Sheriff Horsemanship

15/08/2024

Perfect spot for a little muley nap. 💜

14/08/2024

🚨 UPDATE: August 21 is FULLY BOOKED! If you are in Nathrop, Poncha Springs, or Salida looking for Canine or Equine Chiropractic Care, please reach out so we can schedule another day!

Dr. Callie will be heading to Salida on Wednesday, August 21st for Canine and Equine clients. Trips fees will be waived this day due to demand. There is still room for 2-3 more stops and multiple animals can be worked on at each place. This is a great time for clients in Nathrop, Poncha Springs, and Salida to add onto the schedule and avoid a trip fee. Wondering how chiropractic care could benefit your animal?

Reach out with questions or to schedule!

08/08/2024

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for.”

28/07/2024

He’s really just wondering why I haven’t fed him his breakfast hay yet 😂

18/07/2024

Keep an open mind, but follow every butterfly and squirrel that passes through and you’ll get whiplash

There are a lot of great resources out there to learn from. And what a gift to be in a time where we basically have no excuse to not be educated

But, now we have the same problem in horsemanship that we face in the cereal aisle: too many choices, all using key words like healthy, fortified, more convenient, and so on- how is one supposed to choose one?

Add to that FOMO, everyone piles on to the new toy if it’s shiny because you wouldn’t want to miss out.

But the main problem here is: nothing is going to work if you don’t lay the foundation of that particular style. Different styles have different basics which lead to a different outcome - and not many of them work well, at least in the beginning stages, if they are mixed and matched.

I know when I teach, I have a different idea of basics than other styles, and if you’re coming to me from a different school of thought, I’ll be undoing the basics you intentionally worked on at another clinic or class - so if that was the path that you wanted, you’re being pingponged backwards so to speak. You’re gonna hear hands down, but your last clinician said hands up - for example - because each is leading you to a different feel for a different style for a different outcome.

You need to know the general theory behind the working so you can pick a path that has an outcome you desire and stick to it. Sometimes people change so quickly because “it didn’t work,” when its failure was due to too many different and incoherent basics mooshed together without sticking for long enough for it to work.

It’s tempting to believe I wasted my time following other styles until realizing the best outcome was a feel I didn’t like - but at least I know why I don’t prefer it after getting to the best it had to offer, and can make an educated decision onto another path.

18/07/2024

Logical application of the aids -

Something I’m very grateful for is my teachers vigilant instruction on application of aids

Most people (including myself) have no idea how many aids they’re applying at any given time, and how many of those conflict with each other.

Often, what we believe we are doing and what is happening are two very separate realities. If we are trying to ask the horse to go forward, for example, we may think we’re simply applying a subtle drive aid- but the reality is, we’re often driving with a leg, blocking with the seat, pulling with the rein, and moving all around with our bodies in illogical, confusing and impossible to read manners. Our seat says go but don’t, we quit driving for a second before we get a reaction; then come in with 3 more aids.

It’s no wonder horses get “dull,” confused, frustrated or shut us out entirely.

My teacher encourages me to apply only one aid at a time, and make sure my entire body is congruent with it. If I want to drive forward, I need to be thinking forward in my mind, have my seat level but open in the hips, relaxed legs, reins allowing motion forward and upper body out of the way as well. Then, when the horse goes forward, I need to follow all of these steps with my body congruently.

That sounds easy enough, and everyone I know thinks they’re doing it - until you have someone with an eagle eye identify where your horses imbalance issues, frustration issues or lack of responsiveness comes from (generally us and our incongruent and illogical aids)

One aid, be congruent, apply it rhythmically, and dont start adding a million more when that first one doesn’t work.

Simple, but I’ve spent years learning to do it well. And I will continue to learn it for a lifetime.

18/07/2024

“The material out of which countries are made.”

14/07/2024

The three amigos courtesy of 💜

12/07/2024

Thanks Anna Sees Photography, LLC for the new profile photo!

06/07/2024

Full throttle summer of the mules!

📸:

05/07/2024

Another weekend, another horsey adventure with Callie Garlick! Riding in the Independence Day parade is one of my favorite summer activities. This year I brought along my new pony mule, Pepsi! Parades, rivers, ride-through coffee, and trotting around town is the best. Keep the west cowboy. 💜

02/07/2024

Nothing beats a weekend spent camping, riding, wrangling, and laughing with Callie Garlick and critters! So fun riding with TS MULES - Ty & Skye Evans Mulemanship Clinics every summer! (Red would like everyone to know he was only afraid of the cows on day 1. He found some bravery on day 2 😂)

01/07/2024

What a great time punching cows with TS MULES - Ty & Skye Evans Mulemanship Clinics last weekend! 10th anniversary clinic was a blast!

19/06/2024

So fun writing for Western Life Today! It’s always a pleasure learning from experts like my friends over at:

TS MULES - Ty & Skye Evans Mulemanship Clinics
The Disciplined Ride
The Colorful Cowgirl
T3 Weavers

Pick up a copy of the summer ‘24 issue and read all about mecates!

16/06/2024

Sunset schooling sessions with Sophie getting ready for TS MULES - Ty & Skye Evans Mulemanship Clinics next week!

13/06/2024

Because there is nothing more beautiful and inspiring than the horse.

08/06/2024

“They shaped a West that was and will never be again.”

10/05/2024

“The purpose of learning is far nobler than preparing future workers. It’s about kids discovering their potential and their purpose, becoming more fully themselves.”

03/05/2024

Child of the desert.

29/04/2024

Blowing dust and drifting snow. Springtime in the Rockies.

28/04/2024

“We rode the Glory Trail my friend, that leads right straight to God.”

24/04/2024

Investing in critters on a mountain springtime evening. Can’t get enough of it 😍

17/04/2024

Just thinking about summer adventures in the high country.

12/04/2024

Sunset guest.

09/04/2024

Still thinking about that time I found my Young Rider article out in the wild at Road to the Horse! So fun interviewing Two & Four Chiropractic for this article on equine chiropractic care! 😄

03/04/2024

“People say that when they are learning a new language and they start to dream in that language, then they know they’re really getting it…it’s the same thing with horsemanship. Once you get it, you start to see everything in terms of yields and lines of influence. It changes the whole way you look at situations with horses.”

📸:
Feat.

31/03/2024

Happy Easter! May you find peace and joy today in our Savior!

29/03/2024

“Shepherd is convinced it will be a wonderful day.” 💜

Living with my horses at my house has introduced a whole new set of cues. Now the back door opening often is followed by a chorus of nickers because an open door often means feeding time. The scrape of the wooden tack room door means work may follow. A trailer rattling into the driveway means a new friend, farrier, or vet visit. Horses crave routine and comfort, and the predictable cues throughout their day can bring them a bit of peace and predictability.

At the break of dawn, Pan will come galloping up the stairs, faster than the speed of light. He’ll turn right at the top of the landing, take the length of the attic bedroom in two bounds and sail onto the bed, landing light as a feather.

He is saying “Good morning!” like he really means it.

Of course, the reason Pan is not upstairs in the bedroom to begin with, is that he knows we'd make him sleep on the mat on the floor. I have my suspicions he is spending his nights surfing on our couch, instead.

Pan has done his daily wake-up call, since he was old enough to scale the bed. I remember that this heinous act used to horrify the old dog, Glen. Pan's flying leaps were so cute, such sweet surprises, that we did not discourage his naughty behaviour. Farm dogs, especially those fresh from the corrals, are not supposed to sail onto the furniture. Pan was exuberant and in the somewhat timid dog, it seemed a real leap of bravado. A real victory.

And the grown dog? Not quite so cute but there we are. We’ve created an endearing monster. We’ve also unwittingly taught him to howl, constantly interrupting our conversations, because it was adorable in the wee pup.

“Woo-oo! Woo-oo!” he still howls, in a falsetto to greet the morn.

Pan is certain that this will be a wonderful day. I have tried to follow his lead, for it is only my human tendency towards pessimism that prevents me from openly showing such joy. In the dark. Before daylight. Certainly, before coffee.

At first, I worried that the dog would begin pushing his morning greeting ahead, in anticipation. But no. He waits until 6:00 am on the dot. What a brilliant mind! I’d first thought, until finally realizing that he was waiting for the cue of the automatic coffee maker.

We can train our horses in the same way, often without meaning to.

This ability of Equus to read the room, so to speak, is both a blessing and a curse to their people. This is where the subtlety comes in to our riding, this is where the bystander begins to wonder if the horse is doing everything on the rider’s thought. Often, that cue to canter is preceded by a slight change in posture and breathing in the rider. Away rocks the horse into third gear, at the exact time the rider gives the actual aid.

This is where the riding becomes beautiful. I have never considered this sort of ‘anticipation’ in my horses to be a bad thing, considering it more a confidence in their knowing how to do their job.

It becomes more problematic when the horse reads the subtle cues, like a microphone clicking on when the announcer of the show class prepares to call for a change of gait. Boom! The clever show ring performer is snatching at his reins, coiling for the take off, becoming chargey in anticipation… or else, falling gracelessly to a walk right in front of the judge, while the rest of the class is still cantering around, as though on a carousel.

And... there goes your big win.

The same problem happens when one practices her dressage test over and over, in an effort to nail down the blasted thing. You struggle with remembering what to do at ‘F’ but your horse knows exactly what is going to happen, somewhere between ‘M’ and ‘B’.

Reining horses can have the same need for a ‘schooling’ session at the next show—where we forfeit any chance of a placing in order to make our point in the listening—for there are only a small number of recognized patterns. Horses have incredible memories. Soon, they begin to know when there’s a rundown and stop, or a large fast circle coming up.

Training, whether horses or dogs, isn’t easy because whether or not we are thinking about doing it, we are always training. Every single time we are with them, our horses are reading our bodies, subtle cues, intentions and habitual behaviours.

We are either making them better at their jobs, or a little bit worse, each and every moment we share space.

In a pattern-seeking Border Collie, one wants to be careful. Too late now, perhaps. Like so many people who are very particular with how they handle and school their horses, Mike’s and my dogs are like big babies, lolling about on the couch and begging potato chips. Or, leaping with gusto, onto the lovely old quilt upon the bed. I’m not proud of our brand of dog training, but there it is. You're here for the horses.

By now, I’ve learned there are far worse ways to start my day, than to begin with Pan’s morning woo.

Here's a memory of a day with the main men in my life, recalling an exuberant Pan leading the way for Mike, twenty-eight-year-old Cody and Glen.

28/03/2024

It’s hard to hurt a horse at a walk. Luckily, we have plenty of space for long walks in the West!

They W-I-L-L N-O-T D-O I-T.

Will not do what? Use active walks for strength training as an. add-on to their regular training schedules. Eventers, show jumpers, dressage riders, whoever could gain benefit from having stronger equine athletes.

What are you talking about?

Well, this---In 1974 Jack LeGoff had a shallow bench of advanced 3-day horses to send to the World Championshipd to be held in September at Burghley. He had six riders and six horses, zero extras if one got hurt. He wanted to maximize their fitness, because cross country day, back then, would be over 17 miles long, and would require one hour and twenty minutes of trotting and galloping.

So he used vigorous long walks three days a week in addition to the normal schools. So say we did 45 minutes of flat work in the morning, which, with warmup and cool down might take an hour, give or take. Then, in the afternoon, say Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, he would have us saddle up again after lunch, and go hike around the open hills at Wylie. About one to one and a half hours, as I remember, each walk day.

Walks do not stress horses much. They are highly unlikely to cause injury. They build base strength and create muscular development. They are a win-win.

But virtually NOBODY does this, Most human sports teams now employ strength coaches because when technique starts to fail, raw strength can create that winning edge. Why would human horse trainers not want stronger horses?

But does ANYONE grasp this in 2024? Or, if they do, do they make the effort to actually do it?

There’s a hidden gorilla in the room, actually more of a train than a gorilla, It is called the Excuse Train. Nobody wants to admit being lazy, so they dig up reasons to deflect.

“I don’t have time.” That’s a big one.
“I don’t have a place to do it.”
I don’t have enough help.”

But the real reason is usually more basic, six words. “I don’t want to do it.”

Everyone wants an edge. Strength is an edge. There’s a reasonably safe and straightforward method to add strength, Take Jack’s advice or deny it----.

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