Another question - I want to monkey around a bit with roping.  I've never done it before, though my horse has!  I am a lefty - am I better off just forcing myself to learn to rope right handed, or is being left handed not a big deal?

Thank you!

Hey there!  I have a neato new horse, first one I've ever bought that has some miles on him already.  He's amenable, soft, but not "fancy broke".  My background is primarily english, though I did start out in the western world a long time ago.

He's a bit reactive in the face - they did some barrel racing, roping, etc with him.  He has some scar tissue build up on the corners of his mouth, which makes me hang the bit a titch low.  

At any rate - I'm looking for a step-up into a shank/curb.  He goes in a D-ring 3 piece snaffle now, he likes it well enough but doesn't seem to be super fussy about mouthpieces, and he's soft enough in it - not hiding, but not pulling.  His face is short but wide... we call him "Meathead" on occasion.  :)

You've put together some videos on this, but I don't know why I can't find them at the moment.  Thoughts on what our step up bit should be?  

Good morning!  How's the pollen treating you this morning😂?  It's pretty thick here, we could use a little rain to wash it all away.

It's astounding to me how this community is growing.  Thanks to everyone on here!  We are so fortunate to have you and we don't take it for granted.

I want to say welcome to the newest B1 members, WELCOME🤠.

Craig, Joseph McCue, Jordan Lancaster, Arno Beek, @cassandra cornstubble, Reed Hampton , Victor Marabella, Beau Bucher, Cash massey

Richard I am watching your snaffle bit series with Luna. On day 3 you are working on speed control and asking for the extended trot then back down to the jog. If you sit, bring down your life, and your horse does not come back down to a jog what cue or maneuver do you use? My horse wants to sort of lunge into the trot. I am trying to teach and develop the speed control to specifically ask for a slower job or an extended trot not just for him to lunge into a faster/rougher trot. Thank you! 

Hi Mr. Boatwright. I was hoping to get some insight on bits. This is the first horse I'm breaking to ride in a loooong time. I have 2 what I believe to be junior cow horse setups. One is a dogbone double jointed snaffle ( i would need to look at the other one again). But these are just leftover bits from back in the day that my uncle would've just had me ride with. I never learned much of anything about bits- just rode in what I was told to ride in. 

Anyways, both of these bits have shank on them and that's just not where I want to start a new horse. So I purchased a Mullen bit on d-rings thinking it would be lighter on her, but now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if that is too heavy or harsh a bit to be starting with. Would love to hear your two cents and/or specific recs. I've also got a sidepull on the way, just because I used to really like starting there to just not be in their mouths right away

Good morning! Do you have any advice on how to help a horse that is reactive when stepping on the lead rope.  I have tried letting her "get used" to stepping on it over and over but when she feels hung up in her face, she immediately tries to throw her head back and I want to fix that so she doesn't get herself into a wreck. If she does it with a lead rope, I'm sure she would do it if her bridle happened to get caught on a fence or somethin.  Thank you!

God is good 

Think I may have met my match. Took in a 14 year old mare from a rescue to try and get her fit for adoption. And she. Will.NOT. Calm down. Every session it’s like she forgot what she did the day before. Anxious about everything, is this something time will work through? I’ve got her through August. But she sees a lunge whip, or a flag, or a handy stick and she wigs out. Now I can’t catch her- it’s like she’s going backwards. Any pointers? Been following along the E20 but it’s like there’s no progress with her. 

Good morning everyone!  It's a beautiful morning here in the deep south, but I'm starting to get the itch to be in the high country.  Only a few weeks away from our yearly trek, though.  Here's the list of this week's new members.   Welcome!!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them here.  Richard

Kathy Berntson, Angela Lambright, Terri Postma, Logan Kirn, Damon Farrar, Amber, Clint Battles, Tyler Baker, @Thomas Jones, Butch kuhn, Elijah Hundley, Josh, Jill

The in the loop message 

What a great email this morning. Right now I have an extremely tough horse in training. The hardest scariest horse I’ve ever started. He’s down right beautiful but he’s near impossible to catch. I’m a fairly decent hand but today’s in the loop was spot on. I had to give him yesterday off because in reality I needed a break lol. He could do it all day long but boy did he frustrate the heck outta me. I think about quitting and for a brief moment I got kinda upset about not being able to catch the sucker. I’ve spent over a week trying to touch and catch him in a small pen. Now I can rope him but I want him to want to be caught so I haven’t. It’s been slow and staying in bed sounds better than work for sure. I have caught him a couple good times only to have to restart from the beginning the very next day. Could use some pointers maybe but I know in my heart I ain’t no quitter. If I quit it’s this horses last chance and he’ll be put down. I just know there’s a good horse in there. Thanks for the message Richard