Horse
Training
Training
At Rusty Acres, we step each horse through a progressive training program beginning as soon a possible. If we receive the horse as a weanling, we immediately begin by introducing the horse to a rope halter which we use exclusively for training. These halters are safe and effective tools that provide additional pressure points when training young horses. We begin the training by spending time with the horse getting the horse accustomed to our presence. When the horse is comfortable with the trainer we then begin halter and ground work. At this point we begin using verbal queues to let the horse begin to associate the verbal queues with the physical actions we are requesting. These include “step”, “back”, “left”, “right”, and the most important “HO” (some people use “walk” , “Gee”, “Haw”, and “Whoa”). However, the words we use are not as important as the consistency with which they are used. The main focus here is to make sure the horse associates the words with the action. Beginning at the age of about 18 months, we begin round-pen work. During this step of the training we begin adding another verbal queue for trotting. We use a “clicking” noise as our verbal queue for trotting. To protect the young horse’s legs, we do NOT include cantering or loping at this stage. As the horse ages we introduce the bit and bridle. Once the horse is comfortable with the bit and bridle we introduce driving reins and continue our ground work with these driving reins. When appropriate, we introduce the saddle and continue the drive training with a saddle. When the horse in old enough and strong enough, and has adapted to the training thus far, we progress to adding a rider. When adding the rider, we begin by allowing the rider to be “dead weight” while some leads the horse from the ground. During this step of the training we work slowly with the horse teaching it to respond to the previously learned verbal queues while adding the corresponding physical reining and mounted queues. This same training program works with horses of all ages. On this page are some pictures of a weanling during ground work and an older horse during drive training and mounted training. If you are interested in having Rusty Acres Ranch board and/or train your horse, contact Rex using the information below.
Rex Reese
Ph. 214-797-7399
Email: rexar@netportusa.com
