Here we are again. Another week has come and gone. Time can sometimes seem to pass by so very quickly. I hope that my readers are enjoying these blogs as much as I enjoy writing them. So many ideas come to me during the week that I feel would be worth mentioning in my weekly post. Trying to not put all those ideas into one jumbled, un-readable article, is my biggest feat.

I mention the passage of time here as my little filly is turning five this coming week. She has been a true joy to start and bring along. We picked her up at a breeder's sale in North Dakota. She was the oldest of all the colts there. She had been sick during the weanling sale the previous year. The owners kept and cared for her until their next sale. An annual breeder auction, where most of the horses sold are only about five months old. My little filly really stood out being that she was one year and five months.

We had seen her photo in the sale catalogue and got our hopes up to bring her home. The fact that she was a yearling was a major plus. The extra time spent with her mother and delaying the traumatizing separation, we felt, was a great thing. I feel that weaning a baby from their moms at such a young age can be a big obstacle to overcome. The mental stress as well as proper nutrition are both a factor here. Not to leave out the life lessons learned from mom as well as their herd mates is oh so valuable for a proper upbringing.

Often times the influence of older seasoned horses on young colts can be overlooked. Young horses learn a ton from other horses. Lessons related to herd dynamics as well as communication skills and respecting boundaries. I feel that before a horse can learn from a human they first have to learn how to be a horse. That is why after purchasing and transporting my filly, Sapphire, back here we turned her out with our other horses.

I did not do much with her that first few months that we had her. Aside from catching Sapphire and getting her to handle well on the end of a lead rope, I pretty much let her be. I needed to have her be easy to catch as well as lead and load into a trailer. I did not want to have it be the day she needed vet work be the first day she learned ground manners. That first fall that we had her I also worked on getting Sapphire decent with picking up her hooves and being handled. With that foundation set I left her alone until late spring.

Our first ride.  Yahoo! — ***Our first ride. Yahoo!***

When late June came the following season Sapphire was two. At this point I felt ready to introduce her to the saddle but not quite ready to ride. I take a very gentle approach to young horses and feel that letting them develop physically is worth the wait. Far too often young horses are asked to perform rigorous and demanding things. The stress that is put on their growing bones and joints can do irreversible damage. With mindful awareness to the upbringing as well as balance brought into riding, horses can be ridden into their thirties. I feel that rushing the first years to meet human demands and time schedules to be egocentric and disrespectful to the horse.

That said, I have been very conscious of not rushing Sapphire's training. I waited until the fall of her second year to ride her. I rode her consistently for about three weeks. With each session being fairly short and mild. My focus was on calmness and keeping her gentle. The Spring of her third year was really similar in demands to our previous sessions. After three weeks of riding I let her mature again until the fall. By then I began advancing things slowly. It wasn't until last year, when she was four, that I began trotting for longer periods of time. I rode Sapphire sporadically last year. Their have been a few times that I would feel her get all wadded up and ready to buck. In times like these I am glad to be able to bring her back to me, with going back to the basics of where we began. We always had a lot of quiet things to work on. She has gotten to be reliable on letting me place her feet anywhere. It is quite exciting now to see all of my calm work paying off and coming to fruition.

With Sapphire coming five this next week I feel that she is now physically able to handle quite a bit. I plan to ride her pretty regularly this year. Exposing her to stuff beyond where we have been in the past. I have ridden her this season and enjoy where we are at in our relationship. I am looking forward to many fun times ahead and am excited to really begin honing our movements. She is a nice mover and still so gentle and kind. I treasure now what taking our time has brought the both of us.

Wishing you all the best. May time be kind to you.

Eric

Easton Horsemanship