Breaking from the gate

The term "breaking from the gate" refers to the start of a race, when the horses come flying (hopefully) out of the starting gates and the race is on. I asked our trainer, Liz, how do they train a horse to come out of the gate fast? We visited Easy yesterday, Sunday March 2, and he is not getting trained to break from the gate yet, but Liz has walked him through the gate many times. That's the first step in the training process. So what, I wondered, do they do to convey the idea of coming out fast? Liz explained it to us: next, they will ride Easy into the gate, and stop (with the front and back still open), then walk on out. Then, they'll do the same, but with the front (exit) gate closed, then open the gate and walk out. Then they'll do that, with a familiar horse buddy in the next gate over, walk in, open the gate, walk out. Finally, the familiar horse buddy will "break" from the gate, and we hope Easy follows his lead. Of course, all of these steps will be done repeatedly, as many times as needed, until he gets the idea to break fast. Horses' "flight" response cues them to run when another horse runs anyway, so this sounds like such a natural way to teach "the break".

Easy did really well yesterday, and it takes a lot longer, harder workout to tire him out. He is getting much more responsive to Liz; she only tapped him with the crop once in this entire training session. He's still a bit head-tossy when being ridden, and isn't great about taking the bit, so we are having his teeth checked on Wednesday. He has a loose lower from tooth, although that shouldn't cause bit problems. But we recently had Koko's teeth checked, and she needed her wolf teeth extracted (Easy has already had his out), and had a cap (baby tooth) which hadn't fallen out and was cracked and sharp. They also pulled that cap and floated her teeth. It's not unlikely Easy needs just this kind of dental attention.

We are going to see Koko tomorrow, Tuesday. I'll report on her then.