Respect issues in the Box or Stall?

For all those who have been to my clinics this is just a refresher but for all the others who ask me about working with your horse in his/her stall or ask is there a time frame in which I have to show my horse “I am the boss” when one enters the horse’s stall? Here I will answer and clarify my response. 

First off let me say that we are never trying to show the horse we are boss, we want to communicate to the horse that we are Safe & Confident Leaders and we are working on a partnership level not a boss/employee level.

I don’t believe in working with your horse in their stall or box for respect! There is no magical number of minutes that will get your horse to respect you. You cannot approach your horse with a “must do” attitude because you will have create resistance and defiance from the horse. This dominating behavior is the same as an employer or a schoolteacher coming into our own homes and bedrooms and telling us to work harder or do our homework or simply just direct us around when we are resting and enjoying our personal safety zone of relaxation and comfort. The stall is the horse’s sanctuary of peace, I sure don’t want to violate that. Imagine a drill sergeant running into the soldier’s barracks at 4:00am and making everyone jump up and make their beds and do 50 push-ups “on the double”, I know I didn’t sign up for the Army and pretty sure my horse didn’t either. If we humans don’t like it when our personal spaces are violated then why should the horse like being violated as well? The most I will do with my horse when I enter their boxes or stalls is to make sure I am not put into a dangerous situation whether I am cleaning, feeding, doctoring, watering and/or haltering them up for a ride. If you are having issues in the box or stall then you need to remove the horse and yourself from the box and move into a training facility like a round pen. All respect issues and training procedures should be done outside and away from the stall, this is very important, removal from the “relaxing environment” will free up the thoughts in the horses brain and take away the need to defend their personal space. The activities of the outside world will create an environment engages the brain and provides the ability for the thought process and focus can be free and then redirected to performing the task at hand.

When done properly and the horses are worked with respect and kindness then you will notice that you will remove any uncomfortable or unsafe situations or problems when in their bedrooms aka boxes/stalls. Remember to treat the horse as if it was you who is under saddle, on the end of the Lead-Line or in the box stall. When you create this type of relationship then you have Leadership, Safety and a horse that waits on you willingly whether in the box or in the pasture!

Be Safe & Have Fun,

Joe Turner

Rocky Mountain Horseman