training a horse

Question
I have moved from NJ to Colorado. It is a totally different world with horses. They are breed and raised on hundreds of acres and are not handled. I only have a round pen to break them and nothing to else...how do I work with them? I also just purchased 2 8 months olds. I have them in our round pen tied to a railroad post in the middle. I feel very lost without my east coast luxuries like horses worked with from day one,stalls,small pastures to catch a horse in and indoor arenas. How can I work with these"wild" horses safely for both of us?

Answer
Hi Meadow!

You have just entered the HORSE'S world.  This is a real horse environment, and as you feel your way through, you will find an all together different horse at the core.  I know it is a bit of culture shock for you.  Take heart, I will help you find the answers!  

Teaching your horse to consider you and to view you as a leader they can trust will be a wonderful experience for you.  It is such a rush to have your horse see you from across a huge pasture and come to you!  That means something!  Granted, you will have to build the kind of relationship that allows the horse to think and feel and behave like a horse.  There will be no walls, or stalls to help you or to confine the horse.  What you will have is a real feel, and relationship.  By next year, you will wonder how you ever survived in the confined world you came from!  

Here we go!  Please don't hard tie your colts to the post.  I'm pretty sure they don't know how to give to pressure and have not really been properly taught to tie.  They could pull back and really hurt themselves.  You can do a little bit with teaching them about hindquarters, leading softly with a feel, trailer loading, picking up feet, and then just kick them out again.  Really, less is more at this age.  When they are coming two years old, then you can bring them in and start them.  It is so much better for the  young horse to just grow and not be fussed with too much, they don't need it and in some cases it does more harm than good.  Use this time to really educate yourself on how to start a colt.  Learn what a real education for a horse is.  I am going to give you a resourse list of books, people and clinics to attend that will really help you.  Remember, there are no short answers in starting a colt with quality.  The path to a truly wonderful saddle horse takes time and knowledge and I'll show you where to go to find the quality answers.  There is just too much information to share, that trying to get it all to you in this formatt would be several novels worth!

You can go to my website (www.Laurelmountainfarms.com) for quick links or look up Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt and Ricky Quinn on the web.  These guys are my teachers.  They travel the country helping people just like you with their horses.  Ricky will be in West Cliff, Colorado  doing a Colt Starting in June.  You can contact: Gabi@equusloco.com for more information.  In the clinic, Ricky will start colts, introducing each to a saddle and a snaffle bit.  Most colts will have had very little handling and are from two to three years old.  At the end of four days they will be packing a snaffle bit, carrying a rider, all gates both ways in the pen, backing softly and starting to turn around. As a specator, you will be able to ask Ricky specific questions that he will be more than happy to answer.  The same with Buck and Ray.  It does not matter what the adult career of the horse will be, from fox hunter, dressage, reining, trail, what they need to learn first are the basics of obedience, control of the feet and basic lateral movement.  Too often the human requires that the horse be ridden like a finished horse without ever having learned the basics.  It would be like sending your child to college at 6 years old and never sending them to kindergarten!

So here is where you find the quality information you are searching for:

"Ground Work" DVD by Buck Brannaman
"Ground Work" book by Buck Brannaman
"Back to the Beginning" DVD by Ray Hunt
"Turning Loose" DVD by Ray Hunt
"True Horsemanship through Feel" book by Bill Dorrence
"True Unity" book by Tom Dorrence
"Think Harmony with Horses" book by Ray Hunt
"Centered Riding" book by Sally Swift

Please check the clinic schedules for Buck, Ray and Ricky.  Attend their clinics.  They are NOT shows.  It is real hands on work with real people and THEIR horses.  You will find folks from all riding disciplines and levels.  Connect with these people in your area.  They will be a wonderful support network. Everyone at these clinics is really working on developing partnerships with their horses and working on just plain good horsemanship.

Also, check in my archives and look up past answers on Colt Starting, these may help you refine your questions.  If you have more specific questions, let me know and we will work through them.  I know I've given you a lot of homework to do and it is a ton of information, but this is what being a student of the horse is all about!  Enjoy the journey!  After all, it is about horses and that is always fun!  

Smiles!  Denise