also, I just want to say I have started enough of them now to realize what areas I am weak in as a trainer. I seem to be great at ground work, calming, getting them used to things so they arent scared, gerat at that. But my weak area is the more "formal" under saddle stuff, and duh, of course I would be, I have never had a professionally well trained horse until I got Tivar and didn't know how to go about teaching these things. But I have been reading and going to clinics and two or three times hired a professional I know was into sound natural horsemanship to help me thru an issue.
None of the horses I started buck, run away, bolt are ill behaved or abnormally spooky. My Fox in fact was a rearer that would flip over on you when I got him and the first time I ever rode him he reared and almost came over on me but then I started ground working him like I did my others (he had been "started" by someone else for 30 days, thus the rearing) and he has never reared since. Turns out he is very very tender mouthed. What I am weak in is getting a horse to absolutely whoa without any creeping forward, rating speed (I always just let them choose the speed and it was never a problem until we went on rides with other people who liked to go fast and then i would learn they would rather go with the others than listen to me), getting a horse to sidepass and back effortlessly. I can get them to back but its tacky looking. I have one horse that will do a sudden whirl but he has always been goofy and conditionally spooky. He is my problem child but my baby so we are still working on this. he has been really really great lately. janice -- yipie tie yie yo
