Terrible Twos Tuesday

Keep it short. Don’t over do it with young horses. It is one of the quickest ways to break their confidence and trust in you is to overwork them. Think of starting a new job and everyone seems lovely as you walk in the door and then when you start working they just start throwing more and more things at you, overwhelming you with things you don’t know how to do, your anxiety starts to go up, you are getting mentally tired and frustrated and no matter how much you try to let them know that you aren’t coping with so much work and pressure they just won’t let up. You will eventually dislike the workplace and start to lose all enthusiasm for the job. Young green horses are in that situation. They don’t understand what is being asked of them and they have to learn it, so just do a little bit and if they start to pick up on it then reward them. It doesn’t have to be perfect straight away but as long as they are trying really hard to please you that is all you are after in the beginning. Once they get comfortable and confident with what you are asking then you can ask for a little bit more, and slowly start to perfect things. My breakers I very rarely are on for longer than 10/15min at the most. I get on, get what I need and get off. I’m only asking for small things and they learn so much quicker and stay more motivated to work with me. As they get better and things become easier for them then I can make their sessions a little longer if I wanted to.