Prior to the smartphone era when folks actually talked to one another in person, generally speaking, about eighty-five percent of the conversation was non-verbal...
Most folks think that starting the day with their horse is when they are mounted and starting to do whatever activities they had planned whether it be work, schooling, relaxation or entertainment...
Your greatest responsibility is to have the horse trust you. Trust means not being afraid. It is the easiest thing to lose, it is difficult to regain once lost, and even if you do get it back it will not be as good as it could have been at the beginning...
First and foremost, the horse is, by nature, a flight not a fight creature. That is why he is built the way he is. He is also neophobic, which essentially…
The rider must sit balanced on each side of the horse with equal weight on each seat bone (unless the rider is using his weight as an aid) and the hands must not be hanging to the right or the left...
If you can straighten the horse, he will get into a better mood and will feel better about the whole aspect of training...
Aids are the language through which a rider communicates his or her requests to the horse so that a conversation can be carried on between them for their mutual benefit...
The three principal entities involved in developing true horsemanship are the coach, the student, and the horse. You must have synergistic integration of all three to achieve success. There can be no missing links. Here is a concise summary of what I think each of them contributes to the whole....
These thoughts and observations are presented in no particular order and are offered so that readers can reflect upon them and form their own thoughts on the subject matter...
In the movie The WIZARD of OZ, when instructed by the Fairy Princess.”… To follow the yellow brick road”, Dorothy asked “... but where do I begin?” The Fairy Princess replied: “It is always best when beginning to begin at the beginning.” And so it is with the education of the horse.