Question: Beyond colt starting? How do you get from a green broke horse to a first class show or specialty horse, such as lower level dressage, western pleasure, hunter/jumper or competitive trail? What can one do to know when this colt is safe to go to town? Is a helper or ground person necessary to go beyond green?

Answer: These are excellent questions. The first thing I would do is to start building a solid foundation on my horse. Every horse in any discipline should have foundation training. I like to use the analogy of a pyramid when talking about foundation training. A pyramid is sound, stable and long lasting. Its stability is achieved through the careful placement of each stone, building upon the strength of each layer that has been placed before.
The best horse training is done by carefully applying foundation stones in the correct order and ensuring that each “block” is set well before moving on to the next one. And like the three sides of the pyramid, foundation training builds on the three aspects: physical (where and how the horse moves), mental (what the horse is thinking), and emotional (the horse’s fear level). For more detail on this, read the overview in my book, A Young Horse’s Journey From Halter to Saddle.
Foundation training is the way to bring down the horse’s emotional level and capture his mind to achieve the physical performance we are looking for. With a comprehensive foundation, a horse and a rider can specialize in whatever discipline they choose, achieving maximum performance.
In the beginning training is done on the ground, for example, despooking or sacking out to bring the emotional level down before you ride. Once your horse is ready to ride, for your first ride you may ask it to only go forward and stop. In future lessons, you may teach your horse to guide--follow its nose and move off the outside rein or supportive rein (neck reining).
You build on this training by then teaching your horse to move in a square pattern. (Steer your horse straight, then ask your horse to move its hips over to do a 90-degree turn and go straight again. Later you teach it shoulder control. No matter what field you plan to take your horse into, it should know how to move its hindquarters over and have control of its shoulders.
To help you progress your horse, I would recommend you have a professional work with you. If you work with your horse every day (five days a week), perhaps, in two years you would have a nice horse. It would have good basic foundation training, meaning it has left or right lateral flexion, vertical flexion, and soft and responsive shoulder and hip control; can do leg yields and can side pass, stop, and back up; performs all three gaits in a relaxed manner; does upward and downward transitions, and is comfortable on the trail and crossing objects. At this time, your horse may be performing First Level dressage, jumping over small jumps, or performing in western or english pleasure schooling shows.
From here the next steps are to build on this training by practicing and refining. Time spent in the saddle allows your horse to become more seasoned. The more you take your horse places, the more it will be exposed to new things. By the time it is 7 or 8 years old, depending on your area of interest, it will be entering the category of a finished horse. Right now my horse, Tennison, is 17 years old and I would consider him a finished horse but because of lack of time he is only the equivalent to a Third Level dressage horse. If I had more time to spend to work with him every day, he may be at the Grand Prix level or a finished bridled horse.
So to get from a green horse to a finished horse, it takes time and patience. And also help along the way either from an instructor or taking your horse to a trainer.
If you have any questions, please visit me online at www.charleswilhelm.com.

God Bless,

Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault