06/02/05 Same tricks

I think training horses on a lot of ranches is done with the same mindset no matter what part of the country the ranch is in. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to explain. I just read a column by Bill Van Norman in America's Horse magazine about his philosophy on teaching young horses basic skills that will lead to a well-trained working horse. The Van Norman family ranches near Tuscarora, Nevada and won the 2001 Bayer Best Remuda Award. The interesting aspect of the article was the similarities to what I had been taught about training young horses here in the Northwest. Van Norman colts are ridden mostly outside the pen just as soon as they are started, which Bill says is more enjoyable for the horses. I remember a young filly I was starting and seemed to be getting worse each ride. My dad told me to get her outside the pen; she was bored to death. On the Van Norman place, cow trails are used to help a young horse learn neck reining. As a trail curves the colts are cued to go with the trail and the learning process just becomes natural and easy for them. My Uncle told me the same technique some years ago. The rough hilly country of the Nevada ranch lets the Van Normans teach their young horses about getting their hindquarters under them by loping them down slopes and keeping collected down steeper hills, which is the same position needed for a good stop. Again, a valued friend of mine told me about a horse he had to run downhill to get him to keep his rear end under him. There, that's three training techniques that are basically the same in Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jeff Keane.