All Blog Posts Tagged 'horsemanship' (221)

Gain Your Horse's Respect and Become the "Leader"

I need advice for my daughter and her horse. My daughter is 10 years old and very interested in riding, however she lacks confidence in riding. Her horse has come to figure this out. Cheyenne is a very sweet and gentle horse and a tad bit on the lazy side. I would like to find out information or suggestions on how to teach my daughter to win her horse's respect and have him respond to her commands. When she asks him to walk he refuses. He cocks his back leg and stands there no matter what… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on November 27, 2009 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

BEST OF WILLIAM MICKLEM - 1 - A special horseman…and a lifelong lesson about difficult horses.

This is an amazing true story about acceptance and lack of acceptance. It shows how wrong it is to assume all ‘difficult’ horses just need to be ridden more forward. It is wrong to assume that just because a horse is unwilling, napping, rearing or bucking that they are being naughty and need discipline. Indeed it is dangerous to assume this. A proportion will undoubtedly have this behaviour because of pain.

ONE LADY AND TWO HALF BROTHERS

As part of his… Continue

Added by William Micklem on November 27, 2009 at 4:00am — 8 Comments

Back to Basics

I board a horse in Blackwater, north of Uxbridge. His name is Apache, and we just became companions in the beginning on September. I have not ridden in years, and am new to learning natural Horsemanship. I have had a few lessons with him, and have done research on groundwork, and we have worked together to the best of my ability, thus far. I realized two days ago that the two of us have a long way to go, in that since he has been moved to this barn, we seem to have lost a bit of our connection… Continue

Added by Jennifer Pitt on November 23, 2009 at 2:42pm — No Comments

Choosing the Right Coach for Your Child

I am the parent of an 11-year-old girl who is serious about horses. She's been riding for 5 years in California, and we just moved to Michigan. For two months now, I've been looking for a good stable and instructor. Her former teacher in CA was CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association) certified. Should I be limited to finding a CHA certified instructor? What other questions should I be asking to insure her safety with a new instructor? My daughter is riding English with focus on Eventing.… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on November 13, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Tips to Improve your Training Sessions and Seat Position

Hello Julie,

I was wondering about the appropriate length of time that a training session with your horse should last. I realize that a lot of that depends on the difficulty of what you are teaching your horse and where your horse is in his learning life. But if I was having a regular, nothing-dramatically-new, riding or lunging session with my horse should I expect him to stick with me for 30 minutes, 60 minutes or what? I want my horses to enjoy our sessions together so I don’t want… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on October 30, 2009 at 10:52am — No Comments

Explaining Rein Aids

Dear Julie,

Please explain to me the rein aids for English and Western. I would like to know which ones to use for each discipline and what is the difference. For example, direct and direct opposition, indirect and indirect opposition? And how do you use these in riding?

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for the excellent questions. I find this is an area that is vaguely understood, at best, by the average horse person. First of all, as far as the difference in the… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on October 16, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments

My Top Tips: Part 4

Please enjoy these final tips. I hope they have been useful for you and your horse!

31. Don’t come in to the grid too fast in an effort to clear a bigger jump at the end of it. The secret is to maintain a rhythm throughout.

32. If you attack the first fence and then try to shorten the stride, you will confuse your horse and he will resist, and that may cost you a fence. Be disciplined in your approach to the first fence and establish the rhythm you want to… Continue

Added by Tim Stockdale on October 9, 2009 at 10:26am — 1 Comment

Vermont Horse Farm Showcases Dressage and Good Horsemanship.

Horse Farm in Vermont Showcases Dressage Training and Good Horsemanship

www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com

www.easthillfarm.org

Working together

East Hill Farm in Plainfield, Vermont showcases the best dressage training and horsemanship around. Founded in 1976, East Hill Farm is one of the oldest and well regarded equestrian… Continue

Added by Ruth Hogan Poulsen on September 28, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

My Top Tips: Part 3

Please enjoy tips 21-30. I'm a big fan of number 23!

21. Good technique isn’t just about what the horse does over the jump.

22. When jumping a combination, don’t ride into it with too much pace because your horse will learn to jump flat and run on the landing. Give him time to adjust his weight onto his hocks.

23. Canter, rhythm, line. Get it right every time.

24. The better the approach the better the chance of the… Continue

Added by Tim Stockdale on September 25, 2009 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

My Top Tips: Part Two

I hope these tips are helping everyone. Here are tips 11-20:

11. As a rider you too need to be warmed up. Through warming up you should release tight muscles. Warming up helps prevent stiffness and injury to both horse and rider.

12. It is important to get your horse’s body and his state of mind prepared for what you are going to ask him to do.

13. Get the basics right and you will have a firm foundation for… Continue

Added by Tim Stockdale on September 18, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

My Top Tips: Part One

Hello Everyone!

My next few posts encompass an overview of some of my top tips. Some are easier said than done! The first ten...

1. All veterinary care is paramount – your horse is not going to perform to the best of his ability if he is not feeling great.

2. Horses are like people, they have weaker sides and stronger sets of muscles. Work on improving these weaknesses with the help of a physiotherapist.

3. Learn to recognize what your… Continue

Added by Tim Stockdale on September 4, 2009 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

HARNESSING HORSEPOWER? - Don't "put the cart before the horse".

As we all know, the old expression “don’t put the cart before the horse” is a metaphor about making sure that we have our priorities straight. Having said that, what is literal is how tragic it can get when someone arbitrarily assumes that it would be fun to drive their horse in a cart or buggy and that the horse will just agree do his or her job and be okay with pulling the contraption down the road.

Unfortunately, what all too often happens when even the best riding horses are… Continue

Added by Chris Irwin on August 29, 2009 at 5:00pm — 5 Comments

The Two "R's": Rushing and Refusing

A common problem that riders have is what we call "rushing". That is when the horse has misinterpreted the signals to the fence.

When you first present a horse to a fence he often stops, spooks, or runs away from it. The rider then puts his leg on and encourages the horse to go. The horse then misinterprets this instruction and attacks the fence. The horse feels that the rider is trying to encourage him to speed up at the fence and that in turn becomes habitual.

The rider… Continue

Added by Tim Stockdale on August 21, 2009 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Tips for Loading a Difficult Horse

Hi Julie:

I just recently purchased a horse in October this is my first horse and boy I am not starting off very well. This horse was 200lbs underweight when I got him so to say the least I baby him (oops). He has successfully gained 100lbs and I am very excited. He is a very loveable horse and has no bad habits except for the following. My first problem is every time I saddle him I cannot get him to walk as soon as I say walk he will for only a second and he immediately goes into a trot.… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on August 14, 2009 at 9:08am — 4 Comments

Managing a Stressed Horse at Horse Shows

Hi Julie,

I am writing from Pretoria South Africa. My daughter recently attended her first show jumping event. Her horse boxed (trailered) without major problems and also traveled well. At the event this well-behaved, sweet horse, turned into a very nervous rearing animal. We could not control her and needless to say my daughter could not compete. According to her riding instructor, from whom we… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on July 31, 2009 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

Do You Demand Your Horse's Complete Attention?

When you are with your horse, do you demand his/her complete attention? I don't.

In the worlds of traditional and natural horsemanship, there is a lot of talk about what constitutes respect. Determining the nature of respect can help you get it from your horse. Commanding his or her full attention while together is an element of respect. Last week I had a conversation with a trainer who was called in to help a horse owner who was having trouble getting the respect of her horse. Here… Continue

Added by Kimberly Cox Carneal on July 28, 2009 at 2:41am — 2 Comments

Explaining the Rein Aids for English and Western

Hello Everyone!

People send me riding and training questions from all over the world and I look forward to sharing some of my answers with all of you!

Dear Julie,

Please explain to me the rein aids for English and Western. I would like to know which ones to use for each discipline and what is the difference. For example, direct and direct opposition, indirect and indirect opposition? And how do you use these in riding?

Elizabeth

Hi… Continue

Added by Julie Goodnight on July 17, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

EVEN MARK TODD CAN BE LED ASTRAY – Part 1

So be honest… before buying your groceries who looks at the list of ingredients on the back of the box as well as the appealing tag lines on the front? Probably not many of us, but now the research indicates that we are becoming much more aware of the true contents of the beautifully packaged and photographed goods on display. We have learnt that ‘90% fat free’ actually means 10% fat, which is a high fat content and probably also includes a high sugar content. We have learnt that ‘100% natural’… Continue

Added by William Micklem on July 17, 2009 at 7:30am — 21 Comments

Walking The Talk of Natural Horsemanship

Hello and greetings to everyone from Riversong Ranch in Alberta. I’m sitting here in my office reading over a recent chat I found on Barnmice about the merits – pros or cons – of Natural Horsemanship. And I must say that I am truly encouraged by most of the comments I read that seemingly indicate that now that the natural horsemanship “revolution” is over that perhaps now the evolution of natural horsemanship into “supernatural horsemanship” will begin.

Despite all the marketing hype… Continue

Added by Chris Irwin on July 12, 2009 at 1:00pm — 13 Comments

COURAGE & PARTNERSHIP COMPETITION

Why did I choose Courage and partnership as my two themes? Winston Churchill can explain the former...."Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others." And Partnership? I believe the Power of Partnership is the key to fulfilling your potential and indeed in some cases to even go beyond what would appear to be possible.

To be either a good coach, student or rider you need to be a good team player because each is half of… Continue

Added by William Micklem on July 3, 2009 at 3:30am — No Comments