Colt Starting Competitions

By Glenn Stewart | Photos credit Road to the Horse 2022

I thought it might be interesting to talk a bit about Colt Starting Competitions. I’ve heard people say that starting a colt in a competition is somehow a bad thing. Twenty years ago when I was asked to go in my first one, I thought so too and declined the offer.

Iactually had never been to a colt starting competition or knew what the rules were. I made a lot of assumptions and was looking at it from a very different perspective then… than I do now.

Since then, I’ve been in numerous competitions and I just recently finished a colt starting competition in the U.S. In a nutshell, the goal is to get as much done with the colt as you can in the time you have. Each competition has a set of rules that the judges use to decide on a winner. Each judge has their own interpretation of these rules. Each competitor comes with their own rules and perspective as well about starting a colt; which will be the same perspective and approach they have when they are at home.

Speaking for myself, getting as much done with a colt as I can is the goal always, whether I’m in a competition or not. When a client brings me a horse of any age I want to develop the horse as much as possible if I had 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours or 5 months. If a horse is able to learn something in less time, for example in 5 or in 20 minutes, why would anyone want to drag it out for 2 weeks?

I think there is an assumption by some that Colt Starting

Competitions puts too much pressure on the colts. I watched many competitions and competed in many but never saw a horse ruined or damaged in any way. I’ve seen some not do as good a job as can be done but that is what they would be doing at home anyways. Nobody comes to a competition with hundreds or even thousands of people watching to do anything but their best work. I believe the more watched and judged an event the more correct the competitors will try to be. There are many rules in place that you can only get points if you are doing the right thing for the horse, and you can be disqualified if you are not.

There are many reasons to say yes to a competition. Some might think the only reason or main reason is to win. For some that might be true, but for myself the main reason is to improve, not prove. I want to give the young horse the very best start that I can, given my skill, knowledge and level of understanding in the time I’m given. If I get a win, then that’s icing on the cake, but icing without cake isn’t worth having.

Each moment of each session at a competition or at home alone we should be making a conscious decision what is best for the horse and how much are they able to learn. Some believe it takes 30 days to teach a horse XYZ or it takes them that long, while others have the skill to do XYZ in 5 days. I definitely do not want to spend 30 days learning something I could learn in 5 days. Give me the person that can teach it to me in 5 so I don’t have to spend 25 days being bored or confused. Could it possibly be worse grilling and drilling a horse over and over for 10 days when it could have been done in half that time with the proper approach? And if I was a paying customer I’d want as much taught and learned as possible. A well-trained horse and a good job cannot be done at the expense of the horse.

So, it’s really about perspective and why someone is competing. If you're truly there to improve yourself and with the best interest of the horse, that’s likely who you are all the time and a lot of horses and their owners are benefiting.

When I heard about the first Colt Starting Competitions 20 years ago I just didn’t know anything about them and quickly jumped to an assumption that I see very differently now. The older I get and the more experience I get, the more I realize to keep an open mind.

Cheers, Glenn

Glenn Stewart travels extensively conducting clinics, demonstrations, and colt starting sessions, and also offers Camps and a 3 month Horsemanship Course at his home The Horse Ranch, as well as the Horsemanship Learning Adventure Series; two completely different experiences, High & Wild in the Northern BC Rockies, and Working Equitation with Lusitanos in Brazil. He rides 30-60 client horses per year, including young horses, restarts, challenging horses, and foundation training. For more information visit www.thehorseranch.com.