Your horse may already do tricks or he may do something that can be turned into a trick.
Watch them and think about what they do naturally each day, especially around feeding time or when you are grooming them. Could this form part of a trick? It makes it much easier to teach a trick if they already do part of it. For example, does your horse stamp his foot when waiting for his food? This is the start of a trick where your horse can count by stomping.
I have owned horses that love picking things up. If I’m grooming them, they will pick up brushes, hoof picks – anything that is lying around. This horse tends to be very good at the ‘fetch’ trick. They can usually be taught very easy to run after a ball and return it to you or pick up your hat if it falls off.
My horse can open gates. He came with this trick. I watched him one day playing with the latch on a gate until he worked out how to open it and then he just pushed the gate open with his nose. He obviously knew what he was doing and had performed the same ‘trick’ on several other gates. Without much work, I have taught him to open gates while I’m out riding. I don’t need to get off him. I just undo the latch and he does the rest.
Make a note of any ‘tricks’ your horse already does. These are the best areas to work on when you first start trick training with your horse.
