Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Lessons at Stone Chapel Farm & Arena

Last Thursday Mule talked about being 'definite' with your requests of your horse, definite with your cues, keeping in mind we cue with our voice, hands, seat, weight, etc. If you are asking to lope a circle, know in your mind how wide a circle, at what speed you want your horse to lope, how many times you plan to circle, etc. Don't just go out there with vague inclinations and see what happens and what kind of circle you get and at what speed. Mule's point was, "You can't expect to refine if you don't define". I loved this.

He also talked about where your gaze falls while you are working your horse. I've heard many times to 'look where you plan to go and your horse will follow' but he made the illustration of how you might be kind of looking at the ground (yes, in the direction you plan to go but...) only a few feet away from where you are cantering, or trotting, and then you wonder why your horse only canters a few steps and then breaks his gait to slow or even trot, then you have to ask again for the canter. He compared it to someone getting in the car and stepping on the gas and going a mile and then stopping to say "now where?" Going another a mile and then stopping to say "now where?" I found it to be a great illustration.

Another point he made was when you are looking at the ground that you will cock your head, simply by the power of physics. It may even only be slight. But as a result, you will raise your shoulder, as a result, one side of your seat will be heavier than the other, as a result, you are putting pressure on one side of your horse giving him a new signal, as a result, you are off balance and not square in your saddle and your leg pressure becomes off, as a result you start standing in at least one stirrup. In the end, your horse is not doing what you set out to do, he is doing what your body is asking but what he is doing is far from what you intended to cue, and you can't figure out why your horse won't listen, but what you have done is to absolutely cue your horse to do exactly what he is doing. Either that, or you have begun to teach your horse that your cues mean nothing because they mean everything and they never mean the same thing.

That last sentence I put in from my own observations. It's cool beans.

~ Laurie

Weekly lessons are held at Stone Chapel Farm & Arena
Thursday @ 7pm
Lessons are $50.00 per night
Visit http://www.doublediamondt.com/ for details, check the schedule page!