Posts Tagged ‘professional trainer’

Have you ever marveled at how a good, professional horse trainer can get your equine to do all the things he will not do for you. Not only that, but they make it look so easy. It’s maddening. Most professionals don’t spend much time with horse temperament typing so we should we?

Well, even though a good, professional trainer may not have studied Five-Element typing they instinctively read equines and type them. A talented, professional trainer has worked with hundreds if not thousands of different horses. Relationship with individual horses is not so important because the equine understands what he is supposed to do and he gets consistent feedback from the professional trainer.

Amateur Owners and Temperament Typing

You and I, on the other hand, have our few horses to learn from and with. We will make lots of mistakes and without a strong relationship with our horse misunderstandings came escalate quickly to divorce proceedings!

Here are some tips for making up for our mistakes with each horse temperament type so we can stay in the relationship long enough to make progress in training:

The Fire Horse

The Fire horse temperament is all about relationship so spend lots of time grooming and hanging out with him. Never speak harsh words to a Fire horse even when they are behaving incorrectly. Keep asking for the desired behavior and praise even slight efforts.

The Earth Horse

The Earth horse temperament is all about food. He lacks ambition so you may need to get strong in your demands for extra effort. Once your horse has put forth some energy to do what you ask let him rest and take him to graze. He will look forward to this reward.

The Metal Horse

The Metal horse temperament will not work for someone he does not respect. You gain his respect by breaking down his lessons into steps he can master before moving on to the next lesson. The Metal horse learns slowly but never forgets something once it is learned. Use this to build his confidence through repetition. You may get bored but your Metal horse will respect you for staying with him until he is ready to move on.

The Water Horse

The Water horse temperament has to have trust. He will sense the confidence of a good, professional horse trainer but feed off any fear coming from an amateur. Never put your Water horse temperament to a fearful situation unless you have total control and can support him.

An example would be working at home with lots of obstacles and set up “scary” events to teach him to respond rather than react. Building his trust in you in his home area will prepare him for new environments. Go slowly with the Water horse temperament not because they learn slowly but to teach them to learn rather than react.

The Wood Horse

Last but not least, the Wood horse is often the most challenging for the amateur horse trainer. The reason, the Wood horse temperament wants to be challenged. Most amateurs don’t have the skill level to keep the training interesting enough so the Wood horse temperament doesn’t get bored. A bored Wood horse can progress from annoying behavior to downright dangerous. Never fight with this type horse because that is what they want. Instead, redirect their energy and make bad behavior uncomfortable so they choose good behavior themselves.

So, if you are a good, professional horse trainer you can enhance your current skills by learning horse temperament typing. If you are an amateur you can make up for your lack of experience as a horse trainer by building a solid relationship with your horse.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health, horse personality types, and horse nutrition, plus one-stop shopping on holistic horse products, visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com. Get more horse tips on her blog at http://blog.horseharmony.com.

Author: Madalyn Ward, DVM
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Owning a horse takes on a whole new set of responsibilities that leasing and lessons did not have.

I find that this is the most overlooked part of horse ownership, and I see it daily in the horse world. Horses can be expensive, even when they live with you as opposed to being boarded out.

They are living, breathing creatures whose very lives are completely dependent upon YOU for survival. I cannot state this enough, especially having gone through years of watching people get them and dispose of them when no longer needed or wanted.

If you have any indications that you may not be able to keep up the commitments, I ask that you keep your lease horse and read no further. I’m not trying to be harsh, but this next step requires you to do some soul searching. It’s not really about the money.

Since you are still reading, let’s take a good hard look at the real cost of horse ownership.

There are many articles on this subject, but three factors to keeping costs down are:

Buy a sound, healthy, happy, trained, quiet horse that has passed a battery of veterinarian testing and professional trainer/coach approval.

Keep the horse in a place that is safe and free from hazards.

Research and read everything you can about horses: skeleton and structure, feed and nutrition, care and grooming, feet and maintenance. The riding is up to you and your coach.

Costs for owning a horse go through the roof when these above principles are neglected or passed by. If I wrote down all the people I know right now, whose horses are out of commission, the reasons would be because of at least one of the above principles.

The Cost of a Good Horse

Horse prices vary around the world, so we will use North American averages. Let’s look at a few of the necessities of a first horse and the price for it.

Sound, healthy, vetted clean, not too young or old (7-13)
Well mannered, trailers nicely, can be clipped and bathed
Has basic training levels down well: stop, go, turns, cues lightly, trained mouth
Has registration papers
May have competed at entry level

Price for this horse: $5,000. Price for this pony: $3500 – 5000.

Now let’s add some frills:

Horse has been in many shows and pinned in ‘A’ circuits – Add $2000 and up

Horse is discipline specific; jumping, hunter, reining, breed classes – Add $2,000 (smaller levels) to $15,000 (medium levels) to anything over $50,000 (higher levels)

Breeding: purebred or reasonable bloodlines – Add $2,000 and up. For the top bloodlines – Add $5,000 and up. Poor bloodlines can drop the price of a horse.

Horse has level 3 and 4 dressage – Add $25,000 and up

Horse is a proven broodmare – Add $2000 and up

Horse comes from a notable trainer – Add $3000 and up.

Costs vary with every horse, but these are generalities. When it comes to the price of a horse, it’s not always the quality or training. Market value is what someone will pay, and if no one will pay $50,000 for a well-bred hunter, you won’t sell it. It’s very simple.

Good ponies are worth their weight in gold, so you may have to spend more for a winning pony, but if the pony is young enough, you will recoup every dollar and sometimes more.

The price of horses also is dictated by the economic climate. As of the writing of this article, July 2008, you don’t even have to pay for a horse these days. Auctions have been selling them from $20 to $200; half of the value of meat. Check out this site for the truth on auction horses and the current auction prices: fuglyhorseoftheday.com

Speaking of Auctions

Can you get a good horse at an auction? Absolutely, but it relies on 50% – skill and 50% – luck. There are more bad reasons for horses being at an auction than good reasons.

Should you try an auction? As a first time buyer, absolutely not, unless you bring someone skilled, and even then it’s still 50% luck. If it’s your first horse, it would be heartbreaking to bring the horse home and a week later have a vet tell you the horse is unserviceable for life. We will have more on auctions in a future article.

Cost of Ownership

Boarding

Keeping your horse at a stable varies immensely. Let’s look at the monthly variants:

Backyard, no barn, reasonable feeding, full care, shelter, no arenas – $150 – $350
Private small facility, good care/feed, stalls, turnout, arenas (outdoor) – $300 – $550
Self board, you do everything, pay for all feed, clean stalls – $150 – $350
Quality barn, come competitors, excellent care, instructors, indoor arena – $550 – $700
Competition barn, discipline specific, best of everything, trainers, coaches $700 – $1,500 (plus frills)

Keeping your horse in your back yard depends on the amenities and outbuildings you have. Lets start with the buildings you may have to build (based on averages only):

Outside shelter/run-in, 14′x14′, open 2 sides: $350 – $600 (untreated or treated lumber), if someone else build it: $1,000 +
Small barn, 2 stalls, hay storage, concrete floor, one storey, ‘traditional’ building style, around 36×40: You build-$35,00. They build: $45,000
Hay storage shed: $400-600.
Shavings and bedding shed: $400-600.
Fencing, corral 40′ x 100′: Wood 3 rail painted – $16,000. Bayco high-tensile horse wire at 5 strands: $17,000. Metal: $65,000.
Fencing, pasture: wood, untreated unpainted – $60 per every 10 feet.
*Please note the absence of barbwire pricing. Barbwire has no business around horses. I have a saying: “That horse never died before.”

Building anything on a property only increases the property value, if done well. Anything less becomes a safety issue, which we talk about later.

Training and Lessons
Lesson, one hour, qualified instructor: $30 – 50/hour
Training, one month, qualified trainer: $1,000/month

Feeding

Grain for one 1100 pound horse: $35 – 50/month
Hay for same horse: Grass/orchard hay: $110-150/month. Timothy: $120-170/month. Alfalfa mix: $120-170/month. (pure alfalfa is for cattle. More on that in future articles, or see Kathryn Watts, Marijke van de Water).

Average 50 lb. bale cost: orchard $5-12. Timothy: $12-18. Alfalfa mix: $16-24.

Hay will rise substantially in the next 2 years from the cost of fuel and the depletion of farmland for corn crops. Drought and economy also play a role in the variable feed pricing.

Worming
Every 2-3 months: $20 each time

Vet Care
Call out (before they do anything) $65-85
Average one hour visit with no return or emergency: $250-350
Vaccinations: $120/year

Feet
Trim, all 4: $30-45
Shoes, general all-purpose set of 4: $220-280
Shoes, 2 fronts: $90-140
Specialty shoes, all 4: $280-450

Trims average every 4-6 weeks for optimum health. Shoes the same.

Bedding
Per month: Shavings: $40-65. Pellets: $50-85. Straw: $25-50.

Equipment
Saddles
English, medium quality. Dressage: $1,700 – 3000. Hunt seat/all purpose: $1500 – 3000.
English, used, good quality: Dressage: $700-2500. Hunt seat/all purpose: $400-1600
Western, medium quality, all purpose trail: $1800-2400.
Western, good quality used: $800-2200

Bridles
English with bit: $85-125
Western with bit: $70-110

Halters
Web traditional: $25-55
Rope: $14-29
Leather: $50-120
Lead ropes: $12-30

Grooming Equipment
Brushes, combs, picks, misc: $30-100

Misc: saddle blankets, horse blankets, boots, wraps, first aid, tack cleaning supplies, sprays, bandages: $200-600/year.

Hauling
Average 100 mile trip: $1 to $2.50/mile

Insurance
This cost varies too greatly to make sense or put it on the site.

Total Equine Costs/Averages for One Year
Recreational horse at home (after building): $1800
Boarded recreational horse $7000
Boarded competition horse $15,000

It costs the same to board and feed a bad horse as it does a good horse. The initial price of the horse is the easy part.

Author: April Reeves
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In this series of articles I will explain how to take a young/ untrained horse and safely teach it to lead. This will help to deepen your relationship, and the level of communication with your horse. Each article will have a systematic approach that will be both easy to understand, and to teach your horse. I will break down each baby step and teach you how to teach your horse each lesson. There will be examples in the training phase that has corrections and also what responses to watch for in your horse. My hope is that this will “demystify” some of the concepts in working with young/ untrained horses.

This article is written on the assumption that you have already taught your horse to accept a halter. It is also based on the assumption that you have handled a young or untrained horse before. If you are NOT comfortable in handling a young or untrained horse please consult with a professional trainer.

Part 1: Overview of Equipment

First of all you are going to need several items in order to make this safe for both you and your horse:

1. A halter that is in good condition and is correctly fit to your horse.

2. A sturdy lead rope that is also in good condition.

3. A dressage whip

4. A riding helmet that is ASTM/ SEI certified

5. An indoor or outdoor arena (not a round pen, you need a “flat” wall)

6. Gloves (optional, but good protection for your hands)

First of all, the equipment should fit your horse correctly. To make sure that we are on the same page I will explain how to correctly fit a halter to your horse. It should be on tight enough that the throatlatch (the piece that lies underneath the horses throat) is not more than couple of inches from the jowls. You want enough space for a couple of fingers to fit between the throatlatch and the throat. When the halter is on you also need to have room to fit two or three fingers underneath the noseband and below the cheekbone. The halter should lie no more than an inch below the cheekbone. See figure 1 for horse halter anatomy.

Figure 1 Labeled Halter

Remember, the halter needs to be correctly fit to your horse so that is does not slip off or twist around on your horses face. If the halter twists around on your horses face it can cause discomfort, and make training much more difficult.

A sturdy lead rope is another piece of necessary equipment. Soft cotton lead ropes with a brass bolt snap are very sturdy and easy to attach or remove from the halter. It is also fairly “soft” on your hands and does not cause you to get rope burn if you chose not to use gloves.

The next piece of equipment is a dressage whip. The reason for a dressage whip is they are a good length (39″ to 43″) to use easily and quietly during training. The whip becomes an extension of your arm and creates a shape or position that the horse understands. It is not used to punish a horse but rather to reinforce the commands given.

An ASTM/ SEI certified helmet is the next piece of equipment that is needed, especially when working with young or untrained horses. I have a strict helmet policy for all of my students. My philosophy is you can never be too careful when working with an animal that can weigh around 1000 pounds.

The final piece of equipment is the arena. I recommend using a flat wall arena and not a round pen for teaching a horse to lead. Using a flat wall helps to keep the horses body straight. Using a round pen will tend to angle the horse’s haunches towards you, which can make it difficult to stay out of the “kicking zone”. If the horse’s haunches can easily reach you then you increase your chances of being kicked.

The main reason for using an arena is you will a have a full corridor of aids. The outside wall will actively work as another you on the other side keeping your horse straight. (During riding the outside wall works as your outside seat bone, outside leg, and outside rein.) These aids help to communicate a particular “shape” you want the horse to follow. The wall will keep your horse from turning his haunches away from you and will not add the extra confusion of not having outside aids. One last reason for using an arena is if your horse gets away from you then he will not have much of a place to go. This will make it easier to catch your horse and start working with him or her again.

Working with a young or untrained horse can increase the odds of accidents; safety for both the handler and horse must always come first. Next month’s article will focus on the training of your horse, and will go into details that make this safe, simple, and enjoyable

Learn something new every month from Horse Logic. A new article will be featured every month in From the Horses Mouth by: Sara McKiness from Horse Logic.

Author: Sara McKiness
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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