Posted in Misc on Sep 21st, 2010
The weekend is over and I had a new horse sighting that I am so excited to share with you! We have a new horse here on the ranch that is difficult to bridle. He is a dressage horse and will do most anything to get out of having to put a bridle on. He hates the bridle – but still every time he winds up losing and performing against his better judgment and wishes.
So Sad. It reminds me of when I was five years old and taking lessons in dance. My mother drove me 20 miles each way to where the dance studio was. My teacher was an old man that always spoke mean to me and hit me with his cane if I did not dance exactly how I was to perform. The ride to the studio was always miserable, and I dreaded going to what I knew would be an awful experience. The funny thing was, no one could tell that I was unhappy about the experience because I looked happy out on the dance floor. The knots in my stomach did not match the joy that I appeared to be experiencing.
I know this… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Dec 10th, 2009
The Uberstreichen Half-Halt Exercises school the horse from the ground to respond more effectively to your half-halts when you ride.
(Half-halt is when you ask the horse to stop and he responds immediately and in the moment you know that the horse will stop you ask him to go forward and he does this whole-heartedly. The purpose of the half-halt is to prepare the horse to listen for your next request. It prepares the mind and body of the horse to be able to respond easily and promptly.)
There are about 10 different reasons one asks a horse to half-halt. Keep in mind that a half-halt is a message to a horse that you will be asking him to perform something different that what he is doing in the moment. From your half-halt you may be making a request to halt or go forward or change pace or gait become more active, lengthening or collect or soften or change direction or to bring a horse to straighten. I am not going to go into the minutia of the benefits of all the exercises because it will not really help to create better result. If you need more explanation… Read more
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