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Member
Posts: 30
| I have a colt whom I have recently began saddle training and bit training with. I have not gotten on him yet, though he has been in an O ring a few times. I have found out that he does not like to break at the poll well, nor does he understand what I mean by whoa when I pull back on the reins to teach him to stand. What to do? Who knows of any other ground methods to enforce a great foundation before hoping on, while using a saddle and an O ring snaffle? Thank you. |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
  
Location: ND | Not saying this to be harsh & I know we all start somewhere when it comes to training. But if you don't know what to do it's truly best to send the colt to a trusted professional for 30 days, and if you can be there when you can so you can learn the techniques. Even take lessons from the trainer if you can. The early training sets your horse up for how he's going to ride the rest of his life, it's so important that it's done correctly!
I've been training for about 15 years now. I start all my colts with a lot of ground work. I teach them to move off pressure by having them learn to move their hips & shoulders for me on the ground. I do some lunging and a lot of ground driving. By the time I get on a horse he's pretty much broke......Horses aren't born knowing how to break at the poll or the meaning of any of our cues. We have to teach them every bit of that and the key is knowing when to put pressure on them / when to take that pressure off. And in all reality that's an art that you learn simply be riding a lot of colts & having the feel for it. |
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| There is a book I got several years ago, I think the author is Mark Kevil or something like that, and it's about starting colts.
I use lunge lines as driving reins and run them through my stirrups and teach them to respond to the bit by driving them on the ground. Of course, this is after tying their heads around and teaching them to give to the pressure. But there are so many steps to get to that point, and so many things to do to make sure that you teach them correctly, that it's hard to explain them all in a post.
I agree with SaraJean, if you can find someone to start your colt that will let you watch and learn you'll be way ahead in the long run. Plus, it will give you the basics you need to start one in the future if you choose to. To get that feel takes time and miles, and I can tell you that every time I work with a horse (be that a colt or a finished horse) I learn something new, get different ideas, and improve my feel. We've all got to start somewhere, and the best thing is to start by observing someone who has done this for years. But be sure to find someone that really knows what they are doing, I can't begin to tell you how many "trainers" are out there willing to start your horse, and in this situation I'm using the term "trainer" very loosely! I say that everyone can train a horse, you just have to find the person that will train them correctly. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Everyone has to start somewhere! If you send the colt off, sure you can stop by occasionally but it's likely that you will miss most of what he's being taught.
Is there someone you know that has experience starting colts? Most are happy to help if you just ask. Or you can take a few lessons with a reputable trainer to have them show you the fundamentals.
Horses essentially learn by pressure and release. How much pressure and when to release is hard to explain over a computer and is easier to learn when someone is there teaching you.
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24953
Location: WYOMING | Ground driving one can help teach them all that. Not real hard... look for a video. |
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With God all things are possible
Posts: 3917
| I don't like to call it breaking, it is teaching, the first 30 60 days are set for the rest of their life. find someone that will teach, I used to teach all my colts, now that I am 60 yrs old I have been on the first 30-60 saddles in 5 yrs. have a great teacher 30 miles from me that really is great. I do the ground work still, first saddles etc. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| If yiu want to drive him and ride him a few times do it, but get a cutter or reiner to put 45-60 days on you little one and you will have a incredible handle you can go to riding they will have a handle it will take you a year to do, then start take ing to,shows riding getting a little season on then get him ti a v
Barrel trainer for 45-60 daays and yiu will have you a barrel horse ready to exhibition. No broken bones, no hole and not a lot of money. 650.00 to a reiner or cutter not a big name but someone trying to make a name, same with barrel someone that will ride one and not be at every 4 day show on you dollar. Say you paid 800.00 foe 2 months braking and 800.00 times 2 for patterning on barrels after you had him home. I think you can find cheaper 800.00 times 4 is 3200.00 a lot cheaper than buying on then go to the shows. |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| I have always ridden my young horses and trained them for barrels and poles myself. I really don't care to do that any more. I just sent my two year old to a trainer (a guy I have not used before but was highly recommended). He can do more in one month than I can in three. I get just as much satisfaction having him ride the horse as I do from doing it myself. I am old and he is a lot cheaper than a hospital bill. |
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 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
Location: North MS | Instead of using both reins to stop initially- use one rein stop. Makes supple. Then teach how to back. Then introduce walk an back. Easier for them to connect the dots. |
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 Arriving at the last minute!
Posts: 5148
Location: Kansas | Get the Phil Haugan training DVC series. Break your own colt and its easy to follow. And you will get the joy of doing it yourself. Go for it!!
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 980
Location: Southwest Minnesota | I recommend taking lessons with him with someone who will teach you how to teach him. It will still cost you money but you will learn a lot. If he doesn't know whoa well enough when you are on him, you definitely need to spend more time on ground work. Whoa is definitely something they should know before you ever hop on. Good luck! |
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I'll Be Your Huckleberry
Posts: 1488
Location: Arizona | I agree with others on here that you should enlist the help of a more experienced trainer. I wouldn't even worry about his ability to "break at the poll" until he has been under saddle for at least 30 days. Small steps build up slowly to big steps. It would benefit both you and the horse to have someone experienced in starting colts to guide you. |
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 Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Honeymoney - 2014-04-16 9:37 PM I have always ridden my young horses and trained them for barrels and poles myself. I really don't care to do that any more. I just sent my two year old to a trainer (a guy I have not used before but was highly recommended). He can do more in one month than I can in three. I get just as much satisfaction having him ride the horse as I do from doing it myself. I am old and he is a lot cheaper than a hospital bill.
I have a 2 year old at a breaker now. She's been 3 weeks and is riding, opening gates on her......so, much safer and faster than anything I could have done. I'm totally impressed and it's the best $700 I've ever spent. I'm going to save up to send him another one. She is going to a reiner next. |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I used to start them to and after having kids just lost the nerve. I haven't had much luck sending them off and having them actually ridden, mostly just a feed bill and skinny horse (explain that) that knows nothing. I just got back 2 that had 30 days on them. Once cut his foot minutes before I came to get him so he can't be ridden for about a month and the other was roping calves in pasture and tagging them. He knows how to work the rope and everything. He's had some miles and long days and he needed them as he is an opinionated booger. He miffed me off pretty bad yesterday just being stupid do he proves I no longer have the patience either. I was so better off paying someone else to ride them and this time they were actually rode |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | I have not worked with a ton, but I second the ground driving. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | If you want to learn a dying trade and are pretty young and committed to horses tell us what part of the country your in. Maybe someone can get you a hook up to work with a "breaker". Foundation in the first 30 days of saddle time is the most important part of their lives. |
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Member
Posts: 30
| uno-dos-tres! - 2014-04-17 8:22 AM
If you want to learn a dying trade and are pretty young and committed to horses tell us what part of the country your in. Maybe someone can get you a hook up to work with a "breaker".  Foundation in the first 30 days of saddle time is the most important part of their lives.
Midwest. All suggestions would be appreciated. |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | SaraJean - 2014-04-16 1:38 PM
Not saying this to be harsh & I know we all start somewhere when it comes to training. But if you don't know what to do it's truly best to send the colt to a trusted professional for 30 days, and if you can be there when you can so you can learn the techniques. Even take lessons from the trainer if you can. The early training sets your horse up for how he's going to ride the rest of his life, it's so important that it's done correctly!
I've been training for about 15 years now. I start all my colts with a lot of ground work. I teach them to move off pressure by having them learn to move their hips & shoulders for me on the ground. I do some lunging and a lot of ground driving. By the time I get on a horse he's pretty much broke......Horses aren't born knowing how to break at the poll or the meaning of any of our cues. We have to teach them every bit of that and the key is knowing when to put pressure on them / when to take that pressure off. And in all reality that's an art that you learn simply be riding a lot of colts & having the feel for it.Â
This.....1000%
I started my (now) seasoned horse from scratch, I grew up with horses mom trained and I didn't do a bad job on my mare. BUT now after sending my young horse off for 30 days to an awesome trainer I decided "starting colts" isn't what I should be doing, I can take on after the foundation is there. I had not rode a colt in 5 years when I got my colt back from the trainers and it MAKES A HUGE difference, my colt has an amazing handle on him and I'm thankful I chose to send him off! |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | You've got to be careful ground driving, especially if you haven't done it before and you're working with a colt that hasn't had any work. For one, you're not used to handling the lines, and then second if that colt spooks and takes off with lines dragging behind you're asking for a wreck to happen. Ground driving is just not for a novice.
Granted he likes to sell a lot of stuff, but Clinton Anderson does about the best job there is at giving a lot of information quickly that you can take in and understand. If you can't get to an actual person, watch his colt breaking dvd's if you don't do anything else.
I love breaking colts and it's something that I take very seriously as ultimately it can mean their life or death --- the slaughter houses are full of horses with issues because someone worked with them the wrong way. As someone else said, what they're started with is what they take through life. And some of those things they never get over even with the best of re-training.
It's not about you or what you can accomplish. It's about the horse and what's best for them. The best for your horse in this case is to get help and learn along the way. Here's some food for thought on that -- https://qheventer.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/train-your-horses-well/
There's some more food for thought on training and I'll probably write another post about breaking colts. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| uno-dos-tres! - 2014-04-17 6:22 AM
If you want to learn a dying trade and are pretty young and committed to horses tell us what part of the country your in. Maybe someone can get you a hook up to work with a "breaker".  Foundation in the first 30 days of saddle time is the most important part of their lives.
I learned this way...and we broke in an English saddle, big TB's and Hanoverians for jumping. I was pretty sticky and learned a LOT.  You learn how to "feel" a horse and I can still tell when they are going to run off or do something stupid before they do it.
Now that I've added 50lbs...I can still feel they're going to do it, but can't really ride it out. LOL...I am sending my colt to a reining trainer for the first 60 days.
Getting the hook up with a real, legit, trainer (not one that just "says" they are) is an invaluable skill. It may not pay well...but you will learn a lot and learn when it's the right time to expect your horse to bend at the poll or be excited to just walk in a straight line without boggling. |
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