Horse Care For Beginners

Based on talking to the Instructors at my local Saddle Club, here are some of the more common mistakes that are frequently made by riders who take on the responsibility of becoming a new horse owner. See if any of them apply to you!

I have trained and bred Arabian horses for over twenty years and have developed my skills through the guidance and philosophies of some of the greatest ‘natural horseman’ of their day. I have been influenced by such greats as Monty Roberts, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt. I only endorse techniques in horse training that comply with the philosophy that ‘violence is never the answer’.

What are the benefits of horse lunging?
Lunging your horse is one method of teaching him that you’re the pack leader and to understand and respect your instructions to him through your body language, with the assistance of a lunge whip, and well as your verbal commands.
Even in the later stages of your horse training and riding, lunging is a very affective method of using up excess energy prior to your mounted ride should you horse be ‘full of spirit’! But be sure you don’t overdo it prior to your ride. Ten minutes covering a short ‘walk’, a short ‘trot’, and possibly a short ‘canter’. Possibly five minutes in both directions.
When you are just too busy to get the ride you want, a period horse lunging is a great way to to provide exercise for your horse, which ideally he should be getting every day.

“If you can’t BREATHE … nothing else matters!” That’s a very true saying from The Australian Lung Foundation. A rather similar well-known saying in the horse fraternity is “no foot … no horse”. It’s a fact that most of the horse lameness problems have the origin in their feet. So it’s important for you to regularly check your horse’s feet, if not daily, then very frequently. This brings us to a problem that many people who are new to owning a horse have, and that’s lifting a horse’s foot.