Young Horse Start Mentoring

Welcome to Allison Acres ~ Galt, CA ~ (209) 748-2658

Start Your Horse with Safe and Sane Young Horse Mentoring

Well folks, I'm not going to swing my leg over that youngster, but if you want to do it with some guidance and mentoring and coaching, let's go for it! :-) I'm too old and decrepit to get hurt - actually I have severe hip dysplasia and riding is painful for me, so I don't start the youngsters under saddle. I do, however, do everything up to swinging that leg over for the first time. I know when they are ready to progress and what they need to know first. Since I feel exquisitely my own disabilities with respect to riding, I am very good at the preparation - I want to be sure it's all there so nothing bad happens.

Articles/Forms:

Us:

Horse Related Links

Allison Acres
13512 Alta Mesa Rd.
Galt, CA 95632
Yahoo Map

Pay for anything here (horses for sale, boarding, lessons, whatever!) using
a credit card thru Pay Pal!

I have started many many youngsters and turned them over to better riders for the first few rides; that way somebody with some actual physical ability who's not in pain is up there in case things get a little Western. I then coach them from the ground if they haven't started many colts. There are a lot of you out there who have good seats and who are very experienced in the saddle but who are not sure how to get your young one ready or what to do when certain situations present themselves or how to brush up on your feel and timing before you find yourself really needing it. That's where I come in.

You can haul in for this program, but since your horse will need frequent sessions it is probably more cost effective to board here. You can do it all in sessions with me or you can have sessions with me and practice by yourself in between or you can have sessions with me and I can work your horse in between. We'll be sure your horse is ready and then you'll put on those first few rides.

You MUST be an experienced rider. You don't need to have ever ridden a totally green horse before - if you have, you probably don't need me - but for obvious reasons it is not safe to learn to ride while you also try to teach a horse how to go under saddle. I WILL put you on one of my lesson horses, or two, to evaluate your riding before we put you on your greenie, as part of one of your sessions. If you are not an experienced rider, feel free to have groundwork lessons with me using your young horse, or to put him in the groundwork program here, but I will recommend that you put him in training fulltime with somebody who'll start him under saddle for you for at least 120 days when he's ready. In the meantime you should be in lessons so that by the time he's safe to ride, you have some idea how! :-) I have recommendations for colt starters. It's just not safe for most folks to start their own horses unless they are good riders who are ready.

So if you are a good rider and you are ready, give me a call. I will work with you to be sure you understand HOW to train and WHAT should be trained (because often good riders don't know about training, or at least about training greenies.) I will work with your horse to be sure he understands the foundational material and to be sure he's ready for the next steps. Your safety and his good experience are my utmost priorities. Then for the rides I'll be right there with you helping your horse understand and talking you through what to do.

Prices:

Private lesson: $55 per session with you and your horse ~ haul in
Single work session: $55 per session with just your horse ~ haul in
Monthly training for horses boarded here: $350 per month for 4 sessions per week with just your horse
Lessons in addition to monthly training: $30 per session for you and your horse when you are boarding here and already paying monthly training

Sessions are around an hour long. If your horse does something amazing and I feel he needs to be put up for a big reward, we'll end early. If we're stuck, we'll run a bit late.

Please read the boarding page for info on that; the main thing is that group horses cannot have hind shoes.

Now, let's assume you're in the program and we work for a while and I feel your horse is ready to be ridden, but you lost your nerve. Don't despair, all is not lost; my working student is available to ride the ones I feel are ready for it. You'll pay my fee plus $15 to her. Or you can go to one of my recommended colt starters. You'll have learned a lot in the meantime! Some colts turn out to be ones that really should be ridden first by a professional. I can help you determine if that's the case with yours and potentially save you from getting hurt and messing up your horse.

Email or call if you have questions. Thanks!