Check it Out!    
RideCamp@endurance.net
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
[Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index] [Subject Index]

RE: Re: Re: Riding Every Step



Very nicely said Heidi. I have a friend that has an older, very blind horse
that she doesn't ride anymore (she has bad arthritis also & stumps alot) but
this horse is wonderful to work with. If I help feed when they are
out-of-town, all I have to do to bring her in from the pasture is put my
hand on her neck and she trusts me to become her seeing-eye-person and will
follow me through the gates. If we loose contact she stops, just stands in
one spot waiting for direction. Barb says she will wait for hours if she is
unsure where she is in the pasture. If she is out in the open she will
cautiously graze a small area and slowly move to another, feeling her way. I
have watched her do this with a stablemate, she puts the side of her nose
against his hip and follows him. Talk about subtle cues. We just need to
learn from our horses, they understand, it is us they have to teach. Marilyn

-----Original Message-----
From: Heidi Smith [mailto:heidi@sagehillcmk.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 11:12 AM
To: Karen Sullivan; TBlue1@aol.com
Cc: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Re: Re: Riding Every Step


> I agree to a certain point, but perhaps have a more "Western" point of
view.
> While I see this as a necessity for green or young horses, that don't yet
> have confidence, my goal with a well-trained trail horse is the total
> opposite.  I expect and want my horses to go relaxed and calmly on a loose
> rein-in what ever direction pointed in, in whatever gait I tell them.  I
> want to untimately ride with the reins dropped loose on their neck; be
able
> to neck rein so I can pony other horses, or use one or two hands to get a
> drink of water or eat, or carry something, etc.
> I expect the horses to develop a certain amount of trail sense, and be
able
> to make some intelligent decisions on where to put their feet; not spook,
be
> steady with traffic passing by, with no extra direction from me.  These
are
> MY goals.  If all my horses would have to be "ridden every step" in some
> sort of collection or frame,

First of all, I don't read into "being ridden every step" that the horse has
to be in any particular collection or "frame".  (In fact, I hate the word
"frame" because it relates to an external "picture" to which too many people
strive without actually having the horse utilizing his body properly.)  Even
on a loose rein, you have communication with your horse constantly through
your seat and legs, and on some subliminal level, you should be in tune 100%
of the time.  The horse telegraphs to you, and you telegraph to the horse.
I agree that this can be very subtle and with a well-trained horse should
not preclude you from doing other things.  But I agree with Tracy that you
still have to ride the horse all the time.  For those of us who started "out
in the world" instead of in an arena, I think we tend to take this level of
communication for granted and sometimes don't consciously delve into it.  It
was brought home full force to me when I continued to ride my good old
endurance horse after he became completely blind.  He and I have such a
complete communication that it is second nature to "talk" to him about the
trail and the footing with my own body.  And when I had to become his eyes,
I discovered that all I had to really do was turn up the intensity slightly
on a communication that already existed.  I had been riding him 100% of the
time, but with the volume turned down low, so to speak--and being his eyes,
we had to both "listen to the music" just a little closer--much in the same
way one does with a green horse.  With this low-level "riding every step"
one can pick up the intensity instantly if one has to--whereas if one is
totally out of touch with the horse, there is no time to do so when the
horse communicates urgent information.

Heidi


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=




    Check it Out!    

Home    Events    Groups    Rider Directory    Market    RideCamp    Stuff

Back to TOC