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Exceptional Horsemanship Newsletter
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Greetings!
Buenos Dias!
NEW!!! Video on my website. Five minutes of fun with Sandy and Cody learning Curbside Service. I'm in the process of developing new training videos that will be available for download soon. Email me if you have a training issue you'd like me to cover. I got plenty already on the long list, but no sense in missing something or changing the timing of when it appears. Tell me a good story so I get to YOUR idea sooner!
I was in Del Mar for the big hunter/jumper show the beginning of September. Chelby, the yearling I work with, was Champion Best Young Horse. She was beautiful (also won best turned out) and her manners and straightness and tracking, which is my part, so good. I got all weepy watching her. I had hoped to have a picture available, but don't. I'll make sure I get a hold of one to include in next month's newsletter.
I did a demo at the show with Chelby on manners, requests, expectations and behavior modification. While I was presenting, a mounted rider was watching intently off to the side and then came in the arena and started riding just off of the area I was using. When he had a moment where I was away from the spectators, he rode up to me and said, "Don't see that type of work in the English show worrld. What's up with that?" I replied that I was just trying to help the horses and anyone interested in exploring this option. He smiled and said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't. It will take away the competitive advantage I have." He added that he had recently started incorporating some of the natural horsemanship techniques and was amazed at his results in the show ring since.
I had slipped in a maneuver during my training sessions with Chelby prior to the show to surprise Pam with (Sadly, Pam wasn't able to make the show due to a medical issue). I had worked just twice with Chelby to sidepass over a raised pole on a loose rein while I stood about 10 feet away off the middle. The only thing available was an 8 foot flower box for the jumps. So... I pulled it out, with flowers, asked Chelby to side pass over it on a completely loose line and she just went right across.
The rider also said, "I've never seen anyone do what you just did. I haven't started with sideways stuff yet, I had no idea that was even possible. That was great!" Made my day.
Let your friends (or enemies or even those you're ambivalent
about) enjoy their horse as much as you do, forward this newsletter
to them.
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So... Are You Horseman Material????
Are you satisfied with your riding skills? Are you satisfied with your horsemanship skills?
AWARENESS, TIMING, FEEL AND PRECISION! Keep getting better, know there's always more. Part of the more learning is reading. Take time to analyze and choose horsemanship books that will give you a different or better or worse or upholding perspective. There's a scintillating** book available from Amazon called Curbside Service. Get one today!
I recently read "Jean Claude Racinet, Falling for Fallacies, Misleading Commonplace Notions of Dressage Riders". This really is a fantastic read and it's too bad that we recently lost him. I wish I'd had the chance to meet him and work with him. Any of you who do read this, PLEASE let me know what you think.
Horsemanship Material Question - What is the 'point', reasoning or justification for teaching horse to be dead to leg signals* and then using spurs to presumably get the job done?
To spur a horse each stride like horse needs each leg movement to keep going with each leg is ridiculous. Which one of us would like to be told what to do and then have the 'teller/boss' constantly prodding us in the shoulder "Yeah go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go"? To me, this is a lack of trust, training and awareness/acknowledgment of the horse's intelligence. It is rude and condescending in addition to a pain factor. I'd say 'in my opinion' but I do believe horses feel the same way. If your job was to clean a stall and while you were doing it someone was poking you in the shoulder and saying clean, clean, clean, clean while you were doing it... how would you feel about that?
How could and why would a horse continue to care about being poked EVERY stride when he's already doing what was asked. So, it must not apply. Like a badly fitting saddle that hits him in the shoulder every stride. And you don't expect horse to do anything about that, so why should he respond to the constant jabbing? What is that part of your leg between the knee and the ankle for anyway? And if you didn't have it squeezing his skin between your leg bones and his ribs, when you touched the hair, the horse would respond. Whad da ya think? I know, I'm a continual rabble rouser. But, your rabble should be roused!
I see this happening in every discipline and breed. It's discouraging.
*You'll be able to get this in a training audio/video/report/blog (various amounts of great content in various forms) a bit later in much more detail.
**Brilliantly and excitingly clever or skillful ;D (how is it there isn't a smilie face available)
There's a difference between techniques and technique.
For exceptional results, think "how and how can I".
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Upcoming Stuff
 In the coming month, I'm going to ride my own horses! No really! At least once! Each! I've already ridden one, two more to go. I went out to take off the fly masks the other day and decided to ride Peka for about 15 minutes so I'm ON IT!
And NO, I don't consider this riding. This is funnin' around.
Perpetual
learning suggestion: Check out this site for some extensive physiology
and workings and how and how not to. Explanations of how the bones,
ligaments and muscles work and can't work in various movements. It's
some tough reading, don't do it all at once.
www.sustainabledressage.com. By the way, all this dressage talk or
rather writing that I mention here applies to western riding and english, too. So,
don't turn your ears, mind or consideration off when you hear that word.
Send me pic's of what you're doing for possible insertion.
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If you'd like to get better faster and have a lot of fun, consider gathering 8-10 of your friends and barn mates and schedule a 3-hour workshop with me. Something like "The Goldilocks Syndrome" or "Horse Manners 101" or "Enhancing Trainability". Of course you could do a clinic, too. Whichever... if you have the concepts behind the tools and learn how to incorporate them together, your results will skyrocket exponentially.
Don't forget to check the blog for more training and put in your questions and comments!
Enjoy the Ride,
Lauren Woodard
Exceptional Horsemanship
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Lauren Woodard
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
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