Ian Leighton Horsemanship

20/09/2024

Thought for the day:
It’s not just about teaching a horse obedience or submission.
More often than not it’s about teaching the horse how to protect himself from discomfort or fear of discomfort.
Teaching a horse how to be soft, how to relax and how to move freely gives him the ability to follow a feel, rather than lean on it or try and avoid it. It’s a change that sticks. It’s like giving him the tools to stay connected and comfortable.
Of course riders need to know how to offer that in a way that allows him to consistently find comfort.
Photo and horse credit Leonie Kable

07/09/2024

Thought for the day:
A young horse spends much of its time exploring its options. This is not bad behaviour. This is how it learns. How we respond to this exploration determines the end result. Rewarding the horse for getting it right is much more effective than trying to prevent the exploration process. This takes timing and feel and the ability to keep it relaxed while the horse is exploring.

07/09/2024

I am looking forward to coming to Mt Gambier again at the end of September. We always have a great time there.
There are still a couple of spots available for anyone that wants to learn more about using your seat, balance and energy to improve how your horse moves.
Also groundwork that transfers to your riding and makes your horse a pleasure to be around.

24/08/2024

Thought for the day:
Demonstration is gold and a gift.
To demonstrate is to ignore the probability of criticism.
Criticism without demonstration is worthless.
Don’t let anybody who throws worthless rocks at you tell you they are giving you a gift.
Some criticism comes with some pretty convincing rhetoric.
It’s still worthless without demonstration.
©️2019

15/08/2024

It’s not too late to join in our Warragul clinic this weekend 17 & 18 August, or our Winchelsea clinic 25 & 26 August.

Contact us for details or visit our Event page for registration info.

https://ianleightonhorsemanship.com/events-2/

07/08/2024

Thought for the day:
I still get asked regularly if I can take a young or green horse to further it’s training.
Often as not the request includes a story about how everything was going ok but then one day outside pressures caused it to act up.
The request is generally to enhance it’s knowledge or change their mindset so that they can handle all types of scenarios and be calmer and better behaved.
Often these requests are never attached to an aside like “can you teach me how I should handle and ride a green or inexperienced horse?”.
The onus is all on the horse to be able to carry (no pun intended) the rider through any situation that may arise and keep them safe.
That is too much responsibility for a young or green horse.
Your horse needs some support and help while it gains experience.
Regardless of your knowledge of horses or riding or a particular discipline you may find a green horse a challenge if you are inexperienced with them.
Many older horses can be much more forgiving of mistakes and have more experience of the world.
It takes more than a stint at a trainers to make an experienced horse.
Often there is a way through but it takes the help of people with the experience. Hands on help.
It also takes a little fortitude and the ability to not make your horse feel trapped with your hands or legs no matter what occurs.
Most of what is called acting up would not have occurred at all if the rider had acted the way the horse needed them to.
The first thing that it takes is the recognition that to ride young or green horses you may need to have yourself trained.

06/08/2024

With our Churchable QLD, Raymond Terrace NSW & Howlong NSW clinics now fully booked for riders (wait listing now available) - VIC & SA riders, don’t miss out on registering for the remaining clinics on our schedule for 2024.

Having finished the first half year of our 2024 travelling clinic schedule, Ian is going to be in Tasmania through to mid August for private lessons and clinics by arrangement. If you are interested in private work or getting a group together for a clinic day or weekend (either here at Forcett or travel to you by arrangement), please get in touch.

For other states we have now confirmed clinics as follows, and are now open for rider/participant registration via our website. We are working on a couple more venues to round out the year, so keep an eye on our page for updates.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

29/07/2024

Thought for the day:
I love seeing horses and people improve over a period of time. There is only one major reason that this can happen. It is not magic performed by a clinician, or trainer. It is not a natural ability in a horse to work out what is going on around him and develop strategies to please humans. It is not a god given natural ability that comes without effort.
The only thing that can possibly bring on these improvements is the efforts and commitment of the rider. They have made the effort to find ways of learning and persevered over a long enough period to improve themselves. Regardless of what level you are at if you are improving that is all that counts. It may seem slow at times but you are headed in the right direction. Nobody was born with experience.

28/07/2024

Thought for the day:
People often talk about reading a horse and how much gets missed.
It’s also amazing how often people read stuff that isn’t there. Mostly I encounter this combined with a lack of confidence.
Often its a search for some reason to not take a next step or to move forward.
Sometimes its a coverup to hide a lack of confidence.
Either way progression only comes with a realistic viewpoint.

21/07/2024

Thought for the day:
Many people talk about how frightened their horse is of certain things.
Most of a horses fears are caused by, or amplified by the rider.
They focus on controlling the horse rather than directing it in a moment of tension.
The horse may feel a little trepidation in a situation, or near something it is not yet used to.
Imagine you are afraid of snakes and you see one twenty yards away moving towards you.
You can move away a little or change course and although it might make your heart skip a beat its really no big deal.
Now imagine you go to move away or change course and you are suddenly caught by something that traps you.
Now imagine the thing that has you trapped tries to drag you toward the snake.
I know it’s humanising but sometimes it helps humans to understand.
Making him feel trapped by holding on with your legs and tightening the reins causes him to panic.
The safest thing you can do for your horse is keep him sensitive enough to be easily directed, don’t make him feel trapped, go with a shy don’t fight it and keep moving with as slight a detour as the situation allows.
Get some miles on your horse, don’t over face him or yourself.
If you lack confidence then set things up so you gain it a little at a time.
Work on yourself.
Admit your shortcomings instead of blaming your horse. Sometimes a little humble pie is necessary.
He doesn’t put him and you in situations, you do.
Learn to ride out of trouble and give your horse the direction he needs and don’t try and control him.
Your horse is just a horse dealing with things in a way that comes naturally to him.
Remember that nearly everything that people call bad behaviour, other than spoiled behaviours (that is another subject), is caused by what I have described above.
The nicest thing you can do for a ridden horse is learn to direct him rather than control him.
If you want to enjoy your ride without it being a traumatic experience then allow him to do the same.

16/07/2024

Thought for the day:
It’s not just about teaching a horse obedience or submission.
More often than not it’s about teaching the horse how to protect himself from discomfort or fear of discomfort.
Teaching a horse how to be soft, how to relax and how to move freely gives him the ability to follow a feel, rather than lean on it or try and avoid it. It’s a change that sticks. It’s like giving him the tools to stay connected and comfortable.
Of course riders need to know how to offer that in a way that allows him to consistently find comfort.

16/07/2024

Ok Victorians, in the second half of August we have a clinic at Winchelsea near Geelong and a clinic at Warragul on the Eastern side of Melbourne. Message for details.

30/06/2024

Tasmania - Ian is currently available for lessons & young horse training sessions, here at Forcett or travel to you by arrangement.

Please message for more information & bookings.

14/06/2024

Thought for the day:
Never punish a horse for being confused.
It causes them to panic every time they don’t understand what you are asking of them.

21/05/2024

Thought for the day:
Often a problem that a horse might have that appears to be fear related is in fact not caused by anything sinister.
Let me give you an example.
Many times when I see a head shy horse or a horse that is difficult to bridle or put a halter on it has a story attached of some perceived mistreatment in its past. Granted, in some cases this may be true but mostly it is not.
Most times its because the horse has learned that he is able to get a release by moving his head away.
If someone does not know how to overcome this then the horse will respond in this way because he has learned that this works for him.
The more times he gets a release from avoiding the attempt the better he is being trained to avoid it.
Its also the case that his response looks a lot like a fearful reaction.
Things that don’t work or help are:
Forcing him.
Blaming others.
Feeling sorry for yourself or the horse.
Continuing to try ways that keep failing.
Blaming the horse.
Punishment.
Not learning how to work with the horse.
Things that do work are:
Accepting the problem as your own regardless of the horses history.
Educating yourself in how to introduce equipment by degrees and remove it when the horse relaxes.
Learning to read the horse enough to not stimulate him to the point of a big reaction during this process.
Getting help if you need it.
Understanding that the problem wont go away on its own.
Not making excuses for yourself or the horse.
Learning horsemanship.

18/05/2024

Thought for the day.
Good horsemen can vary in what they do but they all have one thing in common, an ability to break things down into small steps to make it easy for the horse to understand.
It’s very easy to teach a horse something small and simple.
It is very easy to teach them lots of small simple things. A high level manoeuvre is taught by adding small simple things together and practicing until it all flows.
A good horseman can do this very quickly and make the small steps barely noticeable.
Basics are the small steps.
Continually going back to basics ensures your horse will remain confident in you and you in them.
This makes it simple to try new things together.

14/05/2024

Having finished the first half year of our 2024 travelling clinic schedule, Ian is going to be in Tasmania through to mid August for private lessons and clinics by arrangement. If you are interested in private work or getting a group together for a clinic day or weekend (either here at Forcett or travel to you by arrangement), please get in touch.

For other states we have now confirmed clinics as follows, and are now open for rider/participant registration via our website. We are working on a couple more venues to round out the year, so keep an eye on our page for updates.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

09/05/2024

Thought for the day:
There is very little that comes naturally to a horse that fits into the agenda that we will set.
A horses instincts are almost the exact opposite of what we would like them to be.
In its natural environment if a horse can see through something it can generally get through it yet we want to keep them inside wire fences.
If something grabs or traps its legs or head it is programmed to fight or pull away yet we want to lead them and pick up their feet.
They are hard wired to jump away from something they don’t like approaching them and to push into something they don’t like that has contact with their torso yet we want to catch them or have them move off our leg.
We want to box them up in small spaces and expect them not to panic.
We want them to be something that is almost the opposite of what they are hard wired to be.
Pretty much everything they need to know to be relaxed and safe in our world needs to be taught or set up so they teach themselves.
I think people often expect too much from a horse that has not had adequate preparation.

02/05/2024

Thought for the day:
We all have choices.
We can be a follower, or a leader, or just stay out of the way. (an old military saying)
Horses without a leader will choose the latter.
They want, by nature, to be a follower but only to someone who proves they are a leader.
This doesn’t mean a bully but someone who can adjust to suit their needs.
We may need to show comfort or be a little more assertive to find that balance.
Remember that their needs and wants are not necessarily the same things.
Remember that our needs and wants are not necessarily the same thing.
A leader will be able to determine which are needs and which are wants at any given moment.
After a time of consistency the needs and wants of the leader and the follower will become the same.
Both the leader and the follower will be comfortable with that.

18/04/2024

It was a pleasure to work halter training some great youngsters this week.

https://www.facebook.com/share/DxFro873gzWZzGeA/?mibextid=WC7FNe

15/04/2024

Attended a clinic with Ian & need a reminder? Planning on attending a clinic and would like some understanding of what Ian teaches? Want to learn more but can’t get to a clinic?

Ian has put together a great easy to follow series that goes through the fundamentals of using your seat, energy and balance to encourage softness and willingness in your horse.

07/04/2024

We shared this a few years ago, time for a reshare.

“Desensitising for the real world”
Liz Leighton (2018)

I’ve been talking with Ian over the past couple of days on this topic & this summarises some of our discussion.

Groundwork desensitisation has become very popular as a means to help create a safer horse. It makes sense to help your horse become more comfortable with things going on around them.

It has its place, but done poorly it also has its pitfalls.

Many people apply it in the following manner.

Apply the stimulus.
Horse reacts.
Wait for the horse to stop its feet.
Remove the stimulus.
Repeat.

This suits the handler who can control both the application & removal of the stimulus. The horse is conditioned to stop its feet & the stimulus goes away. The horse often isn’t relaxed or comfortable, but learns a conditioned response.

What happens in the real world when the stimulus doesn’t go away? It’s outside of the control of the rider/handler. The horse stops/props & the stimulus is still there there flapping, moving, or making noise. The overuse of this training can create a shut down horse who learns to tolerate increased pressure & stimulation with its feet stuck in one place, and this can become a default position. Throw in a rider lacking confidence who tightens on the horse & effectively “traps” the horse through tightening the reins & legs and the horse’s discomfort and worry intensifies.

Is this really creating a safer horse?

When you want to move onto training that requires the feet to move, you are then working against the very thing you have effectively trained into the horse.

The purpose of desensitisation should be to assist the horse to find a mindset of relaxation and comfort. It is important that the horse can go to this place of relaxation and mental comfort AND be moving its feet at the same time.

Learning a technique that allows application and removal of a stimulus whilst the horse is moving, and removing the stimulus when the horse relaxes whilst the feet are still moving is an invaluable tool. Incorporate this into your training as you progress, your horse will progressively become more comfortable with the introduction of new stimulus. Reward the relaxation, not the stopping.

In the real world we can’t always control the environment - we can only control ourselves and our reaction to it.

Remember, in a crisis you might need to calmly ride yourself out of trouble. That can be hard to do with a horse that sticks its feet under pressure.

Photo credit: Leonie Kable

03/04/2024

We still have room in our Ballarat Vic clinic 13th and 14th April. Message us for details.

01/04/2024

Thought for the day:
Don’t hold your horse still and force him to tolerate your actions.
Teach him to stand on his own and be relaxed about all that you do.

31/03/2024

Thought for the day:
Mostly when I read about horse training I read about how to get horses to respond to cues and commands.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a pressure and release person or a super cosmic positive reinforcement only type maybe there is a lot that you could be doing to improve the working relationship with your horse.
Here is another possibility to explore.
What if your horse just moves underneath you without too much conscious thought from either you or him?
What if you could get it together enough that you didn’t have to think about your horse any more than you think about your own legs when you are walking or running etc?
What if your horse’s balance, energy direction and purpose became the same as your balance and energy direction and purpose without any real instruction or commands?
What does it take to experience this?
It takes a lot of work on ourselves to make sure we are using our body and energy in a way that allows the horse to do the same.
It takes a lot of work on ourselves to make sure we are focused on where we are going and whatever we might want to do on the way.
It takes a lot of work on ourselves so we are not restricting our horse or letting our desire to control what might or might not happen get in the way of our horses ability to move and balance and enjoy the process.
It takes a lot of work on yourself to be consistent in your mannerisms and emotional state.
Control and obedience should not be your objective before your horse being ok about moving and relaxing at the same time.
Expecting your horse to stay focused when you’re not or stay relaxed when you are not or not be reactive when you are or stay balanced when you are not are all things that create what many call disobedience.
If your horse expects things to be unbalanced and difficult and uncomfortable when he tries to work it can take some convincing them that its not going to be like that anymore.
Nobody gets it perfect all the time but that shouldn’t stop us trying.
The largest efforts we make shouldn’t be on training our horse but on training ourselves.
Riding is not a bunch of tricks to be performed on command.
It’s about you and your horse getting it together.

10/03/2024

Some feedback from the podcast’s I did with Dr Shelley Appleton Calm Willing Confident Horses and Kathryn Christieson.
I really enjoyed the opportunity.

Canter Therapy Stories - Cat & Bella ❤️

There are a sea of voices, opinions, ideas, and echo chambers in the horse world. It is easy to get lost, distracted, and fall down a rabbit hole of red herrings and gurus with bad ideas.

Kathryn Christieson and I never stop learning, but we have lived, listened, experimented, and observed in the horse world and have clocked up enough experience to work out how to identify the good insights, the interesting ones, and the ones that get people lost.

We decided to do something to point out the good and interesting and decided to record our conversations and call it the Canter Therapy Podcast.

The Canter Therapy Podcast has become bigger than we ever imagined. Every day, we get feedback on how an idea or insight has helped someone. I got this incredible story from one of our listeners, and I asked permission to share it.

I want to introduce you to Cat Choodor and her mare Bella and their story. Cat lives in the UK, and this is how an interview with Ian Leighton Horsemanship transformed her relationship with Bella❤

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By Cat Chooder

I started riding lessons at about 5 years old with the local riding school pony club. That didn't last long, as sadly the riding school closed down. I rode whenever I could in the meantime, but very rarely. I picked it back up again when trying to get into vet school, volunteering at a dressage yard in exchange for riding the naughty lesson pony. Then, once I'd got into uni, I met a friend who was also into riding, and we started going for lessons and shared a few horses.

I graduated 4 years ago now and moved to the mountains of North Wales, where I bought a little house on 5 acres with my almost-husband. Within 3 weeks of moving in, my receptionist convinced me to buy Bella from her daughter. Bella is a 66% Arab X with a smidge of Welsh pony and riding pony. Probably not the best option as a first-time horse owner with no facilities.

Bella had had a difficult start in life; she was part of a huge neglect case locally. By the time the RSPCA found her, she'd been shut in a stable with her mother for 2 years! My receptionist picked her up from a local auction; the knackery man was waiting for her and her companion if they didn't sell. You couldn't touch her, so they spent months getting her back into condition and tamed and finally backed her a few weeks before I bought her. She was not happy moving from her cosy yard to my lonely paddock on the mountain; it took her a good 6 months to stop trying to go home.

I cracked on with riding her, we did some low-level endurance and fun rides. I have no facilities to speak of, and my 'round pen' is a 12'x12' square with a shale surface, so not really of any use at all. As we worked, I started to notice issues developing - catching, mounting, tying, loading, napping, hard mouth/ignoring aids, wouldn't pick up her feet for me, let alone the farrier, and she started biting. I guess I put it all down to her being a stubborn mare and needing me to be stronger and more authoritative as a leader. I knew my riding wasn't amazing, but it wasn't awful either, and we had some good times!

After about 2 years, I got pregnant, and my PGP meant I very quickly couldn't ride. I put Bella in foal on her last cycle of the season, and we both had a year off. I rode occasionally after I'd had my baby, but nothing strenuous as she was starting to get heavy with hers. Eventually, he arrived, 2 weeks early, she foaled out in the paddock by herself! Thankfully, no complications, and he is absolutely gorgeous. I'm totally in love. She was a great mum, and I am determined to do everything right by him, following the guidance from your podcasts and my intuition/experience having done a little work over COVID with my in-laws' youngsters. He is progressing really well and is currently off with my in-laws' herd, learning how to be a horse for a year or so.

So, I got back on Bella. We were both unfit, but the season is starting, and I want to get out and about. We start slow, lots of walk, lots of hills. But she's napping all over the place, throwing her head up, full fire-breathing dragon attitude, typical 'fresh' Arab, I thought. I figured I'd work through it, get her back up to fitness, and we'd be back to where we were. Well, 5 weeks ago, on a long hack after some heavy rain, I stupidly decided to try the canter track. We got halfway up, she wasn't listening to me, ended up galloping way too fast, she slipped, and I came off. We limped home, and I went for an X-ray the next day. Dislocated collarbone. I figured she was probably bruised too, although not lame at all, so we both rested for 3 weeks.

In the meantime, I finally got to episode 66 of your podcast with Ian Leighton, where you clarify a lot of terms. Lightbulb!! I had always thought that a lot of what I'd been taught didn't quite make sense to me, or seemed contradictory to what I thought should happen. Inspired, I started with Bella again. We have a 1km road triangle straight out of our house, so I figured that was a good place to start. Initially, I just played about with some things Ian and yourself had mentioned. Tried not to touch the bit at all, tried to stop with my seat, and if I needed to use the reins, lift, not pull. AND WOW. What a transformation. I used to need loads of leg to move her, shorten the reins all the time, couldn't keep her head down, she'd stamp all over the place at halt... AFTER 2 DAYS, I could leg yield by squeezing a butt cheek, stop her by fixating on a spot on the floor and just thinking 'I'm going to stop on that spot'. A week in, and we have just started getting back into trotting, any leg, and I would get ears back and bucking. Now I can just lift the reins and start posting. I don't mess about with the length of rein; it is the same length all the time. If she wants to hold it, she can; if not, that's ok too. She is resists me occasionally, she will resort to old habits, I think to see if I will too, but I am trying so hard to sit quietly back and lift, not pull. The only other thing I added in was a pre and post-ride stretch and massage to try and relax her a bit.

What has surprised me most is her change in attitude. She will stand tied happily without stamping around. She'll stand for mounting. She doesn't charge off with me. She stops for traffic without piaffing. I can pick up all her feet without her trying to kick me. She comes to the gate when she sees me, and the best little nugget....Yesterday, I went to catch her, and she trotted up to me, which was unusual. I put her headcollar on, and she pretty much pulled out of my hands and galloped back down to the bottom of the field and turned to stare at me. I went down to try and catch her again, and as I got there, she led me over to a sheep who had just freshly lambed, not even dropped her placenta yet, and I hadn't noticed, tucked right down at the bottom of the field. Then she happily let me catch her and carry on as normal.

The transformation and development of trust have been unbelievable, and I feel awful that she has obviously been unhappy with my riding for years.

My key lessons:

- Reins are to say 'hey, can you listen to what my body is asking you, please?' LIFT the reins just to catch their attention, never pull. Looks stupid when you first start as end up with hands by b***s to exaggerate the aid, but occasionally now I only need to lift by an inch, or close my fingers to change the angle of the bit, and that is the eventual goal!

- Washing-line reins are not something to be scared of. They mean the horse isn't taking the contact for some reason. Shortening the reins won't put them on the bit; it means they can't stretch through their back and into the contact and therefore can't work correctly and build those muscles.

- Your pelvis is your accelerator; tilt forwards to go, tilt back to slow down.

- Your belly button is your steering! Point it where you want to go, don't 'use' the reins at all, just keep your shoulders square to your ribcage.

- Before you use your leg, try using your butt cheek!

I'm sure I have many more lessons to learn, but these revelations have changed my riding and relationship with my pony completely. I feel like a magician when I can guide her nicely through spots where she usually naps, or she changes gait just as I think about it! Riding feels more intuitive and actually easier or simpler than it has ever been presented.

So, thank you again, to you and Cat and Ian. I am so excited to see how far we can go with this. I already feel like a Grand Prix rider, and it's only been 2 weeks!
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To listen to episode 66 with Ian Leighton click here:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cantertherapy/episodes/66-Good-Horsemanship-with-Ian-Leighton-Part-2-e263k0u