Horse handling
YMC 4-Hers take part in horse show at fairBy Phillip Bock
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CANBY - After training her horse every day for two years, 4-H member Megan Lynne finally got the opportunity to show off her hard work during the Yellow Medicine County horse show Thursday afternoon.
Lynne has participated in the 4-H horse training program, a program that teaches participants how to train their horse from wild animal to fully matured, trained horse. The program is most often started when the horses are just a year old and untrained. From there, the trainer works through a six-step program while learning techniques in teaching their horse.
"It's like pulling a wild animal out of its cage and training him," Michelle Ascheman, the 4-H program coordinator, said.
Participants in the program are the only ones allowed to train the animals from start to finish. No outside help from professional horse trainers are permitted.
"It's a six-step program," Citty Cole, a former member of the program, said. "Level one is just beginning; level six is advanced."
Starting out at level one the participants get the horse used to being handled and to having a halter put on. As they work their way up the levels they teach the horse how to respond to commands and, ultimately, get the horse used to having someone riding on its back. After the sixth, and most advanced, level horses learn advanced riding techniques and can be shown at the state fair.
"The most important levels are the first two," Cole said. "You add on from there."
Each level can take one to two years, depending on the trainer and the horse, Cole said. If the horse is temperamental or easily stressed the training process can take longer.
"It's a lot of work," Cole said. "Horses are animals of repetition. They need every day attention."
While training her horse Cole, said she would train in half-hour increments. Any more and her horse would start to get distracted.
"You can tell when they get bothered," Cole said. "There are just not as involved."
Lynne, currently working on a level two horse, said she works with her horse every day. The horse, now two years old, has been making good progress, she said.
"I've had her since she was 3 months old," Lynne said. "We connected right away."
Staring out with a new horse was tough, Lynne said, but she has begun to see changes in her horse as she moves through the training levels.
"They are a wild horse when you start out with them and you can't get mad at them if they don't know anything," Lynne said. "I work with her every single day. She's completely changed into a different horse."
When 4-H members join the horse training program they are given a book that teaches them the basics of training the horse at each level, Lynne said.
"It's really helped me out a lot. I didn't really have any idea how to start her," she said.
As a result of the program Lynne, a junior in high school, is already looking into colleges with strong equine programs and hopes to pursue further education in horse training. Though the program has been challenging, she said, her persistence is paying off.
"It feels really good to say that I've done it all myself," Lynne said. "I actually won showmanship with her this morning."
The horse training show was one of many events during the 4-H equine event Thursday afternoon. Other events included western horsemanship, trail class, and barrel racing.
