In training, every horse progresses at their own pace. How fast or slow to go with a horse—there is the delicate balance I am constantly trying to figure. Maybe one day, when I’ve done this more times than I can remember, I’ll have a better handle on how fast to progress. For now, I am still learning. I am reminded, sometimes painfully, if I am going too fast; pushing a horse beyond their ability to cope. The other end of the spectrum, I might be moving too slow, and the horse gets bored or distracted with something else to do. It’s a classic “Three Little Bears” problem, and I try to find the progression of training that is “just right.” With Janus, I’m planning on a little closer to the “too fast” end than the “too slow” end. But even as I say that right there, bordering on fast; I worry that could be taken way out of context with some unappealing results. Maybe if you were working with your own horse, not knowing how fast to even go, you could find you and your horse in a bad spot that you’d rather avoid. In another situation, if I was working with a horse that I didn’t know well, or had an uncertain background, I’d stay on the too slow side. It all depends.

So why do I lean to the fast side with Janus? Part, I suppose, is because I know him already. I have raised him from a colt, and we’ve already laid a firm foundation on the ground, just in the normal day to day handling. He knows me, he trusts me. It is different when I am working with a horse that doesn’t know me or trust me. Too fast, and that kind of horse starts thinking about saving themselves. In their mind, there might be a better deal somewhere else. Secondly, Janus is four; both his body and mind are ready for this. Lastly, I want to keep him in a learning frame of mind. Keeping the pace moving will maintain his curiosity, his wonderment of what will happen next. Once, when I was starting one of the first horses I ever started, Julie fell asleep during a session. The training was moving that slow. Falling asleep, NOT a learning frame of mind! With Janus, so long as I don’t break his trust, he’ll learn remarkably fast. Most importantly of all, because he was in a learning frame of mind, he will remember these lessons, even years from now.

Yes. Horses are that smart.

Getting a Colt’s Attention
What is he thinking in these pictures?