More about groundwork

Groundwork never ends with your pony or horse, when you teach you learn more everyday. My goal was to work with horses with my hands in my pockets and they do what I want, just by me using equine body language. It does work and you can do it, all you need is to study the way horses and ponies communicate plus hours of training and lots of patience. There comes time when I don’t even ask they just do it for me.

I taught my pony Odin to come back to the gate when he is sent into the field so I can take his headcollar off. He does get a reward for this as it consolidates his actions. When Odin and Molly are turned out in the morning they run to the far side of the ménage and wait for me to go over to them. Grooming and petting is the reward. It does look amazing when people see what they do, it is great to show off the end results and get people to want to work with horses without any sticks ropes or whips. 

To get to a level where you can teach horses at liberty you must start at the very beginning of groundwork. Working you way up to liberty and beyond is a wonderful experience for both you and your horse or pony.