Horse Articles by Jay OJay

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Horse Training Advice - Articles by Jay

Jay has written many articles covering a wide range of horse training methods and techniques. The three currently published on the site are:

Click the links to read the full articles.

Summaries of Jay's Horse Training Articles

In Expanding Your Horse's World, Jay writes about understanding your role in gaining the trust, attention, and focus of your horse. This article explains how to develop horse training skills and techniques that will allow you to communicate more effectively with your horse and allow you to develop a respectful, comfortable and safe relationship.
Read Expanding Your Horse's World

The Round Pen, as Jay explains in this article, is where his work with the horse begins. It is a place that affords the horse the freedom to move but it allows the trainer to remain in a position of control. The article covers many of Jay's round pen techniques shares his years of experience training horses in the round pen. Read The Round Pen.

Jay discusses Vertical Inflexion and simplifies it as simply being the horse's ability to relax through the back in order to bend or flex from head to tail. He expands on this and highlights that vertical inflexion is vital to good horsemanship and essential to your control of the horse. Jay offers a 4-step process that can be followed when training the horse. Read Vertical Inflexion.

Why does your horse spook? Horses are prey animals and predators eat them! Consequently, horses think everything in the world is out to get them– especially the nervous, high-strung types. When a horse feels threatened or trapped his strongest survival instinct is to run for his life – at any cost. There is no thinking – just an immediate and explosive right brain reaction to fear - better known as spooking. We must give our horses something better to deal with their fears than their natural instinct of flight. Read Why Does My Horse Spook?

Jay deals with Fear in this article for Horse Canada magazine. Through a process of working with your horses natural instincts and behaviours, you can build a foundation whereby your horse learns how to deal with his fears in a way that allows him to become more confident and braver - naturally! Read Q and A with Jay O'Jay

Be in control! Teach your horse to be consistently obedient to your Cues. Remember, overall obedience to a wide range of cues is key to a well-behaved horse. By working on improved control you will produce a safer horse, and this will do wonders for your confidence. The bonus – a more enjoyable horse! Read Cueing for Control

If there was a secret to successful Bridling it could be said in a word “Preparation”. Simply put; the more time you take preparing your horse, the more successful you’ll be at bridling. I use the following progressive exercises to produce a brave, confident and trusting horse that will accept a bridle “willingly”. Read Preparing for Successful Bridling and View a short video on Bridling

Your Legs: Nothing personal, but you’ve just got to love those legs! Especially, if your goal is to have an independent seat that enhances both your balance and your effectiveness for controlled movement. Read A Solid Base of Support - Your Legs

Mounting Blocks for Tall Horses & Short Stirrups: While the list is endless, the following are good reasons for teaching your horse to side pass up to a mounting block. Read Mounting Blocks for Tall Horses & Short Stirrups

Pace & Rhythm keeps horses focused: Whether you are wearing a helmet or a cowboy hat, riding in an arena, or on the trail, you should be thinking about “pace and rhythm”. When a horse’s pace and rhythm is steady, there will be even spacing between each of the footsteps that make-up a stride. Read A Pace and Rhythm Keeps Horses Focused