<<Subject: RE: [RC] Bringing up baby E-horses .Jody -That's so great! On a scale of 1 - 10, how difficult did you think it = was, on average, to do all your own training? >>
I've been training/riding since I was a kid and raising your own horses and doing your own training isn't that "difficult". If you are already talented, the horses themselves usually determine how difficult it is. Then there is the time factor. How much is your time worth? Young horses not ready to be ridden seem to learn and retain things well with just one lesson a week or one lesson a month (that's my experience w/ my Andalusians). As they get closer to being ridden, you need more days per week. That's where I had trouble and found it "difficult" to find the time - depending on my work situation, time of day it got dark, what other commitments I had, etc. I had one mare that I did the prelim. work w/ and then had someone else start her - 30 days round pen/arena and then 30 days saddle and she was perfect for me to continue working with. When I said " that's enough" training, the trainers were very negative and said I'd have to ride every day for her to be any good - but I knew the mind of the horse and knew she would retain what she had learned. In a way, I didn't want them working her any more bec they might teach her incorrectly. I took her on a few trail rides and did a little dressage w/ her. She is safe and sane to this day, only green broke but nearly anyone can pull her out of the pasture and go for a ride bareback w/ a halter.
I'm working w/ a 2 yr old filly now on an occassional basis and if I don't/can't find time in the future to get her under saddle, I'd do the same w/ her. The benefits of doing all the prelim work at home w/ a raised horse is that they rarely get that kind of training/bonding/conditioning w/ a "trainer". All you really need (if you know how to do the haltering, leading, tying, desens., lunging, saddle intro, etc) is someone to get on them the first couple of times - and maybe ride til they know the basic walk/trot/canter cues and are safe to ride in a pasture/ trails. W/a very sane horse that is so possible in a few months of work. Or if you can do it yourself, go ahead. It's your time. But I prefer these days to let someone else handle those first few "scary" sessions w/ a young horse when they can easily over-react and dump your butt. And riding a green horse on the trails doesn't seem so "fun" any more.
There are big advantages to getting an already trained horse. As in my Peruvian Paso - already trained and pretty much spook-proof (mostly due to his mind) - and all I have to do is hop on and enjoy riding.
