Training

Pictured is a photo of Gary with his MFT yearling colt, MidKnight Cisco, in 2006.  Not
long after this photo was taken in our arena, Gary & Cisco went on to win the In-hand
Trail Class at the Big Sky Foxtrotter Show.  We were mighty proud!

Following a heart attack in 2004, Gary had to spend lots of time on the tread mill,
getting himself aerobically fit.  To his credit, he did the work and is now feeling great.  To
our credit, he spent hours, weeks and months on that treadmill watching horse training
DVDs to pass the time!  Now he uses those "natural horsemanship" skills working daily
with all our youngsters, which he finds really satisfying.  The babies get all of their
groundwork right here, so they can make an easy transition when it comes time to go to
the trainers.   You can't start too young!

Training starts here at Omni Mountain Horses on day one.   Each foal is imprinted when
born and handled every time we get the chance.   They're haltered and taught to lead
within a week.  We feel that human-horse bonds can be made stronger if the humans
and horses are in close contact early in the colt's life.  My experience is that the more you
ask and expect (within reason, of course), the more an animal tries to please you.  That
early training can be instrumental in making the special "partner" horses that we all
covet as our companions.

Click on the photo of Ciera and Moxie @ 12 hours old, and already imprinted.