BlackHorse Horsemanship

04/07/2024

Floyd and Elvis stopping at the pub for a drink and a bag of crisps 🤠🐎🤩🤩

03/07/2024

02/07/2024

Elvis had his first trip round the village support was provided by captain sensible aka Roly 🤩 both boys were great 🤠

01/07/2024

Pushing with the leg into a closed hand is a cheap cop out for good back to front riding - it doesn’t take much education or self discipline to push and hold, and the results are heavy, tense, and not conducive to suppleness. It creates a brick without the ability to breathe deeply or feel the seat of the rider, let alone enjoy the aids of the rider.

Good back to front riding, in essence, is about educating the hind leg. It’s about teaching the horse to flex the joints downward, so the front legs can flex upward. It’s about creating swinging, suppleness, stability, and a swinging, moving back.

To get this, the rider commits to becoming stable and supple themsleves. They commit to the discipline of learning to use aids subtly with good timing, and to never use an aid outside of their own center: the emphasis is on the seat, and so the hand is never a solution to a stability problem. The rider gains over time the discipline to check themsleves first: to not make knee jerk corrections to the horse when it’s likely the rider has lost center, feel, rhythm, or swing. It is a commitment to responsibility to be what you want the horse to be- to provide a balanced opening forward, not to chase, prod, beg, or threaten the horse into balance (which is an oxymoron and an impossibility)

This way of riding creates a very confident horse who is calm but energetic. One who can breathe deeply, feel unafraid of the aids but understands they are actually their friend , one who has very comfortable gaits to ride because of their suppleness. It creates long term soundness and best of all, it creates a deep and lasting friendship between horse and person.

The reason so much poor quality back to front riding can be seen is because it’s easy and requires no real
Self discipline from the rider - the focus is all about making the horse take a shape and go forward. It’s cheap and easy enough to learn quickly.

The reason so little high quality back to front riding can be seen is because of the arduous commitment to better positioning and mind frame development - to be flexible mentally while maintaining commitment.

It could take me two lifetimes to get it. I’m not great at it now, but I am committed to learning and grateful for the guidance toward the most beautiful way of being with a horse I’ve discovered. Some days it feels incredible, other days too difficult to manage. Some days I miss feeling like I know what I’m doing. But overall I adore the art, and the self development required.

If it were easy everyone would be doing it -

01/07/2024

"The horse is a mirror to your soul. And sometimes you might not like what you see in the mirror." – Horse trainer Buck Brannaman

29/06/2024

Irritation- it’s trying to tell us something

Every human being who’s been around horses long enough has at some point become irritated with them. Some people make a lifestyle out of it- smacking, yelling, hurling insults and descriptions about the horse as if he stayed up at night plotting his way to make people miserable.

Some people have outbursts. Some people have moments. Some people when put into hot water find the irritation bubble up.

I think it becomes hard to admit to when we feel judgement about the emotion. So let’s just get it out of the way now that it’s part of being human, and dissect what it’s trying to tell us.

It can point to stress, being overwhelmed and out of the moment. It can point to fear or loss of control-
Many people become outwardly angry when they are in fact afraid. It can mean it’s time to re evaluate, take a breath, slow down, get some help.
Maybe we’re looking at the situation all wrong.
Maybe the horse has bumped up against a limit of our knowledge and we feel small and scared.

There’s no shame in any of these things, until we blow them off for pride. But recognizing irritation is essential for growth- when are you irritated, and what does it mean? Then, plug in the missing ingredient and move on. All is well.

26/06/2024

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” - Eckhart Tolle

Photo Credit: Ewa Imielska-Hebda

26/06/2024

“There’s a huge amount of suffering that is generated not by the actual challenges of life but by the fictitious problems that the mind creates.” – Eckhart Tolle

23/06/2024

"Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment non-judgmental awareness."
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Art Credit: Marcy Criner

23/06/2024

❤️

“When a horse lacks balance, he’s going to be short on confidence” - Bill Dorrance

Bill Dorrance & Beaut, by William Mathews

22/06/2024

20/06/2024

Happy summer solstice ❤️

19/06/2024

❤️

“Collect yourself. Gather yourself. Center yourself.”
― Adrienne Posey

Photo Credit: Elise Genest

19/06/2024

"Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves..."
— Cheryl Strayed

Art Credit: Gosia Wroblewska

17/06/2024

First full time 24hr turn out for Monty, happy pony 😍

17/06/2024

15/06/2024

“Horsemanship is much more than a technique” - David Stuart

14/06/2024

A good teacher will support you, but not always validate you.

It’s in our nature to subconsciously seek comfort. When we are met with the discomfort of changing our habits and taking responsibility for our learning, our minds often subconsciously sabotage us from growing.

Sometimes this can take a sneakier presentation, where a student might meet constructive criticism with self deprication. A lot of times this is a subconscious on the students part to end the discomfort and be comforted with validating praise.

True learning is going to be uncomfortable at times. It will challenge your perception of who you are and what you know about yourself. It may bring up some ugly stuff. The important thing is to accept that it is hard for everyone, and messy and beautiful all at the same time.

Just because you want to learn doesn’t mean your brain won’t fight to stay comfortable - Discipline of mind and body is the only way to truly accomplish a connection with a horse, and if this is what you want, the road is winding and long. Stay awake to your own habits, stay alert to the subliminal sabotage of familiar mental and physical habits.

And find a good teacher- the ones that truly believe in you will support you to the end of the earth, but they will not validate you in your poor habits.

12/06/2024

“Fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thinking that there is something to be avoided manifests something to avoid.”
- Vironika Tugaleva

Art: Yuliya Dubrovina

12/06/2024

"Make sure that every time you take a hold of the horse, you have a point; you have a legitimate reason for doing it rather than it just being accidental or you not being aware" - Buck Brannaman

11/06/2024

11/06/2024

Little Elvis is doing really well with our initial rides, got some good forward today and following a feel really positive. Steady away now with layering up and gaining confidence. 🤠❤️🐎

11/06/2024

“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose”
- Eckhart Tolle

Art: Solara Wing

10/06/2024

10/06/2024

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