> BK> Well, I'd suggest going to a breeding farm and letting him help out
> BK> for a summer or two.  I've seen many horses ruined because of
> improper
> BK> handling which in essense adding a horse to two sent to the killers
> BK> because they were so fouled up..  there's also the factor that your
> BK> youngin can get hurt.
 
> My daughters had a horse here for about 3 years. She is a fairly
> experienced person.
 
I've got 15-20 years around horses.. and being on a breeding farm gave me the 
experience I needed to handle babies.. or actually it confirmed a lot of what 
I thought..
 
At the same time I've watched several people ruin babies from inproper 
handling.  
 
 
 
>  I'm certain between her and my son they
> can get the job done. I wonder who trained the first one?
 
"Training a horse" is a relative term. There is a "horse trainer" local to 
where I have CJ and Tush, I wouldn't give him a pig to train because it's to 
damn smart for him...
 
You see my concern is 1) another horse getting screwed up (not that it will 
happen) and 2) some kids getting hurt..
 
The kids usually heal.. screwed up horses usually end up at the killers.
 
 
 
> Had some of them already Bob. I gotta say Bob, if no person
> ever took a risk, nothing would ever be experienced, much less
> learned.
 
The best bet is to learn first and gain experience.. that way you'll cut down 
on the possibility of either of the above. I know the kids want one.. but let 
them go learn a bit first. It's good experience an disipline for later in 
live.. and the horse just might turn out better.
 
 
 
> I have a 100lb dog sitting over there on the floor. I
 
Dogs are easier to train then horses.. and horses weight from 900 on up. 
There is a difference. 
 
 
> however that I should have taken my first dog to the dog trainers
> because it could have been ruined by my lack of skills. However
> there is plenty of literature available to train all sorts of
> animals.
 
Yep and do you know these people who wrote the books? An example: Don 
Blaser.. he wrote a fairly popular book.. and the most humorous thing is that 
he was a total hypocrite about what he wrote.. he was an extremely harsh 
trainer.
 
Not to mention that many of the books still out are "old style" training.. 
and the old style training doesn't rate with the new training styles that 
have been developing for the past 10-15 years.. People like John Lyons, Ray 
Hunt, Tom Dorrance, Richard Shrake.. even Bob Loomis and Larry Mahan are into 
the newish style of working a horse.  
 
> think you get the idea. Some person trained the very first horse.
 
This leaves a lot open about how good that horse was at anything.. 
 
 
> While I'd be the first to agree it is a major undertaking, I also
> refuse to believe it is rocket science.
 
Not rocket science.. more Psychology and an understanding of what makes a 
horse tick...  
 
 
 
                                 BK 
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