4YearOld --HELP!

Question
Hi Mrs/Ms MacKinnon, my name's Jessica Gallup (Yeah, Gallup, go figure haha). Well, I'm 18 and in high school rodeo at the moment, and I'm soon going to be in college rodeo... Well, here's the thing. I've always had these seasoned horses. Never had any young horses to speak of, until now. Someone GAVE me a paint horse, barely 4, been saddled "a couple of times..." and, well, you know the story. The horse knows NOTHING. Well, I wasn't expecting much until he stepped off the trailer. This "paint baby" is a 16+ hnds GORGEOUS, nice thick necked (the kind us ropers like...) horse... he's REALLY nice. I had a heart attack looking at him, thinking about all that he could possibly max out to be, but how the HECK do I get there? I've never worked with a horse before. I've green broke them etc, but never "taught" one. I guess my question would be, after a horse has been green broke, and is plodding along like a huge lazy elephant in the arena, and he's wayyyy beyond any attitude and is totally willing, what do you do with him first? What bit would you recommend starting with when the time comes, and how do you teach him to stop on his butt and roll back? I"M SO LOST! haha, I can usually ride anything you give me, but this one's got me confused, I don't know how to go about getting him "going". Thanks so much, hope you can make sense of all this!!! -Jessi

Answer
Dear Jessi,

Congratulations on your new horse. He sounds really great. I'm sure you realize working with a green broke horse is completely different than working with a "made-horse". I really think you should find a good trainer in your area and start working with him or her. You can easily miss some important steps in training when the horse is very easy. You just keep asking and they keep trying and before you know it they get overwhelmed. It is critical to concentrate on baby stuff first. That is where you need the trainer. They can help you take each baby step and not rush your youngster until he's ready to really move on.

John Lyons has some great exercises for working with green babies. I would suggest you read up on some of his work. I am sorry I can't give you easy directions to making a good horse. It just takes time, repetition, and patience. Good luck and let me know how he turns out if you think of it!

Warm regards,
Shannon