John Howe Performance Horses
I began my professional career with horses in 1978 and currently works at Australian Agricultural College Corporation (Emerald Campus) as a Horse Instructor and Assessor.
My main passion with horses is the starting and training of them, particularly for cattle work, and I have strong feelings and views on how this should be achieved. I believe that correct grounding is essential before a horse is taken on to whatever discipline is planned for it.
I call this “Core Training”. Most of my work involves teaching horses to work cattle so they can progress on to Cutting, Stockmans Challenges, Campdrafting and Working Cowhorse careers. However, I have also trained horses for Western Pleasure, Showjumping, Eventing and even harness. All the same principles apply.
The saying “slow is fast” is especially important and often ignored. Think about your time at school; you were not taught Algebra in Kindergarten but basic concepts of literacy and numeracy to build a foundation of learning with which to go on with at a pace you could handle. Starting horses for a lifetime of work needs to be approached in the same way. We need to take one step at a time, embedding the basics in that horses brain without fear and dread.
Here are just some of the steps I consider to be priorities in the core training of any horse:
- Shaping the horse.
- Engagement of the hind end.
- Working shoulders and hips.
- Departure from fence to pick up leads.
Read my training articles and tips which explain other critical steps in the training of a horse on cattle, or for any purpose.
Contact John
- Mob: 0403 609 180
