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Although many horsemen and trainers extol the virtues of the
round pen, many horse owners still overlook just how powerful
such a pen can be in developing or maintaining a relationship
with a horse. This is a shame because it is truly what I call
the Great Equalizer in a horse-human relationship. Perhaps that
bears some clarification.

I've found many horse owners to be concerned about their
physical strength as opposed to that of their horse. They fear
they simply cannot firmly establish themselves as the alpha, or
leader, of the relationship because the horse is so much
stronger. Thus when their horse displays poor ground manners or
commits an inappropriate action they are more prone to ignore it
and hope it doesn't develop into worse behaviors. After all,
what choice do they have? The horse is just too strong.

The reality is that, except for the youngest of foals, a horse
will always possess more raw strength than a human. Any attempts
to overpower a horse with sheer strength are doomed to fail.
Techniques such as raising your voice towards or slapping a
misbehaving horse do not rely on strength - they are
psychological. The horse does not want the conflict to escalate
as it is uncertain exactly what your capabilities are, therefore
it submits.

Of course there are exceptions, and truth be told such
techniques are best used on already-trained horses or in
situations where you cannot properly establish your authority
due to lack of time or proper surroundings. The best way to
instill respect and discipline into a naughty horse is by
incorporating the Great Equalizer: the round pen.

Whereas many people view a round pen as a means for exercise
(and it is true that it's a great exercise tool), the true power
behind the round pen is its ability to establish dominance in a
completely non-forceful method. In the round pen, physical
strength means very little. It is a quick and easy (as opposed
to other methods) technique to make your alpha status known.

Allow me to share an example that will better illustrate why a
round pen will serve you better than strength.

I once owned a willful young colt raised by a first-time mother,
so unfortunately the mare wasn't all that familiar with the need
to discipline her colt. In fact although the colt was really
quite a nice horse, he was unruly and tended to do whatever he
wanted from day one. An experienced mare would not have
permitted such antics, and had she "laid down the law" better
from the first day the colt would likely have been a little less
rambunctious.

Soon it came time to provide halter and lead training to this
young upstart, and true to his form he made sure the task was
trying. Although more than willing to walk with you, he felt
there was little need to do so in an orderly fashion. If he
"accidentally" bumped into you, or strayed so far from your side
that you had to cling to the lead line with an iron grip, so be
it. Snapping or jerking the lead line didn't impress him much.

Even worse, as a colt develops into a mature stallion they often
can become very "nippy." This one was no different at first.
Just as he did with his mother, he would sneak tiny bites and
nips when you weren't watching, and although there wasn't mean
intent behind them let's face it - they hurt!

Anytime a horse strikes at you (and a nip should be considered a
strike) it's important that you retaliate with conviction so
they think twice about doing so again. But when I would give
this colt a fairly light slap he would almost smirk to himself
and try to nip me again! Was he being mean-spirited? No! This
colt grew up with no significant discipline from his mother and
no fear of humans - we imprinted him from birth and thus he
trusted us. Since he did not fear me, he thought I was engaging
in some horseplay as any other colt would do.

A slap, as harsh as it sounds to us, is not always about force.
It generally does not cause a horse much pain, but rather it is
intended as a shock technique for a horse that already
recognizes you as an alpha. Since this colt saw me as a playmate
and equal, he possessed no fear of my slaps - my choice was to
either escalate the physical force (which is generally not my
first choice) or establish my dominance in a gentle way via the
round pen.

Once I established that slaps or verbal growls would not have
any effect on this colt, anytime he would nip at me or try my
patience with his rebellious ways we would march straight to the
round pen or enclosed paddock. While this colt found the notion
amusing for the first five minutes or so, eventually the round
pen will drain the "oats" from nearly any horse and he was no
different.

With consistent round pen work, this colt soon learned that I
wasn't a simple playmate - I was his leader. Although we could
still enjoy each other's company, it had to be on terms that
were agreeable to the both of us (no more black and blues!). Due
to consistent round pen work, the leading, nipping and general
disrespect issues became a thing of the past.

I hope my example of this young colt showed the folly of
depending upon physical force to achieve your goals -
"outgunning" a horse is not easy, practical or desirable. Never
accept poor behavior and do not feel your authority is measured
solely by your raw strength; both are mistakes that are all too
commonly committed by horse owners. Instead consider the use of
a round pen (or in a pinch you can use a longe line) and find
out how easy training and discipline can be when using the Great
Equalizer.

About the author:
Jeffrey Rolo, owner of AlphaHorse and an experienced horse
trainer and breeder, is the author of the above article. You
will find many other informational articles dealing with horse
training and care as well as games and other horse fun on his
website: http://www.alphahorse.com.
Copyright © 2005 AlphaHorse. All Rights Reserved.
 

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