Tallman Training Centre

I would like to call this page "Tip of the Week" or something like that, but judging from my predictability on the Day to Day page, it seems a little presumptuous to think that I will be able to post a new tip every week.  I created this page because often when I am out training horses and run into an issue that is either new or one I have dealt with time and time again, I find myself putting it to words and posting it on my website (in my mind, of course).  So here it is, and when such an event occurs, I hope to have time to post about it here for the rest of you to explore.  The content comes in no particular order, just as it comes.  This page may not be limited to training tips, I may also include other horse care tips if/when I come across something I feel is worth sharing.  I hope you enjoy my ramblings when I have the leisure to ramble in your general direction.

Like it or not, everyone who approaches a horse, touches a horse, leads a horse, rides a horse - is a trainer.  Whether or not they are good trainers is the question.  Like people, horses will learn throughout their life.  Training is never complete, even on a "finished" horse.  The horse you get on is never the same as the horse you get off, it is up to you whether that difference is going to be a positive one.  I try to make the changes positive every time.  I try to teach something new every time I spend time with a horse, especially a young horse, or a horse "young" in their education.  A horse more advanced or "finished" may only need maintenance or conditioning, but any horse can be spoiled or taught poor habits through improper riding or handling techniques.  My purpose here is not to make anyone feel like they shouldn't be handling a horse - quite the contrary - but I like to encourage people to think about this and to strive to improve themselves so that they might improve their horse and get the most out of the relationship.  I like to encourage horse people to try to be good trainers.

Got something you'd like me to talk about?   I can't make any promises, but your suggestions just may be inspirational - drop me a line!

In training, hoof handling is on the top of my list, even for saddle horses.  A horse`s best defense is mobility: flight or fight, and if you take away the ability for flight, you might end up with a fight.  It takes trust for a horse to allow their feet to be restrained, and I will not ride a horse that does not trust me with their feet.  

Please remember that in all aspects of training, mixing it up is important.  Do not work on one foot until it is perfect, then go to another foot.  Work on one foot until you get any positive reaction, then move on, ``circling the wagon`` repeatedly.  Reward often and fully, and by reward I mean take away the pressure.  Walk your horse out every now and then to keep them from getting sour with the lesson.  Do something else for awhile, then return to feet, and don`t expect to achieve perfection in one lesson.  It will take as long as it takes. 

My first and most important rule (excepting safety, of course) is that YOU do not pick up the horse's foot, that is the horse's job.  You ask the horse to pick up the foot, and when they do you catch it.  In following this rule, you allow the horse to think about the process, readjust their weight distribution and balance, and stand on their other 3 feet, rather than leaning on you, the handler.  If you have a horse that leans when you pick up their foot, ask yourself this:  Am I picking up the foot, or is the horse?  Chances are, you are doing the work.  I do not push my horse over, either, to shift their weight.  More often than not I find this only causes the weight to shift back to my side, sometimes heavier than before.  So here is the process.

(Assuming your horse is comfortable having their legs and feet handled...)

RIGHT FRONT FOOT.  Stand beside the horse's shoulder, facing the back.  With your right hand on the horse's shoulder (for safety), run your left hand down the horse's leg to prepare them to pick up their foot.  After some practice, this will be the point where your horse shifts their weight voluntarily.  There are a few key places to apply pressure cueing the horse to lift the foot, and you can try them all to decide what works best for you and your horse.  One place is the bottom of the fetlock, there are two depressions, one on either side, towards the back and bottom of the fetlock joint.  Applying pressure here will cause many horses to lift the foot.  Some horses respond well to a squeeze on the chestnut.  My personal favorite is squeezing the splint bones together, sometimes applying a bit of thumbnail pressure if I get no response.  Early in training, reward your horse just for lifting the foot off the ground, do not catch and hold it.  It will not take long before the horse willingly lifts his/her hoof on cue, and then you can start catching it and holding it for longer and longer periods of time.  Practice holding the leg between your knees, wiggling the hoof around with your hands, and tapping on it with a hoof pick to mentally prepare the horse for trimming.  You can also practice stretching the leg forward which will prepare the horse for top dressing.  Lift the hoof under the horse first, then gently walk it out in front.  Always wait for the horse to relax, do not try to pull on tensed muscles. 

RIGHT HIND FOOT.  Stand beside the horse's hip, facing the back.  With your right hand on the horse's hip (for safety), run your left hand down the horse's leg to prepare them to pick up their foot.  As with the front foot, cue your horse to lift the foot with pressure on one of the three spots previously mentioned.  When you do catch the foot, catch it under the horse, in the forward position.  When your horse is comfortable with this, you can start gently walking the foot out behind.  Again, wait for the horse to relax, do not try to pull on resisting muscles.   Some horses will relax more readily and let the leg go if you pat the point of buttock on the side which you are lifting as you stretch the leg out.  I also find it helpful to put my right knee in front of the fetlock to help stretch the leg out, or if I have a horse that is trying to pull its foot away, I will hold the hoof from the solar plane with my fingers locked on the toe and my palm against the heel/frog area.  This makes it almost impossible for the horse to pull the foot away.  (It works for front feet too.)  Again, practice holding the leg on your knees, manipulating the hoof, and tapping on it with a hoof pick.

VOICE CUES are something most people seem to think is important, and you can teach your horse voice cues if you want.  As a farrier, I do not generally use voice cues, because everybody seems to teach their horse something different.  Lift, Up, Hoof, Foot...  the list goes on.  In my equine vocabulary, a cluck means move your feet, so it seems to make sense to me that a cluck along with pressure on one leg would be a good cue to lift that hoof.  Whatever your command it is teachable by consistency, and if you are on the ball with your reward system, you can probably teach your horse to pick up their hoof with just a touch to indicate which leg and your vocal cue of choice. 

FOR THE UNINITIATED, TOUCHY, OR KICKING HORSES:  Start the whole process with a soft cotton rope, so you can stand safely beside the horse with your head out of harm`s way, always with one hand on the horse`s side for safety.  You will be more relaxed, and this will help the horse relax as well.  When your horse is comfortable with the rope swinging around and touching all parts of his/her body, swing it around the legs.  When the rope is all the way around the horse`s leg, work it around back and forth until the horse is completely comfortable.  Let the rope drop beneath the fetlock, then apply upward pressure (cueing the bottom of the fetlock as described above, not trying to lift the foot) until the horse shifts their weight off the hoof in question, or lifts it.  Reward by immediately releasing the pressure (if your hand remains in the same position, the horse will automatically be rewarded by lifting the foot).  Ask again until the horse is comfortably lifting the hoof every time you ask, then you can hold it up for  a few seconds with the rope, eventually replacing the rope with your hand.  With some practice, you can also stretch the front foot forward with the rope.  Repeat the process with the hind feet, first getting the horse comfortable with you lifting the foot forward, and eventually stretching it out behind.  If you have a kicker, let them kick with the rope around the pastern, but do not let them put the foot down until they relax.  Do not try to fight the kick or hold the foot still with the rope, you will succeed only in acquiring rope burns or pulled muscles or a dislocated shoulder.  The idea here is to show the horse that kicking is futile, they accomplish nothing.  You can successfully do this if the kicking foot is not allowed to rest until it relaxes.  You can ONLY do this with a rope, standing safely toward the shoulder out of harms way.  While kicking the rope is rewarded by a lesson in futility, kicking at a handler MUST be reprimanded every time.  Often repeated reprimanding leads to horses getting tense and uncomfortable and could lead to more kicking, so it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you deal with the kicking as best you can with the rope. 

Trailering is so important for so many people, and so often an area where people/horses have issues.  Let's face it, trailers are scary.  If (you are a horse, and) you have never been in a trailer, it is a big black hole, it makes scary noises that echo in your (very sensitive) ears when you step into it, and all too often it is accompanied by stressed out handlers who don't realize how important it is to be patient and supportive here.  If you have been in a trailer on the move, you know how important it is to drive gently, brake easy, take corners slow, accelerate with grace.  Remember your horse has nothing to hold on to in there, they are basically surfing.  Think about that when you are driving.  Horses that used to load well and don't anymore (with no explanation) - they have likely had a hellish experience with a bad trailer ride that nobody even knows about, because nobody was in that trailer with that horse to realize how traumatic it really was.

I used to think my horses had to get in the trailer without me every time (be lunged in).  This is very handy if you have a 2 horse side by side trailer, however, I have dropped the "every time" aspect of it, some horses are real followers and will be much more comfortable if you are confident in the trailer, since you are, after all, the leader (at least you should be).  Even if I am leading the horse in rather than lunging them though, I do not try to pull them in. 

I have a whole section of my training program that benefits the load and unload ability of horses that takes place completely separate from the trailer itself.  If your horse has loading issues, let me know when you drop them off for training and I will be sure to address it to the best of my ability.

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