Training:
Patience and Endurance
Our love at Sycamore Hill Stables is the beginner
horse, preferably 18 months to 2 years old.
We firmly strive to give each horse
many hours of ground work to obtain his attention,
respect, trust and a high comfort level while handling
the feet.
Once the ground work is complete, the horse has
learned to shoulder lead and move away from his handler, carry his saddle and bridle, and is beginning
to learn to give to pressure. This usually takes
about one and one half weeks for the average horse.
An additional two and one half weeks will be spent
under saddle. This will include lessons on giving
to pressure of the bit and building flexibility in the
turning of the neck and body. Then,
consistency of the gait and setting him properly in
the bridle is worked on. The result is a nice, finished mount.
Time is also willingly spent with the horse owner to
give helpful information on how to continue the handling
of his horse.
 We
are excited to have in training Rocket's Moonshine
Madness, owned by Larry Walker of Indiana. Moonshine is
out of Stan and Sonnie Hardy's Rocket and Blue Ridge
Belle. Also picture on
home page.
Jacob's Rowdy: by Jacob Parks
This is my 6-year old, 15.3 H gelding and there is a
story behind this horse. We purchased this horse at 14
months of age and I've been riding him since he was
2-years old. We bought him thinking he was just going to
be a good saddle horse. However, with more and more
riding he became faster and faster and as I became a
more experienced rider, we absolutely connected. We
bought this horse before we were familiar with the
"Rowdy" line and just so
 happened
I named him Rowdy. This is the horse I take on all the
trail
rides and to all shows. Rowdy's earned many blue ribbons
in the Speed Racking class in the local shows. I've
GPS'd him at 25.2 mph and you can see in the photos, he
doesn't know what a pace is. He is keg shod and is so
smooth that I can take my feet out of the stirrups going
25 mph. This horse is awesome! He is dependable, sound,
beautiful, fast and I can only thank God for this
special horse.
Dorrie
This is Doris Dreamer and this mare was Jacob's first
purchase. She is a mahogany bay Standardbred. Albatross
is the granddaddy on both the sire side and the dam
side. Jacob worked hard, spending the necessary time
with her and with 3 months of training she traveled at a
consistent 15 mph. Congratulations to Mr. Gene Fells on
the purchase of this awesome mare. |
