Groundwork 101.

Groundwork is a fundamental part of training your horse. It is the first step in starting a young horse and can also be used to sharpen your older horse's skills. It also helps when you ride and it also can teach your horse new concepts. The following list is some different exercises that you can do with your horse.

1. Teach your horse to follow you without pulling on the lead line. Your horse should follow you, stop with you, and turn with you. This can be achieved by practice first off, but here are some pointers on how you can achieve this with your horse.
• Use a small whip and ask the horse to walk with you. You should be holding on to the line. If the horse does not move when you move your hand forward and begin to walk, give them a slight tap on the belly. Then ask the horse to stop. Place the whip in front of them as you stop. Continue this and eventually your horse will learn to follow you without the lead line or whip.
2. Teach your horse to back smoothly. This technique is extremely important when showing in showmanship. You want your horse to back in a nice manner with little effort.
• Begin by holding the lead line close to the halter. Apply pressure to your horse's face. As soon as they move their head toward their chest release. Do this until the horse knows that a little pressure and I move my head, the pressure is gone. Once the horse has mastered that, continue to apply pressure and the horse will try to shift his weight back.
3. You can also teach your horse to do transitions with you. This is also important for showmanship. You have already taught your horse how to follow you, stop, and smoothly back up so now you can begin combining it into one long session.
• You can start by walking along side your horse. Make different patterns like, walk, trot, stop, back. You can make a whole bunch of different combinations that your horse will enjoy. When you want to change directions, walk into your horse's shoulder, never pull the horse toward you.

Here is a video of different groundwork techniques that you can use that I did not mention above: Groundwork.