When you first start out training a horse, the first thing that you need to do is build a special bond with the horse. They need to be able to trust you and need to be willing to work for you. One of the best methods that I have learned would be a process called “Join-up”. Join-up is a technique that was first developed by Monty Roberts. He pushed, and pushed the horse away until the horse decided “Ok I’ll be good and listen to you instead of running around”. When you are attempting join-up you send the horse away from you. Then the horse should start to slow. There are signs that you should look for that the horse is starting to pay attention to you , like they start looking at you as they are running, their inside ear turns in towards you, licking their lips, and chewing. At this point turn your back to the horse. The horse will walk up behind you, showing that they are willing to work with you. Once this relationship is developed for the first time you may want to do it before you work with the horse each day. As you move on and the horse can begin to do other things, you can start to lunge. After lungeing a few times you can start to lunge with the saddle. As the horse gets use to the saddle add the bridle.

After the horse is use to the tack, you can start to get on. When you do start to get on, just get onto the horse a few times and then get off. Do this for a little while each day. Then as the horse gets bored with this you can start to get on and walking a few steps. Everyday you want to increase the amount of work you do. You should also change it up so that the horse doesn’t get completely bored. As the horse gets better with everything you can start trotting then cantering.


Just remember that training a horse take a lot of time and commitment but training a horse can be an amazing experience for you and the horse.