Theo is the first horse to be part of CHC's pilot program, 'transitional training.' Because "a broke horse is a placed horse," we have been exploring ways to get more horses more broke. Jeff Watkins inadvertently sowed the seed for this idea back in August when I was agonizing over going back for Lacey. (An unbroke 2 yr old.) Resource management is integral at CHC, and time is the most valuable resource of all. It takes TIME to make a broke horse. At the sale I have had to leave a lot of nice horse behind because no one had taken the TIME to teach them anything. Very few people want unbroke horses. Over and over (and over...) I get requests for beginner friendly, well broke, kid safe horses. I can't reasonably get an unstarted horse to that point in 30 days (or even 60.) I CAN take a horse that hasn't been ridden in a few years and needs a tune up ready in that time frame, but I just can't commit time and resources to very many completely untrained horses. That is incredibly hard to leave those horses behind. So how can we get more horses more broke? My time is already at a premium. We could bring another trainer in, but that creates other issues as far as housing, liability, etc. (We tried it last year with an individual unable to catch onto the idea of training his own horses in addition to CHC's.) So what to do?

Jeff messaged me and said that if training time was the only thing giving me pause on pulling Lacey he would come get her and put time on her. CLICK. People have offered to foster horses plenty of times (and that' great) but it doesn't get them the job skills they need to find placement. With 'transitional training' we are hoping to develop a network of trainers that can work with CHC horses to get them broke enough to find homes. CHC has been working STS Performance Horses with great results for over a year, but that is to develop a more finished horse. (Retribution is with Stephen now and we look forward to continuing to work him.) 

Are you a trainer? Do you want to work with a CHC horse to give them the skills they need to find a home? Let's talk! (We expect to cover the horse's expenses and realize that no one can work for free.) We are excited to build a network of people that can work together to get more horses more broke and into more homes. "Because Too Many Good Horses End Up in the Kill Pen!"