I have been training horses for over 30 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 makes me happier than a full breeze from a corn-eatin’ horse.
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Unbeknownst to “Bella,” she is here for a complete spring make-over. “Part of becoming a ballerina is understanding that leaning on the rider’s hands is no longer part of the riding regime,” I convey to her. “Engaging your own body and getting your haunches under yourself is the new exercise. You carry you, so my hands don’t have to. I’m the rider, not the babysitter.” (Somewhere, cosmically connected, her hoodwinked owner releases a cleansing breath—an elated sigh of relief.)
Wherever I travel, the most common failure I see is riders who allow their horses to travel on their forehand and stop by leaning on the rider’s hands. I tell riders I could pick them out in a crowd, they’ve had their arms stretched, they’ve become Neanderthal.
Unmade mouths do not accept bridle pressure with pleasure, as a rule. Instead, hands are met with resistance, and resistance travels all the way through both horse and rider. There is nothing fluid or pleasant about that ride. What must be established is a level of that overused term called balance. The balance must exist between impulsion (the horse goes freely forward when we require him to) created by the leg and the use of the hand (to direct that impulsion, lightly, where we decide it must be used). For the rider, the hand must not restrain the horse, but allow the horse. For the horse, movement must come through the body in a soft and supple manner, and not be braced against (“Get off my hands” etc.).
For most riders, these can be in direct opposition to one another. When this kind of balance doesn’t occur, it simply means your horse needs to be educated to your hand, and often times, to the rider’s leg as well.
My little draft-cross mare has gone home now, but for the duration of time she was here, she was a delight. Her jelly-belly jiggled all over my trails, happily too I might add. The Catskill Mountains of New York did their part too. They encouraged her to lift up her shoulders going over the rocks and to engage her hips when moving down the hills; her stride loosened, and her shoulders began to become very functional as they lightened. Her owner rode what could be deemed as a new experience, loving her mare’s complete spring make-over.
Here’s part of what her owner wrote me regarding my method of training:
“I had the good fortune of sending my 7 year old Friesian Sport mare to Jeff Wilson for a 30 day Western Dressage training program. The training Bella received is nothing short of phenomenal. Her balance, collection, suppleness and softness are all tremendously improved. She is a much more pleasurable horse to ride; more pliable and attentive while responding to subtler cues.”
I didn’t get a testimonial from Bella, I think I was forgotten as soon as her nose hit the home pasture.
Rein Photography