Alpha mares, fillies and the occasional gelding can present some interesting challenges where training and handling are concerned. They also become some of the most loyal high achievers you’ll ever encounter if you learn how to reach them. All seem to have heart beyond the norm, smarts and a willfulness about them that will test your fortitude.
Category Archives: alpha mares
How’s fighting with your horse working for you?
So often what we do affects how our horse reacts. Have you argued with yourself lately to explore what you’re doing to create your ‘problem horse’?
Is your horse talk saying what you mean?
The next time you have “a failure to communicate” with your horse, consider what you may be doing to elicit the response you’re getting. Chances are, you’re creating the problem. And if you haven’t seen Cool Hand Luke, it’s worth the watch – and probably one of Paul Newman’s better performances. Might even teach you a thing or two about the power of effective (or ineffective) communications – which certainly pertains to how unreasonable demands can lead to a pugnacious – and sometimes tragic – reaction from your horse.
Zenyatta gets her due
“I came from an industry that sued its fans when they started stealing music through Napster,” he said. “There is sentiment in this business and you have to play to it. It is true in show business and it is true in racing. If you have a horse who gets people in the heart, then they want to come see them and get to know more about them, and you have the Beatles again.”
Starting under saddle with alpha fillies is always interesting: Part 3 and the last of a series
The day I entered the paddock without a cookie and was greeted with charging, teeth bared, kicking and striking is the day I decided to put her into training much earlier than planned. I like to give young horses a week or so to acclimate to the new surroundings and routine before engaging in a serious training regimen, but she earned an early start.
Starting under saddle: horse tales from a trio of uber alpha fillies, Part 2
She was aloof and distracted prior to my hopping aboard on our last ride. In retrospect, the lesson should have ended without riding time. It didn’t, and after some walk and halt work, she started to rear.
Horse tales that are made for the movies: a trio of alpha fillies starting under saddle makes life interesting at Halcyon Acres
It’s a good thing I like alphas – and have a knack for reaching them. Right now there are three uber alpha fillies at Halcyon Acres starting under saddle. This trio has the ability to make my blood pressure rise or make my day, but mostly, they keep me smiling with their clever approaches, dramatic communications and immense staying power.
Eleven Quick Tips for dealing with alpha horses
Alpha mares and fillies can present some interesting challenges where training and handling are concerned. They also become some of the most loyal high achievers you’ll ever encounter if you learn how to reach them. All seem to have heart beyond the norm, smarts and a wilfulness about them that will test your fortitude. Try…
Alpha sneak peak excerpt from Chapter Five
Overwhelmed and cagey Rosie spent two days at the racetrack after being “broke” at a distant farm. She wheeled about thirty times in a single trip jogging around a half-mile training track, terrified of oncoming traffic and the scene that presented itself to this unprepared, frenzied baby. At Thoroughbred racetracks, generally jogging (or trotting) horses…
Athlete baby of the decade returns as bronc champ re-break
Jay merits mention in both our Turning Challenging Horses and Don’t Get Thrown Starting Horses Under Saddle books because she was a dual challenge that came to Halcyon Acres for initial starting (which wasn’t completed) and then back to fix her subsequent, learned talent for unloading riders at another farm that tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to…
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