Wow, what a week it has been. I have a nasty cold, but I have still been going to work. I figure if I could go out and ride, I will go to work. The days have been so long!
I took Mingo in the park a couple times this week, and he is settling down very nicely. We did some really nice cantering, and it was quite a thrill. He doesn't go that fast in the summer, but he wasn't going a reckless speed. We've been able to do some trotting towards home. Since he is going faster, I have to post. Yes, Mingo is making me work.
Cruiser only got in the park once, but I am riding him out there tonight. It was getting dark, so we only went up and down the hill. I trot him on the flat areas. I gave up trotting him up the hill once he bowed his tendon. Why push my luck. Wouldn't you know it, on the steepest part, some deer started dancing about and he spooked. I swung his head around to control his speed, and I kept him from running up. I also got a terrible cramp in my arm. That was weird. He walked up a little faster after that, but he behaved.
He has been gaiting a lot. I think it is a stepping pace. His gait is faster than his walk and slower than his trot. He does it when he is feeling good, so that's a good sign. I wish I could get him to do it on command. He does it with a loose rein. I'm going to try half halting him when he seems like he is in the mood and then, if he does it, I'll loosen the reins as a reward, sit back and enjoy it.
I'll be riding both days this weekend, just the way it is supposed to be.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Trail Training Newsletter - #99 - part 2
Springtime Silliness Revisited
Every spring, Ellen and I have the same problem—hyper horses. I think we wouldn’t have so many problems if we merely walked on the trail all year. Our problems stem from riding so much at a trot and canter. We love it, and the horses love it, too.
We did what we always do when we can first get across the river in the spring. We just walk. The horses are so excited to be out, that they walk very fast. Even Mingo speeds along at a walk those first few rides. Oh how I wish he walked like that all the time.
After a few rides like this, we are ready to add some trotting and cantering. Unfortunately, the horses are ready, too—really ready. They want to kick up their heels and race along the trail with each other. Ellen and I don’t really want to be racing, so we have come up with some techniques to keep this from happening. Our personal favorite is to just take the horses out by themselves. The go at a more reasonable speed when they are alone, and we can just sit back and enjoy the ride without any problems. The only problem we have with that, is what do we do if we are both out at the barn at the same time?
Simple—we go out at separate times, meet and ride home at a walk. We have done this with Cruiser and Ranger nearly every spring, but they learned the game, and the horse that went out second would get very excited. We certainly weren’t going to do this with Cruiser with his healed bowed tendon. Cruiser would be going out all by himself until all the horses are settled down.
Mingo doesn’t know the game, so we figured if Ranger went out first, Mingo could follow 10 minutes later, and Ellen could wait for us over by the next river crossing. All went well. Mingo had been out on the trail enough in the last few weeks that he acted like it was a typical summer day. He plodded down the hill, crossed the river and did some slow and smooth trotting. We got to a spot that is good for cantering. He gave me a fast but lovely canter. It was his first cantering out on the trail of the spring. I brought him down to a walk, we rounded a corner and got to our favorite part of the trail to canter. It is about a quarter mile, and at the end of it, Ranger would be waiting.
Mingo’s head went out and he started neighing! I think he heard Ranger, who Ellen later told me was neighing at the other end. I asked for a canter, and he gave me that lovely canter of before. After a bit, he neighed again, but his head down to buck, (I held it up, so he only got a large canter stride) and took off. I don’t think I have ever ridden Mingo a gallop this fast ever. He is simply not a speedy horse at any gait.
He kept neighing and going faster. I could feel my face flattening to my head like a dog with his head sticking out of a fast moving car. I think I was holding my breath because I soon felt myself gasping for air. About two thirds down the trail, Mingo came to his senses and slowed down. He still kept neighing. When he got close to Ranger, he dropped to a trot when I asked him. They were so happy to see each other.
Well, now Mingo knows the game, too. I don’t think can play it anymore. The comical part is that Ranger knows the game so well that he knows we are going to play it if I am out at the barn and don’t got out with him on the ride. He tends to get a little confused, sometimes. He thought Mingo was ahead of him instead of behind him!
Every spring, Ellen and I have the same problem—hyper horses. I think we wouldn’t have so many problems if we merely walked on the trail all year. Our problems stem from riding so much at a trot and canter. We love it, and the horses love it, too.
We did what we always do when we can first get across the river in the spring. We just walk. The horses are so excited to be out, that they walk very fast. Even Mingo speeds along at a walk those first few rides. Oh how I wish he walked like that all the time.
After a few rides like this, we are ready to add some trotting and cantering. Unfortunately, the horses are ready, too—really ready. They want to kick up their heels and race along the trail with each other. Ellen and I don’t really want to be racing, so we have come up with some techniques to keep this from happening. Our personal favorite is to just take the horses out by themselves. The go at a more reasonable speed when they are alone, and we can just sit back and enjoy the ride without any problems. The only problem we have with that, is what do we do if we are both out at the barn at the same time?
Simple—we go out at separate times, meet and ride home at a walk. We have done this with Cruiser and Ranger nearly every spring, but they learned the game, and the horse that went out second would get very excited. We certainly weren’t going to do this with Cruiser with his healed bowed tendon. Cruiser would be going out all by himself until all the horses are settled down.
Mingo doesn’t know the game, so we figured if Ranger went out first, Mingo could follow 10 minutes later, and Ellen could wait for us over by the next river crossing. All went well. Mingo had been out on the trail enough in the last few weeks that he acted like it was a typical summer day. He plodded down the hill, crossed the river and did some slow and smooth trotting. We got to a spot that is good for cantering. He gave me a fast but lovely canter. It was his first cantering out on the trail of the spring. I brought him down to a walk, we rounded a corner and got to our favorite part of the trail to canter. It is about a quarter mile, and at the end of it, Ranger would be waiting.
Mingo’s head went out and he started neighing! I think he heard Ranger, who Ellen later told me was neighing at the other end. I asked for a canter, and he gave me that lovely canter of before. After a bit, he neighed again, but his head down to buck, (I held it up, so he only got a large canter stride) and took off. I don’t think I have ever ridden Mingo a gallop this fast ever. He is simply not a speedy horse at any gait.
He kept neighing and going faster. I could feel my face flattening to my head like a dog with his head sticking out of a fast moving car. I think I was holding my breath because I soon felt myself gasping for air. About two thirds down the trail, Mingo came to his senses and slowed down. He still kept neighing. When he got close to Ranger, he dropped to a trot when I asked him. They were so happy to see each other.
Well, now Mingo knows the game, too. I don’t think can play it anymore. The comical part is that Ranger knows the game so well that he knows we are going to play it if I am out at the barn and don’t got out with him on the ride. He tends to get a little confused, sometimes. He thought Mingo was ahead of him instead of behind him!
Trail Training Newsletter #99 - part 1
Seeking
It was the end of February, and I don’t think Mingo had been out on the trail in the month. He was getting very bored of the arena, and honestly, so was I. We were out at the barn on a bitterly cold morning—in the single digits, and I wanted him to get out, but it was so cold, I decided to lead him rather than ride. Since there was no snow and the ground was frozen as hard as concrete, I knew that we wouldn’t go any faster than a walk, and I would just freeze if I was in the saddle. Besides, I could use a little exercise.
Ellen came with me, of course. We led Mingo down the river, and he was very excited, but well behaved. He went faster than normal, and that helped warm us up. I led him back to the top of the hill, turned him around to go back down and he didn’t even mind it.
Halfway up the hill on the second trip, his head shot up and he wouldn’t budge. I heard some pounding, but that wouldn’t normally bother him this much. Then, Ellen pointed up ahead. A house close to the trail was getting a new roof, and Mingo could see the men crawling on top of it. This was too much for him. When Mingo gets scared, he isn’t playing, he’s serious.
I was going to do three trips on the hill, anyway, so we turned him around and took him back down. He was fine, since he was going away from the house with the monster on top of it. We could hear power saws and pounding, and we wondered how we would get Mingo past the house to get him home.
I have been reading Temple Grandin’s new book “How Animals Make Us Human.” It is a terrific book. She tells how an animal’s core emotions influence their behavior. We all understand fear in horses, but there is another emotion that can override it, and that is the seeking emotion. Seeking is the emotion that makes us mammals want to play, look for food or explore. Apparently, both fear and seeking cannot operate at the same time, yet they can flip back and forth.
Whether I was reading this book or not, we probably would have approached the problem the same way, because it has worked in the past. We just were able to better understand what was going on. The method is called peppermints. As we got closer to the house, I realized that if I put Mingo far to the right side of the trail, the trees obscured the roof with the men crawling about. This helped, but we still had the noise. When his head went up, Ellen gave him a peppermint. His head dropped down as he chewed and slowly walked forward. This is where Ellen turned on seek. She didn’t give him a second peppermint right away. Rather, she rattled the wrapper. In doing that, she turned on “seek.” His head went down as he strained to get a treat. We went 10 steps or so, and she gave it to him. He got another one a little further along. I could actually see him flipping back and forth from fear to seek.
Now, we were about to pass the house. the point a horse will bolt forward from a monster is the moment that he has just gone past it. We knew this was a crucial part. Ellen started rattling the paper. Mingo was very focused on her and his potential peppermint. We made it all the way to the street, gave him a treat and told him how wonderful he was.
We are thinking there was something else going on at the house that we couldn’t hear. Maybe it was a generator or something. Kevin tried to take Starry to the hill, and he never even made it out of the driveway. Even though Starry couldn’t see the house, he refused to budge. Fortunately for Kevin, he didn’t have to go past the house to get home like us, and he decided it wasn’t worth fighting over.
Having some treats in your pocket can be a useful thing. I like the peppermints because the wrappers can “call” a horse. The horses like the peppermints, too. A couple weeks ago, we decided it was time to cross the ford with Mingo. Since he has had problems with the fords in our park over the years, we decided to approach the problem prepared. Ellen and Ranger went first, and I followed with Mingo on foot. I rattled a wrapper just before he stepped on the ford. When he did, I gave him his mint. He also got one at the middle and the end of the ford. As an additional reward, when we got across, we immediately turned around, recrossed the ford and went home.
The following week, I was able to ride him right across—just giving him praise. He offered no hesitation and though not eager, was willing to cross without a single problem. We still have 2 more fords to tackle!
It was the end of February, and I don’t think Mingo had been out on the trail in the month. He was getting very bored of the arena, and honestly, so was I. We were out at the barn on a bitterly cold morning—in the single digits, and I wanted him to get out, but it was so cold, I decided to lead him rather than ride. Since there was no snow and the ground was frozen as hard as concrete, I knew that we wouldn’t go any faster than a walk, and I would just freeze if I was in the saddle. Besides, I could use a little exercise.
Ellen came with me, of course. We led Mingo down the river, and he was very excited, but well behaved. He went faster than normal, and that helped warm us up. I led him back to the top of the hill, turned him around to go back down and he didn’t even mind it.
Halfway up the hill on the second trip, his head shot up and he wouldn’t budge. I heard some pounding, but that wouldn’t normally bother him this much. Then, Ellen pointed up ahead. A house close to the trail was getting a new roof, and Mingo could see the men crawling on top of it. This was too much for him. When Mingo gets scared, he isn’t playing, he’s serious.
I was going to do three trips on the hill, anyway, so we turned him around and took him back down. He was fine, since he was going away from the house with the monster on top of it. We could hear power saws and pounding, and we wondered how we would get Mingo past the house to get him home.
I have been reading Temple Grandin’s new book “How Animals Make Us Human.” It is a terrific book. She tells how an animal’s core emotions influence their behavior. We all understand fear in horses, but there is another emotion that can override it, and that is the seeking emotion. Seeking is the emotion that makes us mammals want to play, look for food or explore. Apparently, both fear and seeking cannot operate at the same time, yet they can flip back and forth.
Whether I was reading this book or not, we probably would have approached the problem the same way, because it has worked in the past. We just were able to better understand what was going on. The method is called peppermints. As we got closer to the house, I realized that if I put Mingo far to the right side of the trail, the trees obscured the roof with the men crawling about. This helped, but we still had the noise. When his head went up, Ellen gave him a peppermint. His head dropped down as he chewed and slowly walked forward. This is where Ellen turned on seek. She didn’t give him a second peppermint right away. Rather, she rattled the wrapper. In doing that, she turned on “seek.” His head went down as he strained to get a treat. We went 10 steps or so, and she gave it to him. He got another one a little further along. I could actually see him flipping back and forth from fear to seek.
Now, we were about to pass the house. the point a horse will bolt forward from a monster is the moment that he has just gone past it. We knew this was a crucial part. Ellen started rattling the paper. Mingo was very focused on her and his potential peppermint. We made it all the way to the street, gave him a treat and told him how wonderful he was.
We are thinking there was something else going on at the house that we couldn’t hear. Maybe it was a generator or something. Kevin tried to take Starry to the hill, and he never even made it out of the driveway. Even though Starry couldn’t see the house, he refused to budge. Fortunately for Kevin, he didn’t have to go past the house to get home like us, and he decided it wasn’t worth fighting over.
Having some treats in your pocket can be a useful thing. I like the peppermints because the wrappers can “call” a horse. The horses like the peppermints, too. A couple weeks ago, we decided it was time to cross the ford with Mingo. Since he has had problems with the fords in our park over the years, we decided to approach the problem prepared. Ellen and Ranger went first, and I followed with Mingo on foot. I rattled a wrapper just before he stepped on the ford. When he did, I gave him his mint. He also got one at the middle and the end of the ford. As an additional reward, when we got across, we immediately turned around, recrossed the ford and went home.
The following week, I was able to ride him right across—just giving him praise. He offered no hesitation and though not eager, was willing to cross without a single problem. We still have 2 more fords to tackle!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Day off
We are now riding regularly down the trail, and we just love it. Cruiser has been across the river twice, and he is still very excited about it. He gaited all the way home, yesterday, and he only gaits when he is in a "mood." Mingo is starting to settle down. I did get him to cross one of the fords--something we have troubles with at times and gave him a bunch of peppermints for it.
My sister and I are taking tomorrow off from work to go riding. The weather is supposed to be cloudy and comfortable. Sounds great to me. I will ride both horses, and of course, she will ride hers. She is then coming over my house, and we will take the dog on a long walk and eat a scrumptious spaghetti dinner. We are then going over my brother's house to watch a movie with his family. It will be a fine day.
My sister and I are taking tomorrow off from work to go riding. The weather is supposed to be cloudy and comfortable. Sounds great to me. I will ride both horses, and of course, she will ride hers. She is then coming over my house, and we will take the dog on a long walk and eat a scrumptious spaghetti dinner. We are then going over my brother's house to watch a movie with his family. It will be a fine day.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Springtime
I have finally started trail riding, again. It was such a long winter. We have even been crossing the river. Now, it is time to get the boys to settle down and behave. They get so excited in the spring. Mingo has been doing his bucks of joy and insists on being in the lead. This is the horse who is usually trailing far behind in the summer.
Cruiser thinks the word trot means canter. I am super careful with him because of his healed bowed tendon. I will only cross the river when I can see the bottom and no deep mud for Cruiser. I won't even ride him with Ranger or Starry until I feel he has settled down. At 21, he can still get pretty wild.
My sister's horse, Ranger fell in the water when she was crossing today. He just slipped in the back. He didn't go completely down--and was able to pull himself back up before my sister went in. He appears to be fine. She crossed and recrossed right after it happened. This is important to do, if you can. Everytime Cruise has fallen in, he is terrified of the river and we have to go through a few training sessions to get him right, again.
Cruiser thinks the word trot means canter. I am super careful with him because of his healed bowed tendon. I will only cross the river when I can see the bottom and no deep mud for Cruiser. I won't even ride him with Ranger or Starry until I feel he has settled down. At 21, he can still get pretty wild.
My sister's horse, Ranger fell in the water when she was crossing today. He just slipped in the back. He didn't go completely down--and was able to pull himself back up before my sister went in. He appears to be fine. She crossed and recrossed right after it happened. This is important to do, if you can. Everytime Cruise has fallen in, he is terrified of the river and we have to go through a few training sessions to get him right, again.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
My newsletter/books
If you like my newsletter, you will love my books. “Trail Training for the Horse and Rider” is a how-to book full of terrific advice for all trail riders. It is $19.95 plus shipping and handling. The publisher accepts Mastercard, VISA, checks and money orders. Go to my website, click on buy the book, and it will direct you to their website. They also have other horse books and tons of dog books. My website is at www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com There; you can see pictures of my cast of characters and read some of my early newsletters.
My new book, “Trail Horse Adventures and Advice” is the best of the first 3 years of my newsletter. It is available as a paperback book for $14.95 + shipping or as an e-book for $9.95. My website has a link to my other publisher where you can read the first three chapters free and buy the book.
If you are interested in an autographed copy, send me e-mail, and I will tell you where to send the check. (I don’t accept credit cards.) It will cost the same. If you buy two books from me, and you don’t mind me shipping them Media Mail—, which could take a couple weeks, I will ship them free.
Anyone who is interested in contributing to this newsletter is welcome to e-mail me at judiemail@yahoo.com A newsletter that is free cannot afford to pay anyone for their contributions, of course, but then again, I don’t get paid either. It is the joy of sharing that counts.
Feel free to forward my newsletter to anyone you like and encourage them to sign up for it.
Thank you,
Judi
My new book, “Trail Horse Adventures and Advice” is the best of the first 3 years of my newsletter. It is available as a paperback book for $14.95 + shipping or as an e-book for $9.95. My website has a link to my other publisher where you can read the first three chapters free and buy the book.
If you are interested in an autographed copy, send me e-mail, and I will tell you where to send the check. (I don’t accept credit cards.) It will cost the same. If you buy two books from me, and you don’t mind me shipping them Media Mail—, which could take a couple weeks, I will ship them free.
Anyone who is interested in contributing to this newsletter is welcome to e-mail me at judiemail@yahoo.com A newsletter that is free cannot afford to pay anyone for their contributions, of course, but then again, I don’t get paid either. It is the joy of sharing that counts.
Feel free to forward my newsletter to anyone you like and encourage them to sign up for it.
Thank you,
Judi
House Cat Tip of the Month
House Cat Tip of the Month
It is usually not necessary to declaw your cat if you give him alternative things to sharpen his claws on. For years, our Siamese cats tore up our furniture, and being the indulgent people that we are, we let them. We then found this neat thing that was a board with sisal rope around it that attached on a doorknob. Our youngest cat at the time took to it like a fish to water. Our remaining Siamese didn’t change her habits, but it is hard to teach an old cat new tricks.
A few years later, Kevin got a kitten and didn’t want to get her declawed. He got her those cardboard scratching pads. She thought they were a great idea, and she left the furniture alone. He later got her scratching posts. She could care less about them. When he got her a log, thought, she loved it. A few years later, he got another kitten, and she was just as good as her big sister.
A year and a half ago, I got Thunder from a shelter. He had all of his claws, and I wanted him to stay that way. The shelter gave me one of the cardboard scratchpads. He loved it. I got the old doorknob hanger out, and he showed no interest in it. Later, Kevin gave me the scratching posts that his cats stuck their nosed up to, and Thunder still thinks they were the greatest thing in the world. He never touched the furniture.
The moral of the story is that cats will be happy to leave the furniture alone if they have something else to claw. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Different cats have different ideas on what is the best way to sharpen their claws. Experiment until you are both happy, and your furniture will survive without putting your cat through an unnecessary operation.
It is usually not necessary to declaw your cat if you give him alternative things to sharpen his claws on. For years, our Siamese cats tore up our furniture, and being the indulgent people that we are, we let them. We then found this neat thing that was a board with sisal rope around it that attached on a doorknob. Our youngest cat at the time took to it like a fish to water. Our remaining Siamese didn’t change her habits, but it is hard to teach an old cat new tricks.
A few years later, Kevin got a kitten and didn’t want to get her declawed. He got her those cardboard scratching pads. She thought they were a great idea, and she left the furniture alone. He later got her scratching posts. She could care less about them. When he got her a log, thought, she loved it. A few years later, he got another kitten, and she was just as good as her big sister.
A year and a half ago, I got Thunder from a shelter. He had all of his claws, and I wanted him to stay that way. The shelter gave me one of the cardboard scratchpads. He loved it. I got the old doorknob hanger out, and he showed no interest in it. Later, Kevin gave me the scratching posts that his cats stuck their nosed up to, and Thunder still thinks they were the greatest thing in the world. He never touched the furniture.
The moral of the story is that cats will be happy to leave the furniture alone if they have something else to claw. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Different cats have different ideas on what is the best way to sharpen their claws. Experiment until you are both happy, and your furniture will survive without putting your cat through an unnecessary operation.
Trail Training Newsletter - #98 - part 2
Improving Your Riding
If you can’t take lessons for whatever reasons, you can still learn a lot on your own. Get some good books or videotapes and learn exactly what you should look like. Even better, have a companion also learn what you should look like when you are in the saddle. Make sure you and your companion are using the same vocabulary to describe what you are doing and then start to practice. This is how my sister and I did it and still do it.
If the only person you have to help you is a complete ignoramus about horses, give that person a camera to take pictures or video of you so that you can see what you are doing and figure out what changes to make on your own.
By observing your horse, you will also get good feedback. If you are lucky, you will have a horse like Mingo who will visibly improve when you ride well. Chances are your horse will be subtler than Mingo, so look for the little clues. It might be a relaxation in his neck or a smoother stride.
Start out with the walk. Hold your position as long as you can and constantly check yourself or have your friend check you. Some other clues that you are crooked are:
1. One leg lies on the saddle in a different position than the other one.
2. You don’t feel both seat bones on the saddle. One may be floating off the edge of it, or it is floating above the saddle.
3. You keep losing the same stirrup.
I highly, highly recommend the books and videotapes by Mary Wanless. The information that she teaches might sound bizarre compared to the “heads up—heels down” statement you may be accustomed too, but it really works. I’ve used her style of riding with a Western saddle, too, and it is still effective. What she does is tell you how to use your muscles in a very specific way to achieve balance.
One more part of riding that is often abused that you don’t need lessons to fix is rein contact. Watch your hands. Strong and constant rein pressure will just aggravate your horse. I have seen people riding with heavy hands while using curb bits and running martingales. I thought that trail riding was supposed to be relaxing. For trail riding, light contact or a slack rein is the most appropriate. If you need to have tight contact to control your horse, it is time to go back to the drawing board. Your horse needs retraining, and you need to learn to let go. If it is just a case of nerves on your part where you only feel safe with strong control, you will have to train yourself.
We used to keep our horses at a stable where there was a sweet Tennessee Walking mare. She had perfect manners, never spooked and would have been a joy to ride, but somewhere along the line, she lost her brakes. She wouldn’t settle down to walk or do her running walk. All she wanted to do was go, go, go… Her owner, being a novice, decided she needed a stronger bit. She bought a torture device. It was a long-shanked jointed bit with a twisted wire mouthpiece. It slowed her horse down a little bit, but she still needed to ride with a death grip on the reins. As life goes sometimes, she ended up having a falling out with her husband and filed for a divorce. She vanished for quite a while, and her husband was taking care of the mare. My sister thought it was time to make the bit disappear so the husband wouldn’t use it. When he did occasionally ride, he used the old curb bit that was originally used on the horse. Since the mare wasn’t getting exercise, he ended up leasing her out to another novice. Sometimes, a novice rider with an open mind is a good thing. We told him how he could retrain the mare to ride with a loose rein. After a few months of patient work, she was just fine. No one ever did find that bit…
If you are able to ride with a slack rein most of the time except when you want to tell your horse to do something or you feel a shorter rein is warranted, (a snowplow is coming down the street spraying snow all over) take up the rein gently without jabbing your horse’s mouth. There is no use riding with a loose rein all the time if your horse is worried about random mouth jabs. He won’t mind a gentle gathering of the reins, though.
The bit you use is important. They are very powerful tools. Whole books have been written on bits, so I won’t do that now, but here are the bare basics. If possible, it is best to ride in a snaffle because it is more forgiving than a curb (although they can still be abused.) Snaffle bits are connected directly to the mouthpiece—there are no shanks. It doesn’t matter what the mouthpiece looks like. It can be broken or solid. If the reins connect directly to the mouthpiece, it is a snaffle. A few years back, I was at a horse club meeting where the subject was bits. There was a woman from the local tack shop giving a talk. She held up a bit with a jointed mouthpiece and shanks. She asked how many people thought this was a snaffle. I was shocked at the number of people who raised their hands. Many of them I knew had been involved with horses for decades, yet they still thought it was a snaffle. If there are shanks to give the bit leverage and a curb chain, it is a curb bit. This includes all the “cowboy snaffles” and Tom Thumb bits out there.
Snaffle bits will put the same amount of pressure on a horse’s mouth that you exert with your hands. If you pull with 5 pounds of pressure, his mouth will feel 5 pounds of pressure. A curb bit will magnify the pressure of your hands depending on the length of the shanks. They longer the shanks, the stronger the bit. A long-shanked bit can turn your hands into serious weapons unless you ride in a thoughtful manner.
Now, to clear up one more thing. The jointed curb bits with one joint are not gentle—even if they don’t have twisted wire mouthpieces. A lot of people will use them because they think they have that joint are kinder then a curb bit with a solid mouthpiece, but they are one of the cruelest bits out there. When you ask to turn or stop with the bit, because there are so many moving parts, it puts pressure in all different parts of the mouth at the same time. Your horse doesn’t know what you want, and he becomes confused. He may start fussing with his mouth, jerking or tossing his head and it may even lead to rearing. Sure, he will eventually figure it out, but at what cost.
I have never liked this bit, and when my boyfriend starting leasing a horse that was used in this bit, it really bothered me. I don’t think it bothered me as much as it bothered his horse. He was constantly fussing with the bit, and even with a slack rein, he held his neck arched and his nose tucked in to avoid contact. He never seemed comfortable. I think worrying about what the bit was going to do next preoccupied him. My boyfriend was hesitant to change to a different bit because he didn’t own the horse. Finally, a miracle happened. The bit broke. Kevin decided to buy a new bit. Since his horse was never hard to stop, he decided on a Kimberwicki. His horse instantly transformed into a relaxed and comfortable creature. From a distance, I saw them trotting a few days later, and he honestly looked like a different horse.
There is one more aspect to riding well, and that is being physically fit. A person who is not in shape can’t possibly ride well for a long period of time without feeling it in a big way. When you get tired, you will start to ride sloppy and inadvertently cause discomfort for your horse. Someone who rides 5 hours a day, everyday, will get very fit from the riding alone, but if you are like me—you have a fulltime job and/or family to take care of, it isn’t possible to ride like that. There are other things you can do to increase your stamina.
To strengthen specific riding muscles, I have found the Core Program incredibly helpful. All you need is the book “The Core Program” by Peggy Brill and 15 minutes a day. She explains how to do specific exercises that will make you a better rider, though I doubt that that was her initial intention. Instead, she wanted to help people eliminate the pains that we collect as we get older. My sister and I started the Core Program to aid our riding, and we watched much of our soreness disappear. In the meantime, we became stronger, more balanced and straighter. (I actually ended up a 1/4” taller, somehow.)
Being able to breathe steadily while your ride is a very useful talent. Just because we breathe to stay alive, doesn’t mean we know how to breathe properly. If you are interested in improve your breathing skills, try taking a class on Yoga. If you don’t have the time for that, there are some good books on Yoga that will help you to teach yourself.
I also recommend doing some cardiovascular exercises—it’s also a case of something that will help your riding and help your own personal health at the same time. Bike riding, running, roller skating, swimming or hiking are all terrific exercises that can be fun, too. I always tell people that I’m cross training. If you have a dog, increase your dog walks and your pup will benefit, too. In fact, your dog will make sure you stick to a program of exercise once you get him in the routine. Dogs are terrific about that. If all this exercise helps you lose a few extra pounds, I think your horse will be quite pleased with that, too.
If you can’t take lessons for whatever reasons, you can still learn a lot on your own. Get some good books or videotapes and learn exactly what you should look like. Even better, have a companion also learn what you should look like when you are in the saddle. Make sure you and your companion are using the same vocabulary to describe what you are doing and then start to practice. This is how my sister and I did it and still do it.
If the only person you have to help you is a complete ignoramus about horses, give that person a camera to take pictures or video of you so that you can see what you are doing and figure out what changes to make on your own.
By observing your horse, you will also get good feedback. If you are lucky, you will have a horse like Mingo who will visibly improve when you ride well. Chances are your horse will be subtler than Mingo, so look for the little clues. It might be a relaxation in his neck or a smoother stride.
Start out with the walk. Hold your position as long as you can and constantly check yourself or have your friend check you. Some other clues that you are crooked are:
1. One leg lies on the saddle in a different position than the other one.
2. You don’t feel both seat bones on the saddle. One may be floating off the edge of it, or it is floating above the saddle.
3. You keep losing the same stirrup.
I highly, highly recommend the books and videotapes by Mary Wanless. The information that she teaches might sound bizarre compared to the “heads up—heels down” statement you may be accustomed too, but it really works. I’ve used her style of riding with a Western saddle, too, and it is still effective. What she does is tell you how to use your muscles in a very specific way to achieve balance.
One more part of riding that is often abused that you don’t need lessons to fix is rein contact. Watch your hands. Strong and constant rein pressure will just aggravate your horse. I have seen people riding with heavy hands while using curb bits and running martingales. I thought that trail riding was supposed to be relaxing. For trail riding, light contact or a slack rein is the most appropriate. If you need to have tight contact to control your horse, it is time to go back to the drawing board. Your horse needs retraining, and you need to learn to let go. If it is just a case of nerves on your part where you only feel safe with strong control, you will have to train yourself.
We used to keep our horses at a stable where there was a sweet Tennessee Walking mare. She had perfect manners, never spooked and would have been a joy to ride, but somewhere along the line, she lost her brakes. She wouldn’t settle down to walk or do her running walk. All she wanted to do was go, go, go… Her owner, being a novice, decided she needed a stronger bit. She bought a torture device. It was a long-shanked jointed bit with a twisted wire mouthpiece. It slowed her horse down a little bit, but she still needed to ride with a death grip on the reins. As life goes sometimes, she ended up having a falling out with her husband and filed for a divorce. She vanished for quite a while, and her husband was taking care of the mare. My sister thought it was time to make the bit disappear so the husband wouldn’t use it. When he did occasionally ride, he used the old curb bit that was originally used on the horse. Since the mare wasn’t getting exercise, he ended up leasing her out to another novice. Sometimes, a novice rider with an open mind is a good thing. We told him how he could retrain the mare to ride with a loose rein. After a few months of patient work, she was just fine. No one ever did find that bit…
If you are able to ride with a slack rein most of the time except when you want to tell your horse to do something or you feel a shorter rein is warranted, (a snowplow is coming down the street spraying snow all over) take up the rein gently without jabbing your horse’s mouth. There is no use riding with a loose rein all the time if your horse is worried about random mouth jabs. He won’t mind a gentle gathering of the reins, though.
The bit you use is important. They are very powerful tools. Whole books have been written on bits, so I won’t do that now, but here are the bare basics. If possible, it is best to ride in a snaffle because it is more forgiving than a curb (although they can still be abused.) Snaffle bits are connected directly to the mouthpiece—there are no shanks. It doesn’t matter what the mouthpiece looks like. It can be broken or solid. If the reins connect directly to the mouthpiece, it is a snaffle. A few years back, I was at a horse club meeting where the subject was bits. There was a woman from the local tack shop giving a talk. She held up a bit with a jointed mouthpiece and shanks. She asked how many people thought this was a snaffle. I was shocked at the number of people who raised their hands. Many of them I knew had been involved with horses for decades, yet they still thought it was a snaffle. If there are shanks to give the bit leverage and a curb chain, it is a curb bit. This includes all the “cowboy snaffles” and Tom Thumb bits out there.
Snaffle bits will put the same amount of pressure on a horse’s mouth that you exert with your hands. If you pull with 5 pounds of pressure, his mouth will feel 5 pounds of pressure. A curb bit will magnify the pressure of your hands depending on the length of the shanks. They longer the shanks, the stronger the bit. A long-shanked bit can turn your hands into serious weapons unless you ride in a thoughtful manner.
Now, to clear up one more thing. The jointed curb bits with one joint are not gentle—even if they don’t have twisted wire mouthpieces. A lot of people will use them because they think they have that joint are kinder then a curb bit with a solid mouthpiece, but they are one of the cruelest bits out there. When you ask to turn or stop with the bit, because there are so many moving parts, it puts pressure in all different parts of the mouth at the same time. Your horse doesn’t know what you want, and he becomes confused. He may start fussing with his mouth, jerking or tossing his head and it may even lead to rearing. Sure, he will eventually figure it out, but at what cost.
I have never liked this bit, and when my boyfriend starting leasing a horse that was used in this bit, it really bothered me. I don’t think it bothered me as much as it bothered his horse. He was constantly fussing with the bit, and even with a slack rein, he held his neck arched and his nose tucked in to avoid contact. He never seemed comfortable. I think worrying about what the bit was going to do next preoccupied him. My boyfriend was hesitant to change to a different bit because he didn’t own the horse. Finally, a miracle happened. The bit broke. Kevin decided to buy a new bit. Since his horse was never hard to stop, he decided on a Kimberwicki. His horse instantly transformed into a relaxed and comfortable creature. From a distance, I saw them trotting a few days later, and he honestly looked like a different horse.
There is one more aspect to riding well, and that is being physically fit. A person who is not in shape can’t possibly ride well for a long period of time without feeling it in a big way. When you get tired, you will start to ride sloppy and inadvertently cause discomfort for your horse. Someone who rides 5 hours a day, everyday, will get very fit from the riding alone, but if you are like me—you have a fulltime job and/or family to take care of, it isn’t possible to ride like that. There are other things you can do to increase your stamina.
To strengthen specific riding muscles, I have found the Core Program incredibly helpful. All you need is the book “The Core Program” by Peggy Brill and 15 minutes a day. She explains how to do specific exercises that will make you a better rider, though I doubt that that was her initial intention. Instead, she wanted to help people eliminate the pains that we collect as we get older. My sister and I started the Core Program to aid our riding, and we watched much of our soreness disappear. In the meantime, we became stronger, more balanced and straighter. (I actually ended up a 1/4” taller, somehow.)
Being able to breathe steadily while your ride is a very useful talent. Just because we breathe to stay alive, doesn’t mean we know how to breathe properly. If you are interested in improve your breathing skills, try taking a class on Yoga. If you don’t have the time for that, there are some good books on Yoga that will help you to teach yourself.
I also recommend doing some cardiovascular exercises—it’s also a case of something that will help your riding and help your own personal health at the same time. Bike riding, running, roller skating, swimming or hiking are all terrific exercises that can be fun, too. I always tell people that I’m cross training. If you have a dog, increase your dog walks and your pup will benefit, too. In fact, your dog will make sure you stick to a program of exercise once you get him in the routine. Dogs are terrific about that. If all this exercise helps you lose a few extra pounds, I think your horse will be quite pleased with that, too.
Trail Training Newsletter – 98 - part 1
Trail Training Newsletter – 98
March 2009
Dear Readers,
February has been a horrible month for us for trail riding. I don’t think that I was out on the trail a single time. The river is thawed out, but that hasn’t made any difference. Some days, the hill was icy. Other days, the driveway was icy. The few times I could have made it out were workdays, and it is still too dark in the evenings after work. Kevin got across the river a few times this month, but that’s because he is retired and was able to take advantage of the good days. March is sure to be better. I know the horses will be all excitable and silly. They always are when they haven’t been out enough.
We have been working hard in the arena, but we are losing interest in it. Mingo has become reluctant. Cruiser, who hasn’t seen the trail since the end of December, has some very good days and some days that he is seriously spooking. I think they both need to get out. Ranger just keeps getting better, but Ellen is getting restless. Spring, where are you!March 2009
Dear Readers,
February has been a horrible month for us for trail riding. I don’t think that I was out on the trail a single time. The river is thawed out, but that hasn’t made any difference. Some days, the hill was icy. Other days, the driveway was icy. The few times I could have made it out were workdays, and it is still too dark in the evenings after work. Kevin got across the river a few times this month, but that’s because he is retired and was able to take advantage of the good days. March is sure to be better. I know the horses will be all excitable and silly. They always are when they haven’t been out enough.
We have been working hard in the arena, but we are losing interest in it. Mingo has become reluctant. Cruiser, who hasn’t seen the trail since the end of December, has some very good days and some days that he is seriously spooking. I think they both need to get out. Ranger just keeps getting better, but Ellen is getting restless. Spring, where are you!
March 2009
Dear Readers,
February has been a horrible month for us for trail riding. I don’t think that I was out on the trail a single time. The river is thawed out, but that hasn’t made any difference. Some days, the hill was icy. Other days, the driveway was icy. The few times I could have made it out were workdays, and it is still too dark in the evenings after work. Kevin got across the river a few times this month, but that’s because he is retired and was able to take advantage of the good days. March is sure to be better. I know the horses will be all excitable and silly. They always are when they haven’t been out enough.
We have been working hard in the arena, but we are losing interest in it. Mingo has become reluctant. Cruiser, who hasn’t seen the trail since the end of December, has some very good days and some days that he is seriously spooking. I think they both need to get out. Ranger just keeps getting better, but Ellen is getting restless. Spring, where are you!March 2009
Dear Readers,
February has been a horrible month for us for trail riding. I don’t think that I was out on the trail a single time. The river is thawed out, but that hasn’t made any difference. Some days, the hill was icy. Other days, the driveway was icy. The few times I could have made it out were workdays, and it is still too dark in the evenings after work. Kevin got across the river a few times this month, but that’s because he is retired and was able to take advantage of the good days. March is sure to be better. I know the horses will be all excitable and silly. They always are when they haven’t been out enough.
We have been working hard in the arena, but we are losing interest in it. Mingo has become reluctant. Cruiser, who hasn’t seen the trail since the end of December, has some very good days and some days that he is seriously spooking. I think they both need to get out. Ranger just keeps getting better, but Ellen is getting restless. Spring, where are you!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Importance of Riding Well
The Importance of Riding Well
Riding well—it is so obvious, but so many, many trail riders don’t see the importance of it. Once they learn to stay in the saddle at all gaits, (a must for trail riding, of course) they think they are done. When I ride down the trail, I see so many poor riders, and it looks like they make no effort to improve themselves. Every other sport in the world of horses realizes the importance or good riding, why don’t we? I think this is one of the reasons that riders from other sports do not take trail riders seriously—because we don’t take riding seriously, ourselves.
The only difference between other riding sports and trail riding is that we don’t have judges awarding us to give us incentives. No one is handing out ribbons for excellent trail riding. When was the last time you had someone approach you and say that you trotted that last section of the trail in a lovely, balanced position? I never had it happen to me, either. Now, you are probably saying. “What difference does it make? We are only trail riding. ”
Whoa—did I hear you say we are only trail riding? Does that mean you truly think that riding crooked makes no difference at all? I would say that it makes more difference, as far as the good of your horse, than in a show ring.
Think about it. Carry an unbalanced backpack on your back for 20 minutes at all gaits while in a show ring, and then carry the same unbalanced pack on a 2-hour hike at all gaits and through all sorts of terrain. Tell me which will make you sorer at the end of the day. A well-balanced rider is essential to the comfort of her horse—no doubt about it.
Some people are born natural riders. You may have seen them yourselves. They may never have had a lesson, but sit lovely in the saddle without much effort. And then there are the rest of us…
I’m one of those people who have had to work very hard on my riding, and still, when I see pictures of myself on horseback, I cringe because I think I can do better than what I see. I am always reminding myself to pay attention to the way I am sitting. Photos and videos are very helpful in showing us how poorly we ride; but first, we need to know what to look for when we see the pictures.
Most of us were born a little crooked. Have someone take a picture of you riding from the back. Your shoulders and your hips should be level. If one shoulder is higher than the other and one hip is lower, you are lopsided. I often see people who are riding crooked, and I am sure they aren’t aware of it in the least. I often wonder how it could possibly be comfortable, but the human body just gets used to the status quo and changes feel awkward. A person’s shoulders will be crooked, not because there is anything wrong with their shoulders, but because their whole side is compressed on one side. The side with the lower shoulder needs to be straightened out.
Now, for your vertical alignment. This is a big one. All the riding books and riding instructors will talk about a shoulder-hip-heel alignment, but how many people work on keeping it while they are riding on the trail? For that matter, how many people realize how far off they are from the ideal? I cringe when I see someone shoving their heels forward as they sit back in the saddle. What do they think—that they are sitting on a chair and resting their feet on the footrest? A horse is not a recliner! Not even a gaited horse!
So now, you are wondering what the big deal is all about, after all, you are comfortable. If you ride like this, you are not in balance. You are putting undue stress on your horse’s spine because you are not carrying your own weight. Stress means pain, eventually. Is this what you want to do?00
If your saddle fits, yet your horse seems to have back pain, look to your riding. Does your horse get crabby after an hour or so of riding? Has he become fussy when you saddle him? If you run your hand in the area that the saddle sits on, does he flinch? You might hear tail swishing, your horse may not allow you to mount him without a fuss or he might act in a totally different way. Some horses just shut down. They simply don’t want to go along in a happy manner. If you ever rode a horse who truly enjoyed a trail ride, you would know the difference. How can a horse enjoy himself if he is sore?
If you want to post, it is harder to do if you are out of balance, and you may use the reins for support and not even be aware of it. Undoubtedly, you will not be landing lightly in the saddle, either. In the end, posting out of balance is harder on you, too. By being in balance, you can post lightly and the horse can easily push you back up. Imagine you are sitting on a stool with your feet in front of you as if you are sitting in a regular chair. If you want to stand up without using your hands for balance, you will need to move your feet so they are underneath your body. Why wouldn’t it be the same if you were posting.
Some horses are more tolerant than others. My horse, Mingo, is a very tough horse to ride in the arena because he expects you to be perfectly in balance. This is great for me because it keeps me aware of what I am doing in the saddle. He is a terrific feedback horse. On the trail, though, he will go the way your point him, and if you are satisfied with that, everything is fine. I wasn’t satisfied with that, though. I liked the way he trotted in the arena, better than the way he slowly jogged down the trail. I found that the only way to consistently get him to move nicely on the trail (if we were going away from home—towards home isn’t so much of a problem) was to ride him as carefully and precisely as I do in the arena. The day I realized that that is what he expected, I was riding all by myself, and I blurted out, “You’re kidding, Mingo, I have to do that here, too? ”
My sister and I have had some problems with Cruiser and Ranger. When we trot or canter towards home, they get a little hyper and try to turn it into a race. We have tried various things that have helped quite a bit, but we have also discovered that none of those things will work well unless we ride in what we call “the seat. ”If we can stabilize our bodies when they are flying down the trail in a mega-trot or a big canter, (not always an easy thing to do) we can get some semblance of control. Then we can keep the front horse from going so fast that he instigates a race, from slowing down to encourage the back horse to pass and to keep the horse in the back to stay where we want him and not challenge the front horse. Ideally, we will trot right next to each other at the same speed. There is no way we can do it on our two high-powered horses if we were flopping all around the saddle.
Now, what do can you do to help your riding? Of course, lessons are the first thing that comes to mind, but it isn’t always an option. There is always a chance that there are not any good instructors around you. I’ve sat in some crummy lessons in my time at the various boarding stables that I’ve kept my horses at over the years. Anyone can give lessons—that doesn’t mean they are worthwhile. Don’t waste your time if you don’t feel a person is qualified. There are two good ways to find out. Ideally, you can watch the instructor give a lesson to someone else. The instructor should be knowledgeable, patient and be able to explain concepts clearly. There are some very talented riders that can’t explain what they are doing. A good rider may not be a good teacher. Another good test is to watch the person ride. I have seen some very poor riders that give lessons. Good teaching cannot happen if the teacher can’t ride. That’s even worse than a good rider who is a bad teacher.
Another obstacle to taking lessons that some people have is the lack of proper facilities at their barn. There are plenty of people who don’t have a good riding area except for the trails. There are others who may have a good ring, but it is only dry enough 3 months out of the year. Other people may board their horses in places that don’t allow lessons. (There are a few in our area like that. )Maybe you could trailer your horse to a place where you can take lessons—but don’t have a trailer. Realistically, how can you take lessons if there is place to take them?
Then there is the cost. You may not be able to afford lessons. They can be very expensive. Owning horses is costly enough without adding another big bill. It is nothing in our area to pay $30.00-$40.00 per hour for a private lesson. To get real benefit from lessons, you can’t just take a handful. At that point, you are just getting warmed up
Stay tuned…next month I will give you tips on how to improve your trail riding skills.
Riding well—it is so obvious, but so many, many trail riders don’t see the importance of it. Once they learn to stay in the saddle at all gaits, (a must for trail riding, of course) they think they are done. When I ride down the trail, I see so many poor riders, and it looks like they make no effort to improve themselves. Every other sport in the world of horses realizes the importance or good riding, why don’t we? I think this is one of the reasons that riders from other sports do not take trail riders seriously—because we don’t take riding seriously, ourselves.
The only difference between other riding sports and trail riding is that we don’t have judges awarding us to give us incentives. No one is handing out ribbons for excellent trail riding. When was the last time you had someone approach you and say that you trotted that last section of the trail in a lovely, balanced position? I never had it happen to me, either. Now, you are probably saying. “What difference does it make? We are only trail riding. ”
Whoa—did I hear you say we are only trail riding? Does that mean you truly think that riding crooked makes no difference at all? I would say that it makes more difference, as far as the good of your horse, than in a show ring.
Think about it. Carry an unbalanced backpack on your back for 20 minutes at all gaits while in a show ring, and then carry the same unbalanced pack on a 2-hour hike at all gaits and through all sorts of terrain. Tell me which will make you sorer at the end of the day. A well-balanced rider is essential to the comfort of her horse—no doubt about it.
Some people are born natural riders. You may have seen them yourselves. They may never have had a lesson, but sit lovely in the saddle without much effort. And then there are the rest of us…
I’m one of those people who have had to work very hard on my riding, and still, when I see pictures of myself on horseback, I cringe because I think I can do better than what I see. I am always reminding myself to pay attention to the way I am sitting. Photos and videos are very helpful in showing us how poorly we ride; but first, we need to know what to look for when we see the pictures.
Most of us were born a little crooked. Have someone take a picture of you riding from the back. Your shoulders and your hips should be level. If one shoulder is higher than the other and one hip is lower, you are lopsided. I often see people who are riding crooked, and I am sure they aren’t aware of it in the least. I often wonder how it could possibly be comfortable, but the human body just gets used to the status quo and changes feel awkward. A person’s shoulders will be crooked, not because there is anything wrong with their shoulders, but because their whole side is compressed on one side. The side with the lower shoulder needs to be straightened out.
Now, for your vertical alignment. This is a big one. All the riding books and riding instructors will talk about a shoulder-hip-heel alignment, but how many people work on keeping it while they are riding on the trail? For that matter, how many people realize how far off they are from the ideal? I cringe when I see someone shoving their heels forward as they sit back in the saddle. What do they think—that they are sitting on a chair and resting their feet on the footrest? A horse is not a recliner! Not even a gaited horse!
So now, you are wondering what the big deal is all about, after all, you are comfortable. If you ride like this, you are not in balance. You are putting undue stress on your horse’s spine because you are not carrying your own weight. Stress means pain, eventually. Is this what you want to do?00
If your saddle fits, yet your horse seems to have back pain, look to your riding. Does your horse get crabby after an hour or so of riding? Has he become fussy when you saddle him? If you run your hand in the area that the saddle sits on, does he flinch? You might hear tail swishing, your horse may not allow you to mount him without a fuss or he might act in a totally different way. Some horses just shut down. They simply don’t want to go along in a happy manner. If you ever rode a horse who truly enjoyed a trail ride, you would know the difference. How can a horse enjoy himself if he is sore?
If you want to post, it is harder to do if you are out of balance, and you may use the reins for support and not even be aware of it. Undoubtedly, you will not be landing lightly in the saddle, either. In the end, posting out of balance is harder on you, too. By being in balance, you can post lightly and the horse can easily push you back up. Imagine you are sitting on a stool with your feet in front of you as if you are sitting in a regular chair. If you want to stand up without using your hands for balance, you will need to move your feet so they are underneath your body. Why wouldn’t it be the same if you were posting.
Some horses are more tolerant than others. My horse, Mingo, is a very tough horse to ride in the arena because he expects you to be perfectly in balance. This is great for me because it keeps me aware of what I am doing in the saddle. He is a terrific feedback horse. On the trail, though, he will go the way your point him, and if you are satisfied with that, everything is fine. I wasn’t satisfied with that, though. I liked the way he trotted in the arena, better than the way he slowly jogged down the trail. I found that the only way to consistently get him to move nicely on the trail (if we were going away from home—towards home isn’t so much of a problem) was to ride him as carefully and precisely as I do in the arena. The day I realized that that is what he expected, I was riding all by myself, and I blurted out, “You’re kidding, Mingo, I have to do that here, too? ”
My sister and I have had some problems with Cruiser and Ranger. When we trot or canter towards home, they get a little hyper and try to turn it into a race. We have tried various things that have helped quite a bit, but we have also discovered that none of those things will work well unless we ride in what we call “the seat. ”If we can stabilize our bodies when they are flying down the trail in a mega-trot or a big canter, (not always an easy thing to do) we can get some semblance of control. Then we can keep the front horse from going so fast that he instigates a race, from slowing down to encourage the back horse to pass and to keep the horse in the back to stay where we want him and not challenge the front horse. Ideally, we will trot right next to each other at the same speed. There is no way we can do it on our two high-powered horses if we were flopping all around the saddle.
Now, what do can you do to help your riding? Of course, lessons are the first thing that comes to mind, but it isn’t always an option. There is always a chance that there are not any good instructors around you. I’ve sat in some crummy lessons in my time at the various boarding stables that I’ve kept my horses at over the years. Anyone can give lessons—that doesn’t mean they are worthwhile. Don’t waste your time if you don’t feel a person is qualified. There are two good ways to find out. Ideally, you can watch the instructor give a lesson to someone else. The instructor should be knowledgeable, patient and be able to explain concepts clearly. There are some very talented riders that can’t explain what they are doing. A good rider may not be a good teacher. Another good test is to watch the person ride. I have seen some very poor riders that give lessons. Good teaching cannot happen if the teacher can’t ride. That’s even worse than a good rider who is a bad teacher.
Another obstacle to taking lessons that some people have is the lack of proper facilities at their barn. There are plenty of people who don’t have a good riding area except for the trails. There are others who may have a good ring, but it is only dry enough 3 months out of the year. Other people may board their horses in places that don’t allow lessons. (There are a few in our area like that. )Maybe you could trailer your horse to a place where you can take lessons—but don’t have a trailer. Realistically, how can you take lessons if there is place to take them?
Then there is the cost. You may not be able to afford lessons. They can be very expensive. Owning horses is costly enough without adding another big bill. It is nothing in our area to pay $30.00-$40.00 per hour for a private lesson. To get real benefit from lessons, you can’t just take a handful. At that point, you are just getting warmed up
Stay tuned…next month I will give you tips on how to improve your trail riding skills.
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