Training

[LilMyPony]

I have a dream of training/breaking my own horse, one day. If I want to do this what skills do you think are most importantly for me to be working on? And would you say it’s very unrealistic for my next horse to be this? My mare is 20 and so far she is well able for everything, but I know she’ll need to slow down eventually. And if I got this horse, it might be ready to step up when she steps down?
Im pretty sure I want to do this, I love training animals, and my dog knows all the normal commands, hand signals, whistles, and did obstacle courses. I am training my brothers puppy, and my goats all walk on a lead. I even taught the cat to come when I call!
Anyway, I’d love input, and feel free to tell me to dream on, if it seems too unrealistic!

 

[SpeedyPony]

It is hugely dependent on what skills you already have/ the kind of horses you are used to riding.
Are you used to riding and handling youngsters? If not, is there anyone you know who might let you help out to gain some experience of this?
Will you have experienced help on hand? You will want someone who knows what they are doing on the ground to help you when you are first starting a youngster and advice from an experienced horseperson is always useful.
How long have you had your mare and is she your first horse?
How tactful a rider are you/how good is your 'feel'? A lot of what youngsters require (IMO) is tact rather than technical skill, you can be the most technically correct rider and still not know how to read the horse, know when to push and when to back off, how much to ask for, to tell when a youngster is getting tired (mentally or physically), to know when you are moving too fast or too slow. This is the sort of thing that is best learnt by experience, but it is balancing learning this with giving the horse the best start as well. This is where having experienced help and being able to work youngsters that have been started by someone with that experience is hugely helpful, as they can help to guide you and point out things you might otherwise miss.

 

[LilMyPony]

Im not, really. I am starting to ride the ‘tricky’ ones (aka will buck you off if you aren’t good enough or annoy him, one who bolts at EVERYTHING, etc…) I don’t really, although there are a few lovely people who might if/when I get to know them better.
Yes, definitely.
Yes, she’s my first horse.
I mean, I think I am ok. But I haven’t really had much ‘practice’ if you know what I mean.

 

[SpeedyPony]

Im not, really. I am starting to ride the ‘tricky’ ones (aka will buck you off if you aren’t good enough or annoy him, one who bolts at EVERYTHING, etc…) I don’t really, although there are a few lovely people who might if/when I get to know them better.
Yes, definitely.
Yes, she’s my first horse.
I mean, I think I am ok. But I haven’t really had much ‘practice’ if you know what I mean.

In that case I would heartily recommend getting plenty of experience with youngsters, if you ask around you may well find someone locally who trains youngsters that would be happy to have someone help out and learn from them.
I'm presuming you are fairly young? If so a weekend job at a schooling/dealers yard might be a good place for this? Obviously you will want to make sure anywhere you are going to is run by sensible, safe people (i.e. not someone who is going to use you as a crash test dummy!).

 

[Red-1]

Some of it will depend on how deep pockets you have as, with enough £££ thrown at good help, many people could achieve this (as long as they do take the expert advice). It also depends on the type of horse bought. Some youngsters are a lot easier than others.

If you are going to be going it alone a lot of the time, then I would get more experience first.

 

[j1ffy]

Some of it will depend on how deep pockets you have as, with enough £££ thrown at good help, many people could achieve this (as long as they do take the expert advice). It also depends on the type of horse bought. Some youngsters are a lot easier than others.

If you are going to be going it alone a lot of the time, then I would get more experience first.

This in spades.

If you can keep your young horse at a livery with experienced help on hand, plenty of lessons (in all aspects of handling and training a youngster, not just riding) supplemented by the experienced people doing some of the work then it's doable, but expensive. Otherwise I'd aim to get a younger horse next that has the basics but that you can train to improve, learn new skills etc., still with regular input from instructors but you'll be better able to do 'homework' yourself. This way you have a safer way of learning how to train a horse and find out if you have the skills to do so before trying with a completely blank canvas.

 

[LilMyPony]

Thanks everyone! I will put my plan on hold until I get some more experience

 

[Landcruiser]

To a large extent I agree with what's been said, with the proviso that all horses are different and every one of them teaches us as much as we teach them. Getting a youngster now (with the correct support, infrastructure, and attitude) would be a VERY steep learning curve, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Youngsters need so much consistency and boundary setting, and every day can bring new challenges - it's a totally different ballgame to having an established horse. You also have a long time to wait before you can ride, and lots of time for things to go wrong...But, having an established horse alongside a youngster is a big plus in my eyes. I taught my 2 yr old to pony off my older horse. She's now rising 5 (still unbacked), and we all 3 really enjoy going out together. Older horse is solid as a rock and very manoeuvrable, youngster has learned all about moving around and through gates and obstacles, past all sorts of traffic and terrain, just from tagging along. She's ready to be backed once she turns 5 (and when her front hopefully catches up with her back end), and has good manners and all the basics in place. A very long way from the nappy, kicky, bitey, full of attitude and agro teenager that arrived 2 years ago.

I would say to even consider getting a youngster though, you need everything in place, deep pockets as has been said, and the understanding that there are no guarantees of ending up with the horse you want, or even any horse at all. You also need extreme patience and an open mind. But it is the most incredibly satisfying thing, and good fun unless it goes pear shaped (I speak from experience!). And the amount they teach you is huge.