Thank goodness we never stop learning, and when you are exposed to so many horses out side of your own circle, you can't help but be enlightened by outstanding issues and problem horses. A private seminar just this past week was one that taught me just how important the control over the horse's head really is. Two different riders, along with their horses that were participating in the seminar had real problems with young horses that had months of training. These two riders, and their horses had a big lesson for me to identify, get control of the head.
How far away from getting bucked off your horse are you today. Every ride was a risk in the first ten minutes of riding these two horses, you might get launched. I quickly gathered that we all have a horse like this, it may take a year of letting the horse go where it wants, push it's nose and head into us where and when it wants to. Soon, giving your horse the freedom to take off with no direction when you saddle, get on, and take a trail ride with your horse, never applying a bit pressure to the horse, will soon give the horse so many ideas of freedom it might free you from the saddle.
My first tip to these horses with too much freedom was start at the hitching rail. Tie up your horse with a two foot lead rope was the first lesson we went over, to start with the big lesson of gaining control over the horse's feet. Wait a minute, now we are talking about controlling the horses feet, and this whole blog is on "head control". Right, you will gain control over where the horse's feet go by developing the discipline over the head. These horses were getting three feet of rope or more when tied to be brushed and saddled. With their heads up in the air, dancing around looking for their pasture mates. Now with a shorter lead rope, the horses were taking a look at discipline before we ever left the grooming area.
When moving on to getting the horses saddled and bridled for the riding seminar, the horse's had to give their nose to the pressure asking them to turn and bend the neck to the left to be bridled, and they hated it. The lack of consistency with discipline to move away from the pressure applied to it's nose was more than obvious and unwilling. All of this giving to pressure transfers to riding with the control over the horses nose with the bridle. Since there was no bend to the pressure in the halter, the horse had little willingness in the bridle too.
The start to controlling the horse's feet with head control on the ground is asking the horse to turn around the front left foot. When you have the horse pivoting around this left front foot with the nose giving over to the left shoulder you have enough control on the horse's feet to then wait for them to completely stop moving. This tells you that the time is near to get on the horse and start all the same process over again and again from the saddle. I say, nose control starts when you halter your horse and get it caught, till you release your horse after your ride.
Tie-downs give a horse the same idea of head control that a halter with a short lead rope tied to a hitching-post does. If you have ever ridden a horse with a tie-down that just acted better than ever, even seemed calmer, and you received considerable more control while riding the horse, it had major head control problems. The tie-down is just a bandaid that when it comes off, you will still be bleeding.
Head control areas that I'll cover soon:
Head Control ; In Circles ; In lead changes: In your stop ; In your roll backs ; OVER DISTRACTIONS for roping and shooting off your horse for the first time.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Forward Motion
Today there was a great trail ride for a three year old I'm training. The whole ride was a couple of hours and the terrain was vast. Large and small rocks to climb, trees and cactus to manuver around and through. So many washes between the mountains, saddles, and hills to climb and work down through, some even had water in them. The horse had a big drink about half way around the ride, after we made it into the large pool of water in the one wash. The biggest problem this arena ridden three year old had was stepping into the water and watching closely to a narrow part of the trail that he slipped a hind foot off of for one step. This was a great ride for him because it was a good break from teaching head possittion and body controlled manuevers. With out a lot of training to do on a trail ride because the horse stayed quiet and under perfect control throughout, we just focused on moving forward.
Forward motion is seldom worked on in the arena exercises with a lot of specific intent. Most of the time we might ask for very specific speeds and getting better transitions from one speed to another, or a change of the horse's gate from a trot back to a walk, etc. Yet what would we be missing in our horse if we did not have the forward speed controls.
This is a very broad subject matter like many in my past blogs. I am looking forward to uncovering the specifics of all this in future post. Feel free to add questions in the comment boxes in each post. We will keep moving forward.
Forward motion is seldom worked on in the arena exercises with a lot of specific intent. Most of the time we might ask for very specific speeds and getting better transitions from one speed to another, or a change of the horse's gate from a trot back to a walk, etc. Yet what would we be missing in our horse if we did not have the forward speed controls.
This is a very broad subject matter like many in my past blogs. I am looking forward to uncovering the specifics of all this in future post. Feel free to add questions in the comment boxes in each post. We will keep moving forward.
Monday, June 6, 2011
A Good Rider
Having the ability to stay on a bucking horse is a talent I've always had, and it has never been enough. That balance has however, given me hundreds of jobs, but I do not consider it a qualifier to being the horseback rider we're working toward becoming here. I wanted to call up my first riding teachers as I was riding this morning. I wanted to apologize to them, after all the help they sent my way to get the results we all were working for, how poorly I must have progressed. It's 29 years in the working since I started getting help starting my first colt under saddle, today I felt better than ever having that job to do. Qualified for the job to ride just a horse in order to progress it into a good one, after 18 years of help in schooling great horses I think I might have graduated from my first years of lessons. Just one riding lesson, or riding with a great rider for one year didn't make me a good rider. The time it takes to learn more than a few tricks in horse training, or to just stay in the saddle takes longer than a three day clinic.
You must be riding with someone watching to progress in the art of horsemanship. The one riding partner I've ridden with the most over the past eight years this August is still shaping my riding. My wife Paula, started watching my riding, training, and competitions back when we first dated. The second purchase we partnered on was a video camera. (first was a wireless horse clipper) We do what we see, so much more than I every realized. We do not watch a bad ride more than once, just enough to see what you don't want to do. Good runs can get a lot better, so we watch them a lot to improve them. I was riding with this great NRCHA competitor for a couple years and with out knowing it, my left shoulder started to duck a bit in my turns. Just like the riders I rode with every morning. I would not have known this with out my riding partner watching me and identifying the source of my new body positioning habit.
There was a competitor at a show asking me if I could come instruct him on some specifics that would help his overall results that he is getting out of his horse. My first question to him was why do you want to get help from me? Three reasons they gave to me, as to my question why, which surprised me. They have seen my personal drive to always improve my own riding and training on my horses, even when I sit at the top of the winner's circle. They connected with the descriptions I give when helping a rider work with their horse. The last thing they listed off was how we work with the talents and balance of horse and rider, instead of changing or increasing bits, tack, or extreme training measures. From someone who understands about how much of a JOURNEY it is to be a horseman, I am eager to share all that I can to help someone else reach their goals.
"There are no great horseman, just great horses" It takes a good horse to make a good rider, and also a good rider to make a good horse. Find someone with what you think is a GREAT horse and get help riding from them. Maybe one day, becoming a core client, you will get to throw a leg over on their best horse and your Journey will take a leap forward. Once you improve your riding, the horses you ride will get better and better. I'm so excited!! for my next horse, and the journey to being a better horseman that horse will take me on.
You must be riding with someone watching to progress in the art of horsemanship. The one riding partner I've ridden with the most over the past eight years this August is still shaping my riding. My wife Paula, started watching my riding, training, and competitions back when we first dated. The second purchase we partnered on was a video camera. (first was a wireless horse clipper) We do what we see, so much more than I every realized. We do not watch a bad ride more than once, just enough to see what you don't want to do. Good runs can get a lot better, so we watch them a lot to improve them. I was riding with this great NRCHA competitor for a couple years and with out knowing it, my left shoulder started to duck a bit in my turns. Just like the riders I rode with every morning. I would not have known this with out my riding partner watching me and identifying the source of my new body positioning habit.
There was a competitor at a show asking me if I could come instruct him on some specifics that would help his overall results that he is getting out of his horse. My first question to him was why do you want to get help from me? Three reasons they gave to me, as to my question why, which surprised me. They have seen my personal drive to always improve my own riding and training on my horses, even when I sit at the top of the winner's circle. They connected with the descriptions I give when helping a rider work with their horse. The last thing they listed off was how we work with the talents and balance of horse and rider, instead of changing or increasing bits, tack, or extreme training measures. From someone who understands about how much of a JOURNEY it is to be a horseman, I am eager to share all that I can to help someone else reach their goals.
"There are no great horseman, just great horses" It takes a good horse to make a good rider, and also a good rider to make a good horse. Find someone with what you think is a GREAT horse and get help riding from them. Maybe one day, becoming a core client, you will get to throw a leg over on their best horse and your Journey will take a leap forward. Once you improve your riding, the horses you ride will get better and better. I'm so excited!! for my next horse, and the journey to being a better horseman that horse will take me on.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Equine Dentist
Today's client had a terrible time driving to my place. His new diesel dually would not run with the diesel fuel he'd gotten on his way down from hours north of Flagstaff, AZ. The fuel filters were changed, and that helped, but the diesel fuel just wasn't burning right for the engine to work.
The journey of a horseman can be accelerated I believe if you own one of these diesel engines. My friend from Prescott was down riding with me and having a terrible time with the horse's head control. You must realize that some form of bit will go into your horse's mouth every time you saddle it up to ride. Just like you will put diesel fuel in the vehicle every time you need to drive it. If you have not had a great equine dentist look at your horse's teeth this year, than your fuel filters will not help, no matter what bit you try to ride your horse with.
There is much more on this I will continue to blog later, just getting the right dentist is like trusting the mechanic. Mike Lipsey is the one I trust in my area, and he does travel in quite a large part of North America just doing horse's teeth. That would be one reason I use him, he's up on everyone else in experience inside a horse's mouth.
Driving a diesel is not a bad experience, but I sure don't want to try and get anywhere on a bad filter.
The journey of a horseman can be accelerated I believe if you own one of these diesel engines. My friend from Prescott was down riding with me and having a terrible time with the horse's head control. You must realize that some form of bit will go into your horse's mouth every time you saddle it up to ride. Just like you will put diesel fuel in the vehicle every time you need to drive it. If you have not had a great equine dentist look at your horse's teeth this year, than your fuel filters will not help, no matter what bit you try to ride your horse with.
There is much more on this I will continue to blog later, just getting the right dentist is like trusting the mechanic. Mike Lipsey is the one I trust in my area, and he does travel in quite a large part of North America just doing horse's teeth. That would be one reason I use him, he's up on everyone else in experience inside a horse's mouth.
Driving a diesel is not a bad experience, but I sure don't want to try and get anywhere on a bad filter.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Versatility Training
Athletes that are overusing one group of muscles, or stuck thinking in just one process for too long do not perform as well for as long.
This roommate in college was a runner, did the 600 and the mile run competitively. Rarely was there a day without some major cross-training. Running the opposite direction just to avoid strange muscle in-balance or development was very important. Weight lifting was also important with some bike riding. Nike came out about the time I was in college with a new line of tennis shoe called the cross-trainer.
Rustler my black stallion was started in reining training when I purchased him, and about two to three times a week I hauled him to a rodeo arena to lope out big circles as you read about in yesterdays blog. Cattle were often being worked in connecting pens so Rustler would get many opportunities to focus on moving the cattle, following them, changing speed and stoping with the cattle. Rustler's first reining competition was in July of 2003, and was not aware that he had been trained for it. He had been partaking in cattle drives, trail rides, and roping events. He won money in calf-roping,a USTRC shoot out buckle, mounted shooting buckle all while being trained for his first reining show.
Three years later Rustler had shown in several public performances and earning a living as 2003 CMSA Overall World Champion stallion. Rustler had won it all and was loosing his luster to run hard and turn fast in the patterns. With just a few runs on the team-roping cattle and his willingness was turned back on. More than %33 of his speed was lost from just playing the same old game over and over.
I love the horses mind and spirit when you mix up their training with some high performance training along with extreme obstacle courses, (EXCA). Cutting and reining horses really need to get out of the office when you are training everyday. Not just keeping your horse's mind and body healthier, but making you a better horseman.
In 2008 my performance business cramped my schedule for the MSA World Championship weekend. My horses and I were trick riding in SD. for the Spirit of the West's three day Festival the weekend before, and the day before the championship I was performing my gun-spinning show at a corporate event in Phoenix, AZ for three hours. I was sure that my chances at even placing high were being shot down with the over-worked schedule for my horses and my own hands. Rest was much needed after THREE DAYS OF TRICK RIDING, and then three late hours of spinning and holstering my guns. When the first round was over, there was a big and deep breath of air in me, knowing that I had just finished the most difficult amount of versatility exercises for both the horse and the rider. My horses and I cleaned up everything at the World Championships and felt well rested with three days of just loping around shooting ten targets at a time.
This roommate in college was a runner, did the 600 and the mile run competitively. Rarely was there a day without some major cross-training. Running the opposite direction just to avoid strange muscle in-balance or development was very important. Weight lifting was also important with some bike riding. Nike came out about the time I was in college with a new line of tennis shoe called the cross-trainer.
Rustler my black stallion was started in reining training when I purchased him, and about two to three times a week I hauled him to a rodeo arena to lope out big circles as you read about in yesterdays blog. Cattle were often being worked in connecting pens so Rustler would get many opportunities to focus on moving the cattle, following them, changing speed and stoping with the cattle. Rustler's first reining competition was in July of 2003, and was not aware that he had been trained for it. He had been partaking in cattle drives, trail rides, and roping events. He won money in calf-roping,a USTRC shoot out buckle, mounted shooting buckle all while being trained for his first reining show.
Three years later Rustler had shown in several public performances and earning a living as 2003 CMSA Overall World Champion stallion. Rustler had won it all and was loosing his luster to run hard and turn fast in the patterns. With just a few runs on the team-roping cattle and his willingness was turned back on. More than %33 of his speed was lost from just playing the same old game over and over.
I love the horses mind and spirit when you mix up their training with some high performance training along with extreme obstacle courses, (EXCA). Cutting and reining horses really need to get out of the office when you are training everyday. Not just keeping your horse's mind and body healthier, but making you a better horseman.
In 2008 my performance business cramped my schedule for the MSA World Championship weekend. My horses and I were trick riding in SD. for the Spirit of the West's three day Festival the weekend before, and the day before the championship I was performing my gun-spinning show at a corporate event in Phoenix, AZ for three hours. I was sure that my chances at even placing high were being shot down with the over-worked schedule for my horses and my own hands. Rest was much needed after THREE DAYS OF TRICK RIDING, and then three late hours of spinning and holstering my guns. When the first round was over, there was a big and deep breath of air in me, knowing that I had just finished the most difficult amount of versatility exercises for both the horse and the rider. My horses and I cleaned up everything at the World Championships and felt well rested with three days of just loping around shooting ten targets at a time.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Riding Circles
When a horse goes home from the trainer, can it lope a circle. Someone asked for just this one thing when he sent several colts off to 3 different trainers, to lope a circle. Not one of the horses that returned could do it. This motivated me to be sure of ONE quiz every horse I ride would pass.
Ray Hunt would talk about "the perfect circle". My definition of a circle is the horse giving it's three main body parts over to the rider's control while in the loping gate. The horse's head should be in the direction of your circle, at the same level as the shoulder of the horse. The shoulder should be straight and forward in direction, not dropping in or fading out of the circle. The hip should be on the inside of the circle and up under the balanced body of the horse. When you can keep a consistent pace and size with your horse giving his three main body parts in a circle you have the perfect circle. It is one of those things that sounds way easier than it is to do.
My first mentor helping me start a colt at 8 years old got me in the habit of watching the path my horse's feet made as I circled and circled until my horse started making his own trail in the dirt. I was plow reining this colt, with the shortest legs I've ever had while riding, so leg control was out of the equation. Now I enjoy using a lot of leg control to stay off my horses mouth while loping circles. Gordon Kern said, "Brian, if you ride circles every day, and tie your horse to the hitching post for a couple hours everyday, you'll have a good horse." I still practice what he told me 30 years ago.
Ray Hunt would talk about "the perfect circle". My definition of a circle is the horse giving it's three main body parts over to the rider's control while in the loping gate. The horse's head should be in the direction of your circle, at the same level as the shoulder of the horse. The shoulder should be straight and forward in direction, not dropping in or fading out of the circle. The hip should be on the inside of the circle and up under the balanced body of the horse. When you can keep a consistent pace and size with your horse giving his three main body parts in a circle you have the perfect circle. It is one of those things that sounds way easier than it is to do.
My first mentor helping me start a colt at 8 years old got me in the habit of watching the path my horse's feet made as I circled and circled until my horse started making his own trail in the dirt. I was plow reining this colt, with the shortest legs I've ever had while riding, so leg control was out of the equation. Now I enjoy using a lot of leg control to stay off my horses mouth while loping circles. Gordon Kern said, "Brian, if you ride circles every day, and tie your horse to the hitching post for a couple hours everyday, you'll have a good horse." I still practice what he told me 30 years ago.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Buying Horse Training
What ever horse you pick to send off to the trainer, you are investing money into it's future abilities, and hopefully adding to it's potential worth. So you might ask yourself the question before you spend this money,"is this horse worth putting the money into?". Half of my client send me their children to school for as long as their budget will allow me to have them in class. The other half of my clients are sending me their invested "live stock", to add value to a marketable item in the competition arena and certainly at the registered sale, or at the time of liquidation.
I was tipped the other day when I trained a horse for a client and they paid me with a $10 tip added to the invoice. I was awakened to the idea again that I provide a service that could indeed be rated by my clients as very appreciated or not satisfactory. I have always looked at my job to teach horses how to act correctly around their owners and perform to their maximum level, as that of a school teacher. I'm sure my parents never tipped any of my school teachers, it was a job they were expected to perform because it was simply their job. Many folks now even send their dogs to a "school", and the dogs get grades, graduate, and move up into different classes. We must be talking about some real smart dogs. I would tip the dog trainer if he turned my mutt into a registered lab that could track and hunt anything. Do you tip a dog trainer who made a mean dog into a loyal animal that no longer bit your head off when you came home from work? He would be accomplishing more than I could get to happen with all the hours in a day working on it. That is why he has the job of training dogs right?
What horse in your barn are you sending off to the trainer to get more schooling. Your weanling, to get it started on it's halter training so you can show it as a yearling? Do you send the old horse in your barn off to get more schooling so it doesn't hurt it's self when you ask it to perform in the arena, or maybe showing it off in the local parade? It doesn't matter, what matters is that you have in your mind what it is you are doing. I have a client that sent a mustang paint filly to get broke. He just wants a horse to head steers in local jack-pot team-ropings. I ride it all winter and he puts his daughter on it at a pole-bending competition. ?+#*#?!!? The next horse this client sent me was another paint, this one is out of some good AQHA stock. The 3 year old filly caries her head low, lopes out slow and easy after three months of getting saddled, we'll only guess what she will get asked to do by it's owner. I would label this as a APHA client, however they do not know what APHA is. They just simply bought some horse training.
Do you ever go and get a hair cut when the beautician doesn't ask what you would like? If you are getting your hair cut just before you're getting an award, going to an important business venture, interview, or meeting the parents. There is meaning and reason for buying the service. I tell them I want you to turn me into Brad Pitt. No, When your hair messes up your day and won't any longer do what you want it to, you buy the service.
I can now see why I got that $10 dollar tip, when I finished the horse's hair cut, the owner liked how low maintenance his horse now was compared to before I started the service. They did more than just buy some horse training, they improved everyday life with their horse.
I have a training agreement for every horse I ride. Goals for your horse to improve on and Goals for the future of the horse are always the most difficult part for the owners to identify. I help them by showing them a few of the agreements forms on top of my pile. I encourage you to do this, don't even think about "buying horse training" just write down those goals for your student that is in school, dog, horse. I hope your goal in buying Horse Training isn't to change the horse's breeding.
I was tipped the other day when I trained a horse for a client and they paid me with a $10 tip added to the invoice. I was awakened to the idea again that I provide a service that could indeed be rated by my clients as very appreciated or not satisfactory. I have always looked at my job to teach horses how to act correctly around their owners and perform to their maximum level, as that of a school teacher. I'm sure my parents never tipped any of my school teachers, it was a job they were expected to perform because it was simply their job. Many folks now even send their dogs to a "school", and the dogs get grades, graduate, and move up into different classes. We must be talking about some real smart dogs. I would tip the dog trainer if he turned my mutt into a registered lab that could track and hunt anything. Do you tip a dog trainer who made a mean dog into a loyal animal that no longer bit your head off when you came home from work? He would be accomplishing more than I could get to happen with all the hours in a day working on it. That is why he has the job of training dogs right?
What horse in your barn are you sending off to the trainer to get more schooling. Your weanling, to get it started on it's halter training so you can show it as a yearling? Do you send the old horse in your barn off to get more schooling so it doesn't hurt it's self when you ask it to perform in the arena, or maybe showing it off in the local parade? It doesn't matter, what matters is that you have in your mind what it is you are doing. I have a client that sent a mustang paint filly to get broke. He just wants a horse to head steers in local jack-pot team-ropings. I ride it all winter and he puts his daughter on it at a pole-bending competition. ?+#*#?!!? The next horse this client sent me was another paint, this one is out of some good AQHA stock. The 3 year old filly caries her head low, lopes out slow and easy after three months of getting saddled, we'll only guess what she will get asked to do by it's owner. I would label this as a APHA client, however they do not know what APHA is. They just simply bought some horse training.
Do you ever go and get a hair cut when the beautician doesn't ask what you would like? If you are getting your hair cut just before you're getting an award, going to an important business venture, interview, or meeting the parents. There is meaning and reason for buying the service. I tell them I want you to turn me into Brad Pitt. No, When your hair messes up your day and won't any longer do what you want it to, you buy the service.
I can now see why I got that $10 dollar tip, when I finished the horse's hair cut, the owner liked how low maintenance his horse now was compared to before I started the service. They did more than just buy some horse training, they improved everyday life with their horse.
I have a training agreement for every horse I ride. Goals for your horse to improve on and Goals for the future of the horse are always the most difficult part for the owners to identify. I help them by showing them a few of the agreements forms on top of my pile. I encourage you to do this, don't even think about "buying horse training" just write down those goals for your student that is in school, dog, horse. I hope your goal in buying Horse Training isn't to change the horse's breeding.
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