I find the early handling of foals is very important. This foal is actually six weeks
old, but because he was handled from the day he was born, he's very easy to catch in the
stable and he's good to handle. We like to look in their mouths, teach the horse to open his mouth,
a little foal, just by putting your finger through the side of his mouth and pressing towards the
roof of the mouth. Handle his ears and get him used to that so that he's not frightened of anything.
Stroke the horse on the neck. That's where the mother would naturally caress her foal. She licks
it all around the neck. He's got to learn to have its feet picked up for the farrier. So this is the
best age to start. So much more difficult when the foal is much older or when it's a two or three
year old and has never had its legs touched. This is a particularly quiet foal. He's very easy,
he's taken to life very, very easily. He has a slight rub there on his hock where he's
his skin has been worn away when he's been lying on the hard ground. So have to be a bit careful.
Make the horse stand comfortably so that he can stand comfortably on his off hind hind leg before
you try and pick up the near hind. That's right and hold it gently but firmly. A lot of foals
would kick out when you do this. The mare, she's only a young man, she's a bit worried because it's
her first foal so she's a little bit fidgety herself. But the foal is behaving very well and
finds this no problem to him so he's not going to be any any trouble for the farrier to come and do
his feet every every four weeks. It's very important that foals feet are checked. He must learn to move
over. That's right, move over in the stable. That's a good boy and stand up there so that you can do
the offside legs as well. Foles love being scratched and fondled but often it's best to do
everything with your hands rather than with a brush because they're so thin skinned and sensitive
that just the brush can be too strong for them. So you've got to be very very careful how you
handle these young creatures so that they have confidence in you because you've never ever hurt
them at any time and this does make a great difference when you're actually having to deal
with them later on. They have confidence but they shouldn't be petted and made given titbits or made
too much of a fuss off. It's also great help if you can teach a foal to put his head down. You may
grow to be 17 hands this chap so you just just hold his ears a little bit little pressure there
and then a little reward as he lowers his head, stroke his ears, that's right, so that the foal
learns that little pressure on the top of the head and he lowers it accordingly. That is always a
great help when you come to handle your foal. So now we'll take this foal out and turn him out.
He's had his little bit of training so move the foal forward so he's out of the way and then we
take the mare out. Sometimes if it was an unmanageable mare you'd put a bridle on it but
this mare actually has never ever had a bridle on her in her life. She's only young and so say her
first foal but she's quite reasonably manageable animal and is happy to do as she's told. The foal,
you'll see James is leading it with his hand behind its rump should it rush backwards. He's
got a way of keeping it going forwards. The foal walks boldly behind its mother and can go out to
the field. I've got a different foal here. She's a little bit older and has been running in the
field for some time and hasn't been handled lately, not for some time, like several months
other than being checked daily. She hasn't actually been handled so it's quite interesting to see a
different reaction from a different horse. The mare is really very old. She's 22 or 3 years old
this mare and this filly is a little bit more ticklish perhaps. If you notice where I run my
hands down the neck that's where the nerves run in the neck is just below the crest there. You see
how the foals ears flick and you run up up the nerves of the neck and that's why you
stroke a horse on the neck or pat it on the neck because that is its sensitive area and it's the
most soothing for the animal and you can see the animal relaxing as you touch it. Now we're just
going to look in her mouth and stroke her on the head and neck that she gets used to our handling
her. There we're just putting her fingers in her mouth and I've pressed just up a little bit towards
the roof of the mouth she should open it. That's a natural reaction that's right to open a horse's
mouth. That's right, that's a good girl. To get used to that, that's it, good horse. Then it becomes
easy to put a bit in its mouth because it knows that when you put your hand in its mouth your
finger in the side of its mouth that that's what it does. It's its natural reaction is to open it.
Again, fondle the ears, make it used to you fondling it all over so that it gets a natural
confidence in the way you handle it. Now this filly, she's quite a pretty little filly but she
is quite ticklish and sometimes they don't like you touching their legs or they're very ticklish
in the elbows and you must appreciate that and you have to take time. You can see now if you had a
brush in your hand and she picked up her legs quickly like that you could easily hit her
somewhere else or some bony part of her leg with the back of the brush because she's flicking her
legs up and a little bit nervous about the whole thing so it's much better to have your hand and
if you wish to groom the horse or brush this foal you'd use a cactus cloth to start with until the
foal is comfortable and the cactus cloth can't hurt it, helps take the grease out of its coat
and if the foal does anything stupid it doesn't get hurt by its leg being picked up quickly and
being hit by the back of the brush. I don't think a lot of people realize how ticklish foals are and
how easily they actually hurt the animal therefore it becomes more ticklish and more apprehensive
as this one is becoming less ticklish and less apprehensive about the whole thing. As you can see
now I can run my hand down her leg whereas before she kept picking it up and saying you're going to
tickle me. Just the same with the hind leg now you've got to make sure she's able to stand on
her leg properly so just push her into a position where she can stand on her legs that's right there's
another nerve around the front of the shoulder here where you can push an animal backwards
easily and be aware that of course obviously a foal can kick and a kick from a foal can be quite
dumb. Here the mare's being a little bit stupid, she's got nervous for some reason so anyway she's
now standing quietly and the foal there's yes it's just inclined to have a little kick but
nothing serious just be very gentle and we'll just carry on try again. As the animal becomes
confident you've got to take the foal's leg in your hand and hold it firmly now just don't be
stupid little thing that's right little kicks it does little kicks but hold it firmly so it stops
kicking but you can't really just see it a minute there that's right so it learns to stop kicking
at you and holds its leg up happily and with confidence. This is very important that if you
could get them at this time and this age and just take enough trouble just to get this going you
would have a lot less trouble with rather difficult yearlings or two-year-olds or whatever when the
farrier comes to do them and then not only do you help the farrier you probably have a better
tempered farrier at the end of it than you would if you didn't handle your animal properly at the
beginning. So now we'll change over and go the other way. The foal has learned to just step
backwards a little bit that's right and the same this way but I think you'll find now that she's
getting getting more confidence she's not quite so ticklish because she realizes oh no she isn't
she's going to be a little bit difficult and you see there she ran back a little bit against the
the handler was holding her she's got to learn to stand still and not to run backwards with a
little pressure from the rope that's right that's a good girl so she's because in the end she's
going to have to learn to be tied up you'll notice here that we've got a shavings floor which is
often a much better floor to have it's less slippery than if you had a straw one if something
played out or was difficult a straw bed shifts a lot a lot more easily than the shavings it's
soft and and I think if anything falls over in this it's much softer because you don't obviously
want to hurt anything never really ever want to see an animal fall over fall over backwards
because there it can happen do itself a lot of damage. Here the hind legs there just move
that to other hind legs just by maneuvering it that's that's good that's very good and get
the animals confidence in this way that's right so that she's happy for me to pick up the legs
and then when the farrier comes to trim her feet every month he'll be able to do it with
ease and take a lot less time that's right now she's standing quietly that's good good Philly
yes so now we'll just make her lead around the box walk forward that's right but to learn to walk
away do as she's told walk away from her mother a little bit that's right and then turn around
go the other way if the animal doesn't go forward just tickle it with your fingernails just that's
right just a little tickle from behind up behind it so that it realizes gets a little tickle if
it doesn't go forward and then of course always a little reward little stroke on the neck a little
tickle with the fingers make the animal go forward that's it good good girl naturally it wants to go
to its mother but it's it's got to learn to go away from it as well there we are that's right so
this foal really is is ready to be taught to tie up in due course and any little handling like this
by a little pressure on the lead rein will help you when it comes to tie up because it will realize
that it has to go forward when there's little pressure on its head so she's ready to go out
and go back out into the field or in probably in another month she will be weaned so she's
going to have to look after herself and have live a slightly more independent life it's always a
help if you've got a got a quiet mare that's easy to handle something that is barging and
pushing all over the place is never a help now this young colt he's come in and he's a little
bit wound up but he's got to learn to tie up and the one thing I would like to do is gain you've
got a shavings bed is I'd like to take the hay rack out if I was going to tie this horse up properly
I would take the hay rack out so he couldn't bang himself if he did go a bit stupid also in a way
outside is often a better place to do it where they on a good grass field if you've got a high
tree or something like that because there isn't a wall to run into if they pull back and leap
forward they sometimes bump themselves so you've got to be aware that you know it is it is a time
when horses get a little bit stressed the safety the animal must learn to stand in the stable
there flick it with the reins they get over there there's no need to get up tight he's been
taken away from his others so he's a little bit annoyed now he's chewing the reins he must learn
not to chew the reins and just give it a little flick tell him not to be silly and talk to the
animal talk to it and soothe it be quiet with your voice you can see he's just the way he's
standing is getting a little bit stroppy he often young horses stand and look round and then they
throw themselves into the air or do something stupid so just be aware don't stand in front of
them you see he's going to leap forward I can see that the minute whoops there we are he doesn't
like the pressure on his head so he's let forward so tell him he's a good boy when he comes forward
and talk to him and soothe him when he does what is right if he pulls back then give him a flick
with a rein to drive him forward so that he learns that that is a reward that's a good boy
got to learn there you can see how they can they can fight quite hard young horses but at least
by just running the lunch rain through the ring he can't come to any harm you've got a little
pressure on his head and you've got him a little bit controlled I never tie a horse up at the very
beginning always start gradually like this like we did with the foal and just the same you see just
fiddling about with the animal will help it to relax and calm down often stroking it between the
eyes is a great soother so they'll probably stand reasonably quietly whilst you're actually with them
but then when you move away they get a little bit impatient they move away and you can even move
right out of sight if you're um if you're clever but when he stood still and he's quiet then reward
him do this every day for just a little bit every day until he learns to stand there whilst you're
fiddling about cleaning the stable and so on now this is another rather untrained two-year-old
he had his basic early training hardly been touched since he's got to learn to lead he's
got to learn to stop and walk you'll see here he's got a head collar on and I've got a chain
threaded over his nose onto the ring the other side because no way could I hold the horse if
he wanted to shoot off also I find often with caversons that they don't like caverson they'd
rather they seem to lead much better with a chain which you can release easily and quickly a caverson
sometimes is too restrictive that's good he's learning to go backwards you see where I'm pushing
him in the shoulder just there there is a little nerve which comes up from between his front legs
through the shoulder and up to the crest and the horse has the most is the most sensitive there so
if you wish him to go away from you say whoa if you wish to stop or turn whoa steady that's a good
boy he's learning to listen to me I have a long whip just to touch him with should he drop behind
me he's got to learn to stay with me and walk with me that's right so you have a light hand on the
rain carry your hand and he's got to learn not to look away and because that way he can trip me up
that's right he's got to learn to pay attention and listen to me I just tickled him with a whip
said look here you're not going to go looking away because once you get your head away from me in no
way could I stop him must remember there's quite a lot of weight behind a horse this may only just
be rising two years old but there is still a lot more weight from him than there is from me so the
horse has learned to got to learn to be controlled by me that's right here he is he's squeaking to
his friends he's got to just learn to listen to me that's right whoa whoa good boy come forward
good and reward him that's good now when you start to do more with a horse you can lunge it in a
caverson this is a single ring caverson I find it's a very old caverson I've had it for years
and years it's it most horses prefer this caverson to any other it's got three straps this is a
three ring caverson which only has two straps like a throat lash and a noseband but it's of course
very useful if you're going to long reign a horse and it's a it's a useful caverson but I first
personally prefer the old one with a three straps around the throat no way does it get near the
horse's eye and then this is quite a severe bridle call a restrainer bridle if a horse is light on it
that's fine if you get something that's very strong that pulls and you can't control it in an
ordinary caverson if you lunge it in that it'll certainly come to heel very quickly because it
won't want to lean on that metal noseband now this is a three-year-old that's again been brought out
of the field he's never been lunged before and I'm just teaching him to walk around the area where
I would wanted to lunch him and just so you this is an easy way of just putting up a little barricade
or you do whatever you've got it's sometimes a great help if you can have somewhere that's a
little bit enclosed now this horse has gone straight off to being lunged you'd think it
had been lunched before but I can promise you he hasn't and he's never been in this area before
either I always walk the horse around the area preferably on the right rein to start with because
if he shies away from something he's going to go into the middle but here he's learning to walk
he's gone straight away from my whip because he has a nice just healthy respect for the whip he's
not particularly frightened of it but if it touches him he says oh yes you know I should go
away from that and with my voice I'm teaching him to walk at the beginning he trotted off forward
because the first thing I asked the horse to do is to go forward so don't confuse it by then making
it walk anything you must never confuse the animal otherwise he will turn in and look at you say well
what on earth do you want me to do so it's first thing we want him to do is to go forward so allow
him to go forward when he's taken up a rhythm or got a little bit tired then you want to teach him
to be more obedient so that would be the time to actually teach him the words of command so here
I'm allowing the horse to trot on just keeping a constant feel on the rein if you notice how I'm
holding the lunge rein the left rein is fed through my left hand I mean the lunge reins led
through my left hand into my right hand I'm also holding the whip now here I'm asking the horse to
slow down or to walk so I've used the fence by moving myself towards the fence so he has to has
to slow down and he's even halted you can see he's a little bit nervous doesn't quite understand
what's going on he looked at me and he said well what do you quite want so reward the horse and
tell him he's good now we're going to go around the other way this is usually much more difficult
because horses aren't handled as much this side as they are on the other rain so lead him around
again just lead him you have your whip in the right hand yes that's right good boy let him
walk forward allow him forward tell him he's good walk on walk on just walk that's right a little
bit mystified by the whole thing walk that's right now he's beginning to relax a little bit
now let him out in a longer rain I've taken the whip into my left hand and I'll take the
remainder of the rain the lunge rain into my left hand as well so that I can shorten and lengthen
the rain easily as the horse if you did cut in you want to be able to shorten and lengthen your
rain quickly you don't want to have the rain ever looping on the ground and you getting tangled up
and it's very important that you can lengthen and shorten your rain now I want him to walk good and
you see how quickly I shorten the rain because I made myself go nearly in front of the horse to
slow him down because he didn't understand now walk good then move back again allow him to walk
past you so that he learns to listen again he's trotted and I don't want him to trot walk walk
walk that's right and I've used a little flick on the on the nose with the lunge rain now you
can see here the horses is trying to scratch this calvars not he's not happy with this calvarson
doesn't like it do you see how he's reacting with his front legs says I'm not sure I like this don't
think look this is all a little bit of temper little bit of temper so I say go on get on stop
messing about we won't take too much notice of that and you can see he doesn't actually particularly
like this calvarson now I find some horses don't like a calvarson and whoop whoop whoop just stand
still yeah just reward the horse again let him just relax now we've got to another day and we're
now going to put a roller on the horse for the first time I don't quite know what he'll do so I
always stand in the middle of the arena so that if the horse does go loopy you're not you've got a
bit of room to move away from him the girth is very loose and I have a breastplate to make sure
because the girth is loose that it doesn't slip back and become a bucking strap now you can see
this horse says well what's this funny thing around my tummy I'm not sure whether I like it
I've got my back up and I'm blowing myself out so I said go on get on go forward and he says oh I
think I shall buck a little bit but it's very half-hearted some horses go absolutely loopy
and throw themselves all over the place so you've got to be careful but this horse has a very sensible
easy temperament and he's settled down to this very well I've just given him a little little shake
on the nose with it the lunch train say look just walk and listen to me you lunch yesterday you
should know what woe is that's right whoa whoa just a little bit worked up now I'm going to tighten
up the the girth of the roller a little bit so that he has a slightly tighter roller that's right
allow the horse to walk on walk that's a good boy all right I let the horse out he wants to buck I
don't want to debuck around me wanted to buck out on the lunge not all over me so that's fine
again terribly half-hearted which I'm delighted about if I'm going to have to ride the horse so
here is a young horse who's literally had a roller on for the first time and is not showing
really any reaction much at all to the roller if a horse does show a reaction to the roller it can
be very frightening and this is why I prefer to put a roller on a horse outside rather than in a
stable a lot of people will disagree with me I think it does depend on the size of the animal
and the handling it's had here's this little reaction again he does not like the caverson
you can just see the way he react I don't like this around my head I don't like this
around my head I just let him think about it and done nothing about it just let him well
don't like this don't think I like that so I think another day I'll put a different
caverson on him because he's not comfortable with this one and perhaps I should have changed it
anyway and thought about what happened yesterday and I changed his caverson over a bit sooner
because he's not happy or you can lunge a horse in the head collar you don't always have to use a
caverson this horse is lunging quite easily you could lunge him safely in a head collar or even
with it oh goodness we are being energetic you could lunge it in a head collar with a chain on
like you saw the two-year-old being lunged if you were frightened of being pulled about Fred I have
to be very careful with a bad knee that I don't get pulled about so I'd rather be a little bit
safe than sorry and also you must remember that once a horse learns to get away from you he will
always try and do it again a horse never forgets so he's got away with something once he will nearly
always try at the same place to do the same thing so you've got to be forewarned about everything to
do with lunging or handling any horse like if he gets away with not going into the stable or not
going to the horse box or something he will always remember it and try it again so always be prepared
with those sort of horses now here this horse is being a little bit stupid so I've been a little
bit firmer with him told him to walk walk no you've got to walk and do as you're told walk walk
then reward immediately with your voice walk good now he's beginning to listen to me and stop
concentrating on his friends who are still in the field that's right walk good horse must learn to
listen to you so you must take some authority and he must learn to to listen to you walk walk walk
good boy that's right and as long as you always say immediately he's good that he's good then the
horse learns that this is what you want and you must use your voice in whoa whoa good you must use
your voice in an authoritative manner if you wish him to go forward make it sharper if you wish him
to slow down make it a long drawn-out voice sort of walk whoa I always use whoa because I know if
I had a horse that was frightened of panicking it was be whoa I would use and not stand now I've
decided to change the capeson and to put a bit on him for the first time I've checked to make sure
that he hasn't got wolf teeth I've got the the single ring capeson and it I've let it out so
that he can open his mouth comfortably when I put the bridle on must let out the bottom strap don't
ask the horse to open his mouth when he can't and it's very important that you make it easy
for the horse to open the mouth because when they're young they have quite a soft swelling
just behind their front teeth which can be uncomfortable if they they catch the bit on it
that's called lampus which is just behind the upper jaw behind the front teeth I just shortened
up the the noseband and this caverson as I said earlier is useful in that you can keep the second
strap quite quite firm and tight so that it never twists around and gets anywhere near the horses
eye when they're being lunged he's obviously a little bit babyish with his mouth and he doesn't
know how to cope with the bit but it's only there sitting in his mouth he's got just gently get used
to it all a little bit mouthy sometimes we leave the bit in the mouth for an hour in the stable so
they can play with it and get used to used to the feel of a bit in their mouth you see this horse
is quite easy to put a bit on he's no no trouble because he had that initial early training he's
easy to open his mouth and although he's hardly been handled since he's only just had his feet
picked up for the for the farrier and been wormed every month really he's been in the field for the
last two years and had to just cope with life been brought in and fed when it's when it's been necessary
this horse is beginning to get a much better idea of lunging he's he's happy to walk away from me
although he's got a bit for the first time he's he's a little mouthy with the bit but the actual
lunging way he's lunging is much more controlled on the whole he's a little bit cutting in there
now use your whip to chase him away from you point it towards his shoulder so it's not necessarily
driving him forward but just pushing him away from you if if he continues to come in you can
actually move towards him move to my left a little bit more so that he he stays out attack him with
your stance or the way you stand in the arena so that you become a little bit more aggressive
looking so the horse stays away from you but here he's steadily taking up a rhythm now a little bit
and getting a little bit more taking a slight contact on the rain I'd like him to take a contact
on the rain there he listened to my downward transition very well walk on I asked him to walk
not to stop so and walk walk you can see where I'm putting myself as to how I control him slow him
up a little bit walk on walk on that the horse learns to listen to my voice it's very important
all you have is the whip and your voice and the lunch rain to control this horse so he has to learn
from your voice exactly what you want him to do walk walk walk that's right good boy so this is
your very early lunging by walking out where I want him to go I push him away from me a little
bit more just take your time play along with it with lunging there's nothing that you can hurry
walk and whoa whoa whoa good boy whoa and reward him that's right that's a good chap we're gonna
go around the other way that's right so that he learns quite easily he can see how he's quite
happy to walk away from me I keep my whip behind me take it from behind me should I need it you
don't need to chase a horse forward all the time hopefully this horse is wanting to go forward so
I don't need to constantly be driving him with the whip especially if I wish him to walk forward I
can just hold my whip under my arm there so that it's ready to be used by just just twisting my
left hand so that the whip is then behind the horse if you need need to drive him forward but
this horse is wanting to go forward so there's no need to be driving him particularly forward
now I want him to stop whoa whoa good boy and he listens to me so so reward him that's a good
chap good all these little little play around with it with your young horse is is a help so I'm
going to take the bit off him so I loosen the noseband let that right off so that he can open
his mouth and take the bit out of his mouth you must be careful to keep your hand over his nose
as you take the bit out of his mouth so he doesn't throw his head up that's right and then lets him
spit the bit out himself mustn't be pulled out of his mouth stand still that's right so that the
horse has a comfortable time with the bit now we have a big yearling that's going to be shown so we
want to give it a little bit of handling a little bit of education so he learns to carry himself
properly now he's been introduced to a roller earlier this is not his first time with a roller
on although he could still perhaps be a little bit frisky so he's a he's a big strong yearling
and I'm in a big indoor school where he's got plenty of room to move in a big circle young
horses want to go in bigger and there now you see how quick you've got to be should he mess around
and I've got a caverson there if that horse had got away from me by turning to the outside he would
always have said though I can just do this I'll whip round to the left and leave her standing so
just be aware that anything any animal can get the better of you if you're not paying attention whoa
whoa that's right if he doesn't do the right thing that's right I like to teach him to stand away from
me I don't want young end towers coming boisterously up to me I want them to do as they're told now
this is I'm just introducing him to a side rein you'll see I've just attached the side rein to the
outside ring of the of the bit because I want to teach this horse gradually to carry himself in a
better way for showing himself off I just by having it attached on one rain only I find that
the horses if you do get any nonsense at least they don't hurt themselves like they would if
you had both rains attached this is an elasticated side rain and the horse is being allowed to trot
forward and here I've just introduced the second side rain because he's got going with the first
always let them go forward in trot at the beginning preferably if you do put side rains on walk them
very little inside rains to allow them to go forward let him go forward and you can see he's
almost taking up the contact just nicely straight away this would be the second time he's been
lunged inside rains and so there I would have them longer on the very first day I would have
them longer than this that's right oh he stopped and rather stood into me and turned to look at
me but never mind I've taken him on to the other rain said all right you can go straight on then
on to the other rain if you're not going to quite do as you're told that's right good boy this is
the horse that you saw actually much earlier when he was being tied up for the first time he was a
little bit stroppy and he's he settled down nicely to really doing as he's told he's accepting little
contact for the side rains and I'm quite pleased with his progress so I'll just take the side rains
off and we'll just see how he'll run up in hand in due course with them young lad he's just walk
it's always best to do your your in hand training after they've done a little work you want the
horse to move forward in a straight line that's very nice yes with his head as straight as possible
you don't want the thing turning around to look at you all the time you want the horse to trot in
a straight line listening to the handler that's very good we couldn't want anything more than that
from a yearling that's a good boy good and here so you see him in a caverson eventually we'll be
leading him off the caverson noseband or off the bit if it's needed so I'm very pleased with that
yearling now we have a two-year-old who's just come out of the field and just started his very
early lunging now as a big moving lovely moving horse with a naturally good rhythm and nicely
balanced naturally so here we've got no tack and you'll see that if you came to show this horse
or present it for anybody he's a nice horse but he is just going a bit in a long line and if you're
going to present it to to anybody or to show it you would want it to carry itself a little bit more
together and to be able to have a bit in his mouth if you're going to take him to show or do anything
more with him he's just been out and here he is he's too late late is two-year-old but he leads
quite nicely but he won't show himself as well really although he trots well he's not going to
be as well balanced as the yearling that's done a little bit of a little bit of lunging in some
tack previously naturally a lovely mover this is a horse called Dutch Dream and you may be seeing
more of him later that was that was very good for his early running up very pleased with that so
reward the horse tell him he's good and gradually he will be educated a little bit more and next
we'll see him just standing up talk to us that's right stand back stand up properly back James you
either have to go forward or back again good boy that's right that's how he should learn to stand
now here is another two-year-old Goldstorm also great mover but he's a few days ahead of the other
one in fact he's about at least over a week week ten days ahead of the previous horse in that he's
had some work he's been worked on the lunge and here he is having great fun saying I'm not sure
I prove of a roller it's quite fun to have a little buck well he's got to get used to it so
don't worry too much about it just don't get told about too much he didn't mind earlier so he's had
the side grains put on but he's now objecting slightly to the roller but however he's settling
to the side grains very nicely and learning to gradually accept a light contact on the side
grains this will put him in a little bit better balance still messing about a little bit youngsters
will mess about only young ones that's right good now he's beginning to get a better rhythm
settle down to the discipline of the work he's being asked to do and he's also trots on the
other rain as well and he should be able to walk when he's told walk good you don't want to walk
horses in long rains inside rains for too long you see he's rather dropping the contact completely
I would like him to take the contact so if I was going to walk him inside rains I would let them
out about five or six holes and walk him in them that there's just the lightest possible contact
and still stand still nobody's going to hurt you that's right it's a good boy over that's probably
enough work for today but if you are walking a horse inside range and you want to make a
horse walk always let the side grains out and walk them after they've done some work because
then they'll be at the most sensible time and they'll walk their best so this is another nice
two-year-old that again must learn to stand up when he's asked and he must learn to stand and
be handled that's right not only in the stable but anywhere you want to you should be able to touch
him all over like you've seen with a foal and be confident with your handling so we've now got further
up the scale and we've gone further than with the previous three-year-old that the light chestnut
horse we've got a little bit more forward horse that's learned to lunge and he's balanced enough
to canter on the lunge a little bit and just go through how we expect the horse to react and to
behave when we've got him a little bit more educated you could see this horse is moving
freely in that lovely old caverson I've had ever since I can remember it came from my father so
it must be quite old the horse this horse is moving well forward he's going well away from me and
he's taking the rain the lunch rain he's also being a little bit disobedient because he is not I think
he's a little bit excited by the camera and things in the school will you walk do as you're told yes
thank you that's right walk that's right walk good horse must learn a little bit to do as he's told
they all young horses of course will have a play sometimes and it's best to let them have five
minutes fooling about and then say now look here now is the time to settle down do as you're told
so provided you're in a safe place and can cope with your animal you can let him have a little
bit of a play when he first comes out especially a young enter they're always a little bit full of
themselves so you have to let them have a little play occasionally you see how he reacts my whip
points towards him he towards his hind legs so he said oh yes that means go forward so he must be
aware quite firmly and quietly what you want him to do and you must be fair in your your judgment
whoa good boy good whoa that's right if you're going to gather up your rain really gather it up
firmly quietly and walk towards him reward him and change your rain that's right good walk
change your reigns over in your hand so that you can lunge him carefully and also let out
the rain when you want to walk walk that's right with young horses you must have a good surface to
lunge them on if you only have a field to lunge a horse on well get the roughest sort of grass
which has the most hold on it because a lot of damage can be done to their action if they're
slipping about and unsure of them there are their footing you won't get a horse to move in a rhythm
and things like you will if you have a decent surface to go on here we have two bits that's
a very useful bit which is what I put on Edward the first chestnut that's a little bit of a port
for the tongue so they've got room for their tongue it's double-jointed or this lightweight
loose ring snapple I think is far the best if I'm going to ride a horse in the end so we put the
bit on this horse he's some three years old and again he opens his mouth easily is happy to take
the bit in his mouth and make the the bit comfortable the other thing you must notice is that the bit
when the bit is in the mouth the caverson if he had any pressure on that bit the caverson would
pinch him so I'm loosening the caverson out and raising it higher on his head so that the bit
doesn't chafe where the lips come from the bit so keep the the caverson up high in his mouth you
might have it lower when you're lunging just in a caverson but when you put a bit in his mouth you
must have it high enough so that it doesn't chafe at all when you've popped the bit in his mouth
you can see there's a good gap there going to put a roller on the horse I prefer a roller with
plenty of padding there so you can see it sits well up on his withers anything that presses down
on the backbone would be would hurt the horse so I prefer something with plenty of padding if
you're going to put a roller on a horse for the first time you must put a breastplate on because
you're not going to go with him up tight enough to keep the roller in the right place should he
react violently so always put the breastplate on first and there's little point in having a
roller with padding under it because no sooner as the thing moves and you're only going to do it
up very loosely if he starts to buck the padding will come out so here it is really quite loose
for your roller on a horse for the first time you might even have it looser depending on the
temperament of the animal this you must judge for yourself if you've got a very nervous thing
you would have it even looser than that this horse he's very confident he doesn't really mind
much at all and we've known him because we bred him so that is one way of being aware of what
you're doing with your horses you know the temperaments before you started a little bit
or you think you do mind you you could always be caught out by horses sometimes the ones you think
will be the easiest turn out to be the most difficult and this horse decipher we found he's
been very forward very free-going and confident in anything you do with him he's not a nervous
horse in the stable he's not nervous to do anything with so he's taken up this with no
problems at all he's never really bucked and he's quite happy to have the roller on you'll
notice the sheepskin pad is very important with young horses if you don't have a sheepskin round
the girth when they're soft and flabby like this they can very easily get sore elbows or girth gauze
and things so that does help prevent anything like that so that is very important that you have a
sheepskin cover on your girth I can see that the roller actually is quite far up is with us and
it's fairly loose the girth so we could always let out the breastplate but it would be disastrous
and we found so many people have put a roller on a horse the things gone berserk they've forgotten
to put on a breastplate the things that the roller has gone back around his private parts and then
the horse has gone absolutely loopy and they've either lost it or is half killed something itself
or something and we get so many of these horses to break after people have upset them and it's
so unnecessary because they just haven't had the forethought to think of how the horse will react
I mean some horses are really violent I've had one not so long ago that literally is like some
bronco will scream and yell and practically throw itself on the floor with really a loose girth with
an elastic expansion bit in it it still goes loopy and we start any horse we don't know with
an elasticated girth so that if they blow themselves out everything gives because horses
when they first feel something around their tummy sometimes really throw their catch their
breath and blow their tummies out as wide as they can make them and then object to it so
elasticated girth is much the best thing to put on a horse for the first time now when you're
introducing side reins if I was you I would not put the side reins directly onto the loop of the
roller but put them around the back of the roller and then thread them through the loop just to keep
the the side rein in place so it doesn't slip down too much if you put them onto the the ring
only eventually of course you're sending it to the saddler because it's been pulled out so here
you place the side reins on the saddle on the roller and you've still got your breastplate the
horse is confident with a bit in his mouth he's used to that not like the first horse we saw make
sure the side reins are long enough and you can see they have an elasticated insert so plenty of
of a rain for the side reins just make sure this one's the right length and you want to pull the
reins towards you to see that they are the same length because you don't want one rain shorter
than the other you pull them towards you to make sure they are the same length when they're put on
the horse and if you're starting to put a rain like side rain on a horse for the first time do
make sure that they're too long rather than anywhere near short if they have no contact
that's a good thing some people put them on to the caverson first for the three rings of a caverson
you can do that but I find that horses usually dislike the pressure on their nose more than they
dislike the pressure on a bit and they're really you've got hardly any any contact at all again
I'm just showing you how I start a horse with the side rain just the outside side rain so there's
hardly any contact when you're lunging actually the contact only comes on to the outside rain most
of the time because the horse is slightly bent in the direction you're going and so really it's
the outside side rain just the same as when you're riding you ride with your inside leg into your
outside rain exactly the same happens when you put a side rain on a horse so that is how the horse
seems to accept the side rain perfectly happily easily and there's just that very light contact
on it occasionally he's just taking a very light contact and this is what I want with the young
horse that he just accepts a light contact his head is free to swing a little bit and so I'm
happy with that he's happy with that and then I shall attach the inside side rain also just think
of leading the horse forward that's when you start to move him forward don't just get behind
and shake the whip at him because he will leap forward lead him forward so that he smoothly
goes forward into walk don't suddenly chase him so that he rushes into the side rain and then you
jab him in the mouth by pulling him with the lunge rain this has all got to be it's up to you to be
sympathetic with your lunge rain just the same as with anything else as the horse is listening and
obedient you should be be very glad and reward him with your voice here he's a little bit playful
but he's accepting the rains extremely well and he just as you can see the inside side rain is
virtually doing nothing because the horse is really just taking any contact it does take with
the outside easily good boy told to walk you can see he he doesn't want to walk too long even in
these very long side rains whoa that's a good horse and he's confident with you walking up to
him he's not frightened in any way he's confident to stand whilst you walk up waving a rain and
everything and this is how a horse should react he should be confident because you've treated him
fairly and kindly but with authority so that's a good boy now we're going to change the rain so we
lead him round don't change the rain with the side rains on change the rain with them off and then
attach them again always attach the outside one first because then it's there and then as you go
around the other side you can allow the horse to walk forward and attach the side rain as you go
that you just take it off there and attach it as he's moving forward that's a good boy and let him
out on the rain just quietly so it all happens almost folds in together so there's no no sort
of restriction as you go forward into walk that's right horses listening well and he's going forward
into trot he's carrying himself in a good balance very nice for a three-year-old just starting his
work yeah that's good and a nice rhythm trot is forward you've got to think about this now you've
got your horse a little more established think about the rhythm make the circle big be able to
push the horse on the circle where you want him so that he takes a contact on that lunch rain if he
cuts in attacking by moving towards him yourself slightly ahead of him saying get out there and go
forward up to my rain go on take the take the lunch rain walk walk I don't want him to cut in
walk that's right that's good and as long as the horse is forward into your rain and a halt good
halt fold the whip under your arm walk towards the horse bearing in mind you mustn't poke his eye
out with the end of the whip the other thing that is you don't want to allow is for the whip to drag
on the floor too much because otherwise you'll be buying whips every few months now here we're going
to think of long raining our horse eventually here we've got a different type of roller which
is I find a very useful roller in that you can put your side rains at various different heights
it's also got rings for walk rings for long raining here you have a horse with a saddle on
as well we've progressed to a saddle if they don't mind the roller they don't often mind a saddle
that's right now we're going to introduce the long reins for the first time here you can run
the long reins through the ring put them on to the the outside ring of the caverson I have an
assistant I've kept the side reins on quite long but just kept them there just for support and a
little bit of control now this horse has not been long rained before as you can see he looks
he's um doesn't really know what's happening so we're seeing the things for the first time he's
had a saddle on oh boy and you can see he's a little bit apprehensive and me walking behind him
it's quite common quite normal you want to get the horse used to this to the long reins before
you ever progress whoa stand still my assistant David he's got to talk to him control him that's
a good boy I've got to get the horse used to the long reins oh dear he says I don't want those
anywhere near my hind legs I'm a little bit apprehensive of this yes a little bit apprehensive
so whoa talk to it all the time till the horse learns to accept it I don't think this horse is
going to learn to accept it so I'm going to go up and reassure him now steady he's looking very
apprehensive that's right so reassure the horse talk to him get him used to you being there
and reassure him so tell him that you're not going to hurt him that's right good now we're
going to walk around behind him that's a good boy just let the rain touch the hind leg some horses
go very stupid when you do this and so you've got to be just patient and aware and take your time
and fiddle about until the horse is is happy it's nothing like fiddling about with horses
that's a good boy some horses be very ticklish if you touch them there but he's learning to cope with
it and learning to take it on so I'll move back reward the horse that's a good boy so now here
we just let the horse get used to the rain he's quite happy with it and let David just lead him
forward keeping the rain loose we gradually go back to lunging him David's controlling him so
he doesn't just go too stupid yes you can see he's just a little bit apprehensive but I must not pull
on that rain if I do we'll get into more trouble okay he's cantering he's a little bit apprehensive
about it but just don't don't panic just let yourself follow the horse that you gradually
slow down talking to him David can tell him to slow down that's right there he is nobody's hurt
you so he's coming back to a trot horse is getting his confidence in in the work and gradually you
can take a little bit more contact on that rain as you feel the horse is relaxed enough that's right
so he's he's fairly confident here but he's just got to go a little bit steady that's right and you
can talk to him there now I'm taking some pressure on that rain now and saying steady
steady so I've got the rain on the outside ring of the caverson and that's right he'll learn when
I just put on that he puts his hind leg more underneath him and slows up this is quite a
handy way of making a horse just just put his hind leg a little bit more under him at times that's
right and it's a good thing to have the cover of the outside rain always on the caverson
until you really want to start to steer the horse about that's right steady steady yes yes now I
shorten him up oh goodness he says and he's come back to a walk with his hind leg well underneath
him because I wish to eventually tell the horse to slow down with his hind legs more underneath him
now we've asked him to trot forward again that's right good boy and by talking to him walk walk
and a little pressure on the outside rain he's learned to come back to walk he's very intelligent
horses whoo whoo but you've got to be very sympathetic with with long reins there's quite
a lot of pressure on the long rein when it's so far away from the horse we reward the horse david's
gone up to him first to hold him by the head so that then I can walk around the back and
change the reins with the horse that's right there's a good boy now this rain here on the
outside is longer than the lunge rain so that's why I'm changing the rendering exactly the same
uh as we did before just to get the horse used to the rain on the other side just because he was
all right one way it doesn't mean to say that he'll automatically be correct or happy when you move
onto the other reins so always take the same precaution and do remember that horses hind legs
are longer than they look they've got yet another extension to the hind legs so they kick so never
get too close um behind them if you're going to introduce them to long reins that's right
now he's more confident this time he's better this way he's sensible in that he's he's learned
that it isn't really going to hurt him um so his natural reaction would be if he was frightened
he would run run faster because they always run away from everything rather than um stop and think
it out cattle are inclined to stop and think things out um if in doubt stand still whereas
horses are definitely animals of fright and flight so here he is he's not quite certain but he's
he's getting on with it he's learning to accept that the outside rain and with the with the side
grains he's staying in a very nice balance although i've let them out about four holes
they're just there's a just a slight balancing aid to you so the horse should he get very stupid
you've still got just a little bit of control over him with the side reins that's right now i'm
asking him to walk walk good and release that the rain if you that's right as soon as soon as the
horse responds we're allowing him to trot now i'm gonna yes just good boy and don't forget that you
must keep the rain up on you don't want them too low they must be just round his hamstrings there
which is correct good walk that's very good that the horse is listening to me and so on then you
can start to drive him about now we've got the reins on the actual bit this time so we're going
to just teach the horse to drive around so davis is helping by leading him around so the horse gets
used to the weight of the rain on the bit that's right so i'm now going to steer him from the bit
that's right good now you must have very sympathetic hands if you're doing anything in long reins
it's very important you're able to relax the rain give the rain it's just like riding and if you
start off correctly like this when you come to ride a horse like this he'll just go like this
immediately you get on his back that's right allow the horse forward allow him to stretch his neck
forward don't restrict him allow him to put his head down with the voice he has come back to a walk
which is good that's right so as as he responds to your aids from your voice like coming from
trot back to walk you you might just have a light feel on the contact and then as soon as he performs
what you ask you lighten the contact again to reward him a little bit so that he understands
that that is what you wanted so walk and give the rain give the rain a bit that's right so that you
lighten the contact good boy now i'm going to change the rain so i shorten my left brain
let out my right shorten again the left brain that's right the horse goes around the other way
this is his learning process of steerage very simple provided you've done your early work
properly the horse understands that the bit is not to be fought with it's there to be accepted
and he's undertaking a light contact on the rain very well very pleased with that horse is still
and happy in his mouth he's listening to what i'm i'm telling him and the long reins are held between
the two fingers i prefer to hold them this way some people would hold them in the riding way but i
find it rather difficult and give as soon as the horse horse responds give and carry your hands just
like you would when you're riding bend the elbow so that there is a spring in the elbow and that's
very important now the horse has halted and i'm pleased with the way he's he's behaved so i shorten
the reins and this is how you take up the long reins shortening one and then the other that's right
when you get near the horse's hindquarters always be on the near side start with and you want to
just make sure that you can flip that rein over his back that's right get it away from his tail
flick it over his back so that the horse can be untacked undone slip these reins through the stirrup
and unclip the side reins oh boy that's right unclip the side reins so that the horse is free to go
home put the rain on the caverson so this is your early early training of your young horse
early training of your young horse soon he's ready for backing
me