Training Tips

QUESTION: Hi Sylvia, I just need your honest opinion on training. I am thinking about getting this 2-year-old Rocky Mountain Horse (gelding). He is not broke (trained). I am what you call a beginner but have been taking lessons for over a year. I hear many different views and some say I can do this myself. I just have to be patient and wouldn't start until he is 3. Do you think this is something I should pursue or pay for professional help? I like the idea of getting a horse that doesn't need any bad habits broke and I can bond as I go. Do you think your videos can help me or not? I do work full time, but people have told me when they are young, their attention span is short to begin with. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

REPLY: Well....there's a saying in the horse training world and it goes like this: "green on green equals black & blue." And what that means is: the renowned worst (and most dangerous scenario) horse/owner combination is: green on green. Meaning: Beginner owner trying to train a young beginner horse. Much better combinations (and safer) are:

Inexperienced (green) horse with very experienced owner
Inexperienced (green) owner with very experienced, trained (been-there-done-that) horse to develop skills on

What you would have there then would be: green on green. If you haven't trained an unstarted horse before, you are green (it's not about the riding lessons you've taken, training is a much higher level of experience). And an unstarted horse is of course green.

Can you still do it? Sure! Absolutely. But that means: you would need to dedicate yourself to learning some natural horsemanship training skills yourself, and yes, my training videos program would help you a lot there to speed along your own learning curve. My Complete Package is your best route to go, as it contains all the videos and tools you need to train your horse yourself. You can't have "the blind leading the blind" there, so you have to bone up yourself on effective training techniques. And you would need to be committed to being patient with yourself (as we are with the horse) as you travel that learning curve. If you tackle this with the full awareness that the project is about you learning training skills yourself in a focused manner, and you don't worry too much about the "time aspect," then it might be a rewarding journey for you. Just go into it all with your eyes wide open (which is why I'm shooting really straight here). People get frustrated in life if/when they get in over their heads with horses, but that should all be thought out well in advance, and know fully what you're getting yourself into beforehand, if you do decide to embark on that particular type of endeavor. If you do decide to do this, you might also think about lining up a natural horsemanship trainer, as well, who can work one-on-one with you as backup if you ever need that. I have a vast list of natural horsemanship trainers starting here on my web site: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/FindNHTrainers.html

I do hope at least some of this helps you there and good luck to you! :-)