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Diary of Trail Ride on March 20th, 2005 at Cottonwood Creek Stables
Diary of Wakefield Workshop April 30th, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Aug. 27-28, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop June 10-12, 2005
Diary of Lincoln Workshop June 13-14, 2005
Diary of Cottonwood Creek Stable Class Sept. 24, 2005
Diary of Madison Clinic November, 2005
Diary of High View Farms Workshop, September 10-11, 2005
Lessons Learned at Madison Jan. 2006
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Jan. 21-22, 2006
Diary of Holstein May 2006
Diary of Weeping Water and BKT Arena Spring 2006
Diary of Sioux City 2006
Diary of Chance Ridge 2006
Diary of Private Lesson Days Summer 2006
Diary of Calamus Women's Camp 2006
Diary of Calamus Youth Camp 2006
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Diary of American Legacy Workshop August 27-28, 2005
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This was a special and especially rewarding workshop for me because it was the first one since my shoulder surgery, which was just 4 weeks ago. With my arm in a sling I was enthusiastic about teaching and sharing with the students and horses as much information as possible in two days. It seemed that the students were as excited as I was, and so it was a very memorable and helpful two days for everyone involved.
After registration we allowed time for introductions and each person shared their expectations and goals for the weekend. It is always interesting to get to know each participant in a personal way before we begin our studies.
Following introductions we went through some simulation exercises using our halters, leads, sticks, and strings. The purpose of these exercises is to help the student find some coordination, soft feel and timing, using these tools before they have an emotional animal attached.
So much of natural horsemanship is about body language because horses don’t speak our language. So it is our job to learn to speak their language. Many times our horses don’t do what we have asked simply because our body language is either unclear or giving incorrect directions. Through these simulation exercises we seek to properly prepare individuals in order to prevent poor performance. We find that taking the time to do this prior to contact with our horses is invaluable. It helps take away some of the fumble time.
When we brought the horses in the arena there was some apprehension and nervousness, which is totally normal. Both the horses and the people needed time to work out the insecurities of a new environment and a new herd. We have learned that if we allow a period of meandering with our horses that the horses settle in a lot quicker and develop more confidence, than if we just start in with our ideas.
Meandering also allows for horse introductions from safe distances, which helps our horse to keep their attention on us throughout the day, because they have been allowed to explore the environment and the herd. One more benefit is that the horse and human begin to act as a herd of two, which deposits valuable assets in our relationship account. We were starting to make important mental and emotional connections with our horses, a very important first step.
We want to thank the students for being so patient in following our instructions with this activity. We believe that it helped set the emotional tone that lead to a successful and safe weekend.
As the horses began to relax we then started to use their curiosity for the next assigned task. We played a game by encouraging our horses to put their noses on various objects, using our creativity, focus, feel, and timing. This is a fun activity and it is amazing how accurate you can get. It seems that your horse eventually begins to seek what you are thinking of.
During the previous meandering exercise we were feeling with the horse, and now we were asking the horse to feel with us. If you expect your horse to follow your feel, you must first be able to follow his feel. Students were both excited, and frustrated as they began to break down the barriers of speaking different languages while learning to communicate in effective ways.
There was one particular horse that was having a hard time standing still. So we spent some time watching this horse adjust to a human who was able to be consistent enough to get her attention. It seemed that she was so busy trying to be sure that everyone knew that she was the boss mare that she chose to ignore people. The cure was simple but the execution took patience. Eventually we saw quite a bit of change in this horse. For every step that she took forward without permission we calmly and firmly backed her two steps. With consistent determination, pretty soon it was pretty hard for her to ignore us, and she began to ask permission before moving.
We like to think of the next exercise as drama. Being an x-school teacher I like to use a variety of teaching techniques to meet the need of different learning styles. This lesson is intended to develop our leadership and partnership responsibilities through pretending that the human is the mare and our horse is our foal. We have all watched in wonder as a mare and her foal move together in perfect harmony. With this picture in our mind we began to expect our horse to synchronize with our every move as we lead them at various speeds and directions throughout the arena. The only rule was, stay out of the kick zone of other horses. It was so fun to watch the expressions as we began to feel free to just be with our horse in a natural way. If this activity is done often enough with great expectation and without criticism it will lead to the beautiful freedom of playing at liberty with our horse.
With all of these strong relationship building exercises under our belt we were ready to move on to respect and trust building tasks, which included moving specific body parts of our horse using either steady or rhythmic pressure.
Students commented that they learned:
- They needed to be more effective
- To be more assertive
- To be more rhythmic
- To let the horse run into the pressure
- That pressure had to be constant with an immediate release with the first yield of the horse.
- That their horse could remain calm even when disciplined
- That if you push a horse to hard and to fast that they will react in a very unfavorable way
- That groundwork is the foundation to the relationship between horse/owner
- What to do if you do push to hard
- To think like a horse
- To be more consistent with my horse
- To not give up.
After lunch break we had a classroom study that began with the Grizzly Bear Captivity story to help us learn to walk in our horses shoes. We realized the importance of the prey predator relationship and the necessity of always preserving the dignity of the horse.
We brainstormed a very long list of how to tell the difference between a left and a right-brained horse. We discovered that a left brained horse exuded confidence and a right-brained horse was very uncertain or even fearful. We were intrigued by the fact that there are some negative left brained behaviors and that some behaviors can be on both sides of the list. We concluded that the difference between a right and left brained behavior is the emotion, motivation, and timing. The purpose of this extensive study was to prepare the students to be able to read their horse quickly and accurately so that they know how to respond in a variety of situations safely, calmly, and effectively.
Next we turned our focus to human behaviors while interacting with horses. We brainstormed another list entitled “aggressive vs. assertive”. It was an eye-opening list, which helped us to examine our own tendencies, preconceived notions, and training techniques. As we looked at the list it was obvious that the difference between the two characteristics was emotion, motivation and timing. Hmmmmm! (The same difference between left and right brained behavior in the horse!) It gave us a lot to think about, and a reason to change certain habits we may have developed so that we can be the kind of person that our horse needs us to be in order to have a natural, positive, and progressive relationship, where a willing, safe, fun, and pretty performance is the outcome.
There was so much more discussed during our classroom time, but we don’t want to give it all away here, so that those of you reading this who haven’t attended one of our clinics will want to come to find out what they missed.
Now for what one student deemed as the “best part” RIDING. However, before we rode we did a brief overview of proper saddle fit, pre-flight checks, and safe mounting.
It is so important to ask permission to ride your horse; it sets you both up for success, and most importantly keeps both of you safe. I was a little worried about some of the riders, as not all of the horses were giving quietly or softly to lateral flexion. It was a little nerve racking for me, as it was obvious that some of the horses and riders were definitely out of their comfort zone, but fortunately everyone handled it quite well.
A couple of students chose not to ride whom Keith continued to coach on groundwork at one end of the arena. One person had a two year old that had not been ridden. So they saddled her and played a lot of circling game with her. The other student also had a young horse that was being fairly nervous, and the rider did not feel comfortable riding at this time. I respect her decision, as I believe that each individual know their limitations and that of their horse better than I do. I would never ask anyone to do anything that would push him or her into an unsafe situation, because I have been there before with an instructor, which resulted in a very costly accident. Anyway this person had a great time with Keith playing on the ground with her horse and even jumping barrels.
Again we allowed our horses to meander for a while, as we became passengers, feeling of our horses and going with them in balance as they began to relax. There were a few necessary one-rein stops, and sometimes it is difficult for riders to know just when to release. But for the most part the students were able to improve their timing. Without having to worry about directing their horse, the riders could begin to focus on finding their balance point. When they found their balance point they were able to begin to mirror the movements of their horse, causing the horse to relax. We also discovered that
saddle fit for the human can greatly influence the ability of the rider to find their balance point comfortably.
Once we were getting the feel of our horse, plus improving the timing of our one rein stops, it was time to see if the horses could follow our feel. In order to do this we started riding on the rail followed by point-to-point riding. Our purpose was to get a free flowing forward motion without resistance or excess energy and to help our horse to follow a focused feel with as little rein direction as possible.
Before we finished the day we practiced direct reins by riding a variety of patterns. Our goal was to see how soft we could direct our horse using just one finger. A couple of students were very impressed with how responsive their horse was in just a halter. Yet, another rider was not comfortable without the bit, so continued to use it. Our goal as instructors is to help each student become progressively more natural with their horse. We understand the anxiety that a dramatic quick change can cause, so we strive to assist riders in a gradual change, which will be more permanent than a quick fix.
As we recapped the day by sharing blinding flashes of the obvious we learned from each other’s experiences and realized that we knew more than we thought we did. It just takes lots of time, patience, and practice doing your homework to successfully apply what we already know. A workshop like this not only reinforces what you already know, it reminds you of changes you still need to make, and gives you new ideas to keep growing.
Before we taught our private lessons for the evening, we had the privilege of playing with a very beautiful and special Spanish mustang at liberty. He gave us a real show of play and was quite impressive. A lot of times a high play drive in a horse is misinterpreted. We found that even though he was very responsive we needed more hindquarter control before he was ready for liberty in such a large arena. We had fun anyway, and I personally just want to thank Bucky and his owner for the fine entertainment.
On the second day we began with another classroom discussion continuing our conversation and study from the previous day. However, we added some very interesting simulations where we rode each other to get some feed back about the comfort and effectiveness of our balance point, direct and indirect reins, and backing posture. Because a horse can feel a fly land on it’s body, it is critical that we learn to use our whole body while riding. It was interesting to listen to the feedback that the horses were giving the riders. We found out what it feels like to be a horse, and also learned that our body could be giving our horse mixed signals and even discomfort or pain. One student remarked that this was a “good demonstration” then went on to jokingly say that it was” the worst part of the clinic”. Even with all the laughter the result of the simulation was very meaningful to everyone.
As the students came back into the arena with their horses we allowed them time to experiment on the ground with the concepts that we learned the first day. It was interesting to see the improvement in body language effectiveness and also attitudes.
One student commented that she was definitely learning to be a more effective communicator with her horse. As we watched we could definitely see a calmer more confident group of partners that were trying to understand each other even though they spoke different languages. Body language truly is universal!
We spent the rest of the morning demonstrating, and playing with backing, circles and sideways games to help our horses become braver, smarter, and more athletic. We know that horses are motivated by safety, comfort, and play. One person noticed that her horse was especially bored with the circling, so we spiced it up a bit with some creative play. Because the horse had learned the circling game well, it was time to mix it up by changing directions, making transitions, doing various patterns like S’s and half moons to keep the horse interested and asking the question “what are we going to do next?” Suddenly these humans seemed a lot more provocative to him with a little variety added. The warning to us is, don’t let playing with your horse become a job to either of you.
After lunch we had a short classroom session with a little poetry and final discussion with question and answers about psychology of natural horsemanship. When the horses returned to the arena saddled we squeezed our horses through tight spaces and over poles and barrels. We could have spent a lot more time on this but still had so much to do, so we cut it short, encouraging everyone to do more of this at home. Time spent doing your homework is a key ingredient to success with horses as is desire and a good instructor.
The riders were then given time to experiment with the riding techniques that we had practiced on the first day. One of the students who had chosen not to ride yesterday was feeling much more confidence in her horse as he appeared quite left brained the whole morning. It was quite obvious that she made the correct decision and she even rode with the halter, which was quite an accomplishment for both of them. It is so exciting to see people trying new things with their horses, especially when it works out. The other lady with the two year old did some activities above her horse in preparation for mounting and riding.
We still had a lot of ground to cover this afternoon and even though we worked hard we enjoyed the learning experience, so much so that it seemed nobody wanted to leave when it was time to go. Anyway we covered a lot of territory, (transitions, backing, cloverleaf plus other patterns, and hindquarter control). A couple of students even felt confident enough to ride bareback in the halter, and both did a fantastic job, although they did complain of getting a sore butt. A good bareback pad can help this problem, but the more you do it, like anything else, the less sore you will get each time.
We had a couple of very dominant mares in the class, so we decided to help the riders of these mares in a very effective manner. All the other riders had a stick in their hand and it was their job to correct the mares of their unacceptable behaviors. The riders of these mares were to just say help with plenty of notice when approaching another horse. The other people were then instructed to wave their sticks vigorously, if the mare chose to run into the stick that was her problem. The reason that this works so beautifully is that the rider is not punishing the mare, but it is the horse in front of them that is doing the disciplining with a fifth foot. This also builds the relationship of the other riders, because it appears to your horse that you are protecting him from those naughty mares. It worked like a dream, and although the mares were not perfect, their attitude began to change and the riders were more relaxed. With persistence and consistency this exercise will continue to improve the attitude of these mares.
After our mid afternoon break a thunderstorm was rolling in with predicted hail. The arena was suddenly filled with vehicles so we retreated to the classroom for a very enlightening experiment. We can’t tell you the details because we want you to experience it in person some day. We can tell you that the participants were very frustrated, but were so thankful that they had the opportunity to feel what it is like to be a horse. It helped us to be more empathetic and understanding about how we can adapt to communicate with our horse developing a relationship of trust which will give us many rewards in the future.
By the time the cars were removed from the arena it was 5:00, our scheduled time to quit. However, we had still not presented the challenge or test that we give at the end of each class. Everyone voted to stay and take the exam. It is always a rewarding experience to watch each rider perform the test pattern to the best of their abilities. We saw so much progress in all of the horses and riders in the two days, but we have to acknowledge that this is not only due to the clinic, although it is a great help. It is the major homework and relationship that is built on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis at home that will make the most difference.
In closing I would like to quote a comment from the evaluation forms that each student completes at the end of the course. “I hope we get to the point to see everyone riding bareback with sticks. I know that will be up to us, and how much we accomplish at home. I would like to have a videotape because sometimes it’s hard to remember everything when I get home. I could see that also in the instructions with the students who had previously attended a class. I think they may have forgotten some things too.”
I wish that I could offer a videotape, but there are already so many good ones out there that I am sure that I can’t top them. However, as a teacher I know that it takes repetition to truly learn something, and if you forgot it than you probably never really learned it. I would like to encourage all of you to be life long learners and keep it as natural as you know how, until you know more. You can never know too much, practice too much, love too much or care too much. Remember your horse cares how much you care! If you care, you may want to know more about being natural with your horse, because that’s one way he will understand that you care.
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