Life Lessons: Handling Weanlings and Yearlings - Western Horseman
Craig Cameron believes in exposing yearlings to different experiences to prepare them for a future as riding horses
“I love using a saddle pad with these young horses because it’s a foreign object to them,” Cameron says. “I start with a small pad because it’s easier to handle. I want to swing it up on his back and rub it all over him. I’ll put it over his neck, run it over his back and take it o
over his hindquarters. I’ll toss it on his neck right behind his ears, and run it down over his shoulders and down his legs. It’s all about getting that horse quiet and gentle.”
“A lot of people are too aggressive with the flag, but I want to present it in a way he can understand,” he says. “When I first present the flag to a horse, I start by folding it in my hand and just rubbing him with it. Then I keep it up high where he can see it and get used to it. He may need to move away from it in the beginning. His self-preservation instinct is millions of years old, and you can’t take that away. You have to allow him to use that instinct until he realizes the flag is not going to hurt him. But when he does move away, use that great horseman’s philosophy of making the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. Work the flag in a way that allows him to figure out that the easiest thing he can do is stop and accept it.”
Craig Cameronhalter breakingstarting coltsweanlingyearling