Colt Starting; Part 3
- August 16, 2024
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- Anna Foulger
Posted in: Featured, Horse Training
This has to be one of my favorite parts of starting colts, after I’ve spent a couple days repeating steps one and two. My colt feels soft and supple, he has accepted the saddle, is doing well being saddled and unsaddled. At this point I like to do a few things. First, I like to put a smooth bit snaffle in the colt’s mouth. Working the colt, much the same as I did in a halter, I ask him to move around me, right and left, changing directions and playing with the pressure in their mouth. Many times they respond well, but sometimes this change in pressure can cause a colt to react poorly. They may pull back or simply work against you as they learn to follow the pressure. I like to stand my ground at this point. I do not release pressure until the colt at least tries to follow it. When I feel as if a colt is really struggling to understand, I will pulse my hand so that the pressure isn’t constant, but so that they don’t get a full release until they try the maneuver. This can take a while, sometimes I work the full session just working the bit. Once I am confident the colt is soft and willing I move on. From here I like to saddle my colt (if I haven’t already done so) and start working my way to mounting the colt.
I take this next step very slowly. Seeing as I have seen it spook some colts into backwards progress, rather than helping them succeed. I like to start with working the colt around me like a would normally and then I take the stirrup and flail it around, making lots of noise and letting the colt get used to movement on his back. When he relaxes, I switch sides and keep going back and forth until they are fully comfortable with seeing the movement out of the sides of their eyes and on their backs. From here, I usually like to slap the saddle and make lots of movement over the saddle, if I have a flag I will work it over the saddle and on either side as well.
When the colt is doing really well, I like to make sure I get the colt’s nose turned in my direction (so if he was to kick or move out, I would still be in a safe position) and I’ll put my foot in the stirrup, climbing on half way and hanging off, working the colt to move his feet, I’ll repeat this on both sides. A colt that is ready will not react poorly and typically you can mount from here. In the case that the colt is nervous or jumping around, I will leave sitting on the colt for another day and just keep doing this drill until he feels ready.
That first little ride is very important and I like to keep some things in mind when I go about it. I like to keep everything very calm, cool and collected, trying not to let anything get too western during this first ride. Once I have swung my leg over that colt’s back, I sit and wiggle a little in the saddle and keep that colt’s nose close to my knee. Switching eyes seems to be the hardest part for these young horses, therefore I like to stick to one side until that colt is trustworthy. Working him in a little circle in the direction I already had the colt looking in. Now, sometimes the colt will explode and if he does, I will try to either ride it out or if it gets dangerously wild I will attempt to dismount. Most of the time with the right prep these colts don’t seem to completely explode. At this point if the colt is calm, I will move to other side trying to get the colt to take a few steps in both directions. If the colt handles all this really well, I will ask the colt to walk, trot and possibly lope both directions, moving the colt out usually helps them become more confident.
At this point I like to quietly dismount and call it a day on that session! Stay tuned for part four.
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Posted in: Featured, Horse Training
About Anna Foulger
Hey there! My name is Anna Foulger, I am a young mom of soon to be two; a toddler daughter and little boy on the way! Me and my husband ranch in Eastern Montana with his family and we love every minute! My background is in...