BUILDING A QUALITY FOUNDATION

Duration: 90 day minimum

Horse age: 2-3 yrs

Course Description:

The most important step in any horses life is a quality start. This 90 day course is all about building a solid foundation suitable for any discipline. RHU will strive to develop understanding, confidence, responsiveness, and willingness in our young horses.

Focus Skills:

• Evaluate/ determine ground manners and basic handling

• Face up and be caught

• Basic ground handling: Leading, yielding the shoulders, hips, backing, pick up feet, etc.

• Walk, trot, lope in hand on the correct lead

• Stand tied (alone & alongside other horses)

• Yield all 4 feet (hobble training), and girth area via heavy soft rope

• Send over or through entry level obstacles (poles, tarps)

• Trailer loading

• Basic desensitizing, flexing and sacking out

• Saddling and riding

• Establish basic yielding of body parts, proper walk, trot, lope, and backing under saddle

• Introduce basic patterns for developing feel and softness

• Lope confident and comfortable in the correct lead under saddle

• Introduce basic trail obstacles (Gates, bridges, poles, rope handling, drag, back through, etc)

• Introduce leg yields

• Develop side pass

• Introduction to basic performance maneuvers (stop, turn around, roll backs)

• Navigate natural trails, pastures and obstacles (ditches, creeks, mud, rocks)

• Intro to wildlife (deer especially)

• Navigate steep hills up and down

• Exposure to county roads, concrete bridges, limited traffic

Training Philosophy:

Practical and safe training methods for both horse and rider are important. No gimmicks and no short cuts in training or equipment. Each horse is an individual and will be allowed to develop at their own pace. RHU trainers will not sneak around, trick or force our young horses into expectations. Horses will develop an understanding and confidence in what is asked of them. Horses will learn how to handle and process pressure associated with leg and hand ques, manuevers, obstacles, tasks and different environments. We will strive to develop a less reactive but more thoughtful and responsive horse.

Equipment Policy:

Ground work equipment will consist of: rope halter and lead, soft training rope, tarps, training flag and lunge whip. Riding equipment will consist of: A well fitted saddle over a good quality pad. Loping hackamore, traditional hackamore or snaffle. Generally no shank bits at this stage. Absolutely no tie downs, draw reins, martingales, training forks or leverage aids of any kind during this course.

Completion Standard:

RHU started horses will be confident and comfortable at the walk, trot, extended trot, lope, and extended lope. They will have the ability to yield individual body parts on the ground and from the saddle. They will willingly turn, side pass, stop, and back. They will be be proficient at basic obstacles such as gates, bridges, poles, tarps, cowboy curtains, rope handling and drag, etc. They will have the ability to navigate natural terrain such as hills, trails, mud, creeks, ditches, logs pastures, etc. They should satisfactorily complete most junior level trail patterns associated with ranch horse associations.