Ally Hawes Horsemanship

10/05/2024

10/05/2024

Your horse is an intuitive animal. They are paying attention to everything you’re doing.

With the Parelli Program, you’ll learn how to show up for your horse in a way that feeds success.

10/05/2024

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.

11/03/2024

Last one. Ended super well.

11/03/2024

Treat after ride. Such a good boy

11/03/2024

And more.

11/03/2024

More from bitless. We did some serpentine, backing up, lateral flexion and standing still. He did so well.

11/03/2024

Successful 1st try bitless riding off property. Tango was awesome.

12/01/2024

First trail of 2024 on Tango. So parts were good but others not so good. Gotta work on him not turning around when he wants. He also ended up with a loose shoe, so I ended up walking with him. So some things didn't go to plan, but this can happen. Not all rides go to plan, which is ok, cause there are good ones and bad ones. The bad ones turn into lessons, and the good ones are also lessons.

30/11/2023

Tango and Dusty hanging out with me in the shade. A great way to bind with your horse is doing just this. Sitting down.with them and spending time with them. Being with your horse doesn't always involve working them, and doesn't always mean riding them. One thing that helps with any issues in the saddle is groundwork. You can never do too much groundwork. I swear by it.

20/11/2023

Sorry I have been a bit MIA. I have been concentrating on working with Tango and learning from him with certain things, like where he likes to try and turn around on the trail, and correcting him when he does. When he does the right thing, which is going forward straight, he gets rewarded with me just being there incase he needs my guidance. Yesterday was the best so far. He only tried to turn around once, but it wasn't a massive issue because he just turned his neck instead of turning into the bush. When I bumped his mouth with my rein gently he instantly understood that I wanted him to go straight and keep going. While this is just one day of this, I will be working on it still till he goes straight without me prompting him.

18/10/2023

Poor boy colicked yesterday. Still not out of the woods. Need healing vibes please. Love him to bits

18/08/2023

Was a blustery day today, so I just brushed their legs down after the rain we've had. This helps prevent any infections occurring. I also groomed Tammy and Tango.

10/08/2023

Just to be clear that the horses i am using for this page are ones I get access to due to leasing one of them. I am learning from them and their owner. I am not training them.

24/07/2023

Haha he wanted my apple. Cheeky boy didn't want a bar of the hay and would rather eat my apple....I ate all but the apple core which he got in the end.

24/07/2023

"Work with the horse you have today". One of my favourite horse quotes and a great guide to horsing. Yesterday was very windy, there were spooky things everywhere, and Tango was telling me this from the get go. I didn't listen to him, and instead continued to do groundwork then attempted to ride him....I say attempted because he was on high alert the whole time, so it was a bit of a disaster. By no means do I blame him for this. It was my decision to ride, not his, and he was saying when we were doing groundwork that Yesterday wasn't the day to ride. I did listen to him in the end, and got off, and went back to doing groundwork with him.
Like us, horses have their good days, and their bad days. Yesterday was our bad day...one of few that we have...and a lesson to me from him to listen to the horse more.
Today, was much better as the following videos and pics will show you. He was alot happier, it was too wet, so we didn't end up going out with me riding him, so I did groundwork with him and we had fun. A much better horse day.

15/07/2023

More getting Tango moving his feet well. Getting the feet moving is important in establishing leadership. Here Tango is saying, "ok Ally, I will move my feet for you and out of your space". Really happy with it.

15/07/2023

Another great session with Tango today. Scarlett videod. Still working on the same concepts as yesterday.

14/07/2023

Short 5 min video of my session with Tango. The importance of groundwork in training.

Some people like to think they can just catch their horse then get on their horse then they wonder why they encounter issues when riding. Buddy sour, barn sour, gate sour, rearing, bucking, bolting etc are all issues we can come across with our horses. I believe these can be combated if not prevented if we all did more groundwork and established a connection on the ground with our horses. It has helped me so much with my training of Tango. While he still has a way to go, he is headed on the right track.
Groundwork exercises that involve getting the horse's feet moving help to establish you as the leader and thus that the horse can trust you. Getting the horse to back up, move forward, move their hips and shoulders and lunge around you are all ways of achieving this. Today with Tango showed parts that he struggled with, particularly because I had a week off, but he got it in the end. Sometimes you just have to take the time it takes, and sometimes, there may not be time to ride after, but that's ok. Training horses and working with them doesn't always involve riding. There are days with Tango when I just do groundwork and hang out with him, and they are just as enjoyable as the days when I do both.

04/07/2023

Tango has come a long way in his ridden work. From wanting to turn around and go back to the stables, he is happy to go out with me. He also doesn't take long to get up to a trot then straight into a canter. I usually do these going uphill to help build his top line. I can also just hop straight on instead of having to do groundwork with him. I was never able to do this before, but he has come such a long way that I can. In saying that, I do still like to keep doing ground work with him.

26/06/2023

I have posted alot of short videos of Tango's ridden work lately, so here's some clips from today's groundwork session. Behind the scenes I have been doing a lot of work on his groundwork. I have had to made changes to how I work in the middle of the round yard to help him, but at the same time, not having him moving my feet. After all, the idea of working with horses is for them to be the ones moving their feet on our cues, and for us to be the ones not moving as much if at all. He has improved heaps. Here is part one. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a DM.

11/06/2023

Part 2 and Tango's trick. Backing with me at his shoulder. It didn't take long to teach him this.

11/06/2023

Part 1 impromptu groundwork session with Tango. He had come such a long way with this, but sometimes still needs help when it comes to changing direction. His ground manners are a lot better as well. He comes when I call him, happily gets haltered, is easy to tack up, happy to hang out and has even learnt a new trick which is in the next video.

17/04/2023

Tammy was such a good girl yesterday in our training session. We dealt with 2 cars without much of a fuss, and had a nice forward walk out with a couple of trots coming back.

17/04/2023

This handsome boy was so good in our session on Friday. First ride back after he was recovering from an abscess, and he looked after me. Just gotta get his fitness up.

03/04/2023

Part 3. He was good so we ended it there.

03/04/2023

Part 2 from yesterday. Much better lunging with a few hiccups, but we soon got back on track.

03/04/2023

Part 1 for yesterday's sessions shows a much better response from Tango to my cues. Communication was better, and he respected me more.