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Carol Walker Carol Walker - an equine photographer specializing in photographing Baroque horses. She offers Farm Calls, Portrait sessions, commercial shoots, stock photography, fine art prints, calendars and a book on wild horses. http://www.livingimagescjw.com/ Horses For LIFE

Horses For LIFE

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Content Highlights PG 86

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Contents contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d pg 56

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Join us this month as we explore this wonderful experience with so many incredible equestrians.

On behalf of all of us at Horses For LIFE may the gift of the horses be with you always.

All material copyright protected by Horses For LIFE Publications. Please contact us for information, suggestions, comments and submissions at equestriansquest@horsesforlife.com or 1-306-383-2588

We continue from last month with another excellent â&#x20AC;&#x153;how toâ&#x20AC;? edition. Do you really understand the canter? Why is it so difficult sometimes especially when we start to see which leg is leading? What is one of the easiest ways to teach the flying lead change? What is the one single most important thing you can learn TODAY that will make the biggest difference to your horse? Discover how Carlos Tabernaberri trains so that he can lead one horse from another with no lead rope. How leading and will facilitate your training with your horses. Follow along in one lesson to learn why yielding the reins is not always the right answer and so much more. Thank you for joining us in this incredible equestrian journey.

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Philippe Karl asks the German Equestria This is their response. We want to hear your views.

22 May 2009 On 27 March 2009, I sent a letter to the German Equestrian Federation (FN), in which I propose a number of changes of the FN rules. So far, I have not even received a confirmation of receipt, let alone an answer. I therefore decided to make this letter and the propositions it contains accessible to the public by way of the magazine Dressur-Studien and the Internet. All people involved with horses (riders, grooms, teachers, trainers, owners, breeders, vets, etc.) who are willing to endorse such reforms are invited to express their support by adding their name to the list at the following link: http://www.philippe-karl.com/703 Thank you - on behalf of the horses and the Art of Riding. Philippe Karl

an Federation for Changes

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Philippe Karl: Petition

27.03.2009 To the management of the German Equestrian Federation (FN) Dear Madam, dear Sir, Due to the increasing professionalisation of equestrian sports and the growing pressure of economic constraints, the official interpretation of good riding has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Dressage, which forms the basis for the education of riding teachers, should at the same time provide the best example of classical schooling of the horse. Instead, it has degenerated to a superficial, coercive exploitation of the horse. A very high proportion of horses pay the price for this, under the almost completely indifferent eyes of the authorities. On each level, from the national federations to the FEI, whether out of ignorance or complacency, judges have, little by little, allowed the unacceptable to become the norm. This tragic drift occurred worldwide. In ethical and aesthetical terms, it leads to a serious cultural regression. The ranks of those who reject such a way of riding continue to grow steadily. The German Equestrian Federation (FN) holds a dominant position in the world of dressage. As such, it should take the lead of a reform movement that would do it great honour. It would be naive to think that a clever manipulation of the “training scale”, some nice sentences about “harmony”, “gymnastics for the horse” or “classical riding” would bring about a real change of direction. What we need are sensible, radical rules that could easily be implemented and which could at one and the same time protect the horses, put a stop to offenders’ games and promote healthy training and competition. In this spirit I would like to propose that the FN incorporate the following concrete points into the rules. 1. Auxiliary reins connected to the bit are forbidden, whether on the longe or under saddle. The longe should always be attached to a cavesson. 2. Tight nosebands are forbidden, both in daily training and competition. (In addition, it is permissible to present a horse without a noseband.) 3. The horse’s mouth must be checked immediately prior to every test or performance. Any injury leads to disqualification. 4. Any horse showing injury from spurs to be disqualified. 5.

Overflexion (nose behind the vertical) in any movement to be punished with a mark of at most 3.

6. Blocked jaws, tongues pulled up or hanging out and grinding of the teeth in any exercise to be punished with a mark of at most 4. 7. Neck extension (long position in which the mane is nearly horizontal, the nose keeping in front of the vertical) becomes a part of every dressage test, in all three gaits and on both reins.

8. The walk is reinstated as a fully-fledged part of each dressage test, representing up to 30% of total marks possible, at least in tests on E, A, L and M level. The lateralisation of the walk (horse comes close to ambling) leads to disqualification. 9. In tests for young horses as well as auctions, the young horses must be presented in neck extension in all three gaits, with the rider rising to the trot. Yours faithfully, Philippe Karl _________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________ The FN replied to Philippe Karl on 15 June 2009 and commented on his propositions. The English translation of the reply follows: Please note: This text is the English translation of the answer of the German Equestrian Federation (FN) to the letter Philippe Karl sent on 27 March 2009. The original German version of this text, including the letterhead, can be found at http://www.philippe-karl.com/534/ Please note too that this translation contains some expressions of the German riding vocabulary which do not have any direct equivalent in English. They have been translated as literally as possible while trying to render the German meaning in the most precise way.

Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung, 48229 Warendorf 15.06.2009 Dear Mr. Karl, Thank you for your letter with its propositions for changes to our “rules”. The system of rules regulating the riding competition in Germany, of which the German Equestrian Federation and its under-organizations are responsible, is the “ Leistungs-Prűfungs-Ordnung” (LPO, Regulations for the performance tests). These regulations are revised every four years by corresponding expert committees, who are always happy to receive practical proposals, discuss them and when indicated, take them into consideration. However, your “concrete propositions for the rules” can be integrated only partially into our regulations. For instance, the LPO does not contain any detailed specifications on the scoring, as you call for in some of your points. The performance tests are judged on the basis of the “ Richtlinien fűr Reiten und Fahren” (Principles of riding and driving). We attach great importance to the fact that as experts of the matter, our competition judges should form a comprehensive and global opinion based on the “Richtlinien”. The scoring system used in our competitions reveals for the greatest part very clearly which horses are well and correctly ridden and which are not. But we do also know that in the training courses for judges, we have to point out again and again when Horses For LIFE

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Philippe Karl: Petition performances cannot be rated with a good or satisfying score due to insufficiencies in the main points of the “Skala der Ausbildung” (Training scale). In the end, the scores show that only few riders perform well, very well or even excellently. Otherwise judges would give more marks between 8 and 10. So: even winning performances sometimes have shortcomings. The judges document this by means of their marks! You furthermore write that the official riding has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. If by this you mean the classical riding system, which forms the basis of the German and international riding competition, we have to contradict you distinctly. The riding system in effect till today – as it is described in the “ Richtlinien fűr Reiten und Fahren” – is based on the 1912 Manual of the German cavalry (“Heeresdienstvorschrift”) and has essentially been subjected to an optical and linguistic overhaul. Its principles, which even at the time were geared to the wellbeing of the horse, remain unchanged to this day. Maybe today it is indeed being interpreted somewhat generously in some parts of elite sport. This is something we have to deal with on the national and international level. And this is indeed being done! We are very well aware too that the classical riding system is not always – and not by everybody – put into practice like we would wish it. In all riding disciplines and on each level, classical riding is sometimes put into practice in a wrong way – often not intentionally, but out of incapacity. One way to put it into practice which in our view is wrong, is the elevation of the horse created by a clear action of the hands, as you propagate it in your riding system and as we could observe for ourselves during your presentation at the Equitana horse fair. Such a riding nearly always goes at the expense of the activity of the back and therefore also of the relaxedness and the health of the horse. Finally, we would like to shortly comment on your nine propositions. First of all, we wish to point out that some of the points you mention have been part of our regulations for years: 1. When used properly, auxiliary reins do not automatically have a negative effect. They are called auxiliary reins because they can be helpful during certain phases of the schooling of horses and riders. We too do lastingly reject auxiliary reins that are fixed too short or draw reins used to overflex the horse. In any case, they are not allowed in the performance tests. Using a cavesson can also be very reasonable in the schooling work, especially with young horses. However, we do not see any compelling reason for allowing longeing to be done on the cavesson only. A sensitive longeing person and correctly fixed auxiliary reins are of course an essential precondition. This is why we have introduced a longeing exam (“Longierabzeichen” and an additional volume of the “Richtlinien”. 2. Nosebands that are too tight have always been rejected and are forbidden in competition. To deal with this problem, there are the so-called horse controls – around 55 000 a year – in our competitions, which could certainly be carried out even more intensely and more often. 3. Of course, these controls also include the checking of the horse’s mouth and… 4. ...of the whole skin of the horse, especially at the location of the spurs. 5. The nose slightly in front of the vertical, with a long enough neck and the poll at the highest point, the horse in self-carriage, is and remains the goal to be aimed for! However, the connection between the hand of the rider and the mouth of the horse is not the only important thing. Other preconditions are also the active push-off of the hind legs and the supple swinging through the back into the hand of the rider (“ das losgelassene Schwingen űber den Rűcken an die Hand des Reiters heran”). It is decisive that the horse should seek the bit, that it should be in front of the rider and sensitive to his driving aids. From our point of view, a correct contact (“Anlehnung”) and self-carriage can thus not be judged only by the fact that the nose remains in front of the vertical.

In the dynamics of the motion, even a horse ridden with a smooth contact can sometimes happen to come slightly behind the vertical. Though the clear overflexion of the horse is a problem to take seriously, the fact that the horse occasionally comes behind the vertical has to be viewed in a more differentiated way. If for instance a horse “drops a bit the neck” from the withers and the rider does not yield quickly enough, the horse automatically comes behind the vertical, even without the rider acting backwards with his hand. On the other hand, a horse which moves with a long neck and the poll at the highest point is not automatically relaxed and content! Most of the time, an elevation of the neck that is actively created by the hand goes at the expense of the activity of the back and therefore also of the relaxedness. Oversimplification and black-and-white portrayal thus do not help here. 6. The outward signs of a deficiency in relaxedness are of course judged in a negative way. But here too, the important thing is to evaluate the motion of the horse as a whole. 7. To require the extension of the neck, or as we say it, “ das Zűgel aus der Hand kauen lassen” (literally: to let the horse chew the reins out of the hand) in all the tests is a good suggestion, which has so far been implemented only in parts. At present, it is required in basic and more advanced tests and in the tests in which only the riders are evaluated (“Dressurreiterprufungen”). 8. We have long been pleading within the international committees for clear valorisation of the walk by means of corresponding coefficients. Here too, you only pick one symptom which according to your proposition would influence the scores disproportionately. 9. This point can be put into practice in the performance tests only, not in the auctions. This requirement too is comprehensible. In the presentations for young horses, for instance at the national championships for 3- and 4-year old horses, many things have already changed for the better these last years. In the coming years, we will put the young horse even more in the centre of interest. These past years, we have experienced that not only the rules, but above all the discussion with the riders and trainers on the spot lead to a better comprehension, which in turn benefits the horses. We nevertheless thank you for your propositions.

Christoph Hess Section Personal Members Department Instruction German Equestrian Federation (FN)

Thies Kaspareit Germany Academy of the Horse

We invite you to write to us at equestriansquest@horsesforlife.com and tell us your thoughts.

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Hans Hollenbach - Seat Symposium and Classical Dressage Clinic

he clinic began with a general lecture to the group of participating riders and auditors, with opportunities for individuals to ask questions. Hans briefly touched on the different muscle groups that are greatly misinterpreted as to their usage; mainly the longissimus dorsi (the muscle group directly under the saddle). When Hans asked the audience if these were carrying muscles or locomotor muscles, the general consensus was that they were carrying muscles because the rider sits on them. This however, Hans pointed out, is false. They are locomotor muscles that the horse uses to move, not to carry a rider. It is actually the upper suspensory system or long neckband that carries the riderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weight. Hans explained that this is very important for the rider to be aware of, firstly because a hard or insensitive seat will block the longissimus dorsi from moving properly, thus creating a leg mover. This, he explains, can also result in the horse holding or pressing its back down, forcing the hindquarters out and making it impossible to engage. Horses For LIFE

Hans Hollenbach: Seat Symposium Secondly, the long neck band runs from the horse’s poll over the withers to the tail. This is the tendon that carries you and therefore knowing how to stretch and strengthen it without causing damage is crucial to keeping your horse healthy and happy. Hans stressed that the importance of the seat symposium is to give the rider body awareness and control by retraining the body to balance, diagonalize and stretch. As Hans says often, “the rider, as well as the horse, must also be an athlete”. Each rider had an individual session where Hans worked with them on their specific problems. There was a wide variety of horses and riders of all different levels and ages. This created an interesting array of stiffnesses and blockages that could be seen in each rider. With the use of Eckhart Meyner’s 6-step method and the Balimo chair, Hans was able to show the strengths and weaknesses of the rider and the exercises needed to correct each difficulty. The first thing Hans had all the riders do was walk down the centre of the arena on foot. It was surprising to see that just about all the riders weren’t diagonalizing properly. The left or right side (arm and leg) would move together rather than right leg with left arm and vice versa. Hans had them skipping and twisting to teach the left and right side of the brain to work together again. Sitting at a desk, in a car or any modern activity causes a physical deprivation to the body. The next time you’re in a public place watch some adults walk and you will see that few walk properly. Hans assured us that this is not a fault, just something that needs to be known and corrected. Riders were then given a brief massage to the neck and shoulders and shown how to relax those muscles themselves. “It’s amazing how much tension builds up there from day-to-day life and the effect it can have on your riding,” comments Hans. When the riders were asked to remount, it was clear that their seat was deeper and their hands were quieter. Tendons were plucked on the inside of the knee, armpit and the “big grippers”. Hans twisted and stretched the riders as they lay on a yoga mat, so as to open the chest cavity and increase mobility in the hips and back. After the body work, the rider would remount and we could all see the enhanced way of going in horse and rider. A few of the non-riding auditors even commented that although they weren’t as well versed in riding as to be able to see an obvious change in the horse, the horses all looked happier by the end of their session. Hans then seated the rider on the Balimo chair, called such because it creates an awareness of how to move the pelvis while the horse is moving. Balance in motion. The rider was asked to rock the pelvis forward and back, then side to side without moving the upper body. This showed how much movement there is in the pelvis and the amount of balance it takes to actually move properly. Once more when remounted the audience saw the improvement in the sitting trot, canter departs and overall extension in the horses’ gaits. The horses could also be seen reaching more for the bit, relaxing the top line and any previous defensive posturing was gone.

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Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling

Myths of Today and Yesterday • VOLUME 42 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine HFL: I did want to take some time today, because in the past we’ve touched upon - but we haven’t gone into - any great detail about your work with the idea of the horse in mythology. I know many of our readers are interested in that aspect of it and I was wondering if we could go a little bit more in depth into that today. Would that be okay with you? Klaus:

Absolutely, please.

HFL: When did you start becoming aware yourself about the connection between horses and myth? Klaus: Between horses and myth? For me my life was flashing in front of me quite early with this idea. When I became 11-12 years old, I started talking about this. I did split away from my father and some of my family, so I had to learn very quickly to live on my own, living as a musician earning money like this; living as a magician with rabbits and doves, producing them for whatever kind of act, etc. I had to take care of myself. In my milieu then it was popular to try to look behind the surface and find another meaning in life, rather than only being led by material promises. But all these people around me, or most of them, went to India and were influenced by cultures which have nothing to do with ours. For whatever reason, as a boy I was very much impressed by the idea of the knights and their way of living, by their way of being. I was impressed by our own history, the history of the ghosts, of the history of the Vikings. So this was already the beginning, in my childhood. Wherever you are, even in the simplest novel or the simplest comic, you will be connected with the idea of the horse, of the humans and of the very special meaning between man and horse. Without any question, if we just look at the United States, if we look into the his-

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tory of the horse as it appeared in North America, for example, because we know that [originally] in North America there were no horses, even on the whole continent of America; there were no horses. The whole conquering and the whole evolution over the last 500 years would not have been possible without horses, ending up in one of the most modern myths. The myths of the “cowboy” - of the person who is in some way superior, who is substituting the old idea of the knight. Clint Eastwood riding alone, the lonesome cowboy, into this small village - and he was asked by a journalist, in an interview about the idea of the next film he was doing, and he said “I’m just riding into a village and the rest is happening by itself.” So this myth of the cowboy connected with the horse is still one of the strongest myths rooted in the idea of the horse. And even if we look now towards modern society, modern Hollywood movies have the same thing. The only thing is that the horse is substituted by the car. But the car by itself, if the technology is very good or very bad is not as important as the make. So in the first scene someone is driving the car. Because the ingenuity of the technology is the first line, and this absolutely, scientifically proved, we are buying the make. For somebody who is driving a Mercedes, he is connecting himself with a different mythology, with different myths from somebody who is driving a Ferrari or a Porsche or a Fiat or whatever. As a boy I started very quickly to recognize the whole idea of the knights, the

Templars, for example, the mythology of the horse is intuitively and cognitively absolutely not to be split from human beings. HFL: I thought something you said was interesting when you were talking about the cars and how we take on the mythology or the mystique of that particular vehicle and try to have it become part of our own persona. People do that, I think, within certain breeds of horses as well, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they?

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Reflections on French Classical D

Dom 28

Dressage

minique Barbier Horses For LIFE

“A horse is the mirror of your soul, of who you really are. It is your reflection that you see through his eyes.”

Dominique Barbier – Reflections on French Classical Dressage By Jean Llewellyn

The partnership between a horse and rider that truly encompasses precision, harmony, rhythm, lightness and relaxation – yet is totally unencumbered by invasive control or pronounced aids - is an “ethereal” experience. For Dominique Barbier, an extraordinary teacher, trainer and clinician in French classical dressage, “using the power of the mind is the most important aid,” as his methodology epitomizes the art of communication and visualization. “Partnership”, he believes, is essential for forging a strong relationship, “based upon absolute trust, cooperation, and willingness” – that together cement the bonds of mutual respect – regardless of a horse’s background or abilities. “You cannot develop a rigid plan where you, as the rider or trainer, determine the specifics for each training session in advance, because you will likely be disappointed. Horses are not machines to be manipulated at will, but living beings that will respond to us and communicate their desires if we open our eyes and ears and allow them to.” Born in France in 1950, Dominique Barbier attended a Jesuit school in Poitiers and, at the age of 15, traveled to Crabbett Park Equestrian Centre in West Sussex, England where he certified as a British Horse Society Assistant Instructor (BHSAI). “I was 15 years old and my teacher put me at the back of the class on a bad horse thinking ‘He won’t understand much because he doesn’t speak English.’ But at the end of the course the administrator spoke to my father in English – which I translated into French – asking if I could return to continue with the professional course…. And I completed it in almost half the time!” … Listen to the birds! In 1972, Barbier attended the renowned Talland School of Equitation in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, under the instruction of Mrs. Molly Siveright, FBHS, DBHS. “At the time, I was completely misdirected in my goals. I wanted to be a good rider technically so I developed a series of tricks in order to be able to ride and train horses better and more quickly – or so I thought! It was a disaster. I rode one horse, Golden Caledon, for two weeks and she made me realize how useless my physical-trick approach really was.” Witnessing Barbier’s frustration, Siveright told him to simply “Walk around the field and listen to the birds!” Although he thought the suggestion “laughable”, it was a defining moment in Barbier’s life. “As soon as your mind relaxes, your body relaxes; the horse senses the mood through your body and reacts to it. It can go in either direction; just as a horse reacts to stress, he reacts to relaxation. That experience proved to be an important revelation in clarifying my attitude towards horses as well as towards life in general. I realized that riding was not a series of tricks, but a relationship with the horse based on friendship, trust and mutual respect.” As Siveright told him, when you want a horse to do something, “You only have to ask – politely!” The visualization technique

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Dominique Barbier: Reflections french Classical Dressage Together, Barbier and Golden Caledon progressed effortlessly to more advanced movements, and the mare’s level of anticipation kicked in, typically indicating the point at which the training has become too repetitious. “I only had to think ‘flying change’ and she did it. I was amazed!” But, while many riders would simply change their routine to avoid the issue of habituation, Barbier began to wonder whether he was thinking too loudly! Was there another layer to the art of mental communication? “I decided that I had to develop another way of thinking. That was when I started to develop the ability to create two minds, one that was readily available to the horse that he could read, and another, far removed. The first would say, ‘I am going to do nothing,’ while the second would whisper ‘I am going to do a flying change over there by the big bush.” This technique, combined with finely tuned sensitivity, convinced Barbier that ‘visualization’ had replaced ‘anticipation’. For the next eight years, Barbier sharpened his riding skills at a number of highly regarded facilities throughout Europe, pursuing various disciplines, including showjumping, three-day eventing, dressage and steeplechasing. He then based himself in Portugal for two years studying with the legendary Mestre Nuno Oliveira where his riding skills were enhanced by perfecting his “mental and physical attitude.” This experience was another defining moment that inspired Dominique’s belief in keeping a horse “light and happy,” known as “la belle légerèté à la Française.” A strong advocate of the ancient traditions of French classical dressage, Barbier began training stallions up to “high school” level, including teaching the Lusitano stallion, Dom Giovanni, to canter on the spot and backwards!!!! Dom Giovanni was a Cinderella story par excellence! At the age of four he was facing enthanasia because he was exhibiting aggressive behaviour and had already crippled a groom. In Barbier’s hands, however, and with the help of Oliveira, Dom Giovanni became his “most brilliant horse as far as his mental ability and his general nature go. But he required an enormous amount of constant love, understanding and patience.” The stallion also reinforced Barbier’s firm belief in mental communication. “One day I was helping my assistant perform passage on my other stallion, Dom Pasquale. I was very intensely involved with her work, visualizing passage while sitting on Giovanni, who was on a loose rein. Suddenly he began to passage for me. I was amazed, since I knew that this horse normally needed a considerable readjustment in his balance and position before attempting this movement. Technically speaking, what he was doing was impossible, but he was doing it nevertheless! […] It was the best illustration of visualization possible. Physically, I wasn’t doing anything. If you want it badly enough, the horse does it.” … No room for anger! Barbier recalls entering a new era of self-education when he first arrived in the United States in the mid 1970s to work as a clinician. “I was given very little time with an individual horse, so I had to establish communication with him very quickly. Most problems I came across were with spoiled or abused horses. […] For instance, one horse might associate some movement or position with discomfort. He might have mental flashbacks to a situation that had been frightening or demeaning to him. It is very difficult for a horse to overcome fear. […] His brain is saying ‘You are in big trouble, protect yourself.’ In order to establish myself quickly and successfully in a working communication with these horses, my own mental attitude proved crucial. An open, analytical, unconditionally accepting attitude is necessary, with no room for anger or a sense of superiority.” Continuing, Barbier said, “I found that I could create an instant relationship and communicate with the horse if I could get rid of all the negative, preconceived ideas.” He illuminated this concept by explaining

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;To the uneducated eye something might look beautiful, but someone who is sensitive will understand the tension.â&#x20AC;?

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Clockwise or Right Lead Canter. Left Hind Representing 1st step of the canter

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;for a horse, the canter sequence is usually considered to start when the outside hind leg first Touches upon the ground.â&#x20AC;? 36

Understanding Canter • VOLUME 42 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

n canter we think of the horse as skipping with one leg, in our case, or in his case one side of legs leading the other. So for example, if we were to skip/canter in a circle counter-clockwise or to the left we would skip with our left leg appearing to go higher. The left side then becomes the leading side. The same for the horse, the left legs of the horse would seem to go ahead, note ahead not before, in the sequence, in front of the right legs. For a horse, the canter sequence is usually considered to start when the outside hind leg first touches upon the ground. [Outside meaning the leg on the outside of the circle, or think of it as the one closest to the wall. In the middle of nowhere or in advanced movements, it is the side or leg considered to be on the opposite side of the bend. So if the horse is bent to the right then the outside hind leg would be the left hind leg.] After the outside hind leg touches down, the opposite diagonal pair lands. [The opposite to the outside hind would be the other hind, thus the inside hind and the diagonal to the inside hind would be outside fore. So the if outside hind, as used in the example above, was the left hind leg of the horse, the opposite diagonal would the right hind leg being the opposite paired with its diagonal which would be the left foreleg.] Then finally the leading leg or the diagonal to the hind leg that began the sequence, the left hind leg, so in this case the right foreleg would finally land, followed by a moment of suspension when no legs should be on the ground and we start the sequence all over again. So in essence, we have a broken diagonal pair with the other diagonal pair inserted. Going to the right, the broken diagonal pair is the left hind and right fore with the inserted diagonal pair being the right hind and the left fore. Click Here to subscribe at http://horsesforlife.com to read the rest of the article.... Horses for Life your international monthly Online Horse Magazine Check out our past issues - Hundreds of Articles by World Class trainers Register for Free for the Two free articles each month. Horses For LIFE

Finding Bonding & Connection in the Carib

bbean Beyond Trail Slaves: Horses will teach bonding and connection By Stina Herberg with Carolyn Resnick

In 2007, I took up a new job challenge of managing training of international volunteers at Richmond Vale Academy on St. Vincent, a small island in the eastern Caribbean, with a population of around 120,000 and one of the last untouched and unspoilt islands in the Eastern Caribbean. I have had horses as my hobby for many years, and had recently learned the new â&#x20AC;&#x153;oldâ&#x20AC;? lessons on the benefits of keeping horses in a natural setting. When I arrived on St. Vincent, I ran into an abandoned and abused herd of horses. The horses had been brought over to the island some 8-10 years previously to take tourists on trail rides. The owners had, for unknown reasons, left the island and the horses. The original herd had 16 members, but 9 had since died, so we brought the 7 surviving horses to our Academy, Nature and Hiking Center.

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The horses were wild. Most of them were thin as they were full of worms. Step by step the horses got healthier and happier - they were dewormed, we got the ticks off, and slowly they gained weight. We had no idea what we had gotten. Two or three of the older horses had possibly been handled before. The first idea was to train them to be trail horses and carry tourists to the beautiful waterfalls in the area, down the untouched beaches, and even up to the volcano. But after several tries the horses clearly told us they were not at all ready and they were certainly not up for the idea of becoming obedient trail slaves, carrying around people that didn’t even know them. I thought I’d had quite a bit of experience with horses, having worked with some “difficult” horses, some “shut

Finding the Right Help I could not and would not force or make the horses do anything. I wanted to find a way to communicate with them and agree on what to do, and also really make the horses enjoy my company and the reasonable challenges I would like to present for them. I searched the Internet for hours, contacted many people, and finally found Carolyn Resnick, a horsewoman based in San Diego, California. She agreed to guide me online as she was the only person I could find who had a heart for the horses, and even if she did not know them, she had extensive experience with wild horses . This is now one and a half years ago and we are making such great progress! I think most “horsegirls” dream of having that special connection with the horse, where the horse follows you, calls you and wants to be with you. Finally, after many years of horsing around, I can see what I needed to learn and change to achieve this magic connection.

Click Here to subscribe at http://horsesforlife. com to read the rest of the article.... Horses for Life your international monthly Online Horse Magazine - Check out our past issues - Hundreds of Articles by World Class trainers Register for Free for the Two free articles each month. down” horses, and horses regaining their health and strength with natural methods – especially barefoot trimming. But these horses showed me new behaviors nearly every day. They kept being “distant”, frightened, and a bit aggressive and it seemed impossible to really connect with them. There are no natural horsemanship trainers or liberty trainers in the country so it was hard to look for help to get some feedback on how I could make progress. Horses For LIFE

A leading question… What does your horse think of you? By Carlos Tabernaberri

“A good leader inspires others with confidence; a great leader inspires others with confidence in themselves.” Anonymous I asked a woman at one of my clinics to lead her horse for me – she wondered why, when she had been riding since before I was born. I told her I just wanted to see what her horse thought of her and her experience. When this woman stopped leading her horse, he not only kept going, but stepped behind her, dropped his nose and head-butted her so hard she ended up with a bruised ego and a mouthful of sand. So why this story? It’s just a way of illustrating how irrelevant are the years of experience a person may have with horses. Horses don’t read résumés. They’re on what I call ‘horse time’ – in the present, the now. What matters is what you achieve each and every time you work with your horse. How your horse sees you on the ground shows you exactly how he will behave under saddle. If he lacks respect for you on the ground, he will not hesitate to be the same when you’re on his back. Many people I work with believe this is due to how much the horse respects them, but respect is just one element and leading is a very simple way to see what your horse thinks of you. Respect comes after you have established trust with your horse and shown yourself to be a worthy leader – a leader your horse wants to follow. Using Confidence, Consistency, Kindness and Leadership with your horse will help you gain his Trust, Obedience and Respect. It’s a simple concept that is the foundation for absolutely everything I do with horses. I explain it to people as an equation: CCKL = TOR Because unless you demonstrate all the behaviours on the left of the equation (CCKL), your horse will not demonstrate the behaviours on the right (TOR). While I could talk at length about the important concepts of confidence, consistency and kindness and how they’re critical to leadership (there’s another three articles!), let’s focus on leadership and the impact that can have on your relationship. But know this – the concepts are interdependent. If you are consistent and kind, but not confident, your horse may trust you but he will not respect you or see you as a worthy leader. If you’re not confident in your own abilities, why should he be confident in your ability to help him? On the other hand, if you’re confident and consistent, but not kind, your horse may

obey you and follow you because he must, but he won’t trust you because your leadership would be based on fear and intimidation. That’s why the concept of leading your horse goes way beyond a halter and a leadrope.

“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path.” Dalai Lama Over the years, many people I work with have observed something of which I was not consciously aware, because I don’t watch myself work! It’s been called ‘mirroring’, ‘resonance’ or ‘synchronicity’, or even ‘entrainment’, which I’m told is the tendency of objects or beings, moving in a similar pattern and tempo, with similar energy, to align with each other. This ‘law of entrainment’ was first recognised by Dutch scientist Christian Huygens more than 350 years ago when he set up some pendulum clocks of different sizes, started one at a time, only to come back a day later and find the pendulums had synchronised their swinging to that of the largest clock. In daily life, it is thought this concept can be explained in terms of our human circadian rhythms being ‘entrained’ to the earth relative to the sun (why we experience jet lag) and appears to be part of the animal world’s highly attuned biofeedback mechanism. In short, we all have an energy field that affects everything with which we come into contact. In the case of animals, this mechanism remains unclouded by negative perceptions or expectations and is clearly highly attuned to the environment and those around them. We humans are susceptible to the clouding of this sense by the distractions of the focus and beliefs that we hold. We become what we choose to focus on. Horses For LIFE

The Human Co The Human Condition

The following is a transcript of a rather *long*, but totally pertinent, dialogue between Dr. Michele Friend, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, George Washington University and myself that began in the Fall of 2008 and is still in process (on-going). Dr. Friend and I are long-time friends who have traveled extensively throughout Europe together--riding horses in various types of settings. Sherry Ackerman

(MF=Michele Friend and SA=Sherry Ackerman): MF: I read â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dressage in the Fourth Dimensionâ&#x20AC;? with interest. My immediate critical thought concerns the huge ecological expenditure in keeping a horse nowadays in the first world. I feel that this has to be weighed against the spiritual advantages. What do you think about this? SA: I am very interested in this question. In my own life, I made several rather sweeping changes in my horsekeeping habits this season that, at least in part, address this concern. One...I stopped feeding baled hay and my horse is ONLY being fed high meadow grass that I personally hand-cut with a scythe and wheelbarrow for her. This keeps her from destroying the meadow, while I can control just how/where/when grasses are cut and reseeded back. There is no need for a fence and/or other

ondition

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Sherry Ackerman: the human condition first world appliances in order to “turn her out” on the grass. She is turned out in the forest where I live. It is a desert climate here, often topping 100 degrees F. The forest is cool and shaded and she can loll under the trees in comfort. Her manure is gathered daily and is being composted in a five-cycle system for free distribution to persons with vegetable gardens. I trade the compost for vegetables. I also, of course, use it in my own compost system for my own garden. These practices have provided a thread of continuity between the ecological ravages of horse-keeping and spirituality. There is, obviously, a huge spiritual component in being willing to invest this much time and labor in order to keep a horse. Interestingly, I have noticed a change in her personality during the process. She seems to “know”, or at least recognize, that I am participating in her “life” at a much different level than simply throwing her a flake of hay as I pass by. She has become more bright-minded and alert...and seems to view me more as one of her “peers” than as the objectified “owner”. This has had the effect of deconstructing any perceived sense of hierarchy.

MF: It sounds as though you do a lot of physical work, but that is what ecological economics is all about. The environmental and personal/ psychological pay-off should trump the financial pay-off. There are ways of calculating this: to show that your life-style is ecologically better than what the financial calculation would have us believe. The calculations are a bit dubious, but so are our financial calculations! Furthermore, they are entirely ad hoc with respect to the cost to the environment. Apart from the old measure of “carbon footprint”, there is a nice new one about “water footprint”. There is a web site where one can make fun calculations. More involved, and better thought through, however, is the econometrics developed by Mayumi following Georgescu-Roegen’s work which introduces thermodynamic notions into eco-economics. The thrust of the work is that, as a culture, we can choose the rate of decline of the environment. We can continue to drive SUVs, for example, and precipiSubscribe at http:// tate the decline, or we can re-organize our lives to slow the decline. This is a deep cultural choice. SA: Yes, it’s been a physical hustle, but I do feel that the environmental and personal/psychological pay-offs have far outweighed any financial considerations. For example, I have observed that my awareness of “little” things in the meadow, while I am harvesting the grasses, has been heightened. I have found enormous satisfaction in being among the butterflies and birds. I have also begun to find an inner quietness that is pleasing to the deer who graze there. Initially, when I would enter the meadow, they would run away. My energies were obviously incoherent from their perspectives. Now, when I enter the meadow, I purposefully come to what I call “the mind of meditation”....very still, quiet and neutral.... and the deer entertain me as though I am one of them. I have had a much deeper appreciation of St. Francis of Assisi and his experience with the birds. I also feel that there have been some unforeseen physical pay-offs. I have become stronger in a very natural way, without the use of “exercises” or equipment. This has given me a first-hand awareness of some of the differences between contemporary lifestyles and those of our, for example, grandparents. I have noticed my range of motion increase because it was efficient...not because it was being measured or evaluated. Just as you have indicated, I have experienced a sense of well-being about the ecological quality of my life-style as a result of initiating some of these behaviors. And, there has been an extension into other areas of my day-today life besides just horse-keeping. Per usual, my horse has led the Way!

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Exercise for Pelvic Infin 48

r Success nity

Help with Understanding How the Rider’s Seat Works One of the areas that is the most misunderstood and that we are misinformed about is the seat. Too often the seat is thought of as a driving force. In the process the rider slides, pushes or drives into the saddle. We find these riders almost always using both seat bones simultaneously. For the horse who moves one hip at a time, resulting in one side of the back being activated at a time, a rider that uses both seat bones simultaneously is at the least impeding the movement, and at the worst causing the horse discomfort.

“Even the best fitting saddle in the world will cause the horse to have back issues if the rider is not riding correctly.” The seat is the most effective when first of all it can allow the movement of the horse to go through from the power of the hind quarters through the back, up into the neck and right through to the very last muscle of the horse, which is the tongue. So first we need to understand how we can ensure that our seat can allow and follow the movement as it is created by the horse, because obviously everything and anything that we do through our seat to halt the movement from going through is going against the very movement we are encouraging or trying to create. Too often we see riders blocking with their seats on one hand, and then told by their instructors to drive the horse more. This often results in the riders using whips and spurs to try to get this flight creature to move.

“To understand how the seat can work, we need to understand the full range of motion in all three dimensions that are available in the seat and how that is directly and completely dependent on other parts of the body.” It can be exciting to find exercises that directly address learning to understand and feel what your body can do and how it can be done. It can be eye opening as we isolate different ranges of movement in the seat, especially discovering our own Horses For LIFE

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Exercise For Success: Pelvic Infinity limitations, particularly between the right and left side of our bodies, limitations that can affect our horses and their own handiness. Self-Evaluating Problem Areas Isolating movements is also excellent for self-evaluating individual differences and problems with range of movement in different planes and in individual joints and different areas of the body, so then we can take the time to focus on one joint or one side of the body or the other and help our own individual problems. With knowledge and awareness, we can also become aware of not only which area to target but aware of how our own problems and limitations may be affecting our horses. We all, for example, have a tendency to weight bear on one leg or the other; this has endless consequences throughout our bodies, including the ability to flex individual joints and the ability to weight bear when flexed. A Good Seat is NOT Static To return to the subject of the seat, everyone realizes that this is one of the most important elements of any rider, but it also seems to be one of the most misunderstood areas by the majority of riders.

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Riding By Torchlight: Are Classical Riders From Mars

I. Am Not. From Mars.. Nor am I, though of female physiology, from Venus. I am an earthling who just happens to love real, traditional, down home dressage. AND!! Ready for this? I am not alone! Have you ever felt like you were either the only sane person in the barn – or conversely, had to question if you were the only or perhaps, the most deluded? Have you ever wondered if your hard-bought and closely held philosophies were just flights of fancy and impossible dreams? Have you been ridiculed by others more willing to clip a heel and cut a toe? Well, I don’t know about you, but I have. A LOT! . So call me Cinderella. That still doesn’t make me a Martian. Many of us who still believe in the core principles of dressage as a discipline with the potential to be an art form with rehabilitating values, operate mostly in a vacuum. We ride alone and we are alone in crowds of the more modern dressage persuasion. We struggle to find trainers and mentors who think like we do, and who not only have talked but walked the path and are willing to show us the way. We resort to books, DVD’s and ancient (OK, maybe not ancient, just 80’s) grainy videos and travel far and wide for a peek at a drop spilled from the chalice of the Holy Grail. We interview trainers and get excited, thinking this one really believes as we do and holds the key to the knowledge we seek. Only to find within the first five minutes of the first lesson that talking and doing are two very different realities in this arena and perhaps we leave early, or grit our teeth and stick it out, only to apologize profusely to our horse later. And when we do find that one horseman or woman who has not only the faith but the know-how, we will bend over backwards and bankrupt ourselves in our quest to share in their knowledge and experience. Dressage is a discipline separate from other equestrian pursuits in that it seeks a higher degree of sustained collection than any other curriculum, not to mention varying and intimately connected expressions of that sustained collection. A jumper is collected before the jump only to explode into a soaring arc of extension, perhaps to hit the ground in a flat out run to the next fence before being collected momentarily once more, achieving a moment of supreme engagement as he bascules for the lift off. Certainly a well-trained jumper exhibits high degrees of collection and may be ridden in a balance more off his forehand than not, but he is not asked to sustain

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torchlight: classical riders from Mars this balanced collection as a highly trained dressage horse is. A racehorse never even sniffs at collection, his whole life is a run on the forehand. A hunter lives his life in a horizontal, and if he’s lucky, level balance, and generally western horses are asked to exhibit a low head set and level frame that leaves them heavily front-end loaded if mechanically and powerfully engaged. Nowhere else is a horse developed to balance on his hindquarters without cease. To shorten and paraphrase Paul Belasik in his new book, ‘In Search of Collection’ – there’s riding, and then there’s collection. As a dressage rider, what this focus boils down to is a pursuit that by its very nature requires a great deal of formal education to master. ‘Eyes on the ground’ are crucial to help guide a rider’s technical development and know-how. ‘Feel’ and talent are helpful, but nothing replaces a good teacher and endless practice under discerning and knowledgeable eyes to develop the skills required for this pursuit of equestrian happiness. In other words, it’s a discipline that can be awfully intimidating and humbling if you don’t have access and opportunity to ride good schoolmasters with experienced instructors. And even then it will leave you in the dust again and again, wondering where you went wrong and if you will ever get anywhere. With my gypsyish upbringing and roving life, that has certainly been my experience. I have been blessed with few really great instructors and more ‘project’ horses than you can shake a stick at. I could lose a few fingers and still count on one hand the well trained schoolmasters I have been privileged to ride. Now Nuno Oliveira said something like “Don’t ride easy horses, they teach you little, ride difficult horses, they will teach you what it is to ride.” and I can without pretense say that I have followed, if not exactly on purpose, that instruction to the letter and the ‘t’. But to quote Paul Belasik again, if you want to ride collection, ride a prospect, not a project. Now he tells me. Lucky for me, now that I am finally getting smarter, I have in the last few years managed to organize some excellent and consistent formal education for myself, but there are days I can’t help wishing I had found it a lot sooner, and had a lot more of it. Because riding collection, as elusive as it is, when you accomplish even a moment of it, is such FUN. And with every such fleeting glimpse, I realize again how very simple it is, if not easy. It is we humans who complicate matters. And if you don’t have someone to hold your hand and whip your bottom, that teacher and mentor to help you sort out the mess that is you and your horse – well, it’s a loooong, lonely road. Torchlight is an excellent example. Riding him on my own for several years, he had pretty much convinced me I couldn’t ride worth a fiddle until my new mentor came along and told me I rode a very tough horse that few would have ridden even that well, if at all. Oh. Then I returned to training for others, and riding other horses I discovered all the useful stuff Torchlight had taught me, through blood, sweat and a few tears. I also realized all the bad habits I had acquired, and how my seat had changed for the worse as I accommodated a tense and excruciatingly bouncy back whose trot I rarely was able to relax enough to try to sit. Perhaps most of all, I wide-eyed and wonderingly comprehended

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• VOLUME 42 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine Dumbledore... well, in my mind I think that is what I will call him, so much better than Dudley which makes him sound, well, like a dud... Easy to assume he is, that is “dumb”, which everyone seems to think. Why Dumbledore? Because one day, this horse will be the wise wizard seeming to know all the answers, just as Dumbledore did throughout the Harry Potter series. On the other hand, in the same series you had Dudley Dursley, the rather fat and spoiled cousin of Harry Potter. Before Harry knew that he was a wizard, Dudley would take every opportunity to make life difficult for him. Dudley is a selfish and spoiled brat who gets what he wants by throwing fits and seems to gain yet more weight in each successive Harry Potter book. While this horse did have a fair amount of weight to him, I would hate to think he was selfish or spoiled or an idiot, as one might think with this name. Dumbledore is and is going to be so much more a Morgan crossed with a.. ... You can see the workhorse in him...in the 17 hands, in the feet that are just a little larger than you would expect. The one thing that struck me as he was tacked up, was the incredibly worried eye. He was so, so worried. So concerned. Especially the moment the bridle came out. All it made me want to do was to walk up to him and cuddle him and reassure this very big sweet scared child that everything was going to be okay. It is obvious that he is not stupid, but that he is trying so incredibly hard to please and he feels like he is failing and he doesn’t understand why. Fearfully, he tries but he doesn’t understand and he wants to please, he wants to do it right and he is all stressed out because he doesn’t think he is getting it right. He is not to know that it isn’t his fault. We always have to remember that when we start a horse, this is NOT about making “him” listen, as in ‘obey’. It is about developing communication, understanding, and if we are not doing that, we are failing our horses. Anytime we jerk on the rein, anytime we pull harder, anytime we tell our horses NO, we are failing. NO is not training. NO is punishment. It is saying you are wrong. It takes away confidence from the young horse. It never shows him the right way. Only that he has failed. Our comments to our horses have to be constructive, it has to be all about helping them, to know, to understand, to be able to do what we want them to do both physically and mentally. If you can’t do that, you are not a trainer. There is one funky thing with his conformation. He does have this problem with a neck that is so, so short on the top line. Not ewe necked per se, but definitely more muscle on the bottom half than the top, and his neck looks far too short for his body. Not only that, but when you look the bottom of his neck, it looks so much longer than the top line of his neck. Definitely not something that I would go looking for in a horse’s conformation. But I am hopeful that with good training and help, this horse will find a neck that he doesn’t have today. The Lesson that day, or How we can help. Brie is always kind - always giving to her horses. This horse just doesn’t want to move, and so she has gotten into the habit of throwing her hands forward. One of the last horses that we had worked together with, that was the right thing to do. That horse had learned to lean on the rider’s hand. He had no concept of holding his own head and neck up. Not sure what he thought his own neck muscles were for. But for this particular horse that we were working with today, it just wasn’t the right thing to do.

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Dumbledore

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Easy Flying Changes What is a flying change? Well, the first and most important thing to remember is that a flying change is a transition. A transition is defined as a change from one gait to another or a change from one movement to the other. A flying change is to be no more feared than any other transition that you do all the time. You do a transition every time you ask your horse to go from halt to walk, or from trot to walk. When we go from a faster gait to a slower gait it is sometimes called a downward transition. A flying change is in essence when we ask the horse to change the sequence of his legs in canter as if we were going to change directions, which we do sometimes and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t others. When we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ask for a change in the sequence of legs but go in the opposite direction this is called counter canter. So in essence we would have the horse using the sequence of legs that he would to go right for example, but he would actually be going to the left. This would be considered a counter canter. In canter we can think of the horse as skipping with one leg, in our case, or in his case one side of legs leading the other. So for example, if we were to skip/ canter in a circle counter-clockwise or to the left, we would skip with our left leg appearing to go higher. The left side then becomes the leading side. The same for the horse - the left legs of the horse would seem to go ahead, note ahead not before, in the sequence, in front of the right legs. Understanding the canter is not necessary to achieve your first flying change, but it can help you physically and mentally prepare to be riding with, rather than against the horse when you ask for your first flying change. While in dressage we have two, three, four and single flying changes where the horse changes his lead every stride, it is usually the very first time we ever get a flying change that is the most exciting and the most difficult. It is the base step that all the other series of changes is built upon.

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easy flying changes

So how do we teach the flying change? One of the ways we most frequently see riders try to find a flying change on their horse is to unbalance the horse. So in effect the rider makes a very sudden and very strong change in weight as they do a figure eight for example in canter. Of course this does not allow us to try to help the horse with the flying change. There is no preparation involved to help the horse to make a clean transition. By a clean transition we mean that both the front and the hind legs make the change simultaneously. Horses appear to have no problems with the idea of cantering on one lead on the front end and another on the hind end. Perhaps this is the reason we so often see a horse cross cantering. Another way to describe cross cantering is when the horse is still on the old lead on the hind legs but has changed over on his front legs. Quite often it is interesting to note that when we refer to a horse cross cantering during a flying change, we are actually ending up talking about a horse that is cantering on the lead we want or what we call the correct lead on the front end and not the back end -- a sure sign that the canter transition is not being asked from the back end or more likely that the hind end was not engaged when we asked for the canter transition. Throwing his weight violently over to the side and throwing the horse onto his front end and his shoulders is not necessarily the best set up for a clean transition for any rider.

“We need to create an environment where we set up the situation so that the horse does the change without being unbalanced.” Instead we need to create an environment where we set up the situation so that the horse does the change without being unbalanced. Not only unbalanced from one side to the other, but we also do not want our horses to learn to do the flying change with his weight on his front end.

“We don’t want the horse to begin the changes on the forehand, for this only becomes a problem later on .” It is important from the very beginning to have the horse doing the flying changes correctly, as what we teach first is often the pattern that they will retain, and that means the flying changes have to reflect a truly excellent canter. An uphill gait that provides the air time the horse needs to do the change cleanly. We also don’t want the horse to begin the changes on the forehand, for this only becomes a problem later on. Our training methods need to reflect not only the action that we want, which in this case is the flying change, but also the qualities that we want in that flying change. We need to be encouraging an upward canter, good clean air time, changes in both the front and the back, with no unbalancing from the rider. Instead we want the rider to be in good balance, encouraging and helping the horse. We know one way to help the horse find lift and good air time is to introduce

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rhythm: how difficult within its

s simplicity Milagro’s first question, or perhaps it is his first answer, is always, “up”. So what do you do with a stallion that keeps wanting to stop and go up, and what is the right answer for a playful child who wants just and only to get into mischief and have fun!!!? The answer might seems simplistic. But sometimes simple is more complex and harder than we think. Building upon the things learnt with Dumbledore, we moved on to work with Milagro. Calmness.. for this young, just recently broken-in stallion.. Working on a sidepull – a bit proving just too much of a distraction for this ADD and mouthy stallion, Brie wisely began with lunging her horse. You could see the change right away begin to happen on the lunge line as the repetition of the movement soothed this stallion. Not too surprising, in a way, but interesting to see how in this yet highly distractable and on-the-go stallion that movement was the key. This is true for all horses, but it was especially apparent in Milagro. We took the lunging one step further to create a pattern for the horse to relax into. We worked him along the wall, circling him back to it each time he got too far ahead, with the handler moving around the entire arena. The wall provides a frame of reference, the pattern helps the young horse to know what to expect; having the wall lets him know where he is supposed to be; knowing what to expect he can begin to relax. So important when we begin working with our horses. Taking control by being the one to decide and keep the direction is a wonderful way to again have the horse relax as you take control - especially true for stallions.

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rhythm: how difficult within its simplicity While lunging, we noted his rhythm, the one rhythm where he seemed to naturally work and keep in best. We had music playing in the background and when a song came up that matched this active stallion, I quickly pounced and paused the song, ready to use it for the upcoming ride. As I knew that the lesson for the day for both rider and horse was to be rhythm, I just was not to know how important a lesson that this was going to be. It was important that we had already worked on the rider in a previous lesson on a different horse. That we had already worked on ensuring that the rider was as completely as possible released to the horse. Removing all possible impediment to the horse and the movement we wanted to encourage. Once the rider was mounted, there was basically only one concept that I wanted to work on with the rider. One that is one of the most important aspects of riding, but given so little consideration by many riders. Simple to understand but so much harder to implement correctly. We hear about how rhythm tames the savage beast - with horses it does so much more. Often it is the answer that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know we are looking for. Few riders know how to ride with absolute pure and absolute rhythm. Which is why I like to suggest that riders ride to music. What you pick is not as important as something that can help you keep in a continuous perfect rhythm. This is so important that it really cannot be overemphasized. Besides all of the incredible differences it can make with the average horse, it can especially help with young horses or horses that need help calming down, to start working in the horseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best rhythm which is very different for every horse. Of course, as we progress, we want to be able to change the rhythm to be able set or change the rhythm at will; this in essence is often the best way to begin to access collection. Rather than worrying about shortening or lengthening the frame, which often has riders stiffening their bodies either in their efforts to get the horse to provide more impulsion or stiffening through hands and arms as they try to shorten the stride. If instead we focus on rhythm, an entirely new dynamic arises. A dynamic where the different rhythm provides us with so much more. In rhythm we work within movement to find all of the changeability that resides within the horse. Not only do we find, but we are given smooth and easy access to, the entire horse. This access is key, this changeability is the base of finding true and easy collection within the horse.

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Getting It Wrong

y journey over the past few years has truly changed how I view, react and train my horses. My journey over the last week was a congruence of circumstances that proved to me just how far I have come and perhaps how far yet I have to go. In many ways, I am just beginning to understand how it is so incredibly easy to misinterpret, and then in all probability react inappropriately with our horses. A few months ago I came across an article on recent research that showed how much of the problems that riders, especially beginner riders, have with their horses in not interpreting actions and body language of the horse correctly. The research suggests that one of the key ways we can change the horse-human dynamic is to go on an active campaign to reach and teach riders to correctly judge the horseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body language. How funny that I was so quick to dismiss that research, as of course being far beyond where I was now as a horsewoman, only to find out in these past few days that in many ways I am still that beginner today and still have so much yet to learn. A typical example given by the research of how easy it is to misinterpret is how beginner riders will react when they see the horse cock his hind foot. Many think and then believe that the horse is about to kick them. Now after years of working with horses, of course it is almost laughable when we read this, when it comes to even thinking this ourselves, as after all we well know that lazy, sleepy horses cock their hind foot as they rest first one hind foot and then the other, as they dream away the hot summer days, lazily swishing away at the pesky flies. Of course we also realize that a neck/head turned to the side and looking behind while a foot is cocked means duck and run for cover!!! To the beginner, the initiate, those distinctions are much harder to make. This past week I was fortunate enough to sit down and get to read Imke Spilkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new book. The first part spent much time talking about play and how perhaps we as trainers need to take play as an actual training methodology with our horses. Reading through, one is impressed by how much horses like to play,

Getting It Wrong

Horses For LIFE

getting it wrong need to play. So horse play was very much in the forefront of my mind. Then two unintended meetings with two different groups of horses happened within a week. Which seemed almost intended, considering what I had just been reading and considering how this was not the usual experience. I often stop when I see a group of horses out in a pasture, and jump out and take a few pictures. Horses often do not know quite how to react to this silent person who stops the car on the side of the highway when so many others pass by. A person who does not come to the gateway, someone who has this big black thing, the camera, covering a face. They have no idea it is a camera. Some want to investigate, others ignore, others seem disturbed and quickly move away, putting distance between themselves and this strange apparatus. Most often they just quietly keep eating. Strange, because it had never happened before. Two groups of horses did something quite different. One group decided to come right up to the fence and then begin to play as if I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even there. The other group a week later did much the same. Coming right up to the fence and then putting on a show. One horse wanted to play with his partner, the other not really interested but demonstrating quite clearly one of the things that Imke wrote about, how play between horses, while involving teeth and much snaking of the heads, is like us shaking hands and really not violent. Two of the other friends demonstrated what teeth really are for. These three events were the catalyst for me to learn one more thing.

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Horses For LIFE

Wild Hoofbeats takes us deep into “Adobe Town” in Wyoming’s Red Desert and one of the largest remaining wild herds in America. With stunning photographs, Carol Walker convinces us to take the future of these elegant, exceptional animals to heart.

http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/

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