Certification Program
PROGRAMS Certification Program - Horse Training School
The John & Josh Lyons Certification Program is designed to teach the Lyons’ conditioned-response training methods in greater depth to people seeking more knowledge and understanding in the equine field. This program is an excellent educational opportunity for those of you who are looking to improve your personal horse training knowledge and skills. This program helps individuals develop leadership skills utilizing personal strengths along with individual differences and learning objectives.
The methodology of this program is in a league of its own. The uniqueness of the program is the ability for each individual to develop their own personal strengths to form their own training techniques. The format of the program is consistently evolving to give each student the most updated and progressive training techniques available. Each lesson is taught in the safest method possible to ensure the safety of horse, trainer, and rider.
4-week course – total of 160 clock hours (40 clock hours per week)
3 Rules of Training applied to each week
1. Student can’t get hurt
2. Horse can’t get hurt
3. Horse is calmer after the lesson
John & Josh Lyons Certification Program
Boon Ranch
17851 Co Rd L
Fort Morgan, CO 80701
Week 1: Core Fundamentals
Students will learn the core fundamentals of the Lyons Legacy methodology and how they can be applied to a variety of situations you will encounter with your horse.
Mark Training
- Understanding how to make ourselves the mark
- Switching us to the board for the mark
- Building the want to attitude to get to the mark
- Teaching the horse at liberty to find the mark or hunt for the mark
Trailer Loading
- Teaching horse to load in hand
- Teaching horse to load at liberty
- Making the trailer the release and its importance
(3 Different techniques for trailer loading using all the principles above)
Five Releases
- Thought
- Softness / Give
- Responsiveness / movement
- Mark / anything can become the mark
- Poison / looking to improve performance
Five Foundation Steps
- Guide / Most Important
- Give / Softness through body and mouth
- Frame / holding frame on a circle
- Elevation / controlling elevation through 2/3 of the neck
- Position / my position not the horses
Wesson Lesson
- Controlling right, left, forward, back movement
- Adding softness though turns
- Controlling speed
- Drawing horse to you to start liberty work
Bridle Work
- Softening horse through moving a body part
- Connecting nose to the feet
- Starting shoulder control
- Understanding the difference between diagonals, reverse arch, counter bend
- Adding the stop and back up
- Engaging the disengaging the hips – knowing how to use the hindquarters
- Same rein, same foot / connecting horses inside leg to inside rein
Week 2: Groundwork and its Application
Students will learn the methodology of the Lyons training method with the foundation of ground work over the course of their time in our horse training school. Ground work is imperative to the success of the horse trainer as much time and skill is needed in handling their horse. The ground work develops leadership of the trainer, and creates a softer more cooperative partner.
Long Lining
- How to introduce the horse to the long lines
- Understanding the importance of long lining
- Teaching horse to except pressure
- Building form with long lines
- Involving the hip into long diving
- Creating the perfect backup
- Understanding the draw on a horse and how to implement it in training
- Teaching horse how to rate his speed with long lines
- Teaching gear work and its importance to understanding emotional training
Picking up horses’ feet
- Doing it in a safe controlled way
- Connecting the horse’s nose to feet through bridle work
Week 3: Starting the First Rides
Students develop exercises to get their horse to be more responsive to the bridle, and the importance of being able to control different areas of the horse with cues. Students will be able to ride more confidently and with purpose of obtaining a willing respectful partner.
Introducing the saddle to the horse
- Desensitizing the blanket and its importance to emotional control
- How to cinch up a horse for the first time with no complications
- Adding the longlines into ground driving with saddle
- First ride / starting with the backup
- How to introduce your legs
- Teaching horse to stay between the reins and perfecting the guide
- Locking horse on to circle for speed control
- Teaching the serpentines exercise with the shoulder then adding the hindquarters
Week 4: Building the Confident Horse
Students learn exercises to build the horses performance. By building the horses performance students will develop an athlete of a horse that can have the ability to compete in shows of their discipline.
Hand Position and Its Importance
- Containment rein
- Impulsive rein
3 Different Types of Reins (how and when to use them)
- Direct rein
- Indirect rein
- Trap rein
Starting the lead departures
- How to understand leads
- Simple lead changes
- Starting the flying lead change
Transition Work
- Walk, trot, lope
- Transitions made simple
Required Equipment
Student must bring:
- 2 horses
- Halters and lead ropes
- Lunge Whip
- Dressage Whip
- Protective boots or wraps for horses legs
(we recommend Pegasus) - Saddle in good repair and working order
(discipline is not pertinent) - Saddle Pad
- Muck fork/bucket
Required to be Purchased:
Josh Lyons LLC. is approved and regulated by the Colorado Department of Higher Education, Private Occupational Schools Board. Our Programs are approved for the enrollment of those eligible to receive VA Education Benefits. The Josh Lyons Accreditation Program is approved for GI Bill® Benefits.
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill
