Leading training

[Ponylove]

Hello all!

My first miniature horse colt arrived last week - it’s been a great first week so far! I’ve been working on grooming him, spending time in his stall with him getting him used to be touched all over and picking up his feet.

My best friend also has a mini and they are turned out together. We have been walking them together on the property and going through trails which has been lots of fun!

However when I try to walk him myself on the property he refuses to budge. If we bring the other mini along he will also come along pretty Willingly. I have started using a mini horse crop (only using it petting him and lightly tapping him to come along on Walks)

Just looking for some advice/ opinions as this is my first horse and I want to make sure I am doing all I can for the little guy.

Should I just continue to walk him with the other mini to get him more comfortable?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Willow Flats]

Hello all!

My first miniature horse colt arrived last week - it’s been a great first week so far! I’ve been working on grooming him, spending time in his stall with him getting him used to be touched all over and picking up his feet.

My best friend also has a mini and they are turned out together. We have been walking them together on the property and going through trails which has been lots of fun!

However when I try to walk him myself on the property he refuses to budge. If we bring the other mini along he will also come along pretty Willingly. I have started using a mini horse crop (only using it petting him and lightly tapping him to come along on Walks)

Just looking for some advice/ opinions as this is my first horse and I want to make sure I am doing all I can for the little guy.

Should I just continue to walk him with the other mini to get him more comfortable?

Thanks everyone!

You will want to become his leader so I would take the time to work on this with him. The two of you need to become a team. Hard to explain technique in the written form so I googled "how to train a miniature horse to lead" and there are some good videos. I would post a link if I knew how. Can anyone else do this to help?
Good luck with your new little guy!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Couldn't agree more with the advice Willow flats has given

I also think you have done great spending time with him during the first week, getting to know him. He does need to learn that you are the boss, so when you ask him to move forward, he does so. You Mentioned he is a colt ? so im guessing he hasn't had a lot of training at all ?

Good luck with him and keep us posted on your progress

 

[Ponylove]

Thanks for the reply’s everyone! I recently purchased a rope halter and I have been using a training stick. The last few days have been great - we have been taking walks by ourselves and when he doesn’t want to move forward I lightly use the training stick and this has worked wonders. I think he is finally starting to see me as the leader.

I still have lots of learning to do with my new little guy but we are headed in the right direction!

 

[Willow Flats]

Ponylove,
That's great! Everything you are doing now will set him up for future success. Teaching him good manners is so important. Good for you. Keep us posted on how its going.