In my experience, I've found that all control starts in the horses face and in your hands. First and foremost, you must have good hands, to feel the bit and how it
connects to your horse’s mouth. I always start gaining control by teaching lateral flexion. Flexion simply means to bend. I start with a very easy, soft O-ring
snaffle bit. Standing at their hip, I collect the rein, preferably a thick braided rope rein, one they can feel. I bend him about 1/4 of the way. The object here is to
hold steady pressure until HE breaks over. It will not be a dramatic give at first. You will be looking for the smallest of tries. When he releases you release,
instantly. You have to be watching closely and know what you're looking for. If you are uncertain, you should really review some of the training videos that are
available on the market. Clinton Anderson is good, but my personal favorite is Dennis Reis.
To train your horse correctly you first need to know what a "give" feels like. To do this you have to raise your expectations. A horse can only ever be as good as
we expect it to be. Take your halter attached to your lead rope and throw the halter portion away from you onto the ground. Throughout this exercise imagine
yourself on your horse's back: You're going to pretend like you are riding. Take your left hand and hold the lead rope as if it's the left rein. Pull the halter slowly
toward yourself. Concentrate. Remember; pretend you're actually training your horse. Feel in your hand how much pressure it takes to bring that rope toward
you. You should feel in your pinky how many ounces it takes. Throw it back out and do it again. This time close your eyes and really concentrate. If you get this
lesson, horse training gets a whole lot easier. Really focus on what it feels like. How many ounces is it taking to bring that halter back to you? Think of a specific
number now - and then later when you're training that horse. How many pounds? How many ounces, one or two, 5 pounds or 5 ounces? How would you like your
horse to be that soft? A pound or two from your horse doesn't seem so bad, does it? Actually, if you're training a horse, it's terrible. Having to put a pound or two
of pressure on the rein to get the horse to "come back to you" is just terrible. Take the halter off the lead rope now and throw the rope back out, snap end first.
Do the same thing; drag the snap back to you. How does that feel? It feels pretty light, right? You feel a big difference. But that's still terrible.
Now take the lead rope back in hand and throw the opposite end out, the end without the snap. That feels really light. It feels like nothing. It's still terrible. The
reason it's terrible is because when the horse really gives to you, there is no pull, zero. And it's not just neutral that you feel, but energy and movement coming
back to you. Now take the snap end of the lead rope in your hand and throw it back out. When it hits the ground, add as much pressure as you can to the rope -
without moving the snap. Now a "give" is when you feel energy come up that rope. You don't pull back; you wait until energy comes up that rope. You feel energy
come up that rope, and you let go. That's what you're waiting to feel when you're riding or training a horse. You'll put pressure on your horse and when you feel
energy come back to you, when you see a loop in that rein, that's when your horse is really giving - and your training is really working - and you let go. To make
my point, think of it this way: When you reach to shake somebody's hand, what's the first thing the other person does after you put your hand out? They put their
hand out. What if you asked somebody to raise your arm, to raise it up and down, away from your side - but you resisted? Is the exercise tough? The exercise
itself isn't tough. The "toughness" is caused by the resistance. The exercise and the training is easy. Keep that in mind when you begin an exercise - or your
training - your horse is going to be stiff.
You want to make sure you are not dragging their head around to you; you only want to apply steady pressure and let the horse do the work himself. You want to
work both sides of the horse, as they have two brains, one for each side of their body. He will likely spin like a top when you start, so keep on his hip and stay
with him. Keep up the steady pressure and bend him until he stops. If his feet are moving, the break doesn't count. When all four feet are stopped, and he gives
his head, THEN drop the rein and give him a moment to think about it before you start again. The release is his reward for yielding to the pressure. If you do not
release the pressure INSTANTLY, he does not get a reward and the training is for naught.
Ok, let’s review and make sure you understand the meanings of “give” and “break”. What we are looking for is when the horse tips his nose in and yields to the
pressure. He will do everything he can think of to avoid the pressure, to get away from it. He will fight the bit, throw up his nose, move his feet, all kinds of
things, everything EXCEPT what want him to do. Finally, when all else fails him, and you’ve kept up the steady pressure on him, he will bring his nose in, laterally
and yield to the pressure. As we progress in the lessons, we will ask for more and more from him. Ideally, we want to apply the slightest pressure and have him
bring his head in to his side, remembering to instantly release when he’s yielded.
Now then, once we have established flexion on both sides, on the ground, we can move to the saddle. The same principles apply to this exercise as the previous.
We only want to apply steady pressure. He will again, likely move around a lot. He will tip his nose down, throw his head, and do lots of silly stuff. It’s
not your job to haul his head back around when he throws it to the other side, or throws it up. Your only job is to keep up the steady pressure on his face. I say
steady pressure, not yanking the bits out the back of his head. There is an old adage that I like very well. It says “As little as possible, but as much as necessary.”
This is abundantly true in this exercise. You only want to hold the pressure steady. Only use what pressure is needed to help him to understand that the only way he can escape the pressure is yielding to it. One should also remember that horses by nature resist pressure rather than yield to it.
