Saddle Work & First Rides                                                          Please click the thumbnails to view a larger image.

When the colts are reaching riding age, (for me this means between 3 and 4 years old - I have never been comfortable starting colts any younger than that) I like to revisit some of the things we have covered before.  We’ll work them at liberty in the round corral, making sure we have nice transitions, good, smooth turns, that the colt is moving forward with energy, and that he is paying attention to our body language.

Next I might check their halter work - are they still soft? How do they feel about being saddled again after a year? And are they OK with weird and different desensitization things - like the stuffed giraffe someone recently gave me?

How are they about getting in and out of a trailer?  I want these colts to jump in, stand quietly, and come out softly when asked to do so. 

Then we’ll ride them.  I always do the first one or two rides in the halter, with a single rope lead.  We get good, soft lateral flexion this way and it keeps us honest by disallowing us to cheat and try to stop them with 2 reins. We go through all 3 gaits, sometimes several transitions up and down, and we go both directions. 

After a ride or two in the halter, when they are moving off our legs well and stopping with one rein nicely, I’ll put the snaffle on.  Again, we never try to stop these colts with two reins this early. Another ride or so, and then they’re really listening and ready to start vertical flexion, stopping, and backing.   

The 4 colts we started at the same time last October were ready for the trail on the second ride. We played around and over some obstacles in the arena first, and they were so soft (mentally as well as physically)  we just took them for a cruise around the ranch. 

Sometimes we’ll drag objects with these colts this early. We try very hard to expose them to many different things early on - when they are in a super-learning frame of mind.  

After about ten rides, they are doing basic lateral movements like side passing and leg yields, stopping off a shift of our body weight, and are by now very, very soft in the snaffle. They will back nice circles, and do simple lead changes. From this point on we might start some work on cows, get them out on longer trail rides, perhaps head off into the Sequoia National Forest or Kings Canyon National Park, or even go to a horse show - just for fun.