Tom currently has openings for 2 head. Tom only takes in 4 total horses per month.  By only taking 4 head, Tom is able to spend more time with each horse.  Your horse will be ridden every day except Sundays.  The rate is $800 a month and that includes feed. Shoeing and trimming is extra. Each horse will need a current coggins and health papers. Book your spot today!! spurtlvs@cbnn.net

Tom and Money

Tom Davis Horsemanship ~

” The Horse’s Solution” Horses are a passion and a lifestyle for Tom Davis. Tom was born in the state of Washington and caught horse fever at an early age. Tom started working on ranches in Washington, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming when he was fourteen. This exposed Tom to many different styles of horsemanship, both the good and the bad. Through his natural abilities and feelings for the horse, he began a process of filtering what worked and what did not, but mostly which way started and kept the horses expression calm, relaxed and in a learning frame of mind. This way of teaching horses was mostly influenced by working with Don McEwen, an elderly man that had moved from California to Oregon, where Tom met him, while looking for a young prospect to purchase and train (in turn this filly taught Tom more then he ever did teach her). When Tom went to try out this filly, she ran out from underneath him 3 times. Don liked Tom’s try that he showed by getting back on again and again. Don saw in Tom that he did not loose his patients with this filly. Tom purchased this filly, then a few months later Tom received a call from Don McEwen, to inquire about Tom helping to gather cattle for local ranchers off the Umatilla National Forest. Tom leapt at the chance to go work with these men and learn all he could from the experience. What he didn’t know is that he would be working with Don on the down time, with various young horses, that Don raised. This experience was more valuable then any pay, Tom received gathering cattle in the Mountains. This time taught him to be patient and aware of the smallest details, when working with a young or old horse. The smallest things end up making the biggest difference. This experience instilled the “set it up and wait” philosophy, that Tom still practices today. In these five years spent in Oregon, Tom rode for a variety of people and worked with a wide range of horses of all breeds. Which led him to pursue a career in horsemanship. This later brought Tom Davis and his family to Texas, where he has continued to work with even more people and horses. Tom’s philosophy is to build a solid foundation for the horse that, will last the horses entire life, regardless of the horses breed, size, sex or temperament. Tom uses a light-handed, quiet method in working with horses, and has an extraordinary feel for the horse. He believes in working off the basics – teaching a horse to go forward, back, stop, move left and right, when asked not forced. Time is spent on ground work and getting the horse used to being handled all over. The amount of time spent on each step is based entirely on the particular horse. “Why would you want to force a horse to do something ~ when it is so much more fulfilling and fun to to set it up and let them find it gradually.” This way of thinking is why the horses Tom has worked with retain what has been showed to them, and are not having to be constantly “tuned” on. Tom says each horse has taught him something new, and he is still learning from the best teacher of all – The Horse. If you are interested in having Tom help you with forming a solid foundation for you and your horse, please contact us to see where the next clinic will be held or to arrange a weekend with Tom .

How Common is Common Sense, in Horsemanship?

A lot of times you hear the term “use Common Sense.” Well what is common sense? Is it what you use when in a tight spot with your horse or just trying to get a message relayed to the horse? Are you supposed to channel this inner knowledge that lies dormant till a situation calls for it to emerge? I really don’t think so. I believe in order to practice the term common sense you have to have had enough experience dealing with and learning from common issues related to working with horses. It seems to me there would be a lot more people practicing “common sense”, if it was so common. The truth of the matter is there is nothing common about it. There is a huge void in “common sense” being exercised, because of lack of knowledge.

In order to practice common sense you have had to learn it, by living it. There is no substitute for hands on experience. The more you do and see results, the more you will learn. With doing so you will build up a library of strategies to use when and where the situation calls for them to be applied. Many times the most simple less thought about approach is the correct and less stressful one for your horse and you. At times we tend to make things more difficult then they really are.

Don’t get caught up in solving a particular problem, try to look at it from the stand point of – What could have been done differently to avoid the problem in the first place? By looking at it this way, there wouldn’t be an issue made of it to begin with.

With that being said the common sense approach, would be to do what the majority of people would do in that situation. That being to zero in on that particular issue and drill them on it until both of you are discouraged and upset. It seems the less common sense approach could be the better route to take. The more horse sense and experience you obtain you will find that using good old common sense really doesn’t apply much to horses. Otherwise there wouldn’t be the issues; there is when the general public is working with their horses. So there lies the debate. You have to be able to recognize when and where to apply these different approaches. Do you attack the issue head on? Or do you look back and see what took place before the issue even arose? I choose the latter. It’s a lot easier on you and your horse when you set up what you’re looking for in your horse very plain and simple, then wait and see if they can find the answer. The whole time you are very encouraging and patient till they do find it there’s no rush. Once the desired response is there move on to something else keep it interesting for the horse. If you stay and dwell on one particular subject to long the horse gets irritated And will not show much interest at all the next time their approached with it. Make things so simple for your horse to figure out its silly. They have got to see the light at the end of the tunnel to make it up in their mind that it’s worthwhile to do things your way. That’s using Experience. – Written by Tom Davis If you have a horsemanship question or a specific topic you would like to see written about horsemanship email your suggestion thru www.ColtTrainer.com

Do you lead your Horse or does he lead you?

When you think about it the idea of leading a horse is that you take hold of the lead shank and they are just suppose to follow behind you. Well that’s the idea anyhow. But what if your horse leads so well that they are going to just take over and go ahead of you and pass right by you. Doing so puts you in a very dangerous position. This situation is very easy to fall into if you are not intent on reminding your horse where the safest place for them and you is. By a rule of thumb I never let my horses have their head past my shoulder, if their eye is ahead of my eye; they are the ones doing the leading, not you. I also take note as to how far back they lean as well. I do not want to have to drag my horse along behind anymore then I want to constantly move him back off me.

Here is something to try if your horse hasn’t been shown how to properly lead by staying with or just behind your shoulder. This is a simple exercise to help them understand where to be and once they get there, they will be left alone to “follow” your lead. When walking off and your horse starts to leave you behind – the instant their eye is nearly to pass your eye – you take the end of the lead and simply swing it around in front of their nose. Do this while still walking. As soon as they get back, where you prefer, stop swinging and continue walking as if nothing happened.

If they again walk past you repeat this again and again. If they get out far enough that the lead smacks their nose, it is nothing that you did to them, they just ran into it and they will figure out where to be to avoid that spot.

After a few times most all horses will figure it out where to stay in position. How long it takes to correct this problem depends on how long they have been leading the owner or handler. This is just one of many that can be used. Also if the horse is taught properly how to lead and respect the owner/handler this would not be needed ever. Best of luck taking the lead – Written by Tom Davis – check out all Tom has to offer www.ColtTrainer.com and if you have questions or comments be sure to email spurtlvs@cbnn.net

Colt Starting Time is Here!

The time of the year to start colts has come again. Most of the year a lot of folks including myself start colts year round. So this time of year just has a lot more of them all at once then any other time of year. All the yearlings are now coming two and there is the futurities and sales to get these little guys and gals ready to go show or be sold, by the time they are three. So this way you have a whole year to get them prepared. Not much time. or is it?

We want to remember to take our time and get things real solid with our young horses so we don’t have to keep going back and doing a lot of the repeat teaching on the same thing more then a couple of times. If you slow down and take it easy the results will come to your horse and you a lot sooner , then you ramming and jamming on your horse. All that does is get you and the horse pissy and they will want nothing to do with you. Don’t let a time frame worry you to much, you only have only got as much time as you have to do the best you can and then get on with the show. Make it pleasant for your horse and yourself to learn and grow to be as good as they are capable of being.  In turn you will be better for it as well. It is always discouraging to see a nice young horse with the rest of their life ahead of them, ringing their tail, kicking out, rearing up, running backwards, and throwing big fits with their handler. When it could have been avoided with more patience, better timing and more experience never hurts. Poor horsemanship starts with people then the horse gets blamed and has to carry the torch the rest of their life. While the people or person responsible just shrugs it off and goes on to get after another horse. The horse never has a chance with the kind of atmosphere. Don’t get caught up in “Cowboying” on your horse just make it a learning process that’s positive and have fun with them. Don’t see how much you can do in one day. See how much less you can do each day to get those good results. I wish you all the best and if there is anything  I can help you with you can give me a holler on the phone or email – 254 433 0806 spurtlvs@cbnn.net Keep it safe for your horse and you. hope to see you all riding real soon! Written by Tom Davis – Tom is again taking in colts and horses to start and train if you have one give him a call or visit the website!www.Colttrainer.com

Don’t Waste your Excusses ~ Horses Don’t Lie!

I don’t know why it is, but people have the worst time taking responsibilty for their  actions, more then any other creature, I believe. Not to exclude myself! It just seems easier, I suppose to just put it off on your horse or  somebody else. It’s a shame too, cause all it does is handicap you and your horse from progressing further to better and fuller horsemanship skills and relationship between the two of you. If you are lacking in certain areas of your  horsemanship, it will most definatly show up in your horse, and the way in which they behave. The more you can exposse  your horse and yourself to different situations and learn from those experiences, the better both of you will be for it.  When you don’t know, your horse knows you do not know. They will be apprehensive to do the task that you are asking, if  they feel the lack of confidence exuding from your body. You sure wouldn’t want to be riding in a car with someone and  your fixen to cross a bridge and the driver startstightening up and acting a little nervous and you ask them if everything is ok and they just say “shut-up” and look ahead it’s fine “trust” me! Well I guess you’d feel reasurred then wouldn’t  you? Don’t try to fake your way thru things you’ll only hurt what you have worked hard to gain, trust and respect. Without these two things you would not get very far in the first place. It’s real easy to make excuses about how your horse this  and your horse that. Well who’s runnin the outfit? If your horse is unsure and having trouble or walking all over the top of you or not wanting you to touch them – you’ve got serious problems. It’s one thing a young horse being unsure and not  knowing about people touching them much or respecting the space each person establishes. With practice it will be alright and you’ll keep them reassured that everything is ok, to be handled and not have to crawl all over you. It’s a whole  different issue to have this problem with a horse or horses that’s been around people a great deal. For example, I have  this horse I got for riding some other colts for a gentlemen. I had previously had this horse at my place four years earlier as a two year old(for only a couple days), before he ahd traded hands. Nice young horse full of life and no  slouch to being mistreated. I got this horse now, four years later and he doesn’t want you to touch this face, head  or ears. After some time of slowly approaching his headand ears, he realized we were not going to twist his ears off  and he relaxed and allowed his ears to be rubbed and grabbed and pulled gently. Where as before you’d go to bridle him or just move towards his ears and he’d pull his head away quickly. The current owner was not to blame, he was already that way when he bought him. Long story short the “excuse” was given to me later by the original owner that “He’s just  that way when he hasn’t got to know you yet.” Well the gentlemen I accuired him from, had him six months and I guess he still hadn’t got to know him yet? What a bunch of B.S. If you are gonna have horses take responsibility for your actions. Quit making excusses. It’s not your horse its you. If the blind leads the blind they’ll only get bumps and bruises.  Think about it! Tom Davis – Visit Tom online at www.ColtTrainer.com

Is Your horse barn sour? Or are you?

Many times I’ve heard folks comment about how theirs or someone they know, has a horse that is such a pleasure to ride out and around the pasture, in the arena or down the road to a friends.  Then they turn and head for home and the horse started to feel like they were jogging up to the starting gates at a race track. They would pull back and the horse would toss their head, rear up, back, kick up and turn circles, all with sweat pouring out of each pour. So it is not much of a surprise by what happens next,  as to why this behavior continues each and every time these rides are taken. As soon as they get home the rider would do the following:  Remove the saddle, possibly even rinse off the sweat the horse had produced, rub him down, give him a treat and turned him loose in the pasture or stall to do as they wish. The owner then heads for the house with no idea of what they just set up, the exact same ride the next time they saddle up. You may think, well what I am going to do differently? The horse has to eat, drink, get rinsed off when soaked with sweat and rest – that is correct, but it doesn’t have to happen the instant you get home.

In order to adjust things where they don’t continue like this try the following ideas – even if you are not having these issues with your horse apply them to prevent issues like this occurring, and having to “fix” them later. Working on these issues now will give you more time to enjoy your riding time.

When you reach your home, barn or trailer and are done riding. You want to give your horse a little job to do before you unsaddle or put him up. You can do all of this at a walk to cool them out as well as setup a calm relaxed walk back home to the barn or corrals next time you ride. Begin by taking a walk around the barn, ride through it, asking them to bend and flex, stop and then go some more. The main objective is to keep their feet busy, where they are used to just standing around eating, drinking, and relaxing. With making these changes in your routine, start your ride earlier to allow you extra time to prepare your horse for the next ride. I like to do this a lot with my young horses, even with only a few rides on them, helping to set up the foundation from the start.

These are great exercises to do as warm up as well, just include some trotting in the warm up and when you are done with the ride do them again at a walk. Take 15 to 20 minutes to do these warm up and cool out exercises. When you are done with the cool off routine, and have feeding, mowing or other responsibilities, leave your horse saddled and tie him up in the barn, on a tree, to your trailer or where ever the issue is for them, wanting to get back to in a hurry. If there is no issue, tie them up anyhow, to any of these places. Doing this each ride will help and prevent, issues getting worse or ever starting. – Written by Tom Davis- please check Tom’s website for current Clinics or to schedule private lessons.www.ColtTrainer.com

Tom Davis Horsemanship