Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

Hi again. Today we will be moving on with the Uberstreichen Exercises.

When your horse will stand on his own then you are ready for the next step. Put your hands on each side of the noseband of the halter and do not but in fingers or thumbs inside the halter in order to prevent injury to yourself your horse should jerk his head up. Don’t but your head above his for the same reason. Hold the horse’s head straight, breathe deeply, and relax. If the horse turns his head one way or the other gently bring it back to straight and then float with him holding his head. Do this for a short time as the horse will tolerate it, then let go slowly and walk away and disconnect. The disconnect is very important to practice. The horse is learning to give and to stay put. He is learning to be responsible without you having to police him. This teaches your horse to stay focused in a hold as well as in a disconnect. Self-carriage of the horse’s gaits can only occur when the horse is free from the rider’s active influence. This exercise starts the journey. Self-carriage creates… Read more

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I remember years ago, a lady came to take lessons with me. She had traveled all the way from Florida to learn the Art of Horsemanship. She had all the right clothes and a great deal of enthusiasm. However, on her first day she became disappointed with all the details she would have to learn to stay safe around horses. And on top of that, she also found out that she would have to learn how to manage a horse’s behavior.

The next day she found even more disturbing because instead of something to do in her lesson, I told her to enjoy the moment and relax while keeping the horse way from her as she was sitting in a chair reading a book.

Initially she said that all she wanted was for the horse to relax, however she discovered that it took a lot of leadership, concentration, attentiveness, focus and management in order to be around a horse. These were the same things that she did at work all day and exactly what she was trying to avoid. She wanted a horse so she could forget about the details and just fall into a blissful state of… Read more

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A lot happens in small increments. This is where magic is grown.

At the Ranch today we were acclimatizing a horse by the name of Stoli to the ranch and developing a bond with him using the first Waterhole Ritual™. He is a 21 year old ex racehorse that is a schoolmaster in lower level dressage. He is quite nicely trained, very health and moves around like a young horse. He has a problem though of being quite barn sour and does not really enjoy peoples company but he does like his dressage work. He likes to kick other horses and has made a deep bond with his next door neighbor. He has been on the ranch for over a week and is taking his time in wanting to connect with us.

I have leased him from a friend for my apprentice Julia Felton who is with me for a period of three months. She is here to learn my method and study dressage training and riding. Our trade is that she his helping me to finish my book as well as helping me with my daily responsibilities. In return, I am coaching her on the Waterhole Rituals™ and giving… Read more

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Several months ago I watched a program on TV about Bruce Lee’s Philosophy of Life. As a student and instructor in martial arts, he had come to the conclusion that styles and formulae are inherently flawed and can block your ability to be like water, as he put it. Water, in his mind, was a great thing to emulate. I heard him say that if you pour water into a glass the water becomes the glass. If you pour water into a teapot it becomes the teapot.

He went on to say many things about the attributes of water. I was taken in by how passionate he was on wanting his students to step away from formulae and get in touch with their instinct and become the movement. He spoke of knowing how to deal with the broken rhythms and unpredictability of an opponent and use it as your great asset of strength and he felt that martial arts did not deal with these conditions. Martial arts he felt had become stuck in tradition and become blocked and less than it could be. I got the feeling he would have said it had lost the water energy he had… Read more

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I want people to see themselves as leaders, when this happens a student becomes empowered. I see my role as leading leaders. My first focus is to lead the person to use their ingenuity with the Waterhole Rituals. The Waterhole Ritual takes ingenuity for them to work. Discovering the leader within is as rewarding to the people in the course as it is for me. When people achieve a connection and working bond with their horse, it is as life enhancing for the horse as it is for the human. The student needs to apply the program as it suits them by choosing the ritual that will develop a stronger connection and dance with their horse. They discover how to communicate with their horse through a program that they develop for themselves. My part is to inspire and share a method that is a step by step process, that requires a venue where fences do not play a part in being able to help control the horse. This helps to guide the person to make the right choice in how to respond to their horse. I give a person a philosophy that will also empower their choice to guide them… Read more

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On Tuesday I was speaking about using Core Energy with the first Waterhole Ritual, and I promised you a story. Before I start the story, I want to say that when the core is strong it is the blue print of who you are, and what you know and your intentions and a instant way to communicate with like minds. When cores communicate, there is a magnetic attraction.

I had a lovely gelding named Navarre and he loved people and did not like horses as a rule. One day Sutter, a beautiful palomino stallion, wild most all of his life arrived at my ranch who could talk from his core. When I took him out of the horse trailer all the horses were on alert. Because of the core energy both horses held, Navarre and Sutter clearly communicated with one another with no sounds, thoughts, or anything tangible. We all acknowledged that we were aware of their connection. I could tell that Navarre had a different feeling for Sutter than he had ever shown to any other horse. My core energy could feel the energy that hung in the air around is. From reading Sutter’s, core energy, Navarre fell… Read more

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You must become your horses mind. It sounds inviting enough and it takes a lot of consideration to get to this point. If the First Ritual has not been utilized properly, the rest of the Rituals will not be built on a strong enough foundation.

Your horse will not see the relationship that you are sharing with him as an intimate and personally growing relationship that has meaning and purpose. The first Waterhole Ritual besides developing a deep bond and a feeling of bliss with a horse has many purposes. From practicing the first Ritual, your communications with horses will be better understood. This is very important in your ability to dance at liberty with your horse.

Your body language will have more effect as well as to create a magnetic connection without even thinking about it. You will strengthen the core energy you were born with. Through territory sharing using the first Waterhole Ritual, your core strengthens from your intent to strengthen it. Without your intent, you have a big chance that your core will not be strengthened. The intent therefore is most important.

Your core is the substance you were born with, that gives you the ability… Read more

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