Thanks Fillabeana, gives me even more to think about 
And for some reason, this now has the song “Let it go” from Frozen running through my head…
Chex, 4 yr old QH, is lazy. I think whoever did his training DID a good job, but mayb rushed things before he was going forward. So, he likes to suck back a LOT.
I have been working some on collection, his trot is decent, soft and mostly willing, not a lot of fighting, will hold it pretty good. That is the gait that I have worked the most on collection.
Canter is ok for short periods but loses it, so is more of a discussion.
I don’t show, so am really in NO hurry. Mayb two (?) months ago, the lady I take lessons from, asked me to SPEED him up, HMMM, NOT REAL EASY…
I have had some allergy issues at the barn, since has been SO cold, they have shut it up more than normal, so have had a few asthma attacks. I got an inhaler, so got it under control, but when it has been super cold, I just don’t have the air to really push him for a long period of time, so will admit, I have worked on this, but not as hard as normal. Supposed to finally get a tad warmer, so will work on it soon.
Anyways, I typically ride w/11 foot reins, and I am on the buckle, so BIG swinging loops on the bit, I basically direct him to turn, but stay out of his mouth, since we are just trying to get him to MOVE forward.
I can go FAST & SLOW in the canter and trot, by seat, position and legs. Again, am usually on the buckle. I do not pull back to slow down. He has an awesome stop, I just ask w/my seat, and he uses his butt to stop THEN. So, he really was trained well, just was hard and is hard to get him to dial up, but again, am working on it
BACKGROUND…
I got my 1st horse when I was 32 yrs old, a 6 yr old paint, PJ. Had ridden a little as a kid, but no formal lessons, so was a VERY green rider on a slightly green horse. I treated him like a dog, as you can probably imagine, I had NO business having a horse, was a HUGE learning curve. THANKFULLY, I never got hurt, but have come a long way. Seemed to always find help when I REALLY needed it, lol. Learned as I went, but soaked up everything I could, then found some good horseman…
Sooo, PJ is almost 18 yrs old, has had some ligament issues, nursed him back, is sound now, so just cant handle my ride load anymore. He is semi-retired, still ride him, he is my comfy old shoe, but I keep things easier for him. I ride most days, mostly on the trail, several hours a day, so decided to get another horse.
On a whim, AND THANKS TO LJ Starkey for telling me about the Pitzer sale, last April, a friend and me went 11 hours to Nebraska, got a 4 yr old QH from some cutting lines in a HUGE auction. I had decided I wanted a little cowy and something just different than you see around here.
He is the sweetest little guy, I really love him.
BUT I would like to be able to use my body to ride him, not hands. So, this has been a really good learning experience so far :}
I am supposed to ask, then TELL, not nag.
I am good at that except have seemed to have fallen back into bad habits w/the pedaling at the walk.
It is just really hard, cuz too much, he starts to jog. I can get a few really good steps, then he drops down to slow and short. I just need to be consistant and stick w/it, when I ask for a walk w/purpose, he needs to do it!!
But I will figure him out The canter took me about two weeks, the minute I shifted my weight, he would break into the trot, soooo, I figured out, if I keep a little leg on him, sit back, then legs off, he would slow down and stay cantering.
He is VERY sensitive and is always thinking to slow down, so while I appreciate that, it poses some interesting issues too.
I really could not be more happy w/him, is only my 2nd horse and youngest, so it really nice to have a sane horse w/a brain, lol.
We have done an endurance ride, trail rode MANY MANY miles, and played w/cattle. The cattle is where you can really see/feel his cutting breeding. He likes getting in w/the cows.
My other horse would push cows, but doesn’t have a strong urge to go in when not our turn, I have to tell Chex to stand when waiting our turn, he wants to go in, lol. He is polite, just like he asks if is our turn again, lol.
I am just glad I learned what I did, understand feel, and am really trying to learn more and use it whenever I interact w/horses I have really come a LONG way
Not sure if this fits into this thread or not, but I find this thread very helpful so thought I’d ask.
If I give my horse a loose, on the buckle rein, his preferred neck position seems to be rather low. Like, neck at or usually below the withers. If I ask him to move more forward it will come up a bit but then go back unless I start feeling like I am nagging him. Should I strive for it to not be so low?
[QUOTE=Fillabeana;7461109]
A third of those riders will follow instructions, try not to do anything wrong, get it right…but they never turn loose within themselves. And then they’ve paid a pretty big pile of dough for something that ‘didn’t help’ or ‘they didn’t get any individual attention’.
When you turn loose of being a ‘good rider’ or a ‘trainer’ or Big Name Trainer (or Medium Name, successful Local Trainer) , when you stop being defensive, and really agree to look at what YOU are doing that is causing particular issues to come up over and over again in the horses you ride…it doesn’t seem like there are a zillion riders taking ‘your’ attention- you’re just as busy as you can possibly handle, your brain is processing absolutely as much as it can and the clinician really DOES notice what is going on when things start to happen.[/QUOTE]
OMG!! Totally agree 100%!! There is this lady at our barn, retired schoolteacher, can NOT figure out feet or feel, no matter how hard she tries, and she REALLY tries.
BUT, lives her life in black and white, very rigid, will probably never figure it out either, I loved how you worded it, she will NEVER be able to turn herself free in order to find it, YUP!!!
I have never been to a BB clinic, or met him.
I wonder if someone shows up in a hackamore, and does not have the basics he expects, why doesn’t he show them how to get the same thing done in a hackamore, instead of just making them switch to a snaffle? It is possible to do what you need to do in a hackamore as well as in a snaffle.
My own answer to my own question is, because it takes longer.
Also, “Turning Loose” is a really good video, is adorable to relive the hair and clothes of the 70’s, but like in a lot of clinics, what you “learn” has much more impact than just working horses. Many of the people grasp that, is very interesting to watch.
[QUOTE=Fillabeana;7461109]
Yup!
Other people have made the example of ‘living in the now’, and Eckart Tolle’s ‘The Power Of Now’, in terms of human turning-loose.
When your horse is confident that you are capable of leading, and that you ARE ‘in the now’, he will be able to turn loose himself.
That’s a bit of why when a ‘master’ takes your horse and turns him into a purring, melted-butter bliss cookie…things go back to ‘the usual’ after a bit when you take him back.
It takes tons of time and experience to learn how to direct/control the horse’s feet without the horse feeling like you’re going to trip him, or like you are TOO controlling. And, on top of that, you have to be just as ‘there’ and ‘with the horse’ as you ask the horse to be ‘there’ and ‘with you’.
But you get little tastes of that purring melted butter cookie…how YOU feel and how your horse feels and all of that together and you just want more.
I think that you’ve hit on a point, Frog, about the PERSON getting turned loose. I think at least a third of the riders at a Buck clinic (or, 'back when, a Ray Hunt clinic), or a Bryan Neubert clinic or any of these guys who seem to have 25 to 30 riders of every imaginable experience/ability level in the arena at once…
A third of those riders will follow instructions, try not to do anything wrong, get it right…but they never turn loose within themselves. And then they’ve paid a pretty big pile of dough for something that ‘didn’t help’ or ‘they didn’t get any individual attention’.
When you turn loose of being a ‘good rider’ or a ‘trainer’ or Big Name Trainer (or Medium Name, successful Local Trainer) , when you stop being defensive, and really agree to look at what YOU are doing that is causing particular issues to come up over and over again in the horses you ride…it doesn’t seem like there are a zillion riders taking ‘your’ attention- you’re just as busy as you can possibly handle, your brain is processing absolutely as much as it can and the clinician really DOES notice what is going on when things start to happen.[/QUOTE]
Great post Fillabeana!
I can really relate to this but never had a term or word to call “it”.
I am also one of those people.sigh
But it wasn’t until I rode for a big time cow horse trainer did this make sense to me. He actually figured me out before I did, he also was good with reading and figuring out horses
I was hired on as an assistant/apprentice trainer. I started all the colts but I also did other things like grooming. I hardly ever went to shows, which that was the agreement from the beginning, I stayed home, kept the colts going along with the show horses that stayed home that week.
What I noticed was about two days before he would leave for a show we would have lessons and he would hammer on me pretty hard. It would stress me out so bad. I was afraid to do it wrong, afraid to turn loose of myself so my horses had a chance themselves.
But after he had been gone for a week, ten days however long, I had it figured out and all my horses were working good on what I was taught before he left.
I finally asked trainer about it, and he said that he figured out how I worked.
If he could get me working right, the horses would work right. He never worried about the horses being “screwed up” when he got back from the shows. He knew that once I had the knowledge then was riding by myself and was able to relax within myself it would come.
Very smart man and one hell of a cow horse trainer…not only did I learn a lot about training horses but I learned a lot about myself
