"I find great satisfaction in bringing a colt from his earliest days," says Dan Aadland. Shown is his mountain-bred trail horse, Partner, as a foal.

Some believe the only way to truly know a horse is to train him oneself for trail riding. Others go further, insisting on training and raising their future trail horses from foal, weanling stage or even from the time of conception, starting out by breeding a favorite mare to a stallion of choice.

Although I have an outstanding horse trainer available, I find great satisfaction in bringing a colt from his earliest days — when I encircle the newborn foal with my arms, holding and stroking him until he’s calm — then training him all the way to his stature as "complete trail horse."

But when others express a desire to bring a youngster along the same way, I find myself voicing many cautions. Here are three:

• Time to the saddle. According to equine physiologist Deb Bennett, PhD, horses reach physical maturity when they’re between 5½ and 6½ years old. Tack on a year for gestation (technically, 11 months, 6 days), and you’re looking at a long wait from breeding to saddle. Even if you buy a weanling, you’re still looking at two years before serious saddle training begins and several more before the horse is mature.
• Your age and physical abilities. Youth and athletic ability aren’t requirements for raising and training a horse, but some physical capability is necessary, and the more, the better. Be realistic. Young horses are by nature rambunctious, wanting to run, wanting to break free of whatever restrains them. Regardless of the training methods you choose, there will be bumps in the trail, and some of them might hurt. You’ll be a couple of years older when that youngster challenges you under saddle, and he’ll do so, count on it, no matter how kind you’ve been to him. Will you be up to it?
• Your horse knowledge. As our population has modernized and urbanized, fewer of us grow up with horses. Fewer of us have had a gentle mentor, the farm grandfather or ranch grandmother for whom practical equine knowledge was second nature. There are many helpful clinicians and instructors, and studious reading of good books and magazines certainly helps. But, as with our physical abilities, it’s best to be realistic.

Partner at age 3, still a long way from becoming a complete trail horse. “Even if you buy a weanling, you’re still looking at two years before serious saddle training begins and several more before the horse is mature,” notes Dan Aadland.

Regardless of the potential pitfalls, a certain stubborn percentage of us will insist that our lives simply can’t be complete without the experience of raising a newborn foal from the day he first kicks free of his umbilical cord to the day he carries us proudly and confidently down the trail. Determination can go a long way.

I recently met a man who in midlife, with zero riding or equine experience, bought two young mules aged 2 and 4 years old. He assumed riding would come easily for him, because he’d excelled at various athletic pursuits, such as running, kayaking, and triathlon. He found out otherwise, he said.

However, he learned all he could, worked hard, and survived, bringing the mules to maturity as nice, useful saddle and pack animals. There was some cost, he told me, in the form of several broken bones. An exceptional individual physically, this man did it the hard way and prevailed.

But not all of us are quite so tough. Here are some thoughts on avoiding the pitfalls (and possibly the broken bones) of breeding and raising your own trail horse.

Breeding Your Own
One of my mentors in the equine world was fond of quoting the saying that "a person will not die in winter who is expecting a colt in the spring." Thorton Wilder, in the play Our Town, said that each birth is nature’s attempt to make a perfect human being. Each foaling could be labeled a breeder’s attempt to make a per-fect horse.

And certainly the anticipation of a wet, shivering, game-for-living foal, triumphing in his first steps, is insulation against the dark, cold days of winter. That’s why many people keep breeding horses well into their Social Security years.

But do pick only your very best mare for breeding purposes. Unfortunately, many people pick the opposite, the mare that bucks, the mare that no one wants to ride. Pick your best mare, even though it might mean you can’t enjoy her on those tough trails for a time. She’s being sidelined for a higher calling.

And in choosing her, and the stallion to which she’ll mate, put one consideration above all others: disposition. Conformation, color, gait, athletic ability, beauty — all of these must take a back seat to the kind, tractable disposition that’s required in a lifetime trail partner.

Clinicians are so fond of saying that there are no problem horses, only problem people (or words to that effect) that some riders grow to believe that horses are all good, all kind, and all the same; all kinks are the results of mistakes or abuse from humans. I don’t buy that. Horses vary in disposition as much as humans vary in personality. From all the people you know, pick in your mind the few you’d choose with whom to be trapped in an elevator. The equine counterparts of that select group are the animals you should breed for your ultimate colt.

Given the liability risks today, stallion owners have every right to be cautious about inexperienced visitors interacting with their animals. On the other hand, if you’re told, when visiting a stud farm, that you should stay away from a stallion because he bites or kicks, you might consider whether that’s the best animal to sire your ultimate foal out of your favorite mare. The stallion may’ve earned a barn wall full of ribbons, but if he’s vicious, consider looking elsewhere.

The Backyard Foal
One would think most professional trainers would relish the idea of training the backyard foal, the foal raised one-on-one with humans, the foal that’s had nothing but kindness and attention since the moment he touched the straw in his birthing stall. On the contrary, many trainers dread tackling such animals. Why?

Truth is, most backyard foals are spoiled rotten. And the less experienced their owners, the more spoiled the animals tend to be. Inexperienced horse owners are likely to labor under the misconception that kindness to the foal (improperly translated as lack of discipline) will result in an animal that out of sheer gratitude will return such kindness to the owner. The foal is supposed to reason this through with human intelligence. Hmm, he’s supposed to think, she gave me an apple yesterday so I won’t bite today. That’s expecting a lot from a horse (and a baby one at that).

If you raise a foal, you must be a kind-but-firm leader from the very beginning. A "good guy, bad guy" posture is completely appropriate. From the foal’s point of view, his proper behavior results in a leader who’s pleasant and rewarding. Improper behavior makes for a leader that’s all elbows, a leader whose voice is no longer soft and loving. It’s behavioral psychology, pure and simple.

Dan Aadland's seasoned mount, Major, at age 17. To train your home-bred horse, he suggests that you seek an experienced horseman to help you overcome trail-training hurdles.

Infractions can’t be tolerated. The nibbling of today can become the bite of tomorrow. No one who’s been really bitten by a horse will ever forget it.

One spring in a mountain camp, I took around a sack of pellets to the picketed horses, spilling out a generous ration on the ground for each. I fed a friend’s mare, then walked over toward Major to give him his share, when suddenly something grabbed the triceps of my left arm with alligator force. I yelled and flailed out with my other arm until the force let go of me. The mare had seen me head for another horse with the feed sack and had taken issue. My upper arm turned black and hurt for weeks.

Similarly, pawing the air with forefeet may be cute in a newborn foal, but deadly in a yearling. Turning his rear end toward you with ears laid back is antisocial behavior, and the youngster might just as well learn as much early in the game.

Take a page from the book of successful classroom teachers. It’s better to be tough early on so that you can be a nice guy later than to attempt to reverse the process. Discipline invoked late in the game, when an animal isn’t used to it, is likely to be resented.

And that’s the reason many trainers dislike backyard foals. Even the slightest imposition of discipline, such as a cue to move forward, is likely to be resented by such colts. If you plan to eventually train your horse under saddle, make it easy for yourself by being a strong leader from the very beginning.

You can start building your ultimate trail horse long before saddle training begins. Expose your foal to as many stimuli as possible. Teach him to lead, to stand tied, to walk into and out of trailers. Introduce him to your lawn mower and your bicycle, to the pop of a cap gun, and to plastic bags blowing in the wind. It’s all money in the bank.

Training Under Saddle
For many years, even though I liked to fish, I avoided taking up fly fishing. So much had been written about the "Zen" of fly fishing, the mystique involved, the "matching the hatch" with just the right fly, the considerable skill involved in casting, that I just didn’t think I’d be up to the task without spending half a lifetime learning.

Finally, a friend who was an accomplished fly fisherman told me, "Just do it." He gave me some pointers on technique and gear. I went down to a stream and promptly caught several fish for supper.

Anyone considering training a horse for the first time faces a similar dilemma. Yes, mastering the art and science of horse training can indeed require a lifetime. But knowing enough to do a fine job of training a saddle horse is within the reach of average individuals. It’s not voodoo, transcendental meditation, or rocket science. If it were, our civilization wouldn’t exist, for it was built by horses and horsemen, ordinary men and women who trained horses to perfect the tasks needed to raise food, build roads, and transport humans from one spot to another.

And, contrary to current belief, much of such training was based on beautiful, rewarding partnerships between humans and horses, not necessarily on harsh or cruel methods.

Actual methods are beyond the scope of this particular article, but here are three principles:

• Keep an open mind. Many training methods work. Beware of the instructor or clinician who tells you his or her way is the only way. Keep an open mind, and don’t hesitate to question.
• Stay focused on your goal. Your goal is training the ultimate trail horse. Some of what’s taught in various equine disciplines isn’t really applicable. Having a horse that jumps well may be desirable, but you probably prefer that your trail horse step confidently over a log rather than jumping it. Many clinicians and teachers rarely ride outside arenas. Your trail partner is slated for a working life outside walls.
• Seek help. Seeking an experienced horseman to help you overcome trail-training hurdles isn’t akin to admitting defeat. There will be setbacks. Retreat a few increments, and stay with it. But don’t get injured just because your ego prevails rather than your common sense.

Is it worth it, this training from foaling to trail? For me, yes. And, if you choose to go that direction, I hope it’ll be worth it for you, as well. Happy trails!