Have you ever watched a horse gallop loose after a rider falls? Has your horse ever crowded you in a confined space or bolted through a stall door or gate?
If your horse had some knowledge of your language, you could have told them what you needed from them, and they could have calmly complied. Verbal commands can alleviate a lot of horse and handler distress and anxiety. This list includes essential commands that many trainers use to make handling of young or inexperienced horses from the ground safer, take the stress out of farrier and veterinary appointments, and smooth the way for under saddle training. Having been mauled by horses for treats in my younger, less knowledgeable years, I now teach my horses to look away in order to get treats. This is a good first step to teach if you use treats for training. I find a clicker extremely useful to connect this behaviour to a specific sound. This will allow you to eventually eliminate the treat part and just use the clicker as a reward. Clickers are $5-10, so they are an inexpensive investment. Instead of the clicker, you could also say the word “good,” but it must be said in exactly the same way each time, and this can be very difficult.
List of Essential Verbal Commands
- Stop!
Stop immediately
A lot of people use the word “whoa,” which unfortunately sounds a lot like “no.” This is the single most important horse training voice command for all horses. There must not be fear involved in the teaching of this command, as it is needed to control flight responses due to fearful situations.
- Stand
Stand still where they are and don’t move
If your horse ever gets caught up in something that requires a complicated extrication, you will be very thankful that you taught this instruction early in their life with you.
- Lift
Lift the part of the body touched
This command applies mostly to hooves, such as for picking out or trimming hooves, but can also be used to ask the horse to lift a knee.
- Back
Take one step backward with one leg
This is an effective command for controlling fear responses like head butting, biting, or striking. Once you reliably get one step with cues, you can add steps but avoid adding so many steps that your horse stops responding or starts rushing. Some trainers use this command to ask the horse to back up until the handler says “stop.” Many horses that come to me require reschooling. As a trainer, I have worked with several horses whose default fear response was to run backwards. Consequently, I prefer to teach this as a single step-back response with this type of horse and most horses for that matter. I would rather say back for each step than have a horse going backwards out of control, and I don’t mind saying “back” more than once.
- Step
Take one step forward with one leg
This command becomes useful when teaching a horse to halt squarely or to relocate their legs for x-rays or other treatments.
- Over
Move the shoulder and/or hip sideways.
Depending on whether I tap the shoulder, barrel, or buttock. This is very useful when the horse is in a stall or repositioning inside a horse trailer. As the horse’s training progresses, this voice command can be used to reinforce aids for lateral movements.
- Head
Lower their head
This is a useful command for haltering, bridling and treatments of ears, eyes, and other parts of the face.
- Walk On
Walk on now
Voice instruction, halter, and lead aid, then the horse must move their feet before the handler walks. (Personally, I found this difficult to relearn, but it paid off in the end.) In this way the horse does not connect their movement to the handler walking. Horses learn very quickly that when their handler walks, so do they. Unfortunately, when the horse connects his feet moving to when his handler walks, this makes learning the “stand” command more difficult as the handler continues to move around the horse while the horse “stands.”
- Easy
Slow down in the current gait.
- Forward
More energy in the current gait
- Right
Turn right (Gee is frequently used in the heavy horse industry).
- Left
Turn left (Haw is frequently employed with draught horses).
- Trot
Move into a two-beat trot/jog gait.
- Canter
Move into three beats canter/lope gait
- Step Up
To step up onto something
This command will become useful for all manner of activities, from stepping onto a block for an x-ray, stepping onto a platform or raised bridge, and getting into the horse trailer.
- Step Down
To step forward off a raised bridge or platform and get off the horse trailer head first.
- Back Down
To step backwards off a raised bridge or platform and get off the horse trailer tail first.
Editor’s Choice
If you have a gaited horse, you will want to teach them the names of the gaits your particular gaited breed uses as they progress through their training. The use of multiple cues, such as auditory (voice instruction), tactile (tap with fingers, hand, toe, leg, seat, or whip tap), and/or visual (movement of the person’s body, hands, or legs), gives the horse more opportunity to select the correct response to your request. When you combine two of these different types of cues together, your horse will learn much faster.
With regard to whip taps, they are just that, a light tap. The whip is merely an extension of your arm. A whip tap can be repeated but should not be escalated. It is not a disciplinary tool. Corporal punishment is incomprehensible to all creatures and destroys trust, thereby moving the horse toward learned helplessness instead of happy cooperation. The most frightening consequence for bad behaviour in a herd of horses is to be shunned to the outskirts of the herd, where predation is more likely.
Decide on your cues ahead of time; check out videos or diagrams online for ideas and use the same cues every time. When applying your cues, always use your voice first, then add the tactile cue. The voice instruction makes it clearer to your horse what the touch or visual cue means. The consistency with which you apply your cues equates to easier understanding and speedier learning for your horse.
Keep adding tools to your equestrian toolbox. Remember, the more tools in your toolbox, the better rider, trainer, owner, and horse keeper you will be. Understanding our equine partners—how they live, how they learn, and how to maximize their health, soundness, comfort, and performance—is a lifelong pursuit filled with the joy of companionship.
Article by Sloane Hammond
About Sloane
Article by Sloane Hammond, from Gryphon Hollow Farms. Sloane had the privilege to train with and work for Olympic riders, coaches, and FEI officials from the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has taught extensively for Pony Clubs in both the Fraser Valley and Interior South regions and coached young riders to achieve their goals in dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Her passion is to encourage students to become dedicated guardians, confident handlers and riders, and lifelong learners.
