Are you ready for a horse

Twin Oaks Enterprises

Brunswick MO

660-548-3023

Are you ready for a horse?

Here is a list of questions you should ask yourself.

Do you have time each and everyday to take care of a horse? Your horse will have to eat and drink everyday. Especially when the temperature outside is zero.
If you stall your horse, it will have to be cleaned everyday.
Do you have someone to care for the horse if you can't? Do they know how to care for your horse?
Do you have funds to pay someone else to care for your horse?
Have you budgeted funds for all the potential costs of horse ownership? Feed, hay, water, boarding, vet care, farriers, tack, transportation- truck and trailer, not to mention the cost of the horse.
Do you have time and contacts to buy hay? Do you know how much hay to stockpile?
Are you prepared for the fact that your horse could get sick and you will have to make some very tough choices about his well being?
If your life situation should change do you know what you would do about selling your horse?
As a parent of a child who wants a horse, are you prepared to learn about horse care and safety? Your child will need guidance.
Have you honestly evaluated your riding skills, and horse knowledge?
Buying a young horse is not always the cheapest, and is rarely the best way to go. The old saying you get what you pay for, well it applies. Be careful though the older horses have also had more time to figure out how to get out of doing the things they don't want to do so don't just go on age alone. Listen to the horse.

It's ok to try before you buy

Making sure your child really wants a horse before you buy is important. Its OK to test your child to see how serious they really are.

Take riding lessons. Maybe even from different people. Instructors can very a lot in teaching techniques, styles and areas of expertise. Find out where their expertise lie to make sure you get the information you want. For example you wouldn't want to learn to ride a roping horse from someone who only rides English. Making the child earn the right to a horse is good, because the horse will make them earn the right to ride him.

Ask if the seller is willing to have a trial period. Don't expect to much time, but if the horse isn't working for you in a week or two you should have some type of guarantee or at least be able to go back for help. If you buy from and sale barn or auction there will be no guarantees or recourse.

There are other options too. Join 4-H or a riding club. Many have members who will help you. Attend camps or go on trail rides. You or your child should be excited to learn everything about horses from their care, to cleaning stalls, not just riding. Leasing a horse is also a possibility.

So you think you are ready

Now you must decide where to buy your horse. There are thousands of horses out there to pick from, whether it is your first horse or your twenty-first horse you need to know what you want.

Make a list of the things you want or don't want. Do you have a dream or goal? If so the first horse you buy may not take you to your dream. For instance, if you are a beginning rider and your dream is to ride barrels in the PRCA, you will not be able to start out riding a top finished barrel horse. In fact you may not want to start on a barrel horse at all. Learn to ride a horse at a walk, trot, canter, and all out run first. There is a very big difference between walking and running. If your horse is ready to run before you are, the out come will not be good for either of you. So finding a quiet horse that is started on a barrel pattern might be a better choice for a beginning rider. It will be very important for the horse to be willing to just trot or canter the pattern, so you can learn how to line up the approach of a barrel, sit a turn, and stay with your horse leaving the barrel before speed is added. You will know when you are ready for more speed, or a different horse.

That's the thing about horses, you must earn the ability and respect to ride them, it can never be given to you, or done for you.

Things you might want in any horse, no matter what your goals are

Easy to catch.
Ties and stands quietly to be saddled.
lowers head to bridle.
stands to be mounted.
soft in the face. ( When you pull on the reins his nose goes down and in, not up and out. )
Stops willingly.
Good conformation. ( A mutton backed horse will be hard to keep a saddle on, and a crooked legged horse maybe rough riding or require special shoeing. )
Will he load in a trailer? (Make sure he will load in your trailer. Two horse trailers can be very scary for some horses.)
If you plan to stall your horse, has your prospect been stalled before, if so does he have issues? (Cribbing or weaving.)
Can and will the seller ride the horse? If he won't then you shouldn't either, keep looking.
Has the horse got behavioral problems? Are they something you can fix or won't deal with? (Example arena sour, and you don't plan to show, this wouldn't be a problem for you. )
If you ride the horse and he bucks. The seller says: "I don't know why he did that, he never does that." Keep looking. Listen to the horse he will tell you the truth. If he bucks the day you ride him trust me he will do it again.
Color is the very last thing you should choose a horse on. Pretty is as pretty does is very true with horses.
Blood line or Pedigree. ( Be aware of the fact that some of the traits that make the horses great in cutting or racing are not necessarily traits that will make quiet trail riding horses. So if you are going to buy on pedigree know what it means. )

There are many other things you might want to consider in buying a horse once you decide the path you want to take. Do your homework. Find someone to help guide you, that is knowledgeable, you trust, and will listen to. Don't let your emotions, or inpatients rush you into buying a horse. Don't be afraid to ask the seller what the horses cues are. If the seller is a trainer, they should be more than willing to spend some time showing you the ins and outs of the horse. If you are a beginning rider you may want to have someone else take some notes for you as the cues are explained. It is unlikely that you will remember everything.

Twin Oaks Enterprises

Joyce Fox

Send questions or for help e-mail or call

twinoaksenter@TwinOaksEnterprises.com

660-548-3023

Your Horse

Your horse has emotions just like people, and do parallel many of the same traits. Their brains however do not work the same. They experience trust, fear, and caution. They are not vindictive lying in wait to get even with you for something that happened yesterday. They simply learn what they can and can not do around you/people, and process from there. Their sense of feel is great, they tolerate, and overcome many injuries. However, they do not see, or hear like humans.

The way horses correct themselves in a herd is severe, and vital to their survival. The horses main defense is running from whatever is threatening them. Kicking and biting can provide them some protection but, it is mostly used to instill respect and maintain order in the herd or when they are left no choice but to fight. In domesticated herds today we as owners are responsible to make sure the weaker horses get fed, but in the wild they would be slowly weeded out by predators. Thus making the herd as a whole stronger. I believe the dominance trait is passed on from mares to their foals.

The horses brain isn't like the logical thinking brains of humans. They are simple thinkers. Most horses are not bad in the beginning but, are taught the bad behavior, and can be fixed but it will take time, consistency, and may never completely go away. Then there are others that are just bad for whatever reason and just should not be messed with. No horse is worth your safety. There are many, good horses out there. Find one you like, and then make your relationship work by investing in educating yourself, so you can communicate with the horse you have now, and many more horses down the road.

Each horse is a little different in abilities and will make you learn new ways to teach them the things you need. It has been said you never truly understand a subject until you are required to teach it. I believe this to be especially true with horse training. I also believe you are not a true horseman until you understand how to see the world through your horses eyes. There is a difference between understanding the principals of good horsemanship and being a true horseman.
Your horse is a reactive thinker. He is not vindictive nor will he plot and evil plan to get even with you. If your horse is laying in wait to get you, it is because you have taught him to. While this is a hard pill for some to swallow it is true, most horses and people for that matter are bad or poorly mannered because they were not taught to behave in a positive manner.

Your horses mind works like this: because event B followed event A,

event A must have caused event B.

Example: Say your horse is humping or jumping around while you are cantering him.

You are so scared you pull him up and stop him for a couple of minutes to gather yourself, or worse you get off.

What do you think you just taught your horse?

The answer: If I hump and jump around I will get to rest or she will get off me.

This also does something for your mind. This horse bucks and I can’t ride him.

First of all if he did not buck you off. He was just checking to see what he can get away with,

because when your 1200 lb horse truly decides he is going to buck you off, trust me he will!

Just like when your 1200 lb horse decides he is going to pull away from you, he will.

Taking away his need to do all these things is truly our goal as horsemen and women.

We don’t want to break his spirit, or have to ride him for 5 miles to get him tired enough to respect us. We want him to trust us to be his leader, and want to be with us. Horses are curious and instinctively follow. So lets go back to our horse who was checking out the consequences of humping or jumping around a little while we were cantering. What we want to do is make the thing that follows the humping so uncomfortable/difficult for your horse, he doesn’t want to try that again and is happy to simply canter along. The correction can be anything from pulling your horse around in small circle and kicking him, scolding him with your voice, slapping with your reins, or spurring him, depending on your riding ability, but stopping is not an option. The feet must keep moving. Much of this correction should remind him of his ground work when you were beginning his training and making corrections to his behavior then. When your ground work is done correctly everything is used as building blocks for the rest of his Education.

The first block is trust, the second block is respect, and the third block is willingness.

You must earn each of these blocks before your horse will start to respond to you.

Check out our other pages for more articles on horses.

If you have a question or subject you would like information on e-mail me at

twinoaksenter@TwinOaksEnterprises.com

If you like my picture, feel free to use it as a screen saver :)

Welcome to Twin Oaks Enterprises

"We train people for horses"