So... Are You Horseman Material????
"The most rapid, positive progress is made by the rider who is so psychologically balanced that he is prepared for a long period of training, governed solely on the progress made by the horse." Seunig Seems to me that people are more interested in the progress they make as to how they consider themselves a trainer. In these newsletters I want you to have something different than you can get elsewhere. There are plenty of good (and bad) DVD's and programs and trainers out there that/who will tell you to keep your chin up and heels down, or put your rope here and point there. But, I'd like to give you the opportunity to think about the when's, why's and how's and not just the what's. If you understand these concepts, you don't have to be babysat by an instructor who tells you what to do when. Will I still have what to do's here? Sure, but I want you to get the missing links too.
Inexhaustible patience is a necessity for success.
Desire, Dedication, Dilligence WOW - to be dedicated to be diligent about having patience with the training and teaching of your horse!!! I'd be willing to bet that the desire for patience is small. However, if you set up your determination (OOh, another D) to be aware of how you're doing with it and be diligent in your pursuit of patience, you will oddly enough, find yourself desiring that very thing. Sadly :D, you can't learn patience without having it tried. When it's going your way that isn't having patience.
It's the little things that make such a big difference to a horse. Patience is not making something happen, it's setting it up then letting it happen. And that means... that the horse has the chance to learn it, not just do it. "Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience." -- Hyman Rickover, Admiral Krieky! This is dreadful!...:D "Driven into practice with courageous patience???? You mean I have to work that hard at getting myself to be patient??? Yep! There's a difference between techniques and technique.
This purple line is always on my newsletter here for various reasons, but this theme segment is one of the prime examples of what it stands for. Two people may desire the same result/task from a horse and even use the same equipment and positioning, but one is going to have a better result both in the long and short term due to how they approach the situation and the patience or lack thereof exhibited.
If I want you to move left, I could put my hand on your shoulder and shove you, or I could put my hand on your arm and indicate that I'd like you to move left. You would then consider the request and either implement it or not depending on how you felt about me and the situation (training). If I was patient and gave you time to come to your conclusion to move left, I think that the next time I wanted you to move left it'd go pretty well. Yes? There's a difference between pulling a horse's head left with a rein as opposed to putting a feel on the rein and waiting for the horse to understand the request and act on it. Turning left isn't training. Teaching a horse how you'd like him to turn left under what circumstances is. How can something so simple be so difficult? But, it's a tough concept and requires diligence. Please forward this newsletter to a friend :D. For exceptional results, think "how and how can I". | 
