~
MARK RASHID CLINICS ~
28-30 Nov
& 3-5 Dec 2007
Wintec Indoor Arena,
CLINIC COMMENTS
/ REVIEWS
Horses for
sale post clinic – see below
Horsemanship and problem
solving the Mark Rashid way
By Jackie Ostrowski
‘Saddle Up’ February 2008
Internationally renowned
for his ability to understand the horse’s point of view and to solve difficult
problems with communication rather than force, Mark Rashid travels the US and
beyond conducting horsemanship and problem solving clinics.
Mark was in
Clinic organizer,
Trisha Wren from
Mark's skill is being able
to see exactly where the problem lies, honing in quickly on timing issues and
breakdowns in communication. Each rider leaves the clinic with a plan of action
to work with when they get home.
Mark also performed many
ad-hoc demonstrations to show everyone what he was talking about. There was a
good variety of horses and riders taking part, from a two year old colt
learning ground skills through to riders working on their jumping technique,
dressage maneuvers, lateral work, softness, and general communication.
“All of the horses and
riders made amazing progress - there were many grinning faces - and the
auditors made the most of being able to ask their own questions in between
sessions,” says Trisha.
Rider, Kathryn Long says
her expectations were more than met: “Mark has an ability to assess where
you’re at with your horse before you’ve even got on. By the end of the three
day clinic my Clydesdale, Dusty, who I’ve owned for seven years, was soft and
moving like I’d never felt or experienced before - we had a connection that I’d
only dreamt of. Mark gave us such a solid foundation to work on that we’ve
maintained since attending his clinic. He was fantastic; I’ve already booked in
for next year!”
Sue Gibson, another rider
says she got so much out of the clinic it’s hard to know where to start! “My
goal was to work towards improving impulsion with my horse,
Some feedback from those
who audited the recent clinics (on average 25 each day); confirm how valuable
watching a whole clinic is:
Our competition winner,
Trish O'Callaghan is thankful for the opportunity to attend, highlighting a few
very important and impressive changes that Mark made with the riders: “The most
notable was the importance of the riders' breathing. By changing the rhythm of
the riders' breathing – all the horses went much calmer and smoother. Certainly
something I found to have a very positive effect with my own horse.”
“Equally important was the
effect of establishing boundaries with the horses on the ground. All of the
horses with issues on the ground appeared to have little or no boundaries with
regard to their handlers’ personal space. Most horses went much softer, and
happier, after a quick session on boundary establishment both with Mark and
then the handlers. This was particularly noticeable in a young warmblood stallion – no doubt a formative period in his
training.”
“Another very useful
tip that Mark provided us was the importance of where the rider’s eyes are
focused a few strides out from jumping an obstacle. Simple tips like: if the
horse tends to chip the pole – then focus your eyes on something higher as it
tends to help ‘lift’ the horse over the jump. Consequently – if the horse tends
to ‘over-jump’, then focus briefly on something lower to bring down the focus
of the horse. And finally likewise, if the horse tends to jump to the side,
then focus briefly on something to the opposite side of the jump that he tends
to veer towards. This also proved to be a useful tip for gaining the correct
lead.”
Trish says the only
downside to the whole experience was not being able to take her horse! “Next
time, I’d highly recommend it.”
Fellow auditor, Christine
Schoen, attests to this being one of the best clinics she’s attended: “Mark was
articulate, honest, yet positive to both rider and horse and his methods simple
and easy to understand and apply. His format of taking each rider for an
individual lesson made each lesson a case study and an opportunity to observe
his approach to individual problems that the riders were experiencing.”
“In teaching how we should
breathe correctly through all transitions he demonstrated that this has a
profound influence on the outcome and that simply by breathing one could
improve all movement without applying any other aids”, says Christine who has already
signed up to ride on the next clinic!
Mark and Crissi
enjoyed
Mark is author of several
books such as 'Considering The Horse', 'Horses Never Lie: The Art of Passive
Leadership', and 'Horsemanship Through Life'.
For further details, see
the Mark Rashid page on Trisha's website, www.TrishaWren.com, email
her on info@TrishaWren.com,
or phone her on 07-827-0420.
I knew I would enjoy it after reading
his books, but to see how little effort he uses made it even better.
I’ve never seen anything like it –
so simple, so effective.
Depth of knowledge in such a common
sense approach of delivery, amongst a wide range of horses/riders provided some
truly beautiful moments. So glad that I
attended!
Exceeded all my expectations.
Nice variety of problems to
consider.
Mark has so much skill and passes it
on in an easy manner.
The clinic was more than I
expected. Both technical and
philosophical knowledge, plus of course the biomechanics – very useful.
It was a great combination to have
Mark and Crissi, they were very complimentary and
this adds great value. It allows
practice and consolidation.
The clinic was better than you
could hope for! The little demo’s Mark
does to illustrate certain points work really well.
I feel I have learned how to deal
with any situation calmly, which has given me back my confidence.
Brilliant!
Everything I have been looking for for soooo long!
I really liked the format; so much
individual attention for the riders and horses.
The help the horses on the clinic
were getting through the understanding Mark gave the riders was awesome to see.
Exceeded all expectations. I am blown away and filled with hope and
motivation that this harmony with your horse is possible not an elusive
target. I feel honoured to have had the
chance to see Mark and soak up his knowledge and outstanding intuitive people
skills for 3 days!
Good to see lots of smiley faced
riders at the completion of the clinic.
Good stuff!
Fantastic to see the change in horse
and rider when the breathing happens.
Heaps of excellent ideas to take
home and play with, thanks!
~
We asked, “please tell us one thing you learned at the
clinic”; here are some of the answers.
Achieving softness, and helping the rider ride from the inside to become
one with the horse.
How to get everything from your horse softly.
How to breathe!
Thought is incipient action.
There is so much more I can do to be a better person for my horse and
myself!
The feel of resistance versus pulling.
How to get my horse to loosen up in hind quarters.
Importance of your power centre.
Keep everything simple, one thing at a time, breath; such little things
are so important to the horse.
Confirmation of the power of focus.
Boundaries, breathing, consistency; tools for jumping.
I had not realised the significance of my breathing on my horse’s behaviour
and movement!
To help the horse, not make the horse find the answers.
Breathing, breathing, breathing!!!
~
I was one of the riders at Mark's clinic, and the word that
comes to mind a week later is WOW the experience was awesome, Thankyou to Trisha for making this experience
possible, and for all your help you have given me, I took the lessons
I had learnt from Trisha to my lessons with Mark, my mare Polly was settled and
happy to oblige. The lesson I had with Mark on breathing has given me so many
life skills I use it on a daily basis. The soft feeling Polly gave me,
something I had worked hard for over the years I am still trying to get my
head around, it was a magic feeling, I knew she tried for me and over the three
days she gave me everything she had. I was wrapped with her, my confidence has
just blossomed, and the partnership between Polly and I has gelled The time I
spent with Crissy was awsome
too, she helped consoladate the lesson I had with
Mark, I am looking forward to his next clinic, and I would like to encourage
anyone thinking about it,you
will never experience anything like it, I have found it a life changing
experience.
Lyndsay
~
Mark Rashid clinic 3rd, 4th &
5th of December – re the horse that tied up
I am writing this letter for two purposes, mostly to express my
gratitude to everyone who offered assistance to my horse when she suffered from
azoturia (tying up) during her lesson and also to
give some closure to the auditors that were present at the session but were not
able to attend the following day.
For those that weren't there I will just give some background information and
briefly set the scene. My mare Ally is a 13 year old thoroughbred who was gently brought back into light work in April after 4
years off work being a stay at home mum (two babies). She also doesn't get out
much these days because we don't have a float and with 900 acres to ride over
there is really no need.
Needless to say a live-in clinic environment was completely out of her comfort
zone. She was taken to the venue on Sunday night and was to live in a pen for
the next 3 nights which in itself was totally alien to her (at least for the 7
years she has lived with us). She was very tense and stressed during the first
two days which showed in her behaviour. My normally
reasonably placid mare became very bargey and manic, the first lesson on Monday was totally given over to
boundary setting.
Mark observed that the behaviours that she was
presenting would often indicate a feed issue so asked what she was fed. I told
him just grass and meadow hay he determined he was dealing with a behavioural issue (In the American Mid-West that would be
the case)
Her lesson was the last one on Tuesday and again she
was very stressed as the lesson began. Mark lunged her to allow her to move her
feet as much as she felt she needed to, but in a controlled way until she could
find her way to a calmer state of mind (I would like to say at this point that
she set the pace herself he was just directing the movement). Unfortunately she tyed up which was very
distressing to watch. Mark then walked gently with her allowing her to
keep moving to avoid her completely tying up while he asked more about her
history (she had tied herself up once before 5 years ago after racing madly
around a hill paddock when she was turned loose after some time behind an
electric fence). At this point Mark was concentrating on Ally and me and
making sure that I understood what was happening with her and not directing his
comments to the auditors present. I understand some found this upsetting and
this is one of the reasons for my letter, to help those that were there
understand what happened.
I would like to thank everyone for their assistance providing and administering
Rescue Remedy and Alleviate. Doing body work and crystal
healing and all the walking assistants who helped walk her for the next 2 to 3
hours. After about an hour she was looking much brighter and enjoying
all the attention, she had even recovered enough to pose for a photo shot with Jools Topp (thanks Jools).
Thanks also to my husband, Glen who brought over some electric fence gear (so
she had room to move around) and a couple of sleeping bags so that we could
stay the night in Jenny Lomas' horse float (thanks Jenny) to keep an eye on her
overnight (now that's devotion above and beyond).
The following day she had completely recovered and was able to attend her
lesson a happier more comfortable horse, with even some light riding.
Probably a combination of the work we did with Mark, the magnesium she was
given and being in a paddock environment (which would have been more familiar
to her). I have since spoken to our vet who believes that her stressed
state would have been the most relevant factor in her tying up.
I would like to finish by saying that I will be forever grateful to Mark and
his assistant Chrissie for showing me a way to help Ally find her way through
those troubled waters to the calm harbour on the
other side. Hopefully I will now have some skills to allow me to continue to
help her find a way of becoming a more confident horse and allow her to find a
more peaceful state of mind.
Shelley Cooper,
~
Mark Rashid Clinic
Report, Nov/Dec 2007
Thank you Trisha for your amazing effort. I have just witnessed two perfectly run
clinics – as your helper I was totally superfluous! It is a great thing you
have done to bring an amazing horseman and clinician like Mark to
I t was
such an awesome thing to see both horses and riders finding their happy places
without any drama and what appeared to be little effort on the part of both
parties. Finally we are learning about the subtleness of great horsemanship.
The use of our breath to bring about major changes in ourselves and in turn our
horses was very empowering and enlightening. I also learnt that learning is
like a chain and that we must work on each link one at a time – so often we try
to tackle too much too quickly and end up just confusing the horse and
frustrating ourselves – so this was another major light bulb moment for me. In
this way our communication becomes so much clearer to the horse and as a
consequence we have such a happy and SOFT horse.
He showed
how simple it was to get a soft horse – no endless circles, no fights, and
again no big dramas. There were many other things that I took away from these
clinics such as being an active participant with our horse from the time we put
the halter on till the time we take it off – even at the halt we should still
be riding; there should be something of every gait in all the gaits we ride, so
that at a walk there should be a trot and a canter there; the importance of
getting in time with the horses feet and how critical rhythm is; you get what
you focus on; the importance of getting the horse backing in two beats not
four.
Mark also
demonstrated true empathy for both the horse and the rider – no one person or
horse was over-faced – riders faces shone as they achieved things they only
ever dreamed about. The added bonus was his assistant and partner Crissi. She also is a great horsewoman and her
encouragement and attention to the riders was awesome. It was so good to see
each rider having an individual session and working on the things they wanted to work on instead of the
usual, what ever is ‘flavour of the month’ for the clinician. I very much look
forward to Mark and Crissi, returning to
~
Mark
Rashid Clinic Dec 3rd to 5th 2007
Judy’s clinic notes.
Day 1
Get so we can tell the difference between
softness and lightness in the horse, Softness is
getting to the inside of the horse, every thing is available, the whole
horse. Lightness is a conditioned response, it
is the outside of the horse.
We need to blend and direct the horse, not
correct him/her as corrections block the energy where as blending and directing
the energy creates flow.
Five essential things for working with horses, 1
consistency 2 dependability 3 trust 4 peace of mind 5 softness. One leads
to the other.
Horses need boundaries and guidance if they don't
receive what they need they will take over.
Who's paddock/stable is
it? Mine or the horses......Mine!
If you are with a horse and its sniffing manure,
pawing, looking away, these are distractions, he/ she is distracting themselves
so they can avoid having to think!
Every thing we do means something to the horse,
sure they can look away etc but how much does it take to get her back?
We need to get the horse happy enough within
themselves and WITH US so they don't feel the need to defend themselves, eg allowing us to handle
their feet.
What presence do you bring to the
situation? Is it a presence the horse can depend on?
Homeostasis-pattern of
not changing. We sometimes get stuck doing the same old thing, getting the same
results but EXPECTING the results to be different, if its
not working TRY SOMETHING DIFFERNT!
A horse that doesn't defend itself is a dead
horse, we have to prove we can defend ourselves
too. This is why a low ranking horse will run away from a higher ranking animal
(when told to) and swish her tail or kick out at the higher ranked horse....she
proves she can defend herself, is not about to become wolf fodder. If we
are going to get run over by a horse we must defend ourselves, a horse doesn't
want to be around one that doesn't defend itself.
If you are having trouble picking up a horses
hoof, instead of pushing the weight off the desired hoof, put more of the
horses weight on it, they will then unweight it for
you.
Don't give the horse release for something you do
not want.
Sometimes the horse will know the answer (eg how to back up) but not how to get the answer. Eg back up straight with no help from the leg, just keep
the horses head in one place so the horse has to figure it out. (how to back straight)
Remember to breath, inhale for approx 6 strides
when riding and exhale for 7. Breath into the
diaphragm. The breath softens the humans body,
legs etc so also softens the horse. What muscles you tighten eg your lower back the horse will tighten too, breath and use our abs. The proper breath will
encourage the abs to fire.
Where is the horses head when backing, horses are
subtle animals keep it subtle.
The movement of our hips when riding is
elliptical, 3D figure of eight motion.
Do one thing at a time, practice for short
distances and stop before you loose the feel or it all falls apart.
Don't release if the horse is leaning, (on the
bit)
If the feet lock up do something to free up the
feet, eg leading the horse and his feet lock up step
to the side to free up the feet instead of heading forward. Also keep
your feet moving forward, don't just mark time.
PAT/REWARD THE DESIRED STATE OF
Learn not to rely on tools too much we always
have our bodies with us. Learn how to use them.
Get in time with the hind feet when riding.
1-2, 1-2 breath out on one and halt/hand (if needed)
on two. If you don't like the halt, its not soft go to back up till soft.
If you have to circle the horse or tip the nose to the side to stop the horse
be sure to back up, don't reward the brace. He has to learn the
consequence of not stopping well, stop the feet and soften, its
a direction of energy. The horse has to learn to do both, First
he will think he can only stop or be soft, then he must learn to put the two
together. Shorten the reins before stop, its okay to have longer reins when
riding forward. A horse backing in four beats is not soft he is braced,
wait till the beats become two and soften. You are saying to the horse TRY
SOMETHING DIFFERENT. We are looking for a halt with softness and the head
down/relaxed.
Watch to see if the horse is comparing, he might
have learned a new feel but have to compare the new soft response to old
habits, he will come back to (eg) stopping soft.
THE RELEASE COMES EXCTLY
WHEN THE HORSE DOES WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. eg if you are asking for fast steps don't release on
slow steps.
To ride a circle well ride
it in four quarters.
A brace backwards is the same as a brace
forwards. Softness before anything else,
turns, halt.
When riding and working with the horse practice
'bottom weighting', bring your centre/awareness down, out of your head to your
centre (just below belly button?), helps with balance, strength and
confidence. Positive thought really helps the confidence (The arm is
unbendable.) We all have great power within ourselves,
confidence is a choice we make. Be aware of where is our centre, (does it
go to our head? Then we are not present) Engage the centre and engage the
core. Get in the habit of all movements on and off the horse coming from
our centre, don't sit on the horse we come down and around the saddle/horse.
To regulate the horses
gaits, slow or speed the centre up, don't do anything just think about speeding
or slowing the centre, the horse will feel it.
Remember to breathe to a point where the horse
thinks you know what you are doing!
RIDE your horse no matter what, move with the
horse not on the horse, you are doing everything together, deal with all things
as movement-its all movement.
Assessing the horse, do the front pair of legs
and hind pair take the same size step? Walk along on foot getting in time
with the feet and see the length of strides. Is one shorter than the other or
even? As the horse walks away from you watch the hips/rump do they move
(rise and fall) evenly? Watch the crease down
the middle of the spine above the tail does it swing evenly from side to side.
Create a presence for the horse, arouse its
curious nature. (exploding box) I want the horse
to respond to me not my tools.
Do one thing at a time, don't take the horse off
the task...also don't let the horse take you off the task.
Using too much leg on the horse can disconnect
the front end of the horse from the backend.
Adversary training installs 'lightness' in the
horse, lots of it.
(What we need to look for) Something is not good
or bad, it just is. Is it what we want? If not do something else. Not
good, bad or indifferent, just the way it is.
Day 2
Re circling the horse,
starting with the horse facing us. If we swing the rope up, underhand it
causes the horse to raise the head and unweight the
feet and cause the horse to move away with forward steps rather than
back. Return to over hand rope twirl to create forward on the circle,
increase energy.
We are trying to create a flow of energy, while the horse is circling we are back in line with
the hip. We are looking to create flow, the feet are moving, ours and the
horses. If the horses feet stop yours keep
moving and visa versa. Flow is one is always moving. Then we teach the
horse if we up our energy (without manic movements and getting too big) they
raise theirs, same with a slowing of energy. And if we stop our feet they
will stop theirs too.
Lots of practice with swinging the rope, away
from the horse so you can get accurate, if the
horse is facing you swing underhand if side on, overhand. Practice breathing
away from the horse too!
Breathing!!!! If we are not breathing well
the horses trot can't be right. The rhythm of the breathing is the same
in walk trot canter. The rhythm of our breathing gives our horses
something to 'hang their hats on'. Feel the hind quarters. Keep the
hands still to create a soft place for the horse to go, the quieter you keep
yourself and your hands the easier it is for the horse to do its job.
Imagine keeping our head inside the circle of
your belt for good balance.
Getting in time with the
hind feet in trot. Imagine the right hind coming right up under the right
stirrup, as you rise take that hind foot with you, this will activate the hind
legs and free up the stride. Breath out as the
horses outside hind leaves the ground and ask/start canter. We need to exhale
on the exertion eg canter departs, halts. The
horse might need to speed up a little in canter
when getting started to get his lungs working.
If you find you are out of breath when riding the
horse you are not breathing!!!
Be like water, water can bathe the baby and cut
the rock you need to be able to do both with horses and know which is
which! Be like water it can flow up, around, through.
Work on the horses chain
of knowledge, so there are no links missing, start one thing at a time and
build a link at a time.
When sending the horse out on the circle, eg to the left don't 'lead' with the left arm as it blocks
the horse, just send the energy to the right
side/eye.
Breath out into up transition if you change the
rhythm, you can change the speed of the horse eg 1234
1234 walk to 12 12 12 trot. Breath awareness to the abs.
Remain 'present' when riding even when standing
still.
When teaching the horse start with the 'internal'
eg think go, he might not be able to hear this right
now so support with the leg.
There is a little bit of all gaits in all the
gaits.
IT IS THE 'INSIDE' OF THE HORSE THAT CARRIES US
FORWARD!!!
If a horse is 'blowing' clearing his nose early
in the ride, be aware of what shows after these blows,
the horse is now warmed up and ready to progress.
A horse might learn to take just one more step
after halt, and think this is what he is meant to do, if its not what we
want, we need to explain what we are looking for and let the horse know the
extra step is not an option. End on the feel you want.
Don't drop the horse, feed the reins out to the
buckle and don't throw them away.
It can take only a little for us to be effective
with horses and we can get pretty big and be ineffective!
Train ourselves to exhale on the exertion of the
horse, up or down transition.
Finish our turns, ride the line you have chosen.
If the horses feet are getting stuck in back up
your back might be tight...loosen our back up and it will allow the horse to
free up his feet and shift the weight back. We want to allow the horse to find
the answer. If they are not doing what we want, we need to teach them otherwise.
In the backup they can only push off the forehand
for so long, wait till they soften and step back not run. Don't release on the
brace, release once they have done what you are
looking for.
Wednesday
BECOME A STUDENT OF THE HORSE NOT A STUDENT OF
TECHNIQUE.
The balance point, both horse and rider are
bringing the same amount of energy, it feels good. (its
the quality of' energy', not so much loud actions)
Think about this....What muscles do we need to
back up, walk forward, turn, its the same when
riding!!!
If you are riding along and get the 'like an
apple on a whip' motion when stopping or slowing the horse your lower back is
tight, this boils down to our breathing...are we breathing and if so are we
doing it effectively. Breathing deeply, slowly, right down into the
diaphragm activates the core muscles we need for
riding and relaxes those we don't want tightened. We want to aim for one
or two strides more on exhale than on inhale.
What is our intent behind the action? Eg picking up on the reins, what’s your intent? Is it for
the horse to be comfortable? We need a clear intention, such as, we are stopping
not the horse or I, we are stopping 'together', we are
turning together.
Offer the soft quiet thing first, then if she can't hear it, offer the aid. The horse
must do these things herself. If I do 'this' to you, can you hear
me? Wait for the change of thought from the horse, open the door and
direct the energy. Sometimes they might feel the need to fight, and directing
the fight can get a bit messy.
Our hands, on the rope, are open and soft. Don't
throw out what you have previously learnt, it might
come in handy, as with horses, it all depends!
For softness in hind quarters, and back up, breath! Get through the brace as the good stuff from
the horse is on the other side.
Movements not used much
with horses is lateral backwards left and right.
DON'T PUSH OR ESCALATE (to get
the horse to 'do' something) JUST WAIT!!
An exercise on togetherness, the moving pivot, it
lets the horse and ourselves know where the feet
are. Forward, then sideways, then back up then
sideways and forwards. The rider is the centre of the pivot. Learn
the pieces first then blend once all ingredients are learnt,
its a flow the feet are moving. The key is not to hurry, keep it
quiet. THEY WILL OFFER THINGS THAT THEY KNOW AS THEY SEARCH FOR THE
ANSWER. Refresh the horse with trot. Small aids keep everything open, the horses barrel can't work if our legs are clamped
to the horses barrel.
When teaching the horse we have to be careful
that they learn to find the answer to the question themselves, we have to try not
to hurry and give the horse the answers or they will never learn to find the
right answers or think. (How were we taught the times tables? Rote or understanding of how to get the answer?!)
In the trot get in time with the two beats, think
1 2 1 2, breath and use the abs as support, its about
breath and timing. If you want to clear a path for the horses
shoulders so he can move better breath as though the breath is coming out of
the nose and mouth. Imagine the horses shoulders are the front of a boat
slicing through the water.
When riding we need to match the movement of the
horse, not manufacture it. Think of the timing of the gaits eg from trot to walk, the timing is 1 2 12 to 1234 1234. The thought comes first then the aids if the
horse didn't hear the thought. Its all about
'us', its not about getting the horse to do something. Its
also not about going fast its about going correctly.
'I didn't get a horse just to sit on, I have a couch for that!'
Its about creating a
presence with the leg. There are three separate places for leg cues, hind
quarters behind the girth, side ways on the girth and
fore hand in front of the girth. It is also possible to hook one hoof
onto four different cues, its about intent and opening
of the right door. eg the leg yield,
traditionally the leg is used at the girth as the right hind is about to go
forward, or you can imagine a piece of string is hooked on our left heel that
runs to the horses right hind, as the hind leg leaves the ground we dip our
heel and the hind goes forward to create a leg yield. The same leg can
also be hooked onto each rein, the rein is used to
influence the leg as it leaves the ground.
The quality of our breath influences how the
horse moves. If we want to soften the sound of the hooves as they hit the
ground, think about it.
Become body aware of our own body,
don't get bogged down with technique, just turn, or halt or whatever.
(Bruce Lee discovered after years of analysing a
punch that a punch is just a punch) we need the info on how a horse
turns, halts carries itself but at the end of the day a eg
a turn is just a turn, get back to the easy stuff, if you want to turn just
turn!!! Like kids who rode the hair off their ponies,
they just jumped, just turned etc.
Jumping. If the horse is
hitting the jump and you want to get more height, glance up high before the
jump, remember to breath. If there is too much ping in the jump flatten
it out by looking down off to the side on the other side of the jump, before the horse jumps. A jump is just a
transition. Don't look down at the jump as the horse thinks you want him
to land on it! Where we put our eyes is important to the horse.
Once you have jumped don't throw the horse away with relief of having made the
jump. Stick with the horse after the jump, he is
still working so keep riding.
With a horse that is a bit nervous eg of the saddle, just go about our business in a matter of
fact way. Don't make a bigger issue of things than is really is, how big a
deal is it really?
For teaching the horse to line up on the mounting
block, we need to teach her to do it on her own, we don't want to do it for her eg with a stick get so
one smooch to her means one step, till she is next to the block.
Softness is not just a give to the bit and moving
of the feet wait for what you are wanting. Be sure not to just teach a
'bobbing' of the head. If the horse tosses her head to avoid contact just
turn till she changes her mind.
If the horses behaviour escalates be there to show them the way
out. If possible catch it before the horse feels the need to escalate.
'Unwanted' habits in the horse, we might have to
work through them with the horse till the horse finds they no longer benefit
him.
If the horse gets stuck backing up, lift one rein
to unglue them, then return to two reins and soften be sure the horse is
backing not just going backwards.
~
Pony for sale:
I don’t know if you remember the pony I brought to
Marks clinic, everyone fell in love with her. She is truly fantastic in
everyway and my daughter really isn’t into riding so feel she is wasted in the paddock. She loves jumping, flat work,
trekking and life in general, has a really inquisitive nature that will go far.
She has fantastic conformation, is 1/4 welsh and 3/4 arab,
six years old, had a great start, as Mark himself said, and is really ready to
be taken places, but only by a great home. I love working with her and
have enjoyed every minute of my time playing with and starting her, but she was
for my daughter, who Id hope would want to do endurance like me, but really is
more into swimming and netball! She is 13.2hh last measured one year ago, and
may even be 13.3 hh now. Her dam was a top one
day eventer, in Taupo I was told when I bought
her. Really would like to find a kind
knowledgeable competition home for her as she loves life, jumping, trekking, just doing things.
Email Sue for more info: suespinks@xtra.co.nz
Horse for sale:
If you attended the 2nd clinic, you may remember Nana, the
chestnut mare who did groundwork with Mandy.
8 year
old clydecross mare. 15hh. Sweet natured. Working on parelli level 2. Done lots of trekking. Good in company and
alone. Great to handle in everyway and excellent around children. No vices or
dirt. Needs someone who can encourage her confidence, be her best buddy and
give her loads of TLC which she just loves. Would only sell to an approved home
where I know she will be looked after well. Price $3500.
Email
Diane for more info: tjag@ihug.co.nz
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To discuss the clinic further, please email
info@TrishaWren.com,