[pittmd]

Originally Posted by Livingthedream

Thank you all for your advice. I was very dissapointed in the first few replies. It seems to me that if you're not "born in a barn" you should not own a horse and certainly not try to learn about owning a horse. Some people are so opinionated. I am desperatley trying to learn every little thing I can. There is a first for everyone and this is mine, all I want is tips and advice, not to be judged and put down. I am a registered social worker and I could'nt imagine telling a young woman she shouldn't be a mother because she does not have the experience to do so. Instead I would try to teach her everything I know, and help her feel confident.... which is what I was looking for from your forum. Thank you so much greitzer for your inspiration... whether I decide to sell him off or keep him and work with him for the next hundred years has not been decided yet, but all I am asking for is advice to build a bond with him.

I just read up to this post and had to chime in...
Green + Green is not the best way to start but you are already there and if you take your time you can learn a lot. All I wanted to say is that being "born in a barn" does not mean diddly squat. I was raised on a farm and actaully had a horse and pony growing up but I never learned anything about them. You have what it takes to make good with your new horse. ATTITUDE. If your open minded, honest with yourself, and WORK you can go a long way. I stress the work part. Put in your time and pay the dues. All of the experts around here started someplace and the good ones started out wanting to learn like you.

I recomend working with a trainer and keep learning all you can. You will not have an over night success story but its the journy not the destination that counts.

[Lou3]

The best advice I can give you is to sell the youngster and use the money to buy an well broke older horse. I know the temptation of starting your own youngster but really I would advise that it is too much for a novice owner to cope with alone.
Owning a horse should be about the fun you can have with your horse, i you continue with the 2 yr old it is going to be years before you have anything remotely like fun with him because it will be such hard work training him (not to mention expensive with all the pro training time he will need). I would advise that you first get a horse that you can enjoy just having a horse, trail riding with friends, taking lessons, grooming and fussing over them without worrying that you wont be able to catch them or that they wont want to pick their feet up.
With the best intentions in the world I promise that this would be a much more successful and rewarding experience for you. You can always get a youngster for your second horse once you know a little more about training.

[Livingthedream]

Thank you for posting, I am considering all perceptions and opinions right now!

[Lou3]

Thats no problem,
I would second the call for you not to leave a trailing rope on the horse in the pasture also as this can be quite dangerous as it can get caught up in things (including his legs).
Other than that for now make sure he has all the essentials, free choice hay, another horse for company, you didnt mention if he has pasture mates in your first post, if not then he desperately needs one, he will become more stressed if he is on his own and you will find it more difficult to get him to trust you if he is in a state of high stress. An older horse that he can "copy" will also help with his training, if he sees another horse enjoying a fuss and being taken in for a feed he will start to relax at those times and you can build from there.

[Livingthedream]

Thank you Lou3!
Yes - he has a pasture mate (whom I'm bording for my neighbor), who's big, old, broke and vey well behaved. My boy follows us around when I'm leading him around and is curious about the attention he gets. I took the lead off yesterday. I'm spending a great portion of my days out with him, walking around and just talking. Gonna read more (a lot more) on the basics, a little curious about how to catch him now that the lead is off, He's quite compfortable with me within 2 feet of so... and I'm just taking it day by day. I'm not in a rush to ride him... I want (and need) to take my time. I plan to take a lot of lessons which will feed the need for now. I'm looking for upcoming clinics as well.
Thanks again you guys, keep it coming!

[Lou3]

Originally Posted by Livingthedream

Thank you Lou3!
Yes - he has a pasture mate (whom I'm bording for my neighbor), who's big, old, broke and vey well behaved. My boy follows us around when I'm leading him around and is curious about the attention he gets. I took the lead off yesterday. I'm spending a great portion of my days out with him, walking around and just talking. Gonna read more (a lot more) on the basics, a little curious about how to catch him now that the lead is off, He's quite compfortable with me within 2 feet of so... and I'm just taking it day by day. I'm not in a rush to ride him... I want (and need) to take my time. I plan to take a lot of lessons which will feed the need for now. I'm looking for upcoming clinics as well.
Thanks again you guys, keep it coming!

Have you thought about getting a session with a natural horsemanship specialist who can show you how to do join up with him? That would certainly help the catching issue.

[nikkki1990]

I would go to some clinics if I were you and read up about care of a horse (get a ton of books)...All I rode when I was little were bad horses b/c mainly no one else at the barn wanted to..even though I was green but now i can stay on a horse when it goes bucking off, I still had to take lessons to learn the leads right and how to post right and so on..Green and green are not always bad as long as you can stick with it and keep learning if not and you feel its to much you might have to sell him and get an older horse or better just lease a horse

[Livingthedream]

Thanks! "Right from The Start" is by Michael Schaffer........... thanks for the info, on my way to get it!

[mikesayetta]

hey Livingthedram i ahve been readin the post from the time you started it mainly because i am not to far behind you in owning a green horse grren rider....i got started into horses back in april...my stepmom gave me a yearling quarterhorse...when i first got her everyone said now look green horse green rider no good...i pretty much didnt listen to them and wne ton my way doing gound work learning the clinton anderson technique and i would use their horses to learn to ride...i was so excited when i first got her that i had my first horse and that i was going to ride her and she would do whatever i wanted her to do when i wanted....i very quickly learned that its not the case...like everyone else has said learn to ride on an older horse...not saying get rid of your horse by any means cause with thte right trainer and right person to start the horse you could have an awsome horse...but like eryone else has said PLEASE learn to ride on an older horse...i think the best way i have ever heard it said is an older broke horse will let you make the mistakes and let you get away with them... like pulling on the rains to hard...if you starts yanking on the horses mouth you can make them numb in the mouth and thats even harder to break...alos with young horses i have learned one wrong thing and they learn a bad habit...so i am not saying get rid of the horse but maybe use and older one to learn on....my girl is almost two and next spring she will be ridden fo the first time but as fun as i thought it would be i have already been thrown by the 9 year old i bought not too long ago and falling is not fun...so if the horse is not broke yet my advice let some one who knows how to do it do it...and work on your riding skills on an older horse

[Livingthedream]

Originally Posted by mikesayetta

hey Livingthedram i ahve been readin the post from the time you started it mainly because i am not to far behind you in owning a green horse grren rider....i got started into horses back in april...my stepmom gave me a yearling quarterhorse...when i first got her everyone said now look green horse green rider no good...i pretty much didnt listen to them and wne ton my way doing gound work learning the clinton anderson technique and i would use their horses to learn to ride...i was so excited when i first got her that i had my first horse and that i was going to ride her and she would do whatever i wanted her to do when i wanted....i very quickly learned that its not the case...like everyone else has said learn to ride on an older horse...not saying get rid of your horse by any means cause with thte right trainer and right person to start the horse you could have an awsome horse...but like eryone else has said PLEASE learn to ride on an older horse...i think the best way i have ever heard it said is an older broke horse will let you make the mistakes and let you get away with them... like pulling on the rains to hard...if you starts yanking on the horses mouth you can make them numb in the mouth and thats even harder to break...alos with young horses i have learned one wrong thing and they learn a bad habit...so i am not saying get rid of the horse but maybe use and older one to learn on....my girl is almost two and next spring she will be ridden fo the first time but as fun as i thought it would be i have already been thrown by the 9 year old i bought not too long ago and falling is not fun...so if the horse is not broke yet my advice let some one who knows how to do it do it...and work on your riding skills on an older horse

Thank you Mikesayetta.
I certainly plan to get more compfortable with riding first, thank you for your honesty, and experience. I am listening to anyone who is willing to enlighten and encourage me in my decisions. Whether it be to send him away for training, participate in clinics, riding lessons, speaking to more experience people, watching dvd's and reading! I am willing to learn whatever is to be learned. I am prepared for this to be a long process, and very hopeful in the same breath. I am hoping to get some feed back on what to do with him in the meantime, from this forum. Please keep your responses coming everyone... appreciate the time you're investing in my learning!