Mark Rashid Clinic ~ Jake the Paint and the Gate

 

Jake’s owner Mary thought that Jake was fearful of being near fences and gates, maybe because he was afraid of them being electric. She had been having problems with getting him to side pass over to a gate so she could open and close the gate from the saddle.  

 

Horse Trainer and Rider Educator, Mark Rashid didn’t see fear coming from Jake, but rather confusion. Jake didn’t know what was expected of him and what his owner wanted him to perform. So it was time to show him.

 

Before attempting the gate, Mark Rashid had Mary and Jake practice side-passing and backing up slowly and straight, using the fence to line him up.  

 

After a handful of practicing, Mark encouraged Mary and Jake to begin working on opening, entering, and closing the gate. Like an intricate dance, Mark Rashid showed us all how smoothly the communication between rider and horse must be to work together completing the task. He made it look effortless!

In the beginning Mary and Jake really struggled trying to figure out how to communicate and understand one another. Amazingly, Mark Rashid treated each try as if it was their first, and was always calm and patient.

 

Mary and Jake still struggled with keeping Jake straight and in line with the fence when trying to back up and close the gate. They practiced doing side passing and that seemed to help. But what really made a huge difference was the way that Mark Rashid instructed them to break down the task into individual steps and to continue doing those steps slowly and one after the other, in order.

And Jake gave their efforts everything he had. Everyone could see him thinking and figuring out what Mary wanted from him. He was willing and wanting to do whatever Mary asked. Several times, when Mary was struggling trying to keep the gate open, Jake would use his head and shoulders to help her push open the gate or hold it open for her. He was patient and such a gentleman.  

 

After at least 10-15 attempts, Mark recognized something different in Jake’s behavior. I think we could all see it, too. Jake seemed to be more confident and more aware…and very eager. Mark Rashid told Mary not to instruct or show Jake what to do on their next try through the gate, basically let him do what he'd learned while Mary became only a passenger. And she did. And we all gasped as we watched Jake perform the entire gate task sequence from start to finish, on his own....perfectly! Mary had a huge grin on her face and was quick to praise and rub on her handsome Jake, while the rest of us cheered!     

 

Mark was proud of his students, both equine and human, but he reminded Mary not to stop practicing and gave her some more tips and ideas on what to work on at home. I think some of the things that most impressed me with Mark is how he is always calm, patient, and encouraging, and how he spends a lot of time with each rider and horse individually, never rushing anyone. I also appreciate his lack of showmanship and flash. I find that sort of thing can be so distracting when trying to learn techniques during a clinic. I’m looking forward to attending some more of his clinics in the future and hopefully participating with my mare Apache, too.    

I encourage anyone who wants to communicate better with their horse and improve their riding skills to read Mark Rashid’s books and try to attend one of his clinics if you’re able to. You’ll be glad you did.

Blogger Meet-Up and Mark Rashid Horsemanship Clinic

 

This past weekend was very busy, but lots of fun!

On Friday several fellow bloggers met up in Albuquerque to enjoy New Mexican food and Margaritas, and lots of laughter.

From left to right: Don and Justina from New Mexico’s Morning Bray Farm, Winter’s niece, Valerie from New Mexico’s Fantastyk Voyage, Winter (Breathe) from Texas’ Horse Centric, and me(in the middle).

Winter drove in to New Mexico, all the way from Texas, to participate, with her horse Smokey, in a three day horsemanship clinic in Santa Fe taught by the skilled Aikido second degree black belt student, talented singer, writer and horse trainer Mark Rashid.

(Mark Rashid and Winter (Breathe))

I won’t bother going into too many details about Mark Rashid and his clinics because there are others, like Kate of A Year with Horses Blog who has attended a few of his clinics, too and has some excellent first hand experiences within 16 special posts (find them listed on the side of her blog, under Mark Rashid Clinics 2009-2010).

(Winter (Breathe) and Val (Fantastyk Voyager))

You can also check into my friends’ Dan and Betty's Blog, as they were there all three days and took lots of notes.

(From left to right: Me, Dan, Betty and Val. Dan and Betty live in New Mexico and own an Icelandic gelding and a Rocky Mountain Gaited mare. Val, my neighbor friend, owns three Arabians and an Appy/Arab/Paint gelding.)

And of course, please check out Winter’s (Breathe’s) blog Horse Centric. She just got home yesterday and posted about her experience with one word: Transformative. She also promises to write more once she’s able to gather her thoughts and experiences into more words.

(Winter and I trying to get warm….BBrrrrr! It was so cold and windy! Yeah, I know I look like a Cowgirl Aunt Jemima. lol!)

What I must say about Mark Rashid is he is one of the best horse trainers and and rider educators I’ve ever seen or read about. He’s one of the old school cowboys, a lot like the late Ray Hunt. I was most impressed with Mark’s calm, quiet, always patient, and encouraging demeanor and his ability to read a horse and a rider just by spending a few minutes with them. I found him to be charming and helpful and always willing to share personal stories and clever humor to draw us in while teaching in a ‘thinking sort of way’.

(Me and Mark Rashid)

One of the things he is able to do while riding, impressed many of us auditors and students alike. Mark encouraged us all to connect with the horse on a deeper mental level, without using any physical aids, except our mind and energy. He showed us that it’s possible to stop or move your horse forward without using any leg, hand, voice or rein aids…just your mind and ‘inner mechanism’. It was amazing to observe Mark teaching one of his students how to accomplish this connection and actually see it working between the rider and her horse. 

I also appreciated Mark’s reluctance to pressure anyone to use or buy any products or training tools, even though he has written at least 7 books, and uses a particular bit called a Rockin' S Snaffle. He didn’t advertise or endorse anything nor did he have a sales table or employees to sell anything. Even when asked about the music he’s produced and if we could listen to some of it, he didn’t think he’d be able to find a CD to play. His wife, Crissy travels with Mark, but she’s busy working with the students that Mark’s not working one-on-one with at the time. She’s a talented horse trainer in her own right, riding since she was 2 years old.

(Crissy, behind Winter and Smokey, wearing full leather chaps and riding the Bay Arabian)

As for Mark Rashid, I liked his simple answers to some of the questions asked, too. When asked by an auditor what Mark thought of Martingales, he simply answered, “I don’t use them”. He never told the auditor that he should never use them, but when asked to explain further, after being asked if Martingales and tie-downs we’re a good training tool, even if only used temporarily, Mark said that he felt that they we’re a quick fix, that didn’t really fix anything at all, and were more like a bandaid. And in the end, their use could even lead to more problems later on.

(Mark Rashid instructing Winter on lowering Smokey’s headset for more relaxation and focus)

I was mostly there, though, to support and encourage Winter and her new horse Smokey, who is just a 4 year old gelding. She and I have been traveling similar horse journeys since we began reading each other’s blogs a few years ago. I’m on my second horse and she’s now on her third after we’ve both had some frustrating experiences with our first horses. It’s been exciting to see her grow and change all this time and even more exciting to watch how well she and her new horse work together and communicate. I think she’s finally found her equine soul mate and I’m so happy for her!

Here are some of my favorite photos I took of the two of them, along with Mark Rashid, during the clinic.

On the day I was there, Mark was instructing Winter to work on keeping Smokey’s headset lower and more relaxed because he tends to keep his head high and on alert, which Mark said can cause him to be less focused on her and lead to nervous and spooky behavior. It was exciting to see Winter working with Smokey and helping him let go and becoming more relaxed.

After the morning session was over, our hosts invited everyone to convene to the indoor arena to enjoy a delicious homemade lunch of spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread, along with pies, cakes, and cookies for dessert.

After filling up our bellies and warming up with hot tea, it was then time for the afternoon session to begin.

To Be Continued……….