First let me say that I strongly believe in “Natural horsemanship training” though I don’t religiously follow Pat Parelli, Chris Cox, Clinton Anderson or any of the other “big names”.  I take bits and pieces of any or all of these guys as they all have something to offer.  What technique(s) I use depends on the specific horse as each horse is an individual and has its own learning and emotional needs.

Here are my basic rules for working with horses:

1)    The horse should be better off after each training session than before it

2)    Safety of both the horse and trainer is essential

3)    Each horse is treated as an individual

4)    Teach at a pace that the horse is comfortable with

5)    Each training session is geared to building the horse's knowledge &  self-confidence

6)    Every lesson is based on advance and retreat (pressure and removal of pressure)

7)   Training done on one side is always repeated on the horses other side

8)    Every time a horse interacts with a person the horse learns something (either good or bad) - make it positive 

Now let me tell you how I treat horses from birth forward. At birth I don’t immediately imprint a horse.  I believe that a horse should first bond with its mother.  After a few days (barring any special needs) we will start regularly handling the newborn, touching him/her all over the body a few minutes a day as well as beginning halter training, leading and picking up its feet. As soon as possible the baby and mom rejoin the herd. I leave all my horses outside as much as possible in bands of mares, youths and geldings. By being in social groups they learn to be horses and learn appropriate social structure and behavior.  At a few weeks of age I begin halter training; shortly after that, I begin to lead the baby and pick up its feet. I NEVER EVER have the baby run in the round pen.

The first few months I do little with the baby other than basic touching all over the body and around and in its mouth, head, tail, and legs, as well as halter-training, teaching to lead, and picking up his feet.  My basic objective during this time is to allow the baby to be a horse, explore the world and develop trust and confidence in himself as well as in people. Around the 3rd-5th month I may begin teaching trailer loading by having him follow mom into the trailer.

Weaning – A baby no longer receives its maximum value from mom’s milk by the end of around 3 months.  A baby can be weaned at around 3 months; I choose to wait until around 6 months of age.  This is not so much for physical development as it is for emotional development.  The weaning time is dictated by the emotional maturity of the baby.  I separate the mom and baby starting with several hours a day gradually building to 8-12 hours per day of separation then final separation. When the baby is apart from his mom, I have him/her in with the yearlings.

During the first winter I simply let the weanling interact with the other horses and do little formal training.  I do interact, touch, pet, and lead the youngster around the farm and trail areas, going between trees, bushes, trash bins, mailboxes etc.

When the youngster is between 1 and 2 years old I begin the round pen and arena work.  Round pen work includes lunging, lateral flexing,lowering the head, sensititzation and de-sensititzation, sacking out with both rope and saddle pad.  Voice commands are taught as well for whoa, walk and  back.  Sessions are typically around 20 minutes each.  The yearling is ponied around our trail area.

At 2 years of age the young horse is evaluated again for both physical and emotional maturity.  We find that between 2 1/2 and 3 years of age we like to start them under saddle.  By this time in their training the saddling is typically not an issue with them.  Usually with our gaited horses the 1st months training is done at a walk only. The emphasis is on bit and leg control, balance, confidence and strength training. After approximately 3-4 rides the young horse begins being ridden on trails.