We just successfully passed by another Friday the 13th without incident or bad luck. While I have a family heritage of superstition, I do try pretty hard to see life from another point of view. That perspective says: you make your own luck. Not to mention that when things go well, it may actually be the blessing of Grace. However, there are ways to ensure success, especially in training horses. The old saying “prior preparation prevents pee poor performance,” definitely has a place in the starting of colts. We call it “The five P’s”. Having seen a number of young horses with neck injuries which made them difficult to train, we’ve taken pains to always tie colts in such a way as to make it difficult for them to injure themselves, or to break free. Instead of attaching lead ropes to the ring on a nylon halter, we use thick ropes and tie a bowline knot around the colt’s neck ( seafarer’s term for a non-slip knot, so as not to choke the colt. Pronounced: BO- lun) then run it through the halter ring to attach to a suspended ring or a Blocker tie ring. By the way, if you don’t have a Blocker tie ring, look them up and give one a try. Make sure you read the directions! Additional safety is insured by tying to a ring suspended from an oak tree limb; that way there’s very little direct pull against a solid object to damage the colt’s neck.

Colts learn a lot of patience from those patient old oak trees!