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Exceptional Horsemanship Newsletter
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Greetings!
Hope you guys got some 'kif' time this month (check the archives for last month's 'kif' info if you missed it). Why, I say why!, <--  do we think we should come up with good ideas and concepts and understanding without giving our mind some peace and quiet to come up with them. We're constantly 'doing'. How about we take some 'being' time. I certainly admit to being an offender. Hence, my writing about it. Hmmmm.... so maybe when we introduce something new to our horse he could use some time to come to an understanding. WHAT!!!! We don't have time for our horse to think, we insist "do this NOW!!" 'Cuz we're the boss and what we say got! Ugh, right.
But, you can't have the glass of water in my hand by the time I've finished the sentence asking for it... can you. Dwell time.
I have a quote framed by my desk that says:
I'm going to learn something today and
NO ONE is going to stop me!
BOOK REVIEW -
30 YEARS WITH MASTER NUNO OLIVEIRA, Correspondence, Photographs, and Notes
by Michel Henriquet
THIS is a great book to read. Very inspiring and enjoyable while giving some accounts of how he structured some of his rides and what he was going for with the different horses. Concepts - you know I'm gonna love that!
He had quite a bit of trouble with others in the field in that he didn't think that just because a trainer was popular or high level that meant the trainer was right or a good horseman. He studied the horse results. He didn't like showing as he felt the goal of winning obscured better horsemanship. Of course, the political crap has always been about in the horse show world. And I don't see that it's changed any.
News flash: I'm probably the world's worst knot tie-er. So... I've got a video on my Exceptional Horsemanship fb page that I didn't shoot, of Jeremy Cluff, a friend and trainer, showing a couple of great knots to use for different purposes with your horses, check it out in the April fb timeline segment! Me, I have to re-watch it every couple of weeks. :-D This mental lapse may be because my horses stand where I ask, so I rarely tie them. Now then:
Remember that great commercial with the cowboys herding those cats? Jeremy's one of the cowboys! How fun is that? And here's the link in case you haven't seen it or would love to watch it again! Jeremy has more short videos on his fb page.
I, too, have a new Curbside Service video out on my Exceptional Horsemanship fb page. So, you'd best pop over there as watch them.
Wanna be in pictures? Want to be on the cover of a book? I need some good pic's of Balky horses for my book "Balky, Balky, I Ain't Goin'." So, if you can set your ego aside, send me pic's of your horse NOT doing what you want. Ya know, good ones, like "screeeeech, not going in the water". All sucked back at something. Write a little blurb in your email with the attached pic that says, "Lauren, use these pictures however you want. They're yours!" If you don't want me to use your name or your horse's name, tell me so. If you're okay with it, tell me that, too. It doesn't matter either way. As the saying goes, "A picture's worth a thousand words."
There's a ton of stuff, so read all the way to the bottom or you'll miss it!
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So... Are You Horseman Material????
For exceptional results, think "how and how can I".
There's a difference between techniques and technique. These two sentences are always at the bottom of this section, but I brought them up to the top so you could spend some 'kif' time with them on how they apply to your horsemanship. What the heck do they really mean? To YOU? Specifically. And can you cite examples to clarify? Hint: May need kif time. One of the troubles folks frequently need some help with is horses that only have the bare minimum or less of foundation work and manners. Horse is pushy, doesn't lead (my definition of leading is not: getting from one point to another), won't lunge nicely, doesn't stand still, doesn't give to pressure, doesn't Curbside :-D. Of course, the problem is that they haven't defined trained and what a 'trained' horse would do. So, they ride it (meaning get on and end up somewhere) and think it's 'trained'.
Now this doesn't mean it's a bad horse. It's a horse; and that's what horses do. It's that the people excuse the bad behavior or lack of training with "It doesn't bother me," or "I've only been working with him for ____ years." Yet they will also proudly state that the horse had 60 days of professional training and think that's enough. We all know 12 years frequently doesn't turn out that great of a teenager as far as training! But 60 days with a horse... sure. Trained! A conundrum. Many times it's a matter of priorities, but there's a problem with knowing/not knowing where dangers lie in the process of horsemanship.
FOLKS - everything mentioned up there can be fixed in an hour! If someone has the skills.
I used the word 'frequently' up there because it's so. I work with horses at all levels and disciplines and I'm amazed at the willingness of people, even trainers, to let something not done right take 'freakin' forever' because they don't know that it's such an easy fix.
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."
- Randy Pausch
Yet, if someone doesn't RECOGNIZE the experience or care to what degree it's executed, then... so it comes down to caring, eh? Do you care about your horsemanship? Do you care how your horse feels about your horsemanship? Don't be in such a hurry to make a mess of things. "The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates
EXAMINE - if exceptional is in your plan.  exceptional thoughts that include precision of the foundation moves, it all starts falling into place. They won again Memorial weekend. Understanding requests and movement!
Please forward this newsletter to your friends and tell them to sign up for their own by clicking the purple "Gimme" button on the website.
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| Upcoming stuff: What does it take? What are you missing? If you're missing it, how do you know it? "awareness" - the need for calm. maintain boundaries in order to create focus, both in yourself and your horse. ladder jumping - the art of waiting timing/feel come
Loose rein panic
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Going for Exceptional isn't for everyone, but if you're not interested in being average or... less than, call or email me to schedule a lesson, training session, phone or email lesson/consultation today.
Check the blog for more training and put in your questions and comments!Sincerely,
ME
Lauren Woodard
ExceptionalHorsemanship.com |
Lauren Woodard
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
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