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Baymount Farm Natural Horsemanship Clinic

Jan 12th, 2010 by Sherry

There are a lot of clinics a horseman can choose from to further their education.   I have attended a few myself and really enjoy them.  All of these clinics have been organized so you can pick and choose your subject matter and most you can bring your own horse.   I usually end up buying their videos, cd’s or literature of some sort and pour through it trying to absorb as much as I can then rush out to try out my new education.  My guess is I am not any different from anyone else in this area.  But the one thing I haven’t found locally is a clinic that comes to me to teach me what I want to specifically learn at one time.  Instead I get a lot of small doses in lots of areas and sometimes find it challenging to put it all together. 

So, thanks to some clients of mine I have had the opportunity to hold a clinic with just such a thing in mind.  They requested that I come to their farm and teach them specifics in their area of riding for the entire family.  I did and it was great!  My daughter and I both held the two day clinic for my clients who were a family of four.  They provided their own horses and equipment.   I think that is the best way to learn.  I can easily use someone else’s horses and equipment when I am learning, but then I get back to my barn and horses, discover that my equipment is slightly different and my horses aren’t quite trained the same and that adds to the confusion of putting it all together.  With their own equipment, horses and on their trails we were able to progress with comfort and ease.  This added to the quickness in which the children were able to pick up important skills in riding and apply those skills without as much hesitation by being on their own territory. 

The first part of each morning consisted of learning to harness, hitch and drive a carriage horse.   This went very well, was lots of fun and the family members learned the basics of driving down their driveway and out onto the property.  They learned how to fit the harness for comfort and security, how to handle the reins properly and how to drive, turn, back and slow down their driving horse.   Most of this they were already doing properly, but just needed a little brush up on their skills and confirmation that they were doing it correctly. 

The second half of the day consisted of trail riding, a few lessons on jumping, two-point position, proper leg placement and usage in the saddle, the correct way to balance and the difference in hunt seat, western, and equitation.  Since we were using gaited horses, the hunt seat was a little challenge but the lessons were learned and the students were jumping by the time we left.   

Unfortunately, because of the weather, we were not able to do as much as I had planned.  We were facing wind gusts up to 25mph and temperatures in the low 30’s.  This made it quite cold, our fingers and toes were numb, our faces wind burned but our spirits were up and that hot chocolate sure was good!  Plus the cooks were magnificent, they provided the lunches and we dined like kings.

At any rate, I have a video of our clinic just for fun.   Baymount Farm Natural Horsemanship Clinic.   I hope you enjoy watching as much as we enjoyed filming and working.  I wish I had more to show you, but our battery went dead, must of been the extremely cold weather. 

Future clinics can be held for you, within a reasonable driving distance, no more than 2 hours away please.   Clinics run $110 per person daily, 8 hour days,  for 4 people, plus hotel.   More than 4 people the price can be adjusted.  Just email me for more information.

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My Daughter and Eclipse Continued….

Jan 11th, 2010 by Sherry

I have finally decided to post on this blog about my own experience with my personal horse, Harmony’s Eclipse. It is just a continuation of what my mother posted before, but detailing what I’ve learned in this experience and what I’ve done.

Eclipse was born here, on our farm, on April 17, 2001. She was a tiny little thing, and when she was born she terrified me! I swear, I thought she wasn’t breathing. But, as she is now, Eclipse was stubborn and took her first breath and was up in less than half an hour. Since then, I’ve played and worked with her though not as much as I have recently.

In the first year of her life, I was more of a pasture buddy to Eclipse than anything. There were not very firm boundaries that I set, so she literally started to walk all over me, push me, nip me, and run from me. It continued this way through the years, and it was never a realization for me until I went off to college full time in 2008. The thing is that I never worked with Eclipse on solid ground manners, and that goes a long way in every type of training you do with your horse. I’m a firm believer in making the horse behave on the ground, which makes it easier to deal with them in the saddle.

Eclipse has transformed wonderfully since I started working with Jennifer Dipple, a great trainer and instructor over at Full Circle Farm. It was close to impossible to get Eclipse to listen to me over two weeks ago, and now she is not only listening but trying to do it before I even ask her to! Something that I have discovered since I’ve started working with her consistently, and something I have been semi-aware of the entirety of her life, is that Eclipse can read my body language before I even ask with the aids.

It’s frustrating a lot of the time, because I am still learning myself and am not completely solid with my aids. So when Eclipse tries to take these “shortcuts” it doesn’t really help me to understand fully. Nonetheless, she is an incredibly smart horse with an appytude which makes a frustrating combination.

As you can see in the video posted previously, she transformed from the beginning of the lesson into the end. It is an 8 minute long video, and you can hear my instructor, Jennie, in the background but it shows the change she went through in only that hour long lesson. Incredible how quickly she learns. The video was on Friday, and on the Monday before I could not get Eclipse to listen or even pay attention! She was throwing a fit around the entire arena, trying her hardest to find anything else to look at, or just ignoring me altogether!

Consistent work with her in just a week has done wonders. It takes quite a bit of patience, which is something I am still in the process of learning. I have no patience, and I frequently get angry with Eclipse. The trick is finding a way to channel that anger and frustration instead of taking it out on your horse. Your horse doesn’t know why your angry at them. Why should they? Think of your horse as a toddler, they have the same attention span and the same way of learning. I know for a fact that Eclipse is intelligent and learns quickly, but she constantly finds way to test me. As if to ask,”Okay, are you letting me get away with this today? Are you sure you remember?” As soon as I have finished reminding her of what we worked on previously, and as soon as she has done testing me, it is an almost smooth ride. I say almost, because she is still not one hundred percent with the aids or reactions and it will be a while before she is.

I have found that working with her on Bending and Suppling has really helped her and myself. I’ve learned to work with my horse, instead of against her or trying to force her to do what I want. Before, I never really understood what I was asking or why I was asking these things. I did not understand, really understand, how to ask the horse something. Since working with Eclipse, my relationship with he has also grown. We are a lot closer than we were before and I understand her better. I’ve found that both Patience and Consistence are very important to working with a horse, and although I have always known this it is different knowing it and understanding it.

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My Daughter and Eclipse

Jan 11th, 2010 by Sherry

This post is dedicated to my daughter who has become a wonderful rider in the last year.  She has been riding her entire life, whether she remembers it or not.   That is,  I was riding while pregnant with her, maybe that is how she developed such a love of the sport.  She is now furthering her career in horsemanship by going to school for therapeutic horsemanship.

I have to give credit to her instructor here in Statesville, NC.  She is wonderful!  My daughter has learned so much in such a short time.  The trainer is Jennifer Dipple at Full Circle Farm.  You should definitely check this place out.  You will be impressed, I promise you.  I, too, take lessons there.  Any good trainer and instructor will always be furthering their skills and knowledge through lessons and I am glad I found this facility.

My daughter has an appaloosa that she raised and trained from birth.  She has always wanted this horse to show and through the years have been working towards that goal.  Now she has the opportunity to realize her dreams.  She has come a long way in teaching Eclispe to become a wonderfully well trained horse.  Here she is working with Jennie at Full Circle Farm teaching Eclipse to bend and supple. They are learning to find their rhythm and work together as one.  They have come a long way in the past week.

At the beginning of the week, Eclispe didn’t even want to be ridden.  She ignored commands and did everything she could to the opposite of what she was being asked.  But after a week of consistent work and encouragement, the trainer and my daughter were able to get Eclipse to bend and supple enough to have a very good lesson.  I am sure she will be showing her in competition this summer.

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Reining Red Confetti

Jan 6th, 2010 by Sherry

Let me introduce you to Red Confetti.  She is a beautiful 12 year old Arabian mare, unregistered.    Confetti came to us a year and a half ago from a man who was going to take her to the auction.  We all know what happens to those horses.  Not all, but most end up being abused, neglected, going to homes where the people don’t know how to take proper care of their horses, or being shipped to Canada or Mexico to the killers.  We purchased her, brought her home and re-introduced her to being ridden.  She has plumped up a little since we bought her.

Confetti acted as if she did not know how to be ridden.  If I had not known better I would have thought she was green, but given time to calm down I could tell she had training.  I spend a lot of time working with Confetti on a full cheek snaffle to get her responsive again.  I spent most of the time just walking beside her suppling one side of the bit then the other to see just how responsive she could be.  What I found was, she knew how to ‘give to the bit’ but didn’t know for ‘how long’ or in other words, how to stay on the bit.  So we kept walking and giving until she had it down.  That was basically all it took to teach her to rein properly.  After that, it was saddle up and practice in the ring.

I know she had been ridden before because she picked up on turning on the forehand, haunches, backing, side passing and half passing very quickly.  She was just rusty and protested to being back in work.    My daughter and I took her out on the trails and she loved that!  Oh my gosh, she was wonderful.

Ok, it was time to sell her.  We had way to many horses, my daughter was going to college and wouldn’t be home to ride her, so we found a home for her.  A wonderful family bought her, took her home for their 14 year old daughter.  But,  they have walking horses and Confetti had a hard time keeping up.  They decided to stick with walking horses and have offered Confetti up for sale again.

Now Confetti is back with us and continuing her training.  I have been working her on the obstacles for competitive trail riding and she has been doing quite well.  She is now ready for another home.  Confetti is being offered for $2,000.  I have a 14 year old student who has been riding her to keep her in shape.  This particular student just recently learned to ride and has been having a wonderful experience on Confetti.  Here is her recent video Red Confetti on You Tube

Confetti would make a wonderful trail riding competition horse or just a pleasure trial horse.  She is sound, easy to work with, stands for the farrier, hauls easily, has no dental issues, stays outside year round, has a very thick coat in winter and sheds out smoothly in the summer.  I don’t normally grain her except a small amount for extra nutrition in the winter.  She can go barefoot or wear shoes for the rocky trails.

Confetti loves people and gets along well with other horses.  I would love to keep her myself, but have too many now.  So, if you are interested or need more information you can reach me through my contact page.

Happy Riding.

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Additional Info on Bending Your Horse

Dec 31st, 2009 by Sherry

I recently blogged about how to bend your horse.  These methods work, but take time and patience.  A lot of us just want it done and don’t have time everyday to work with our horse even 30 – 60 minutes daily.  But most of us do have a hour or more at least one day a week.  Therefore,  needing to get this taught in one lesson is more important to us than taking a few minutes daily.  This is the catch-22 part of training.  So, here are a few techniques you can use while trail riding your horse or practice riding in the ring.

One: Since you already know your horse knows how to bend when it wants to, what are you, as the rider going to do to teach those ques while enjoying the ride without making it seem like a boring lesson?  (Personally, I like boring lessons, it gives me a chance to let go and think about nothing except what I am doing and not feel pushed to do a million things at once.)  On the trail, ask for your horse to move his nose slightly to the inside of the circle as you are going around a tree.  At the same time, use your outside rein to rate his speed and keep him from bending his nose too far to the inside.  Also, use your inside leg on the girth and your outside leg behind the girth.  Your inside leg gives him a point of reference to bend around and keeps him bent.  Your outside legs keeps him from moving his haunches to far to the outside.  It is that simple. That is all you really have to do.  However, don’t force and if he does not do it the first time, fine.  Keep giving him the same aids and cues every time you go around an obstacle and you will be surprised at how fast he picks this up.  Be aware that most mares will pick this up quicker than geldings.  Especially if the geldings have been cut early in life.  So take your time.

Secondly, set up a line of barrels or posts any obstacle that you can wind your horse in and out of in the ring or pasture.  You can also use a series of trees to wind through.  It is the same as making serpentines in the ring, but it gives your horse a visible obstacle to bend around.  Use the same cues but be sure to switch your leg and body position with each turn.  Take your time and do this at a slow walk so you can be sure to train yourself to pick up the cues also.  We can teach our horse the wrong thing by using the wrong cues, of course.  So be sure you have your aids and body language down pat.  Don’t expect your horse know what you want.  He is totally dependent on you to tell him what, when, how and how fast.

I recently taught a 5 year old green broke mare how to do this just by walking around barrels in the ring every day.  Now, every time I ride her all I have to do is ask and she bends perfectly.  I use these aids on every turn regardless of how short, small, or long is the circle.  Once your horse gets used to this and does it on cue it will be much easier to teach him/her to move off your legs.

Happy Trails

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Teaching Your Horse to Bend

Dec 30th, 2009 by Sherry

What is bending?  Have you ever attempted to bend your horse?  I’m not talking about bending his nose around to touch is shoulder.  That is flexing.  I’m talking about bending his entire body to conform to an arc of a circle.  How do you do this?  Why do you do this?  There are a lot of wonderful trainers out there who can answer these questions and in many different ways.  They all have their theories on how and why.  A lot of it depends on the discipline they ride and their training techniques.   But basically it all boils down to the same thing.

So here goes my way of teaching your horse to bend.  Some of this I learned from John Lyons, some of this from my trainer, and some by just watching my horses and using my head.   Let’s get to the ‘how’ of things first.  In all honesty, this isn’t something we have to ‘teach’ the horse at all.  They already know how to do this.  It is our job as trainers to teach them how to do this on que or when we ask for it.   Notice first that I said ask.  Teaching is all about asking for a specific response from your horse and rewarding it for the correct answer and NOT punishing for the incorrect answer.  (Think of it as trying to communicate with a person from another country and culture that we just met.  They don’t know our language and ways, nor we theirs.)     Stand back a minute and watch horses in a pasture.  They can bend at the poll every time they bite at a fly on their chest.  They can flex their neck each time they scratch their shoulder or back.  They can bend at the girth area each time they move quickly away from a kick, bite or maneuver around an obstacle.  Have you watched your horse raise it’s hind hoof to scratch its ear?  It’s back end (haunches) are stationary, it’s bent at the girth, it’s front legs are stationary, it’s outside shoulder it out, it’s neck is bent, etc., etc., etc.    My point it that they know how to do what we want, we just need to learn how to teach them this on que.  So follow their lead and start putting a word and que to what they do naturally. 

I like to work in a round pen so the horse has freedom to move around without me always pulling on the lead rope or reins to bring him around and I can ask the horse to move away without him getting so far away that I have to chase him down.   The prerequisite to all this is to make sure your horse can stand without moving before you start.   

First  I make sure that my horse does flex certain specific parts of his body on que.  I use treats as a reward.  And I only reward for a correct answer.  To ask him to bend at the poll, put a treat in your hand, let him smell it then put it behind his chin, when he tips his head and bends at the poll, let him have the treat.  Then do this with the bit in his mouth by holding the rein on one side first then the other.  When he bends at the poll, which is also giving to the bit, reward him by  releasing the rein immediately and patting or stroking him.  WHY?  He needs to be able to flex to bend and flex on que without pulling on him.  Nobody wants to ride a horse you have to force to move.

Secondly ask him to flex his nose towards his shoulder by taking a treat, let him smell it, hold it at his shoulder and let him take it from you there.  If at first the horse can’t flex this far then practice with the treat closer until he can reach around to his shoulder.  Some horses are stiffer than others and need practice at this.  Also, it may be harder for older horses.  This is completely different for them than biting at a fly.  It is a different motivation and takes practice to build a response to the correct motivation from us.  Do this with the bit, don’t pull the nose around, but ask by holding the rein and increasing the pressure a little at at time until the horse starts bringing his nose around then quickly release the rein.  Again, practice in little increments until the horse can reach all the way to the shoulder without forcing.  WHY?  Same as before, plus you are building on concepts, just like in a mathematical concept.   It’s the little steps that complete an equation correctly.

Thirdly I ask (whoops, there is that dreaded word again!) the horse to move away from me at the girth.  This isn’t as hard as it sounds.  He has to keep is feet stationary and move his waist.  He can do it, I promise.  Standing at his side, push on the girth area, if he pushes back, moves toward you or just stands there, push harder or start tapping.  When he moves away, even just a little, stop and pat him.  Remember, you don’t want him to move his feet, just his side.  Later you will be teaching him to do this at a walk and can apply the same technique to teaching side passing and half passing, etc.  But right now just work on moving away from pressure at the touch of your hand and small movements are great.  You are getting the response you need. 

Fourth ask your horse to stand still, front feet stationary, and push or tap behind the girth to get him to move his butt over just one step.  This will carry over to getting him to understand that leg at the girth means move away and leg behind the girth (on the opposite side) will be to keep his butt in place.  It may not make sense right now, but once you put it all together under saddle and practice one movement at a time, you can start putting it together two aids at a time until he is bending like you want. 

Fifth saddle up, mount up and put it all together.  Start with bending at the poll, the neck, the girth, then placing your leg behind the girth on the opposite side while you ask for the bend at the girth on the inside.  Take this last part  slowing as it may take your horse a minute to understand what you are actually asking for.  Be sure you understand what you are asking.  This may seem simple, but once you are in the saddle putting it in practice it can get confusing when your horse is starting to dance around trying to figure out how to transfer information you taught on the ground to performing under saddle.  Be patient, take your time and be specific in your ques.  Soon this will be easy and you will be doing this at a walk around a large circle.  Practice a lot.  Don’t forget that small movements at first is all you need.

Happy Riding!

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Riding Clinics

Dec 28th, 2009 by Sherry

Well I am finally going to hold my first two day clinic in Louisburg, NC for a client of mine.  Never thought I would progress this far when I started teaching and training again.  You see, I have been training horses for quite sometime and teaching riding lessons since 1994.  I did quit for a while to become a realtor.  But decided to go back to training and teaching when the economy went downhill and the housing market all but collapsed.  And I am so glad I did.  I specialize in training trail horses.  I don’t care what breed or what discipline you ride.  Any horse can become a very successful, highly trained trail horse that doesn’t spook at everything it sees and knows how to behave like a fox hunter.  It just takes patience and training.

I had a wonderful client who brought his TWH to me to be trained as a trail horse.  This horse was a little spooky to ride, but boy did we have fun together.  She taught me a thing or two, like how to get over my fear of losing my seat when horse gets excited on the trail and wants to take off running and bucking.  She went back home at the end of her session at Baymount Farm and has become a favorite of my client.  Jazzy Plays Soccer  This same client has asked me to come to his farm and hold a two day clinic for his family.   I am happy to comply and very excited about this opportunity.  I plan to hold many more clinics in the future. 

This particular clinic will be customized to my client’s needs.  I will be teaching harnessing and driving TWH’s, giving riding lessons to his family, giving trail lessons and teaching how to handle horses properly.  The wonderful thing about clinics is that they can be tailor made to fit the needs of the individual.  Not all clinics need to be so organized that they become boring or a show of trick training skills.  I won’t be starting out by round penning, then moving onto sacking out, tacking up, etc.  I will be using their horses that they are already familiar with to teach them how to become better riders and drivers.  How fun is that! 

When I finish I am hoping the whole family will be confident enough that individually they can go out saddle up, or harness up and take off for a wonderful time with their horse.   Watch for the video of this clinic.  I think you will find it interesting. 

Happy Riding!

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Sir Alex, a Standarbred’s Story

Dec 27th, 2009 by Sherry

I had written a little about Sir Alex on December 6, 2009 when I first acquired him.  Since then he was shipped to my house at midnight two weeks ago.  I fell in love with this horse the minute I saw him on the trailer.  I knew he was special when I watched the video of him from New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Center in Laura, Ohio.  Sir Alex is very special indeed.  He fit right into the heard without a fuss, has made friends with everyone and has quite a comical personality.  He likes to tease the other horses, running up like he is going to chase them away, just to turn and take off again.  He gets everyone in the pasture running and chasing and having a ball, then calmly starts grazing while the others look on as if to say,” Hey, I thought we were playing chase.”

I have decided that ex-race horses really don’t like staying in the stall, which is quite alright with me.   My other one, Sera, a thoroughbred stresses and walks the stall if I try to keep her in.  Sir Alex just chooses to try to crib.  There isn’t a place in the stall he can sink his teeth into except the buckets, so out he goes.  I don’t need my buckets torn up.  Also, one less mess to clean up, you know.  As long as he is happy outside, so be it.  His coat is thick enough and he is heavy enough that I doubt he will even notice the cold.  He is also barefoot, which I like during winter.  Ice, snow and mud doesn’t get so clogged up on his soles and I don’t have to worry so much about him getting hurt cavorting out in the pasture. 

My daughter rode him two days after he arrived and he was wonderful.  Sir Alex raced his second year and won a fair amount, but started to get sore so his conscientious owners decided to retire him rather then risk his getting hurt.    After that he went on to being a lesson horse.  He trots and paces which makes him perfect since he is so versatile.  I finally rode him a few days ago and decided that I needed to work with him on the snaffle bit to see what he would do.  In the video he was wearing an eggbut snaffle.  I put a full cheek snaffle on him which is my choice in bits when I get a new horse to try out.   I have been suppling him and asking him to walk straight without all the chewing.   Alex does like to chew, so I think I will try a snaffle with a french link and see how that works for him.  Today we had a great day!   Obviously  he has been very well trained by his previous owners and is a pleasure to ride. 

Sir Alex has quite a smooth trot, doesn’t canter, but that is ok, he does pace and is very smooth.  That’s all I need anyway.  He was a nut today when I was riding him in the ring.  My dachshund, Izzy, came out to say hello to me and Sir Alex thought he was going to get attacked.  I never dreamed he would be frightened by such a small, unassuming dog, but by golly if he didn’t spin around and try to run.   Thankfully, he is very, very well behaved and trusting of humans.  He settled down easily and we just kept going.  That is a good training technique with a spooky horse.  If you can stay on, just ride it out all the time trying to gain control and give the horse something to do that he does well to get his mind back on work and off whatever scared him.  They have a one track mind, so stay calm, regain control and keep going.

Anyway, to me Sir Alex is special and I really look forward to giving lessons on him.  I think my students will love him too.

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Posted in Ex-race horses, Trail Horse Training | 1 Comment »

So You Have Your First Horse, Now What?????

Dec 25th, 2009 by Sherry

I remember my first horse.  I was 28 years old and purchased a mix breed that was advertised as a TWH.  If there was walker in him, I didn’t know it.  But I had fun and learned a lot.   AND I KNEW IT ALL!  Afterall, I had watched all the westerns with my Dad;  John Wayne movies, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Bonanza… anything with a western theme, Dad and I would watch it.  We even had a puzzle of an Indian buffalo hunt that we put together occasionally.  I had my share of pony rides at the fairs, and….I grew up riding a cow!.  Yep, I knew how to ride and I was ready for my first horse.   With two toddlers in tow, I went out and bought one.  I pastured boarded him for $25.oo a month at a farm on Prosperity Church Road in Charlotte, NC before it became a retail/residential area.  I had taken a few saddle seat lessons in Concord, NC at Paul Boone Stables.  I had wanted horses my whole life and I was determined to have one.

Was I in for a huge lesson.  I was so green and so dumb that I told the farmer who owned the land that his mare pony had an infection and needed to call a vet because she had all this discharge under her tail!!  Imagine the laugh he had after I left!  Well I kept my horse for a few years, but sold him after I had my daughter.  I had owned him a few months when I found out I was pregnant for the third time and decided he was too much to care for with an infant and two  boys that needed me more.   I wish I had someone who took the time to tell me how much there was to caring for a horse when I bought him and had outlined it for me.  I wouldn’t have changed my mind, but I would have had something in which to refer.  And I probably would have picked out a better horse.  There were so many books out there I could have thumbed through hundreds before I found the right one to go by. 

Here’s what I wish I had known.

1.  How to judge the temperament of a horse.  I loved all horses and if I could catch them I thought they would be fine. I didn’t know to look for signs of sourness, distress, submissiveness or what-have-you.  I didn’t know that ears flat back meant, beware, or that flared nostrils could mean the horse is ready to bolt, a swishing tail could mean, anger, not just swatting flys.  There is a lot of body language I know now, that I had no idea even existed then. 

2.  I would have given anything to have known a horse has a one track mind and if you keep it busy doing something it knows well your chances are greater at having a safe ride.  Especially if you horse hates to leave its buddy or the barn. 

3.  Knowing what type of grain, hay and wormer to give and when would have helped.  My poor horse had to survive on what grass he could find.  There was plenty of it, but he would probably have been healthier if he had been limited to his intake of rich pasture grass and wormed more often. 

4.  Realizing (not just knowing) horses are herd animals and feel safer in groups would have helped me understand my horses reluctance to be separated from his pasture buddy.  Looking back I am thankful he had a pasture buddy.

5.  Knowing the signs of colic and how to take a pulse, respiration and what is a normal temp would have been helpful.  All these things should be kept on record for future reference.

6.  Signs of lameness and what the common causes are, like laminitis and abscesses. 

7.  My most recent challenge was to have a horse choke.  Never had that happen before and didn’t know what had happened at first.  It’s nice to know that they can choke and still breath, but do need to see a vet immediately when this happens. 

I could go on and on, but I would end up writing a book and there are already enough books on the market about horses.  My best advice is, that if you love horses, but aren’t that familiar with them, then don’t be afraid to ask for help.  There is no need to go out and hire a trainer, but you can learn a lot through riding lessons, videos and there is always RFD TV.  There is lots and lots of practical advice on that program. 

But if you have a question and need a fairly quick answer just email me.  I’ll do what Ican to answer your questions and give my best advice.  You can find me on Facebook under Baymount Farm or Twitter.

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American Competitive Trail Horse Training

Dec 22nd, 2009 by Sherry

If you are a trail rider, and you have been bored with the same trails year after year, you need to look into ACTHA.us .  I recently started to feel I need a more challenging trail experience, so I signed onto the American Competitive Trail Horse Association website.   I quickly discovered I needed to brush up my horses on their trail skills.  Just a few things, like opening gates on horseback without letting go of the gate, trotting over a series of logs, side passing and a few other things.  The website has a description of the obstacles and some videos to go along with it.  Most of the obstacles are a piece of cake.  But horses to need to go thru these routines at home a few times if you are going to compete for points.

I have several trail horses of my own.  Some of them are field trial horses, some are pleasure horses.  Most of them are familiar with the gates being opened while I am on their backs, but a few aren’t familiar with side passing over logs, turning on the forehand with their feet in a square, etc.  So, I set up a trail course in my ring.  It has most of the obstacles they need to practice on.  It always amazes me how quickly the horses pick up these new “tricks”.  Horses are so smart and willing, especially if you are having fun and letting them adjust at their pace to anything new you want them to learn.

Here is a tip:  when introducing a new obstacle, calmly walk your horse up to it first, if they seem apprehensive about it, let them stand and face it, smell it, paw at it (as long as they don’t tear it up – pawing allows them to see that it isn’t something that will jump up and attack them), then walk them around it until they are comfortable with it.  Look for signs of submission like, sighing, licking and chewing, dropping their head, looks of boredom and just standing there.  Once they are comfortable ask them to perform the task at hand, one step at a time.  Please don’t force your horse or you will find that training will quickly become frustrating for YOU and the horse will likely balk and become defensive every time you ask it to do something.  Remember your goal is to get your horse relaxed and willing.  You are the leader and must set the attitude from the beginning.   If you are relaxed they are likely to relax much more quickly.  Take your time, there is no rule that says your horse has to learn a new trick in one minute, one hour, one day or even one week.  If you feel you are going backwards or not making any progress, then stop, re-evaluate what you are asking and break it up into little steps.

For instance,  if you are asking your horse to turn on the forehand and he has no idea what you want, try these steps.

1.  Teach him to stand still first.

2.  Teach him to move one foot over at a time by tapping him on the side just behind the girth.  Ask for one movement, let him rest, ask for another movement, let him rest, repeat, repeat, repeat and soon he will be moving over until you ask him to stop.

3.  Next apply this to the bit.  I use a full check snaffle bit with a bit keeper to keep the bit from moving around so much in his mouth.  Pick up the rein and just take the slack out, when he moves over, let the rein pressure off immediately and pet him for being right.  Do this until he is moving over everytime you ask.

4.  Apply the two aids together.  Stand at his side, pick up the rein and tap him behind the girth as he moves his hindquarters over.  If he moves forward, stop, ask him to stand still, then apply the aids again.  Soon he will be moving his hindquarters over and then;

5.  Mount up, pick up your reins and ask him to stand, apply the reins by picking up one rein and taking the slack out, apply the leg aid behind the girth (you may have to use an active leg at first) and he should move his haunches over.  The idea is for him not to move forward.  He may get slightly confused at first and this is ok.  He will be thinking he is supposed to move forward since that is what he is usually asked to do.  Just gently stop him and apply the aids again.  Soon enough he will pick it up.

I have never come upon a horse that did not pick this up quickly and sufficiently when I took my time and made sure the horse understood what I was asking.  Rewarding for getting the right answer and practicing until he is 100% always works.

You can apply the same theory to whatever you are teaching and have fun doing it.  Make learning simple, rewarding and relaxing for you an your horse.  You will be amazed at how quickly you will be teaching new things and enjoying your ride much more.

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