Unwelcome Distractions: When Your Horse Pays Attention to Everything (Except You)

Ride On with Julie Goodnight

In this episode, I'll talk about teaching a horse to calm down and focus. I teach horses within just a few minutes of training not to look around excessively, and (you've probably heard this a lot!) to “focus on me or focus on nothing.” But why is this important? What's the big deal with letting your horse look around?

Horses that are looking excessively are either frantically searching for something to be afraid of, or they are looking for the exit—and have no intention of staying here with you. I'll go over two simple ground manners to teach your horse that will help keep you safe (especially when things go sideways), and can help an anxious or spooky horse become calm and able to focus on me.

But before we get to all of that, I’m excited to officially introduce a brand new segment to the podcast called "Long Story Short." I'll kick off each episode by telling you one of my many stories from the early days of my horse training career. Some funny or amusing, others with touches of excitement or inspiration—all have hard-won lessons everyone can benefit from.

And in the “What the Hay? Q&A” segment, I’ll answer questions from listeners about about etiquette for correcting bad behavior in someone else’s horse, if horses move into pressure or away from pressure, and about restarting an older horse.

Want your question answered in What the Hay? Email [e-mail]