This is basic ground manners explained. In it’s simplest form, good manners means your horse doing as he is told. Your horse should be able to perform each task or movement safely regardless of ease or complexity. The very basics include not pushing, stepping on or otherwise endangering you whether intentionally or not. These may seem like simple annoyances, perhaps, but you can see that there is definitely potential for someone to be seriously hurt. Since horses outweigh you by a ton, literally, a misplaced hoof can break your foot. Better not to find out the hard way whether your equine insurance will cover you for this! If you first establish and then maintain an area of personal space, this can be avoided.

Allowing your horse to nuzzle into your pockets in the search for crunchy treats could land you with a nibble in a rather inconvenient place. These love nibbles will not feel as such when made by teeth as big as those of your horse. Horses in a herd treat each other differently than they must treat us. Often they will bite, nip and crowd each other, but they are somewhat more robust than we are.

Unfortunately, the space bubble lesson has been learned by many the hard way. My first, and subsequently the last, experience with the concept of crowding occurred when I bought my first horse years ago. My wonderful new four-legged friend liked to “help” me with the paddock cleaning. As I shovelled and filled the manure cart, he would come and put his nose into it. Then one day he actually lifted his front hoof and put it into the cart when I put a rake full of manure in. He knocked the cart over, which spooked him, which in turn spooked the other three horses in the paddock. There was a furore of hooves and tails a-flying and I was stuck amongst this. Thankfully I was not hurt, but this could have been a mild or even a serious disaster – and may have even necessitated a claim on my horse insurance.

This was in the basic learning curve time period for both of us. I was so amused at his trying to help me with my chores that I didn’t think about the potential consequences. I learned about the importance of safety manners that day. From that moment on I taught him how to respect my space when going about my tasks within the paddock and with the other horses. There was still plenty of time to be cute during our training time.

The three Ps of horse training success can be utilized to teach basic safety manners to your horse. The relationship which you have with any horse – be it your own or one you are training for someone else – is largely dependant on the use of patience, persistence and positive reinforcement.

Patience. Remember that your horse doesn’t yet know what is expected of him. You will go a long way in building trust by showing patience with your horse when showing him what to do, and letting him try and try again until he gets it. Allow your mind to become clear of stresses and strain before you start a training session. Take a deep breath and relax. It is part of the natural learning process for your horse to test the waters. He needs to check and see if what he thinks you want is correct. This can occur several times before the horse has confirmed his correct assessment of the task.

Persistence. Don’t simply give up when things don’t happen quickly. At first it is hard to communicate. You will both need to learn how to speak the same language! Stay with it and be consistent in your cues. Horses are very perceptive to even the slightest cue. Your horse will only cooperate when he has learned what the cue means.

Positive reinforcement. Whenever your horse does something correctly, show him a signal. The best reward for a horse may not be those tasty treats. They love to be released when they’ve done their job. Imagine the “whoa!” or “stop” cue. This is a pull on the bit within his mouth. When the horse exhibits the signs that he understands that you want him to stop, release the bit immediately. That tells him he’s doing the right thing.

Horses need to know their limits. How close can he stand to you before you feel crowded? Can he pull on the lead rope if he doesn’t want to go the way you are leading him? If he doesn’t feel inclined to pick up his foot, will you allow him to get away with this? For a horse this is not natural, even though to us it may seem like common sense. A correctly and carefully trained horse will forever be both a most pleasing companion and could also represent a lower liability when it comes to renewing your horse insurance policy.