I take a  few special horses each year to start. Starting colts using a natural, low stress approach is my art. Art is not about time or money. Art is doing something that requires all of the best parts of yourself. Your art is like and itch that you just gotta scratch…you just can’t help but do it.

There is something pure and special about developing a great horse. We often refer to it as “horse training” when what we are truly doing is “developing”. Training implies a very clear stimulus/response scenario. “I tell you what to do and you do it”. While this approach may work for horses that are competing in very limited areas with a single rider, most horses are better served by a developmental approach.

A developmental approach means that the rider (or “trainer”) gives the horse guidance while at the same time allows the horse to think. This encourages the horse to work with the rider, not just for the rider. For instance when tracking cattle, let’s say the cow I need to doctor is in a bunch that sticks together. I would rather be on a horse that can think his way through a situation like this. He should go into the herd quietly, focus on the cow that I am focusing on, and do what it takes to move her out of the herd. Sounds so simple doesn’t it? That horse has to listen to my very sublte cues while at the same time using his superior cow-sense, speed and strength to get the job done. That’s teamwork and that’s why we re-create with horses in the first place.

If you have a colt and a dream for that colt, I would like to talk to you. I take a very limited number of colts each year and strive to help them fit into your dream.

Problem solving is different than developing horses or “training” horses. Problem solving involves looking at an unwanted or unsafe behavior and trying to understand where it came from. Most often the horse was “trained” to do it. In other words the horse (and/or the rider) was confused by a situation (stimulus). The horse reacted in a way that resolved the confusion (bucking, biting, running off, refusing to load=response) and was thus “trained” to react in unwanted or unsafe manner. The path to success is to discover the stimulus and re-educate the horse away from the unwanted, unsafe behavior and toward the desired behavior. Sounds very simple right?

The art of horsemanship is communicating these ideas to the horse in a language the horse understands. Each situation and each horse requires a different combination of technique and timing. An acute awareness of body language, personal space, focus and intention are needed to successfully solve a “horse problem”. Most importantly the owner must understand what went wrong and how to react the next time the confusing situation presents itself. If the rider can be an effective leader, confusion can be minimized and future “problems” avoided.