How To Train A Mini Horse For Therapy

Introduction

Miniature horses can make amazing therapy animals. They are well-suited for this role because of their gentle nature, small size, and trainability. As with all therapy animals, you must train a miniature horse to be suitable to work in this capacity. The process takes time and requires patience and persistence. However, the results can be worth it if you live near an organization that uses miniature horses as therapy animals or if you have another reason for training your own miniature horse to work as a therapy animal.

Horses can make excellent therapy animals.

Horses are a great therapy animal because they are large, friendly and easy to train. Miniature horses can also be a good choice for therapy because they are small and easy to handle. They are also easy to transport, making them ideal for people who don’t have a lot of space available in their home or are unable to drive a car. Because mini horses are small, they tend not to spook easily in stressful situations—such as visiting an elderly patient in the hospital—and if one does become scared, he or she will usually try to run away rather than lash out at the person causing him/her distress (unlike some larger breeds). Lastly, miniature horses have been known since antiquity as being particularly well-behaved animals; this means that even if you’re taking your mini horse out on its own outside of your home/farmstead (rather than just having it accompany other animals), there’s no reason why someone should feel threatened by being around one!

Here’s how you can train your horse to be a great therapy animal.

In order to train you horse it is important that you know what traits you want to achieve. The following is a list of traits that your therapy horse should have:

Calm and gentle
Patient with children, seniors and disabled persons
Obedient when being handled by inexperienced handlers/people who are not familiar with horses
Safe around other animals, humans and objects such as walls and fences
Friendly so people will want to interact with your mini horse. People like horses because they are social animals that enjoy interacting with people. The more sociable your mini horse is the better chance it will have at being successful in its therapy work!
Clean – Your mini horse should be clean of its own accord as well as washable by human hands so he doesn’t get dirty while out on therapy visits! If he gets dirty then all his good work from being “clean” would be undone if he got muddy or dirty after being worked today…

Step 1: Get the Permission of the Facility

Before you can begin training your miniature horse to be a therapy animal, you’ll have to get permission from the facility that will employ him. This means that they need to have space for a miniature horse and be willing to take on this new addition. It also means that they need to be willing to train your miniature horse in order for him or her to become certified as a therapy animal.

If the idea of asking permission sounds daunting, don’t worry; there are plenty of ways that you can make the process easier on yourself! For example, if you want an easy way out and don’t want any responsibility at all (or if your organization doesn’t want any), then simply contact an agency like Dogs On The Go who trains therapy dogs (and now mini horses) and ask them how much it would cost for them do everything for us: finding facilities where our volunteer needs us most; supervising our volunteers during their shifts; keeping track of hours worked by each volunteer so we know who needs time off after being exposed too long at one location—or even better yet: coordinating all these things while still paying everyone’s salaries! Then sit back with confidence knowing that everything will go smoothly because someone else is handling it all.”

Step 2: Train Your Horse for Therapy

Once you’ve chosen a horse, it’s time to start training. The first step is to teach your horse that gentle contact will be rewarded with food and other positive reinforcements. You can do this by taking your mini horse out in public and allowing people to pet him/her without any fear of being kicked or bitten.

Next, train your mini horse to be patient and calm under stressful situations. For example, if someone drops something near him/her, he/she should not spook or run away because they are afraid; instead they should wait until the person gives them permission before approaching the item in question. As another example: once again in public settings where there is lots of noise going on around them (e.g., parades), they shouldn’t act like wild animals but rather follow commands easily even when there are lots of distractions around them!

The next thing I’d recommend doing is teaching him/her how friendly he/she needs to be towards other horses–especially those who have never been around horses before! We all know how hard it can be sometimes being introduced into new communities so remember that sometimes all we need is someone who understands us better than anyone else does…and this goes for both human beings too!

Step 3: Visit Your Local Therapy Organization

Once you’ve gathered information about the organization and their policies, it’s time to visit them.

Visit the organization and ask questions.
Ask about their requirements for training horses for therapy work. Does the horse have to be registered with a breed registry? Do they require that your horse be miniature, or will they accept other breeds? If they only accept miniatures, do they offer scholarships or waivers on cost of registration fees?
Ask about training methods used by the organization. What kind of training method is used, if any at all? Does this method include clicker training or teaching tricks as part of its curriculum for beginner therapy horses? Do trainers use positive reinforcement methods only (with no physical correction), or do they combine positive reinforcement with some level of negative reinforcement as well? What are the trainers’ philosophies regarding these different types of training approaches—do they believe in using both positive and negative reinforcement; only positive reinforcement; or something else entirely? How often do horses receive lessons from experienced therapists during their time with this particular facility’s program (for example: once per week)?
Find out what their schedule looks like. The best therapy organizations will have an established program in place that includes regular lessons every week with a trainer who has experience working with young therapy animals—this should help ensure your horse progresses quickly through its own learning curve so you can begin taking him/her out into public more frequently once he/she has been trained properly

Miniature horses can be great therapy animals.

Miniature horses can be great therapy animals. Their gentle nature and small stature makes them ideal for interacting with people of all ages and abilities. Miniature horses also have long life spans, which means they can be with you for a long time. They are easy to take care of, train, and transport.

Conclusion

We hope you have learned about the nuances of being a therapy horse owner. It is very rewarding! We also hope we have demonstrated how important it is to be prepared and follow through on your responsibilities. Be sure to get familiar with the rules of your facility before you start training!