How to Break a Method Down to Work Better for You

Here are two videos of the“Loopty~Loo”show Alessandra Deerinck one of my Certified Trainers working with her horse Rosalie without a halter. However it is best to do this with a halter when learning. When Alessandra asked Rosalie to go forward in front of her with a halter, all she needed to do was to pull on the halter to guide her horse forward. Since she does not have a halter on Rosalie in these videos, the horse must go forward from her voice only. In order to create a smoother “Loopty~Loo” the support of a halter is needed to better guide her.

Elizabeth is doing the “Loopty~Loo” in the third video with a halter the photos show every step. Each step needs requires that your horse can pause and hold each position.

Be prepared that a horse may seem to not get it on one day, and the very next day do it perfectly. Try not to judge negatively. If your horse does not get something, you have three choices: change the subject, lighten up, or get stronger, and you can do all of them in the same work … Read more

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My new exercise is called the “Loopty~Loo.” The purpose of this exercise is to bring willingness and a better response to rein aids and leg aids for half halt, collection, lateral aids, and throughness while riding. It will also create trust and a deeper working bond. This exercise is done from the ground. Practice this until it is smooth for a month before you expect to see any results from the saddle. I am very excited in sharing this with you because I know how much it will improve your horse’s response to the riding aids. It will build your connection, your horsemanship skills under saddle, and the horse’s ability to be elastic. An elastic horse is a happy horse!

When you start out, do not practice for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time, which includes the pauses you take. Begin by having a halter on your horse with no lead rope. You will use the halter to guide your horse around you. You can do this exercise without the halter if you wish. Start the exercise standing next to your horse at his shoulder when your horse is comfortable and would stand with you like this … Read more

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Announcement: Caribbean Clinic!
It is my hope that my students will take this opportunity to go someplace special to learn my Method with Stina Herberg. I have been working with Stina and her wild horse herd intimately over the last three years. What Stina has learned is very important to the world at many levels. The program that developed from this three-year experience is not to be missed. Stina is officially opening her horsemanship programs at the Richmond Vale Academy and Nature Center in St. Vincent. The kick off will be this exciting new clinic happening on April 4^th – 9^th 2011 featuring Yoga and Horsemanship in the “Yoga and Rituals for Riding” clinic! The center that is hosting the program is a place that will afford you experiences with horses more magical than you can imagine! I assure you – you will have the experience of connecting with a horse like the boy in the movie, The Black Stallion. St. Vincent, one of the most beautiful places on earth is a paradise of private beaches, tropical flowers, fruit trails, waterfalls, streams, and swimming at the base of waterfalls with horses! I wish I could be there- but … Read more

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What fascinates me about wild horses is their beauty, and their free spirit and how much they enjoy. I fell in love with horses as a child. It was a romantic connection, as it is for many children who are drawn to horses. I felt if a wild horse should befriend me, I would have something special. I grew up with horses, and as a child I was offered an opportunity to observe and ultimately make friends with a natural wild horse herd. I spent every day with wild horses in the summertime in the San Jacinto Mountains of California where my family had a cabin in the woods close to the horses. My summers with the horses extended over three years and began when I was 10 years old. At that time in my life and still today I was looking for the magic I could share with a horse. I wanted to learn their culture and pecking order behaviors. I wanted to develop a relationship with wild horses, to be able to ride a wild horse from a bonded trust and magical connection without having to capture it against its will or train him to accept me on … Read more

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As we go forward with the Waterhole Rituals™ in my blog, I am speaking to you either on Sharing Territory™, or shaping behavior, or working on the performance and training of the horse. How we approach the training of the horse will help the friendship grow. We need to bring a program that inspires the horse to want to learn and follow our direction. To do this, we need to keep tabs on our horse’s attitude while we are working with our horse, and then we need to make adjustments in our leadership to keep the quality of the connection.

We as leaders must also focus on the rhythm of our horse while we are working with him. I have found that I can communicate clearly to my horse whether I am in the saddle or from the ground by matching his rhythm and then signaling my request between the strides. I will often times choose a slightly different rhythm from the horse that would cause the horse to want to match my rhythm. For example, if my horse is walking too fast I will choose a rhythm in my own body that I would like him to have rather … Read more

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I have another new horse sighting. It was with a student of mine. She had not ridden her horse for some time and rode him. She started him back with all the precautions one would take to bring a horse back, but did not share space with her horse or make a great personal love fest connection. She did not do that with this horse because she never needed to do the rituals with him before.

Well, he bucked really badly but showed no signs that he would object to her getting on him at the time. She was sure he was fine. During the bucking, he paused and she jumped off. As soon as she did, the bucking continued. As she stood there in shock, the horse stopped bucking and gradually walked back up to her. At that point, she thought that getting back on again would not be a good idea and decided to take things much slower. Over the next two weeks, she worked her horse by hand walking him, sharing territory, and lunging him. He was also tied up around the barn and horse trailer. Occasionally, she would saddle him up, but not ride him, and … Read more

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It was so nice to be able to offer the free conference call on the U.E. Exercises and my free winter program. The U.E. exercises are a perfect thing to focus on for the winter month’s because it requires minimum activity and can be so easily adapted to doing several of the exercises from a stall or paddock.

It is so exciting to reach people from around the world and discover at last, people who are interested in bringing out the true nature of the horse and connecting with them through a personal bond, giving their horse freedom of choice, and a more than equal say in the partnership we share with them. It is also most important that the programs we offer to our horses and students are flexible enough to suit the conditions of the moment and the personalities and abilities of both the horse and their human. I feel I am doing something truly worth while and on the cutting edge for man’s humanitarian evolution.

These exercises were developed from my struggles to find a new way to bring clarity and understanding to the horse about the driving and rein aids given to them by children when they … Read more

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