The First 30 days of riding 

Preface: Before undertaking ANY riding training of a green horse, you should have a major investment in fitting, groundwork and a successful first ride (see training tips on groundwork and “The First Ride”). Only then have you adequately prepared the horse in training for skill building with a rider.

Each session begins with a COMPLETE review of the basic groundwork. Some days that review takes 10 minutes, other days it consumes the entire session. The groundwork skills cannot be over-taught! If the horse is “stuck” on not backing up on the ground that day, ignoring the problem just sets you and he up for failure when under saddle…whether its in today’s session or next weeks! Spending time on the ground reinforcing skills is never a waste of time. IT IS LAYING A FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL RIDING CAREER.

In addition, all the work in the first 30 days is done on a loose rein with either a snaffle bit or bosal. Rein contact and/or extreme headsets are counterproductive at this stage as the young horse often needs to ride with his head low and long in order to use his back effectively prior to becoming experienced and conditioned carrying a rider. I have found that it is far easier to school a horse to “frame” when he is further along in his education. If contact is done incorrectly early on, it is much more difficult to re-train or fix the problem later. 

Day 2-4

Typically, I spend the first few days in the training pen working on response to my seat (weight). I also school on mounting/dismounting, WHOA, walk, yielding to rein/leg, back-up and trot-WHOA. In general, these are confidence-building exercises, as are all the maneuvers we do in the first 30 days. I use a lot of voice commands that are already familiar to the horse from the groundwork. I also do LOTS of transitions to keep the horse focused on me and prevent boredom. My goals are simply to build confidence (set him up for success), reinforce a work ethic and general response to pressure and also to assist the horse in laying a foundation for a way of carrying himself that is efficient and conformationally appropriate.

Two very important aspects of my early training program are using my seat and voice as “confidence”. Whenever the horse is unsure of going forward or moving past an object, my seat becomes strong and assists the horse (with what I call “borrowed confidence”) to know that he can, and should, do what I ask. If the seat is not enough, I add a slow, rhythmic but firm “cluck” that each horse I work knows means MOVE! The horse is given a choice to trust me and respond to the pressure of seat and voice, or choose to have my leg drop on his side and apply pressure. Most horses respond with seat and voice, saving the leg for advance movements and keeping his sides soft and willing. Flapping your legs or heals against the side of a horse is unnecessary and simply leads to a dead sided horse. If he refuses to go forward, you have not been thorough in your groundwork and need to go back and re-school ON THE GROUND.

Days 5-10

The most important events during this period are getting OUT of the training pen (working on the trail) and adding the turn-on-the-haunch.

The future “career” of the horse is irrelevant at this time as all horses benefit from learning to work and stay focused, regardless on the existence of a fence.

The turn-on-the-haunch is a foundation for so many other maneuvers that I feel a need to school it early-on. The horse has been taught to give to pressure from the beginning of the groundwork….teaching the turn is not difficult. It also encourages the horse to work off his hindquarters.

Days 11-20

The same skills are reinforced over and over again, in a variety of locations (more confidence building). I also add the turn-on-the forehand.

Days 20-30

Again, the same skills are reinforced. In addition, I teach the horse to work the gate and expose him to the lope or canter, trot-canter departure and downward transitions from canter.

The gate is essential for any horse and combines nearly every taught movement to pressure. It also is an essential safety issue, in my opinion!

I typically expose the horse to his first canter/lope with a rider by extending the trot to a length that requires that the horse work very hard so that he actually prefers to canter or lope. Once they are “allowed” to canter, versus maintaining the extended trot, they look forward to the gait and tend not to rush it. 

Remember, this is a general overview of the first 30 days with a rider. Every horse learns at different rates and every horse has different physical capabilities. Introduction of a skill does not mean mastery!

Take the time YOUR HORSE needs to learn the basic skills thoroughly and perform them when asked with confidence! The first 30 days is simply an INTRODUCTION to his formal education in carrying a rider.