Rein with Grace Horsemanship

11/22/2024

This is one of favorite exercises here at the barn.

“As the horse coordinates his limbs to abduct and straddle the pole, he releases tension from his bottom muscle chain. He also activates the deep hip stabilizing muscles, which play a cybernetic role communicating to the brain about a limb’s position and tonicity.

1. Place a single pole on flat ground. Ideally, the pole should be 10 to 12 feet in length.
2. Lead your horse to approach the pole straight from one end.
3. Pause briefly for a second or two to ensure your horse is listening well and not rushing.
4. Now very gently, one tiny step at a time, lead him forward with the pole under his midline.
5. Stop when he is fully straddling the pole and give him a pause to settle in that position.
6. Now ask him to take one step backwards, continuing to straddle the pole. Then bring him one step forward again.
7. Continue this motion of stepping him backwards and forwards while straddling the pole.”

By Jec Aristotle Ballou from her article “Building Stronger Horses: Stability Before Strength” www.horsejournals.com/riding-training/english/dressage/building-stronger-horses

This exercise is much more challenging than it looks and sounds, so I will often just start with the front legs only and have the horse stand relaxed with no back and forward walking when introducing this exercise for the first few times.

JAG Khasanova “Khody” practicing the straddle the pole exercise. 💪 Photo by Jessica Ann Designs

11/04/2024

08/13/2024

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Mounting.

Mounting is something not many riders tend to think about, other than the side in which they mount. However, mounting alone can be the cause of many issues with the back, and can even twist the saddle tree.

The photo is the rib of a horse who was consistently mounted from the ground.

Even when mounting from a block or elevated surface, if you constantly pull on the pommel or are too low that you're having to push off the stirrup, you risk causing injury to your horse that is so easily avoided.

06/20/2024

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To replace a good horse!
The best horses are built over years of hauling, hard work, tough times, good times, bad times, big spooks, little spooks, their mistakes, our mistakes and continual love and care.

No, your breaker can not turn your young prospect into your old faithful in 30, 60, 90, or even 365 days. It takes years.

I’m plagued with the problem of trying to impress on people how long it truly takes to build that dream partner. There’s not a smooth paved path. Your green horse will embarrass you, frustrate you, and maybe even hurt you. For some of you, buying a $20,000-$30,000 horse is going to be worth it and SAVE you money. Even that more finished horse will take a year or more to sync up with.

Cheap rate for horse training is $1,000 a month.
1 year of training: $12,000
2 years of training: $24,000

Many of you won’t believe this but your dream horse is on the other side of two years of training. In reality, it’s likely around two years of training and two years of seasoning (hauling them to town). Will that horse still make mistakes? Yes, they all make mistakes until the day they die. But that horses mistakes probably won’t put you in serious danger and that horse will probably pack your grandkids around.

If you’re trying to decide between a $3,500 prospect or a $15,000 proven horse. My advice is to do an internal inventory and figure out what you want. Buying that prospect is like the first roll on the Jumanji board. You’re entered up, get ready for a journey of ups and downs (possibly quite literally!) If you’re buying that finished horse decide what you really want, get ready for a lot of shopping and painfully overpriced sh💩tters. Take a friend or a trainer on this journey with you and try to double your budget (that’s right, 30k). Be smart and buy something OVER 8 years old. Don’t buy that pretty 5 year old they only want 20k for. He isn’t old enough to be proven for you. Lots of horse traders are trying to flip horses, anything under 8 is likely twice as green as he looks in the video. Maturity, both mental and physical will be key when looking for a safe horse.

If you want a project and a challenge I’m not hating, that’s what I want in a horse too, so I buy young ones. If you need a safe one, bring lots of money and quit thinking you need a 6 year old. You probably don’t have what it takes to mentally support that 6 year old through new situations.

The biggest reason I bring this up is because as folks retire their old faithful they are so far removed from when that horse was green and did dumb stuff. They forgot how tough those two years were back when he was 4-6. They only remember the amazing horse he was when he matured. The 3 year old they just bought is YEARS from filling that horses shoes when it comes to training level and safety level. I see people hate on trainers because the trainer couldn’t make their young horse, “finished” in 90 days. It’s honestly the biggest reason I like taking colts for 30 or 60 days. The expectation is shockingly lower than when I take one for 90 days. It’s weird what people expect from a 90 day start. Most people should commit to sending their young horse out for a full year. Two years would be even better.

Green horses do green horse things, don’t blame others for the challenge you bought yourself. Accept the challenge or pay the price for one further along. No matter which path you choose with horses, it’s going to cost you.

(I didn’t write this one I’m not sure who did, however every word of it rings true)

Edit, author Craig Moore

03/28/2023

Please note that all behaviour needs to be taken in the context/ environment in which the horse finds themselves when you see these behaviours. Note that ourselves and OUR behaviour is also part of the horse’s environment. All behaviour needs to be considered in context ie. what happened prior, during and after and what is the horse's history regarding training, health status/injury and experiences with humans, other horses and various environments, etc.

If your horse is snoozing under a tree and yawns, most likely the horse is not experiencing fear. (Although they could potentially be experiencing discomfort or pain.)

If you've just done or are doing some groundwork, round pen work, ridden work, gone for a hack, or dentistry, bodywork, worming or vaccinations, or even just tying up and brushing your horse, you MAY see these signs and more. The more of these behaviours you see, the more likely that you are seeing a response to fear, stress pain, discomfort or frustration or a combination.

Change our behaviour, the environment, lower our expectations and review our training plans to avoid seeing these behaviours in a training or handling context.

All behaviour has function, it has a purpose for the horse, even if we don’t know what it is or understand it, horses behave in certain ways for a reason. They are masters of subtle communication and we need to learn to read those subtle signs and the big signs as well, not brush them off.

Also consider that if fear as been ruled out, that these behaviours may be caused by the horse's internal environment such as pain or injury, ie. always rule out pain as a cause for certain behaviours FIRST.

Photo credit: Pet Professional Guild Australia
Illustrations: Alize V. Muckensturm of Fairhorsemanship: Humane, science-based horse training

03/26/2023

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03/21/2023

Talked about this last week in a lesson. Love these visuals!

LET YOUR BUTT DO THE TALKING !
"Lass deinen "Popo" sprechen"!
The riders' seat should move in sync with the horse. The pelvis is in contact with the saddle and It must be flexible to tilt in all directions. At the lope my pelvis not only tilting forward and backward but also in a rotation movement in time with the three beat.

03/16/2023

so much truth!!! The horse can only be what he is. A Horse. We have conditioned them to let us put a bunch of equipment on them and sit on their backs pulling and pushing and making noise. If they don't respond the way we intend, WE (the human) must make the adjustment. Not blame the horse for misunderstanding a foreign language.

03/13/2023

Be aware, take safety precautions and enjoy the journey!