[Ag-eq] horse training

[Jody Ianuzzi]

Hi Michelle,

I am mostly curious about care and ground training.

I already figure the best way to muck out stalls is with rubber barn boots
and rubber gloves.  They sell both at Tractor Supply.

Is eye contact as critical as the trainers say it is?  How about cleaning
hooves, can you do it all by feel?  I figure you can run your hands all over
your horse to look for cuts and bugs and they probably like the contact.  Do
you put a bell on your horse so you can find it in the pasture?

I ride Western and I tried barrel racing a few years ago using a two way
radio.  I have since found three other blind barrel racers.  I would also
love to ride in pleasure and reining competitions just for fun.  I have
neighbors to ride with and we have a really nice packed dirt road.  

Our property is still really over grown and we have fences to fix before we
get any horses.  We live in Florida so I figure we will pasture feed the
horses with supplements.  We will also be building a covered area where they
can get out of the sun and rain.  The barn will have temporary stalls for
really bad weather and hurricanes.

JODY