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Training: Why it is important to have a curious horse

Do you have a curious horse? Then you might recognize the following from your training or just the daily handling of the horse. "Bend the horse away from what it is afraid of." Or "Just ride fast past what makes it nervous". But this might not be the best method at all. At least not if you ask Michelle Lindenskov from The Art of Mindful Horsetraining, where she publishes i.a. podcasts on horse training. Michelle encourages all horse owners to train their horses to be curious because it ultimately ensures calmer rides.

You may also like to read: Study: How much your horse blinks reveals its level of stress

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Foals naturally explore everything

Foals, like so many other animal children, are born with a natural curiosity towards their surroundings. They have to learn what is dangerous and what is not. So they scratch the surface, for example, to see if it is safe to walk on. Over time, the investigative behavior disappears, but as Michelle Lindenskov points out, it can be helpful to stick with it because it results in a lower stress level. Michelle explains it like this:

"A horse trained to be curious will often examine things instead of fleeing from them"

Michelle Lindenskov

7 tips - teaching your horse to explore the world

Start by finding out what motivates your horse. Maybe it loves treats, a favorite exercise or a proper round of cuttel. Use that as praise in your workout.

  • Make sure you have the right mindset yourself. It may seem silly to let the horse sniff and puff with the muzzle of a red bucket, but for the horse it may be the first time it sees one. How much time do you actually spend yourself when you are curious about something? Keep this in mind when exercising.
  • Do not push the horse too far. If there is something that seems scary, let the horse stand at the far end of the robe and observe.
  • Make sure there are not a lot of other distractions. If you want to train your horse to cross a blue tarpaulin on the riding arena, do not try for the first time in stormy weather or when the big tractor comes and remove the manure. It is better to wait a day and look for calm weather.
  • Start from the ground before extending the exercise by sitting on the horse.
  • Let the horse scrape, bite, push and overturn the object and give it space to pull away if it becomes too much.
  • Last but not least: Remember to praise the horse every time it shows curiosity.
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Not all horses are equally curious

It is important to remember that all horses are different. Therefore they will not all be equally exploratory by nature. When that is the case, it is important to make the exercise more inviting for the horse. Maybe the red bucket or the blue tarpaulin is not interesting enough, well then it could be that a Pilates ball does the trick.

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