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Starting The Colt Part 1 One of the key things to remember when starting the young horse is no one ever ruins a young horse by training too (1) Do I have time to take on this commitment? (2) Do I have the facility to work the horse? (3) Will I see this commitment through? (4) Do I have support from a competent professional or friend? (5) Have I observed this process from start to finish at a good training barn? (6) Do I understand safety before during and after the training session? The list of questions can go on and on. Hopefully you’ve answered yes to the questions and have a “can do” attitude. Now I don’t have to hang my common sense on the barn door thinking that I can teach you all you need to know in a two or three page article on starting the young horse. I would highly recommend you observe a good trainer and get some experience on the ground with him or her before you start your training program. Understand and master observation of calmness. Don’t let fear or excitability get out of control. Pit the horse’s strength against himself; don’t match his strength against you. The horse has no business knowing he is stronger than you. Spring is the time of year to start training the young horse. Most horses are around two years of age and the weather for the most part is better. I start all my young horses around 2 years of age with 90 days of groundwork with limited riding. After the first 90 days I turn them the back into the pasture until three years of age. This training concept has worked wonders for me. When you start back at three, the horse’s mind is quiet and is less likely to turn a minor infraction into a major crisis. You need to realize the first 90 days the horse is interested in his own self-preservation. In his mind he is not allowed to make the wrong steps in nature. He is working off his natural instincts. One of the great things about starting your own horse is, it gives you an opportunity to get to know yourself. If you are hot tempered and quick to fly off the handle, you have no place in training a horse. You have to change your temperament, and thereby, lower your blood pressure. At the other end of the spectrum if you are too kind hearted you won’t get the respect you need to train the horse. Try to strike a median between the two extremes. Set boundaries so the horse knows the areas. If your colt has not been handled you need to start developing trust. One of the first things I do is put the colt in a stall and start feeding grain and hay once in the morning and once in the evening. An ear of corn at lunch really helps with shedding caps. Watch his behavior in the stall for the first couple of weeks. Is he flighty when you approach? Does he climb the walls when you open the stall door? Will he let you catch and pet him? I’m not going to debate with you if you leave him in the stall or turn him out in a paddock. That depends on your situation. The main thing is developing trust using a feeding schedule. Your goals now are to get the halter on the horse and get him to a place where he can be tied. Feed is a powerful motivator for horses and definitely a short cut you can take advantage of within a two-week period. Take the time it takes and don’t get into a hurry. Most of the time you’ll be able to calm and halter a colt with just this feeding program. Some colts will be untamed and fearful of being touched. Now this being the case some trainers turn to a lariat to rope the horse and use a subbing post to pull the horse up to the post and put the halter on. This is dangerous at best and does require skill in roping. Some trainers use a cutting gate to crowd the horse in the stall. This also is dangerous at best. Some trainers use ace (a sedative) in the feed to sedate the horse in an attempt to get the halter on the horse. These shortcuts may work on some horses and may not on others. Bottom line is, if you are resorting to these crude methods you’ve not given enough time to gain the horse’s trust. Stay at the feeding program for as long as it takes to get the job done. I’ve had a 98% success rate with the feeding program. Your horse will eventually eat from a bucket you’re holding and let you start rubbing his neck. In no time you are friends. When you wean your baby this is a great time to apply our theory. Most farm-raised colts, for the norm, are gentle to work. However, you can occasionally have one that is higher strung, or spoiled and these colts can be a challenge for anyone. Mr. Picasso will assist us on our journey for his first 90 days of his training. He has been kept up in the stall with daily turn out time as described in the a fore mentioned paragraphs. He was fed consistently as a youngster in the field to develop trust in people. He is a young stallion with limited focus time, meaning he likes to think of areas of other adventures and play. Every training situation is different. Just because I recommend you turn the horse out after 90 days may not be in the best interest of your situation. Stay with what works for your. The main points are to go slow and take your time with the young horse. Your horse will not develop good training strength and mind until the age of four. This gives us two winters of work to get him ready for a lifetime of great trail work. Every year I see good two-year-old horses in the show ring but seldom see the same horses back at three. Unfortunately the horses were either hurt or their minds blown. Remember a two year old is a baby with a blank sheet of paper that becomes three years old. The great thing about a three year old is he becomes four. Now depending on the training situation some folks can tie their horse first and some will have to teach leading first. Now it stands to reason a majority of folks are going have to teach the colt to lead in order to get him to a place to tie him. I use a strong halter with a 22-foot lead rope. Try to use a round pen or barn hallway so if the colt gets away he can’t go far. The walls will come in handy in controlling the colt’s movements. Do not wrap the lead rope around your hands and don’t let the lead rope get tangled around your feet for obvious reasons. Stand in front of the colt at a 45-degree angle, now pull the colt sharply. and stand him up facing you (make him face you). Go to the other side stand at a 45-degree angle and sharply stand the colt up facing you. While in this process if the colt takes off past you just plant your feet and stand him up facing you sharply. When you do this about three or four good efforts you will notice the colt’s feet start to free up and he will take couple of steps towards you. Try to let him follow you on slack lead rope. Everything we do needs to have a reward with a slack lead rope. Do not tie the end of rope at this time to any fixed objects or place anything around the colt’s nose. Just keep working on leading on a slack lead rope. The colt will start to follow you and in a couple of hours you will be off to a great start.. Remember when you add pressure to the rope, as soon as the colt starts forward immediately release and tell him he is good boy. Just keep at this pattern for as long as it takes. Your horse will get the message and start following you. As you start to teach theses first few lessons don’t forget to invite your equine training professional or other competent friend to assist you. The first lessons of the rope and halter can provide some anxious moments when you tie the colt for the first time. The x factor is you don’t know how hard the colt will struggle against standing tied, but you can bet there will be a struggle. If you take care and see that he is properly tied it’s unlikely he will hurt himself. When I tie the colt for the first time I use a rubber inner tube tied about eight feet high on the side of the barn. Use a slipknot to tie at both ends one at the inner tube and the other at the halter. I tie both ends to make sure the horse stays tied and does not break a metal snap. Let the lesson begin without you interfering. The colt needs to understand and work this out for himself. If the colt falls untie him let him get back to his feet and tie him again. The colt needs to test the rope and halter and be convinced that it’s stronger and there is no use in pulling or struggling. As soon as you are convinced that the colt knows to stand tied on a slack rope it’s time to hard tie him to a solid object without the rubber inner tube. A strong barn post will keep the lesson of the rope in the colt’s mind. If the colt breaks free, it’s not the end of the world, just tie him back. These lesson sessions should start at 15 minutes in length and work up to 1 hour. Don’t over stress your young colt. Stay with the halter breaking and leading for a couple of months, and don’t get in a hurry. Get leading consistent with pull and slack. Your goal is to get your horse to lead on a slack rope. When I was much younger I used to put he horse in the round pen and have him under saddle and ridden in less than two hours. I thought this was cutting edge training, but now I realize it only flooding the horse and does not build a good foundation. Time we use between age of two and four to develop the horse’s mind is the key to success. Next article; Part: Two Developing Your Horse’s Feet on the Ground. If you need help with these concepts feel free to contact me at windsweptstables.net or windsweptstables@hotmail.com Safety points to ponder. (1) Don’t get the rope tangled in your feet. 2) Don’t wrap the lead rope around your hands. (3) At anytime you feel the task is too much, use your professional friend to fill in and then pick up where he or she finishes the lessons. (4) Read the horse for calmness and excitement and move on only when horse is clam. (5) The reason we are going slowly is to give you time to read your horse not create too much excitement causing the horse to get a head of your ability. (6) It’s a good idea to tell a friend when you are working with the colt, especially if you are going to be working alone. (1) If you don’t understand or are not sure seek professional help to assist you! (2) Equine training can be dangerous at best, remember the horse will always protect himself. (3) Keep a good knife handy and always expect the unexpected. (10) Go slow and have fun. On the ground: • The main safety rule is to let your horse know where you are at all times when you are handling it. • Exercise caution around the rear of a horse - the hind leg are well designed for kicking. The front legs well designed for striking. • Do not hold reins or ropes in a loop that can trap fingers and also tangle feet. • I recommend you wear a helmet doing groundwork. • Don’t crowd the horse to the point of running over the top of you. |
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slowly. I’m a firm believer that the slower your train the young horse the faster you go. The young horse starts his training with you just like a clean sheet of paper. You fill in the blank lines one line at a time. You need to ask yourself some questions to determine if you are ready to undertake the task of starting a young horse from the ground to the trail. 