The WHOA Command

Palm Partnership Training™ Building a Partnership with your Horse

Story and Photos By Lynn Palm

Horses need to respect four major ground training commands: “move away from me,” “come toward me,” “stop,” and “back”. In the last article I gave you the steps for teaching your horse the “come to me” command. This time we will include the “whoa” command.

I am taking this lesson plan directly from my 6-part Longevity Training Video series where I demonstrate each maneuver with several young horses.

Before starting, make sure that your horse is properly equipped. He should be wearing a properly fitting halter, with a longe line, and leg protection. I prefer using a longe line over a lead rope for ground training, but will use both terms in these articles.

If you are following my recommendations from past articles, you will create a lesson plan for each of these training sessions. The objective is for the horse to be responsive to your commands on a loose lead, without any tugging or pulling on the longe or lead. When doing any ground training maneuver, move with the horse at all times.

No matter what the horse’s age, I introduce these commands first in a confined, familiar location like stall, round pen, or small paddock. Remove any distractions such as buckets or hay. This will help him stay focused on you and relaxed. As the horse learns you can then graduate to teaching him the same lessons in progressively bigger areas such as an aisleway, a round pen, and paddock.

I will give explanations of these maneuvers as if I was teaching them in a stall and from the horse’s near (left) side. Remember to teach the maneuver from both sides of your horse. Be patient when working on his off (right) side because the horse from the very beginning of his life is handled mostly on his left side.

Teaching the “Whoa” Command

Once your horse understands the command to move forward, it’s time to teach “whoa” or the command to stop. Start by getting the horse to move forward in response to the “come to me” command. Be sure you are standing in front, but slightly to the side of your horse so that he does not walk into you if he does not stop.

As the horse moves toward you, raise your hand in front of his face like a stop sign and at the same time say “whoa” in a deep, commanding voice. When he stops, praise him with a stroke on his forehead. Sometimes a horse may be surprised and bring his head up in response to your hand being held up in front of him. If this happens, use your voice and give him a pet to reassure him. Ask him to move forward again, just a few steps, and repeat the “whoa” command. Immediately praise him when he complies. If your horse fails to stop or moves in too close to you, use your hand on the side of his head to push him away. Do not push him away by pulling against the longe or lead rope.

Your Next Step…

Everyone has the tendency to steer a horse from his under his head using the lead or by pushing on the middle of his neck. To truly control a horse’s head, you need to have contact on the middle of his head. The middle of a horse’s head is half way between his ears and his muzzle, at the jaw area. It will be close to where the halter’s cheekpiece touches his head. Experiment with your horse until you find this spot. You will know when you find it because you will be able to move his head away very easily with the lightest of contact. Your horse will “whoa” quicker when he is straight. Until then, follow your dreams, Lynn

For more information or to schedule your own event, please visit www.lynnpalm.com or call 1-800-503-2824.