Palm Partnership Training™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
Trouble-free trailer “unloading” is really quite easy… just reverse the steps used to teach your horse to load. Let’s start with your horse already loaded in the trailer, ideally with another experienced horse to give him confidence. If you followed my
It’s hard to save a buck these days.
It can be done, but to do it, you have to spend money.
Don’t buy cheap horses or cheap tack. Both always turn out to be more expensive in the long run.
Over the years, the initial price of the horse will be the least expensive equine related item. So spend your money wisely, and get a good one.
You can be reasonably certain that a “free” or “cheap” horse has health problems, is not able to be handled or has issues. A good bred, well-trained mature horse will be well worth the money spent.
The most important cue for any horse being ridden is the cue for “whoa”. A good foundation should have been laid during halter breaking, leading lessons and learning how to lunge. (To read part one, please visit: http://www.thewayofhorses.com/08_17_whoa_1.html)
The first step in reinforcing the “whoa” is no movement by the horse while the rider is getting on. And once mounted the horse should not move until given a cue. The rider must make a conscientious effort to sit on the motionless horse for a few seconds.
Julie Goodnight takes on topics you want to know more about in her online training library—part of her ever-expanding Horse Master Academy (http://signin.JulieGoodnight.com) now with a free access membership to help you search for many training articles, videos and MP3s!
Palm Partnership Training™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
Trailering is a big step. Not only are we dealing with loading our horse into a trailer, we will be driving and maneuvering a large vehicle (like a truck or SUV) and towing our precious cargo behind. Once trailering is mastered, it opens up many new opportunities for fun with our horses. We have the freedom to go to shows, trailer to a friend’s house to trail ride, and have the mobility to take our horse with us almost anywhere!
Yes! Then acorns are one porcine delicacy he should avoid.
Acorns are seeds or nuts produced by oak trees. There are more than 60 varieties of oaks in the continental United States. The bark, leaves and acorns contain an acidic chemical commonly known as tannin.
Tannin has a bitter taste and is an astringent (contracts tissues and draws out fluids). It can damage the liver and kidneys of horses. Tannin also interferes with the utilization of protein.
I grew up in Florida, where the main riding season is the winter. Our main chore to get ready for winter was body clipping the horses, to get rid of the winter coat they were not going to need. For the last 30+ years, I’ve lived in the mountains of Colorado, at an altitude of 8000 feet, where the winters are long and cold and preparing your horse and barn for the winter comes with some important concerns.
Regardless of the discipline in which you ride, warm up time is important. Whether you ride for performance or leisure, the warm up routine should be the same. For every horse there is a certain amount of flat work, particular exercises and maneuvers that need to be done.
When I attend horse related events, I am always fascinated at some clinicians and trainers that preach to folks about doing this or that in the round pen. Often there are books or DVD's on how to work your horse in a round pen. While I have no argument with this, the reality and facts are that sooner or later you have to ride somewhere other than in a small fenced circle. What has been a good training area often becomes a prop or excuse to not go out and ride. When you do, you also meet friends and enjoy life so much more. Friends are not going to gather on a Saturday morning or any other
I received a question about a really nice thoroughbred off the track that does really well at home shies at everything when he is taken to a show. He is quiet at home but very nervous when he goes to a show. This is a very common problem in every discipline but I have probably seen it more in the English world. We see the quiet performance of the horse at home and think it is going to transfer to the show arena but we are often surprised. A new environment with new objects, noises, even additional horses, can be scary if the horse is not accustomed to change.
Palm Partnership Training™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
I’m going to give you an exercise to practice that uses both the turning and bending aids. The pattern for this exercise is what I call a “training figure 8.” It is important to understand the difference between this training pattern, as opposed to what could be called a “show ring” or “competition figure 8” pattern.
One thing horses are really good at is being present in the moment. People, not so much. We tend to carry baggage from the past and stress about the future, but not stay present with our horse in the moment. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could stay present and thinking in the moment and ride through any sticky situation with your horse?
Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh; out to buy presents, on the very last day!
It’s Christmas time, and horse time, and present time.
Whenever I think of Christmas I think of the horse that first pulled Santa’s sleigh – after all, Santa started with a horse long before he switched to reindeer.