Starting question

I have been doing a lot of ground work with misty, but due to the weather I haven't been able to work with her everyday. She is now halter broke and I am wanting to move on to the next step. I don't have a round pen to lunge her in but my brother in law who has been helping me train keeps telling me lunging don't matter, but I've been reading on the Internet lunging is VERY important. I watched a Clinton Anderson video the other day and in 2 hours he had a wild mustang that never had any human contact gentle as can be. But my brother in law said I don't have to do all that with misty. She has no respect at all and I am between a rock and a hard place. He is wanting to hurry and get her ridable because riding season is coming and they are already planning a weekend campout ride. I don't want to rush her but I want to do more then I have been with her. After halter breaking what would be the next step other then lunging? And what are some training methods to teach respect?

Lunging and groundwork is very important.. if you don't mind me asking how old is your horse.. if she's a yearling I wouldnt be in any rush to ride her.. and I think most people would shun the idea of breaking her as a yearling.. when they are that young all you do is work on leading/ grooming.. etc and let them be a horse.. there is no hurrying it up at all.. not if you want a sound horse later in life

She will be 4 in April

Ok that's different.. I see a lot of people asking how soon to ride yearlings and it doesent go over well.. still if theres no rush to you..dont let him push you too fast into things.. its your horse

What I would be doing with your Misty, is getting her used to everything. Blankets, hoses, tarps, saddles, ropes, things that make noise, things that don't. Anything that would potentially get her scared out on the trail, or wherever you/she may be.

I would be ground driving her for sure though. As for lunging, that's up to you, I never did it until after my first NH clinic. Now I don't consider my self a NH person, but yes, lunging can help. If nothing else, its something more that's under Misty's belt.

How long have you had her?

For the riding part, just go at the pace YOU feel comfortable with. Granted, if she's turning 10 and you still havent gotten past a walk with her that's a bit extreme.

I have had misty a month. She was never handled before I got her. Like I said she is halter broke now. She leads good, she backs up with very little pressure, yeilds her head, I have been working with her on standing tied. She HATED being tied but now she is doing a lot better. Have been working with her on grooming, she still won't let me brush her legs, tail or her stomach but I can brush her pretty much every where else. I have been getting her used to having her face messed with I can rub her ears now. I have had a saddle on her 5-6 times but she still don't like it. She still won't let me walk up to her unless I have a feed bucket but she is now catching on to that. It just seems like I am not doing something or not doing something right.

I wouldn't push riding her then. Don't let your brother in law pressure you. By the sounds of it she still needs alot of work before able to ride, let alone go on a trail ride.

Tell your brother in law to pack sand - it's your horse, right? This is not something you want to do wrong - it is far easier to start with a blank slate (which you have now) and write on it what you want than to try to re-write things by making corrections later from leaving holes in her training.

Do you have someone (OTHER than your brother-in-law) who has experience with training that can help you and Misty?

A friend of mine has been helping me but there is only so much she can say cause she has never met misty and she lives 2 hours away so I can't just load her up and take her there to be trained all the time. My friend was wanting to come down for a day and help me but her and my brother in law don't really get a long they have dif ideas on how to train. Plus my last horse got hurt in my brother in laws care and she was left hurt 4 at least 4 days before he told me about it. Well my friend had to care for her plus when I went and got her she was WAY under weight