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BRINGING UP LADDIE (How Dwight Trains his Horses) The morning of April 4, 1982, a palomino Morgan colt was born, but with some difficulty, on Slate Run Farm, Jackson, Ohio. His foaling problems and those involved in this foaling, were responsible for the name I chose for him. No one else can legally use our farm name, registered with the Morgan Club, which is Slate Run RK Ladd. (R. Ruth; K.-Shatona Karzan; L.-our Lord; A-Ashabella; D-Dwight; D-Duane).
When Ladd was born, I rubbed my hands over his and Ashabella's callow sites (ergots on insides of legs), then let him nose and smell my hands and held my arms around him. After he stood and sucked, and was a little strong I put a halter on him, and using a soft cotton lead rope, I coaxed him to lead by looping the lead rope over his rear end, and tugging him along I kept him and his mother in a stall for about a week until he led pretty good, and like learning to swim you never forget. I put his halter on each day, as I never leave a halter on a horse, unless I am close by.
When Ladd was about 3 months old, I started tying him up, (with his mother close by), slowly picking up each foot and spanking it with my hand; then trimming and rasping his feet. One time he acted up, laid back on his tie rope, making me a little angry. I quickly made up some rope lines, attached them to his halter and ground-drove him. He actually drove, and would back up like an older, trained horse. (His mother was near of course). I began teaching Ladd to load in a trailer at six months.
Accomplishments aren't made as fast as I am relating them. Much patience is required, and lessons of only 15 or 20 minutes. All youngsters have short attention spans, and get bored, and tired. If you accomplish only a tiny bit of what you are after, reward with loving pats on the neck. If you do get angry do not start punishing without mercy. This paragraph applies to all phases of training, so I will mention it again. Every time I ride I am training.
Ladd was weaned at 5 months. It was September, and being confined in my tight stalls was not too hot for him. He had been getting grass in the pasture, some hay and grain along with his mother, so the stress of weaning was much less, because all were missing warm milk (and, of course her). This being a most stressful time, all he received was feed water, and love. No training. It varies with different foals, but I think he was okay in a couple of weeks, and quieted down enough to halter and take to my arena (or an outdoor pen), and taught to-lunge in a circle, by using a long buggy whip to reach out and touch or tap on the croup or rump. He was taught to "get up", “whoa”, walk, trot and lope, both clockwise and counter clockwise.
The above “lunging” was just started. Ladd was turned out in a pasture separate from his mother. Misery likes company, so it is good if you can turn weanlings together. S. S. Doc is a month younger than Ladd. They were great buddies till yearlings, when stallion play became too serious, and I separated them.
From weaning time, till a yearling, at times I would catch Ladd up, lunge him some, and trim his feet. I strung 10 or 12 tin cans on some hay strings together, dragged and rattled them around him until I could drag them over his entire body, and he hardly noticed. I repeated the same thing with plastic on a string, both white and black plastic. Plastic makes a scary, crinkling, rattling sound.
When Ladd was a year old, I introduced him to the saddle and blanket, and lunged him with the saddle on. I then took a broom handle and tied long rags to one end, and secured the other end to the fork and horn of the saddle, with hay string. I called this my "old witch", because when I lounged him with this outfit on, the rags fluttered around his head and ears, like an old witch riding a broom-stick. I then filled the legs of some old denim trousers with sand, and secured the legs and waist with hay string to keep the sand from spilling out. I then took the denims to where Ladd was saddled and tied and secured this "dummy" on Ladd so it wouldn't turn or shift around on him. I then lounged him (without the witch); then when things went along smoothly, lunged him with the sand bag dummy and the old witch.
At 15 months, Ladd was tied up and saddled, and I got off and on him several times. I then put a hackamore on him with a horse-hair mecate rope for reins. I then got on Ladd, set a spell, and clucked for him to go, and squeezed his barrel with my legs. If no response, I direct-reined him by pulling his head around, and was happy if he moved any direction, finally walking around the arena; then stopping him with "whoa", and a sharp, but gentle tug back on the reins. Backing him with firm, but gentle, bumps with the bosal on his nose, and squeezing his barrel with my legs. Leg squeezing means momentum (go), and the bumping and pull of the bosal reins means go backwards.
After he was responding well with the above training, I squeezed him into a trot. After going good and behaving at the trot, then came the lope, or in his case, canter. (Canter is a collected lope, driving more from the rear end).
To canter to the left (counter clockwise) leading with the left foreleg, I did all of the following together in one smooth movement; (not noticeable to someone watching the rider); shifted my weight to the left stirrup and forward, right foot rearward toward the flank and squeeze, jerk the reins sharply, but gently, pulling the nose slightly to the right. When Ladd leaped into the Canter, to keep his proper balance, he led with his left foreleg. Canter clockwise (leading with right foreleg) is accomplished by reversing the above movements. Shift weight to the right stirrup and forward, left stirrup toward flank and squeeze, sharp, but gentle, upward jerk of the reins, pulling the nose slightly to the left.
During this time, I put a snaffle bit in Ladd's mouth and rode him a couple of times, with a pencil hackamore under the bridle. Then I put a curb bit in his mouth, and rode him with the pencil hackamore underneath two sets of reins. If Ladd didn't respond to the bit reins, I prompted him with the mecate reins of the hackamore. Incidentally, I used the reins in each hand. To go to the left, a direct pull with the left hand and left rein, and lay the reins on the right side of the neck with the right hand. To the right, a direct pull with the right hand on the right rein, and lay the reins against the left side of the neck with the left hand. While I started riding Ladd at 15 months, this was done very infrequently. He had very little riding until he was 30 months old.
In training, get a horse to hold the gait they are put in. Drop to a walk before going into another gait.
I've always trained the Morgans by carrying a riding crop, and using it on the right shoulder only, to prompt, and discipline.
Dwight S. Plymale
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