MacDonald Performance Training

11/26/2024

We are planning our monthly clinic for the 14th and 15th of December. We will cover both rein work and work cattle. It will be at Saddle Peak Arena and start at 9 and end around 4 each day. Lunch is provided. $200/day or $400 for the weekend. Call, text or PM if you'd like to attend. Thank you all for your continued interest in these!

10/29/2024

We are planning a clinic for the 9th and 10th of November. We will do some rein work and work cattle. We limit the number of people and will provide lunch. It will be at Saddle Peak Arena and start at 9, and end around 4. Call, text or PM if you'd like to attend.

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10/26/2023

Getting control of the hindquarters is the key to almost every advanced maneuver. The misconceptions surrounding hindquarter control abound. I think part of the reason that this is difficult for us humans is because we focus on what we see and feel with our hands. We also get thinking about things down the road. I think the primal predatory part of ourselves is thinking about capturing and eating our next prey. Horses on the other hand, stand knee deep in their next meal and are looking behind themselves for danger, tied into the present moment so that they are aware of lions, tigers and humans attempting to capture them. The result of all this is that we think in front and in the future, horses think behind and in the present. Thinking like we do lets us strategize and develop a horse for a future task, but it also causes us to ignore what’s happening now in the hindquarters. Keeping our focus on the hind and riding “from behind the saddle”, will keep our attention in the right place. It should be assumed our attention will drift to the front and the future and will have to be captured and put back to work paying attention to what’s happening right underneath us. So, where do we begin with getting control of the hind?

In the end, we will teach ourselves to ride the hindquarters every second we are riding, but first we need to begin somewhere effective. Many of us have some experience with one horse guru or another that focuses on the basic exercise of yielding or “disengaging” the hindquarters. That’s fine as far as it goes but gives people the impression that getting the hindquarters to move sideways is some sort of panacea that will fix all problems. No. In fact, done wrong, which is how most do it, it only teaches the horse to balance on the front and overflex the neck. Which will take a lot of fixing down the road. The real key is in having confident, immediate, flat, long, straight forward steps with the hind feet. This will give us the ability to send the hindquarters underneath the body engaging the hind, lifting the front, and give us lightness and maneuverability. We begin this on the ground teaching the horse to drive ahead perfectly straight. The “RFD” maneuver of circle, yield the hind, yield the front is really about arranging the hind and front so that the horse is neither braced in, nor out and can drive ahead dead straight. The moments in this exercise to focus on is how perfectly aligned and free flowing the horse is on the circle, not the hind and front. You get the hind by paying attention to the straight. Once on their back, the primary “exercise” is teaching the horse to get aligned and walk straight and free. On a green horse, I start by just teaching them to walk out. I want their attention on the hind, if they don’t respond to my legs, tap them on the butt with a rein end. Generally, colts will veer off, so I redirect them straight and walk again. Often I pick a point to ride to, and reward them at that point. Soon, they will go straight and then I focus on a developing a long striding walk. Keep in mind, this is only the beginning. In the end, it’s all about the hind and what you can get it to do. Ask any question you look and I’ll try to answer it or I’ll come back later with another step. Have a great day and for those here, stay warm.

10/04/2023

A century ago, a famous international rider commented, "Americans are obsessed with having their horses’ heads low". True Dat. I'm not sure that we really want the head low as much as we come from people who came here to escape oppression, and we don't like to feel forced or constrained as a people and we don't like to see it in our animals or children. The problem is: having a low headed horse doesn't give the horse freedom. Think of all the misery horses must endure in order to look like they are free and relaxed. To make matters confusing, some horsemen do a phenomenal job getting horses to perform low headed. Not only does it look good, it IS good. The horse is happy, balanced, free etc. In fact, it stands out as excellent. Then the problems start. Everybody copies the look without understanding the “how”.
Before I get into my story, I feel it needs to be said that when it comes to where a horse carries its head, things like conformation and attitude play a huge role in head carriage. Some horses can be low, some must be high. Both will look their best when their headset fits their structure and mind. So, on with the story.
Years ago, I had days of time to kill in Reno and not much to do, so I’d sit in the stands and watch the show, watch people schooling etc. This particular day I was watching how horses performed based on headset. One well-known rider came in with his horse’s head low, relaxed, etc. I thought, “Ok, this is going to be a good run”. The horse stayed in frame and looked great while it scotched its crappy stops, hung its leads and spun like its feet were made of lead. So much for style. I saw on the schedule that Todd Bergen was up soon. King of the low headed style and probably my all time favorite rider, so I waited to see him go. When he came in, his horse was buttery soft, looked happy and had his characteristic arched look. BUT THE HEAD WAS UP. I couldn’t believe it. It looked round but when I really looked, it was because its hindquarters were tucked and the shoulders up. The head looked low but was definitely above level. Over the years I have played with the head set every way you can imagine and have so many thoughts on the role it plays that there is no way that it can be summarized neatly except maybe by one thing. Headset, lightness, softness, carriage, frame etc. do not come from the head. They come from the hindquarters and if you get the hindquarters right, the head will place itself where it needs to be, soft, comfortable and responsive. I hope you get some use out of mulling over this hard won conclusion. Next time I’ll pass on some ideas about “how” to get those hindquarters closer to right.

09/25/2023

Texas is a nice four year old gelding we have in for sale. He's bred to run and is entered into the Pink Buckle, Royal Crown, Future Fortunes, Cowboy State, Barrel Breeders Incentive, Breeders Challenge, 5-State, as well as others (see his papers in the comments). He's well started and ready to go to work without hassle. We've started patterning him, he seems to really enjoy it and is excelling quickly. He has plenty of speed and rates back easily and quietly. He would also make someone a good ranch or rope horse since he has a quiet mind, handles new situations well, and had a good stop. We've used him to work green colts and he picked up the real work happily and took all the chaos like it was all just a big game. Good horse.

He's priced at 10K and we think that's a bargain.

Come check him out. Text or call Tye with questions (406) 581-8695

12/18/2022

✨ SOLD ✨

Introducing DM Rems Lil Gunner, “Remy”, one of the nicest horses I have ridden. Remy did not get ridden or trained extensively as a youngster, which means her joints, legs, and mind had time to mature and she should stay sound later into her years. She is naturally light and sensitive while still being sensible. Remy handles speed and cattle with a relaxed and calm attitude, and when she has been ridden out of the arena, she is happy to just cruise along. She does not act obnoxious when fresh and loads, hauls, shoes, and stands for baths with no problems. Remy has taken training very well and I believe she could be taken to a very advanced, competitive level.

Now, a few words about the video… We are at the time of year when we are stuck in the indoor with a round pen in the corner… So making the video flow cohesively was a trick. Remy has also been improving and learning so quickly that by the time we got around to editing video we had taken, she had already out performed what we had so we would shoot video again! I don’t believe pictures or video does this horse justice. Remy is a really nice horse and one that we’d love to keep around if possible.
Call Tye (581-9895) with questions or if you want to schedule a time to come see her! Which might be a little hard this week just due to the weather…