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[RC] training tip..... - Chris PausLet's share training tips... Here's a good lesson I had yesterday.. It was one of those "duh" moments!
I took my young mare, Ali, out for a sloppy ride on our section line roads, along with my grandson John and his horse, Zab. An experience we had brought home to me the "soft eyes" approach and showed me how much of our own thoughts are transmitted directly to the horse. We went down a road Ali had not gone down before. She was fine with the bulls alongside the fence, scary rocks adorning a driveway entrance, a tractor and various automobiles. Then we came to the first of two bridges. We crossed a bridge on Friday with no trouble. As you know, we've had a lot of rain and the water was rushing under the bridge making a lot of noise, It was compounded by a barky neighbor dog and a truck coming toward us. This bridge is higher and narrower than the one we did on Friday, with lower railings. I could feel her nervousness, But I talked to her and let her have her comfort zone. She'd approach it and stop, then approach it again. I'd encourage her and she'd try it again. Doing this we got almost halfway across the bridge, with John and Zab right behind us. THEN, I allowed my own thoughts to wander and my eyes to glance over the side of the bridge to the water below. That's all it took. Ali wheeled around and beat it back off the bridge, scaring Zab and John in the process. I dismounted and led her over the bridge, then mounted back up again. The second bridge was only a couple hundred feet away. THIS time, I looked straight ahead where I wanted her to go. I didnt' allow my mind or my eyes to wander to either side of the bridge. I just concentrated on the road ahead of us. Voila! She was hesitant but did go over the bridge nicely. We went about a quarter of a mile further, then the rain started coming down harder, so we decided to turn around and go home rather than go all the way around the section. That meant we had to cross those two bridges again. Again, i kept my eyes and thoughts focused on the road ahead, the direction I wanted Ali to go and she crossed both bridges nicely, never wavering. She's a brave mare and has gone past scary things on a trail that more experienced horses have balked at. But even a brave mare needs confidence from her rider. One of my riding instructors always told me to look where you want your horse to go and I've passed that on to my students. But yesterday, I needed a reminder of that and dang if it isn't true! chris "If I fill this moment with gratitude, the next moment can't help but bring blessings." Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus
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