Training Tip of the Week: When riding a colt for the first time, act like you’ve been drinking.

The more relaxed you are, the quieter the colt will get. To plant an image in people’s minds of how they should act on the colt’s back, I tell them to act like they’ve been drinking. When you get up on your colt for the first time, you should be loose and relaxed. I want you to be moving all over in the saddle, rubbing and patting all over the colt’s body. You should slap your leg with your hand, take off your hat and wave it around him, etc. The worst thing you can do is sit up in the saddle like a closed pocketknife and be afraid to move. If you never move and then one day reach down to adjust your stirrup or wave “hi” to a friend, your colt will get scared and react.

If I say, “Act like you’ve been drinking,” an image of somebody moving all around in the saddle comes to mind. You should be loose so that you’re relaxed, but prepared to slide your hand down one rein to get the colt to stop in case he gets out of control. If you’re sitting up on his back hanging onto the saddle horn for dear life, you shouldn’t be up there in the first place. If you’re scared or worried, your colt will pick up on that and get frightened. You are his confidence and need to prove to him there’s nothing to be worried about.