General breaking in

Question
Hello,
I am sixteen and have had some/little experience with horses in the past, i.e., i rode when I was nine and have been around horses, occassionally riding, for a few out of the past years between 9 and 16. I helped my neighbor, who has two sibling horses, about 9, one girl and one boy, to feed and maintain those horses for about two years when I was 10 and 11. He never rode his horse, nor did anyone else, and I decided they needed exercise and asked if I could begin riding. I was a bit timid, but moved from riding while the horses were led by a rope to on my own with a saddle, western, as I had when I was younger. I was riding Billy, the male, and he was fine with it so I decided to try to make friends with Maggie, his sister. She didn't like it, I was unexperienced and she threw me by prancing till I became scared and slipped. I suffered no injuries but was afraid to ride again. It has been several years since, and I had not seen the horses since, but decided to visit them. My neighbor told me a story about how Maggie and Billy threw everyone off who attempted to ride them, and I concluded that those people had probably failed to establish a relationship and that the horses as well as the various riders, were scared. I have now become interested in re-acquainting myself with Maggie and Billy and have begun visiting them and, basically, getting over timidity of them, and helping them get to know me. I would like to take on riding them some time, and I would like to know in what possible sort of way I should go about this. I realize that I am a complete novice, but I feel that people have ridden horses for hundreds and hundreds of years and a human being becoming friendly with two horses is not to be some unconquerable barrier, as it has been done many, many times before. I feel confident, but will also williingly accept advice as to the wisdom of this, and anything else in concern. So, how can I do this?
Thanks
Chelsea

Answer
Hi Chelsea;

I don't think this is a good idea.  You don't have enough experience to work with two horses that have already proven to be the better of other people and now know that they can 'get people off them' if they want to.  

There's also an issue of insurance.  If you get seriously hurt, do your neighbors have the insurance coverage to pay your medical bills?  The laws are complex where horses are concerned and vary from region to region, so you need to look into this.

Then, what about the fact that you'll be training horses that you don't own and won't be getting paid for it?  That's hardly fair.

I think you should take some riding lessons, go to several horse clinics, read every book available to you in your local library about horses and borrow other horse books from horse people in your area, and then find a part-time job with a trainer in your area and gain some more valuable experience and knowledge before tackling training a horse on your own.

Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Lana Reinhardt