So... Are You Horseman Material????
Everyone wants more time.
Yet... folks end up spending an inordinate amount of time in kindergarten. Doing the same routine stuff with their horse and generally being extremely imprecise while they use up the time allotted for their horse. They use such thoughts as "Well, he's just a 3 year old." They've spent 3 years telling and showing the horse that they don't care how he moves or when he moves or if he moves and THEN decide to change everything by working the poor bugger on a completely different plan. Of course by then, the horse isn't so keen you their idea and has worked out his own set of precise movements. By the same token, these people think that 30 days at a trainer's should deliver a completely trained, bomb-proof, trick horse. And maybe, depending on the horse is could be if the precise foundation work had been done.
A lack of precision is one of the biggest faults people make with their horses. Horses are very precise. They can take a hoof and place it on your 4 square inches of real estate (your toes) and for bonus points, make you think it's an accident.
Being specific and precise isn't being nasty. If you never expect a specific placement, then any placement in the general area is good as far as the horse is concerned. It's not that they won't put their hoof there, YOU never asked them to.
One of the problems that comes up with this is when someone is out on trail or at show and lets say they run into trouble such as getting in a tangle of barbed wire. How are you going to be able to ask your horse to move one hoof in a specific spot without moving the other three if you've never practiced it at home? Many people think their horse will do this type of task. SHOW ME! Because I'm pretty certain you can't.
If you become good at precision, you are being clear to your horse. This specific hoof in this specific spot. Get a couple of plastic lids--one for your horse and one for your feet and place them no less than 6 feet apart. While you're standing on one, see if you can get your horse to put one front hoof on the lid WITHOUT coming off your lid.
Of course learning Curbside Service is the primo example of this and if you  don't have your copy, while you're on amazon getting Jane's books you can pop Curbside Service into your cart too! Take responsibility for yourself to get clarity on what you actually asked the horse to do. And look closer to see if the direction and movement was actually what you asked or just a movement that you accepted without verifying. Bella, the horse in the picture, had gotten to a very scary place for her  person. Cheryl had done everything right as far as her pos ition allowed. She had adopted Bella from an off-track rescue, she's 15 years old and was used for a brood mare after her racing career. In the eight months before I met them Cheryl had gone through four--yes, four--different trainers. Bella's major issues were rearing, bolting, running over people, freight-train backing and all of the above if a gate was part of the question. None of the trainers had success. I literally spent ten minutes with her and her head was under my arm. She was to a point where Cheryl couldn't safely get her out of the pen and couldn't go in an arena or walk around the stable. Yet, look how nice she is 30 minutes into the session. Bella needed some clarity and understanding. I suggested Cheryl teach Bella to Curbside before our next meeting. This shocked Cheryl that I would expect so much. Except it isn't! Cheryl did get my book and read it, though. And when I came the next week, Bella was one of the really special ones that 'got it' in 5 minutes and knew exactly--yes, exactly--where to stand. Because I showed her exactly where I wanted her. Exactly! I wasn't muddy. Sort of in the area wasn't acceptable. Not too forward, not angled, don't bulge the shoulder, exactly. Now of course there is still work to be done as consistency is a learned thing, too. But, she knows! Whether she chooses to or not each time is to see down the road how precise Cheryl is going to be.
I've been really busy and will write more on my training blog on this. I'm here for ya! Show up Practice hard Receive feedback Continuously experience discomfort and anxiety (my personal fave!) Trust the process "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." -- Henry Ford Please forward this newsletter to your friends and tell them to sign up for their own. Click the purple "Gimme" button on the website. There's a difference between techniques and technique.
For exceptional results, think "how and how can I".
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and I have always loved horse stories. Of course some of the attraction of this book might have been because the name of the book was Laurie. This to say that I have recently connected with an author of teen and pre-teen horse stories. Jane Ayers has written a ton of books such as her Matty Moonlight adventure series and lives in the UK. The proceeds from her books go to an animal rescue so please pop over to