A chilled Filly

Thursday 1 December 2016

Be careful what you wish for !

Be careful what you wish for !
I've continued to work on follow the rail. It's getting really really good. I find that being aware of the bend in Filly's body and correcting that early have been key. So it's not about pushing her shoulder to the rail but feeling her ribs bulge to the outside and pushing them to straight again before the shoulder moves off the line. So James was right about using outside leg isolations to keep her on the rail. It just took me a while to get the sensitivity needed to understand that. We can do whole laps without touching the reins now :)
So yesterday we were following the rail and decided to change rein. Hind quarters to the inside, step front end through. All going well. The school has a post and rail fence and they have fixed metal dressage letters to the top rail. But they hang below the top rail and as she stepped her fore quarters through my right knee got caught behind the edge of the metal marker. So my leg got left behind and I couldn't get it free. So I was pulled off the right side. So I grabbed the loop on the pad to help get upright again, desperate not to come off so close to the fence. This rotated the whole saddle around her. Now I have no choice but to come off, fortunately gently.
So this morning I have a very sore tendon in my left elbow and can't do the washing up :( ! Right hip just a little bruised but otherwise fine. Likewise with right knee.
Prior to this I had decided I would get a breast plate but the sarcoid prevents it at the moment. Definitely getting one though as soon as she is better and it won't rub her.
I'm very very proud of Filly. As I came off she hopped two steps away and then stood there very quietly with saddle hanging off her side and now very tight. Fortunately I use a packers knot on the girth, not the buckle. It was still difficult to undo the knot however. I buckle would have been impossible. Also fortunately I put the mecate end through my belt which pulled free as I fell off. If it had been tied to the saddle that would have really complicated things.
Through all my pulling and pushing at the saddle she did not move a muscle and then stood quietly as I put it all back on. Rode around a while longer after which Ritchie (Regina) had a ride on her.
Like I said I'm so proud she coped with all that :)

Sunday 13 November 2016

Mike Bridges Clinic and weight shift (again !)

Yesterday we went to see the Mike Bridges clinic just west of Birmingham. It was great to see so many familiar faces we have grown up with in the Parelli world there. I think Pat would have been proud as well. He always says that his program provides the foundation and then we should branch out and seek good instructors in whatever discipline we wish to follow. The knowledge Parelli provided lead me to the Bridle Horse discipline, which I love, and Mike is one of the best instructors in the world for that. Along with Buck I guess, but less well known and therefore a little more accessible.

The format of the clinic was the usual format of a set of riders in the morning and a different set in the afternoon. It was great watching David Zund riding on his little Spanish mare. I was stunned to learn later that the mare is 20 years old !! She was easily the best performing horse all day, but then she had David on board ;)

During the clinic I was getting thoroughly confused about weight shift again, especially after what I had learnt in Montana. So I sought out Mike during the lunch break for some clarification.
He said that what I had learnt in Montana was good for a juvenile horse just learning to move with our aids as it made it super obvious where to go. However it also caused them trouble with regaining balance after the move. So weighting the outside stirrup during a fore quarter turn did make it obvious to move the shoulders away from that side but once the horses legs had moved that way then they would struggle to regain balance. So what I was told in Montana was a way of getting the movement started in a horse that was still in the training phase but not appropriate for a more advanced horse.

Then he came up with what he called the golden rule which comes from classical dressage.
"Move your seat in the direction of travel and over the engaged leg"

He gave the example of a leg yield. If leg yielding to the left then your seat needed to move over to the left side of the horse. That confused me because the most engaged leg in the leg yield is the right hind. But he said the right hind should be stretching across under the mid line of the horse so your weight should be over where that engaged leg is going to strike the ground which is again to the left of the mid line.

I asked about how to position my weight for hind quarter disengagement. He looked a little aghast and asked why on earth I would want to teach the horse to disengage. Everything should be about engagement. I take his point and maybe for a rider of his calibre that is fair enough.
For me I want to be sure that I can quickly disengage the hind legs of Filly. She is a race horse and hates cows at the moment so for me that is a safety issue even if it reduces her performance a little.

Sunday 6 November 2016

Montana Holiday Part 3 : Weight Distribution

One of the reasons for going on to this ranch was to be able to ride with people who had been brought up around the form of horsemanship we are studying. One of those people was Ben.

Ben is, I believe, around 34 years old and has been riding all his life. He has ridden with many of the great horsemen such as Ronnie Willis, Buck Brannaman, Martin Black etc etc. He made a living for many years as a travelling cowboy working on a variety of ranches.

This has lead him to be exposed to many styles of riding in the western tradition. For example he can describe and demonstrate the difference between the Nevada, Texas and Californio style. He also described the reasons that each style originated in each area. Often down to climate it turns out.

If you are riding in the Californio style then you probably have more time as the climate is more predictable than the Texas style where the job has to be done now before the afternoon storms hit.

So I was pretty keen to ride with Ben and was lucky enough to have some one on one tuition with him. For this he either rode his finished bridle horse or maybe his developing hackemore horse.

What I really learnt from Ben was to be a more active rider. Coming from the UK we are used to sitting pretty square in the saddle and central. Hands are kept fairly low and central. From James Roberts, Josh and others I had learnt that maybe when developing a horse in a hackemore the hands need to be more active but Ben put some refinement on that.

To start with the riders weight in the saddle is the main cue for the horse, but we all know that already. What is less clear is how to distribute that weight for a particular manoeuvre. Lets take the simple hind quarter yield as an example.

Say we want to move the horses right hind leg under their body so we get a hind quarter yield to the left. If you watch this in the Parelli program you will see the rider lean a little forward and look down and back to the right hind leg. It appears that the riders weight in now over the right front leg.
However Ben showed me that actually you want to weight the left front leg so you put some of your weight in the left stirrup which has moved forwards a little. You do then look down and back at the right hind leg whilst moving your right leg back to ask for the yield. So weight is on your left leg, but intention is down the right side of the horse.
He explained that to achieve this I needed to bend my body to the right so that it felt as though my left side was stretching and my right ribs were crunched together. To an observer is might well look like I had leant to the right and weighted the right stirrup but that was not the case.

For a fore quarter yield to the right we want the weight over the left hind leg a little. So I need to weight the left stirrup with it slightly forward and lift my inside shoulder higher than the outside shoulder. )In fact this inside shoulder/hand being higher than the outside hand/shoulder was a common theme for many moves.) Then open out the right leg to make space for the horse to move into and close the left leg on or just in front of the girth.

The timing of the pressure and release for either manoeuvre must of course been in time with the horses feet but I trust by now that is taken as read ;)

What really interested me was the position of the inside hand during all this. When teaching a young horse this could be so high is was almost vertical off the nose. If the horse didn't respond to a cue don't pull harder, lift !
Watch Buck ride and you'll occasionally see this as well.

Backup was also interesting as to the body position. I had always thought, wrongly, that the weight needed to be a little back in the saddle to help the backup. However Ben said that was incorrect. Slightly back is to stop. To backup the weight should come up and forward a little into much the same position as a forward walk or sitting trot. However the legs come forward of the position for walk and trot. Having heard this I went and looked at Bucks 7 Clinics section on backing and that is exactly what he says in that.

Maria, Bens wife, neatly summarised the weight position for the fore quarter and hind quarter yields as "but your weight on the side of the horse opposite to the side their head has bent to". Makes it easy to remember for me !

Back at home riding Filly all this knowledge has made a difference, especially on the hind quarter yields. She would do them in the past but with a lot of tail swishing. She'll do them now with a quiet tail and is probably quietly thanking Ben for finally telling me what she has be yelling at me for for years.

Sunday 30 October 2016

Montana Holiday Part 2 : The Round Pen

We arrived at Rocking Z ranch in the early afternoon on a Sunday. We hoped we might have time for a quick ride but weren't sure if that would fit in with the schedule. After all surely Maria and Ben had to have a day off, didn't they?

As it happens it appears they don't ! So after taking our bags to the lovely room we were soon down in the barn and with the horses. I had sent an email to Rocking Z prior to arriving outlining our experience and what we each wanted to get out of the week so Maria already had a plan as to what to do with us. This is a practise I would recommend to anyone going anywhere for a lesson. It saves time for all and allows the activities to be better tailored to the individual.

I had said that I wanted to hone my hackemore skills and progress on the path of learning the vaquero way of horsemanship. I also said that I was keen on interacting with several horses, not just one.

Maria selected a lovely quarter horse mare called Coco for our first session and had her waiting for me in the barn. Time was getting on a little so we decided not to tack up but to concentrate on ground skills.

The ranch has a honeycomb in one of its fields. For those not familiar with a honeycomb I'll try to describe it. Imagine a huge round pen made of post and round pole fencing with an entrance. Then imagine four normal sized round pens inside of the large one placed symmetrically. There is room on the outside of these inner round pens to allow one to easily ride around them whilst staying on the inside rail of the big round pen. Of course you can also ride between the smaller round pens as well. Here is a photo I found of the layout from the Parelli website
This is a brilliant system with an almost infinite variety of patterns and uses.

However today we were just using it as a set of round pens for the four of us who would be playing with horses.

One important aspect of the Rocking Z ranch in my mind is that they do not assume they know it all. They regularly have visiting clinicians and they themselves take part in the clinics. Martin Black goes there every year as does Dave and Jody Ellis. So they seek out top trainers to learn from and it shows.

Maria shared with us a very important concept in this session from Dave Ellis. She said that the implications of this had both shocked her and subsequently improved her horsemanship enormously. And it's such a simple idea.

Never Let you horse do something. Only Allow it to do something.

If you let the horse do something then the horse is taking over and is the leader. By allowing the horse to do something you have set up the suggestion and the horse should willingly comply with that suggestion.

Let me give you the example that Maria got me and Coco to play with to explain this profound idea more.

I asked Coco to do a driving game hind quarter yield by walking with intention towards her hind quarters from the side. Use the tail end of the lead rope or stick and string if your body intention is not enough. Having got the hind legs crossing over then continuing to walk in that direction causing Coco to continually yield the hind quarters. This is of course the friendly game. Horses should after all "Maintain Gait, Maintain Direction" without being asked. It's just that in this case the gait is a continuous hind quarter stepping over. So we are now allowing this movement and our body language of confident friendly game should make this clear.

Now however we want the motion to stop. So we prepare in our minds and then relax from the friendly game in motion to a relaxed "now stop" feeling.

This relaxed "now stop" is not friendly game. It's an instruction. It just so happens that the instruction comes from my body relaxing. The horse should then stop immediately. If they don't, but keep on moving, then we are letting them move and letting them ignore our request to stop. On several occasions Maria said that to her my "now stop" command had been very clear so Coco had clearly just decided to ignore it.

How does this work in practice ? With Coco I would decide that the next time the far hind leg (to me) hits the ground it must not move again. The other legs could adjust to let her come into balance but not the leg I had chosen to stop. I would prepare my mind at least one full step in advance so as to be ready then as the required foot hit the ground I would relax to a stop in my mind and body.

So what to do if they keep moving and take a step or two of "let" movement ? Then ask them to do more. Possibly much more ! "You want to move more, then let me help you". Then ask again for the stop. It didn't take long for Coco to get the idea and I could stop that hind foot 80% of the time.

Such a simple but profound idea. I now watch for all those little moments when a horse has taken over and I am letting them do something rather than allowing them to do something. And that does not just mean hind quarter yields !

Having played with that for a while Maria closed the rail to my round pen and I had a go at liberty with Coco.
My experience of round pen training is limited. I had done some in the past when Larissa kindly leant me Mini to play with at her yard. Trouble was that Mini could duck under the rail of that pen so I had learnt to be too quiet with him. A bit too much pressure and Mini left leaving me a long walk to collect him again :(

I therefore started with some quiet "stick to me". Maria said that looked kind of cute but I should up my game and get some life into Coco. Be more playful !
So I brought my energy up and instantly found what a playful girl Coco was. We soon had her cantering around the pen bucking, kicking and having a great time. To change direction I had a fundamentally bad habit. Standing in the middle of the pen with Coco on a left circle I would back away from her to block at the fence and turn her the other way. Trouble was I was backing on an arc away from her line of travel. Maria rapidly corrected this and had me back straight towards the fence. That tiny change made a huge difference in Coco's reaction and we got even more play drive. I have to say that initially it was a little intimidating being in a round pen with such a playful horse, but within a minute or two it just became exhilarating.

What was interesting was that when I let my energy down and backed slowly away to draw her in she came straight away but with a lovely playful trot and gleam in her eye. As Maria said if I had actually been worrying her she could easily have jumped out and left, but she stayed to play.

This was the horse that I mentioned in the last post as having come straight up to me the next morning in the corral. Whilst I acknowledge that is partly due to the feed they get when taken into the barn none of the other 70 horses did the same. Clearly Coco enjoyed being around me as well, or at least didn't hate the idea !!

All in all that was a great first session and opened my eyes to many new concepts. We don't have a round pen at our yard but I have tried to take the energy and enthusiasm I felt in that session into Filly and my online play. The difference has been tremendous. Much more athleticism from Filly. And from while I try to keep up with her new moves :)

Friday 28 October 2016

Montana Holiday Part 1

I finally have a few minutes to write about the holiday we both enjoyed in Montana and Wyoming. Things have been a bit busy since I got home and I didn't want to write about the experience until I had time to fully digest what I learned.
There is so much to pass on this will have to happen in chapters !

The holiday was to Yellowstone for three full days and then to Rocking Z ranch in Montana for 5 1/2 days.

First Yellowstone
Brilliant is the best way to describe it. We went there to spot wildlife and do a bit of hiking. As a result we did not go to the favourite tourist spots this time. We saw Old Faithful last year.
The best place for wildlife spotting is the Lammar Valley so we stayed in Gardiner which is reasonably close by American standards. Up before dawn to get to the best viewing site by sunrise at the latest. The trick is to cruise along the road looking for lots of folks with spotting scopes and then park there.
We saw everything we wanted to from Brown Bear with cub, Black Bear, wolves, coyotes, etc etc. One tip if you are going there is to at least hire a good spotting scope. We bought one this year and it made a huge difference to what we saw compared to last year.

Rocking Z
This is a horsemanship blog so lets get onto the riding
Rocking Z is near Wolf Creek in Montana. There is another one in the USA so be careful you choose the right one! They are a 5th generation family on this land so know it rather well. Patty and Zac own the ranch but they leave the riding to their daughter Maria and her husband Ben.
Breakfast at 8am. Out to the horses around 9am. All the horses have come off the mountain by then and are in the big corral. All 70 of them together. A few bites and kicks, nothing serious, but other than that they all get along fine. So different to the custom in the UK to keep all the horses separate or maybe with a carefully chosen field mate. I have to say that given the choice I prefer the communal method, so much more natural for them and it avoids all the stable vices that so many in the UK system wind up with. The big advantage the USA have is space of course. I think the ranch was about 30,000 acres !!
So we then went to the corral to get the horse we where allocated for the day. On day 1 I spent some time playing online with a lovely quarter horse called Coco. A dapple grey. I was told to go and get her. Well there are 70 horses and several dapple greys. How do I find the right one !!!?
No problem. As I entered the corral Coco whinied and came straight up to me to stick her head in the halter. I like to think it's because she liked me. Actually those chosen get to go into the barn to be groomed and tacked up AND get given some grain. I guess they all know that so are desperate to be chosen.
We would then ride until around midday or just after before stopping for lunch. A leisurely lunch and then back out to the horses for another session of riding. Finally finishing around 6pm with dinner at 7pm. So all in all we got to ride for around 5 or 6 hours a day.
Very varied riding it was to. Some work in the school, more out in the big home fields. We also did some hacks into the surrounding hills where we found exactly what terrain horses can travel over. I'm too protective of Filly I've discovered. On the hacks we often herded a few stray cattle back to the field they should be in which made it all the more interesting.

That's all I have time for today, but I will be returning time and again to what I learnt in those 5 1/2 days. It's fair to say that I have entered a whole new area of conscious incompetence now and I'll write about my progress towards conscious competence and, you never know, even unconscious competence.

Would we go back to Rocking Z. Absolutely. But it isn't cheap, especially with the exchange rate now. Besides I have at least 2 years work ahead of me to assimilate what I've learnt.

Saturday 1 October 2016

A funny incident

I've always been a little worried about cantering Filly on the left canter lead as she is unbalanced and stiff. I've always worried that it is causing her pain as she prefers the right lead so much. Recently I decided we had to find out one way or another so I've been gently cantering on the left lead and by the end of each session she has become smoother and less bouncy.

Yesterday we were cantering the rail on left lead in the school. We only do three sides of the school at a time. So the first side is to get a nice trot, then the first corner we get the left lead (sometimes !!) and we then continue on three sides to where we started. She has certainly got the idea of being on the rail now and I fear for by legs at times. Yesterday she surpassed herself in ingenuity and stupidity. Going along the second rail she decided her nose was itchy and needed a scratch. Without breaking gait she turned her nose to the rail and ran it along the wood to get a nice scratch. Fearing splinters I pulled her nose away of course and we continued to the stop corner were she had a good rub.

I figure that any horse that is worried about an itchy nose does not have to much discomfort in the rest of their body so in some ways this was a relief. However to have a horse do something quite as dumb as that does worry me ;) . Maybe I need to teach her about rough wooden rails and splinter ? :) :)

Thursday 25 August 2016

Doing the best we can

I've often wondered and also been asked "but what if I'm doing it wrong ?". This can lead to paralysis of progress in you horsemanship. The fear of not getting the timing as good as a Parelli or Brannaman can lead to a fear of trying.

Recently I've given this conundrum a lot of thought. After all I've been on standby duty from work and so have been painting my garages' wooden framework which has allowed a lot of time :(.

Finally I had a flash of inspiration yesterday as to the answer to this problem. Many folks seem to get along just fine without the Parelli or Brannaman knowledge and timing so why does it not matter that much ?

My conclusion was that what matters ultimately is not the timing or knowledge, they just make progress faster. What actually matters is the attitude of mind. If I'm trying as hard as I can to be at my absolute best then the focus that gives me is transmitted to the horse and I'm seen as a leader. Maybe not as good a leader as Pat or Buck, but a leader nonetheless.

So when I'm around the horses, not just in the school or out riding but all the time I'm with them, I'm trying to be the best horseman I can be. That's not the best horseman possible as there is so much I don't know yet. I'm sure there are many things that even Pat and Buck don't know yet but if you watch them they are always striving to be the best they can be now.

So what sort of things am I trying to do well ?
Neutral
Haltering
Picking out hooves
Grooming

Poo picking (don't laugh. Mark Rashid has a section on striving for excellence in this on a DVD. The muscle memory of efficient balanced use of muscles then translates into riding)

Playing on line or ridden
Focus
Planning
Adapting

In fact anything that can count as an interaction with horses. Even watching a DVD or reading a book counts as that creates an exercise for the mind.

Some of my friends and family think that makes me a little obsessive, and it probable does. But it also gives me a pride in my horsemanship and a sense of satisfaction that I'm doing everything in my power to make my partnership with horses as good for them as it can possibly be.

It also gives me the confidence to try things with horses that I might otherwise be worried to attempt.

Monday 15 August 2016

Point to Point part 2

One of the things that Pat seems to say a lot is that people don't do the patterns for long enough. A session or two, then they get bored with the repetition and go on to other things. I'm determined not to fall into that category. I've been there and made that mistake in the past. As a result progress has been slower than it should have been.

So at the moment there are two patterns I use mostly. Point to point and the Stacey Westfall clover leaf pattern.

A session with Filly currently starts with a brief follow the rail at walk just to get her in rhythm, then we move onto the patterns. Follow the rail turns into point to point where we go through all the exercises I mentioned in my last post. The exercises ramp up in difficulty as we go along. So we might start with simple trotting between the points.
Then halt to canter transitions.
Then canter to backup (very keen on that one to get a soft canter stop).
Then backup, 180 degree turn, canter, stop, backup, 180 degree turn, canter etc. Pauses put in when required to get softness in body and mind for both of us.

As you can see the boring Point to Point pattern can be made really interesting and fun. In fact I make a point of having fun in my mind and body as this transmits itself to Filly and we get way more done.

Then for a quick change of gear we go to the Stacey Westfall pattern.
To do this place 5 markers on the ground with one central one and others arranged on a circle around it about 9 paces from the middle one. The pattern is NOT riding the circle though I do use the markers for that sometimes as well.
To start the pattern on the right rein. Middle marker to left side of outer marker then a hind quarter (indirect rein) turn towards the middle marker. Aim to left side of middle marker and make a direct rein turn through 90 degrees towards the left side of the next outer marker. Then an indirect rein turn back towards middle marker.
So if on the right rein all turns are 90 degrees around the middle marker, 180 degrees around the outer marker and all on the same rein.

Our favourite form of this is at trot with really sharp indirect turns around the outer marker, a surge of energy around the middle marker and keep going for the whole pattern. To make it really fun take the bridle off and do it bridleless. We miss the odd marker I must admit, but usually by the end we have it nailed.

These patterns seem to get Filly pretty motivated and also, because she knows what to expect, calm. I guess that's the power of patterns ! 

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Just an update : Using point to point

Its been too long since I last posted but things have been a little busy of late. I am just back from competing in the UK 15 meter Gliding National Championship in Lasham. I was overall 4th but that included two visiting Germans, so out of the British I was second. That puts me in a possible place to get back into the British National Gliding Team for next year in the European Championship. This is subject to how well the British Team do in the World Championship this winter in Australia. If one of them comes home with a medal then I don't get a place. As you can imagine preparing for such a competition, which is 9 days long, took up a fair bit of time with practise and logistics, hence why I've been a bit quiet.

All this does not mean I have not been out with the horses.

I had an interesting ride on my wife's horse Bonitao a couple of evenings ago for example.
We use point to point game a lot with our horses to get them motivated and forward thinking. Point to point involves going from one corner of the school to the next and then stopping and waiting a fair time. Then we go to the next corner and wait. The horses learn that the quicker they get to the next corner the longer the rest. Do this with either of our two and usually by the second point we are getting halt to canter transitions at the slightest ask.
Of course after a while you miss out corners and go around 2 , 3 or more before stopping. Then you can use other points in the school as rest spots like on the clover leaf pattern as you approach the fence at 90 degrees. Out on a hack you can have known points.... well you get the idea.

So, as I say, we can get halt to canter out of both of our two with ease. Bonitao is especially motivated by this game. I decided to up it a bit and see what else we could do with the pattern.

First up was back up to canter.
We started in a corner and then to Bonitao's surprise I asked him to back away from it along the fence. Once he was soft I then asked for trot to the next corner. After a few times he got the hang of this so then I asked for back up to canter. The corner helped with getting the correct lead. After just a couple of attempts where he seemed confused he was leaping forwards into the canter with a big push from his hind legs. It was a great feeling and once he was confident he seemed to really enjoy the task.

Next I thought about using the pattern to get a nice 180 degree turn to canter transition. This time we just cantered the rail, but on track 2 (i.e just away from the fence). As we approached the corner I then asked for a halt. Hind quarter yield for 90 degrees so we faced the fence, fore quarter yield for 90 degrees ( this rocks the weight onto his hind legs) and then canter back to the corner we started at. Again after a little confusion from him he got the hang of it and became really exuberant, for a Bonitao that is :). We were barely halting in the corner before the turn commenced and we were flying back whence we came.

Then we just wandered around the school doing some inside and outside leg isolations at walk as a cool down and to relax a little.

I think many folks see the patterns Parelli teach but then only use them as they are shown. But with a little thought they can be adapted for so much more.

Of course Parelli can't show all these adaptations. There is not enough time on a DVD, or even whole box of DVDs for that. This is when one of the most important Qualities of a Horseman comes in.

IMAGINATION !!

Friday 17 June 2016

The responsibility of learning

There are many many responsibilities to owning and caring for a horse. Grooming, feeding, mucking out, hoof care, physical fitness, cleaning the field etc etc. But I think one overlooked responsibility is that of making ourselves better horsemen. Not better riders, though that is part of it, but better horsemen. After all Pat Parelli says that riding is the mere act of not falling off, horsemanship is everything else.
So how to become a better horseman.
Experience is of course a large part of this. Experience of playing and riding ones own horses. Experience (and the privelage) of playing or riding other peoples horses. Watching other people, good and bad ride or play with their horses. You can learn from either.
The experience of someone else riding/playing your horse, particularly if that horseman is very good and can show you what your horse can do.
But not all of us have the time to be with our horses as much as we would like. I for one spend many days working such that I can't go and see my horse at all for days on end. 6 days in my current block of work :( . So how do we improve our horsemanship if we can't be with horses ?
That's where studying and learning come in. I probably spend more hours studying horsemanship than I actually spend with Filly. Not a state I like, but one that is imposed upon me by my job. Even when I have a day off it is really only practical to be with her for 2 or 3 hours.
But that studying must be effective or it is just a waste of time and can be confusing. That's part of the reason I have selected a particular style of horsemanship that I find fascinating and so studying it is not a drudgery but something I actually look forward to doing. Fortunately for the vaquero / natural horsemanship style there is probably more good quality material available than there is for many other styles. For example I am currently reading Mike Bridges book "The Art of Making a California-Style Vaquero Bridle Horse" again and finding I understand just that bit more this time. I'm also watching Buck Brannamans' "7 Clinics" again and his "The Making of a Bridle Horse" series. With the DVDs I'm now noticing many little nuances I missed the first 2 times I watched them. Yes I'm watching them for the 3rd time now.
Now I've read the books and watched the DVDs several times I find that I don't watch/read them for very long in each session. Maybe just 10 minutes. Then I find that whenever my mind has little to do I know the content well enough to really ponder the meaning of that 10 minutes of information and how I can actually use it. That way it sinks in and gets used rather than just washing over me to be forgotten next time I'm with Filly.
In the "7 Clinics" DVDs there are several interviews with a lady called "Betty". She's a dressage rider but a student of Bucks'. In the section where they are describing "hooking on" she makes a very strong point. She says that once you have got your horse to hook on and look to you as a leader it is your responsibility to ensure that you are a good leader for that horse for the rest of it's life. They have placed their trust in you and you must not break that trust. For me that means I must become the best horseman I can be to honour the trust Filly has placed in me and that involves learning something new everyday.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Feet update

It's been a while since I last showed pictures of Filly's feet so I though a quick update might be in order. As followers of this blog will know a few years ago Filly was very lame. She was diagnosed with navicular syndrome. An MRI showed chips on both front navicular bones. The outlook was not great with the possibility of using injections to control the problem and maybe get a few years of useful work from her. As you can imagine this was an emotionally painful time with much worry, and yes, tears.
By nature I've never been shy at trying something radical to get a good outcome rather than play it safe to get a so so outcome. Following lots of research I came across mention of Nic Barker at Rockley Farm. After visiting her I sent Filly there for three months of rehab on her amazing track system. I could write reams about Nic's method but you're far better off heading over to her blog and reading her key posts here Rockley Farm Key posts
When Filly came home she was still not sound. My farrier threatened us with the RSPCA which was stressful. But I could see a big change in the shape of her feet and it was that change that would ultimately enable the hoof to start to heal itself from the inside. So after some more dark and emotional days and many many hours of walking Filly in hand around the local roads to literally grind her hooves to the shape she needed we started to see her movement improving and could breath again.
Now, as you all know, I'm riding Filly again and doing lots of fun stuff together. We still go for in hand walks around the local lanes. Not because I can't ride her but because I found I really enjoy walking out with her when I need some exercise. We do hack out more conventionally as well ;).

Here is a link to her original blog post from Rockley farm so you can see what the hooves looked liked as they came out of shoes

Fillys blog at Rockley

And here are some photos of her feet now







Friday 11 March 2016

Experimenting with the timing

Since the revelation of being able to really feel the feet I've been experimenting with the timing of the aids. For example : when to ask for a sideways step, a hind quarter yield and a fore quarter yield. And so far this is what I have discovered, guided with how light Filly moves in the direction I ask for and whether or not the tail swishes.
She is such a good teacher with that tail. Ask at the right moment and it's quiet, ask at the wrong moment and hear that swish behind me. Whether it's of anger or disappointment I don't know :(

Lots of the timing of the feet comes from feeling her hips and her barrel. This is covered in detail in Mark Rashids "Understanding Footfall" DVD. A superb explanation even if you need a strong pot of coffee to get through it :)

To understand footfall can I also recommend this video. Came across it researching this post and it is superb : Footfall video
I had never looked at the walk as a diagonal gait before this !

Remember the gait pattern at walk is

left hind
left front
right hind
right front

So when the left hind swings forward it is getting closer to the left front which is still on the ground. To make room for both legs being under the body the barrel swings to the right. So as the barrel starts to swing right I know the left hind has just left the ground so this would be a good time to cue the left hind leg to move over if we want indirect rein (or hind quarter yield). Cueing at any other time makes the move impossible and the tail gives feedback that I got it wrong !
To move the front left leg over I need it to be about to leave the ground and now I know this happens just as the barrel starts to move from the right back over to the left as there is a gap opening up between the left front  and left hind for it to fit in. So the horses legs move further apart as the front leg moves giving room for the barrel to swing into and the legs squeeze the barrel out of the way as the hind leg moves forwards.
This gives a basic understanding of the footfall and the timing of the cues. However I have found it a little more subtle than that. Once I could feel the barrel movement I found that I could feel the hip and shoulder movement. With that I had an even more accurate timing on the feet and so my cueing got even better.

Now I know pretty accurately when the legs are moving I'm playing with getting the timing ever more precise. Buck Brannamans DVDs suggest that to move a front leg over you have to cue just before it leaves the ground, not when it is already in flight. He likens the reins to pieces of string attached to the hooves. So to move the left front over you pick up the left front with the left rein move it over then drop it on the ground where you want it. Then move the rein back to wards the middle to get ready for the next step. If the hoof is already in flight it is difficult to redirect as it already has momentum in the wrong direction and the penalty is another tail swish.
Of course this applies to the left hind as well. I've found that its best to cue just before the hoof leaves the ground (with leg and hand) pick that hoof up with the indirect rein and swing over under her, then set it down. To do this the hand has to come up and in towards the center of course, just as the Parelli program teaches. A shame it does not use this idea as it would be so much easier to learn than the way they do at the moment.
Of course all this timing of the feet does make for a lot of work for the rider. To turn left for example you can't just pull on the left rein and leave it at that. I now try to squeeze the rein each time I want to redirect a foot. For a circle that is many many times. The upside is that Filly is now way more responsive and happy in her work. She's also flexing much softer than in the past so we can start working towards picking up a soft feel which will build to collection

I think the others at the yard think I'm mad, by the way, which may be a downside when you start this. They are all trotting and cantering around, jumping over big jumps etc. All I'm doing is going around in seemingly random patterns at a walk, jumping off and saying "that was a fantastic ride". They are wondering what is so fantastic about walking in circles and when I mention timing the feet their eyes kind of glaze over. I guess this is a pretty esoteric part of horsemanship and you could probably get along without knowing it. But I doubt you'd ever produce a bridle horse without knowing it or a horse that can be as light as it is possible to get.

I have been told twice now that a very light horse is not desirable for dressage as they will be responding to the slightest error in your movement and you'll loose points as the horse does not walk straight. For me though I have no desire to compete, just the addiction to lightness and I want to see how far I can take it.

Sunday 6 March 2016

Timing the feet gives relaxation

I've been working on timing my cues to Filly's feet for a while now and finally it's beginning to come. Well, for the front feet anyway !
I've always known that this desirable but having watched the Buck Brannaman DVDs the idea has taken on a whole new level of importance for me. Buck does say that learning the skill is demanding and frustrating but also states that once acquired it will change the way you ride forever. So I figured "what's a few months of hard work compared to being a better rider for the rest of my life" ?

And yes it has been frustrating and hard and... did I mention frustrating ? To start with I would feel the magic for just a few strides and cues and the feeling was worth striving for. Today I suddenly found I could really really feel that inside front foot and it happened is the most unlikely of situations.

Filly and I had been having fun in the school doing some nice trot circles getting her to turn the forehand with leg aids. It had been going pretty well so I decided we needed a change of scene. We left the school and headed out down the track. I haven't been doing much hacking out recently so the aim was pretty modest. Just to the end of the dirt track leading to the yard and back. On the way out she was good and we played with sideways from one side of the track to the other. With timing of course :). At the end of the track there is a very small loop we can make which involves going down a tiny slope onto another track and then back around onto the original track. She was finding the few steps down a bit worrying and was rushing them. I thought "no problem, we've just been working circles in the school so we'll just work them here". After three or four circles she settled and took time and care as she stepped down.

I decided to head back to the yard. She was getting a bit tense and too forwards so I circled her in small circles on the track. Filly kept pushing into my hand as we turned away from home.
Then suddenly I could feel her feet and my timing on the rein got way way better. After another few circles she started to really settle down. We rode back along the track doing circles and figures of 8 with the emphasis on the timing. She became more and more relaxed. The circles were no longer a battle but we sort of drifted around them. I'm not saying they were pretty dressage circles, they weren't but 90% of her resistance to them had gone. I actually felt in real harmony with her feet for the first time for an extended period. I can't help but think that this better feel I could give her now helped her to find confidence in me as a leader and thus relaxation in herself.

Such a magical feeling I can't wait to experience it again.

Tuesday 23 February 2016

More about Buck

I've been spending a lot of time watching the Buck Brannaman Seven clinics DVDs lately. I have to confess that in the past I've been a little wary of Buck as some of the online video I've seen of him struck me as a little harsh. How wrong I was !! Having now watched 10 hours of DVD, lots of it multiple times I have come to realise that he's actually a very very gentle horseman and those incidents posted online have just been folks putting up some video they thought would be exciting to watch.

Having said that he is very much a no-nonsense horseman but always fair on horse and human. He offers the opportunity for the horse to follow his feel but if it doesn't he comes in as firm as needed to get the point over. However it is rare on the DVDs to see him have to get firm at all.

The reason for this is that he has amazing timing with hands and feet. Fortunately the DVD player in my computer has a slow motion mode so I can slow the action down and watch exactly when he times the cues. They are always timed to the feet. As a result the horse is free to move in the direction the cue is asking and so there is no resistance and no fight. From this comes harmony and relaxation. The horse knows that in Buck they have a dependable leader who will never ask them to do something they physically cannot do. And I mean cannot do in this micro-second. The foot he is directing as available to move when he adds the cue so it moves. No fuss or fight as there is nothing to fuss or fight over !

For me this has been the biggest thing to take away from the DVDs. I've always tried to time my cues to the feet, but when things are a little difficult that timing has been off. This has caused more confusion in the horse as she is being asked to do something she knows is physically impossible capable of doing so. But she knows she should try and do something with the cue so does something she can do to see if that is the answer to the question. Of course in my mind it isn't so I wonder why she isn't doing what I want and add more pressure. As you can imagine this can escalate in a few seconds to a total misunderstanding which can appear to be disrespect.

Even worse is that when the foot is finally available to move as I desire if I've started with the cue at the wrong time she's probably already discounted the desired motion as the wrong one as at the time of asking it was impossible so why try it again ?

Even writing about this is confusing for me so imagine how it feels for her at the time !!

So, whilst I've always been attempting to get in time with the feet in the past it has now become another addiction to add to the one about finding lightness. Fortunately they will be mutually supporting addictions and will therefore just grow stronger over time.

More importantly I now fully realise that in general any perceived disobedience from Filly is almost always going to be a lack of timing on my part. This has made me lighten up on Filly but get much harder on myself.

Now I'm suggesting that all undesirable behaviour in Filly is  the result of poor timing on my part. But quite a bit of it is. The other evening I was riding her before she had her dinner. Not a good time to ride Filly. She was incredibly strongly drawn to the barn end of the school. Not surprising really as there is not a lot of grass in the fields at them moment and she was hungry. So we had a few issues to work through which went well and we had a nice ride in the end. However I can't help feeling that if my timing was as good as Bucks' then maybe she would have been happier hanging around with me as her "leader" would have been less frustrating for her.

I'll write much more about Buck as I understand more. Largely to keep the ideas straight and honest in my mind as much as anything else. In the meantime I would highly recommend that anyone delving into the world of Natural Horsemanship should have this DVD set on their shelf and watch them many times.

I'm not saying that the Buck DVDs are a replacement for the Parelli program. There are many things in them that without at least a foundation in Parelli I would not have understood as well. They would still be very watch-able and valuable without that background, but I think you would get only 50% of the true value they contain. However I think they also contain some vital elements that the Parelli program has not emphasised sufficiently (or left out altogether) and as such they are a very valuable addition to your knowledge.

Monday 8 February 2016

Having lessons

Recently I've had a couple of riding lessons from Sue Edwards. That might not sound much of a revelation but they have been from a dressage instructor and I ride western style. But then good horsemanship is good horsemanship and done correctly there is not that much difference between the two styles. After all vaquero came partly from Spanish classic dressage.

I've had lessons before and have been asked to adopt various torture positions and stress my body into strange shapes. I've never really understood the reason for these odd positions as they a) hurt and b) prevent me from relaxing and becoming a part of the horse. So I was relieved when this top class instructor (up to Grand Prix dressage and an elite coach) told me this was all wrong. The first lesson was actaully about getting me to relax more.... and more!

She asked me to picture having to ride comfortably on a 50 mile hack. How would I sit. How would I relax and move with my horse. Was there any stress in any muscle, if so relax it. This didn't mean sitting like a sack of potatoes as I had to become one with the horses movements, but it did mean no muscular tension. None of that old "heels down, toes in chin up, chest out" nonsense. Just relax. And as I relaxed so did Filly. She stretched out her walk more and more and eventually sighed.

It's not all been about relaxation however. We have also been working on improving Fillys' responses to various cues. Particularly the ones to move her forequarters over and her ribs out. Sue does not teach moving the hind quarters around as she says that in dressage this can make the horse all "squirrelly" and difficult to keep straight. For what I want out of Filly, which isn't dressage, this is one area where I will differ from Sue and require good hind quarter yields.

Other than that there has been a lot I have gotten out of the lessons and the relaxation idea has certainly given me a much deeper seat. In fact I think I may have to let the stirrups down a hole or two.

One highlight was on the last ride. I was not having a good ride for whatever reason. We were working on getting Filly to move out on the circle with pressure from the inside leg, but I could not get the slightly odd position (to my mind) that Sue was asking for so it wasn't happening. Finally Sue asked if she could have a ride on Filly and see what the problem was. I was more than willing to let this top class rider ride her.

Sue actually rode her for around 1/2 hour in the end and eventually got some nice yields achieved. She rode at walk, trot and canter. I was a little worried that at some point she was going to stop, get off and pronounce her lame. However she never mentioned lameness. But I still wanted to know what she thought in case she was just being polite so I asked her straight out. "Do you feel any lameness as she's recovering from navicular syndrome". Sue replied that she could feel nothing wrong at all and that in fact once we had gotten her a bit straighter she had a very nice canter.

To say this made my day would have been an understatement. I now had the opinion of someone who would be very very sensitive to the action of a horse tell me Filly was ok.
I immediately texted Nic Barker and Ben (my vet) with the news and had a glass of something strong to celebrate. After all we have been through with folks telling me I was doing it all wrong, to the point of threatening me with the RSPCA, I finally had vindication that my faith in Nic was right and we had achieved our goal. Not that there aren't still issues to be sorted but I finally believe we are over the worst of it.