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"I have a notebook of the tips from your site and I love them... Bonnie Anderson has been wonderful. All the tips I tried of hers worked the first time. I am now in the riding stage and my horse is awesome. Thank you all very much and keep the training tips coming!!!!!!"
Karen Gossard
Fayetteville, NC

Q:  I have a horse and pony in one field together. Sometimes the horse rears when I try to lead the pony out of the field. What should I do?

A:  If the horse rears at you while trying to remove your pony, don't hesitate to show your displeasure. It sounds like this horse is trying to show it's dominance and possibly trying to keep the pony from leaving. This could prove dangerous if not corrected. If yelling and waving the pony's lead rope at the horse isn't enough, don't hesitate to bring a lunge whip along and just lay it on the ground until you have the pony caught. If you wave the whip around before catching the pony, the pony may not want to approach you either. Once the pony is caught, then you can pick the whip up and snap it at the horse if it should try to approach, making it keep its distance until you are out of the pen. Snap the whip if the horse is rearing or crowding you in any way. You are in a sense showing that you are the dominant member, and what you say or do is what matters, and the horse needs to listen to you.

Q:  I am a youth barrel racer and I am thinking about getting an Appaloosa. I was wondering if they are good on the barrels?

A:  I think Appaloosa's have just as much potential to being a good barrel horse as any of the other stock horse breeds. It really depends on the individual horse itself as to whether it has lots of heart and speed.

Q: I'm getting ready to buy my first horse. Should I start out with a colt and work with it myself or should I get a older horse that has already been trained?

A:  I would definitely suggest getting an older, experienced horse for your first horse. I learned this the hard way. My first horse was an untrained three year old, and I was fifteen. I had all kinds of problems with this mare since I didn't really know what I was doing. I wish now that I would have started with a horse that could have taught me what having a really nice, enjoyable horse is all about. Instead I ended up with one that eventually became no fun to ride at all. On trail rides my friends would be sitting back in the saddle, talking and laughing. I, on the other hand, would be struggling to keep my mare under control, keep her from running over the horses ahead of me, or kicking the ones behind. And she never got any better. I kept her for three years, thinking things would improve.

They did not. I eventually sold her for a beautiful paint gelding that I came to love with all my heart. He was my dream horse. I still regret those three years in some ways, even though they gave me lots of experience in handling difficult horses, but it would have been much nicer getting to laugh and talk with my friends and enjoy the ride.

Q:  Im having problems on going around the barrel in barrel racing. My mare does fine walking them or trotting them but when she gallops around them she doesnt know how to stay running, and I have to kick her coming off the barrel to get her running again.

A:  Kicking a horse to make them go faster doesn't usually work. It confuses the horse and tends to slow them down. Leg aids should be subtle. If more energy is needed from the horse try voice commands or clucking noises, or a riding crop tapped on the shoulder to speed them up. It just sounds like your horse is needing time to learn, and being patient will help.

Q:  How far can a basic horse and rider travel on friendly terrain in a day? How fast does a horse walk on average?

A:  According to the New Standard Encyclopedia the average horse's walk is four miles per hour, the trot is six to nine, the canter eight to sixteen, and the run is near forty miles per hour. From what I've read in western books, a cattle drive or wagon train averaged about fifteen to twenty miles per day depending on terrain and weather. A single horseman averaged about thirty to thirty-five miles per day depending on terrain and weather.