Triple 7 Performance Horses

Good c**t starters are getting harder to find — and that should worry people.

The horse industry is on fire right now. Incentives are growing, big shows are packed, and everyone wants a broke, confident young horse ready to go.

What’s in short supply?
Horsemen who can start one right.

C**t starting isn’t a quick tune-up or a 30-day flip. The foundation and first few rides shape how a horse thinks for the rest of its life. Rush it, cheap out, or put it in the wrong hands, and you’ll spend years trying to fix it — if you ever can.

Every c**t learns differently. Some figure it out quick, others need time. That’s not weakness — that’s horsemanship. The good ones adjust instead of forcing a timeline.

If the c**t starter you want is booked solid, that’s not a problem — that’s a sign. Ask who they trust and wait your turn if you have to. Settling almost always costs more.

Start them when they’re ready. Keep the rides short, clear, and intentional. Give them 90–120 days if you want something that lasts.

And here’s the part people don’t like hearing:
Pay your c**t starter. Pay them well.
It’s not expensive — it’s insurance.

Because those first rides don’t just make a horse — they decide its future.
Credit to Kissing Horse Ranch **tstarting

"Because you can’t, it doesn’t mean the horse can’t.

Accepting responsibility for what, you might not know.

We run into this often. I know most quality training barns out there do, as well.

A horse in a program knows how to load, pick up all 4 feet, accepts fly spray, neck reins, respects personal space, canters safely, stands to be mounted. . . You name it, the horse does it, or maybe he does most of it, and then he goes into a NEW home, and the truth is, the adopter or buyer typically will be less skilled than the professionals selling or placing the horse from an adoption program (though they will often not adopt it),and things unravel.

You get a call or email in 3 weeks or 3 months, and it goes like this:

“Nelly won’t load. No one can load her. I doubt she ever loaded.”

You suggest they remember the day Nelly loaded from the facility like a gem, but they do not see how that matters. They insist the horse cannot be loaded now, and therefore, no one can load her, and the horse is the problem.

Let us try another scenario:

“Nelly runs me over every single time I open the stall, she won’t stand to be mounted, and she bucks the minute I try to get on.”

You suggest they remember the day they came to meet Nelly, and you remind them how you went to the stall, took her out, how she stayed out of their space, how you put the fitted tack on her, how she stood like a gem, how they then mounted and rode her off nicely. They insist it was a fluke. It isn’t the horse they have now. They end up never asking for lessons to fill the deficit in knowledge they, not the horse, have in their skillset.

This is how good trainers get a bad reputation, this is how good horses end up neglected and discarded, and this is how a novice (even if long time) horse owner never really takes responsibility for what they do not know and need to learn.

If someone else accomplished something with a horse, the HORSE KNOWS. If you cannot recreate the same things with your horse, then you do not know, and as a result, you can undo a good horse quickly with ignorance and with mistakes, both large and small.

I’ve seen so many horses come into the rescue as surrenders because the owners DID not know enough to keep the horses in order. I’ve seen it hundreds of times.

For instance, one year a horse was turned over for bucking. He bucked like a bronc, and a trainer took months to undo this bad habit. It is hard to say what caused it: Poor saddle fit, rough handling, mixed signals or maybe all of that, but a good trainer fixed his issue. Undoubtedly, it would happen again, with an unskilled person. It is unlikely the unskilled person will realize or admit the problem is Not the horse.

Horses get labels that are unfair because of this.

We receive horses called dangerous all of the time that never show us a dangerous side, and it is important to understand a HORSE KNOWS what you know and what you do not. So sometimes, months of training isn’t even needed to fix behaviors; sometimes, the horse simply realizes he is being handled fairly and correctly, and he responds in the way he learned to respond years ago – as a partner. And the truth is, forcing a horse to endure ignorant treatment without responding isn’t realistic or kind, either.

Please never make the mistake of limiting the horse to WHAT YOU know. He usually knows more than you.

So if you saw a trainer ride the horse W/T/C without an issue, load the horse, back the horse, pick up all 4 feet, receive respect on the ground or whatever else you’re not seeing now, then be fair to the horse, and spend your time assuming the shortcomings belong to you, not him.

Credit to Phoenix.

I have one or two training spots open starting may 1st! What I offer:

-c**t starting
-tune ups
-problem solving
-overcoming fear and confidence building
-trailer loading
-groundwork to prepare for first rides
-halter breaking

I do have experience with unhandled horses/mustangs. I currently am only offering training where I come to you! No adjustment period needed for your equine friends💕🐴 don’t have the best area for work? We can make it work for you.

Feel free to pm details about your horse and what you’re hoping to accomplish and let’s talk! You can also text me at 3605292601 or email [email protected] for more info and references.

Looking to add someone in either the orting/puyallup area or Roy/eatonville area!

This ham is Gandalf! He’s a coming four year old AQHA gelding who’s with me to be started under saddle. So far he’s been one smart cookie. His first few saddling sessions went without a hitch! Excited to see how he progresses once saddle time starts!

Due to some life changes, we’re rebranding! Formerly known as Flying W, our business will now be under the name of Triple 7 Performance Horses!

Important to know!

🐎COOLING HOT HORSES - THE STATE OF THE ART🐎

*** PLEASE SHARE ***

Apologies to those in cool climates at the present time :)

Seems we need to keep sharing this basic information to counter the myths that keep being circulated by certain "experts" :(

🐎WHY DO WE NEED TO COOL HORSES AFTER EXERCISE OR IF THEY GET TOO HOT?
-Horses produce heat 3-5 times faster on a per kg basis than we do
-Although horses are 6-7 times heavier, they only have 2 to 2.5 times as much surface area
-The majority of heat (~85%) is lost at the body surface
-Heat loss is also impaired in horses because they are covered in hair
-Horses can sweat faster than any other animal
-Sweating is efficient but slow
-Cooling with cold water is fast
-When horses compete in hot climates they can struggle to cool down after
-We cool them down with cold water (less than 15°C/60°F) to reduce the risk of heat illness and because there is no advantage to them being hot and uncomfortable after exercising. The quicker they cool, the quicker they drink, eat and recover.
-The methods to cool them are now well understood.

🐎Since Atlanta 1996 we have known that using continuous application of cold water (less than 15°C/60°F) all over the horses body without scraping is the most effective way to cool down horses that are moderately to severely hyperthermic (re**al temperature in excess of ~40°C/104°F), especially in hot or hot/humid conditions.

🐎The sources for this evidence are:
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLISHED PAPERS
1) Williamson, L.S., White, S., Maykuth, P., Andrews, F., Sommerdahl, C. and Green, E. Comparison between two post exercise cooling methods. Equine Vet J., 27(S18), 337-340.
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/7MBUJJWJZPVWQKTNIJWN?target=10.1111/j.2042-3306.1995.tb04948.x
2) Marlin, D. J., Scott, C. M., Roberts, C. A., Casas, I., Holah, G., & Schroter, R. C. (1998). Post exercise changes in compartmental body temperature accompanying intermittent cold water cooling in the hyperthermic horse. Equine veterinary journal, 30(1), 28–34.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9458396/
3) Kohn, C.W., Hinchcliff, K.W. and McKeever, K.H. (1999) Evaluation of washing with cold water to facilitate heat dissipation in horses exercised in hot, humid conditions. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 01 Mar 1999, 60(3):299-305. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10188810/
4) Takahashi, Y., Ohmura, H., Mukai, K., Shiose, T., & Takahashi, T. (2020). A Comparison of Five Cooling Methods in Hot and Humid Environments in Thoroughbred Horses. Journal of equine veterinary science, 91, 103130.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32684268/
5) Kang, H., Zsoldos, R.R., Skinner, J.E., Gaughan, J.B. and Guitart, A.S. (2021) Comparison of post-exercise cooling methods in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 100 (2021) 103485
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103485

🐎DATA COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT
a) Atlanta 1995 Olympic Test Event
b) Atlanta 1996 Olympics
c) Athens 2003 Olympic Test Event
d) Athens 2004 Olympics
e) Beijing 2007 Olympic Test Event
f) Beijing 2008 Olympics
g) Tryon 2018 World Equestrian Games
h) Tokyo 2019 Olympic Test Event
i) Tokyo 2020(1) Olympic Games Dressage and Eventing

🐎Cooling hot horses with cold water DOES NOT
1) cause muscle damage
2) cause laminitis
3) induce shock
4) give horses heart attacks
5) prevent them from cooling by constriction of skin blood flow
Water left on horses DOES NOT
1) insulate and prevent heat loss
2) cause them to overheat

🐎It is NOT MORE EFFECTIVE TO
1) start at the feet and work up
2) scrape water off whilst cooling (it causes them to warm up)
3) focus on large blood vessels
4) cover the horse with wet towels
5) place ice on large blood vessels near the surface such as the jugular veins or femoral arteries
6) put ice in the re**um
7) rely on misting fans

*** PLEASE SHARE ***