Q. What ideas can you share about a horse that won’t stand?
A. Horses that halt promptly and stand quietly are a real joy! People who remember the days when horses “worked for a living,” often all day , every day, say that those horses were glad to stand and rest!
Today our horses need to be trained to stand still as part of their education. Horses free in the pasture spend hours standing motionless and relaxed. We should try to teach them to stand as calmly on the carriage.
It helps to accustom the horse to standing tied up with the harness on before he is hitched, so he doesn’t associate wearing the harness with fast work. After hitching, waiting to move off, until the driver has counted slowly to 100 or more, will help establish the habit of standing. Some drivers periodically hitch up, stand for a while, unhitch and put the horse away without moving at all to give the horse a lesson on standing.
Asking your horse to halt and stand in the same place repeatedly helps him learn. If the horse is restless, make a circuit and return to the same place, asking him to stand again. This routine may need to be repeated many times. An assistant, to stand in front of the horse, is helpful at first.
Visiting the neighbors and stopping to chat is good standing practice. Some people bring along a newspaper to read while the horse stands. As with most horse behavior, forcing the issue seldom leads to success. With practice, most horses will learn to relax and enjoy standing in harness.
– Anne Wakefield-Leck
A. Anyone training the green, inexperienced horse should always to the animal to stand on the longe or long lines, preferably using a verbal command. However, equines do learn bad habits quickly.
There are several things that may work, depending on the temperament of the animal. First go back to the basics, either longeing or long-lining, using your command to halt and stand.
When driving the most important training is not to move off as soon as the equines’ header walks away. Stop during your drive to talk to neighbors to friends. If you have a groom have them take carrots or sugar to keep equine occupied. Sometimes equines are full of energy and the best time to work on the halt and stand is on the way home, when the freshness has gone.
– David Saunders
Read additional answers by Katie Whaley, Andreas Nemitz, and Mary Ruth Marks as part of the Tack Room Talk series in The Carriage Journal, October 2002.
