Colt Starting: Our Process
Colt Starting Philosophy
Begin with the end in mind.
In our case, the end goal is to make relaxed and confident colts that understand basic signals.
GroundWork
Groundwork is a topic people have mixed opinions about. I knew one old-timer who said the groundwork was, “What I did when I was walking across the pen to ride them.” How’s that for cowboy humor? Other people spend months preparing their horse on the ground. For us, groundwork has two goals. First, teach the colt manners. We want to make horses that are safe to be around. Second, groundwork should prepare the colt for riding. If a colt is having trouble with something on the ground, why would we think that will get better once we start riding? In this way, groundwork can help us establish control and work through problems before swinging a leg over.
First Rides
Once we feel a colt is prepared, it’s time to start riding. Usually, the first few rides are done in a hackamore and in the round pen. The biggest objective is to get the colt to transition from a walk, trot, and lope. At this point, the rider is just a passenger.
Control
Once a colt is moving out freely, then we’ll start to try and gain some control. The first few cues will be as close to the groundwork cues as possible. Gaining control of the horse’s hindquarters and lateral flexion on the head are the first two mandatory buttons that need installed. This helps shut down a colt if things start to come unwound. As the colt progresses, we’ll look to gain control over more of the body and mind.
Understanding
Our goal in the first 30 days is not about seeing how much we can get done. Instead, it’s about building a solid foundation of understanding. We feel it’s better if they can do a few things well, than many things without understanding. For us, things seem to go better when we take a little more time. When the horse is a five-year-old, nobody will ever know if you took an extra week when it was a two-year-old. No need to hurry.
Experience
Once a colt understands the basics, then it comes down to gaining more experience. Miles. Sweaty saddle blankets. Trail time. Whatever you call it, a colt with 30 rides only has the basics. At this point, a colt needs to start down its path. Trail horse, ranch horse, performance horse; we try to pair our colts with people we feel will be a good match.