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Apr. 21st, 2013 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It seems like All Pony All The Time around here
I've been reading up a bit on starting colts. (Or older horses. I mean, we have very few colts, most of the crap I'll be starting is more than 6 and has been standing in the field eating for the last... forever. Waiting to be 'in the mood' to start horses is not actually working, so I'm scheduling it. Interestingly, this technique also works for people who would like more sex in their marriages but can't seem to manage it. If they schedule it and follow the schedule, their frequency of getting laid increases and they are largely happier. Go figure.)
I kind of have my way of starting horses under saddle. It's not a perfect way by any means and I am certainly not the expert that an actual pro is. However, I have started Nick, Callie, Whims, Peake, and Te. That's more than most regular (non-horse) people ever do. It's more than many horse people ever do. (Lots of horse people go their entire lives without ever starting a horse. They just buy and ride broke stuff and there is nothing wrong with this any more than there is anything wrong with people who buy ready-to-drive cars instead of building their own.)
The horses I do are not finished. They are "rideable" at the walk, trot, and canter. They halt and back up. They turn fairly well. They trailer load, handle all over their bodies, pick up their feet nicely, tie well, tack up easily, bridle nicely, and ride in company or alone. They have decent ground manners. They can hold a working gait without prodding and have enough miles/musculature to handle all sorts of terrain with confidence. They cross creeks. They have some idea of leg pressure for help with turning/steering and can do 20 meter circles that actually have bending in them. They are good basic critters for riding, horses that can be enjoyed as-is or that can be schooled further and made into finished, skilled companions.
My goal is to produce a horse that has the basic skills needed for a 'normal' rider to enjoy it out on the trail or in the ring. Ideally, the horse should be solid enough that a novice rider would be able to get along and not find himself in huge trouble despite lack-of-skills, but that takes miles and miles and miles and not all horses are suited to being that good on their own. I want them to be horses I can enjoy riding, even if their skills are kind of basic. Basic does not mean "have to steer like a green baby horse and over-exaggerate things". Basic means "Horse does not sidepass, does not work on contact, does not have one-step canter departures, etc." The skills he does have, the turn left, turn right, stop, back up -- those skills should be 5x5, working properly and not having to be exaggerated to get them done. Horse should respond to subtlety for the cues he understands.
(More on this later, it's time for breakfast.)
I've been reading up a bit on starting colts. (Or older horses. I mean, we have very few colts, most of the crap I'll be starting is more than 6 and has been standing in the field eating for the last... forever. Waiting to be 'in the mood' to start horses is not actually working, so I'm scheduling it. Interestingly, this technique also works for people who would like more sex in their marriages but can't seem to manage it. If they schedule it and follow the schedule, their frequency of getting laid increases and they are largely happier. Go figure.)
I kind of have my way of starting horses under saddle. It's not a perfect way by any means and I am certainly not the expert that an actual pro is. However, I have started Nick, Callie, Whims, Peake, and Te. That's more than most regular (non-horse) people ever do. It's more than many horse people ever do. (Lots of horse people go their entire lives without ever starting a horse. They just buy and ride broke stuff and there is nothing wrong with this any more than there is anything wrong with people who buy ready-to-drive cars instead of building their own.)
The horses I do are not finished. They are "rideable" at the walk, trot, and canter. They halt and back up. They turn fairly well. They trailer load, handle all over their bodies, pick up their feet nicely, tie well, tack up easily, bridle nicely, and ride in company or alone. They have decent ground manners. They can hold a working gait without prodding and have enough miles/musculature to handle all sorts of terrain with confidence. They cross creeks. They have some idea of leg pressure for help with turning/steering and can do 20 meter circles that actually have bending in them. They are good basic critters for riding, horses that can be enjoyed as-is or that can be schooled further and made into finished, skilled companions.
My goal is to produce a horse that has the basic skills needed for a 'normal' rider to enjoy it out on the trail or in the ring. Ideally, the horse should be solid enough that a novice rider would be able to get along and not find himself in huge trouble despite lack-of-skills, but that takes miles and miles and miles and not all horses are suited to being that good on their own. I want them to be horses I can enjoy riding, even if their skills are kind of basic. Basic does not mean "have to steer like a green baby horse and over-exaggerate things". Basic means "Horse does not sidepass, does not work on contact, does not have one-step canter departures, etc." The skills he does have, the turn left, turn right, stop, back up -- those skills should be 5x5, working properly and not having to be exaggerated to get them done. Horse should respond to subtlety for the cues he understands.
(More on this later, it's time for breakfast.)