11/19/2024
🚨 Unpopular opinion post 🚨
Less than 10% of the general horse population can be started by “anyone” and still reach their full potential.
That less than 10% are the types that we have had the gift of experiencing here and there… I believe I can count on ONE HAND- Yes I said ONE HAND these horses - and we both have been riding up to 14 (that may be a lie- when we rode for cutters we got on 20 + ) horses a day since 2006.
Most horses are soooooooooooooo very affected by their start… Just like most humans are sooooooooo very affected by their first experiences with school and teachers! It’s where we set students up (of 2 and 4 legs) TO LEARN!
This fact alone (and my background in education) had me hard core stressing about where to send my child to preschool and kindergarten…
So often in the horse industry people send their horses to be started by anyone that can stay on… Now I say this with the utmost respect for anyone and everyone BECAUSE we all start somewhere and we all continue to learn (as long as we are open to it) throughout our entire life…. But the horses I “started” back in 2006- well let’s just say I’m sorry for anyone who had to try to fill in the holes on those ponies….
So in the spirit of c**t starting season my advice is this… Think long and hard about who starts your horse- it is MOST DEFINITELY the most important phase of your horse’s career!! With that being said- this is not a post to drum up more business here as Joe is more than over booked this c**t starting season… BUT at the same time NOTHING IS HARDER THAN OVERCOMING A ROUGH OR UNEDUCATED START. Please choose wisely!! Happy Monday y’all!!
