What is Martin Black's approach to starting colts?

Martin Black's approach to starting colts carries forward the Dorrance-Hunt tradition's understanding of colt starting as a process of developing the colt's understanding and willing participation rather than producing behavioral compliance through force or overwhelming pressure, and grounds it in the practical demands of producing a working ranch horse rather than an arena performance horse. Black begins with groundwork that develops the colt's responsiveness to specific cues and its basic understanding of pressure and release — the foundational communication that everything else builds on — while being attentive throughout to the quality of the colt's thought and emotional state rather than simply to the production of specific behaviors. The standard for readiness to proceed to the next stage in Black's approach is the colt's genuine acceptance and understanding of the current stage rather than the passage of time or the performance of specific behaviors under continued pressure, reflecting the Dorrance principle that the quality of the horse at each stage determines the quality of what follows. Black's starting approach also reflects the practical context of working ranch horsemanship — colts need to be developed with an eye toward their eventual usefulness in real working situations, which requires the development of the confidence, responsiveness, and versatility that ranch work demands alongside the specific maneuver training of their discipline. His colt starting clinics have been a significant vehicle for teaching these principles to other horsemen, providing participants with the direct experience of starting a colt under Black's guidance in the same way that Ray Hunt's colt starting clinics were formative for a generation of horsemen who attended them.