Horse training refers to a wide variety of practices that teach horses to perform certain behaviors when asked to do so by humans. Horses are trained to be manageable by humans for everyday care as well as for equestrian activities from horse racing to therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities. Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... A young rider at a horse show in Australia. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... Therapeutic horseback riding, also known as equine-assisted activity, is for individuals with a range of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social special needs. ...

 Historically, horses were trained for warfare, farm work, sport and transport. Today, most horse training is geared toward making horses useful for a variety of recreational and sporting equestrian pursuits. Horses are also trained for specialized jobs from movie stunt work to police and crowd control activities, circus entertainment, and equine-assisted psychotherapy. There is tremendous controversy over various methods of horse training and even some of the words used to describe these methods. Some techniques are considered cruel, other methods are considered gentler and more humane. Some training techniques may appear violent to people unused to horse behavior, but in practice may not be as harsh as they appear. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to go into the details of various training methodology, so general, basic principles are described below. The see also section of this article provides links to more specific information about various schools and techniques of horse training. 

War horses are horses specially trained for use in battle or individual combat (see also: Jousting). ... For other uses, see Farm (disambiguation). ... A young rider at a horse show in Australia. ...

Basic goals of horse training

Effective communication and harmony between horse and rider are among the goals of proper training

While the number of training techniques is large, and the goals of training too numerous to count, basic animal training concepts apply to all forms of horse training. The initial goal of most types of training is to create a horse that is safe for humans to handle (under most circumstances) and able to perform a useful task for the benefit of humans. A few specific considerations and some basic knowledge of horse behavior helps a horse trainer be effective no matter what school or discipline is chosen: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Animal training is a method to teach animals to perform specific acts in response to conditions or stimuli. ... Horse behavior is best understood from the perspective that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct. ...

• Safety is paramount: Horses are much larger and stronger than humans, so must be taught to behave in ways that will not injure people.
• Horses, like other animals, have a different brain structure from humans and thus do not have the same type of thinking and reasoning ability as human beings. Thus, the human has the responsibility to think about how to use the psychology of the horse to make the animal understand the goals of the human trainer.
• Horses are strongly social herd animals and, when properly handled, can learn to follow and respect a human leader.
• Horses, as prey animals, have an inborn fight or flight instinct that has to be adapted to the needs of humans. Horses need to be taught to rely upon humans to determine when fear or flight is an appropriate response to new stimuli and not to react by instinct alone.
• Like most animals, a young horse will more easily adapt to human expectations than an older one, so human handling of the horse from a very early age is generally advised.

Horse behavior is best understood from the perspective that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct. ... This article or section should include material from Fight-or-flight The flight or fight response, also called the acute stress response, was first described by Walter Cannon in the 1920s as a theory that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system. ...

Stages of horse training

Regardless of the end goal of training, most horses go through a predictable series of steps on their way to being "finished" animals for a given discipline.

Training of foals and younger horses

Most young domesticated horses are handled at birth or within the first few days of life, though some are only handled for the first time when they are weaned from their mothers, or dams. Advocates of handling foals from birth sometimes use the concept of imprinting to introduce a foal within its first few days and weeks of life to many of the activities they will see throughout their lives. Within a few hours of birth, a foal being imprinted will have a human touch it all over, pick up its feet, and introduce it to human touch and voice. 13 year old Peruvian Paso mare A broodmare and foal In English, a mare (an old Germanic word) is a female horse; the word is also an etymological root of marshal (originally marescalcus horse servant). Mares are considered easier to handle than males, which are called stallions or after castration... A foal is a young horse of either gender; a female foal is called a filly, while a male foal is called a colt. ... Imprinting has different meanings in: Genetics: see imprinting (genetics) Psychology and ethology: see imprinting (psychology) In addition, the term imprint is used in publishing. ...

Others may leave a foal alone for its first few hours or days, arguing that it is more important to allow the foal to bond with its dam. However, even people who do not advocate imprinting often still place value on handling a foal a great deal while it is still nursing and too small to easily overpower a human. By doing so, the foal ideally will learn that humans will not harm it, but also that humans must be respected.

Horses too young to be ridden are trained to accept a halter, taught basic skills, manners, and become accustomed to human activity. Some, like this yearling, are shown in conformation classes

While a foal is far too young to be ridden, it is still able to learn skills it will need later in life. By the end of a foal's first year, it should be halter-broke, meaning that it allows a halter placed upon its head and has been taught to be led by a human at a walk and trot, to stop on command and to stand tied. The young horse needs to be calm for basic grooming, as well as veterinary care such as vaccinations and worming. A foal needs regular hoof care and can be taught to stand while having its feet picked up and trimmed by a farrier. Ideally a young horse should learn all the basic skills it will need throughout its life, including: being caught from a field, loaded into a horse trailer, and not to fear flapping or noisy objects. It also can be exposed to the noise and commotion of ordinary human activity, including seeing motor vehicles, hearing radios, and so on. More advanced skills sometimes taught in the first year include learning to accept blankets placed on it, to be trimmed with electric clippers, and to be given a bath with water from a hose. The foal may learn basic voice commands for starting and stopping, and sometimes will learn to square its feet up for showing in in-hand or conformation classes. If these tasks are completed, the young horse will have no fear of things placed on its back, around its belly or in its mouth. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1634x1261, 2017 KB) Descrição Exposição do cavalo Árabe (julgamento) - Avaré Fonte Autor: José Reynaldo da Fonseca Licença File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Arabian... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1634x1261, 2017 KB) Descrição Exposição do cavalo Árabe (julgamento) - Avaré Fonte Autor: José Reynaldo da Fonseca Licença File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Arabian... Horse wearing a halter. ... Common tools used for grooming a horse Horse grooming is hygenic care given to a horse, or a process by which the horses physical appearance is enhanced for horse shows or other types of competition. ... Look up veterinarian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A vial of the vaccine against influenza. ... The horse hoof is the distal phalanx of the III digit of the four limbs of Equus species, and it is covered by complex horny structures. ... French farrier of Haras nationaux Italian farrier at work A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of a horses hoof so as to fit shoes to the horses foot. ... A horse trailer A horse trailer is used to transport horses. ... A horse blanket is a blanket thats intended for keeping a horse warm or otherwise protected from the elements. ... A horse being shown at halter Halter is a term used to describe a type of horse show class where horses are shown in hand, meaning that they are led, not ridden, and are judged on their conformation and suitability as breeding stock. ...

Some people, whether through philosophy or simply due to being pressed for time, do not handle foals significantly while they are still nursing, but wait until the foal is weaned from its dam to begin halter breaking and the other tasks of training a horse in its first year. The argument for gentling and halter-breaking at weaning is that the young horse, in crisis from being separated from its dam, will more readily bond with a human at weaning than at a later point in its life. Sometimes the tasks of basic gentling are not completed within the first year but continue when the horse is a yearling. Yearlings are larger and more unpredictable than weanlings, plus often are easily distracted, in part due to the first signs of sexual maturity. However, they also are still highly impressionable, and though very quick and agile, are not at their full adult strength.

Rarer, but not uncommon even in the modern world, is the practice of leaving young horses completely unhandled until they are old enough to be ridden, usually between the age of two and four, and completing all ground training as well as training for riding at the same time. However, waiting until a horse is full grown to begin training is often far riskier for humans and requires considerably more skill to avoid injury.

Ground training

A young horse in Europe being longed with a surcingle and side reins

After a young horse is taught to lead and other basic skills, various tasks can be introduced to the horse as it matures while it is still too young to be ridden. Some schools of training do a great deal of work with young horses during their yearling and two-year-old years to prepare them for riding, others merely reinforce the basic lessons taught to the horse as a foal and simply keep the horse accustomed to the presence of humans. Many times, a young horse did not have all necessary basic skills described above taught to it as a foal and its "adolescent" years are spent learning or re-learning basic lessons.

Several ground training techniques are commonly introduced to a young horse some time after it is a year old, but prior to being ridden. All horses usually have some or all of this ground work done prior to being ridden, though the time spent can range from hours to months. While a foal or yearling can be introduced to a small amount of ground work, a young horse's bones and joints are quite soft and fragile. So, to prevent joint and cartilage injury, intense work, particularly intense work in a confined circle (such as advanced roundpenning or longeing), should wait until the horse is at least two years old. Common ground training techniques include: A foal is a young horse of either gender; a female foal is called a filly, while a male foal is called a colt. ... Cartilage is a type of dense connective tissue. ... Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses. ...

• Liberty work, sometimes called free longeing, round pen work or roundpenning, but regardless of terminology, is the process of working a loose horse in a small area (usually a round pen 40-60 feet/15-20 meters in diameter) with the handler holding only a long whip or a rope lariat, teaching the horse to respond to the voice and body language of the handler as he or she asks the horse to move faster or slower, to change direction, and to stop.
• Longeing, pronounced (but not spelled) "lungeing," the training of a young horse to move in circles at the end of a long rope or line, usually about 25 to 30 feet long.
• Desensitization, sometimes called Sacking out, the process of introducing a horse to flapping objects such as blankets, teaching the horse to allow itself to be touched by an object and not to fear things that people move about a horse.
• Introduction to a saddle and bridle or harness, without actually getting on the horse or hooking up a cart.
• Ground driving, also called long-lining, teaching a young horse to move forward with a person walking behind it, a precursor to both harness driving and having reins used by a mounted rider.
• Bitting, the process of accustoming a horse to a bit and bridle, sometimes with the addition of side reins that attach to a saddle, harness, or surcingle (a wide leather or nylon band that goes around the horse's barrel) and accustom the horse to the feel of pressure on the bit.

A horse is not ready to be ridden until it is accustomed to all the equipment that it needs to wear and is responsive to basic voice, and usually rein, commands to start, stop, turn and change gaits. Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses. ... Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses. ... Sacking out is a method used by horse trainers to desensitize a horse to potentially frightening situations or objects. ... A saddle is a seat for a rider fastened to an animals back. ... A bridle is a piece of equipment used to control a horse. ... Horse in harness with horse collar A Horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equid to be hitched to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon, plow or sleigh. ... A Welsh Cob in harness Driving, when applied to horses, Ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other conveyance by means of a harness and working them in this form. ... The reins are the leather straps attached to the outer ends of a bit. ... a horse carries a bit in its mouth, held on by a bridle. ... A bridle is a piece of equipment used to control a horse. ... Side reins are pieces of equipment used when longeing a horse, running from the bridles bit to the saddle or surcingle. ... A surcingle is a leather, nylon, or neoprene strap that fastens around a horses girth area. ... Horse gaits are the different ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans. ...

For some disciplines, ground work is also used to develop specific types of muscling as well as to instill certain behaviors. When ground work incorporates both mental and muscular development, it may take considerably longer for the horse to be ready to be ridden, but advocates of these methods maintain that the additional time on the ground allows the horse to advance more quickly or with better manners once under saddle.

"Backing" or riding the young horse

A young Lipizzan at the Spanish Riding School in training equipment, wearing saddle, bridle and longeing cavesson so that it may be longed prior to being ridden.

The age that horses are first ridden varies considerably by breed and discipline. Many Thoroughbred race horses have small, light riders on their backs as early as the fall of their yearling year. Most stock horse breeds, such as the American Quarter Horse, are ridden at the age of two. Most horses used in harness have a cart first put behind them at age two, and even some horses not ridden until age three will be trained to pull a light cart at two, in order to learn better discipline and to help develop stronger muscles with less stress. The vast majority of horses across disciplines and throughout the world are first put under saddle at the age of three. However, some slower-maturing breeds, such as the Lipizzan, are not ridden until the age of four. Download high resolution version (1668x1000, 372 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1668x1000, 372 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Lipizzan horse The Lipizzan, or Lipizzaner (Slovene Lipicanec), is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria where the finest representatives demonstrate the high school movements of classical dressage, including the highly advanced airs above the ground. ... A Lipizzan horse in the Winter Riding School The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses. ... A saddle is a seat for a rider fastened to an animals back. ... A bridle is a piece of equipment used to control a horse. ... A cavesson is a type of noseband found on the bridle of a horse. ... Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses. ... For the processor with the same codename , see Athlon. ... A palomino Quarter Horse shown at halter. ... Lipizzan horse The Lipizzan, or Lipizzaner (Slovene Lipicanec), is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria where the finest representatives demonstrate the high school movements of classical dressage, including the highly advanced airs above the ground. ...

The act of getting on a horse for the first time goes by many names, including backing, breaking, mounting, and simply riding. There are many techniques for introducing the young horse to a rider or to a harness and cart for driving, but the end goal of all methods is to have the horse calmly and quietly allow a rider on its back or behind it in a cart and to respond to basic commands to go forward, change gaits and speed, stop, turn and back up. Horse gaits are the different ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans. ...

Ideally, a young horse will have no fear of humans and view being ridden as simply one more new lesson. A properly handled young horse that had adequate ground work will seldom buck, rear, or run away when it is ridden, even for the very first time.

Discipline-specific training can take years to perfect

Horses that have never been taught to be ridden can learn at any age, though it may take somewhat longer to teach an older horse. An older horse that is used to humans is easier to put under saddle than a completely wild horse caught off the open range.

Once basic skills under saddle are mastered, the horse is usually ready to go on to more specialized training for a particular disciplines or set of disciplines.

Training for a specific discipline

Different horse training techniques are far too extensive to describe in a single article. For further information on horse training and specific disciplines, see the Bibliography and the Wikipedia articles below, which cover many of the concepts and different schools of thought on training and handling horses.

See also

• Animal training
• Classical dressage
• Clicker training
• Dressage
• English riding
• Equestrianism
• Hippology
• Horse
• Horse behavior
• Horse breaking
• Kikkuli the Mitanni
• Longeing
• Natural horsemanship
• On Horsemanship (Xenophon)
• Spanish Riding School
• Western riding

Animal training is a method to teach animals to perform specific acts in response to conditions or stimuli. ... Classical dressage evolved from cavalry movements trained for the battlefield, and has since developed into competitive dressage seen today. ... Clicker-training a dog. ... An upper-level dressage competitor performing an extended trot Dressage (a French term meaning training) is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. ... English riding is a term used in the United States to describe a form of horseback riding that is seen throughout the world. ... A young rider at a horse show in Australia. ... Hippology (from Greek: ιππος, horse) is the study of the horse. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... Horse behavior is best understood from the perspective that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct. ... Horse breaking (or horse starting) refers to the process used by humans to get horses to let themselves be ridden or harnessed. ... Kikkuli, horse trainer (assussanni) of the land Mitanni (LÚA-AŠ-ŠU-UŠ-ŠA-AN-NI ŠA KUR URUMI-IT-TA-AN-NI, virtually Sanskrit ) is known as the author of Middle Hittite horse training texts, dating to the Hittite New Kingdom (around 1400 BC). ... Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses. ... Staranzano(Italy), Cona Island. ... On Horsemanship written c. ... A Lipizzan horse in the Winter Riding School The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses. ... Western riding is shown in this sculpture, Great Western Tradition, by Doug Israelsen Western riding evolved from the cattle-working and warfare traditions brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors, and both equipment and riding style evolved to meet the working needs of the cowboy in the American West. ...

References

• Hill, Cherry. Making, Not Breaking: The First Year Under Saddle. Breakthrough Publications, 1992. ISBN 0-914327-43-7. Covers basic modern horse training, suitable for most disciplines.
• Lyons, John and Jennifer J. Denison. Bringing Up Baby. Primedia Enthusiast Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-929164-12-2. Describes methods of training a young horse from birth up until it is old enough to ride.
• Miller, Robert and Richard Lamb. Revolution in Horsemanship. Lyons Press, 2005. ISBN 1-59228-387-X. Reviews the various methods and schools of what today is known as "Natural horsemanship," with a useful overview of the history of horse training from antiquity to the present.
• Miller, Robert M. Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal. Western Horseman Books, 2003. ISBN 1-58574-666-5 Explains imprint training of young foals in the first days of life.
• Podhajsky, Alois. The Complete Training of Horse and Rider. Doubleday, 1967 ISBN 0-87980-235-9. 20th century text by the former director of the Spanish Riding School covering the training of horses from basic dressage through the haute ecole or "high school" movements.
• Wynmalen, Henry. Dressage: A study of the finer points of riding. Wilshire Book Company, 1971. ISBN 0-87980-187-5. Methods to train horses in the classic dressage tradition.

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