SJF Equine Bodytalk

06/07/2025

Horses Dealing with People Problems

“We let our horses push us around too much,” Buck Brannaman tells us. He’s in a round pen, working with a woman’s bay c**t that keeps trying to push into Buck’s space. “I would never let my horse get this bad.”
The c**t’s owner, who’s standing just outside the round pen fence, calls out to Buck, “He has tantrums!”
“No he doesn’t,” Buck replies. “He doesn’t know what’s to be expected of him. Nobody ever said to this horse, ‘Hey! Get off of me!’ I’m dealing with people problems here, not horse problems.”
Finally, the c**t moves easily along with Buck and his horse. Buck hops off his horse and goes to the c**t.
“No hard feelings,” he softly tells the young horse, petting him on the forehead. “It’s just the way it works.”

The excerpt is from a clinic report written by Kathleen McFarren. The full article can be found here - httpnnaman-whid-clearly
Image of Buck is by Ron Volmershausen and was taken at a C**t Starting clinic that was held in Wingen, Australia 1995.

12/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1A5XJvzjSs/?mibextid=wwXIfr

28/09/2024

Nuno Oliveira told us: ‘If the horse is happy, everything will be all right; if he is constrained everything will go wrong. And in case that it is necessary to use force, then one enters a domain that does not fit the equestrian art, neither for that matter, in the circle in which civilised people dwell’.
“I urge my readers to apply the aids to help the horse, not to put him in a mould.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/10/the-aids-and-the-horse-a-classical-approach/

21/11/2023

▶️ Watch this reel https://www.facebook.com/share/r/GxvVeEbMDmbVV5bS/?mibextid=UalRPS

17/09/2022

The galloping housewife had a trainer that could train a camel to piaffe. Honestly, he was a genius. He was renowned for this skill and would travel the country visiting the top stables passing on his ability.

He found it easy. For him it was the most natural thing in the world. He couldn’t understand why everyone else found it so difficult.

Yet teaching the flying changes wasn’t so simple. For sure, he could do it, but it required more work, more effort, more intention.

He thought the flying changes were more difficult to teach than piaffe.

He was both right and wrong.

For him, they were. For others, the reverse was true.

The key to life is figuring out what is your piaffe. What is the thing that you can do with ease that other people find tricky?

Can you look at a scene and visualise the perfect photograph?
Do you give young, novice, or nervous riders confidence?
Can you keep indoor plants thriving?
Can you look at a young horse in a field and identify its potential?
Do numbers organise themselves in front of your eyes?
Can you plan a yard’s trip to a week-long show without breaking a sweat?

Often our unique skill is hidden, or at least overlooked. We think it too trivial or unimportant or niche. We assume that just because it’s as effortless as breathing for us, that it is the same for everyone else.

Find your piaffe. Double down on it. Recognise its value. Hone and utilise the skill. Offer it to other people. You can make it part of your business if you wish, or you can give it away for free. Just recognise it as part of your unique skillset and part of what you alone can offer to the world.

As for your flying change, you can keep working on that thing. You can keep making your ability to do it better. Or you can look for someone whose piaffe is the flying change and have them help you or do it for you. Just know that because the thing is more difficult for you than it is for the other person, does not reduce your worth or your value.

Everyone has their piaffe. Everyone has their flying changes.

28/04/2022

It’s all in the eyes 👀 🙌✨

13/04/2022