Pancho's Tack Room

11/13/2024

There is an old Austrian saying: "Defects in disposition are harder to fix than defects in conformation." Horsemen through the ages understood that it all starts with "the willingness to accept training," a horse's willingness to "allow themselves to be trained." How do we get one in the mood?

11/12/2024

The last virtual session for 2024 and it is going to be a GREAT one! The Neck with Martin Black and Frank Barnett.

The importance of neck position and how it effects EVERYTHING we ask the horse to do.

$25 pre-registration and you own it!
https://martinblack.net/shop/november-12-2024-frank-barnett-and-martin-black

10/28/2024

Join Martin Black and Frank Barnett on Tuesday night 6 PM Mountain Time for a look at "The Neck"
The height and balance
Bending
Flexions
Outline
And the Problems we all run into

https://martinblack.net/shop/november-12-2024-frank-barnett-and-martin-black

10/27/2024

10/17/2024

I use forward to reverse to forward quite a bit. I start at the walk then add trot and canter when I can. When the horse is in “neutral gear”, if I let him “drop his backbone in the dirt” then I’ve got work to do before I ask again

09/22/2024

I bought this pony at the Pony Finals Sale in Lexington to make a Pony Hunter but she was so kind and willing I made a little High School Pony instead. Never jumped the first fence.

09/16/2024

With a young horse resistance can start with the first sore muscle, likewise, with an older “hard boiled sinner” progress can start with the first sore muscle.

09/08/2024

The biomechanical experts inform us that the interconnection of the two muscles of movement of the upper neck make the movement of the forehand depend on the position of the neck. So a straight necked horse, one with a high arc, one that ties in deep, horses with upside down necks and so on don’t necessarily all function best with the same height of the neck. So another logical reminder “Don’t exceed nature’s limits”

08/28/2024

It’s tough to balance or rebalance a horse without a change in position or by any one thing because it winds up lasting too long and the horse will start pushing back. Just like it’s hard to balance yourself standing on one leg being perfectly still or by using only one part of your body.

08/01/2024

Our first canter strides should be our best. So “fix” your walk or trot first or you’ll wind up “chasing” into the canter over a shoulder instead of “jumping” into the canter from behind
This doesn’t apply to the really green horse that, initially, needs to “roll over” their shoulder to find the canter

07/28/2024

Since the reactions can appear the same, try and understand "Can Not and Will Not" and all the different shades of each.

07/07/2024

I school lots of horses around a post. Some from the ground and some from the saddle. Methods I learned from Harold Farren using his post pen concept. It's far from a new idea. "Work around a single pillar brings out the balance, gentleness, lightness, resources and vigor in a horse and gives those everlasting qualities to those horses not already endowed with them by nature." LE MANEIGE ROYAL A. Pluvinel 1623
So we see work around a "single pillar" is nothing new. But, as far as I know, Harold was the first to surround the post with a square.

06/23/2024

A wonderful book of quotes written by a deeply committed student of the horse. Jim Hicks is well versed in several disciplines and you will find the quotes in this book applicable to whatever you choose to swing a leg over. The accompanying photography makes this a very thought provoking read. Available through The Eclectic Horseman

06/09/2024

Story of a life with horses by one of the most educated horsemen I know. If you’re a young person considering a career with horses you need to read this book. If you’ve been around a while you’ll recognize the hard work and dedication it took. Plus there’s some sections on technique and balance that all disciplines can use. Trafalgar Publishing or Amazon

05/19/2024

Fitted with a snaffle, the area of a horse's mouth, the lower jaw, where the mouthpiece lays, consists of two long bones with some skin over them and the tongue. This is not the area of contraction that makes us say the horse has a bad or a hard mouth. But it is the area, that causes the horse to react out of fear or sensitivity causing the muscles of the masseteric area, the muscles that attach the head to the neck, the hyoid apparatus, the TMJ and so on to yield or resist. When we are talking about loosening/relaxing a horses lower jaw we are talking about musculature and, like the rest of the skeletal frame, we have to loosen that musculature to direct it. There can be a lot of emotion in those muscles.