01/27/2026
Here's a gelding (solid face) we sold few years ago to Jon Ellsworth, a fellow in Maine. We called him Junya as he was out of a mare named June and by a stallion named Diamond M Bandero. Buying weanlings that are well started, meaning will stand tied without setting back, lead, load and allow handling their feet on the ground and you can make a horse of your choice out of them. Suffolk Punches might be the easiest to train but they are still horses and need training and aren't born broke. A young horse with a good start is worth far more that a wild foal, especially if you're a beginner or elderly.
Here's some of how I train them to start:
I always start them single with a small sled in the round pen. I use a technique to start them that I call "contact" which means tighten the lines enough to feel their mouth and for them to feel the bit, usually expressed by them raising their head and turning their ears back to listen, then I command and subtly release simultaneously to go forward with "come up" being the start words followed by clucking with my cheek or almost a squeaking like a kissing noise. I prefer to save the kiss signal for heavier loads and just use the sequence and words with maybe a little wave in the line landing on their butt at the same time, keeping it clear and calm - "contact, command and release simultaneously". I pull back in pulses and say "back" to get them to back and when I say whoa I relax the contact and give them freedom with my contact as a reward for stopping. I bet this makes sense to you. Once they know the signals individually, and are moving against some resistance (light sled or scoot), I put them together on a sled with a tongue and off we go, stopping when they are doing everything perfectly as to make "whoa" a reward. If they ain't got a "park", none of the other gears count. The most important thing they will ever do for you is NOTHING, standing still.
