From: "A. Sessions"
Jessica,
Thank you for horse-sense!! I get something worthwhile every week!!
I have a 2 yr. old QH Pacer cross gelding that I want to start lightly this year, walk, trot, under saddle, ride only briefly on trails once or twice a week. I don't want to push him any further than that until he is at least 3. I have been talking to trainers all over my area, maybe 15 so far. I have found a lady that I really connected with, watched her working horses and liked what I saw. Her credentials check out well, her client list is long and I have called 5 people on her list and got rave reviews. She specializes in lame and blind horses, uses a lot of John Lyons roundpen techniques and also is well versed in gaited horses. All that said, I still have this little nagging doubt in the back of my mind. She says first of all that she can have him trail safe in 30 days.
Secondly insists that I be there every day to train with the horse and will send me home at end of 30 days with a video and written instructions on work I should continue to do with him. Thinks also that because of his breeding, i.e. the Pacer cross, that maybe I should consider making him into a Racking horse, since the Rack is very similar to the pace (both lateral gaits) All of this seems to make sense to me, however I just am concerned that 30 days is not enough time. I would prefer to train him western as my interest is mostly trails, and an occassional gymkhana at the fair, maybe twice a year.
I am 50 yrs old not really interested in showing, just want a good calm horse that I can ride all over this mountain in Vermont, during summer and fall for fun. My horse is my stress relief and is a big spoiled baby. (he has his own radio and night light, eats good quality hay and grain and gets loved on and attended to with a lot of affection and with the knowledge that I am the head of the herd!!
I have invested a lot of time in this boy and don't want to mess it up now. He trailers, clips, accepts tack, stands for the farrier, lowers his head on command and accepts the bit, backs, moves over and even stands still for me to mount in the stall occassionally (sort of gives me a quizzical look, as if to say what are you doing up there) small engines, like the snow blower, lawn mower, weed whacker only make him curious, in other words he is not afraid of anything, and will let me do anything I want with him. I really want to be sure that I choose the right trainer as I just don't have the time or knowledge to go any farther than I already have. Is it possible to have him trail safe in 30 days??? Does taking him to the rack if he paces sound sensible to you. Am I expecting too much too soon??
Thanks,
Tony
You've really raised several issues here -- let me take them one at a time.
Selecting a trainer is a big project, and it sounds as though you've done a lot of homework. You've found someone whose methods appeal to you and who has had "rave reviews," you've seen the horses she produces and you've watched her work and you like everything you've seen. This sounds very good. She wants you to be there so that she can work with you and the horse -- this sounds even better. And I like the idea of the video and written instructions that you will take home with you after thirty days. This woman seems to take her work very seriously -- she's certainly doing it RIGHT!
I agree with you that "Trail safe in 30 days" is an odd expression, but my suggestion is that you talk to the trainer and ask her precisely what she means by that. I'm sure she doesn't mean that your horse, or any horse, will be bear-proof, hunter-proof, and ATV-proof in thirty days (or 300 days, or 3000 days...). Different trainers have different definitions of "green-broke" and "broke to ride", and it's always best to ask YOUR trainer what a term means to HER. Ask her what skills your horse will learn in 30 days, and what you can expect at the end of the 30 days. I'm sure she will be happy to tell you.
And don't forget that this is 30 days of YOU and the horse working together under the trainer's direction -- this is an INTENSIVE course, and represents almost eight months of weekly lessons (one supervised hour of horse and rider training per week). Thirty hours of real, consistent work that doesn't overface the horse or the rider can literally turn them both around. There are many, many "training barns" where a horse "in training" will leave aftersthree months or even SIX months with less actual training time than your 30 days. ;-)
As for gaits -- from the rider's point of view (the one that's in direct contact with the saddle), a rack is much more comfortable than a pace. Many trail horses develop their own "trail gait" after a while, and it's usually something like a foxtrot, a running walk, an amble, or a rack -- something smooth and easy that makes few demands on the horse or the rider. Most horses can learn to rack, if someone will bother to teach them to do it.
The pace is a two-beat gait, with the legs on each side moving together -- the footfalls are hind foot on one side moving together with the front foot on that side, followed by the hind and front feet on the other side moving together. It's not terribly comfortable to ride, because as each pair of legs moves, the horse's body tends to roll from side to side. Some horses roll more than others -- and some riders say that a pacing horse actually makes them seasick. ;-)
The rack (or singlefoot, or broken amble -- it goes by several names) is basically a modified walk. It's very much like a Tennessee Walking Horse's running walk, but the hind legs are much less active and thus there is none of the head-nodding that is typical of TWHs. If you can slow a pacing horse's gait and shift his balance slightly, so that the pace becomes broken and the pairs of legs don't move quite together, the "body roll" tends to disappear and the horse's gait becomes very smooth. The footfalls are: hind foot, followed by front foot on the same side, then hind foot on the other side, followed by front foot on that side. It's more of a quickstep-shuffle, with no real overtrack, and it's something that the horse can do all day long.
You can certainly ride and enjoy this gait in a Western saddle, and it won't detract from, or interfere with, his other gaits. ;-)
I suggest that you take this trainer out for coffee somewhere (leave the cell phones at home) and discuss all of this. Share your concerns, tell her exactly what you've told me: that you love your horse, that you have a great relationship with him, that you are NOT show-ring ambitious, and that you want to ride Western, have fun, and spend most of your riding time on the trails. It doesn't sound to me as though anything she does will interfere with that -- but sit down and talk with her so that you'll know what the plan is, and so that you won't worry. A good relationship with a horse is a great thing, and you're right to want to preserve it -- and a good trainer will CERTAINLY understand that!
Good luck, and let me know how it goes, okay?
Jessica
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