At 02:37:46 on 05.09.10, CoyoteQueen wrote:
By the end of this month I'll be the proud owner of a soon to be two year old black and white paint Tennessee Walker X Standardbred. He's never been worked with except for when he was six months old and that was just shoving a halter on him for a week and then taking it off. He hasn't been worked with since. He's very friendly on the ground and affectionate. This will be my first ever horse. I've loved them my entire life and I'm friends with numerous girls my age who ride in rodeos and a few who do dressage and some who jump but I've always been on the sidelines just watching them chat about what they've done recently. I'm not confident about what I can do myself to train him. So far I've managed to get him in a halter again. He took to it well, surprisingly so, and only fidgeted a bit at the end when I was latching it. I just stood about and praised him and rubbed it all over him and took it on and off about three times yesterday and I did it once more today and he didn't fidget as much. I also got him to lead a bit today. He did great for never being lead before. I gave him a gentle tug and he came right along with out anything else. I patted him and rubbed on him and praised him as well as telling him how handsome he is and he soaked up the attention. He looked quite proud of himself afterward. I lead him around for a good few minutes and then let him off the lead so we would end on a good note. I'm just curious as to what all I could do to increase his trust in me as well as any tips and tricks for ground work and basic training that I could do on my own as my mother has yet to find a trainer to break him. Also note that he isn't yet castrated. He'll be cut before the ownership transaction is finalized at the end of the month. I'll actually be helping castrate him. It will be done either this coming week or the week after that.

At 16:26:39 on 05.09.10, EmandBlueX wrote:
well i would sit in his stable (if he has one) with him so he gets used to you being there and also if you have a school then let him loose it it and try monty Roberts join up or just let him investigate you and never go further then you think he can manage or you could ruin his trust juts say inhis limits but try to also be near the boundries to when you have to do something more major with him he will notbe shocked, i hope this helps

At 03:56:30 on 07.09.10, xxKLM94xx wrote:
I have a 8yr old TWH who has very little training and he is very high strung so everyday I do join up and he seems to trust me and lets me do about anything with him. I think it works the best but just sitting in his pasture works to because he is very curious. So i'd say listen to EmandBlueX's advice.

At 07:44:46 on 07.09.10, Flicka wrote:
Sounds like you're doing pretty well to me and as he's so young you want to do little and often as there's only so much youngsters can concentrate on. He's picking up on your positive energy when he does something good but remember that equally even though he sounds really sweet if he does do something wrong you have to make him know that it's wrong and be very definite about it. If you show good leadership from the start you'll have a secure and confident horse. Join up can be good but be careful not to chase him. I would just work on teaching him to lead well-walk on and stop, back up, move over etc all to the smallest cues-although you may have to start with big ones if he doesn't understand and then refine it. Also try and get him used to being led from both sides-this will really benefit you and him later on. To be honest a lot of this sort of work leads to your horse being joined up to you anyway. Then I would set him loose and just at walk to begin with play a game of driving him, directing your energy towards his back end and moving him away-as in join up but much slower. Try and guide him through obstacles and over ground sheets etc. It's actually more difficult than it sounds. It's good though because again you can play with how much energy you need to get your horse to move-too little and he'll ignore you and too much and he'll run around like a loon!! Then you can get in front of him and lead him by drawing him with you as Monty does and repeat your obstacles. Then switch between both driving and leading. He will really start to watch your cues. He should stop when you stop, not go past and back up when you walk back up. Eventually you will be able to start doing it in trot. But keep your sessions short. When he's done something good even if you've just been working for ten minutes, praise him and finish there on a good note. Here's a pic of my husband doing it with his hunter. It really helped improve their bond which had taken a bit of a battering at the time and improved the horses confidence. :)

At 11:45:00 on 07.09.10, CoyoteQueen wrote:
Thanks so much guys! :) I haven't got a whole lot of equipment. I've only got the basic stuff which needs some serious work. I have an english saddle seat, a western saddle, two halter-bridles, a halter, and a single lead rope. There isn't much I can do with what I've got but I do try and keep his lessons short, only about 30 minutes at most and the majority of that is me grooming him. Only about ten or fifteen is actual work. I try as hard as I can to keep the experience positive. I have a feeling he'll be quite a bit easier to work with after he gets cut. Also what can I use to clean up the silver on the saddles and the leather of them?

At 16:49:08 on 07.09.10, kibby wrote:
tooth paste and a tooth brush is great for metal pieces.. For the leather any saddlery will sell leather cleaning products.. My personal favourite

At 17:13:04 on 08.09.10, CoyoteQueen wrote:
Thanks for the tip Kibby. I would have never guessed that I could use toothpaste on the metal pieces. :)