Voice commands
Talk to your horse when you approach it and handle it.
Horse commands are learnt by the tone or your voice.
They will know if you are pleased or cross with them.
When you use your voice you need to be consistent with the words you use and also your tone and pitch of voice.
If you want your young horse to stand you would say “stand!” quite firmly or “whoa!” using the same word every time for the same command.
When the horse has been good you would praise him by stroking his neck and telling him verbally “good boy”.
Your voice should be full of praise and pleasant.
Keep your voice commands simple and short with no more than three words.
The young horse will switch off if you talk all the time to him.
You may need to repeat the command several times until your horse begins to understand what you want him to do.
Examples of horse training voice commands
. Good boy
. Good girl
. Good lad
. Good man
. Naughty boy
. Naughty girl
. Whoa
. Stand
. Wait
. Walk on
. Trot on
. Steady
. Canter
. Over
.back back
Always praise your horse for good behaviour. Stoke it and use your vocal command at the same time.
When riding ,if you feel your horse is anxious or worried, talk to him calmly in a soothing voice whilst stroking his neck at the same time.
This will help to relax it and he will gain confidence with the positive encouragement from the rider.
If you are riding and your horse and spots something down the road, he will pick up his ears, shorten his stride and raise his head up.
You need to use your vocal commands “walk on” you might need to repeat this several times as well as using your seat and legs to encourage the youngster to move forward.
Once the horse understands your voice the bonding will improve, he will become easier to ride.
Using your voice will instil confidence, calm him down or walk him up.
The voice can be used to reward him or warn him to behave properly or reprimand if he is being naughty.
When competing horses it is seen as unprofessional to use your voice and shout at the horse . When competing in a dressage test you would loose marks for using your voice.
Some people click at a horse (click your tongue) when they are around it.
This can be quite unsettling for the horse and this action will not calm it down.
Clicking is sometimes used to get a horse to move forward off a corner.
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Voice commands > >> Home
Mountin the green horse for the first time.
Riding the green pony on a lung line.
Training the young horse to halt square and half halt.
Riding the young horse off the lunge line.
Backing a horse
Cantering the newly backed horse
Working on the bit
