In-person event in 2025

Anja’s program runs from 10 am to 5 pm with a lunch break from 1 to 3 pm. Wednesday is a free day. (Read here more details)

Our group of clicker trainers will meet before (8:30 to 10 am) and after Anja’s programme (5 to 7:30 pm extending to dinner), as well as during the breaks , i.e. lunch and the full day on Wednesday.

If you are interested to attend continue reading and sign up in the form below to get updates or send me an email.

Starting a young horse under saddle

You have a young horse and dream about riding?

Now you face the question how to start her under saddle?

Many people entrust their horse to an experienced professional trainer for the critical period of introducing the saddle and rider. And that makes a lot of sense because errors in that phase will most likely affect the entire future riding experience for this horse.

However, since this is a paid service, it is often done in a rush. The trainer is often pressured to deliver a “ridden” horse in a few weeks, not allowing time to adjust to a new environment, new handlers and, of course, all the new things she is expected to learn.

Tight time frames do not allow to dig deeper, explain lessons better, when the horse is worried or doesn’t understand. And then there is also the difficulty to find a trainer who shares the same values and ethics.

So you might decide against a professional training.

Training your youngster yourself also makes a lot of sense.

You love your horse, you will give her all the time she needs and you will go through the process together. That sounds perfect.

However, also this approach may have some drawbacks if you are not an experienced trainer yourself.

There are few key moments in starting a young horse under saddle, where practical experience is crucial.

The moment you sit on a young horse for the very first time, unexpected things can happen. Your reaction to your horses’s response to such unforeseen circumstances is going to have a huge impact on how your horse experiences the first, and possibly future, riding events.

Experience gives you a better idea about things that could go wrong, and allows you to prevent them. And if they happen, you know how to deal with them in the best way.

So how to decide whether to train yourself despite limited experience or entrust your horse to a professional?

This dilemma, by the way, equally applies to re-starting a horse that is already ridden but had a bad start. In these cases, the difficulty is even greater because these horses require even more experience but they also require a lot more time, affection and patience, which they often only get from their new loving owner.

I want to share with you my experiences, as I went through this same process twice with a youngster “from the field” and twice with ridden horses that I needed to “re-start” under saddle.

The first two were Asfaloth (“re-starting”) and Graya (“from the field”) when I had limited horse training experience.

Asfaloth’s training was primarily Clicker training based on Alexandra Kurland’s work. Alex’s work fits like a glove to what Anja Beran wants to achieve. More about this progression here.

In 2013, I was so fortunate to be able to send my young mare to Anja Beran to start her under saddle. Graya was there for 3.5 months. We both learned a lot from Anja.

If you can find a trainer like Anja Beran for your horse, you should go for it. She will give your youngster a good start.

The second two horses I (re-)started were Blondie (“re-starting”) and Malou (“from the field”) when I had a lot more experience in horse training.

I decided to share my experiences with these four horses in an email sequence. As I am publishing this page in December 2024, these emails are not yet written, but will be soon with the aim of one email per week.

My hope is that you can find yourself in at least one of these four horses and trainer experience levels and that sharing this helps you decide how to proceed with your own horse.

If you want to get those emails, then leave your name and email address in the form below. (You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time.)

In the meantime, I invite you to listen to the three Equiosity podcast episodes that Alexandra Kurland and Dominique Day recorded with me and Malou’s owner as guests.

We talk about how we started the 4-yo QH mare “Malou” under saddle and how that compared to transitioning the QH mare “Blondie” who, unfortunately, has had a rough start.

Equiosity podcast episodes #302 to #304