Hi Amy,

Great to hear from you!

I would recommend the ES20 with Neches or Magnolia.  Both will give you a good foundation.   We also have a few more in the works so that folks have several horses to pull from.  They should be ready by Jan 1.

As far as desensitizing goes, I really don't.  I find it makes them dull and I want to avoid that.  It really doesn't help with spooking either.  I much rather spend my time getting a nice handle on my youngster so that if something does spook them, they won't try to leave me.  Just my experience, but a horse that is desensitized to tarps, etc is generally desensitized to a rider too.

How's your colt bred?

Awesome!

I gave him a few tips!😂😂. Had to fire him as a drone pilot though!😂😂

and off your right side on her own.  It's very important that when she gets where she is supposed to be, you totally ignore her.  When you can walk around for 5 or 6 minutes and she doesn't break the rules you can put her away.  Continue this procedure until she will respect your space at all times.  Then take her back to the round pen and start her again with the ES20.  Let me know what happens.  Richard

Hi Anna, Sorry for the late response!  I've been on the road for several weeks.  I'll try to explain this without going too deep down a rabbit hole.  You're 100% right when you say your mare is distracted and insecure and it's because she doesn't know where she's supposed to be.  That's why she crowds you.  This is where I would start:  Get a flag and every time she comes within six feet of you, flag her back.  If she gets real reactive, you might want to go into the round pen.  When she gets out of your space, just walk off and act like nothing happened.  Totally ignore her and just walk off.  If she comes back into your space, flag her back again and walk off again.  Don't even look at her.  When she starts to stay back on her own, stop.  If she keeps moving, flag her back again, then walk off.  When she will stay out of your space and stop when you stop, back up.  If she doesn't back up to stay out of your space, flag, walk off.  Keep this up until she will stay 4-6 feet back

Yes sir

Jonathan sanchez. Ok, I'd suggest backing up to just walking for a few rides. I'd also ground drive her everyday before I ride her.  Sounds like you've got everything else in place.  Let me know how it goes.  Richard

Hi Jonathan, sorry to hear you're having trouble.  You said redo your groundwork.  Were you riding her prior to starting the ES20?  Was she bolting and bucking then?  

I'll shoot you guys a video when I get back to my place.

Hi Janelle,  I got my start in the cutting horse world on a ranch that started every colt at 2.  That is the practice in the performance horse world.  If a person owns a saddle horse that was bred, raised, and trained on a performance-type outfit he was likely started at the age of 2.  In fact, I would say that the vast majority of quarter horses out there where started at 2, if done professionally.  I would say that the notion that 2 years old is too early is a myth.  In fact, I start most of mine (as do a lot of other performance horse trainers) in October of their yearling year.  That way, a person can go slower and have more time to develop the young horse.  A horse that is a late 2 or 3 year old should have a decent amount of experience and if they don't, they are considered behind by most of the legit horse world.  Just like a baseball player, they need to have experience coming up through the ranks starting in little league.  I hope I have answered your question adequately.  R