Who is really on their forehand?

It has been a while since my last blog and so here I would like to start in a new direction. By now you may have seen Sinatra pony on you tube being ridden outside in an area that is somewhat open with only a rope around his neck. I started working with Sinatra in this way over the winter to break up the boredom and found that he was mentally stimulated by it. I also needed to undo some bad habits he had gotten into when he had been leased and the trainer insisted he bend by having his rider cross the inside rein over his neck. His reponse to that was to try to look to the opposite direction to pull away from the pull. So I wanted to work on restoring Sinatra to natural balance - meaning if I sit on my inside seatbone and keep my inside leg saying "hello" at the girth, he would turn around my leg and look into his turn on his own. He had gotten a little weak on that left hind having been forced into a false imbalanced bend. Letting him get back to his own balance naturally strengthened him and then the balance was perfect. Proper bend was restored. But wait! If such a small detail interrupted Sinatra to this degree, what on earth does all the "framing" we see do to horses and ponies? I now believe we are the reason horses are on their forehand to start. I said that backwards. We START horses on their forehand. Have you ever been on a horse and had your bicepts burn? Or how about that expression that the horse is "rooting." Better yet, lets make sure that your horse is round in his head and neck. What happens when we so cleverly manipulate a horse or pony with resistance and pulling? Or under pretense explain the horse is lacking "acceptance" perhaps? All a disguise for what to me is now the obvious. Either through ignorance or deliberate cutting of corners for the sake of (?) horses are being placed on their forehand and then being blamed for the consequence. Without a bridle on Sinatra pony, I had to define his body through my own. I had to be responsible for my body angles and symmetry, for weight distribution, and planning. I discovered Sinatra would stretch out his head when he needed to use his back more, and lift his withers when he needed to push his body up more (such as in the canter). He would find the BALANCED FRAME in his head and neck for the movement from his body. Why then do trainers insist on a one size fits all frame sends a horse to his forehand, to start movement and energy from the front as opposed to the back? I don't know. But I do know the horse's energy is constantly pitted into that bit and as a consequence the front end gets jammed - hence on the forehand. Next video will be some lateral work. I discovering where need to be in for Sinatra to do full crosses in a proper leg yield. He is showing me where I need to be for him to respond to the exercise and where he must put his head and neck for balance.

A Good Paint Job - It's all in the preparation!

How do you approach projects is likely similar to how you approach your riding. It is probably the way you assume your horse's training should work also. Not so fast! Would you want to pay someone to paint your home without doing all the necessary preparations to avoid blemishes and inconsistancies? Would you skip the preparations if you were going to do the work yourself? Of course not! By taking the time to prepare the surface, the actual painting is done more easily and with the desired results. Prepare yourself - Get into the physical shape needed for the type of riding you do. Work on the emotional aspects you need to develop for your sport = attitude, concentration, relaxation, etc.. Prepare your horse - Work slowly and have a program to develop the strength, stamina, fexibility, muscling necessary for your horse to physically do his job. Discover the key to your horse's emotional well being so he looks forward to his work and his job every day. Taking that extra "prep" time will go along way toward the day you will step back and admire the paint job!

Horse Behaviors and Instincts

Natural behavior and instinct - Babies cry, children play, horses kick , horses flee etc.....When you think of it, horses live in a bit of conflict between their domestication and natural instincts. No wonder there is confusion on their part and on ours! If we understand why a horse is using their (defensive) natural instincts, we can direct them to focus more on what we are asking of them. For the most part, horses are not "bad" on their own. We tend to bring out their defensive traits when we ask them to (in their sense) put themselves potentially in the way of physical or emotional discomfort or harm. Last year in Ocala, I witnessed a professional transport company loading a farm's horses to return after circuit. No one representing the farm was in attendance. The carrier's drivers barely took 5 minutes to try to get the horse on the truck. (This was a full load with air ride etc...). They whipped it onto the truck. That took them one half hour. Great. So now at home when the trainer or owner tries to load this horse and it STARTS by kicking back at them, they may assume the horse is just being bad on its own. So unless you start a horse completely from the beginning yourself or buy a horse from a breeder who also has a reputation for turning out horses that have good basics and handling, you must always be ready for your horse's instinct to arise from a previous experience. Identifying this behavior which can be anything from kicking to resistance in riding (such as going behing the bit, stopping at a jump etc...) as the horse's instinct to protect himself is the first step. How you work with your horse after that makes the difference.

Your Horse/Your Instincts

I have been on both sides of the fence. As a young adult and amateur, I believed (and wanted to) everything my trainer(s) told me I should do from care, to handling, to riding. Yet I would find myself having feelings of doubt and on too many occasions wish I had trusted my guts and done things differently. Who paid the price for me not heeding those nagging feelings? Why my horse did of course. To begin, let's wipe the slate clean. Start over. Learn to listen to your horse, and observe more objectively anyone who is involved with your horse and having you do things "their" way. This includes well intentioned and high level trainers and riders. Every choice you make regarding your horse is as individual as you are and no one except you is as motivated to have a happy partnership with their horse as you are. If you own, ride, and or participate in the care of your horse, you know your horse better than anyone else. For parents of children who ride, this becomes a challenge. Parents for the most part will put all decisions in the hands of the professional trainer, without ever learning about horses or the variety of riding disciplines that are available. To you I suggest first, begin to learn and start asking questions.