If your horse comes to you from pasture, he must think you're purdy cool!

If not, let's figure out why.

What do horses like best? Let's think about that first.

• [] Horses like to be with their friends.
  
• [] They like to be comfortable.
  
• [] Eating, yes, they love to eat.
  
• [] Many horses like to be scratched in special spots, maybe some like to be brushed.
  
• [] Possibly some would rather be left alone.

What horses do not like:

• [] Being uncomfortable
  
• [] Being in pain
  
• [] Being away from friends
  
• [] Answering your requests and not being listened to
  
• [] Confinement

Do you know what your horse likes?

After all, he can stay in pasture with his friends, he can stand around napping in comfort, nibble on some grass, mutual groom with other horses, or just hang out and meet his needs without you.

A horse has to make a decision to come to you when he sees you. In my mind, there must be a benefit for the horse to come to you. Can you meet any of his needs/likes in a way that allows him to choose you over all else?

I realize that you can probably "catch" your horse by walking after him--it may be a short walk or it may be a long walk. Eventually, the horse realizes it's no fun walking--he's having to put some effort into this. He hangs his head and says: Rats, here she comes. But this should tell you something--your horse is trying to communicate to you.

It is my belief that a horse in this situation is saying: you are no fun for me, you are no comfort for me, you are not meeting my needs. In fact, the horse may go so far as saying: I am in DIScomfort with you. He resignedly stops walking and lets you come up to him. Is that ok with you? Is that the type of relationship you want?--one of resignation?

Let's take a look at the little things that may put your horse in discomfort when you're together.

How do you approach the horse when you want to halter him?

Do you hurriedly think: Ah ha, I've got him....now to quickly get this halter on before he leaves. Or does he get some scratching, some quiet time with you just standing there being together. Do you only go out to get him for work?

How do you actually put the halter on? Has your horse been taught to accept the halter? Just because someone can get the halter on a horse, does not mean that the horse was ever taught to accept the halter.

I prefer to hold the halter at my waist level and have the horse reach for the halter. This shows me that he is accepting of being haltered. If your horse has a high head, this is an indication that he is not.

How can we teach the horse to willingly accept the halter? Clicker Training is one way. The Parelli method of lowering the head is another. Possibly the John Lyons method of doing it hundreds of times--put it on, take it off, walk away, repeat.

There are plenty of ways to do this, check it out and find a way that is comfortable for your and your horse. The end product we're looking for is a horse that WANTS to be haltered and WILLINGLY accepts the halter.

Always try to find the benefit for the horse in any task that you do. What benefit will it be for the horse if he accepts the halter? Will you take him and work him in the round pen for an hour? It's not likely that he really wants to do that (unless he's a hot horse and is boarded in a small corral). A walk out to graze might inspire him to like being haltered.

I know, I know. You really want to be out riding, not doing these things. But if you want the horse you have--ok, skip over these things. If you want a better horse and better relationship, you're in the right spot.

These basic things should have been part of your horse's foundation training. Sometimes these basic tasks are skipped over. Sometimes they come back to bite you in the butt later on. What would happen if your horse got loose and he was not used to coming to you, or even being caught.

Now that your horse is haltered, how does he look? Can you see any twinkle in his eye showing that he's happy to be with you? Or do you see worry lines above his eyes?

What do you do now? Grooming? Let's take a look at this.

Horses are sensitive, very sensitive. They can feel a fly land on their hair. Keep this in mind when working with your horse. My guess is that any touch more than the weight of a fly feels very "loud" to them.

Here is a normal case scenario for a horse being groomed: He is tied to a hitching post or crossties and the owner stands at his left shoulder bringing the brush or tool up onto the horse's back. If one carefully watches the scenario, you will notice that the owner is standing in the horse's line of vision so that he cannot usually see the tool and is slightly startled by contact with his skin. This "startle" might be almost imperceptible, but look carefully.

A way to avoid startling the horse is to "ask permission" first. After you pick up the brush, show it to him; let him sniff it. Additionally, you might watch the placement of your body so that the horse can see your arm and the tool moving towards his back.

Verbalizing your actions to the horse can also give him comfort as well as picturing in your mind your actions ahead of time.

Watch the horse's eyes and body language to see if he enjoys the type of brush you are using. Except for one, my horses favor a wire dog brush. They enjoy having a heavy touch with this brush. The one who does not enjoy it was a surprise to me. He is stocky, and rather coarse with dark skin. He started showing "worry" above his eyes when he smelled the brush and also started moving during grooming. We switched to a softer brush and he's happy with it.

Find out where your horse's G-SSpots (good-scratching spots)are. It could be the withers, at the base of the ears, inside the ears, under the tail, teats, between the front legs, etc. Watch the mouth when you're looking for a spot. Sometimes those lips will be a sign that you've hit a good spot.

When you find a good spot, scratch until it plays itself out. The first few minutes of scratching will be addressing the actual itchiness. The next few minutes should show the horse relaxing and possibly the head lowering. The eyes may become very sleepy looking. A quick nap, and your horse should awake refreshed!

To be continued....

Also coming:

• Leading From Both Sides
  
• Letting Your Horse Get to Know You
  
• Silent Communication
  

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