Horse Training Questions
Services Offered
Wild Horse Wild Ride
Horses for Sale
CM Horsemanship offers a limited number of high quality horses for sale.
Currently, we do not have any horses available for sale. However, if you wish to purchase a horse we do provide horse selection services as well as customized training and starting to suit your riding goals and style. We select horses on the basis of temperament, willingness to learn, quality of movement, confirmation, and bloodlines. However, we are aware that some of our best athletes in a discipline have been of non-traditional stock. We always recommend a vet check before purchasing an animal.
Sold: Cass Ole
Cass Ole had been sold. Congratulations to Alice Yates of Paddock Creek Farm on the purchase of a truly wonderful horse.
Cass is a 4 y.o. Tennessee Walking Gelding. He is kind-hearted with striking markings. He is charcoal black with 4 white knee-high socks and a white tail. The tail has a small black stripe. A real head turner!
He has fantastic confirmation and a beautiful smooth gait. He is not spooky; even in high winds.
Cass is just being started under saddle. His price will increase with training.
Eventing 2010
Photos from 2010 Eventing. Also, Aurora’s first time in a bosal.. jumping in an open field! Not too shabby! And Zero’s first time jumping.
Lesson Program
Due to a recent job change, move, upcoming weddings and rigorous showing schedule, we are not accepting training horses for the spring. We hope to be back online soon. In the meantime, feel free to contact us for a recommendation.
Lessons are offered to adults and children over the age of 8. All lessons are currently taught in a private setting.
These lessons are designed for those beginning their riding careers, those who need a refresher and students who want to hone their riding skills. We teach Western Versatility, Western Trail Riding, English Pleasure, hunter/jumper, and will help prepare you for competitive trail competitions, such as ACTHA or trail class.
Our philosophy is to teach you to have a stable seat and quiet hands and legs. We help you understand what your horse is telling you and how to be the leader. As you advance, you can chose to learn trail obstacles and/or jumping basics.
We also believe that round pen, longing and “at liberty” work is critical to a horse’s long-term performance. It is also beautiful and rewarding to see a horse respond to you from a distance. If you are interested in eventually owning your own horse, this is a great skill to develop.
Lessons in conjunction with our horse training program will be designed to help you understand what your horse has learned and how to continue his education. We will teach you first to work with a highly trained at liberty horse and then how to work with your own horse. These lessons can take the place of a horse training session at the end of your horse’s stay.
Click here for pricing information.
How to Stop Bucking
My friend’s 10-year old Mustang has been bucking on the trail. Is there a way to get this to stop?
Whenever dealing with a bucking horse, the first thing I would do is try to eliminate a physiological problem. Are you causing the horse pain while riding? A few quick and easy checks:
• Abrasions on the gums or face. Is your gear causing unnecessary pain or discomfort?
• Saddle fit: When you remove the saddle, are there dry patches of skin. Does the saddle abraid the skin?
• Lunge the horse and check his limbs for heat.
• Have a farrier check his feet for abscess or other signs of soreness.
If you do not find anything with these simple checks, you may want to consult a veterinarian. It is quite possible that your veterinarian may not find an issue.
If you are a very confident with a rider, you may want to evaluate your riding technique. Riders often inadvertently cause problems. Start by asking yourself, are you being snatchy with the reins; this means do you leave the reins slack and then suddenly catch the horse in the mouth? Do you have quiet legs? Unquiet legs send conflicting signals. Are you overly submissive when working your horse? Are you the leader? Learn how to do the emergency stop, where you pull your horse in a circle as it is very difficult for him to buck or rear in this position. Be sure to stretch him beforehand. If he does buck, put your weight in your heals, and put your heals down to anchor your position. Then drive the horse forward.
If you find yourself fearing your horse after being bucked off a few times too many, then you may want to consult a professional. At this point, the horse can be “restarted” for a week or two with lunging, positive reinforcement and teaching a lot of forward momentum. There is really no cue for “don’t buck,” so rather than telling your horse what not to do, give your horse something else to think about. Ask him to step over a log, sidepass or speed up into a circle.
A goofy thing that was taught to me by a Texas riding instructor is that when a horse rears, crack an egg over its head. He will think he is bleeding and it may prevent him from doing it in the future. I tried it once and it did work on the young horse I was riding; but I am certain it depends on the reason behind the behavior.
Do you have horse training questions? Email saddletraining@aol.com with your question. We will do our best to get it answered for you soon.
Training
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Due to a recent job change, move, upcoming weddings and rigourous showing schedule, we are not accepting training horses for the spring. We hope to be back online soon.
If your goal is to have a reliable horse, trained to think before reacting, then you have come to the right place. I specialize in starting young horses, dealing with problem behaviors, and tuning older horses.
I hesitate to use the word Natural Horsemanship because it means many different things to different people. When I use the phrase, I mean that I work with the horse’s natural body language to enhance communication and establish leadership. In addition, I am able to recognize a horse’s sensitivities as well as his strengths and weaknesses.
I am a believer in ground training and teaching all horses to work in a round pen. Working on the ground and moving a horse in this manner makes you relevant to the horse. You can learn to identify the horse’s body language, and in the horse’s mind you are establishing yourself as lead mare.
Extreme Mustang Makeover-Dallas 2009
Melissa trained her first wild mustang in the summer of 2009 for the Dallas Extreme Mustang Makeover. She did it while teaching and working on research at Texas A & M University in College Station, TX.
Melissa’s training was featured in Documentary, “Wild Horse Wild Ride“. Click More to view photos.
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Location
We are now located outside of the city in Fenton, Mo. This means our services will come to you! We will train horses at your home, or you can come take lessons at Sugar Creek Ranch on our horses. Our horses are boarded near Gravois bluffs. Call to see if we can provide services to your location.