[minilove]

I noticed at the trail ride that Sam (my horse) does not have a lot of trust in me. I am the dominant one in our relationship, well I think I am. I have no trouble working him, he is well mannered, he does enter my space to rub sometimes but I can just push him away or tell him quite in a firm voice and he will stop. I do spend time with him just grazing/grooming. He'll ground tie in the round pen, but not always when we are outside of the ring. He will walk beside me without a lead line if that means anyway.

What can I do to earn his trust or more respect or whatever I need. What do I need?

I do have access to a round pen.

[RememberTheName]

Part of it is probably that out on the trail there are a lot more foreign objects that might "eat" the horse. Or that's what Sam thinks anyway. Are there any horses around who have a calming effect on him? If so, can you go out on the trail with them? That may help. Another thing is to just prove to him that nothing on the trail will hurt him. Trying taking him for an uneventful twenty minute walk, maybe. He probably just needs it reinforced that nothing is likely to hurt him. Horses are naturally more wary on trails. Especially if there are trees, or if you're in a semi-enclosed space.

[JBandRio]

What does he do that makes you think he doesn't trust you?

Horses are either confident in themselves, or they aren't; they are either well-trained to go forward at all times (and stop when asked!) or they aren't. It's pretty much that simple. "Trusting" the human isn't really how it works as they don't think like that. They either follow instinct (ie following the alpha mare because, well, that's just what a Good Horse does) or they follow their training (ie Human says go forward and jump, so the Good Horse does).

Once can build the horse's confidence by exposing him to scarier and scarier things until the fear/flight response is overtaken by the training.

[minilove]

Well at our trailride at the horse park, I expected him to be nervous, but he had almost no focus on me. I asked him to walk, he wanted to trot, I ask him to stand he had to move. Yes, he was nervous, but...

I see your point where trust was a bad word. The thing is at home I can do just about anything and he wont bat an eyelash, we can approuch 'scary' objects without much fuss and in a few minuets I can rub him all over with whatever was scary.

[JBandRio]

So let him move Very often if they can just get their legs going, which is what nature intended for them to do when they are nervous, their mind will settle. Put him into a forward trot and ask him to do all sorts of bendy things, no straight lines.

And, it will just take exposure. Be sure to go with a horse/horses who don't lose it when things happen. Horses tend to feed off others in strange situations (heck, even home situations!) and if the others are ho-hum about whatever's going on, the greater the chance that he will head down that same path.

[Bruce Wiley]

I recently ask, what is important to the horse.
There were some good answers to that question.

Naturally, one of the things are- freedom, having the ability to be able to escape predators or fearful things.
When a horse feel threaten, its important for us to have taught, taken & convince the horse thru desensitizion to trust, having confidence in our leadership,requests.

The horse must make that connection with you, understanding it is better to relied on you & your guidance thru those scary times, moments and that would come from clear, consistent desensitizion working sessions, alone with other ground manuvers, training & leaving no stones unturn.
I hope this helps.

[Showrider]

I think the best possible way to get a relationship and trust is simply time. Spending time with your pony simply caring for him enables him to open up and be a little more dependent and affectionate towards you.

[John]

I would put him in the round pen and get him doing some simple exercises while watching closely where his attention is. Let him go at an easy pace as long as he is focused on you but the moment that he starts gawking over the fence step it up and make things a bit tougher until you get it back. Include stopping and ground tying. You should be able to leave the pen and shut the gate . One step and back to work!! Try about a 15 min session every day for a week or so and then evaluate.

[DiamondRio]

On another post about Parelli someone posted his website Natural Horse Supply Home Page and I think it is a great site. I used it to purchase equiptment and to discover things i can do with my horse. There are a lot of pages on trust and respect that might be of interest to you, they sure helped me a lot!

[Judy&Riva]

I second the idea of doing Parelli with him. In playing the games on the ground with objects you are building his confidence and making him think. Don't be impatient allow him time to figure things out for himself. You might be surprised what he lacks confidence in. It does sound like you have a pretty good relationship with him now. The more you do the better it will get.