MAY 2022 THE RIDER /31
a young horse. I figured I had plenty of expe- rience retraining my older horses, so how hard could it be to start from scratch? SO I dove
in....trading my best AQHA mare for an AQHA colt I had only seen via Internet. I began ground training him at 2 years
Palm Partnership Training™ Building A Partnership With Your Horse Golden Rules for Ground Training
by Lynn Palm No matter what your
horse’s age, investing the time in ground training will make him a more responsive, obedi- ent partner. I’d like to share with you my “Golden Rules” for ground training any horse. Before beginning any
ground training lesson, make sure you have set the founda- tion for success we discussed in the “Beginning Ground Train- ing” series. Go back and re- view them if you need to. Here’s a quick summary. Start with the proper
equipment: a properly fitting halter, longe line with or with- out a “stud chain”, leg protec- tion, and a 3-4 foot dressage
Even if a horse is very quiet, a handler standing too far in front of a horse can be trampled if he spooks. This position will cause you lose control of the horse’s head and neck. You will not be able to encourage the horse to stay forward, but will use a pulling action to stay in control. A handler should always
stand at minimum distance of one arm’s length away from their horse. The most common fault is standing too close. This unsafe position increases the handler’s chance of being hit by the horse’s legs or stepped on. I’ll never forget my first in- structor telling me: “if you get stepped on by a horse, it’s your fault for standing too close.”
between your contact on the longe and your horse. This takes time and practice, but it is great test of responsiveness and obedience While working on achieving this dis-
tance, your horse may try to come toward you, crowding your space. If this happens you can use your arm in an action to shake the longe toward the horse to encourage him to maintain the desired space. I’ll teach you more about this training technique in upcoming newslet- ters.
From a reader: I received this e-mail message from a
newsletter reader. With April’s permission I would like to share it with you. My name is April. I have ridden since I
was 5 years old, owned and trained my own horses since I was 12. At 20 years of age I thought it would be great fun to raise and train
old. He excelled at ground training so fast that by the time he was 2.5 I thought I could ride him easy enough. So I climbed aboard and was surprised to find a totally different situa- tion. This is when I realized I needed help. I sent him to sixty days training at a local barn. But when I got him back he was not the will- ing and eager horse I knew he was before. That night I went through all my old
horse magazines and ran across Lynn Palm’s Longevity Training series in a magazine. I be- came immersed in the articles and read them over until I knew exactly what to do. I began a thorough retraining of my horse. Immedi- ately I saw his willingness to learn come back to life and a total enjoyment of working. Lynn’s series has helped me so much in
training my horse and I owe her a great grati- tude for it. Now I am working on improving my seat so I can ride and train him better using her techniques. It just keeps getting better and better! ——April Thanks, April, for your support of Palm
Partnership Training. Your willingness to learn and positive attitude tell me that you and your horse will achieve the long lasting partnership we all want with our horses. I look forward to the day that you can come and ride with me!
Your Next Step… Be patient. Ground training takes time.
You may spend several days or weeks on one lesson. Make your sessions short to keep your horse’s attention and try to end on a positive note. Rushed or impatient handling now will affect future training sessions. Ground training is not mentally or phys-
ically fatiguing for a horse so it is something you can do every day—if you keep the lessons short and interesting. It is a must for young horses. For older horses it can give good va- riety to your schooling and give you another opportunity to spend time together. So prac- tice!
Reward any progress your horse makes.
Praise him with your voice. If your horse is not used be being petted, start by gently touch- ing him. Once he accepts a touch, try stroking him on his neck, then along his back in the di- rection that his hair is growing. Graduate to gently petting him. Horses usually love to be stroked on their foreheads! A carrot treat and brushing after the lesson will make your horse look forward to the next lesson. That’s the most important “Golden Rule” for success in building a partnership with your horse.
Lynn For more information, please call 1-800-
503-2824 or visit
www.lynn
palm.com. Lynn Palm Royal Palm Ranch, LTD. 9445 NW 60th Ave. Ocala, Florida 34482 352-629-3310 - Phone/Fax 800-503-2824
whip. I prefer using a longe line to a lead when ground training horses and will use that term rather
ing location.
throughout these articles. Carefully select the train- I recommend
starting lessons in the horse’s stall or another small, familiar enclosed area, no matter what the horse’s age. This will help him stay focused and relaxed. As a lesson is mastered, your horse can graduate to repeating it in a slightly less secure area like a paddock or round pen. Finally, create a written lesson plan for each training session. Now that we have you and
your horse properly equipped, here is my first “Golden Rule” of ground training.
Golden Rule #1: Respect Your Position The first golden rule of
ground training is: You must make sure that your position in relationship to your horse gives you safety and control. The most common problem I see are handlers not positioning themselves properly. Always stand with your shoulder at the middle of your horse’s neck. Never position yourself farther forward than his throatlatch (the area where his head and neck meet) or behind his shoul- der.
Standing too far forward,
at the horse’s head or in front of his head, is an unsafe position.
The handler’s hand posi- than “lead”
tion controls the horse’s head— and this is the most important part of the horse to control! Whether the handler is standing on the near (left) or off (right) side of the horse, the hand clos- est to the horse holds the longe line attached to the halter. If the handler is standing on the horse’s near side, it will be her right hand; if standing on the off side, it will be her left hand. This hand should be positioned at the middle of the horse’s head, below the jaw and above the mouth. The other hand holds the excess longe line in organized, loose coils. Grasp the longe no closer
than 5 inches from the halter. This arm should have a slight bend at the elbow for flexibil- ity. A common problem is holding the longe too tight or too close to bottom of the hal- ter, and steering the horse from underneath his head. As an in- structor, I have found that the hardest thing to teach people is that that they do not need to stand underneath him to control and force their horse with a lot of pulling action. As your handling skills
advance and your horse’s train- ing improves, the further away you will be able to hold the longe from him and still get the desired response. Your goal should be to successfully exe- cute basic ground training movements with at least 3 feet
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