Month: March 2020

Being loved keeps you young. This must be why my 25 year old Arabian horse Kamar stays looking youthful! He is deeply loved by me as well as by his buddy Huszar!

Most of the hikers on the trails of the Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale tell me what a beautiful horse Huszar is. Many of them take his photo. I am always the proud owner of my retired racehorse.

The most important thing I feel I can do with my three old colt is to work with him in the round pen, teaching him to pay attention to me while I secure his respect in me. Once we have built up trust, I know he will stop behaving badly. Once I have established his confidence in me, he will stop moving away from me, stop rearing up, stop ignoring my voice commands and stop turning his rump to me. Zum will be less apt to kick at me when he trusts me.

Zum is very intelligent. I give him a lot of credit for his intelligence. I truly want him to trust me and forgive me for any mistakes I have made with his training. I explain to Zum that I have never trained a horse before. He may not understand my words but he understands my meaning.

I try to be subtle and gentle with the reins. A hard pull on the reins teaches Zum to clamp his jaw and pull hard in response. I want to be less confrontational. I don’t want to make the mistake of pulling on the reins to control Zum through the bit. A lighter give and take touch on the reins is more effective.