Our day to day activities have been pretty routine this week, and I had planned to show the process of the tack/feed shed Bryson built, but I’ve had the opportunities to ride a lot more this month and had several ideas I wanted to get on “paper”, and figured I could share here as well. And, I could talk about horse stuff allllll day! If the horse stuff isn’t for you, I’ll get back to regularly scheduled farm stuff next week!

I’ve ridden horses most of my life and consider myself a lifelong student. For the past 14-15 years I have intensely studied natural horsemanship. I actively participate in clinics each year, take lessons as often as possible, and my best friend and I took our horses to Colorado for a month in 2013! 

While I have most intensely studied the Parelli program, I have also studied Martin Black, Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt, and Tom Dorrance through DVDs, books, and auditing clinics. Most recently, I have become very interested in the Vaquero style of horsemanship and am diving into studying Ed Connell and Arnold Rojas…okay, I’m barely dipping my big toe in at this point, but it is fascinating!

Most of my horsemanship development (the good stuff…I am fully responsible for all the bad habits :)) in the past ten years or so can be credited to Richard Schouten of Remount Horsemanship and Bekah Maddox of Dark Horse Horsemanship. Huge shout out to both of them (and the other local trainers I have had the opportunity to ride with over the years). If you’re in the Carolinas or surrounding areas I cannot recommend either enough. 

I have not used this platform for horsemanship, but it is a huge passion of mine and I’m sharing a few of the many thoughts I have been marinating on lately.

I think if you stick with horses long enough, you really just start to realize how much you do not know. I also think that is what makes having horses and becoming a horseman so fun! For me, lately, there are a couple big points that are starting to stick. And when I say stick, I mean I’m becoming aware of what I should be doing. Getting it done is another story. One, quoted straight from Richard, “bad timing is better than no timing.” Dang it. At least I have bad timing going for me. Feel, timing, and balance are key ingredients to success with your horse. I am trying to be more particular about when to give a cue, such as asking for transitions. And, just imagine, if I were timing exactly when the correct foot was leaving the ground, the horse would be balanced from the get-go. What a feeling! I miss the timing frequently, but I am trying to practice feeling which foot is off the ground at any given time. And at any given gait. Whew. Still a work in progress. 

My other big focus right now are my hands. I do a lot with them. I know that I want really quiet hands but remembering that while doing a lot of other things at the same time can be a challenge. For me anyway. This feels like a struggle for me because I feel like I get stuck in the “teaching” phase and have a hard time moving to the “refinement” stage. And our horses are SO quick. They do not need us to wait sooooo long to move on. I’m really trying to remember this and set realistic but progressive goals with my horses. And holding myself and my horse accountable. And responsible. So many things. So, I’m working on quieter hands. I’m also working on using a “bridle rein”. This is an idea I learned from Richard this spring and I have seen HUGE improvements. For ever and ever I have learned to pick up the inside shoulder with the inside rein. Well every one of my horses still drops that shoulder. And is heavy on the front end. And dang if my inside hand isn’t always up.

I cannot explain the bridle rein as well as I should be able to, but I am 100% a believer. The bridle rein is your outside rein, and by lifting it or even letting it come across the neck slightly, you can set your horse up to be more balanced and use his hindquarters more. I have a long way to go and I am at the point that I have this information and idea to play with, just enough to get into trouble. I’m a long way from fully understanding it!  I’ve basically been using the bridle rein for everything, and my horse is straighter than ever. In addition, instead of making a “normal” circle with a curved line, I’ve been doing a lot of straight lines to make a circle and using the bridle rein to make the turn. Well, that is my goal. Still practicing, of course. Ultimately, the goal would be to make my straight lines short enough that I am basically going on the circle. But my horse is staying straight. Which allows him to use his hind end. And if that is not the ultimate goal I do not know what is. All of this while trying to remember to leave that inside hand alone and down!  

My last nugget that has been really sticking in my mind and I have been processing is one I’ve heard so many times and yet still struggle with. As with most learning, we are always planting seeds, and I am hoping this one is starting to grow…a yield is not an option. A yield is not an option. Of course! It seems silly to say over and over but it is powerful for me right now. How often do we ask something of our horses and never get the appropriate response and then move on?? I do it all. the. time. I think I am at the point with this one that I am understanding the importance, but really struggling with the application. But that is the great thing about this horsemanship journey…there is always room to grow!

We are into the real heat and humidity here but I’ll be sweating through these ideas and hopefully continue to make improvements at a snail’s pace. We are still doing a lot of mowing on the farm without any big projects right now. I strayed from homesteading this week but we still love having you join us as we grow and learn and build! Stay tuned next week for more homesteading on the side! 

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. “ 2 Corinthians 9:6