Wisdom Wednesday

Wisdom Wednesday: Teach the horse their job and let them do it, don't always babysit them to keep them out of trouble. If they mess up, fix it and let them be; it's called training

Cover Model

Finally made the cover of a magazine, it is for my outstanding style and not for winning the NRHA Futurity, but I made the cover none the less.

SECOND STEP TRAINING DVD teaching your horse to spin

Well the weather finally decided to help us out and allow us to finish shooting the end of the teaching your horse to spin DVD. The DVD will contain easy to follow step by step instruction from begining to end on how to teach a green horse to start spinning, or how fine tune the spin on the finished show horse. The spin DVD should be ready in a couple of weeks.

Training Thought For The Week

Something to think about for the week. If our horses get 1% better per day, we should be able to have them finished in 100 days! Just remember that quality training takes time and we need to reward the slightest try in our horses. We are only gaining fractions of a percent during training, so be patient.

Kutie Performance Horses Mini Clinic

Just wanted to remind everyone that the Kutie Performance Horses Mini Clinic on lead changes and collection is this weekend April, 29. I currently have one spot left open for the morning session if anyone is interested. The cost is $90 for 4 hours of instruction and the sessions are limited to 6 riders so that everyone will have plenty of one on one time. If you are interested in just coming to watch and listen that is free, just remember to bring your ears.

How It All Began

This was how it all began. I saved up $25 and bought a pony, saddle and bridle, from a friend of my dad's. Along with my Fat Grandpa and his love of horses I began my journey to becoming a horse trainer. There have been many ups and downs along the path to becoming a trainer. I have drank gallons of Kool-Aid, eaten hundreds of pounds of Ramen noodles and lived in some pretty rough houses. After years of struggling I finally have a nice training facility, new house, a barn full of world class horses and some great friends and customers. We are starting a new step into the future by expanding our clinic schedule, launching our clothing company and getting ready to go live with our new website that will let us keep our sale barn current and up to date, along with finally allowing our customers a place to purchase the KPH clothing line. I'm excited to see what the future holds, and hope to enjoy the ride.

Reining Clinic in Hilltown, PA

Performance Horse Clinic with Steve Kutie of Kutie Performance Horses in Texas!
21-23 May 2010 Performance Horse clinic held at:
Redwing Farm 1531 Hilltown Pike, Hilltown, Pa. 18927


Steve Kutie, shown above bridleless with Andalusian stallion and National Reining Champion, Ichibon DMF! This two day clinic is designed to improve the horse and rider relationship while working on basics through advanced movements including lead departures and changes, collection and suppling, sliding stops, spins, and more! Whether you are training a reining horse or just wish to improve your english or western horse, there is something for everyone! All disciplines welcome!

Friday evening - Private Lessons by Appt.
Saturday 8:30am to 12:30pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm
Sunday 8:30am to 12:30pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm
Sessions are $90 mounted, Two sessions for $150, Auditors welcome for $25/day Lunch included

For additional information or to sign up please contact me.

Warm Up Pen Saftey

WARM UP ARENA ETIQUETTE AND SAFTEY


Question: I have been to a few shows this winter and I am unsure of the proper riding procedure in the warm up pen. Actually I have been run into by a couple of people that were going the wrong way and not paying attention, what can I do?

Answer: The warm up pen is a pretty dangerous place when every rider is concentrating on his or her own program and getting ready for their classes. I will give you some general rules to follow that will make navigating the warm up arena easier and safer for you and your horse.

• Always go with the flow of traffic. If the warm up arena is large enough to allow for two sets of circles, one circle should be loping to the left and one loping to the right, they should pass left hand to right hand in the center of the arena. If the warm up pen has only enough space to lope one circle, ask when you want to change direction, as most people will want to go both directions before they show.
• Stay to the inside of the circle if you want to go slow, and to the outside of the circle if you want to go fast.
• NEVER, NEVER, NEVER stop your horse in traffic. If you are at a reining event, there will be time to work on fencing and stopping your horse so that you will not have to avoid other riders that are circling.
• If you need to school your horse, work on spins, or adjust equipment, move to the middle of a circle so that you’re not in the flow of traffic.
• Do not pony horses in the warm up pen.
• Always look where you are going, and watch out for other riders. You don’t drive your car while looking at the hood ornament and you shouldn’t ride your horse looking at his head, eyes up.
• Don’t exercise young or green horses in the warm up pen while it is crowded; wait until later in the evening or early in the morning. Safety first.
• Yield to the tractor, and always listen to the arena announcer and ring steward. They are there for your safety and to keep the show running smoothly. Remember, every minute you waste when asked to leave the arena is just another minute longer that the show will last.
• Don’t tie your horses in the warm up arena. No one wants to dodge a kicking or loose horse while they are getting ready to show.
• If you have a question, ask. The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked.
• Always try to maintain a good sense of humor. People may be tired and nervous. Be patient with newcomers and try to help them learn by referring them to these guidelines.

It is our job as riders to ensure the safety of ourselves, horses and others. Remember that some people don’t know that they don’t know, so take the time to explain to them the proper rules, I would rather them be mad at me for trying to keep them safe than to have them hurt one of my customers or family. RIDE SAFE!

Getting The Most Out Of Your Riding Lesson

Question: I pay $40 per hour for my riding lesson, how do I get the most bang for my buck?

Answer: Most professional trainers are providing you with the opportunity to gain valuable information. However, it is your job to listen to what they have to say and implement that knowledge on your horse. Riding and training a horse does not come with an instruction book detailing a program that will work with every horse. Be sure that when your trainer asks if you have any questions that you be honest with them. It is your hard earned money that has bought you the chance to ask a professional questions. If you don’t completely understand what is being taught, ask them to explain in greater detail. The only dumb questions are the ones that you never ask. I always encourage my clients to ask questions and to question me when they are in doubt. I would rather take the time to go slow and make sure they understand than to speed past something that I thought they understood, only to go back and keep fixing the same problem over and over. It wastes my time and their money.
Be respectful of you trainers time. Remember that this is his or her job and they may have other commitments that need to be taken care of after your lesson. When I was running a larger lesson program, I liked to have my customers at my facility early enough to have their horses tacked, warmed up, and ready to ride when the lesson began. If your lesson time is 1:00-2:00, try to be there half an hour early so that you can be ready to start at 1:00, and not 1:30. In my program you will still be finished at 2:00, no matter what time we started and still pay for the whole hour. Remember, just because you are running late, it doesn’t mean that the next lesson is.
Be sure to work on the homework that you trainer gives you so that you will be prepared for your next lesson. While at home, keep a small note pad in the barn. If you think of a question while riding on your own, you will have the pad close to write down your question, rather than trying to remember what you wanted to ask during you lesson time.
You might also be able to save some money and learn more by having a group lesson with some friends. Taking a lesson with friends will allow you to gain an extra set of eyes when you are at home training; they will have an understanding of what you are trying to accomplish. Having a friend or family member video during the lesson will provide you with ability to review what you worked on during the lesson.
Remember that it is your job to get the most out of your lesson, only you know what you don’t know.

Snow Snow Every Where

This is the road leading up to the barn.

Well I decided long ago that I needed to move to Texas to get away from the freezing cold and snow in Ohio, it's pretty tough to ride at 10 below. But, the weather this winter in Texas has broken a bunch of records. We have had the wettest winter on record as well as the most total amount of snow fall, we have had over 24 inches here at the barn. I guess the good news is that all of the moisture will cut down on the chance of another grass fire! Here are a couple of pics to show you that it really does snow in Texas.

New Reining Mini Clinics Scheduled for 2010 at KPH

Brought to you by Kutie Performance Horses. The Second Step Training Program is offering a different twist on the clinic format by offering a series of mini- clinics over the next few months designed to improve the horse and rider relationship. If you have ever wanted to know to teach your horse to spin, perform a sliding stop or change leads, this format will show you the very simple and easy step by step instruction that will allow you to perform each maneuver.

Schooling in Stephenville

Well it looks like it's time to start another work week! We survived a super long day on Saturday, hauled out to Stephenville Texas to help some of our non-pro customers and school some of the Derby horses. We left the house at 4am and pulled back into the barn at 10:30pm, needless to say we were pretty tired. I can guarantee that schooling your horses in the warm up pen at a SHOT show will get anything broke! The customers ended up finishing pretty well for the first show of the season, in not so ideal conditions. Congrats to Bobbi, Burton, Becky great job. Looks like it is going to rain all week so I guess that I will be hauling out and riding with all of my good friends that have a nice dry covered arena.

REINING/ RIDING CLINIC AT SFA

Mr Boomerjac X Docs Oak mare $30,000

Missy is by Mr Boomerjac sire of the 2006 NRHA Futurity Champion with earners of over $350,000 and out of Little Annies Oak by Doc's Oak, she is an NRHA money earner, AQHA point earner and NRBC enrolled. Missy has only been shown a couple of times easy, she is my personal horses and has been put on the back burner due to customer obligations. This video was shot a few months ago and she was pretty out of shape, due to me having knee surgery. Missy is currently back in training and ready to go show. Plus one spins, plus circles and stops, easy lead changes. Would make a super non pro horse, very quite and willing with enough talent to win on the open. Priced at $30,000.00