Bombproof Your Horse: Teach Your Horse to be Confident, Obedient and Safe No Matter What You Encounter - Softcover

Pelicano, Rick; Tjaden, Lauren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0851318967 ISBN 13: 9780851318967

Publisher: J.A.Allen & Co Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Every type of horse and pony, no mater how well trained, is at one time or another faced with objects or situations that are confusing, if not downright terrifying. As riders, we often simply just wait for this moment to happen - and the resulting frightening, out-of-control bolt, baulk, wheel around, or buck. We tend to expect this sort of reaction and believe that it comes with the territory. What we need to do instead - in order to avoid risking life and limb - is to train the horse to cope with these disturbances. In other words, we need to bombproof our horses. Sergeant Rick Pelicano, of the Maryland National Capitol Park Police, knows only too well how important it is for horses to be absolutely safe - bombproof - when confronted with unusual circumstances. For many years, he trained new mounted officers and their horses to withstand massive crowds, noise, chaos and everything that is thrown at them (sometimes literally) in police work. Although most riders don't anticipate having to deal with the challenges that police horses face, this method of training works just as well for average horses and accustoms them to incidents and unusual terrain such as back-firing cars, speeding motorcycles and trucks, plastic bags and flags on windy days, and everybody's favourite bugbear, crossing water or ditches. Working up to a performance over fifteen different obstacles including walking on mattresses, through piles of soft balls and balloons, and by umbrellas and road flares, Sgt. Pelicano presents his bombproofing programme in an easy-to-understand, logical, instructional manner, with many photos illustrating his step-by-step techniques. In addition, he offers sections on teaching basic necessary skills like walking on unusual surfaces, self-loading into the trailer, dealing with unknown odours, as wells as more advanced skills such as carrying flaps and riding in parades. He also presents a highly informative chapters, with instruction and advice not available elsewhere, on display formation riding - both in small and large groups.

About this title

About the Author:

Sergeant Rick Pelicano has been a mounted police officer for twenty years with the Maryland National Park Police in charge of the equestrian training of the horses and officers in the department. He was in charge of training and worked with mounted security for the equestrian venue at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, 1996. Sergeant Pelicano began to conduct bombproofing clinics in 1997, after helping a local mounted volunteer unit. These clinics proved very popular, and he soon expanded his clinic schedule to accommodate the general equestrian public.

About this edition

• Publisher: J.A.Allen & Co Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0851318967
• ISBN 13: 9780851318967
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192