So, do you know what your horse really thinks of you?
The easiest way to find out is by simply leading him (or her).
If he walks over you or past you, the answer is – not much.
But there is much you can learn to change what he thinks of you
and improve the level of trust you have in each other.
That was just the foundation of what we worked on at the last
clinic on 20 November 2005, which included horses between ages
3 and 9 and a spread of human handler skills as well.
By the end of the morning, our groundwork was sensational. Not
only were we leading at a trot (and our horses were 'reading our
feet') through a curtain of streamers, but our horses were yielding
softly, giving to rope pressure, flexing and 'giving' us that
little bit more. We were learning that how we moved around our
horses had a big impact on the success of our desensitizing activities
and developed enough trust so they were able to cope with the
cracking of a stockwhip and scary bags and ropes all over their
bodies.
After lunch we tackled control – in a flexible (and bitless)
way. We built on the flex we had developed in our ground work
to develop a one rein flex and stop at walk, trot and canter,
which can be used to stop prevents problems from escalating and
comes in handy for spooks. We also applied this one rein approach
to speed control, while riding on a loose rein, and to prevent
falling in or drifting out.
We topped it off with a bout of an Argentinian ring game, putting
into play everything we had worked on, and more before a well-deserved
feed for the horses and a hot coffee for the humans.
Marty (23 November 2005) |
"It was a good day for me. Carlos taught us to use one
rein for control (and two for collection). I was able to use this
technique with Willow to disengage his hindquarters and feel confident
that I could manage scary situations."
Anna & Willow |
