Why You Can Not Ignore Groundwork With Your Horse

Good groundwork is an indispensable element of all horsemanship. It is absolutely obligatory that a top class tutor be used to lay a sound foundation of groundwork in each pony. I give below the 3 most crucial reasons for this.

Create good rapport: groom your pony

Grooming substitutes for the way horses care for one another in herds. They stand facing in opposite directions, shoulder touching shoulder. When they rub against each other, each is scratching the other’s shoulder. A pony cannot scratch his own shoulders. This is only done by horses of the same ranking in the herd which shares nearness in relationship. Generally, horses that are at different levels on the totem pole will not to help one another out this manner.

You may use grooming as a means of educating your pony. Often, for example, a horse will try to reciprocate your kindness in grooming him by reaching back and giving you a nibble. While he means well, you cannot allow this sort of behaviour. You need to make it obvious to the pony that nibbles, friendly or alternatively, are taboo. This is often done by the straightforward act of pushing the horse’s face away in order that it faces forward again. Another way you can do this is to wave your hands in front of you, signalling to the horse in a way he is going to understand that you are creating a confining wall. Ensure you don’t go wildly semaphoring your hands in such a way your entire body is moving with them. You do it in a relaxed and easy way. Excited behaviour from you generates nervous energy in the horse, as he may understand your behavior as threatening. If that occurs, then you are not doing much good to your activities to build a solid rapport with your pony.

Open the way to in depth coaching

Work under saddle and lunging are crucial groundwork elements, but unfortunately they don’t seem to be given acceptable importance all too often. The common horse owner makes the mistake of assuming that some mounted and some under-saddle work is acceptable for training the pony; she doesn’t give due importance to getting effective groundwork done. Usually such horse owners fail to train their horses to “Whoa!” when they are doing groundwork. That means the horse is not going to recognise the significance of the word “Whoa!” when a person is in the saddle. The unfortunate part is that when a horse fails to respond to a rider’s “Whoa!”. That rider instantly assumes the horse is behaving badly. Riders truly don’t think enough about gaps in the coaching the horse has received. A good tutor would have familiarized the horse with “Whoa!” during groundwork so it would have no problems with the term when being ridden.

All structures are at their strongest when their foundations are well built, and this is the case with a horse’s behaviour too. The foundation for horses is groundwork. Improper groundwork will reflect itself in the horse’s responses and behaviour when under saddle. It is actually right that most issues that crop up under saddle with a horse’s responses and behaviour can be properly credited to poor groundwork training, and not to the horse’s own nature.

Ground training should be conducted with kindness and patience. You must remember that one of the aims of effective groundwork coaching is to substantiate total mutual trust and confidence between you and your horse. Faultless rapport with your pony will serve you extremely well for years and years to come.

Keep things safe

A pony without proper ground coaching can have defiant traits. As an example, he may not let himself be led out of his stall and saddled willingly. He may resist you in your endeavors. This defiance can build up until it reaches physically threatening proportions. Your pony may start bucking, endangering itself, the rider and others in the vicinity. Correct groundwork begins with teaching your horse the concept of personal space. When well taught, a pony will not be inclined to move blindly, without thought of consequence to anyone standing near. He is going to know the correct way to maintain correct body posture. This is terribly useful when your horse is going through uncomfortable or potentially unpleasant experiences like he might have with farriers and vets. On occasions like that, a horse who knows how to stay still can be a benefit, since it won’t involve any required jerking or yanking on the halter.

You’ll find that with effective two-way communication, your relationship with your horse can be long-term and very rewarding.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her
extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about herbs for horses