Pratt Natural Horsemanship

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Pratt Natural Horsemanship Equine problem solving, lessons, horsemanship, and training help. I offer training by the hour, by the week, and by the month.
(5)

Problem solving using natural horsemanship methods: including but not limited to: regaining trust for rescue horses, tying issues, head/ear shyness, haltering/bridleing issues, deworming refusal, desensitizing to spooky objects, lack of respect(crowding/pushiness), lack of trust, crossing water, saddling problems, not standing still for mounting, round penning, lunging problems, not picking up fe

et/kicking, if it isn't listed, ask about it, I can't list everything. handling foals/weanlings/yearlings, etc. For hourly training/problem solving, you can trailer your horse to me, or I can travel to you(within reason), I also offer advice on horse handling and care for beginners, BASIC riding lessons, and assistance in regaining confidence for those who either are afraid of horses in general, or have had a wreck and lost their confidence.

05/11/2024

Anyone new visiting my page, if you scroll down (quite a ways) you will find a lot of my “training tip of the month” posts, and a few helpful videos. If you want to know how I do things, those tips will give you a lot of insight.

A little bit about me. I consider myself more of a problem solver than a “trainer”. I don’t do c**t starting anymore, I don’t take your horse and put rides on him for you. Whatever it is your horse needs(or you think maybe he needs), I identify it and get you started on the right track to fixing it or getting what you want. Even if it is a riding issue, I will likely go back to some groundwork first. I will show you the process of how to do it yourself, and help you along the way. Sending your horse to a trainer and having them do all the work for you does you no good when the horse gives you trouble later. I want you to know the whole process so when something happens later, YOU can fix it before it gets out of hand. I also do basic riding lessons, for beginners or for anyone having an issue they need some help working out. If you are a beginner with your first horse, I can teach you all of the do’s and don’ts, and give you riding lessons so you can have and maintain a good, safe partnership with your horse. If you are not a beginner but are having trouble with your horse, I can help you “problem solve” and get back on the right track.

I am based at Lewis Bottoms Farms, by Palo, Iowa. Currently I do not carry the insurance necessary for me to do training there, but I can come to your horse’s location, within a reasonable distance. I charge $50 per hour. I may pick up the insurance in the spring to be able to do sessions at Lewis Bottoms, we will see.

08/09/2024

Horses will usually tell you what they need, you just have to be able to read what they are telling you with their body language, be able to notice all of the little details. When under saddle you also have to be able to watch the entire package, what the rider is doing and how it is affecting the horse. People don’t usually have a horse problem, the horse has a people problem. There is a communication gap whether it is on the ground or under saddle. I can help you bridge that gap in communication.

08/09/2024

After an extended break, I am itching to get started with problem solving and lessons again. Have a problem with your horse you can’t figure out how to fix? Is there something you wish your horse could do that you are not sure how to teach? Not getting along with your horse under saddle and need a lesson or two to get it figured out? New to horses and need lessons? I will travel to your location, within reason. I do not require a certain number of sessions, if all you need is one to get you going, then I am happy to just do one. I can do as many or as few sessions as you need. $50 per hour, plus extra if traveling more than 25 miles from Palo. Pm me with questions and/or visit my page for training tips/etc. 10 years of problem solving/clinics/lessons(plus another 10 years doing it unofficially before that), 39 years total horse ownership(starting from 14, not birth, lol). Horses will tell you what they need, you just have to have a good eye for their body language and pay attention to all of the little details, including reading what is going on with the rider when under saddle.

03/08/2024

Hi there! After an extended break, I am going to start advertising again for lessons and problem solving…at the location of your horse. Looking forward to meeting new horses and owners to help develop communication and do some problem solving.

16/04/2024

Exactly. When preparing a horse to ride, I do EVERYTHING from the ground. Including getting a light stop and turn with a bit. I also teach them that leg pressure means move forward…yes, from the ground, removing the reaction a lot of horses have to their first experience of leg pressure.

28/02/2024
02/12/2023

Getting light horse, part 1.

Oh my, where to start. I don’t care how dead sided or hard mouthed a horse is, it can be re-trained to respond to a light touch on reins or sides. No harsh bits, no spurs, no kicking. It takes time and patience, but most of all, it takes commitment by the rider to change how they ride, and follow through, no matter how long and frustrating it is. That becomes the most difficult part.

My best suggestion is to start from the ground. Yes, the ground. Unless you are too short to reach over your horse’s withers if you are working on the mouth.

I will address working on the mouth first.
Preferably starting with a 4 knot rope halter, attaching reins to either side. You are using a halter first because you are going to have to use a lot of pressure at first for extended periods, and it is just easier on the horse’s mouth. If you have a round pen or small area to work in, that would be ideal. Stand next to the horse with your hands on the reins as if you were riding. (If your horse is too tall, you can try it in the line driving position with a couple of lunge lines attached for reins). Here is one of the hardest things for most people to remember: PICK UP LIGHTLY FIRST, EVERY SINGLE TIME! Even though you know the horse won’t respond at first, it doesn’t matter, you still HAVE to give it a chance to feel it, a CHANCE to respond. If you only ever pick up the reins hard and fast, your horse can never get any lighter than that, and will only get worse. The next hardest part is remembering to keep steady pressure on the reins NO MATTER WHAT until you get a full stop. Even if you need to adjust your grip, you CANNOT release the pressure even a tiny bit until they come to a complete stop or you will be giving them a release/reward, reinforcing their resistance.

At first, you are going to be at a standstill, looking for the horse to give to the pressure and tuck their nose, doing it in such a way that you feel a split second slack in the reins. Pick up the reins lightly, wait a couple seconds then increase the pressure. If still no response after a couple seconds , increase the pressure again. Keep increasing until you feel like you can’t anymore and then just HOLD the pressure. Make absolutely sure that you are not giving ANY release of the pressure during the increases or while holding the pressure. The SECOND you feel the horse give you ANY slack in the reins, drop the reins INSTANTLY. Be careful not to give a release if they try turning their head to the side, they have to give by tucking their nose down quickly enough to give you a split second slack in the reins.

I am going to come back and edit this to continue later.

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I offer training by the hour, by the week, and by the month. Problem solving using natural horsemanship methods: including but not limited to: regaining trust for rescue horses, tying issues, head/ear shyness, haltering/bridleing issues, deworming refusal, desensitizing to spooky objects, lack of respect(crowding/pushiness), lack of trust, crossing water, saddling problems, not standing still for mounting, round penning, lunging problems, not picking up feet/kicking, if it isn't listed, ask about it, I can't list everything. handling foals/weanlings/yearlings, etc. For hourly training/problem solving, you can trailer your horse to me, or I can travel to you(within reason), I also offer advice on horse handling and care for beginners, BASIC riding lessons, and assistance in regaining confidence for those who either are afraid of horses in general, or have had a wreck and lost their confidence.

With clinic season right around the corner, I thought I would post this for people visiting my page to decide if they want to participate. Also for anyone thinking of private training or lessons.

What are my qualifications for doing this? Well, here is what I am not: I am not a fancy show person, I have never been a bronc rider, roper, reiner, cowboy, cowgirl, haven’t broke 1000 c**ts, I don’t wear a cowboy hat, chaps, spurs, typically don’t wear cowboy boots(they hurt my feet), I just don’t feel the need for a costume, I don’t live in Montana or Texas, I don’t do dressage, or jumping, barrel racing or any competitive this or that.

What I am: I am a regular horse owner who got in a bad accident years ago, and lost all confidence, to the point of being ready to be done with horses. One night I saw a video of someone using natural horsemanship to make a horse safer, both on the ground and in the saddle. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just the basics. I wanted to be able to do that for myself. So I bought some videos, studied them, and started using it on my horses. I spent hours watching and re-watching the videos, and many more hours making mistakes, then trying again, and then perfecting the techniques. I started to realize that there were a lot of horses out there that had the same problems with just the basics. I started practicing on other people’s horses, learning how to read each horse and figure out how to change the technique to fit each horse. Then I decided to try to help other people. Let’s face it, the vast majority of horse owners don’t need someone to teach them roping, reining, or showing, they need help with the basics! Leading a horse without the horse pulling or walking on them, keeping a horse at a safe distance instead of on top of them while standing still, be able to get a horse to back up out of their space in any situation with or without a lead rope, to be able to lunge a horse without being drug all over the arena, or the horse going whatever speed IT chooses, to be able to desensitize a horse to something they are afraid of. From the saddle, to be able to safely and reliably get a nice stop, even in a scary situation, to fix a horse that is heavy on the bit, either for stopping or turning or both, to be able to mount safely, to fix the horse that moves around during mounting and or walks off before you even get in the saddle, to fix the horse that is lazy, to fix the horse that thinks he can go whatever speed he wants, to slow down the horse with the crazy fast trot that rattles your teeth....to get safe, reliable, 2 way, consistent communication both on the ground and in the saddle. THAT is what I can do because of the hundreds of hours I put in learning how to do it, then learning how to adjust it to fit each horse. I have figured out how to get into the head of each horse, learn what motivates each one, how to break things down into little pieces the horse can understand. I have learned how to watch people interact with their horses and see where the communication is breaking down. I have learned how to help people as well as horses. I refuse to call myself a trainer, because I feel that title is reserved for those people that have the ability and courage to get on any horse, any time, in any situation. It is reserved for that guy that can actually get a walk/trot/canter out of a horse in 30 days. I do problem solving, and yes I go as far as to call it training, because it is training a horse to be better than it was. I don’t charge a lot for clinics or training or riding lessons, because I don’t have any titles or awards or certifications. I do charge some because I put a lot of hours, heart, soul, blood(and other injuries, including concussions), sweat(a whole lot of that), and yes, a few frustrated tears, into getting to this point. I also don’t charge a lot because when people charge $200 for 4 hours of the basics(which is what a lot of these big name trainers do), it limits the participants to people that have a lot of money, and puts that help out of reach of the average horse owner. I want the average horse owner to have access to the help they need to just be able to enjoy their horse, not be frustrated by the basics, and interact safely with their horse both on the ground and in the saddle.