It’s important for you to know
Horse training at Adgor Riding Complex is based on natural horsemanship. It is free of violence and aims in building mutual trust between rider and horse. Based on that trust, each horse’s abilities as well as training in a specific direction are developed. The training can conditionally be divided into several sections: groundwork, starting young horses, and work under saddle – instruction in practical or western riding, curing bad habits.
Groundwork
Groundwork with the horse is an important part of establishing a harmonious relationship between man and horse. The discipline horses learn during groundwork contributes greatly to further training. Any contact and communication with the horse is a type of training – when the horse enters or exits its stall, when you put or take off the halter, when you want to tie or untie the horse, when you want to lead the horse, and so on.
Everyone does groundwork with the horse, but not everyone is aware of it. And the horse learns from everything. The horse picks up both good and bad habits. With or without problem behavior, groundwork is part of your daily work and training with the horse. By becoming aware of the significance of this type of work you can teach the horse to do many things. The horse can come to you and follow you, can move forwards or backwards, spin and turn the way we want it to; you can teach the horse not to fear different things, to walk, trot or gallop at your command and many other things. Groundwork plays an exceptional role both in preventing and also in curing bad habits or problem behavior. It can be applied to any horse, to any riding style, to both young and mature horses. Groundwork contributes in building a harmonious relationship between man and horse. When the horse is young and cannot yet be ridden, groundwork prepares it in such a way that during training, the horse already knows what the rider wants and expects.
Breaking
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Breaking, or starting, refers to the first rides the horse performs under saddle. Well started horses will develop good habits, which are safe both for the rider and the horse. Breaking is a natural stage in horse training and is part of the horse’s development. We start horses without inflicting trauma on either horse or rider basing our work on natural horsemanship. The well-trained horse is calm, free of bad habits, respects its rider and has a good bond with him.
Riding (work under saddle)
Work under saddle develops and sharpens the skills of any riding horse. It is connected both with developing certain habits and with building a relationship of trust between horse and rider. Instilling the right habits when working under saddle is of paramount importance to the safety of both horse and rider.
Adgor Riding Complex offers western riding and practical riding.
Bad Habits / Problem Behavior
When we talk of bad habits or problem behavior we usually mean things the horse does which endanger the safety of people and/or the horse itself. In some cases this is clear cut. For example, it’s absolutely unacceptable if the horse bites or kicks, or if it throws its rider, and so on. Other times, it’s not as obvious: for example, haltering difficulty, walking in front of a leading person, the horse’s fear of different things and the resulting unforeseen reactions, difficulty loading the horse into a trailer, etc.
A good training could prevent the development of such habits by making communication with the horse much more effective, meaningful and safe. However, if your horse is making life difficult for you by exhibiting some of its peculiarities, it’s not late to change this. You may need a consultation with one of our experts to identify the problems and agree on the working parameters for their solution.
Horse training at Adgor Riding Complex is done by a team led by a qualified expert with many years of international experience in working with horses by practicing and developing the art of natural horsemanship in Bulgaria.