Young horses only have a small attention span and they are super curious. So what does this mean when we are training them?? The fact they have a short attention span basically means that they will get bored really easily and really quickly if you keep doing the same thing over and over again. Even if you are rewarding them and doing everything correct in terms of training. Your goal is to ensure that you are able to keep them focused on what you want and get them to learn and then quit them before they start trying to make a game out of something they view as boring. As you can see in the video Bumble is quite quick to move on to something new as the last thing became boring. He is trying to continually stimulate his brain and his learning. So keep things fun and interesting for them. Teach them new things, change up your training routine, addsome different disciplines in to help keep them stimulated with working with you and learning. Now young horses are super curious with everything and anything. Has anyone ever left a rug hanging up next to an unattended young horse? Lets all take a moment of silence for the poor rug lol. This is a completely natural thing for young horses to do. This is how they learn, this is what nature intended. Because their curiosity means they are wanting to learn you can use this time when their brains are like a sponge for information to start the process of working with them. Not every horse is going to be physically ready to cope with large amounts of work at an early stage however you can start developing all the ground skills and instil a great foundation for your horse. Teaching them voice commands, how to move their body away from different pressures, getting used to ‘strange’ things like tarps etc, teaching them how to lunge, getting used to working in different areas, float training, having the roller and saddle on, jumping up and down next to them, and the list can go on and on. If your horse is ready to ride then you only have to make your sessions short and simple and keep giving them new things to learn. Keep advancing their training as much as they will let you mentally. They won’t forget anything you taught them, so you can leave several days in between your sessions and pick up right where you left off. Young horses are hard work as you have to keep 10 steps ahead of them at all times but they are the most rewarding to work with as they learn and develop in front of your eyes.
Note: The full video of bumble can be found on Instagram or Facebook 😊