First Instruction of the Uberstreichen Exercises
Nov 19th, 2009 by Carolyn Resnick Method
I first want to say thank you to all of you in the class for your interest by enrolling in this course. In doing so you show that you care for the quality of life a horse faces in our hands throughout his life, and in his training.
I would like for people to think of training as something that enriches the life experiences of the horse. In nature horses are always in a class room! Bringing the horse new experiences raises the quality of life for the horse, as it deepens your connection, which in turn adds meaning to the horse’s life.
Everyone that as enrolled is eligible for the course. The one exception is the person that has the 33 year old horse which would need a doctor’s approval. For the rest of you, you will know if the exercises are right for you and your horse by how much benefit you and your horse receive from your practice.
I’d like to ask you to please sign in every time you read an instructional blog during the free instructions. The amount of enrollment in each blog will let me know how we are doing. I can tell by how many people sign in if more people are attracted to the lessons, or the general blog. If interest drops away with the lessons, I will return to the regular blog article because I do not what to lose my regular readers.
I am giving you this class for free for two reasons. The first is to help stop rolkur. The second reason is that people have consistently asked me to share the exercises. The reason I have held off is that I am concerned that they require too much time and effort, but they do work and I believe that they are revolutionary! I can see by what you have written that you all wish to take the slow journey, and that you appear to be realistic in what you are hoping to gain. What the exercises do for me they may not do for everyone. What they do for one horse they may not do for another. Whatever the results are, they are usually extremely beneficial because they always bring about a closer connection and relationship.
The Uberstreichen exercises take a lot of consistent effort and they are easy to apply. I would not have taken on this challenge if I did not think that I could be successful in passing them on to you. I read that some of you are concerned that you and your horse are not prepared to start this program. I would like to encourage you to try them and see how they work out. If the horse starts to release easily in a two week period and you do not feel confused or bored, and if you are enjoying them then I think you should continue with them. If you get confused or frustrated, just let them go. Because this is a slow journey, negative pressure should be non existent, even though we will be working with resistance.
The resistance that we will be working with at this point is that the horse with not respond by lowering his head or tucking his nose. If the horse does not respond, we pretend that he drops his head or tucked his nose by releasing slowly, relaxing, and holding on to his head in a floating manner (or what some people call the neutral position). Or, you could apply more pressure on the halter to allow the horse to give. When the horse relaxes with the floating hold, we then ask again with the slightest pull down on the halter. From this approach, and odd thing happens; the horse thinks he lowered his head and soon he will lower his head when you ask with the slightest suggestion!
You should see the horse advancing right in front of your eyes! After the first two weeks, things should begin to go forward from your developed understanding of the theory behind the exercises. And, as you practice, you will start to apply them more and more effectively. Not only is the horse learning to listen to the slightest request, but you are learning how to make them!
My concern for many in the course is that if you get the horse to perform on the ground, the exercises may not translate for you to the saddle in the way you would like them to. How far you are in your horsemanship under saddle is very important. It takes one skill to train on the ground and it is all together another skill to ride. However, your practice of the Uberstreichen exercises will develop both of these skills but perhaps not to the level of perfection you are expecting if you are green in the training of horses, or are used to fast tactics.
You cannot hurt your relationship with your horse by trying and failing with the exercises because they are nurturing to the horse and the horse is completely unaware of your failure! Whatever happens, you will improve your relationship, deepen the bond and improve you horsemanship both on the ground and when your ride because you will be much more effective with rein aids and theory, and you will never again think it is necessary to hold a contact rein! Some of you may enjoy the program even without a horse for the study of a method that takes no contact rein to ride a horse through and active.
When I use dressage terms, please feel free to look up their meaning rather than having me give every definition. It will help keep the blog shorter this way. I am planning that Tuesday’s blog will generally be theory, or more insight, along with regular articles as usual, and Thursday’s will be the instruction of the Uberstreichen exercises. I read all of your letters but I may not be able to respond until after Dec 5th, when I return from my vacation which starts today!
Till next week, I’ll leave you with a YouTube from one of my current students, Farah:
Carolyn
Related posts:
Thank you!
Iam not so good at the language but i try to fell the spirit and enjoj it alot!
Thanks again.
Helene
Hi, Am belatedly adding my name to those who are following the uberstreichen blogs…
am so glad to have been guided to your site, and so happy for the things my horses and I are going to be learning through your generosity
157+ replies to this blog posting alone…wow…what a wonderful invisible network of horse lovers out there..better ways of thinking and existing for two-legged and four-legged beings
thanks from me and most importantly, thanks for what you are doing for my horses
tricia myler
Hi Carolyn
Just checking in.
Thank you for all the lovely posts everyone.
Love
Sally
Just checking in as a reader. Thanks so much for all the advise offering to us!
Just checking in – I’m joining late so I have a lot of reading to do! I thought the U. exercises would be great to help build the relationship I have with my Belgian x (I think more Belgian than anything!) named Merle. We suspect she may have come from an unpleasant situation (aggressive/abusive rider), so we are working a lot on trust. The U. exercises are also a great way for me to work from the ground while my fractured tailbone is healing…no riding for me for a least another month
Just checking in as a reader. Thanks so much for offering these to us!
I am belatedly joining the crowd following your lessons on Überstreichen Exercises and wanted to be sure to respond so you knew you had another warm body in the class.
Such wonderful ideas/techniques.
Thank you so much for being willing to share!
Dear Carolyn,
You offer many wonderful insights and training techniques. I know that many riders choose not to wear a helmet and perhaps this is just a calculated risk. But as a hunter/jumper where helmets are mandatory at all levels of competition, I was shocked to see Farah jump without a helmet. Chances of head injury are dramatically increased while jumping. All it takes is a refusal, overjump, spook on landing to put even Olympic riders in the dirt. Any horse can spook or refuse. Wearing a helmet does not take away from the riding partnership nor do you look less “one with the horse” when demonstrating bareback, bridleless riding. I hope you don’t take offense to this, but helmets are needed for a reason.
Cathy Ray
Hi Carolyn,
I am new to you. I found out about your work through The Path of the Horse DVD.
Consequently from the Horse Conscious web site, I signed up to get your e-mails.
While I am slightly computer phobic being so kinesthetic I am fascinated with the exercises. I am working with them my 12 year old Arab and and just began
with a 4year old Missouri Fox Trotter/Walker mix who has experienced trauma in her neck and front legs (through mismanagement of trimming we are speculating).
I live in LA and would love a chance to meet you.
Another thing—-I am a yoga teacher and movement educator. I work with my own head first before touching the horses.
very warmly, Deborah Raoult
PS I burst into tears the first time I saw you move with your horse in The Path of the Horse. Thank you for trying to transmit the work in an accessible way.
Great article. I’m working with the excercises.
Just checking in to add my name to the participants in retrospect. THANKS!!!!
Hi Carolyn,
I’m doing the U. exercises with Renaissance Painter, 12-year-old Paint gelding. We were in your WRIC program, and continue to practice that as well. My Arabian mare, Kira, has asked to participate; it is a calming influence on her. Also, my little donkey, Jenny, wants to participate, which is pretty wonderful. Thanks for continuing a class through the winter; at 10 degrees this morning, having a plan is good!
Carolyn,
I am “checking in” as asked for in your post. I have had a “good” head down cue for quite a while now, and have been working on asking for a “tuck” this summer. I have approached my horse, Lyle, with a new mind set as far as asking for collection. The first excercize worked beautifully. I ask during grooming, while I’m walking along side of him, and during ground excercises in the round pen; any time I’m with him. He is starting to think this is a cool new game. He’s very playful and curious.
Yesterday, during grooming, he fell asleep after asking him to “relax” his head down. I decided to just stand there and “share space” with him. No petting, talking, anything; just share space. He woke up after a few minutes and followed me to the round pen. Once there, we worked on leading from behind, at liberty. This is new to him, and he is slowly learning to accept the concept.
Love my horse, Love your blog.
Thanks for the instructions.
Toni
I will not forget to sign in anymore!
Thanks!
Thank you Carolyn for the great first lesson! Farah and I tried this first exercise with my young mare and I’m continuing while Farah is on vacation. This is such a wonderful opportunity and I sincerely appreciate your time and expertise.
Farah – amazing to see you riding and jumping Mercury bridle-less!
Forgot to sign in! This is just great!!
just letting you know I read this article. good to know, and does work, have been doing things like this for awhile, just didn’t know what I was doing, or why.
Sorry I didn’t check in on the first exercise. Was unavailable through the holidays. Thank you for this great opportunity.
Your words and the Youtube video are so motivating. Thank you!
Dear Carolyn,
I am using this first exercise with my very recently adopted 21 year old Arabian mare. She is from a rescue and has had a life of abuse until now. She has never been ridden, only used for breeding, and so has very little positive experience with responding to pressure, however light.
When I started this first lesson, I could not rest my hands on her halter for any length of time, touch her poll, or rub her forehead. After playing every day with her with this lesson, I can say today that I can now touch her poll lightly and briefly and also place my hands lightly on the nose band of her halter. Sometimes, now, she will lower her head with light pressure. Last night, I was even able to rub her forehead in praise…..
I do not know if I will ever be riding her. I don’t know if that what she is hoping for, but I love her and I will say that the experience with this first exercise has been rewarding and that our bond is strengthening and I think her safety zone is increasing as is her ability to accept love from a human.
I find that every time I try this exercise I understand it a little more.
Thank you for offering this instruction!
Thank you, Carolyn, for sharing your knowledge with us. I shall try the first exercise tomorrow. I hope that you have a wonderful vacation!
signing in for class
Dear Carolyn,
Thank you so much for the answer and the reminders !
These crucial things are so easy to forget when wanting to learn so much.
I will print out your answers from this post and put them up in the stable so I will remember at all times.
Because of the time difference I’m a little late, but enjoying every post here.
This Week-end I will be making Applepie
Thank you so much for taking the time for us while being on vacation.
Sincerely Tonnya
Carolyn, thank you for taking time to write while on vacation!
A few of your comments today were especially rewarding and reinforcing to me: I find teaching Oreo at liberty never ceases to enrich our relationship, and you’re so right: sometimes when I have no idea how I’m going to get an idea across to him he somehow knows just what I was hoping he’d do. Hopefully I do maintain my focus because I’m not trying to fix anything and my energy is still positive and signaling because I’m thinking/picturing what I’d like him to do.
I’m encouraged by your advice to “enjoy the unknown” and as I tried to say above, I’m finding the “unknown” does become known because I “allow it to speak” to me. You’re so right: I “have nothing to lose.”
Another remark that I’m finding to be true more and more often as I have been putting it into practice is this: “The release and request must be without the need of the response and then the response will fall in line.” As an example, if I see that Oreo is wandering off our circle, I’ll ask him to stay with me by sending him positive energy, picturing him continuing in his circle, and thinking something like “Let’s stay together on the circle; you’re so handsome and I love our togetherness and watching you as we go,” and most days he is willing to stay right with me.
I enjoyed all your letters today. I am now going to eat some desert. Apple pie with some ice cream and then I am going to pracitce my piano and stay up most of the night to digest my food. Thank you for your encouraging words.
The energy shared here is beautiful.
Thank you for the elaboration on the exercise. I found that when experimenting with the bold paragraph you gave us, I was actually much more in a state of learning and flow than when I tried to analyze the exercise and put my attention into other folks’ experience given in the comments section. I do love hearing people’s experiences but need to remember to stay in my own center while reading.
)
I went outside of myself today and got into more of a fighting mode rather than the inner experimentation listening and innocent mode! Such great lessons always. I appreciate the structure within which to play with the lessons. I had a few lovely hours with my donkeys and horses this morning before heading to a delicious family meal. Grazing grooming and insights on the Uber exercises.
I am very interested in your excercises. I will start tomorrow. I know quite a bit about natural horsemanship but have not done any with my dressage horse. He is very gentle and I give him long warmups before working. The hardest thing for me is to get a good forward. Once I achieve this it is easier to make him supple.