Thinking ahead of what topics to discuss...

I've been thinking tonight about what topics to talk about after the holidays. Winter is just starting, and harsh cold air will be here for awhile. With ice, sleet, and snow coming tonight, spring seems a long time away. But spring will be here before we know it and I want to plan for spring time.

I want to set goals. I want to share my training methods. I want to condition my CTR horse. I have 2 young horses to continue with, a coming 5 and a coming 6 year old. One is green broke, one is only halter broke. Both are quiet geldings, tie well, been haltered and handled for years. Now, it is time to be serious about getting them trained. They are well bred horses with good conformation. Even though the market is down, I was not going to give up on these two. They deserve my time and attention. They deserve to be trained with good solid basics.

As I work with the horses, I will blog about my training techniques. I will share how I work with each horse each day. I will blog the ups and downs, achievements and disappointments. I will share how I am doing things and what I will need to do different. Each horse is different each day, and each horse is different from day to day. I will discuss what is working and what is not. I will discuss how the horse responds and grows in the training program.

What other topics would you like me to discuss? Since I’m going back to the beginning of basics, I’ll start there. For me, the first day a horse comes in for training, he adjusts to my place. Some arena turnout to see the place on his time frame. He is in his stall to get used to the horses around him. He has hay in front of him at all time. He may stand tied for an hour to begin his patience training.

Day 2 is lunging. Free lunging. I work with the horse to bond with me. Some bond within minutes, some don’t bond fully, even after an hour of me establishing that I am leader. Lunging teaches manners, teaches a horse to change directions. Lunging shows me how the horse moves, how easy he turns, and most importantly, his attitude! That will be a day discussion in itself!

Any specific topic that you want to know about?

Come along on the ride with me!