Last week, we had a session with this young filly which was focussed on picking up her feet safely and responding to pressure correctly. She previously had only minimal handling with her feet/hind quarters and was unresponsive when asked to pick them up, it was becoming a problem for the owners which could potentially grow into a dangerous habit.
As we only had one hour to work with her, we focussed on the main aspects of responding to pressure in a positive way. First we started with introducing the rope without any pressure to her over her hind-quarters and hocks from a stand still before then adding movement (movement is crucial!). As you can see over time, she got to the point where we could add pressure with correct timing to allow her to make the connection to respond by picking up her feet.
She still got a ways to go, and isn't perfect yet, but has a better understanding of yielding to pressure confidently.
*This education is crucial for both our safety and our farriers but also the horse too if done correctly. Should a horse get stuck in a fence etc, the knowledge of yielding to pressure is invaluable.
Often rope work has a bad reputation & if done incorrectly can have bad consequences.
Practicing the basics with this sweet rising 2 year old. Establishing control of their feet & reinforcing spacial respect through groundwork techniques. Leading, stopping and backing up from a respectful distance to help understand both the pressure of the halter and responding to our indirect feel ๐ดโ๏ธ
Mondayitis ๐ค ๐ด
Good to get back into work this morning, looking forward to putting some work into this gelding this week. Awesome to see him figuring things out!
Very cool opportunity to take this mare for a little ride around the English countryside. Nice to get a bit of a horse fix whilst away! ๐ค
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: Reflecting on our last run, we had a number of people attending the Horsemanship Clinics with young and/or unstarted horses. Often these horses struggle with the intensity of a more advanced clinic so we would love to create a clinic designed specifically to set them up for success. If you would like more information or are interested in hosting, flick us a message!
Nice little farm ride for Valhallas first ride out of the round pen ๐ด๐ค
This is a young quarter horse I started a few years back and have been working with on and off. Recently we have been playing around with water obstacles ๐ด๐
A first ride on this young warmblood mare - She was in for some early education before she gets started later on down the track.
Thereโs plenty of preparation and light work you can do with a horse before starting to make the process easier. ๐ด
Really cool spending the last few weeks up in Kerikeri starting horses for Wild Horse Project
This is the one of the sport horses first rides! ๐ค
#thewildhorseproject #firstride #warmblood #sporthorse
Reintroducing the float to this thoroughbred after a traumatic accident some time ago. This sessions main focus was to gain and rebuild confidence around the float. ๐ด
~ Horsemanship lessons ~
The focus for this lesson was to develop a stronger communication between the horse and owner using groundwork techniques.
Groundwork is a conversation between you and your horse which translates to ridden work. Its important to be on the same page and be able to address issues on the ground from a safe place before riding. ๐ค
First saddling for this little mare. Despite her initial reaction to buck, Iโm pleased with the way we could encourage her to be more accepting and finish the session in a relaxed state of mind.
Had a cool opportunity today to put some first rides on a couple of horses for a friend ๐ค
Ponying this youngster from this off the track thoroughbred. This is a good foundation skill that can benefit both horses.
Helping a friend bring this Gypsy Cob back into work after some time off! Both did great work!
Working on the stop and back up with this young Quarter Horse who was recently in for starting.
Working on the stop and back up with this young Quarter Horse who was recently in for starting.
Working on some rope work with this off track thoroughbred! ๐ด๐ค
