Child Training

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Written by Christian Cowgirl

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I have heard various interpretations of Proverbs 22:6. Most people seem to agree that it is not a hard and fast guarantee that raising a child correctly will ensure that they turn out perfectly. You have to factor free will into the equation. Due to man's sinful nature, some children choose to go the wrong direction in life in spite of being raised in a Christian family with Christian training. However the basic principle still applies, that in general proper training in childhood greatly increases the likelihood of someone not straying too far from the morals and beliefs they were raised with.

We have two horses that seem to have been abused at some point in their lives. One was probably during the training process. I have tended to excuse some of their behaviors, blaming it on the abuse they received. When Satin had her foal, Keziah, I was interested in trying out my theory that if a horse is raised properly and never abused, that they would turn out to be a better behaved and more cooperative and easily trainable horse.

training kezi Fortunately I was there when Keziah was born and was able to start my training right at birth with some of the basic imprinting procedures. Since Satin initially rejected Keziah, I felt like I was almost a secondary mother to her. I continued working with her on nearly a daily basis throughout her early years. We worked a lot with leading. In the early days I would lead Kezi following along as someone led her mother. She was groomed and handled a lot, getting her used to being touched all over, picking up all of her feet. We also put a lot of things on and around her, like shirts, blankets, ropes, etc. to prepare her for carrying a saddle and rider later on.

Kezi has turned out to have a wonderful personality and has been very easy to train, taking a saddle and rider with no objection. Was it due to her early handling and training? I think that was a big part of it, but she also seems to have a pretty calm and laid back personality genetically.

Correct early training is important to developing a good horse, but it's even more important with our children. I did not become a Christian until my first daughter was born. She started attending a Christian preschool when she was 4. They read Bible stories and memorized Scripture. She would come home and ask me questions that I didn't know the answers to. It was at that time that I attended my first Bible study. I wanted to have the answers that my daughter, and I, needed. By seeking God's guidance and praying daily for knowledge, God helped me "train up my children in the way they should go".