Hope Horsemanship

22/01/2025

It’s a crispy morning here in the mountains! When the wild one takes a blanket you know it’s cold!

17/01/2025

It’s good to find a moment… this month has been a bit brutal!

15/01/2025

I love the new inquiries coming in! Let me know if you want to be on the list!

My next Roving Clinic is set for March 21-22, 2025! In these unique clinics, we have a ball getting together at a few different spots over two days, helping folks with their horses in the southerwestern region of Virginia--Clifton Forge, Bath County, Highland County, and that area. Here is a photo of Marsha Lunsford and her gelding Maui at the Dare To Dream Therapeutic Horsemanship Center near Monterey, Virginia (www.daretodreamva.com), a frequent stop on the clinic trail and a beautiful place way up on a mountaintop.

If you are interested in riding or auditing, or just want to know more, please contact host Jaime Blees: [email protected]. You might even get to meet my new puppy Tess if she gets to go this time! Woohoo!

14/01/2025

I love my horse, but does my horse love me? Do horses love anywhere near the way humans think of love? Does it matter? Can we be friends? What DO I want from my horse and what can I give her? What is best for her needs as a creature in my care?...

I love my horse, but does my horse love me? Do horses love anywhere near the way humans think of love? Does it matter? Can we be friends? What DO I want from my horse and what can I give her? What …

13/01/2025

Hello readers- I’m working on a blog today that will publish ‘soon’, but in case you haven’t seen our video about plans for the 2025 season I’m sharing that here! Plans for 2025 Stay tuned!

Hello readers- I’m working on a blog today that will publish ‘soon’, but in case you haven’t seen our video about plans for the 2025 season I’m sharing that here! Plans for 2025 Stay tuned!…

12/01/2025

Frisky moment during our snow walk today… a race ensued then a conversation between the mares that momentarily didn’t include me at all… after I reinserted myself sanity regained! This is what happens when they temporarily lose their minds!?!🤦🏻‍♀️

07/01/2025

Baby it’s cold outside… but we’ve got Vermont on the mind…

07/01/2025

Plans… what are yours?
Regardless if they are small or big… may they be epic!

Jaime & Khaleesi share their plans and goals for 2025Hopehorsemanship.com

31/12/2024

We’re saying goodby to 2024… the year of celebration and joy… and looking toward 2025… I’m hearing… EPIC!
How about you??

Jaime & K send New Year greetings from the trail!Wishing you a great start to a new year!

24/12/2024

Christmas Eve turned out to be a great day for a hike! Getting ready for 2025!

16/12/2024

Great point Ross…

THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN PERFORMANCE

Is it possible for a horse to put in maximum physical effort and still be emotionally comfortable and relaxed?

This is a question that is often asked in various horse forums. People are often critical of the tension carried by high-performance horses across all disciplines.

But think about it. Can an Olympic runner run their fastest time while being maximally chilled and relaxed?

From my experience, I have never seen a horse or a human perform at a high level while still being very relaxed. It may be possible, but I don’t think I have witnessed it. Look at how athletes, from high jumpers to high divers, deal with tension before an event. They don’t try to eliminate their tension but instead, try to control it.

As a horse trainer committed to horsemanship, I focus on the emotional comfort of a horse. Performance is a secondary consideration to me. It’s not that performance is unimportant. It’s just that performance is not the most important aspect of my approach to training. I am more excited by a horse offering a nice trot with close to zero anxiety than by a horse presenting high-level movement but with a lot of tension. The trainer who can teach a horse to perform a relaxed trot is the trainer I want to talk to more than the trainer who taught a horse to perform a canter to the rear while the horse barely holds it together.

But that’s just me. You may have different priorities and that’s okay.

I used to think that performance can only benefit from a horse being relaxed. But I don’t think this is strictly true anymore. Some degree of tension is needed to prepare the horse for the physical effort that will be required.

I now believe that as we work towards training movements that require greater physical effort we will create greater mental and emotional tension. It is the emotional tension that drives the physical effort. I think they probably go hand-in-hand. However, “tension” does not necessarily mean “trouble” (I’ll leave that discussion for another time).

A horse that is very relaxed and chilled won’t run its fastest times around a set of barrels. Without some tension, a cutting horse won’t be super quick to keep up with a super quick cow. A 3-day event horse won’t give its best times around a course if it is feeling laid back. A levade would look pretty ordinary from a horse that carries almost no emotional and mental tension.

So, when it comes to performance that requires a lot of physical effort, I have come to the view that it also requires a degree of mental and emotional tension.

But here is the kicker.

While I accept that high-performance movements require varying degrees of emotional and mental tension in a horse, movements that don’t require a lot of physical effort should not.

Let’s consider a couple of examples.

I had a client several years ago who competed in dressage at the Prix St George level. Yet, her horse carried a lot of anxiety regarding trailer loading and travel. It was getting worse and interfering with being able to travel to events. Finally, she succumbed and sent the horse to me for help.

In another example, there is a video floating around on the net of the dressage master, Nuno Oliveira. I understand the reason for the tension the horse carried for some of the work it was asked to perform when Nuno rode it. However, the horse also carried a lot of anxiety just to be mounted. Nuno required a groom to hold the horse and prevent it from walking away when he mounted. Why is this considered to be okay? How many times had this horse been mounted in its life, yet could not stand quietly relaxed? The tension the horse exhibited when performing lateral movements was the same tension it displayed when doing something as basic as being mounted or led.

I definitely could not do a good job of riding a Prix St George test or train a piaffe like Nuno Oliveira. But I sure could teach a horse to feel okay about loading into a trailer and I sure could have helped Nuno’s horse feel okay to stand quietly and with minimum anxiety while being mounted.

We often too easily dismiss the tension in a horse with excuses that it is highly trained to perform at an advanced level. I can accept that it is emotionally challenging to perform at a high level. But why then don’t we put in as much effort to help our horses relax when performing everyday tasks as we might do for the difficult training jobs?

Most horses should not exhibit any more elevation of emotional tension when standing to be mounted (assuming they are sound) than they do standing under a tree on a sunny day. When performing canter lead changes or jumping 1m fences, it may require a little more emotional tension to make the physical effort required for those movements. When performing a canter pirouette or jumping 2m fences even more emotional tension may be required. And when asked to canter to the rear, a lot of emotional tension may be required.

Nevertheless, the tension a horse feels when asked to chase a fast-moving cow should not exist when it is asked to stand still to be mounted or to perform a trot on a circle with a loose rein.

Photo: This is a first time experience with a saddle and I am trying to lower the emotional tension the horse feels about the experience.

13/12/2024

Duncan knob… 3829 feet.

13/12/2024

To the ridge…

13/12/2024

Second time trying out the new trailer with the wild one. The slant load is smaller feeling than the straight load I had for depth but having her all the way on in the first two minutes is not too shabby.

When she figures out she can turn around I’ll start working on closing the door.

10/12/2024

I’m sure the decent days will be fewer and far between-er for a while but I found a short window today to try out the ‘new’ adventure box.

We usually take much of winter off after a busy ride season but this year is abnormal… we took most of 2024 off to do things like host an international clinic and expo, deal with Lymes (not so fun!! But I’m well now) and get married (way fun!). Now that all those things are in the books it’s time to start getting out again and planning our 2025 calendar.

Today was a lovely jaunt along the Jackson River before work!

03/12/2024

Love trails?? Help us keep them open!

Giving Tuesday is here!

AHTA has set an ambitious goal to improve over 100 miles of trail in 2025. If you believe in the importance of trails in our community, please help spread the word, and thank you for considering a donation.

Donate:
https://givebutter.com/XzVeHM

Message us here to volunteer:
www.ahtrailsalliance.org

The Alleghany Highlands Trails Alliance maintains multi-use trails across the greater Alleghany Highlands region, supporting recreation for mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, and hunters. Our efforts aim to promote health and wellness within our communities and generate economic benefits for local businesses and municipalities through ecotourism.