Giving horses a great start is my passion!
I absolutely love starting horses! The way a horse is started makes a world of difference and stays in the horse's mind forever. Even with years of re-training, a horse will often regress to their initial training if badly handled or untouched for a long period. It's a long process but the result is irreplaceable.
I start horses slowly, at their own pace, incrementally. I might pull the babies out and work them 3-4 days a week or just 3-4 days a month. I find that most young horses absorb training better with time off and if a horse is started with a random work schedule with up to a month or two off - they will never require consistent work. The more you work them, great - but if you give them time off, no big deal. Because let's face it - most of us can't ride every day or every week, so train them that way to start - not 30 days straight. I'm never surprised when someone says a horse had 30-60-90 days training but then sat and has to be restarted. All of our horses, even those lightly started, can be pulled out of the pasture with a month to even a year off, be saddled up and safely ridden through all gaits without lunging or prep because they know what is being asked of them, are willing, respectful and happy to be handled. Every bit of ground work and under saddle work leads them to the right answer so bad habits or issues don't arise. All the pieces come together and the result is a calm, trusting, responsive and thinking mount.
My horses are turned out on 50+ acres of pasture. Young mixed with old, geldings and mares, everyone has a place in the pecking order. Often you'll hear thundering hooves of the herd galloping in for feed or just being happy and running free. I believe large pastures to gallop with great grass to eat gives our babies strong bones and healthy bodies. Being turned out with horses of different ages, breeds and temperaments is great for their brains. They learn body boundaries, horse language and most importantly - they get put in their place when it's needed! So in short, our recipe for success is to let horses be horses!
Here's how I go about starting them:
I start horses slowly, at their own pace, incrementally. I might pull the babies out and work them 3-4 days a week or just 3-4 days a month. I find that most young horses absorb training better with time off and if a horse is started with a random work schedule with up to a month or two off - they will never require consistent work. The more you work them, great - but if you give them time off, no big deal. Because let's face it - most of us can't ride every day or every week, so train them that way to start - not 30 days straight. I'm never surprised when someone says a horse had 30-60-90 days training but then sat and has to be restarted. All of our horses, even those lightly started, can be pulled out of the pasture with a month to even a year off, be saddled up and safely ridden through all gaits without lunging or prep because they know what is being asked of them, are willing, respectful and happy to be handled. Every bit of ground work and under saddle work leads them to the right answer so bad habits or issues don't arise. All the pieces come together and the result is a calm, trusting, responsive and thinking mount.
My horses are turned out on 50+ acres of pasture. Young mixed with old, geldings and mares, everyone has a place in the pecking order. Often you'll hear thundering hooves of the herd galloping in for feed or just being happy and running free. I believe large pastures to gallop with great grass to eat gives our babies strong bones and healthy bodies. Being turned out with horses of different ages, breeds and temperaments is great for their brains. They learn body boundaries, horse language and most importantly - they get put in their place when it's needed! So in short, our recipe for success is to let horses be horses!
Here's how I go about starting them:
- Round Pen Work - I don't chase the horse around the pen to make him tired; rarely is the horse running in the round pen. Instead, I use my body to communicate with the horse, see how he reacts to my pressure and how he yields. It is a million times easier to allow the horse to understand what you are asking with your body in a round pen vs lunging, leading or in the saddle. Round penning allows me to see how the horse responds to the questions I ask like turns, pressure, voice, movement etc. I learn their boundaries, how quickly they react to questions, how much they push or test and how willing they are. What is learned in the round pen is priceless for future training sessions. Not only am I able to quickly establish my boundaries but it shows me how the horse learns and what I need to watch out for. It's also where I start using voice aids (walk, trot, canter, whoa) which will be very useful when ground driving and later riding. Once the horse responds to my requests in a respectful and understanding manner, I move to sacking out.
* I have modeled much of my round pen technique off that of Chris Irwin. If you haven't heard of him, please look him up and watch a few videos. Being aware of our natural predator body language will make every horseman that much softer and cognizant of how the horse views how we communicate. - Sacking Out and Ground Work - Sacking out includes the entire body (head and legs). First done with a whip/stick (an extension of my hand), I later sack out with cloths, bags, saddle pads and other objects. The goal of this desensitization is to accept foreign objects, no mater how noisy, large and scary they are : trust the handler, listen to the handler, the handler is your leader and will keep you safe.
- Ground Driving - Ground driving teaches horses to be comfortable with lines on their butt and above their hocks/legs. It also teaches them the rein aids (turning, stopping and backing) as well as voice aids for moving forward. All of these will be very useful once I get on top of the horse. The initial round pen work of body communication makes ground driving much easier. I start in the round pen and then go to the outdoor arena and then pasture. I want to make sure I have control no matter the location and things happening around us.
- Wearing a Saddle - I always start with an english saddle, even if the horse is going to go western in the end. They are lighter, have much friendlier girths with elastic and the horses just don't mind them as much as western tack. Why not start the saddle wearing business in a good way? Everything is taken very slowly: the horse will wear just the pad, then the saddle and pad, then saddle pad and girth while always walking around and knowing it's okay. Each session is short and positive so the horse can have good dreams about it overnight.
- Ponying - Ponying hours are priceless! Typically if I am ponying a horse in training, we will go first out without any tack, just a rope halter and lead, teaching the horse to follow, go over bridges, through water crossings, open pastures, over logs, you name it. It doesn't take long for horses to understand what they need to do. After the first ponying session, the horse can go out with tack and a bit in his mouth to get used to it (still leading by halter of course). While ponying, it's important to lean over the horse and really get him accustomed to someone being on top of him.
- Backing - With a trusted friend, I will begin to lay on the horse and walk around calmly. All finally graduating to me sitting on top of the horse and my lead getting farther and farther away from us. This may be broken up into several sessions. It's very important that the horse is comfortable with this stage and accepts the rider on top, turning, stopping, backing and going forward.
- Riding - Finally to the last step! The horse is comfortable with the rider on top and taking direction. A long journey but with these steps taken, there is nothing to be afraid of and the horse is more confident with the rider on its back than by himself!
- Jumping - I always free-jump horses before I jump them under saddle. It allows me to see how they jump and how they react to the questions being asked of them. I will start slowly with ground poles and cross rails to bigger fences like verticals and oxers. I will only free-jump them as high as I see it being easy for them. Once their jumping under saddle progresses, I may free-jump them again to see how much more they have to offer. Rewards are always given once the horse jumps (voice and grain) so they understand it is a game. Many of my horses enjoy this game so much that if you let them out in an arena they will start jumping the fences by themselves and run back to me for their reward.
My favorite training pyramid from http://www.dressage-academy.com/images/dressage-training-pyramid.jpg
