Liberty Horsemanship

That's hilarious... & would make a great act - teach them to lunge eachother! I'm going to have a go! Yup, examples like that make me not so sure of my last comments! Not that I've found it the case with my horses - I taught my boy to get his halter & he does when he sees me or hears me coming to the paddock, but pony hasn't ever done so. With the big 'soccer ball', the horse likes to push it with his nose & the pony likes to bite it & climb on it. Had to actively teach them to do what eachother does.

Saranda, I actually tried to teach Nohea to back up by having my mother's horse back up as an example, but Maverick is a bully and Nohea is always tense around him. I think he was more willing to pay attention to Luke because they are both lower in the pecking order and get along well. :)

Does your herd have a leading horse? Not a dominating bully type, but a wise, silent leader - usually it's an experienced mare who is able to control the movement, grazing and other activities of a herd by a sole gaze. Horses tend to follow the leaders naturally and as such the leaders are much better to teach others something. When I use this method, I choose a horse who is in a leading position above the one I want to show something to, for example - to teach my dominant bully the Spanish walk, I did it with the lead mare in front of him, to show something to a timid, passive horse in the lower pecking order, I did it with a calm horse who is above him, yet not too dominating and not feared, etc. These learning pairs have to be matched to work, methinks, and it is a good thought to bond such horses by taking walks with both of them in trails or just hanging around together - for example, keeping one of them in the arena while working with the other, feeding together, going on a trail ride on one and ponying the other along, etc. Of course, in order for the horses to bond better, the human involved has to be a good leader himself - basically, it is a making of a micro herd.