# Restarted my 17 yo gelding



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Nice. Thanks for sharing. Yep, they're never too old for GOOD training!


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## Palfrey (May 29, 2020)

He has a very pretty face!


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

Time and patience work wonders. Most horses can be trained out of bad habits or undesirable traits. Slow and steady wins the race. Sounds like you did it right.


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## livarcherpnwgracie (Jun 21, 2020)

Hi! You recommend treating older horses as though they're green broke in order to establish a good bond and respect, both on the ground and in the saddle? Can you recommend some ground exercises? Did you keep him in a working pen the whole time or did you let him out to pasture? Thank you!


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

livarcherpnwgracie said:


> Hi! You recommend treating older horses as though they're green broke in order to establish a good bond and respect, both on the ground and in the saddle? Can you recommend some ground exercises? Did you keep him in a working pen the whole time or did you let him out to pasture? Thank you!


 I treat them like they know absolutely nothing. Start right from the beginning as if you just put the halter on for the first time. I start in the round pen and in his case I kept it very low key since he had anxiety issues. In his case I did it on a 14' lead. Encouraged lots of walking and yielding of fore quarters , hind quarters and backing at first then as time progressed started side passing on the ground. Use the lead in serpentine movements on his back. neck , head and legs since he had rope issues. Kept reassuring him everything is alright and end all sessions on a relaxed enjoyable note.. Then progressed into walk to trot transitions and some light flag work. Don't make sessions too long and go slow. We progressed riding from the round pen to a larger pen then out in the pasture with my 3 yo as lead horse in pen and then pasture. In both pen and pasture we would trade leading to following back to leading in the riding , this helps build his confidence. My 3 yo filly is the boss and I had to keep after her at first as she wanted to bite him on the rump when it was his turn to lead. Don't forget to use the rope to pickup his feet, lead him with his feet and flip the lead over his rump and use it as an assist to do 360* turns.


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