Where are you located?

We are located in Wilder, Idaho, which is west of Boise.

Whose training methods do you use? 

Most of the specifics of our program come from my dad, Martin Black.  I grew up starting colts with Dad and continue to pick his brain with horse questions.  The overall training methods we use come from my grandfather, Ray Hunt, and of course his mentor, Tom Dorrance.  All of these men have helped shape what we do and our overall philosophy. However, my greatest teacher has been my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our focus is based on taking the horsemanship philosophies of Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance, and mixing them with Spanish Vaquero traditions in stockmanship and roping, to put solid foundations on horses going to the rodeo arena or back to the ranch.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look at the following video to see the horsemanship philosophy of Training for the Cross, LLC or contact us HERE.

(Video by Emily Kitching, Eclectic Horseman Communications)

What horse training options do you offer?

We offer a "Foundation to Finish" 4-month training program, which creates solid ranch & arena horse prospects with lots of miles and lots of experience.

Your horse will learn the Foundation for Perfection while doing ranch jobs such as riding outside, trailing and moving cattle, roping, opening and closing gates, working and roping live cattle, day work, sorting cattle, breaking in roping steers in the arena, and branding calves (heading and heeling). Over 75% of the roping will be done outside on ranches in Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. We center the jobs on building a foundation that can be used on the ranch or in the rodeo arena. We think some of the best foundations put on horses are the ones that were instilled while doing some sort of practical job.

Your horse will learn where to put their feet in the 4 stages of the Mechanical Foundation of Maneuvers, while learning to read flight zones and balance points through working cows and roping. We work to instill a foundation that will make them solid heading and heeling calves at branding. This makes for great rodeo horse prospects, all-around ranch horses, and all around fun horses to ride and do a job on.

A short 2-page handout with more details about the Foundation for Perfection can be found here. Training for the Cross follows a checklist that Wade developed at Montana State University to test his students' progress. A more extensive handout that Wade used at MSU which contains his overall training methods and theories can be found here.

Our goal is that your horse will leave with enough confidence in where their feet need to be while doing a job (i.e., working cows, or roping), that an inexperienced rider or roper could relax and have fun doing the job (i.e., roping at a branding) with your horse.

Example "Foundation to Finish" Program:

• Send your unbroken 2 or 3-yr-old to be started in the summer for 2 months
• Send them back their 3 or 4-yr-old year to brand calves and doctor outside
• Send them back again their 4 or 5-yr-old year to do more branding and doctoring and roping in the arena
• Have a solid all around ranch or arena horse prospect with lots of miles and lots of experience

Go have fun roping in the arena on your horse, and in years to come if you feel them getting sour in the arena, send them back for more branding, doctoring outside, and breaking in roping steers slow in the arena until they learn to have fun roping again! We believe that a horse should have fun and enjoy doing what they do. If you feel your horse starting to get resentful in the arena, come let them play with us and have fun roping again!

Horses that are already started, or that need a job for a "tune-up," can be brought for a shorter period of time. They will be given plenty of work to do!

How much do you charge?

The 4-month program is $2,000 for training, plus a feed and boarding fee of $540, for a total cost of $2,540.

"Tuning-up" already broke horses is $635/month including feed and board. Contact us for specific details.

Half the money is due at the start of training and half the money is due at the middle of the training period.

If you want to contact us about the horse training program, please fill out the Contact Form found at the top, upper right of this page.   

DISCLAIMER: There are only a limited number of horses taken in this program, and the horses are handled as if they are our own horses, having a job to do and "working" for their living. We in no way abuse our horses, however, we do use our horses. If your horse is used to being babied, this will feel like boot camp to your horse. Training for the Cross is a business that uses horses to do ranch jobs. The focus of our training is to produce solid ranch and arena horse prospects. We are not set up like the average horse training program. We take a limited number of horses to do the work we need to do. If you are concerned your horse will not do well with the life of a ranch horse, or is too young to handle long hard days, we recommend you find a trainer that would better fit you and your horse. There is obviously a higher risk of injury riding through the rocks than in the arena. However, at the end of the experience we have found that the horses come out of this experience mentally and physically stronger. We felt the need to be very clear on what the training will be like, so that you will know what to expect.

Photo by Antoine Cloux

Photo by Antoine Cloux