AIDES MEMOIRE FOR EFFECTIVE RIDING
Communication with the horse is not verbal. It is non-verbal and tactile and extremely complex …
BACKING UP A HORSE
Backing up is not a natural gait for a horse. Horses are designed to go forward, but they can be taught to back up…
COMMENTS ON CIRCLES, GROUNDWORK, TURNS, & SCHOOLING HORSES
To ride a circle, which is different than just going around and around, is difficult but it can be done with diligent practice…
Communication
The purpose of this article is to present the methodologies of classical horsemanship as they relate to the communication process in order to assist those interested in gaining a closer relationship with their horse…
HOW HORSES LEARN AND HOW WE CAN HELP THEM TO LEARN
It is not what you do to the horse that will make him better. It is what you do for and with the horse that will make him better…
IN A NUTSHELL
Almost all clinicians/instructors, regardless of the riding discipline involved, give horsing lessons rather than riding lessons to their students. This puts the horse at a disadvantage since it is the rider who forms the horse and not the other way around….
SIX IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN DEVELOPING HORSES
FIRST, LAST, and ALWAYS – YOU HAVE TO HAVE FORWARD in the horse. It is a learned behavior…
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THE HORSE (AND YOURSELF) AS THEY RELATE TO DEVELOPING KINSHIP
The FIRST thing you need, if the horse is to be your student, is: HIS ATTENTION (first, last, and always)…
Some Thoughts about Reins & their use…
The use of the reins can be crude as well as cruel or subtle and communicative, depending on the depth of knowledge the rider has on how to use them, because all the natural talent in the world is of limited value if you don’t understand technique and the use of your equipment…
Synergistic Riding
True riding is an endless search for synchrony and harmony. You can get it today and lose it tomorrow. This search is no overnight affair but a progression of steps, measured in tiny increments of success in an endless journey of challenges and discovery.”
TECHNIQUES, SUGGESTIONS & COMMENTS FOR RIDING QUIETLY
Aids create and modify the actions of the horse; they are not meant to maintain them. So when you change or modify an action on the horse then leave it alone and whatever it was you did goes away, then you recreate it or modify it again…
TEN IMPORTANT MAXIMS TO REMEMBER WHEN ASTRIDE A HORSE
DON’T LET YOUR HANDS OVERRIDE YOUR LEGS,
KEEP THE HORSE’S MIND AND FEET IN THE SAME ARENA…
TEN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES TO REMEMBER WHEN DEALING WITH HORSES
HORSES ARE “HARD WIRED” BY NATURE TO BE AFRAID OF EVERYTHING UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS A HORSE SHOULD BE TAUGHT AND, IN TIME, EXECUTE WITHOUT A BRACE OR RESISTANCE, TO HAVE A SOLID EDUCATION
FORWARD (MAINTAINING AN ENERGETIC THRUST OF THE HINDQUARTERS IN ALL GAITS AND MOVEMENTS – NOT JUST MOVING FORWARD OR RUSHING), STOP, TURN, BEND, BACK UP…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO ACCOMPLISH IN DEVELOPING A STRONG GROUND PROGRAM WITH HORSES
LEAD THE HORSE BEHIND YOU AT THE DISTANCE YOU WANT HIM TO BE – THREE FEET OR FIVE FEET OR TEN FEET AND HAVE HIM STAY AT THE DISTANCE YOU CHOOSE…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO DEVELOP BEFOREHAND OR ALREADY POSSESS WHEN EDUCATING, MARSHALING, AND CONTROLLING THE POWERFUL FORCES OF HORSES
RESPECT FOR THE HORSE UNEQUIVOCALLY – NOT FOR WHAT YOU WISH HIM TO BE BUT FOR WHAT HE IS…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER CONCERNING THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT NATURE HAS GENETICALLY PROGRAMMED INTO HORSES WHICH GOVERN THEIR BEHAVIOR
HORSES ARE CONSTANTLY ON THE ALERT FOR REAL OR IMAGINED DANGER AND THEIR NATURAL INSTINCT IS TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO FLEE THAT DANGER IN AN INSTANT…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN HANDLING HORSES
FOREMOST, YOU MUST GET AND HOLD THE HORSE’S ATTENTION. IF IT WANDERS YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY GET IT BACK, BECAUSE WHERE THE HORSE LOOKS IS WHERE HIS MIND IS AND HE WANTS TO HAVE HIS FEET CATCH UP TO HIS MIND…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN SCHOOLING HORSES
Think about your back being connected to the reins while maintaining your upper body erect in the shape of a “D” rather than a “C” with your Ischia bones centered over the 14th/15th thoracic vertebrae…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN WORKING COWS
ALWAYS STOP FIRST BEFORE YOU TURN (do not make rounded turns), STOP STRAIGHT…
TEN IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN WORKING WITH HORSES
OBSERVE, REFLECT, AND COMPARE, MAKE THE RIGHT THING EASY AND THE WRONG THINGS DIFFICULT…
THE TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF A HORSE IS NOT A CASUAL UNDERTAKING
The training and education of a horse is not a casual undertaking; it is not for the faint-hearted, and it is not for the inexperienced…
Undesirable Horse Behavior and Foundation Training
The information presented in this article is well within the reach of everyone to achieve. All one needs is a little study, commitment, effort and time. It will be well worth it in the long run…
Useful Information to have when schooling horses
If all you want to do with a horse is learn how not to fall off, look good while doing it, and have some laughs with a few of your friends, read no further. If, however, you want to learn how to improve your horsemanship (a life-long endeavor), read on…
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MASTER HORSEMEN
Part of learning about horses and horsemanship is reading what the Old Masters and current master horsemen have had to say about the challenges
inherent in understanding the nature, psychological makeup, and physical attributes of two entirely different species in their quest to meld the horse and human into a complementary harmonious relationship…