Re: buying without riding

["Karen Sullivan" <greymare@jps.net>]

Hi April......

Do you already have another horse you can use?  Reason I ask, I feel the
most IMPORTANT thing you can do with youngsters is to take them out on the
trail and in the real world, and if you can use or borrow another horse to
pony off of, and show them the ropes, you can get 75% of the job done.  I
have a 4 year old that I am starting to ride..............was alternating
very short round pen lessons one day and a short trail ride the next.  BUT
she had a year with me running looose on the trail and being ponied, so she
had learned how to trailer, be handled a lot, go over creeks, ride with
dogs, and probably because of all of that, is not spooky.  She has also
learned the confidence to go in front, or stay behind.............and
learned tons from the horse I was riding, who did all tihs with an
unflappable manner...

I hear horror stories of riders on very green horses, trying to ride them
out on the trail, alone!  Think about this, if you train in an arena and
round pen, and THEN go out on the trail, then everything that youngster sees
and does, it is doing for the first time!  That just plain makes me nervous.

A couple suggestions I feel helped, and reduced the risk of a
wreck.....don't get on and ride on a fresh youngster, that is just asking
for trouble.  A slightly tired horse is less likely to buck or act up.  I
would take my baby out on the trail, then back at the trailer, my daugher
and I wuold get on for 5  minutes, and work on some turning and stpping.
Then, right off.  Hey, a successful ride!! You get on the  youngster, ask
for a few things, the horse does them, get off!!  And big reward!  This then
becomes a HABIT and horses learn from habit and repetition.

Now that I am riding the 4 year old out some with my daugther helping, what
I do is saddle her up, and lead her a little; let her muscles warm up, let
her settle down.  When we get to the bottom of a slight hill, I stop and get
on. She has to carry me uphill.  This, even for a fit 4 year old is work; no
excess energy to fart around.  At the top of the hill, I get off!  Another
successful ride!!  I hand-walk the downhills right now-it is hard to go
downhill and balance a rider; too easy to get going too fast, and a fast
youngster downhill might buck. (Also, I figure I really need the walking
too.....) Sometimes on these rides, I am on and off several times.........my
plan this fall is to go really slow and stop a lot and prune trail.

Keep in mind, I have absolutely no idea what I am doing........but so far
nobody has been hurt, and the baby has not been scared or have the
OPPORTUNITY to do anything bad.........keep in mind I said for years I would
never buy an unbroke or green horse.......

Karen

But, one other comment on below,,,,,,,I would work on some conditioning at
the same time-a fit and muscled horse is more balanced and able to carry you
without injury.

> I like the idea of spending some months on training and then working on
> conditioning.  I know it'll take a long time to get to a ride that way,
but
> the endurance rides aren't my starting place, they're my goal...And I like
> the path to get there.  I think I fall under the category of wanting to do
> the training.  Don't want a baby though.  A 5 or 6 yo is what I'm thinking
> of.  I guess I like gambling.  :)
>
> Thanks for your reply.
> April
> adlee@bigfoot.com
>