Discipline

My favorite thing to say is that "You can't let a thousand pound animal push you around," more than likely you will get hurt and riding a horse that doesn't respect you is no fun. I often wonder how some animal lover would react to how I discipline my horses. Not that I don't like animals, I do, but they can't be the boss. You have to prove to them that you are the boss. This does not mean that you beat on your horse. There is a point when showing them whose boss goes too far. You punish them way to severely and they will eventually fear you instead of respect you. You will have to figure out what your horse needs as far as punishment, and when there is too much punishment, but your horse is not a kitten. If you slap a horse the way you would slap a kitten for biting you your horse won't learn anything. You work with an animal that can run around 30 to 50 mph, can jump some 7 feet high, and can kick a pretty good sized dent into their stall that is made of 2 inches of solid wood. "Oh what a cute little horsey!"