More Q & A

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I just got a six month old filley. NOW what do I do? She obviously didn't have much people contact, because she won't come to us and very wild acting. How do we start getting her to trust us? And once she does, where do we go from there? I hope you can help us out. We' re new to the horse business. Thank you. Roberta   Hi, You will want to start by putting your filly into a small stall around 12ft.x12ft. would work, small enough where she has to see you and yet big enough she doesn't feel completely trapped. Now just start feeding her and do a routine of walking into her stall and wait for her to relax with your presence and then leave the stall, do this until she is totally relaxed with you there then start to try and touch her, I always go for the shoulder area to try and pet them and then the neck and the back. Once you have got her gentle to the touch then put a halter on her (one that is her size) and adjust it fairly snug as you will leave it on her for a week or so with the lead rope to drag. This way you can catch her easily , unless she wants to turn her butt to you , then I form a hook out of stiff wire about 4 to 5 feet long with a hook on the end so I can reach out and hook the lead rope and pull her to me. Hope this helps. ttyl, Jerry Jerry, I showed horses very successful through high school and have decided to give up the rodeo career and concentrate on training reining horses. My question is this. I have a coming 3 yr old which I have about six months on. She is very soft and can do her turnarounds very correct and soft and is stopping real well with some speed, however I feel she is ready for a little more speed in her rollbacks and spins and when I ask for a little more speed she stiffens up like a board. I go back and resoften her. I do not want to loose her correctness but I also feel she is ready for a little more pressure, how do I correct this or is this a stage I have to work through? I have never experienced on other horses. Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Thank you Don   Don, As you start to progress any horse the first reaction from the horse is "what do you mean you want to go faster Iam comfortable where I am and that is as far as I want to go" What we want to do is first find the comfort zone of the roll back then begin working a little outside that zone , you where correct in coming back to doing what your horse already knew. Now I would just turn up the heat a little each time she can handle a little more , but always , always come back to where she is comfortable and show her how to turn off the pressure button. A good gauge on how much to expect , what I use is a half percent better each ride and take my time don't get in a hurry. One hundred days will give you 50 percent improvement. Hope this helps , Jerry Hi, got a three year old riding fine with saddle and halter but it is time for the bit. How is the best way to get her to accept the bit and what is the recommended bit to use to train I had no problems in the saddle breaking she did a good job on that I feel with out a fuss, but she seams to want to fight the bit. Thank you. Tommy   Tommy, The first thing I would do is check her teeth and see if she has wolf teeth and if so have them pulled and at the same time have her teeth floated and bit seats put in, your vet will know what bit seats are. Also a 3 1/2 ring snaffle would work great for starters. ttyl, Jerry Hi, I have a 3 year old quarter horse gelding. And I went to get started working with a lope with him. What's the best why I should go about doing this? Any Help you could give me would be great. Thank You, Lauren   Start by posting at the trot in the correct diagonal then speed up your rhythm and let the colt find the lead on his own just by you creating forward motion, then each day try to get it done a little sooner until he lopes off within the first stride or so after posting. Do this all in a circle so to keep a slight arc in the body. Jerry Mr. Fowler, I have a three year filly which I cannot get to stop correctly. She will stiffen the front legs and basically hop to a stop on all fours. Recently, I have been asking for a stop at the trot then immediately asking her to walk off in a relaxed manner. Is this the right thing to try? I keep going back to the basics and starting over, but I'm becoming very frustrated in my efforts. I would very much appreciate any tips you could give me to try. My filly is by Boggies Flashy Jac out of an NRHA/AQHA money & point earning mare. I am an amateur working on my own. This is only the second horse I have tried to train on my own. My other horse is a four year filly out of Hollywood 86 whom I have been showing at local AQHA shows and acquired 3 points so far this year. Again, I desperately need help to get the three year relaxed enough to walk on the front end. Thank you, Jane   Jane, The first exercise I would do with her is to walk off with my legs lightly on her sides, once she is walking freely take off the legs and at the same time say whoa, if she does not stop then pick up the reins and back her up firmly. Do this until she stops immediately and wants to back up on her own. Once you have this smooth and law in her head then begin to work on what I call inside rolls. This maneuver is to free up the front end and lift the shoulders but the horse first must want to stop or you will end up in a fight trying to get it done. Begin with a 40 to 50 foot circle at the lope and wait till your horse is loping free and relaxed then build just a little speed, like maybe one to two strides then say whoa let the horse decide what it is going to do with the command , if nothing happens lift your hands slowly and pull your horse in the ground and back up then step around to the inside of the circle to free the front legs up and walk off the new direction then lope off a half a circle and begin the maneuver again and again until you get a satisfactory stop, once you have this accomplished then lope off on a straight line and build a little speed not much and then say whoa and see if your horse is trying. If she is not then go right back to the maneuver and do it again. This should solve your front end problem assuming your horse wants to stop and has no injury. Best of success, Jerry

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Jerry and Kim Fowler 1-406-883-3410 41187 Tower Rd. Polson, Montana 59860 jerry@jerryfowlerperformancehorses.com

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