First of all, I think it's important to note that I am a firm believer that horses probably don't, nor will they ever, see us as a member of their herd. Rather, I believe it is just the opposite. I think horses do everything they can to fit into "our" herd.
Horses are very perceptive and can easily adapt to their surroundings in order to help them survive from one day to the next. I see it this way. Horses see hundreds, possibly thousands of people, throughout their lifetime. Surely they must know they are “outnumbered". A horse outnumbered by predators has one of two choices. Die...or find a way to get along with the predators so he won't die. I expect the horse, as a species, has simply chosen the latter.
To that end, I believe he is constantly looking for a way to understand who we are and what we are all about so that he can get along in "our herd". Much like we might do if we were visiting a foreign country.
Now, having said that, I also believe that it is important to note that most "herd" mammals are all set up pretty much the same way (this includes us humans). The herd starts with the "alpha", the one with all the power, then moves progressively downward. Somewhere in the middle of the herd structure are what I refer to as passive leaders. These are animals, (whether human, horses, buffalo, deer, etc.), that simply try to get along with everybody in the herd. They aren't necessarily interested in moving up the "alpha" ladder, because they are content at their position within the herd. These passive leaders are usually very quiet in their day to day activities, and as a result, begin to gain the confidence of other members of the herd.
Because horses are passive and quiet by nature, they will naturally want to spend more time with the individuals in the herd that cause them the least amount of stress throughout the day. The reason the passive leaders are causing the least amount of stress is because they are dependable in their actions. They seldom, if ever, use force to get their way, and seem to lead by example. Wherever they go, the rest of the herd willingly follows.
So, the question is how can we develop this same type of relationship with our horses. A relationship where our horses WANT to follow us and will willingly perform the tasks that are being asked of them.
I think the answer is simple. First, we need to find a way to be dependable for our horses. This is usually a problem for many folks because they seem to have the idea that horses need to be dominated in order to perform. This comes from the fact that the "alpha" in the herd uses dominance to accomplish it's goals, and many people believe that we need to emulate the actions of the "alpha" during our training. However, if you watch the horses within a herd you will notice that while they definitely respond and seem to respect the "alpha", they don't spend very much time in that particular horse's company. In fact, the majority of horses in a herd will go out of their way to avoid the "alpha".
So, knowing that, one good way to start on our way to becoming a "passive leader" with our horse is to avoid using force. If our horse isn't performing the task we are asking, help them through it instead of trying to force them through it. Give them time to think about what is being asked of hem, and allow them time to try and figure it out. Usually, given this time to think, they will try to do the right thing.
Second, we can simply take care of our horses. What I mean by that is not just making sure the water tank is full, or that they have good feed, or that they get their shots on time...although those things are also important...but rather do what is best for them in ALL situations. Don't allow somebody to work with them or ride them that you know (or feel) will be hard on them. By the same token, if somebody is working with them and doing something that you don't feel comfortable with, stop them from doing it. In short, don't be afraid to stand up for your horse.
These two things, while they may sound simple, are often the hardest things for us to actually do for our horses. It isn't usually in our nature to be quiet and consistent. Our nature is more to get things done right now. Horses, on the other hand, simply don't see things that way.
I guess the way I look at it is that if our horse is trying as hard as he can to fit into our "herd", the least we can do is try to help him. When given the opportunity, he will fit in just fine. Copyright 1999 Mark Rashid. Reposted with permission. In cooperation with Linda Bertani.
Clinic day was finally here, after months of anticipation and preparation.
I just hoped the weather would cooperate and everything would go smoothly.
My worries were for nothing. The folks that come to a Mark Rashid clinic
have got to be the most friendly, laidback, intensely interested and
helpful group of horse people. Oh, and the weather was perfect too.
Well, let's get started.
For anyone new to Mark's approach, he works individually with each
rider/horse pair for about 1-2 hours, however long it takes, on whatever the
rider wants to work on. He has a wireless microphone/PA system, so the
audience and rider can hear everything. The spectators are invited to ask
questions before, during and after each session, much like an interactive
classroom.
The first rider, M.R. has a beautiful 12 yo gray Arab mare that she's owned
for 10 years. M.R. has problems with the mare's attitude under saddle.
Mariah just doesn't relax, pay attention, throws her head up and pins her
ears when she is asked to trot. Immediately Mark sees a saddle fit problem
and then points out M.R. is blaming the horse. They make a few adjustments
with Mark's pad and moving the saddle and get to work on the mare's
"attitude". (These are not permanent fixes - the mare will need and does
receive later, chiropractic help from Dr. Dave Siemens.) Mariah does start
moving better and M.R. works on lighter cues and focusing on where she is
going instead of Mariah's head. (I think that I never do that - Ha, just
wait! It turns out to be a very common problem with almost every rider.) We
start to see a softer horse evolving right before our eyes.
The second rider, J.R. is married to M.R. and they have had similar previous
training. J.R. has a gentle and calm (altho he's not always been that way,
we infer that he means bucking, running off, etc.) 3 yo Appaloosa colt, who
because of his beauty, coloring and forgiving nature, everyone falls in love
with.
The colt was having problems starting up and slowing down once he got going.
Oops, we got another saddle problem, which doesn't allow the rider to sit
correctly. (These are nice new saddles "expertly" fit by the local feed and
tack shop - there's a lesson here...Mark is too much of a gentleman to say
anything further - but I am left thinking.) J.R. is relatively new to
riding, couldn't find any balance and his "learned" techniques for turning,
stopping and speeding up were throwing him and his responsive little fella
all over the place. Mark, very gently suggested different ways to provide
these cues by keeping hands low, in a box, tighten up on reins so not so
much slack, shortening the stirrups and kept on reminding J. R to feel the
horse, think of the horse.
Once today and then again on Sunday, J.R. was showing Mark what he was
taught to slow and turn the horse by whipping the colt's head back and
forth, almost violently. You could feel Mark cringe, then take a breath, as
he was hurting for the horse. But you need to move on, work with the rider
to get him to truly consider the horse, which is something Mark emphasized
all weekend AND it wasn't just words. Mark would mention it at the exact,
appropriate point, when the riders needed reminding most. It was always
gentle correction at the right time. This was my first clinic experience
with Mark (2nd overall), but I *thought* I knew what to expect from reading
the books, the clinic reports. It wasn't even close. To be right there,
to see immediately what Mark was seeing and then to ride and have him point
these things out so you could see yes, I did do that or no, oops, missed.
And you might not get it that instant, but he encourages you to go back
again and again until it feels right. That might even be the next day,
after horse and rider have had a night to think it over. It's real hard
to explain. His clinic format/teaching style is very conducive to learning
and the changes in everyone were remarkable.
Looking at the video now, the Appaloosa colt is moving off and around the
round pen pretty aimlessly and Mark asks more questions and sees a lot of
confusion from the rider. Also a "lot of mechanical things in the saddle
without a lot of feel behind them." J.R. tries to explain and defend
without listening. It may become clear later, maybe if J.R. will only
relax, listen to his horse and feel more, instead of analyzing everything
based on previous advice he had been given.
Mark points out that J.R. "is a passenger, like driving a car, he doesn't
feel the horse, then when the horse doesn't do what he wants he tenses up,
gets nervous, the horse feels it and it spirals downward. Does great big
cues with hands way up, so takes a while for message to get to horse." J.R.
needs to breath too. (Everyone noticed the breath holding.)
When horse trots, J.R. falls forward and wonders why horse slows and stops.
His feet point up to back of saddle, gripping and in the past, we are told,
the horse has also taken off. They work on body position, getting hands and
heels down, cues quieter. This horse is so light! More work tommorrow in
the bigger paddock and using a different saddle.
It is so difficult being among the first riders and there was so much to be
learned from this couple. Interwoven among the "lessons" is some great
advice on wide ranging subjects, such as saddle fit, balance, feeling the
horse and so on.
The 3rd rider, K.S. needs only a little help as she has ridden with Mark
before. She has a big, well conditioned bay Arab gelding named Eddie.
Although Eddie jumps sky high when some napkins blow thru his legs, he
immediately calms down for K.S.as she finishes bridling him in the round
pen. At first he is paying more attention to everything outside the pen -
strange horses next to him, people all around, PA system, but he doesn''t
spook, he trusts this rider who he has only known about a year. They have
been showing at small local shows this summer and the time they've put in
since they last saw Mark really shows. He comments on how calm Eddie is.
They decide to work on staying on the rail, sidepassing and consistent stops
with only a light touch.
On the stop, using her seat alone was too subtle for Eddie as his attention
was elsewhere. It is alright to use reins as a cue (following the seat) to
help the horse. Also, remember the horse needs to be straight and balanced
to stop. In this 50' pen, the corners come up really fast. Mark asks K.S.
what is acceptable for the stop - she is ok with 2-3 strides. Feel the
horse - see when the horse is able to stop or sIow down, they give little
tiny changes that you need to pick up on. Because Eddie is so good
already, K.S. is not feeling the horse as much, so now that she is paying
attention to him, he starts to pay attention to her. Mark feels that it is
not that important to have the horse's attention 100% of the time - think of
ourselves - do we pay attention 100% of the time? It's only important to
get him back to you when you need it. He reminds her not to saw on the
reins - I think she did it to get his attention or to slow him down - it
throws the horse off balance. That was interesting as I know a lot of people
that do that and it never seemed to work for them either. By the end of
their session, THEY are listening better to each other and are an even more
beautiful pair.
We break for lunch - some of the group watches Dr. Dave, the chiropractor
work on Mariah, 12 yo Arab mare who is very sore, some watch David Genedek's
video on Saddle Fit. I walk the dog and attend to my hostessing. A note
here, Mark Rashid doesn't endorse a single thing - he thinks you should use
what works for you. He has come to believe in a small group of people whose
services he has personally seen help horses over a long time period and does
refer you to them, if you are having problems in that area. The video
which cost about $25 can save you a saddle cost or two. Wouldn't it be
worth it?
I wish I would have known about the video about 4 saddles ago!
The fourth rider L.G. promised she'd get bucked off , jump over the fence or
some such drama. After lunch is a good time for excitement. Her horse is a
16 H 13yo Palomino Morgan gelding (you Morgan lovers would drool). She has
owned him for 10years, started him, so accepts full responsibility.
According to L.S. , Goldy has a lot of energy, always trying to go faster,
esp on the trail, has exploded before. L.S. wants to control that energy
better. Mark sees that she has alot of energy, too. First off, the saddle
doesn't fit, but L.S. knows that already. She is the 4th rider after all!
When Goldy moves off in a trot, Mark asks to see a stop. He asks if that is
usually how he stops. About 20 ft later with strong pulls, gaping mouth.
She says that she'd sure like to be lighter. Mark says that Goldy would
probably like that, too. "You are not cueing your horse to stop, you are
forcing him to stop. You are using the bit to stop the horse. There is
lots of pressure in his mouth and you get in a great big battle. His head
is up, mouth gaping and you still don't have a stop. He finally stops
because there is nothing else to do. And that may be another reason why he
sometimes goes up in the air." This is delivered calmly in a conversational
tone, BTW. L.S. is nodding - because it is so, so true.
Mark says let's see if we can't get you through this - so they start using
seat and light touch of hands with IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Goldy is getting the
idea that we are asking for a light stop. "You're not giving him a chance,
so he's not giving you a chance - if we can get you to lighten up on his
mouth, that's it". Horse starts to soften, because as L.G. says , she quit
pulling on him. Mark states- "we are going to quit fighting with this
horse".
In order to get L.G. thinking in a different direction and not punish Goldy
with the bit, Mark suggests a correction if he walks thru the stop.
Throughout there is a constant reminder to L.G. to release, release, release
reins after asking for stop (this is real hard to do, folks, as I find out
later when I ride - ingrained habits). If Goldy doesn't try, then do the
correction which consists of tipping his nose(gently), making a smooth turn
into a small circle, try again for a stop, then back him if he walks out of
THAT . Pretty soon the horse will not want to do circling and backing - it
will be harder for the horse not to stop, but also doesn't set up a fight
with horse and L.G. will not be rolling her hands getting into Goldy's
mouth. L.G. is a very good rider and all of this is done very gently,
slowly, so starts to work well for them. After about 20 stops (many with
circles and backing up), they are looking good on stopping. Just because
L.G. has stopped fighting doesn't mean that Goldy will stop fighting - we
are just taking the fight away from him. Tommorrow we will take Goldy out
to the big paddock and work on transitions and his "hard to catch problem".
L.G. predicts lots of excitement.
The 5th rider A.G. has a small, 9yo bay Appendix mare named Bailey with bit
issues, who had been used for roping -which is really hard to believe given
her conformation, breeding and lack of interest in cows. That's why A.G.
has her now. She wants to soften with her hands and have Bailey quit
sticking her nose out. A.G. wants to do dressage which to her means putting
her on the bit and collection. Mark observed them walking and trotting both
ways, asking a lot of questions. He noticed a stiff leg and that she
doesn't get her hind end under her - important things for a dressage horse.
Mark thinks that Amy is on the right track as this mare is telling us she's
willing and trying and when Amy softens up with hands, so does the mare.
The leg/hip seems really stiff so Mark thinks that this hollowing of the
back and sticking nose out is related to that problem.
"This little horse is telling you how much she needs to get the job done.
If we soften hands and go with her, she says she can do it. But when get
more contact , she fights you and the bit. A.G. is at the opposite end of
the spectrum from the first couple riders who were toning down big huge
cues. She should be working on feel, fine tuning. "
I have the advantage of watching the video while I am writing this and could
see the difference in Bailey. It is hard to work on much past the basics,
because the mare is so sore. She does see Dr. Dave afterwards. A little
later as the wind was kicking up and Bailey was down in the lower paddocks,
she was racing with the wind, so I would venture to guess that the chiro
session worked pretty well for her.
>>Did Mark Rashid work with Goldy and his rider on his problem of
trying
to go faster and faster on the trail? <<
He did work on that - but as with all Mark does, he
doesn't just work on one thing , because that one thing is usually related
to something else that is so basic, you want to slap yourself upside the
head. One thing I was going to mention was there was a complete lack of
trust between L.G. and Goldy, which is why she had to resort to heavy hands
in the first place and this had been going on for 10 years! If you fight
your horse for 10 years, all you get is a very skilled fighter. Goldy takes
off, bucks, rears, whatever he feels like and L.G. is fighting him every
step of the way (for her life, too). This is all Goldy knows. L. G. is a
skilled enuf rider that she comes out of it ok, but she is getting a little
tired of not riding him because of too much excitement. You learn to stop
your horse with the lightest of cues and regulate his speed and direction
with just a touch. Goldy starts to say, hey this L.G. is not so bad after
all. The horse really doesn't want to take control, he doesn't want to
fight, it's too much work. He was looking for direction and leadership,like all horses.
You should have seen this horse! It was dramatic. But it's not a 2 day
fix. L.G. has her work cut out for her - but at least she can go out and
enjoy this horse again. I know her personally, have ridden with her(not on
Goldy) and have heard the Goldy stories. Privately, I thought a horse like
that should be put down. After Sat and esp. after Sunday, whoa, no way.
The sixth rider is supposed to be me. I walk in with Cash, a 7 yo Racking
horse G, who I've owned 15 mo.
I want to work on saddling, so the tack is on the fence. I also want to
work on everything else. Clinic hosts ought to have some privileges.
We walk around the round pen for about 5 min while Mark is taking a break
and answering questions (and watching us). He comes over, asks what we want
to work on, then touches my horse on the withers. Immediate pain reaction.
But to me, it's his "normal" sensitive way. "Dr. Dave, will you please
come over here and look at this horse?"
Dr. Dave palpates my horse all over - I feel like crying. This is more
distressing than I let on, because I have tried everything: different
saddles, riding different,saddle pads, shoes/no shoes, extended rest
periods, chiro visit (not Dr. Dave), 3 separate lameness exams from my
vet,clicker training to not move off on mounting and "accepting"
saddling-Hmm. I don't whine about this to them, just sharing so if this can
help you with similar problems. Dr. Dave suggests not to ride this horse.
Luckily, I live here and have another horse to ride, so leave to prepare
him.
As I am leaving wrapped up in my thoughts, Mark talks about if a horse
physically can't do it, then it's very hard to work with the horse on
training. He says "you see a horse like this that can't hardly walk..." I
catch this on the video later. WHAT?? I knew something was wrong, deep
inside me I knew, but to all appearances, I just couldn't see it. Hey, the
horse went, he "accepted" the saddle. He never bucked, reared or balked.
Sure, there were some funny things, and this soreness over withers, both
hips, neck stiff really explains alot. Can we "fix" him? I don't know -
Dr. Dave works on him later and seems confident - we need to get into it
more.
The next rider pair is S.B. and Whinney, 6 yo very brown Morgan G. He also
is a very big boy at least 16 H and 1200lbs. Guess what? The saddle doesn'
t fit. Whinney walks off when S.B tries to mount. Need to set feet ,
put pressure in stirrup, get the front feet further apart, use the mane
instead if saddle horn. And voila, he stands.
This horse is really heavy, really stiff, according to Mark one of the
heaviest he's ever felt. The horse really leans into the bit. So they work
on giving to the bit. Have to first of all soften neck so he can give us a
stop. Stops sort of look like a freight train in motion (my words).
Whinney is asked to back - nothing happens. This is unusual. Mark is
trying to figure how best to help them thru this. He thinks maybe he could
help soften the horse, so asks S.B. if he could ride him. A little bit of
pressure doesn't do anything, so he tries to find out how much it does
take - since Mark's timing is a little better, he feels this might work with
him on board. This horse has been ridden in this heavy manner for so long,
it takes more pressure than Mark would like to find out. Whinney just
sticks nose out, opens mouth and avoids the bit.
We are looking for the try.
S.B. relates that Whinney sometimes spooks and gets real nervous in big
groups and it takes a lot to get him back. Mark says we couldn't do anything
if he got scared, we couldn't give him direction, because we can't get him
to soften, give to the bit. S.B. can't do serpentines, just a straight line
out of control. A little later, we start to see Whinney trying, he can tip
his nose. Mark's advice for the nervous spooky horse is to not put them in
large groups (ah, ha). Take people away, then put them back, will take some
time.
Another important thing he said about him getting on Whinney - when a person
rides a horse for a long time, like S.B has (about 2 years since he was
started), we can't get a change. If a different person like him gets on
they can get a change and it does show - after S.B gets back in the saddle
and they work on turns, stops, backing.
Ok, now for the final rider, I'm back with Montana, a 10 yo TWH G, whom I've
had 6 mo. He's big and black, so of course Mark starts calling him Blackie.
He does these little jokes to loosen the riders up and I appreciate that
because I'm nervous!
I want to work on stops, backing and turns. Not Montana, me. So I can
learn to do it lightly. I've been loving the results other people have been
getting with their horses. And quite frankly, I don't know how to do it -
my horse does fine.
I am complaining that these stops are O..K.., but I want a snappy stop.
Mark has a laugh. "Oh, a snappy stop!"
My friends are laughing in the audience and one shouts out that "she wants a
reining stop!" Mark really has fun with this one - " A reining stop on her
Walker. Uh, huh." "And how do you get a snappy, reining stop?" My brain
has vapor lock - I honestly don't know. The audience is invited to search
for the answer. Finally one says "You need to ASK for a snappy stop".
Ah, ask for a snappy stop.
So we go to work to get my seat cue and hands coordinated and it does get
better. Every once in a while I actually do the correct one at the right
time. We find out I am actually asking for a slowdown to the stop - it's
true! I'm afraid to pull on the horse's mouth and I am also "afraid" I will
get a snappy stop (maybe one that will send me flying?). So we work on
that. First off, we go to backing. It is absolutely incredible how light
this horse is to back (I had no idea!). Mark says ok, feel that, that is
all the rein pressure you need to stop this horse. Oh. So I wouldn't be
pulling on his mouth if I used that teeny amount of rein? But we have to
also cue him with the seat first, so he knows what to expect. In my
uncoordination, we go around again, I do seat cue and am concentrating so
hard on hands; when and how much, that I don't even notice this big fella
has stopped without the slightest rein pressure. Mark points this out. It's
great to get gentle immediate correction , so I can see what in the world I
am doing.
Back to backing the horse. Mark does not advocate using legs (he doesn't
say not to, just to try this). Pick up on reins, feel the very slightest
try from the horse like shifting weight, then release. DO NOT THROW AWAY
the reins. I did this - read it somewhere... Pick up reins immediately
(which of course you couldn't do if you had thrown them away) and feel for
the try, release, pick up, feel, release. On my horse each try got bigger,
he knew what I wanted and from the minute we stepped into the round pen he
was trying for me. (Again, pointed out by Mark - we get so wrapped up in
what we are doing, me, me, that we don't notice the horse.) Soon we had
backed 20 ft like it was nothing. Now, you may not think this is such a big
deal, but I finally after all these years had learned to back a horse up
with no struggle from either rider or horse. It took 5 minutes.
At one point Mark asks where are you going?
I look at where I am looking - down at the ground. Another time I am
looking at my horse's head. When ever you wonder why the horse is slowing
down, chances are you are looking down at the horse's head or ground. The
horse can feel that shift of weight - they are that tuned in to you.
We speed it up and practice stops until I think I've finally got it! We
call it a day.
We have even more beautiful weather today, which is good since we have moved
out into the open by the larger paddock. The first horse is Mariah, the
Arab mare. M.R. starts her around the paddock and is riding her in a
different saddle, an English one that appears to fit better. We are seeing
some soreness as Mariah moves downhill tentatively.
M.R. wants to give her horse more direction today, but almost immediately
Mariah is slowing down and stopping when she wants. Mark says "don't give
up, if horse slows or stops. If we ask for something, have to follow through
or the horse will think you don't really mean it." The idea is to gain
trust, feel the horse, help the horse through problems. Mariah likes
smaller leg cues and is more relaxed then. She is a much more willing and
quiet horse today.
They work mostly on transitions, up and down, helping Mariah go down hills.
Because she is sore, they don't go straight down, they cut across hill.
Important to note here, Mark and M.R. see that Mariah is having problems,
they listen to her and try a solution, instead of forcing her to go where
they want. This is not a contradiction of previous paragraph. They are
still saying to Mariah, we are going this way, but they pick the way that
guarantees success for horse and rider, without a fight. If it had been up
to Mariah (as it was on Saturday), she would have been meandering aimlessly.
One other thing they worked on was Mariah's habit of pinning ears around
other horses. Turn nose, do something. If person tenses up (Oh no, here
comes a kick!), the horse feels it and feeds off of that energy. But Mark
also said something interesting in light of my sore guy. "Horses that are
sore don't want anybody or anything around them."
J.R. was next with his Appaloosa. His wife stayed in the paddock, riding
Mariah around to get her settled, relaxed while another horse was working.
Ok, J.R. think settled in saddle (Mark's saddle, BTW), don't go forward on
horse or it will slow.
If you start something, don't quit.
If you are unsure of yourself, you can't even give the horse the benefit
of the doubt, because you don't even know what you are doing (this is in
response to J.R. complaining that his colt was doing something he didn't ask
for).
And: "The way you were riding didn't lend it well to the horse responding."
My comment: Sometimes this seems a bit blunt, but Mark will not tolerate
people blaming the horse for everything. He asks people to look at the
situation (colt stopping, for instance) and search out solutions. Am I
falling forward? Am I looking at the ground or the horse's head? Am I out
of balance? Am I jerking with my hands? Is the colt seeking out the
comfort of his mare up in the corner? The 1st 4 questions could all be
answered in the affirmative and are the rider's responsibility. The last
question is the colt's responsibility. What do we do to help the colt? A
long list of possible answers: don't go up by the mare, don't slow down,
put energy into riding, and DON"T GIVE UP.
Another Markism: "As far forward as you are, you must not want my backend
on the ground. Here, let me help you"
The spectators also enjoyed "unscheduled dismount".
Later, a question about trotting from an auditor.
Mark said he mostly sits the trot vs. posting because when he's
riding, he's working cattle usually and acts out posting/roping - everyone
cracks up.
But what do you do with a "rough" trotter? Isn't it better to post? Mark
said something to the effect of if you HAVE to post in a Western saddle
which isn't made for it anyway, then you're probably not riding right. But
he goes on to say, do whatever works for you.
Goldy, the Palomino Morgan is on stage now. He also is sporting a different
saddle, a nice dressage model. L.G. and Mark are discussing trust. You may
notice a few central themes in Mark's beliefs... "Trust comes from the
horse relying on your judgement".
L.G. admits that she has probably been scaring Goldy with her quick
movements and that's why he doesn't trust her. As Mark and L.G. talk,
Goldy's head goes down to
sniff/eat grass. She jerks his head up, this happens a few times. Mark
suggests slow down, do it slowly. And it
ceases to become an issue. I can't explain why this works, but I see it
happen again and again thru out the 2 days.
Let's see where this horse is on catching. L.G. unsaddles, unclips the lead
and stands by gate. Goldy takes off with speed, away from these people. The
paddock is about 220 x 90. Everytime his attention is away, he moves or
stops to sniff grass, Mark kisses to horse, which makes Goldy take off
again. When he stands still, looking at him, Mark stands still. He isn't
interested in scaring him, chasing him down, getting him sweaty and tired,
but he does need his attention.
Mark is only walking.
Goldy shows off with energy, trotting, cantering, rarely walking. The horse
is a vision - we enjoy his antics. Mark even comments one time on his
Lippazaner moves. Goldy will not stop himself until he is comfortable
paying attention.
Mark has taken the posture of that he doesn't care if he catches him or not.
Once when Goldy came toward him, Mark says he's not so sure he wants to
catch him and altho he could have reached out and gotten Goldy, Goldy shows
us he's not quite comfortable yet. It's ok for him to get himself stopped.
Goldy goes up to L.G. once, then goes around again, goes back looking to
L.G. for help. Horse is hunting up some help. He goes again to L.G.. She
is encouraged to pet him - gives a quick rub and he's off. Goldy lets Mark
near, then runs off...but not as far. He's cutting the paddock in half now.
Then he's back to L.G., she strokes him gently, slowly. "This horse is
caught for all intents and purposes. He looks to who he knows. There's no
sweat on the horse or the people. How long did it take? A little over 10
min. The horse has made some decisions here today. Who caught who here?
We have just taught our horse to catch us." L. G. stands there petting
her horse all over, no lead on him, he really honestly is standing there
calmly, making a choice to be next to her. This has never happened in 10
years.
They saddle up and L.. G. asks jokingly, should she turn him in a tight
circle if he is heading for the fence at a gallop. Apparently this has
happened before and L.G. is not quite ready to trust this horse, even after
he caught her! Mark says "now , you are assuming you will be in a
gallop."
They start out at a relaxed walk, working on stops, then progress to
trotting, stops, quiet and soft. Obviously L.G. has been lying about this
"powder keg" horse. The amazed, happy smile on her face is nice to see.
A question from the audience about stopping and using the bit
Mark:"Stopping - let the horse do it"
"I don't use the bit to stop the horse. The bit communicates the cue. I've
shut down my energy, asked him to stop and he CAN do it" . Another
question on stopping comes in. She says
she's having problems stopping her horse before they get back to the barn
"for practice". "Hmm, stopping for practice on the way home... Are we
setting our horse up to succeed or fail?"
Then he turns to L.G. "How does he feel today? She replies "He is
listening and relaxed - he's never been that way"
"Now, L.G. this is the first time in 2 days that you have stood up for your
horse." She smiles, she knows he's right.
As they work around in the trot, we notice Goldy speeding up going down
hills - a common trail riding problem. "Give the horse some help, help him
to balance. Feel him when he is having problems. It may mean taking him off
the rail or changing direction or changing his speed." THEN, the horse gets
better balanced and gets his feet under him. We don't do it for the horse,
get him to start doing it by himself. "There, he's trying to hold you,
that's a big effort on his part, he's trying"
We see this as Mark is describing it. And reading about it may be as boring
as watching paint dry, but right before our eyes, we WATCH TRUST BUILDING.
They work together and soften even more. Goldy used to charge any and all
hills. We don't see that at all.
"Want to move him up to a canter?" L.G. makes some negative comment. " If
you think he'll do bad, he will. You won't leave him any other alternative.
Now, he's done everything you've asked him and more." So they canter.
Goldy gives a couple little heels up. "He's feeling good, but he stayed
with you." They go around again and he's got his head down trying to kick
up his heels. Mark says calmly, " just tip his nose a little. That says,
nah, I'm going to take that little option away. Instead of saying QUIT THAT
which he really doesn't know anyways, you are
helping him to stop that behavior." Guess what, Goldy doesn't do it
again. They do many smooth transitions up and down. Goldy is responsive,
soft, what more could you ask?
I want to say here, even though L.G. said jokingly that Goldy might jump the
fence, run off or buck her off, Mark never, ever moved ahead with her (or
anyone) until he was sure it was safe. He knew she could handle exactly
what she did.
Only a 3 more riders to go - hope you are getting something helpful out of
these reports. If anything is unclear please don't hesitate to ask!
Next up, a new rider to our lineup: M.B. on my 19 yo Appaloosa mare. M.B.
takes a lap on Silver and we see Silver has problems stopping at the gate.
She is ready to leave, but we have just begun. M.B. practices on riding
past the gate, without whacking the horse (sorry, private joke). Don't stop
whatever we are asking, let horse know we are not giving up, we'll keep on
doing something. Too many people just stop and the horse goes, Ah, ha got
what I wanted. (Ol' Silver has been there, done that.) They soon
work it out. They practice a few stops, no problem there. Then on to
backing. M.B. backs her, no problem, as my (ex) friends in the audience
tell Mark how Silver doesn't back.
Mark asks to see a trot. M.B. gives her a lot of leg, which immediately
makes Silver jump ahead. Mark suggests we don't need that much of a cue.
This gentle correction lets the audience see what too much vs. just right
is. Silver and M. B. work toward smooth transitions as they get to know
each other better. Then they stop from the trot (perfectly) and back. All
from a horse who doesn't stop that well or back , Mark keeps on reminding
the audience. He compliments M.B. on how
soft her feel is with this horse. Mark turns to the audience and says
"Maybe the reason why this little horse wasn't backing was because we were
using too much pressure. You're not using much at all are you, M.B. ? Like
a bird in the hand." Again, Mark is absolutely right!
Mark talks about how well M. B. is riding the horse. About how she's never
ridden this horse, much less laid eyes on her before today. Then Mark says,
since Silver is doing everything she asks maybe she might want to canter?
He knows M. B. can do it. They canter and trot a few times
around the paddock. M. B. gets a stop out of the canter, with only the
lightest of cues.
This is a major accomplishment when we learn that this is the first time in
2 years, since a traumatic horse related injury, that M.B. has cantered.
Everyone applauds and M. B. is smiling too.
Can Silver sidepass? I don't know, I just work here.
Mark talks about teaching sidepassing in the open. M.B. says she's been
putting her horse, back home, on the rail and he's started to rear. "This
is a perfect example. Why is he rearing? Claustrophobic, he's got nowhere
to go. He doesn't understand what the cue is to begin with, you put his
nose on the rail, he says I don't know what this means, you say I don't
care. But I gotta do something. So he goes to rearing. Waall, that's NOT
what I was looking for. But that's what you were telling me to do!"
This is hard mentally and physically on the horse - they are using muscles
they don't usually use and don't understand.
So he breaks it up so the horse isn't put into a situation where she's
quitting on us. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU DRILL AND DRILL. He does the
front end over and then the back end over until each is good. Then puts the
leg cue between the 2 (right ? M.B. ?). M.B. has gotten Silver so light to
leg and hand cues esp to backing, that Silver is a little confused on what
they want. Finally, they get the sidepass and call it a day. FYI, it did
not take more than 10 min.
I'm up next with Montana, the TWH. What do we want to work on today? Well,
I say, the only problem he has is he will run off when we are trail riding
when the other horses do and just wondering if maybe... "When does this
happen?" Well, unexpectedly, while trailriding with a group and they just
go. " How can all the horse take off unexpectedly, don't the horses have
riders? " I wiggle. He's genuinely perplexed. "Is it when one horse spooks
or
everyone knows the group is going to canter and you have been sleeping the
last 5
min?" Well, usually one horse goes and the rest take off. I really don't
have a clue where he is going with this. He is kind of upset. " Where are
the manners on the trailride?!? We have a responsibility to the other
riders and horses."
Mark relates a story how he has a horse like this that becomes real antsy in
a situation like I have described. And how you can't change the instinct in
a horse to be with the herd. The only way you can change the outcome, have
the horse listen more to you than to follow the other horses is if the horse
TRUSTS you. We're back to that - and he says you've only had this horse,
what 5-6 mo., it will come, he's that kind of horse. " Going back to
manners on the trail, very important, causes more problems and more
trouble - people without any regard for other people kick their horse up
into a lope. Common courtesy is to talk about it first ."
This discussion took a different turn than I expected, but it was an
appropriate safety point to bring up and obviously something Mark is very
passionate about.
Ok, we move off, working on stops. Sometimes I get a good stop and
sometimes not. Still slowing to a stop, need to fine tune the seat and
hands, seat and hands. I am never going to get this. Montana starts to
look to Mark for help - I don't blame him. We stick with it and shortly we
have a "snappy" stop or 2. We speed it up and
work on leg cues. Montana is so laid back I find it hard to release the leg
cue. Oh, I don't keep the leg on? He's hardly moving. Mark points out -
Can you feel when he's making the effort moving up to go faster? Well,
yeah. Kinda. Try again. I start to feel it as I cue to speed up. Mark
still tells me release, release, but soon I can feel Montana trying. And
I use less leg. And I get more. This is weird.
Montana starts to sustain gait longer, as my timing gets better.
*Need to give him some kind of release so he knows he is doing the right
thing.
*We can always reapply cue at any time, but need to feel for the try first.
Our progression was: Leg cue on, feel, take it off immediately when feel
try (In less than a second). Next step energy coming up as a cue - this is
cool. Taking a breath, thinking "LET'S GO!" and letting it out as
you FLY!
We work on transitions up and down with seat cues, energy and a touch on the
reins. Before I know it Mark has addressed the problem we talked about at
the beginning - how to ride my horse when the other rude horses take off.
Get him listening, responsive to my cues, can get his energy up thru the
roof, but it's just as easy to get it down again. Well, what do ya know?
Mark goes on to say that this horse will start being more confident in me.
If any bad stuff happens, where he gets panicky, he's going to start looking
to me more and more. I thank this big, black horse for trying for me every
step of the way. (He CAN sidepass, too.)
The last rider of the day is S.B. with Whinney, the stiff, heavy on the bit
Morgan. They start out with backing, looking at least for the try. Whinney
is a brown statue. When he moves forward or isn't listening, she circles
him. She asks for the back, he is giving us several different things, not
what we are looking for. It gets very frustrating for S.B. as nothing seems
to be working. Mark takes ahold of the reins, Whinney backs. Using as much
as he NEEDS. S. B. needs to get more decisive. On to stops, what's ok? 2
steps out is too much and it must ALWAYS be too much. He must circle or back
(doing something) until he starts to get the idea of what S.B. wants.
We soon see that this big horse thinks he can go where ever he wants and to
stop when ever he wants. Try being consistent and decisive, letting him know
that's not right, this is.
Mark is so patient, soon they are getting backs and stops. And Whinney is
starting to listen to S.B. too. He doesn't want to do extra circles, he's
seeing that she is actually saying something to him to which he has to
respond. Correctly. Before it was Oh, ok if you don't want to do that ,
let's have a bite of grass or wander over here, whatever makes you
comfortable. These are the
building blocks that S.B. never had which has made her wrassle with this
horse for the almost 2 years I've known and ridden with her. I am
overjoyed for her. It's a long road ahead still.
Mark has given us a game plan as he leaves each of us. He knows these
aren't instant or permanent fixes. We are coming away better equipped to
work with our horses. He's helped us to think more about our horses and for
many, in a different way.
For those who have asked: His 3rd book "Horses Never Lie" will be out in the
spring. His
clinic schedule and clinic reports can be found on his web site at :
