Gaining Trust

[Kiko]

Has anyone got any tips on getting your horse to trust you? At the moment I've been doing some groundwork and getting him to back away from me as he has a lack of respect of my space and is very spooky. I would like him to look to me for re-assurance, has anyone ever tried this or have any excercises or tips?

Thank yoou!!!

 

[OrangeEmpire]

You could try lunging? By using body language to instruct your horse to slow down or move faster you will increase his understanding of you and respect. My horse knows that he is not allowed to approach me in the centre until I say so, and that when he does he gets a big pat (and a polo at the end!). Does wonders for your communication!
My methods are - spread your arms for faster and bring your hands together for slow - ie make your posture bigger and more agressive or rounder and softer depending on what you want. Halt is that I cross my hands with my shoulders rounded. Come here is turn slightly away. This is the language my horse and I have developed and i expect you have to adapt it for each individual! Oh and use voice commands at the same time so that your meaning is clear.
Hope this helps!

 

[Gorgeous George]

I have found lunging and long reining really helpful, we're not very elegant but our communication has definately improved. I like long reining as it seems so much more fun and must be much less boring for the horse. Good exercise for the lunger too!

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I find that spending lots of time with a horse is the best way to get it to trust you. Don't seek conflict with the horse (ie. making it do things you know it finds difficult/dislikes), this will only cause it not to trust you. Build up everything gradually, never push it too far. Take it for walks, catch it in, turn it out etc, just try to involve yourself in the horse's daily routine as much as possible and they'll soon come to recognise and like you. If something feels gimicky/you don't really understand the reasoning behind it/it feels wrong then don't do it. If your horse is scared of something, put yourself between them and the scary object, not only does this keep you out of the way if the horse should spook it also shows the horse you're not afraid and encourages them to be curious and look to you as an example. Don't force the horse to approach what it is afraid of, allow it time to investigate on it's own, I'm sure that with time, so long as you behave consistently and with confidence yourself your horse will learn to trust you and you'll gain the respect you seek.
Good luck.