What to expect from first month of training

[callyhan]

I have a horse, turning 4 in a month. Average horse size 15.3 hands, won’t be a monster. Had him since a yearling and is handled daily. Last year at home he learned lunging in the round pen, standing at mounting block, wearing tack, a bit of ground driving and took him on a few field trips to a friends farm for exposure. Sat on him maybe 3 or 4 times but no under saddle work.

This spring he’s been sent to a trainer for backing. My first time doing this so wondering what COTH minds would expect in the first month?

To me progress has been a bit slow since he already was quite reliable in ground work. The trainer is still working on lunging walk/trot and wants to ensure there is no holes in what I’ve done with him, which seems fair. She mentioned 3 months to have him WTC at the beginning, but now were at one month down with not as much progress as I’ve hoped. Am I being impatient? (of course yes. I am used to having him at home and doing things with him daily)

[Aussie_2020]

I tend to judge all colt starting trainers by the one I used. Usually by day three he was on them, riding in his arena with just the halter and lead. By the end of the week they were at the walk, trot, canter, stop, and learning to turn. At the end of 30 days I could pick my horse up and trail ride immediately. He would have taken them with other horses in training to his brothers and ridden out on the trails. They tied, trailered, clipped, and you could deworm with no fuss. After that trainer, I couldn’t accept anybody else. This guy learned from Ray Hunt, there was no violence, just teaching the horse in constant baby steps. He started my last three horses. (He’s retired now)

If a trainer isn’t riding at all the gaits by week two with all your prior training I think they’re not working hard enough.

[BeeHoney]

I would say that in the first week I would expect a lot of sacking out, getting tack on, and getting the horse backed. A horse that has previously been well handled and had tack on, I still expect a good review. By the second week, the horse should be walking in the shed row and going out into a smaller area like a round pen or smaller arena to walk, and some trot is probably added. Obviously every horse moves at a different pace, and people have their different methods. There is breed variability also. This sounds unusually slow to me, but a good place to start might be to ask some questions. I don’t like to rush, at the same time I do not like to send a young horse to a trainer that is reluctant or timid about getting on the horse, because I can dither about with a longeline just fine on my own here at home.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Is the trainer you chose an actual colt starter? Because I agree with others - your colt should already be U/S by now.
Making assumptions tho… because a good friend of mine is a colt starter/project horse fixer, and I can’t tell you how many people bring their animal in saying XYZ is already done and no holes, only to find that no, XYZ does not exist in the horses vocabulary. Then my friend has to start all over not just from scratch, but fixing what the owner messed up.

[luvmyhackney]

At one month, I would expect the horse to be wearing tack and w/t/c lunging with voice commands, plus darn perfect ground manners.

Sometimes it takes horses longer than others to settle when moving to a new facility. I’m assuming he might have some anxiety that the trainer is working through. New place, new turnout, new person, new routine, can be a lot for a soon to be 4 y/o.

[Amberley]

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[Montanas_Girl]

All the very good colt starter types I’ve worked with are on the horse and w/t/c in a controlled environment (like a round pen or small arena) by the second or third session. After 30 days with one of them, I expect my youngsters to have been ridden out of the arena and, with the guy I currently use, that will include being hauled off property to trail ride or work in a busy local arena. They will understand basic lateral cues and be starting to put the pieces together to carry themselves on light contact with a lifted back.

Edited to add: This is a video of one of my youngsters after right at 30 days of training (I had backed her and done a handful of very, very light w/t rides the year before she started real work): https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JJmH7bJQr/

[Hightale]

I’m just at the end of week 11 of a booked 12 weeks on my latest starter.
She lunges in WTC, will do a little in hand lateral work, can park for a few minutes untied wherever she’s put, be tied up, load, travel and stand on a box solo. Been to a different indoor school and also to a little local show and won an in hand class (for exposure to a busier environment, the frilly was an unexpected bonus!)
We have W/T/C halt, reinback and steps of leg yield in the school.
WTC in the field / hacking. We’ve ridden in with dogs, cows, sheep and quadbikes / mules
She’s habituated to farm machinery, road traffic inc motorcycles and bicycles, road signs. I can mount her from anything I can clamber up. I’ll ride her bareback in a headcollar, she’s a poppet
She came afraid of her own shadow, no groundwork and very little handling / zero life experience except being bred and having a couple of foals, plus travel from Belgium to UK a year prior.
Couldn’t touch her legs or feet, so she learnt about a lot of life skills stuff for a couple of months before I started the backing process.
As far as the actual starting backing prep etc at the end of week 4 she was under saddle and solo in walk with a little trot in the school and the field, being led along the road with a traffic savvy buddy, lunging in WTC, had started habituation to farm machinery and traffic.

[Cowboy_Girl]

Married to a colt starter. By the end of the week a 4 year old is outside wtc in the pasture - long straight lines, 50 meter figure 8s and serpentines. At a month the horse could could go to a branding or do a very nice 18" to 2’ basic show jump or cross country school.
Plus the basic good citizen/ground manners stuff.
I could do this as an ammy at 90 days.