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[RC] Starting young horses on trail - Randy or Cheryl Winter

Karen,
I could not agree with you more on getting young horses out in the company
of others.  We have a 17 month old filly that is out on trails now with two
mature steady horses as her role model. She has been handled since birth.
One is her mother, the other a half uncle.  She was born with a great mind,
which we bred for, and now we are developing that side of her.  She is
exposed to everything we can think of.  Carries a bareback pad, over brides,
into water, past dogs, baby strollers, you name it.  Take advantage of
trails with obstacles, rocks ( so she watches her feet) dips, uphill,
downhill, all to develop coordination. When something scares her and she
jumps, the other two just say "been there done that nothing to be afraid of
" and just keep going in their steady style.  She take a breath and says,
"oh I guess everything is ok, nobody else is scared so neither should I" Now
as much as anything, she will give those joyful leaps and little bucks all
on a loose line that are just for the pure joy of being young and full of
herself much less an Arab.  I do give her a quick rap on the nose with her
rope halter and a 
"NO" and just keep going.  She is like, ok... Got it... Just couldn't help
myself.  I do not want her to think she can act out on trail in hand and it
is ok.  Don't want that to translate to acting out on trail later when I am
on her back.  Can't help to internally grin and say "YEEEESSS" for all of
her joy for life, but externally it is still "NO" to her.  I think these
types of hours spent with them now pay off in big dividends later in life.
The other good thing is that she is learning to travel in two different
trailers, in a calm manner, and eats where ever she is going.  She thinks it
is just  a big goodie bar to enjoy all her favorite treats...LOL...

Cheryl



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