Setting a Time Limit

With horse training, you might find that either the horse or rider/trainer runs out of energy before the workout is completed, so how do you know when to stop?

We have 3 horses right now and each of them are at a different point in their training, so we have to answer this question different for each horse. Let me start, however, by saying that when training horses you don't have to use the whole time each day. Work with them for however long it's fun and don't let yourself get too tired, especially if you have multiple horses you want to have energy to work with.

Shine: Since he is almost 5 years old, we definitely have a longer time limit with him. He has a longer attention span and we can get to more advanced skills. Even with the more advanced horse though, you don't have to only have long training sessions. We have decided to touch each horse every day. With Shine, even 5 minutes can turn into time to work on 1 or 2 key points in his training. During the week, we usually have about 15-20 minutes each day that I can devote to his training/riding. With that time we can use it all for brushing (asking him to stand tied during that time), or work on bareback riding, asking him to move away from pressure, give at the pole, etc. 

Soot: He is almost 4 years old, and since he's mostly draft we will be getting on him more consistently in April when he turns 4 years old. With him the above applies. Even with just a few minutes we can get him to yield to pressure, pick up his hooves, stand to be brushed, etc. He is our biggest equine standing at over 17 hands, so we need to continue to work on him not pushing into the human's place, and standing calmly to be haltered, etc. He has to hold his head lower to have us halter him than the other horses. When we do have time, like during the weekend, we hook him up to the tire and have him tow that around. He loves it and we think he wishes we had time to do it every day. 

Serita: Since she's still less than a year old (her birthday is 2/13/20), we need to be careful to keep her training sessions short. She has the shortest attention span of the 3 horses and we want to make it fun for her so she continues to learn and always has a positive outlook on us coming to get her. Sheena is still doing most of the training at this point. When the horse is very young, it's best to keep the training to 1 person so the horse has very consistent training. Even with two people who think they are training the same, it might be a minute difference that the horse will notice. At least that is what we have noticed with our training. We train mostly the same, but have found some differences that might confuse the horse when they are young. Starting next week, we'll start working with her on accepting more weight on her back, in preparations to having a western saddle. This worked for us when we started Shine. Adding small amounts of weight, like the English saddle pad then the Western saddle pad, you increase the weight gradually so you don't ever have a big blow out. This is safer for the trainer and less stressful on the horse, making each training session, even new things are introduced, fun for everyone involved.