Newsletter # 32 January 2012

4th January, 2012

Speed;A Quick Note, and Happy New Year!

 

Newsletter # 32 January 2012

 

"Until those feet move where you need them, the horse is going to be where he is." Tom Dorrance

 

Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year….full with Good Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

 

What's Up;

Colt Starting Clinic. Murchison. 5 days. 14th to 18th January.

This is a Breaking In and Advancing the Young Horse Clinic. Covers; Starting and Restarting, Advancing the Young horse, Horsemanship. $100 per day. Colt Start Participants are invited to bring riding horse for other sessions, Limited spaces, Auditors welcome $30 per day. I have a 3yr old available for restarting.  Contact Bob for further details 021709775 or 035239750 or email ridewithbob@gmail.com

 

Speed; A Quick Note. A competitive person recently informed me that Quality Horsemanship is impossible to implement when speed is introduced, and now the red haze has cleared I'm still struggling to see why. I have all too often seen things fall apart when speed gets involved but feel this is more a reflection on the individual who hasn't taken the time to prepare the horse than anything else. Excuses and blame are sometimes easier. Dedication and integrity more difficult. I suspect that when speed becomes an issue it's probably more about winning or losing; and when ego takes over anything goes. Having a calm, willing, forward, and straight horse is going to help immensely in any competition and lift the likelihood of a winning performance. I suspect that the reality is that people are unwilling to put the time into preparation, working slow and steady to teach the horse to cope as speed is introduced. Not so exciting but often satisfying. It means making sure the horse really understands the task; in mind, body, and spirit, and the neat part is when the horse gets it we have to do much less, there are fewer mistakes and the whole is much more reliable. Winning can be as simple as doing some basic task better this time than last time. How could it be that winning, or losing, is so important we'd risk ruining a horse? And what's so important about winning anyway?

 

I'm not a fan of New Year Resolutions but it is interesting how this time of the year often has an element of assessment and reflection on what's gone by; so here it is.

Ray Hunt liked to say "horses are thinking every second, humans maybe once or twice a month" ……."THINK" was his chosen reminder for us. Tom Dorrance reminds us to "Wait" and "Observe, Remember, and Compare" and "Get out of the horses way". To me these quotes are reminders of the basics that I need in place to further my work with horses. The more I wander, wonder, and explore I realize the importance of building my ability to see clearly what is happening, and most of all in trusting the horse.

I like to look for response with respect from the horse; and that's what the horse probably expects of me, and even if he doesn't, it's what I'd like to offer. Learning to be in the present with the horse helps; that place where time goes slow and we're feeling every heartbeat. The horse is always there but we aren't, lunch is pending, the bills need paying, and wasn't I meant to do something else today!

Developing the qualities that will allow us to truly see and feel the horse will take a lifetime and we may never make it but I'm sure the attempt is a reward in itself. As much as anything it's us that will see change in small satisfying ways, we'll get on better with our horses and have a far greater understanding of how and why they do what they do so well.

As I get better at asking questions, to understand, for help or a hand, I always get more than I bargained for, often rattling off down an unexpected road into a gold mine, or occasionally a morass I wish I hadn't entered. Maybe I'm just listening better so hear at last what's been offered. A great part of it is that somebody else has been here before showing the way, well the way that worked for them anyway, and will possibly work for others. There's a huge amount of information out there, knowledge gathered and shared, and most places we wish to go have been explored before, and are often well documented.

I've been starting over, exploring the places I've been as I "discovered" quality horsemanship, I've been re-reading some of "my" influential writers and watching some old video; it's been a sobering experience, realizing that I often missed, misunderstood, or interpreted poorly what they were saying and showing, and sometimes they missed parts out that I can now fill in from my experience. Some parts I found for myself and some I still don't get, but I'm sure I will one day; when I'm ready.

I consider myself blessed for the help and mentoring I've had along the way, from horse and human, often unexpected and even unknowingly. Sometimes it didn't appear helpful at the time, often taking me a while to hear or see. I've made mistakes; some of which hurt but it's always been interesting. Long may the journey continue.

So Thank You for your help, for being involved, for inspiration, for encouragement and for sharing the horse.

 

Happy Trails, Bob

 

 

 

More News...

Ride With Bob © 2006-2012 E&OE - Powered by SiteManager