But everything, it seems, is under stress. Spring is here, and mares are impatiently growing foals (on either side of their bellies), show season, trail season, “whatever” season, it is here, the beginning of something, hopefully, for you and your equine companion, and with it comes the stress to make things happen.
When I think about getting things done with a horse, I calculate horse training in hours. The spectrum for me is: a high-strung, maybe spooky unbroke requires about 120 hours of riding before I can safely place a savvy owner on them. The other side of the spectrum is, and I have had, on several occasions, placed an owner safely on a horse with under 10 hours of ride time. They owned an amazingly confident beast, however.
Since this article is about “shop talk,” let’s go there. Horse training is horse wrestling. Make no mistake, it’s a push for everyone. Not to say it isn’t fun, or enjoyable, because it is, but it is intense and you are ever present in the moment to be successful. You have to be effective, make a positive impact on each ride, and facilitate a quiet ending—riding Betty Buttercup, not Raging Rosie.
So let me tell you how to make it easier on your horse so if you do decide to use a professional trainer, a conversation with your horse can be built upon later by them more readily. It’s a very specific conversation I’m talking here. First, teach your horse that you will be touching his mouth through the reins, and second, that he will be learning how to take different shapes through his body. That sounds like big stuff, doesn't it? The number one missing piece I see in so many horses is that their bodies are so sprawled out in movement, and the faster you go with them, the wilder things seem to be. What is a horse owner to do? The answer is “small steps”. Can you think of an exercise that begins a conversation with how the horse uses its hind feet? That is a significant place to begin because the hinds create the movement.
Because every horse I ride knows how a turn on the haunches works, I can always reach the hind legs and ask my horse to step inward with whatever hind foot I choose. Simple, yet profound. Simple in that anyone can do it, but profound because as you ask the horse to step up and under you with either individual hind foot, they begin to become increasingly supple—there is less and less resistance in your hand. Furthermore, they become more and more “under you”—engaged—which will truly elevate the quality of your ride, as well as equipping them to move under you with less strain. When you finally break through into that horizon line, let me be the first to congratulate you in your stress-free jubilation. Could it really be that simple you ask?
Yep.
I’m over yonder at the edge of nothing, laying in the dirt with the social media stampede. Please take some time and “like” www.facebook.com/Jeff-Wilson-Cowboy-Dressage so I can stand back up, dust myself off, and smile like that goat in yer rose garden. I have been training horses for over 35 years and value the western horse lifestyle in my approach to training. Giving clinics and seminars on how to reach your full potential with your horse through the training foundation of Cowboy Dressage keeps me young.
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Since this article is about “shop talk,” let’s go there. Horse training is horse wrestling. Make no mistake, it’s a push for everyone. Not to say it isn’t fun, or enjoyable, because it is, but it is intense and you are ever present in the moment to be successful. You have to be effective, make a positive impact on each ride, and facilitate a quiet ending—riding Betty Buttercup, not Raging Rosie.
So let me tell you how to make it easier on your horse so if you do decide to use a professional trainer, a conversation with your horse can be built upon later by them more readily. It’s a very specific conversation I’m talking here. First, teach your horse that you will be touching his mouth through the reins, and second, that he will be learning how to take different shapes through his body. That sounds like big stuff, doesn't it? The number one missing piece I see in so many horses is that their bodies are so sprawled out in movement, and the faster you go with them, the wilder things seem to be. What is a horse owner to do? The answer is “small steps”. Can you think of an exercise that begins a conversation with how the horse uses its hind feet? That is a significant place to begin because the hinds create the movement.
Because every horse I ride knows how a turn on the haunches works, I can always reach the hind legs and ask my horse to step inward with whatever hind foot I choose. Simple, yet profound. Simple in that anyone can do it, but profound because as you ask the horse to step up and under you with either individual hind foot, they begin to become increasingly supple—there is less and less resistance in your hand. Furthermore, they become more and more “under you”—engaged—which will truly elevate the quality of your ride, as well as equipping them to move under you with less strain. When you finally break through into that horizon line, let me be the first to congratulate you in your stress-free jubilation. Could it really be that simple you ask?
Yep.
a significant place to begin because the hinds create the movement.
Because every horse I ride knows how a turn on the haunches works, I can always reach the hind legs and ask my horse to step inward with whatever hind foot I choose. Simple, yet profound.
Simple in that anyone can do it, but profound because as you ask the horse to step up and under you with either individual hind foot, they begin to become increasingly supple—there is less and less resistance in your hand.
Furthermore, they become more and more “under you”—engaged—which will truly elevate the quality of your ride, as well as equipping them to move under you with less strain. When you finally break through into that horizon line, let me be the first to congratulate you in your stress-free jubilation. Could it really be that simple you ask?
Yep.
Furthermore, they become more and more “under you” engaged, which will truly elevate the quality of your ride, as well as equipping them to move under you with less strain. When you finally break through into that horizon line, let me be the first to congratulate
you in your stress-free jubilation. Could
it really be that simple you ask?
Yep.
Yep.
© Andrew Wilson