Keep Your Training Interesting:

Otto Loving Playing At Liberty

Here's Otto, showing some exuberance while out playing our Liberty games together.

Ots is a super-intelligent boy. Therefore, you've got to keep him entertained and busy, or he can get bored very easily. There's no lunging in our sessions, that's for sure, and we give him lots of variety, which is the key to getting him engaged and willing.

Unfortunately, I see too much repetitive drill schooling happening with many horses. We have found that this is the surest way to get into trouble with highly intelligent horses. Like many of these horses, boredom for this big fella leads to mischief, resistance, argumentativeness, or behavioural challenges.

Therefore, we make sure to play a lot of interactive games with him, which serves to stimulate his mind as well as provide exercise. Ots just loves it, as can be seen by his cheeky expression and the way he carries himself in this photo.

When he is enjoying himself like this, I just can't wipe the smile off my face because being involved with him having so much fun is one of the best feelings in the world for me. I just adore this fantastic horse so much. It's hard to believe he had so many issues when he arrived, as he is just so calm and enjoyable to be around now.

What do you do with your horse to keep things interesting?