l am picking up a yearling from a friend is house that is quite far from my farm (6hrs). He is halter broke but l dont know much more about him. He is sort of a rescue. He was gelded at about 9/10months and is probably almost a year and a half now. l have alot of experience with re training racers and a neighbor that has successfully broken 3 home bred tbs.

Anyone have any general tips on what we should start on first? He is my project to get back into training after a 1 1/2 yr break. l was thinking of clicker training him, any tips/success stories? Any big things to warn me about? Also, he has only been on a trailer once in his life (when he was 5 mos old) and l have no way of knowing what kind of experience it was. He will be hauled back in a large stock trailer, any tips on making this trip as LEAST stressful as possible for the little guy?
Thanks for the advice so far! l really know very very little about him, his old owners ar not abusive just unknowledgable. He is on a big grass lot with a run in, mostly just hay diet. As far as riding we wont tackle that until he is overly ready. Better safe than sorry l know he has a little attitude (not mean just untrained baby). My neighbor who has broke her homebreds is definatly willing to help me out whenever l need it so you bet I will be utilizing her! l ride dressage but he is a little appy mix, I will hopefully make a nice trail horse out of him and re sell him in a few years or keep him as a buddy for my future dressage partner.

Any tips on getting him in the trailer to bring him home? l do not have the luxery of desentizing him ahead of time since he is so far away. l imagine his first trailer ride was not horrible or scary, the people are very nice just unknowledgable

He wont be alone, lives on a dairy farm and one of the cows will be in the other partition of the trailer

He may be a little jumping at first because he is a rescue. You will just have to take some time to get to know him. Once u & ur horse trusting eachother, it will help him & u on the training process. Then after a little bit, u can slowly start to train him. The one training method that l use is tie him up, then put the blanket on him, rub & pet him tell him its okay then take it off & reward him walk him around feed him what ever makes him happy. This way he knows this is something u want him to do. Keep doing this over & over, once u fell that its is comfortable for him, now its on to the next step. Then put the saddle on him do not tie it or anything just set it on his back, do that about the same amount as the blanket, untilll he fells comfortable. Make sure u reward him as u go along. The next step is to slowly tighten the saddle till he acts like he does not like it. Walk him around a little bit. Then do this till u think he fells comfortable. Then procesed to tighten it more & more. The we lung them. Just make sure before u do all this that he knows what lunging is. With the bit..we put it in the horses favortie food & then shove it in their mouth. If the fight it hold the horses lip & hold it this will help ur control. Hope this helps :)

Take it VERY slowly. Foals & young horses learn alot quickly, but it takes some time & repetition for it to fully sink in. Once u get him, let him relax in his new environment for a few days & let him get settled in. When u see that he has (usually 5-8 days, sometimes longer, depends on the horse & if he is gone through any stress), try & do groundwork with him. Find out:
--Is he really halter-broken?
--Is he trained to lead?
--Does he allow the handler to tie him, & does he stand quietly?
--Does he pick up his feet?
--How is he for the vet & farrier?
--Does he have any vices?
If ur r yes, yes, yes, yes, good, & no, then:
--Start him free lunging. Get him used to voice commands, & then if u want u can slowly introduce the clicker training.

This site is a good source for that, but please note that there r many more (you can find them by google-searching ''clicker training horses'') for u to learn from.

http://equineclickertraining.com/

When r u planning on breaking him to ride? 2, 3, 4? English, Western, or Natural Horsemanship?

If u have a trailer at home, l would try & do some desensitizing. l am a big fan of this, because a horse that is familiar with things that scare is less likely to spook & badly injure himself or the handler (you).

This has some valuable first-hand information.

http://horseforum.com/horse-training/training-my-horse-get-trailer-3272/

Also, find out from ur friend what the little guy was fed, & as much information about his temperament, regular behavior, & such, to make the stress of a new home not so hard on him.

If u have a good relationship with ur neighbor that has successfully broken three home-bred TB's, then l would ask him/her for some advice, & maybe come over & watch u work with the horse & give u pointers along the way.

You just have to make sure u do everything right, because whenever a horse suffers any kind of trauma, it is extremely difficult, & sometimes impossible, for them to get over it (plays in with young horses, ex-racers, any horses).

l would also familiarize the yearling with a hose & bathing, the clippers, & cross-ties, because these will be invaluable to both him & u as he gets older.

=)

like everyone has said take everything slowly. l probably wouldnt use a cow to travel with him as he might not like them/met them b4? fancy going all that way to find out ur horse dont like cows/never met 1! l know my foal doesnt like sheep although he is now comming round to them.

just groom hims lots,handle him lots but try to remain off those treats! youngsters r generaly very ''mouthy'' anyway & feeding them too many treats at his ''mouthy'' age will only encourage this. lead him around loads,touch him all over. the only thing l can think of is feet! my foal was an untouched 6month old. sooo.first time l did his feet he kicked,he barged,he shook his hoof & even tried to cow kick! the best way to deal with this is DON'T let go! u keep hold of that hoof no matter what. & if u do drop it slap him,tell him no & pick it up again til u r finished. another thing u WILL wanna go soft on him but please dont! this will cause problem later on in life when hes bigger & stronger than you. like.nibbling for treats will turn into nipping & then biting & so on.

when u first get him put him in a stable/stall for a few days to a week to get to know you. so u know a few of his likes/dislikes. just so he knows who u are.

gosh l cant think now.theres loads my minds just gone blank. ill add more later if l can remember lol

other than that good luck & enjoy him! xox

extra - when hes learnt to trust u a little more & has settled in. try & get him used to everything & anything no matter how stupid! umbrellas, hose pipes, prams, bicycles, tents, puddles, plastic bags, rugs, bins, cones, poles, logs, flashy lights, things going over his ears, people jumping around him, little kids the list is endless just everything & anything!

also ive never used the clicker training. l would prob go against it for a youngster with a bad start due to all the treats involved. but like l said ive never had anything to do with it it might be great! =]

hope ive helped =]

Do you have a roundpen? If not, l would suggest getting one. There is a really good exercise called join-up, l do not know if you've heard of it, but if not, look it up online. It is a roundpen exercise which builds up trust and a bond with you and your horse. We have done this with yearlings and even older horses at the barn l ride at. Good luck and congrats on your new horse!

Go to your local Public Library - they have LOTS of good books on horses. Go to your Reference Desk - they may be able to help you do an InterDistrict book loan if you are looking for something specific.

Good luck.