Training your horse will require you to have plenty of patience, persistence and to use lots of positive reinforcement. These are the 3 P's of basic horse training that will serve you well no matter what level you are training or what you might be training for in the future.

1. Groom your horse. This is the perfect first exercise for you and your horse. Your horse will get to know you during this quality time together, and vice verse. Standing beside your horse, brush his back and neck. It is not unusual for the horse to bring his teeth around to you for a little love bite. While horses do this to each other all the time, naturally they cannot do it to humans. Just wave your hand or push the head back to straight ahead position to discourage this. Those teeth are HUGE so you must make it clear from the beginning that this is unacceptable. Use patience and keep calm. It will not take long for him to cooperate once he gets the idea. It's pointless to shout, smack or get panicky with your horse. This will only set you back with your trust levels.

2. Lead your horse. Holding the lead rope just below his chin in your right hand, walk beside your horse on his left side. Walk forward with a slow step. He should remain at your right side and never try to go ahead of you. He may try to do this and you should walk around in a circle to your left. Do this as often as you need to. Show persistence. Use the circular movement to stay just ahead of him, where you should be. If, on the other hand, your horse doesn't want to walk with you, stand slightly behind at his shoulder facing the same direction. Push forward while holding the rope close to his chin. When he takes a little step, praise and positive reinforcement is in order. When he starts to walk willingly, take your place slightly ahead of him and walk on. Remember that in order to stay safe, you should never wrap the lead rope around any part of your body. If the horse decides to bolt you'll be going along and it will not be pretty.

3. Lunge your horse.This is a great exercise used by most horse trainers and owners. It will help you to get closer to saddle work by teaching the horse many of the skills, cues and commands he will need.

In a large open area (an arena works, too, if you don't have a round enclosure) clip your horse to a lunge lead specifically for lunging. This will be a long rope - about ten metres - much longer than the rope you would use for leading. Clip the lead to the horse's left halter side and hold the lead in your left hand. To begin, hold the lunge lead while facing the horse's left side. Hold a lunge whip in your right hand which you'll use to guide him along. Now step to your right sideways toward the rear of the horse while holding the whip out behind him. The horse's natural reaction will be to step forward. Now let out the rope as you follow behind the horse to the left side, making a kissing sound as you do so. Soon that sound will come to mean "move forward" to your horse. As you're turning and the horse moves in a circle around you, hold the whip slightly behind his hindquarters. Do not use the whip to hit the horse. Simply by waving it about a little the horse should pay attention to you.

Move yourself slowly backwards to the centre as the horse is moving forwards. With the lunge lead fully extended, stand in the middle and turn as the horse walks around you in a circle. Watch your horse's hip area as he's going round.

This is the perfect time to teach your horse to understand "whoa". In a low, calm voice, say the word "whoooaa". At the same time, step toward your horse's head and repeat the word. When he stops, give him lots of praise and a little neck rub. You will help him remember what to do through this positive reinforcement.

Now you can change your lunging position to move him in the counterclockwise manner. Do this by swapping hands so that you hold the lunge whip in your left hand whilst the lead is clipped to the right side of the halter.

These few exercises are just the very basics to help you get started with training your horse. Always remember the size and sheer power of the horse. This alone should be enough to remind you to have adequate horse insurance in place should either you or your equine be injured. Safety and trust is crucial to your success in training ventures and in all future activities. As well as a loyal friend, your horse is also an investment, so remember to protect that investment against theft, accident or misadventure by making sure you compare horse insurance policies to ensure you are getting the best level of cover for both of your needs.