Training a horse for good ground manners starts as soon as you enter the stall or field. When you effectively use your vocal and body cues, you are speaking their language. Ineffectively using your cues when trying to catch your horse in the field can cause your horse to run from you. Believe me, it's not easy to catch a horse that doesn't want to be caught. They seem to run in circles around you, teasing you. Ineffective use of your cues would include either sneaking up on your horse from behind, or walking directly at their head.
To effectively communicate with your horse, approach them from the side. Make your presence known; talk to, whistle, or cluck to your horse. Walk towards them with your hand outstretched. This gives a horse that is unfamiliar with you the reassurance that they can be comfortable with you. This is how you should approach every horse in the field, no matter how familiar you are with them. If you disregard these methods, you can startle your horse and cause it to run, potentially teaching a very bad habit.
For a green horse or a horse that has formed the habit of running when approached, there are other pointers for when teaching good field manners. When you are approaching the horse, don't look them in the eye. As with any animal, eye contact is meant to infer dominance. Since horses are a prey animal, if they feel like something or someone is trying to dominate them, they will run. Minimizing eye contact is less threatening to your horse. You may also hide the halter and lead rope behind your back. Horses are smart, and some will associate the halter and lead rope with being ridden. Treats and food can be used to lure your horse if worse comes to worst. However, using food or treats in training a horse should be limited to desperate situations, not every time.
When a horse is consistently difficult to catch, use the previous methods to catch your horse, but occasionally just halter your horse, give them a treat, and take the halter back off. This way, your horse will not assume that they are going to have to work every single time you enter the field. As much as a horse may love being ridden, they have their lazy days as well.
Training a horse for good ground manners extend far beyond the field. Some horses, when standing in the cross ties, will stomp and sway from side to side. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and it doesn't mean your horse is being bad. They could be nervous or anxious. Unless he is pulling hard against the cross ties, it's more of a nuisance than a threat. Some horses do it constantly. To be honest, there is no easy fix for this.
Consistency (not taking them out of the cross ties because they are handling them badly), a stern voice, and a swat on the rump (with your hand only) can help your horse learn that the cross ties are not such a bad thing. They will typically calm down if you groom them while in the cross ties, since it's relaxing to them. If your horse respects and listens to you in other settings, you have a better chance of helping them handle the cross ties well.
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