]

Whatever method you use you are going to need a good bit of nerve. Youngsters have never failed to surprise me and I have about 20 years experience now starting young horses. They react sometimes out of the blue to the slightest signal one day and then the next you wonder if they're brain dead! My Oh and I re-started our ex-racer last year using Buck Brannamans techniques and he is turning out really nice.

At 1 yoa you can do a lot to prepare him mentally/emotionally, have you started switching eyes on the ground with him yet? This is a great thing to get them thinking as opposed to reacting. Also does he pick up his feet? Can you groom his whole body? Is he tuned in to your feet/body language?

At this stage the best thing you can give him is your time, you don't need to work him physically but you can do a lot to cement your bond in preparation for the work ahead.

Enjoy :)

[EK2008]

yea agree here with Welshgirl do all that stuff that builds up his confidence with humans and making him like being with you i would also incorporate loading into this
As he is young and you may not be going anywhere i would just play around with the horse box in the back out the front take out the partition and bring him in the front out the back get him to stop inside where you want and make sure he does not rush through. get him to stop half way out rather than running down the ramp control his movements

You will be building up his trust and he wil get more confident
Remember you may need only sessions of 10 minutes a few times a week

But i would do a bit and then leave him be a horse sometimes you can over do things (with every great intention ) and blow their mind and then undo things for yourself and him


I would do a bit then give him time off months or more and then when he comes back you will find that he will have retained what you have done

I find that if you overdo it you may find some behaviours that you do not want at all !!!

[KainerAndJenny]

Thanks for the advice!

Yep, we have been doing bits and pieces with him. He is halter broken, we have done a small amount of desensitizing and also a bit of the Porcupine.

I have done the porcupine with him, simply to make feeding time in the field safer :)

He has done very well with that. Like you say, he is still young so we don't want to pressure him too much.

Oh and we haven't yet intentionally taken the trailer out to train him on it, but he has travelled many times in it and is so far so good with loading and unloading.

Will do more when the weather improves!

[ironia]

what is your progress now?

actually first time I met NH one year ago, when Ingela Larsson from kingdom horse came for seminar.
i was really impressed about it, after it took one mare for training. but she was started already working with bridle etc.
but NH methods helped me so much with her.

then next small mare i took for chooling from field.
in box she was stressed, biting, kicking people, also biting other horses on field. when tried to brush her, it was ok only on shoulders. if touch her body she gets angry and felling down on her back as bug.

i was playnig Parelli games, did everything i know and feel to be done. and after 2.5 montgher was riding her without bridle (only saddle) nobody was believing that i will make this crazy horse ridden. but everyone seen that i can ride her without enything on field with other horses and without bridle.. the was really impresed. me too. wery good way for youngs ir NH!
enjoy!

[Molasses]

Whatever method you use you are going to need a good bit of nerve. Youngsters have never failed to surprise me and I have about 20 years experience now starting young horses. They react sometimes out of the blue to the slightest signal one day and then the next you wonder if they're brain dead!
Enjoy :)

Totally agree, sometimes the mood the youngster is in depends on which method i lean towards, but like most people commenting a bit of a mix of NH and 'english' seems to work nicely. :)

Be wary of concentrating too much on that lovely 'western feel' as it was genuinely adapted to working in open large open spaces where you were in the saddle for hours and hours. Sometimes a quickie hack on a irish road requires a english-style of riding, simply because things are moving at a faster pace:)

[KainerAndJenny]

what is your progress now?

actually first time I met NH one year ago, when Ingela Larsson from kingdom horse came for seminar.
i was really impressed about it, after it took one mare for training. but she was started already working with bridle etc.
but NH methods helped me so much with her.

then next small mare i took for chooling from field.
in box she was stressed, biting, kicking people, also biting other horses on field. when tried to brush her, it was ok only on shoulders. if touch her body she gets angry and felling down on her back as bug.

i was playnig Parelli games, did everything i know and feel to be done. and after 2.5 montgher was riding her without bridle (only saddle) nobody was believing that i will make this crazy horse ridden. but everyone seen that i can ride her without enything on field with other horses and without bridle.. the was really impresed. me too. wery good way for youngs ir NH!
enjoy!


Hi!

Things are going very well with JD. He is a very intelligent boy and his training has all been very positive so far.

He is very chilled out and relaxed, is not at all jumpy, is very brave and has no fear!

We couldn't be happier with his progress with NH :)

[KainerAndJenny]

Totally agree, sometimes the mood the youngster is in depends on which method i lean towards, but like most people commenting a bit of a mix of NH and 'english' seems to work nicely. :)

Be wary of concentrating too much on that lovely 'western feel' as it was genuinely adapted to working in open large open spaces where you were in the saddle for hours and hours. Sometimes a quickie hack on a irish road requires a english-style of riding, simply because things are moving at a faster pace:)

Not sure I totally agree with you here :)

I don't feel there would be a need to revert back to English style to achieve a faster pace.

The level of impulsion and the energy you use to communicate with your horse is not based on riding style, IMO.

[rambling]

Be wary of concentrating too much on that lovely 'western feel' as it was genuinely adapted to working in open large open spaces where you were in the saddle for hours and hours. Sometimes a quickie hack on a irish road requires a english-style of riding, simply because things are moving at a faster pace:)

Very interesting ,I never really made the connection before:blushing: I see what you mean though:nod:

[Molasses]

Not sure I totally agree with you here :)

I don't feel there would be a need to revert back to English style to achieve a faster pace.

The level of impulsion and the energy you use to communicate with your horse is not based on riding style, IMO.

:blushing: sorry wasn't clear:blushing:
i didn't mean horse moving at a faster pace i meant the world in general :blushing:

When riding out in Ireland as opposed to riding out western style. When i'm trekking 'western' style everthing is very relaxed and i've loads of space, when i'm hacking in Ireland there are cars, roads, tractors etc so i need to be more alert with a horse that is more collected so i adopt a more english approach - i don't mean by this that i'm riding on the bit and collected but just i have contact with my horses mouth. For western i can be behind a herd for hours just pushing along and my horses head carriage is naturally lower but i dont' need to suddenly push him over into a hedge so its all fine:blushing:
hope i'm explaining it better:confused:

[KainerAndJenny]

:blushing: sorry wasn't clear:blushing:
i didn't mean horse moving at a faster pace i meant the world in general :blushing:

When riding out in Ireland as opposed to riding out western style. When i'm trekking 'western' style everthing is very relaxed and i've loads of space, when i'm hacking in Ireland there are cars, roads, tractors etc so i need to be more alert with a horse that is more collected so i adopt a more english approach - i don't mean by this that i'm riding on the bit and collected but just i have contact with my horses mouth. For western i can be behind a herd for hours just pushing along and my horses head carriage is naturally lower but i dont' need to suddenly push him over into a hedge so its all fine:blushing:
hope i'm explaining it better:confused:

Ah, I understand. Sorry about that!