Can you suggest a How To Train Your Horse book for a smart 14 year old?
I live in the heart of Amish country. My farm has Amish families on all sides. To the north is a family with 9 kids. Since they moved here a couple of years ago, the kiddos have been my audience as I work with my horses in my ring beside their house. The kiddos (ages 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 7, 4, 2, and 1) are always willing to come over and help me with child appropriate work --raking leaves, pulling weeds, fence painting, etc --I pay them and as an old retired teacher, try to make the work fun. The oldest has a real job now (15 and driving a bulldozer!) so I pretty much just see the 14, 13, 12, and 11 year old for 2 hours on Tuesdays for whatever work I have for them.
At one point the 14 year old rode his dad’s buggy mare over to the house. She’s a nice mare, but his saddle was not safe and he had only a folded bedspread for a pad. I happened to have an old western saddle I didn’t ever use. I asked the dad if it would be ok to trade the saddle to the boy for work hours (I never give kids anything without checking with parents first). Dad said fine and the saddle along with a good pad went off with the boy. I put new leathers (latigos) on it and a new girth, fyi.
That was in March. Recently, the boy asked me about horse training. I don’t DO horse training, and I don’t give riding lessons. I did tell him (and his brothers and sister) my basic philosophy of horse training. He said his little mare would “only circle” when he tried to take her on the road to ride. I had him get on my Steady Eddy and showed him some fundamental things (like how to hold the reins) then had him practice staying on the rail, allowing the horse to make the mistake of coming off the rail, then a kick with the inside leg and a tug on the outside rein to put the horse back on the rail. In short order he had Eddy consistently on the rail. Then the other kids did the same practice with good old Eddy. I suggested the boy do that with his mare until he could keep her on the rail without her trying to come off. He told me he’s been working with her to do that.
Clearly there is a lot more to training a horse than that --but I don’t want to help him! I want to give him a good “How to Train Your Horse” book and let him sort it himself.
He’s Amish --no computer, no phone, but he is a voracious reader and loves working with that horse.
Can you suggest a How To Train Your Horse book for a smart 14 year old?
