Making Good Horses

I am proud to say that my family makes good horses. They're sane, they're sound, they're uncomplicated, they have good ground manners and they're enjoyable to ride whether they're just started or getting close to broke. How do we do it? Leadership, consistency and a program.

The whole thing starts the day they arrive at my Dad's place where all the young horses go first. Most likely, the horse is a barely handled yearling colt or gelding. We don't buy horses started by other people anymore because we can't afford to buy horses started by trainers we admire and it's a lot easier to get one going right than to have to fix one someone else left training holes in. When the colt arrives, he goes into one of the smaller front pastures to settle in and graze for awhile. From that day forward, every day he will, at minimum, be caught, tied, thoroughly groomed and fed his grain ration while in a tie stall. If he doesn't want to be caught he can be run into a round pen from the pasture where the approach and retreat method can be used to catch him. After a few days, depending on the weather and footing, some ground training will start. He'll learn to give to the halter, respect his handler, navigate obstacles and tolerate scary stuff.

By the time he's turning two, the colt is easy to catch and probably comes when called to get caught and get his daily grain and grooming. He's pretty well sacked out, gives well to the halter and follows direction well from the ground. He then learns about the saddle; back cinch and breast collar included. He does everything he learned before while wearing the saddle. Pretty soon he gets his first ride. If all goes well, which it usually does, by his fifth ride he's heading out the gate to ride trails and logging roads. He walks most of the time, sees the world and builds his strength going up and down hills. As he gets older and stronger he learns more-- jogging, loping, good stops, leg yields, turn arounds, lead changes, etc. When he has a pretty good handle on him he'll get to meet some cattle. He gets arena or round pen work every so often, but most of his exercise and training is outside on old logging roads and trails. He works in a smooth snaffle bit his first year or two, but from the first ride he's ridden on a loose rein, except when he's being asked to soften, and gets the foundation laid for his future in a curb/bridle.

Through all of this, EVERY DAY of this colt's life in our program, he gets caught, tied, grained and groomed. If he gets pushy or nippy or obnoxious, he gets corrected. We realize that every time a colt is handled or ridden, he's being trained. Every day should be better than the last, and if you stopped at the right point the day before, it will be. We don't ride just to get through some time under saddle. We ride to make the horse better-- carry himself better, stop better, turn better, have better transitions, handle more obstacles on the trail.

Of course, not every ride is great. When things go wrong, we have to evaluate. Is the horse having a bad day, an awkward growth stage or a pain issue? Are we asking too much, asking the wrong way or having a bad day ourselves? That's part of responsible training and continuing to learn from the horses.

Overall, though, it's consistency in handling and riding that makes good horses. They tie, they hobble, they load, they haul, they take shots and dewormer, they stand for the farrier, they stand for saddling and stand when mounted until asked to move off, they ride outside and most of all they're just enjoyable to have around. It's not any grand expensive 90 day wonder training program, it's doing something every day to make the horse better. In the process, each horse makes you a better trainer, which makes the next horse even better than the last one, and so on goes the cycle of becoming a horseman and making good horses that go to good homes where they are valued. Or, in my case, keeping one around for awhile just because you like him and know that you can still do more with him.