Bentley day 2
It’s a long video, apologies, but there’s lots of good stuff in there for those who are trying to apply similar stuff at home! Bentley was a lot more relaxed today, he was clearly worried about what was going to happen to him yesterday but realised after the session there was nothing to worry about at all … we had a fun session today, I hope you enjoy his video ☺️
Flynt and his final week
Back with Flynt this morning and he was back on his game again today. I go into a bit of detail about his last few days in the video … it was nice to see him trying again today! It’s important we listen to our horses, most will tell you when something isn’t right, we need to be careful we don’t make excuses and asses them from day to day … but if something doesn’t seem right, then trust your gut! … anyway, Flynt was back on his A game today and once again gave me some really nice work!
Introducing Bentley
Today was a bit of a feeling out day for both myself and Bentley. Bentley is a 7yo registered, splashed white Paint Horse who is completely deaf. I’m hoping with some consistent work, a lot of desensitisation and building trust I will be able to help him find more relaxation and self regulation in himself and in turn build trust so he looks to me when his worried, instead of leaving. To achieve this, I’ll put Bentley in uncomfortable situations and guide him through to the other side. This will also be an interesting challenge for me as I use my voice in training a lot, and that has now become void! 😂 time to work on my body cues more!!! So please follow our journey, today is day 1 of what I hope will be a very cool journey for both of us!
Starting back on the Canter
Another day another Flynt video! And we had 3 days of good solid work from the lad! His trot is now becoming much more solid so today we revisited his canter and we got some lovely work from him, I’m so impressed with the work he has given up these last 3 days … I hope you can all see the improvement also! Have a great weekend everyone!
We’ve missed a few days of videos due to “user error “ but I’m happy to report Flynt is making really positive progress, partly due to his body work! … today he gave some really good focused work after we ironed out a few wrinkles!
Starting to bring things together
Yesterday Flynts mum came out for a visit so we didn’t get any footage, but today it was back to business as usual! Today I started asking more of Flynt, insisting he maintain a head set whilst stay light on my hands, making Flynt responsible for his decision and rewarding him by being still and quiet when he gets it right. This is usually when horses start to object and evade and Flynt was no different… it’s important at this point to see things through and not put up the white flag! It was a large session so I’ve cut it down to try keep the important stuff in. Flynt has a couple of days to decompress again now, and we finished in a really nice place. Next week is going to be hard but it’s where Flynt is really going to start coming together ☺️
Time to return to the bridle
Today we re introduced Flynt to the bridle, I have a quick chat about my choice of bits for Flynt and then we get down to work! The bulk of today’s session was focusing on softness and steering using the Flower Power pattern. Those of you following along feel free to ask questions and I’ll try answer as best I can, I love engaging with my audience so please, drop a comment below 👇 ☺️
Introduction to spurs
Today we start with a short chat about spurs, why we use them, what type to use, who should and shouldn’t use them and how to introduce spurs to your horse. The session then progresses into the saddle where Flynt then demonstrates how well spurs work to back my leg up and help him create an arc without him falling in on the circle. We had a super forward trot today, and I was able to throw the stick away part of the way through the session.
Day 6
Flynt day 6; he had a 2 day break so we spent a little longer on his ground work today just to make sure it is all locked in and his brain wasn’t still in holiday mode. I have not included the ground work part in the video as it’s all just same old same old!
I’m starting to ask harder questions now under saddle so I’m seeing Flynt is lacking a little in the “try” department… I find this not unusual for geldings … so we look for something decent before we finish a session… as Flynt builds fitness and strength he will have longer “staying power” but for now he tires quickly and then becomes a bit of a slug 🐌 😂 … to build him, I need to push him … and that makes for hard work for both of us! … he’s still displaying a good quiet nature even when I’m putting a lot of pressure on him, so that is a positive ☺️
Day 6!
Today we saddled Flint up at the tie up and it was a non event, so I’m hopeful I have helped him through his saddling struggles. We then move into the arena and continue on with softening on the circle, stepping up to a canter on the circle. We then move onto clover leaf ☘️ pattern… Flints picking everything up really well, he’s proving to be very obliging and seems quite content in his work. He will now have a couple of days to decompress and rest before we introduce spurs next week.
Day 4 prt 1
We had a largish session today so I’ve cut it up into several posts, prt 1 here is the continuation of Flints ground work, I’ve cut this down a fair bit purely because there is a lot of repetition … however, I have left in circle driving, backing and C pattern which were all new exercises to Flints today.. if you’ve been following me for a while, you would have seen these before, feel free to skip ahead to Prt 2 below, which is Flints first ride with me ☺️
Day 4 prt 2
This is the riding part of today’s session. We start out pretty messy and ugly, but keep watching as we progress and Flint figures out what I’m asking of him things start to come together. The main challenge today was keeping Flint forward, tomorrow I will carry a small training stick so I can back my leg up and encourage him forward, it will also allow me to ride a bit tidier 😉 (it’s hard to keep bumping with your legs for forward, bump on face, back your leg up with the tail of the reins and not look like a sack of potatoes! 😝)… I was really happy with Flints quick transformation, finding his form to function relatively quickly… notice how much lighter he is when a) he’s forward and b) has the correct overall shape (form.) for those interested in the bosal I’m using there is a quick video below you should check out!
Starting/breaking horses with a strong focus on building a solid foundation to support a successful future under saddle.
