Now that we understand movement and how to control it,  we can send energy to the horse from anyplace on our body to anyplace on his body. In other words where ever you touch him  with a push, he will accept the intention, and create a flow of energy from you  to him and through his body in the direction you want to go.To achieve the moves we want, we have to practice and understand how the horse interprets our intentions and then perfect the conversation. (more…)

As we work on our timing, we learn how to feel each foot leaving the ground. We will  initiate our moves first by looking in the direction we want to go and then by supporting with our whole body of limbs. Looking sets our intention. It show that we are committed. We must be committed to be able to send the right energy to our horse. We learn that when we ask  in time with our horses (when it is the optimum time for the horse to be physically able to make the move) (more…)

Now that we are riding our horse, we can maintain leadership and control movement (speed and location). This has to be practiced AND MASTERED on a loose rein. We want our horses waiting for us to tell them how fast to go. Once our horses are connected to our energy and we are able to control the release, it is time we become interested in balance and timing. (more…)

We are on our horse’s back  and moving forward. We have the ground work skills down and we are working from horseback. The ultimate goal of our relationship with our horse is to send energy to any part of his body and have him take that energy and go with it. In other words take it from us and carry out the movement. (more…)

Now that we have our horse working spectacularly on the ground, we want to learn to do it from his back.

You will have an advantage in that he is used to doing the things you ask and is now very respectful of you and has a sense of your timing. He is learning how to read you and you are now understanding what it takes to get through to him.

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Please begin this lesson by re-reading parts one, two, and three.

Once the horse responds to backing by placing your hand on his muzzle try it by using less pressure. If you always start with less pressure than the previous communication, your horse will answer more quickly, seeking the relief that comes with no pressure or energy directed his way. (more…)

Today we talk about our horses ability to feel our energy and his willinglness to accept it.

Before we learn to communicate with our horse he will usually resist anything we ask. He will not give to any of our pressure moves, mostly because he rejects us as his leader, and is not programed to do what a predator would want. 

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Yesterday I left you with the concept of intention, and the phrase, “you are the captain of your HorsemanShip”

Today I will take it farther.  We’ll talk about the common phrase, “horses learn by pressure and release”.

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I really mean it, Horsemanship, is Simple. However, it is not Easy!!

One has to really separate the two words. In this case the concept is simple, it really is, but to carry it out, is not easy.

So there you have it, simple but not easy!!  It is important not to confuse the two. Because it is simple, most folks new to horsemanship, think automatically it should be easy and become frustrated when they find out it isn’t. (more…)