On a limited basis, I am offering my 10+ years of horsemanship
skills, horse training and trail riding expertise to you and your horse. I have a limit of two horses in a 30 day period,
so scheduling your training in advance is very important.
I
offer 30 days training for you and/or your horse. In this 30 day time period you are guaranteed a minimum of 30 hours training.
As much of this as possible will be actual time riding on real trails. I always start out in the round pen with some basic
ground work. This is a perfect and safe forum for establishing a leadership role with your horse, to give him confidence and
trust in me, as his leader. This is very important when we hit the trails.
I am now taking new clients that have a saddle horse that is started under saddle and knows the basics,
but has not yet had exposure to trails. I will build your horses' confidence to ride down the trail, as safely
as possible. Some of the obstacles we will meet are: dogs, mountain bikers, water crossings, bridges (narrow and wide), logs,
hikers, kids, vehicles, steep terrain, narrow trails with brush, gulches, rocks, shale and more. On special occasions (when
we are lucky) we might encounter a bear, cougar, deer, wild turkeys, goats, llamas, and more. We will also deal with desensitizing
for rain slickers, packs, water bottles, maps, etc, in the saddle. I am not interested in taking horses in for training that
have behavioral issues such as rearing, bucking, kicking, bolting or aggression. I am very good at building up confidence
in your horse. My training techniques are very effective in dealing with fear issues and building confidence, in both horse
and rider.
The whole time I am handling your horse,
from taking him/her from the pasture, to saddling, to trailering, to riding; I am TRAINING. I am very cognizant of riding
correctly on the trail. Reinforcing the use of leg, bit, reins, vocal and other cues. Every minute a horse is being worked
with, he IS being trained. Either correctly or incorrectly.
I
have a facility that can accommodate your horse with a large area fenced with safe no-climb fencing. You horse will be
feed top-quality hay twice a day and fresh water supplied freely. Special supplements feeding may be arranged.
I can take your horse and do all the trail training myself, we can mix
it up with you riding out with me during or at the end of the 30 days, or it can be all you riding your horse and going out
with me, and I will teach both of you together. Whatever your comfort zone and rider skill level, we can custom design a training
program specifically for you and your horse.
When riding
& training your horse, I take pictures and videos of the rides, so you can actually see the progress, lesson by lesson.
I will email you links to pictures and videos online. If you wish, I can put these pics and videos on a DVD for you for reference.
I have a questionnaire for you to fill out that helps
me get to know the "horsenality" of your horse, (temperament & character, prior training, confidence level,
spookability and energy level.) The four main influences that make up the horsenality are: innate characteristics,
learned behavior, environment, and heart-spirit. This will help me to develop the best training program
for you and your horse, keeping in mind your training goals and objectives. I am a firm believer that I cannot just train your horse and give back to you a “finished product.”
Horses are living creatures who will respond differently in different situations, and to different people, and so it is important
that you learn along with your horse, good communication, to create a lasting partnership. After all, it is more important
that you can ride your horse successfully than me,
since it is your horse!
At the end of the training period, I will give you a detailed progress report on your horse, along with recommended
training exercises for you to do; and any other relevant information on your horse that I feel will be useful to you.
I have references available upon request and tons of pictures and videos
of past training sessions, trail rides, horse camping adventures, and packing trips.
Please give me a call, I would love to speak with you about your dreams of riding down the trail
with your horse.
