Hi Tekoa,

I'm surprised that a 3-yr old would just now be starting???
What country are you in?
The reason I ask is because I live in Canada and they start their TB's very young.
I'm really happy that your colt is only now beginning. I do a lot of research and I have found that when they are too young they don't last but when started a little older they seem to do better because of being more emotionally sound.
Is this the case of your youngster?
I have been around a lot of TB'S and Monty's method really works well for them.
As you probably know they like to move almost all the time, so keep his feet moving but in the direction you want him to go.
A lot of ground work and patience are needed with these guys because of their hot bloodlines.
Might I ask, is the trainer willing to use Monty's method?
No violence or force?
In his videos he talks about how those who use his methods get greater results.
I can see by your metal that you have successfully passed the video lessons.
As to specific skills needed ???? They are in the videos and if followed closely you should do just fine.
Others will give you some advice as well, I feel the best way for you to go is Monty's videos and application of them.
I wish I could talk with you and get a better understanding of his skills now, what has been done with him, so on.
Have a great day,
Ronda

Hi Rhonda, thanks for your reply. In answer to your questions, NZ, and the reason I left him until now is because I want to be the first to ride him with all Monty Robert's methods and equipment. Like you, I don't like the idea of pushing 2-yr olds into work. I weigh 177 lb fully clothed and I think that's too much weight for a youngster, but he looks plenty big enough and strong enough for me to ride now. Old horsemen in the family in the U.S. would never start a horse until they were 4, for this reason.

He has of course been handled quite a lot during his young life, but is now about to begin at the beginning with Join Up, Follow Up etc. I intend to proceed slowly, with a lot of ground work with the Dually halter including leading in any direction at any speed, standing still nicely, and coming to a mounting block, and only when he is doing everything AOK with the dual lines, will I put any weight on his back.

I've done everything sooner with other horses, but I want to be completely safe with this guy, so I need him to be equally relaxed with me and just as eager to be with me as he is now. One thing I am hoping will work for me is that he has been watching me work with the other horses in the round pen, being just outside and looking in, so there's a good chance he will understand the desired result is that I will get on his back and ride him!

His sire is a Danehill grandson and has all Danehill's lovely nature, which he passes on to his offspring too.

The reason I asked the question on this forum is that the jockey postion is quite different, so the question is really how to go about teaching things like lead changes to such a horse? Should I use a very light touch of a whip at the same time as a foot, so he learns both and will respond to either prompt as que to change leads? (That might also discourage jockeys from whipping him in a race too.) I'm hoping to hear from Monty, what he does with race horses as he has so much experience training TBs that race.

I'd like to get him doing everything that will be expected of him, short of leaving the gate, before he goes to the racing trainer, the idea being to reduce the time and cost of training him to race, with minimal other training, so as to maximise his potential and minimize the chance that someone else will harm him with cruel training techniques.

Hi Tekoa,
I knew you knew what you were doing just by your expressions!!
And I'm very happy for you and him.
Have you tried the Q&A section on the forum headings? Perhaps there might be something there for you.
Monty has some lessons on changing leads on the UNI.
You are the first person I have talked to that wanted to ride their own racehorse first and now I understand why you have waited.
Here in the Martime provinces of Canada, there are a lot of racetracks and the professional jockeys are the only ones on their backs, thus, the youth of the horse, mostly two year olds and some three.
I see them with face chains and whips and it breaks my heart. Yes, they are treated well, fed, exercised and handled with care but not much love is shown or tenderness.
As you know a TB can be difficult to handle, being so hot, so the uniformed use the old standards of training and because of this some are used up and sold for a dime.
They then become rescue horses and have to be re-trained, once they have run it's usually full speed ahead, all the time.
What I love about this particular breed is they can do anything and they are very sensitive, intelligent and brave. A great horse to own, congradulations.
A friend of mine has raised and entered many a racehorse and he is over three-quarters of a century old now and does not understand my methods of training but as they say, the proof is in the pudding, right.
You have a wonderful day in New Zealand, OK.
Ronda

If you are referring to my profile photo, that is another lovely horse that we sold recently - a very nice 16-yr old TB mare. The colt I wrote about will be four in January so he is technically 4 years old already, and his dam just had her fourth foal this morning, a lovely chestnut filly this time. She foaled about 1 a.m. after a lot of rain so the little one was cold. I had a foal cover and halter on her a couple of hours later and she looks wonderful today. So we have one entire colt, then two geldings and now a filly from the same breeding, all excellent conformation and lovely chestnut colouring with a white blaze of dash of white on the nose.

Congrdulations!! That's lovely and I am happy all went well.
Ronda