Special Moments of 2012

 

I took one photo from each of my favorite or most meaningful rides this past year. Of course, I didn’t get to include all of my rides and had a tough time only choosing just one photo. But this is what I came up with…..

 

Julie Goodnight Clinic

Last weekend, I audited the Julie Goodnight Clinic up in Santa Fe. This was the first opportunity I’ve had to audit one of her clinics even though I’ve been watching her on RFD-TV for years. But I wasn’t sure I would go because I had no one to go with. So, when two of my Santa Fe horse friends, Trish and Cindy, told me that they had signed up themselves and their horses for this clinic, it was just the push I needed to drive the hour from my house to Santa Fe for this clinic.

It was held southwest of the city, at the Santa Fe Equestrian Center.

As soon as I parked my car in the lot surrounded by horse trailers, and began walking up to the indoor arena, I was happy to see some friends I knew and had ridden with twice before (during an ACTHA ride in Santa Fe and while marking trail for an ACTHA ride down in San Acacia): Laurie and Gus of Listening Horse Therapeutic Riding.

Gus, watching the Julie Goodnight clinic inside the arena. 

 

 

Listening Horse was one of Julie Goodnight’s Clinic sponsors, and they provided a concession stand during the clinic with the proceeds going towards their therapeutic riding program.

And when I entered the arena, the first faces I saw were those of my good friends, Dan and Betty, of the blog Dan and Betty's Place. Some of you may already follow this wonderful couple’s blog and enjoy reading along about their horse journey with their Icelandic gelding Morgunn, and Rocky Mountain mare, Sugar.

Betty and Dan enjoying a picnic during the clinic’s lunch break.

 

So, I sure am glad that I didn’t let my worry, about going to the clinic alone, stand in the way.

The first half of Saturday’s clinic was spent on groundwork, specifically leading a respectful, obedient horse, as well as training a horse to stand perfectly, and respectfully still while ground tied.

(Julie was preparing to correct my friend Cindy’s horse, Nova, for focusing on something outside of the arena, and not paying attention to her instead)

(Here Julie was correcting Nova for trying to walk past her while being led)

(Here Nova is respectfully paying attention to Julie, while my friend Cindy looks on)

(A respectful and obedient Nova being led by Julie, while Cindy observes)

(My friend Trish, working with Julie, with her new gelding, Cactus. Trish has only had him for about 2 months, but he is a well-behaved, well-trained boy and they are starting to build a nice bond together)

Watching the different horses and riders doing the ground work was very insightful, and it was interesting to me, how leading a horse can be sorely taken for granted…by both horse and rider.

After breaking for lunch, we reconvened inside the arena for under-saddle work.  

(Trish and her boy Cactus. She had only ridden him 4 times before this clinic)

Julie instructed, “I like to teach students to observe the “Golden Moments” of each ride—these are the first 10 minutes after you’ve gotten in the saddle when the horse is forming an opinion about how this ride will go and who is in charge".

The important principles of these "Golden Moments" are:

1)You direct the exact path of your horse with no argument, discussion or compromise.

(Cindy and Nova)

 

 
2)You always control the speed of your horse (Your horse should immediately be corrected for any unauthorized change of speed, either up or down)

3)Put your horse to work so she starts complying with your directives (doing turns, circles and transitions)

4)Keep your horse focused on you and away from other horses (Julie claims that there is a magnetic field around each horse and if you get too close, your horse can get sucked into that magnetic field which will cause your horse to no longer listen to you. Instead your horse will take her cues from the horse she is being drawn towards)

By spending those first 10 minutes working on independent control and communication, your horse will be more focused on you, you will have more control and that time spent with your horse will help you identify potential problems.

At the start of every ride, Julie said, you should have a conversation with your horse, and it should start like this:
“Horse, this is your Captain speaking.”

(It had been a long day…poor Cactus was sleepy)

Julie advised, “The cue is your voice and your seat,” “And the reins are just the reinforcement – they are a correction for the horse if they have not listened and obeyed your voice and seat.”

(Trish and Cindy, in the back, paying attention to Julie’s instruction)

Julie demonstrated the subtle directional seat cue by standing in the arena with her knees bent, while twisting her torso.

“The horse will feel a shift in your weight, and if you’re turning right, your weight will be on your left seat bones, and if you’re turning left, your weight will be on your right seat bones. This is using your seat to help guide your horse. Try to keep from micro-managing your horse’s every move by using your reins. Keep your hands low on the pommel, keep the reins loose, and turn your horse by only using your seat.”

 

Some of the riders had Julie help them with cantering and correct lead starts. This is something I would have liked to have worked on with my own horse if I could have signed up for this clinic.

Julie is not a huge sales person, even though she did have a sales table with some of her books, videos, halters, a saddle, etc, but she did discuss bitting, and brought out a stack of bridles and Myler bits (one of her sponsors) for the riders to try on their horses if they wanted to. Just like Mark Rashid, she expressed her disapproval of the harsh nature of the Tom Thumb Bit, but also shared that the simple single-jointed snaffle is not always the best choice for all horses, and she felt that it can be a much harsher bit than most people realize.

(Rick Gore’s outspoken opinion on snaffle bits, leverage bits and Tom Thumb bits)

Case in point, during the clinic, there was one horse that was being ridden in a single jointed snaffle bit and it was shaking it’s head and gaping it’s mouth. After examining the bit and the horse’s mouth, Julie stated that the horse’s gums were bruised and the horse’s mouth was in pain from the bit.

(Dale Myler discusses pressure points and popular bits)

Julie discussed the inside of a horse’s mouth, the jaw, teeth, tongue and palette and how the bit is supposed to fit inside without causing undue discomfort. Julie prefers a solid bar curb bit with plenty of room for the tongue. The Myler bit she recommended for a horse that was being ridden in a Tom Thumb, is one she uses on her own horses: a 3-ring combination bit.

This bit uses 5 different pressure points to disperse rein pressure. When the reins are engaged, the horse feels the nose, chin, and poll pressure before he feels the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece can slide 1” before reaching the ‘stop’, where it will engage.

(Here’s a link to video of a horse that was ridden in a loose ring snaffle and then switched to a Myler 3-ring combination bit: 3 ring combo

The effect is to give the horse ample opportunity to respond to the rider’s rein signals, plus disperse the rein pressure over multiple pressure points rather than just the tongue or bars. And the 3 rings offer three different rein positions: the big ring (no leverage), the middle ring (mild), and the bottom ring (mild to moderate). This bit is a combination hybrid ring bit/shank bit/hackamore.

This bit information comes directly from the book The Level Best for Your Horse ~ The Myler Bitting System. Julie had a little giveaway contest during the clinic and gave away some blankets as well as several copies of this book, one of which Dan won, and he gave it to me, since he is happy with the bits he and Betty currently use on their horses.

I am enjoying this book because it doesn’t just focus on Myler bits, but also discusses the anatomy and physiology of the horse (head, mouth and body) and how they relate to bits, bitting for communication (bit resistance, tongue pressure and how they fall into play when using bits, bit knowledge (direct rein vs indirect rein action), and traditional mouthpiece and cheekpiece designs.

(It even comes with a free 85 minute visual guide DVD)

I’d recommend this book for anyone who uses a bit in their horse’s mouth, even if they think they know everything there is to know about bits. 

At Liberty Clinic ~ Santa Fe, NM

 

 

Last Saturday, my friend Kendra and I attended an At Liberty Clinic hosted by Susan Smith who is trained by Carolyn Resnick. If you haven’t heard of her before, you can check out her website: Dance With Horses

 

Bailey and Apache all loaded up and ready to head to Santa Fe. 

 

The Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds have rows of shaded stalls that were available for our horses to use. Bailey and Apache’s stalls were side by side, #10 and #11.

There’s my girl! 

 

There were between 8-10 of us attending the clinic, along with 6 horses. Carolyn Resnick’s books, DVDs and website explain her method much more in detail, but basically, what we worked on with our horses was the: Seven Waterhole Rituals:

The 7 Waterhole Rituals are:

1. Sharing Territory

2. Saying Hello

3. Taking Territory

4. Leading From Behind

5. Eye Contact

6. Magnetic Connection

7. Come Up and Go Trot

For more info on the rules and guidelines on these rituals, you can visit this site: Carolyn Resnick Waterhole Rituals

 

In this photo, Kendra is preparing to Lead from Behind, her horse Bailey. 

 

But first Kendra is Taking Territory, as in “This is my hay pile”

 Here Bailey is thinking about what just happened and is paying attention to what Kendra is going to do next.

 

Bailey decides that Kendra can claim the hay piles, but he’ll grab a mouthful as he leaves.

 

Bailey, looking gorgeous and enjoying the soft deep sand, while taking a break from the pressure. 

 

When he comes back to claim a pile of hay, Kendra prepares to Lead from Behind, while Susan Smith coaches. 

 

Bailey walks over to Susan Smith and she Says Hello.

 

Soon Bailey connects with Kendra and they begin to Companion Walk At Liberty

 

 Notice as they both relax and live in the moment without being distracted, how even their steps match one another.

 

They walk right through and past the hay piles, and Bailey chooses to stay with Kendra.

 

Sharing a moment of affection.

 

And then it was time to work with my Apache girl.

 

I don’t have any photos of me and my mare working together, but I did take some photos of this really neat Australian lady, named Varna, who wanted to work with my mare. Varna seemed very attracted to my girl, and called Apache a mustang even before I said anything about my mare’s background. I think Apache reminded her of the Brumbies that Varna is familiar with in Australia.

Apache is not very trusting of most strangers, so Varna was very gentle when Saying Hello to my mare. 

 

But Apache wasn’t willing to get to know Varna better, at least not right away…and off she went.

 

Varna worked on Claiming Territory which caused Apache to pay closer attention.

 

And then Varna tried to Say Hello again.

 

It worked! Apache accepted Varna, and for a couple minutes they Companion Walked together. 

 

It was a good first step. But Apache’s the type of mare that requires a close bond and a lot of trust in someone before she will allow her protective walls to completely fall. She also doesn’t trust whips, crops or sticks of any kind. The willow reed that we were given was never used to touch any of the horses. It was only used as an extension of our hand and as a way to convey energy. Varna was careful to keep her reed low and relaxed, but Apache always kept a close on it, just the same.

 

Apache and I were able to practice some of the Waterhole Rituals together for about 30 minutes and I feel that we made some positive, uplifting, forward strides. My friend Kendra took some video of us and I will share that when she sends it to me. But for now, I do have a video that Kendra created, of Varna and I Companion Walking with Kendra’s Bailey:

And if for some reason this video doesn’t imbed (I had to use the old code, which apparently isn’t supported any longer), then click on this link:

Companion Walking Video

 

Dennis Reis Clinic

 

Last week was a crazy week with girl scout cookie sales, sickness, visitors, boy scouts, and a lacrosse game.

By the way, thank you all for the sweet, caring comments for my daughter. You all really touched my heart. Jen is feeling much better all ready. She started off this bug much worse than I did, but she’s bouncing back much quicker and is already able to eat and play and is talking about having her birthday party later this week.

Now if only I could bounce back as quickly. I’m still feeling a little run down and “floppity” in my tummy from my bout with this flu virus. Oh to be a child again.

~~~~~~~~~

It was so busy last week, that I failed to mention anything about the horsemanship clinic I audited the previous Saturday with my neighbor and friend, Val of Fantastyk Voyage blog. She had gotten a couple free tickets and was kind enough to think of me and asked me to join her on Saturday. Actually, the clinic was both Saturday and Sunday, but we both had prior commitments and weren’t able to attend on Sunday. Bummer because it was supposed to be focused on riding and I would have really enjoyed that day, I’m sure.

I was really glad to discover that children under 12 were free because I I wasn’t going to be able to go unless my daughter went with me because both of my twinlings were spending the weekend camping down in Socorro with their boy scout troop, and Ranchman John was joining them, too. They were down there to watch several Civil War Reenactments. I was really disappointed I couldn’t go to that, too, because there was going to be lots of horses in the battle field. (Ranchman John took some photos, though, and I’ll be sure to post them later this week)

But at least I was going to be doing something else that involved horses: The Dennis Reis Clinic!

Anyway,  I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got there because my friend Renee and her husband went to one of his clinics a couple years ago and weren’t very impressed when they sat there for over 2 hours while Dennis Reis and his crew kept trying to set up scenes and did re-takes for videos, instead of actually doing any instruction or communicating to his audience.

You can see the camera man over there on the left.

But it seems that he and his wife and crew have cleaned up that act and, even though we were being videotaped, it wasn’t a distraction and didn’t take away from any of Dennis Reis’ instruction on Saturday.

When we first got there, everyone was watching a video of Dennis Reis working with a horse in a round pen. At the end of the video, the horse gave Dennis Reis a double barrel kick which knocked Dennis to the ground.

Watching that happen to Dennis Reis reminded me of my own double barrel kick to my face last summer and made me wince. But I immediately had admiration for this man who wasn’t too proud to show that we’re all human and not invincible or perfect, and that anyone who works with horses can get hurt by them, even those who are experienced horsemen. You don’t often see or hear about the well known trainers getting hurt by the horses they work with. They seem…well, perfect. They can make the rest of us feel inadequate and doubting of our own abilities.

So, that aspect of Dennis Reis gave him some huge points in my book.

Saturday’s clinic was all about handling of horses on the ground to keep us safe and keep horses out of our space while not allowing them to get pushy. There was also a fascinating section on trailer loading. And at the end of the day, some fun horse games with a few of his long term students, too.

The horse he worked with in the round pen and with trailer loading was an older mare who was pushy and had dangerous trailer loading issues. I was impressed that he had no problems with re-training an older horse, who was obviously quite stubborn and stuck in her ways. Everything he did with her took much longer, and it was easy to see that it was all due to this mare making it harder on herself, by putting up a wall and wanting to to do things her own way, than it would have had he been working with a young horse, but it was really positive to see that you can really teach an old horse new tricks.

For the most part I really liked how he worked with this horse, except to me, there seemed to be an awful lot of hitting with that stick he was using. Most of the time it was warranted, but sometimes I felt the mare was really trying to figure out what he wanted, but wasn’t fast enough, and then he’d hit her.

I would have maybe liked to see a little more time in between “asking”, before “enforcing”. She became so terrified of the stick, eyes and nostrils flared and her entire body in a lather and soaked in sweat, that he was constantly having to stop and “rub out” the memory of the stick and reassure her.

  

Of course, the mare was in her winter woolies, and hadn’t probably been worked that hard for a very long time, so she was bound to get hot and sweaty. But I was glad when we finally took a 30 minute break so she could rest, cool down and get some water.

That’s Val of Fantastyk Voyage in the blue hoodie and jeans visiting with the mare’s owner.

One of the lessons I’ve learned along the way from other trainers is to start with your energy quiet and small in your requests. If you start off big and strong right away, you can only go much bigger and stronger. The goal being that you want the horse to do what you ask with very little effort from yourself. You don’t want to always have to be demanding and aggressive anytime you ask your horse to do anything you ask of it.

Granted this mare needed “bigger and more aggressive” energy quite a bit as she seemed either very slow to “get it” or just stubborn. And it was great to finally see her figure out what it was he wanted, especially when he wanted her to slow down and transition from a trot to a walk.

I found it interesting how similar Dennis Reis’s “package” is to Clinton Anderson’s. Of course, Clinton Anderson is much more flashy and more about the show and less about the actual instruction. Even their private membership sounds similar with Clinton’s being called “No Worries Club” and Dennis’s being called “No Dust Club”. They both have the very pricey Lesson Videos to purchase along with the ‘carrot stick’ and special ‘rope halters’, and they both spend about 30 minutes in between instruction to advertise their wares, although Dennis Reis is more low key and less flashy.

That’s Dennis’ wife beside him.

Dennis’ main sponsor is Wrangler, so he spends quite a bit of time advertising them, too. Clinton does the same thing, but he seems to have quite a few other sponsors, so you tend to get a different product advertised during each break. He also does more giveaways of products, too. But Clinton’s shows are usually more crowded and your chances of winning are very low. I also thought it interesting that the majority of Dennis Reis’ audience seemed to be men, while Clinton Anderson’s shows…err…clinics tend to be mostly women.

But the selling of products is how these trainers have to make their money, though. Dennis does tend to spout off a lot on how much things cost and why you need to buy his videos and memberships and attend clinics at his ranch, which tends to make my mind go blank after a little while. Good time for a potty break, I say. And Jen enjoyed playing with the huge red ball and some other kids during the breaks.

 

Dennis also earned a couple more huge points from me for his support of the use of helmets for equestrian sports. This is not something you tend to see with Western Riding Clinicians. Cowboy hats are the norm. But Dennis spent at least 15 minutes chatting about helmet wearing…or rather wearing a “brain bucket” (his words) during riding. I really liked how serious he was while talking to a room full of mostly cowboys and western riders, encouraging them to wear a helmet while riding and working around horses.

Several of his students were wearing helmets, too, like this lady who was jumping her horse At Liberty.

I was also impressed with his trailer loading technique and how he insisted on using the owner’s trailer to load her horse instead of his own. Many of the well known trainers prefer to use their bigger, fancier horse trailers to show how to load a horse in a trailer, but not everyone owns one of those. Their issues tend to be loading a horse in a smaller, darker trailer, a two horse bumper pull, or one with a ramp. So it’s great to see a trainer work with what the owner has to work with.

This mare was terrified of loading and would rather kill herself then get inside. Her owner said she had to get help to load her mare before this clinic and they had to chase her inside with a broom. During the process, the mare hit her nose on the roof of the trailer and tore a chunk of hide off.

If asked, I would have suggested that her owner always use a padded head protector on her mare and use a foam pool noodle, split down the center, to fit over that very jagged rusty edge at the top of the doorway. It looked very dangerous, and I’d be afraid to scrape my own head on it while climbing up inside, too.

It was also very encouraging to see him training the horse in steps…..nothing was done with the trailer until the very end. The loading practice was on a wooden platform and they added panels to each side as the horse became comfortable.

There were a few times that I thought Dennis Reis might get ran over as the mare tried to jump over the platform or side jump into him, but he seems to move pretty fast. And we all had to laugh when watching one of his assistants lifting the mares front hooves onto the platform to show her what to do, because she just wasn’t getting it and would almost fold herself in half in front of the platform, instead of stepping up.

It took a very long time to get her to the point where Dennis felt she was ready to face the trailer, and when he did move her there, it only took him working her a handful of circles at the back of it and she was practically begging to get in there…..and he just stepped back and let her do it.

She worked herself into a serious lather, and was just dripping in sweat.

The mare didn’t even want to come out after she got in the trailer, so Dennis Reis let her stay inside and eat hay and relax while the rest of us got ready for the lunch break.

I’ve only audited 5 other Horsemanship Clinics: Clinton Anderson (Reno, NV), Bob Allen (ABQ, NM), Mike Sikorski (Corrales, NM) and Mark Rashid (Santa Fe, NM). All of them are very similar in their methods, but they each have something different and unique to teach and learn from. They each have their own style and some people may relate better to one over the other. So far, my favorite trainer is Mark Rashid.

Last Fall, Val and I paid $35.00 to audit his clinic and it was obvious he wasn’t there to entertain us, but instead was very focused on giving instruction to those who had signed up to work with their own horses. I would love to to sign up with my mare to ride in his clinic.

You can read more about that clinic from my previous two posts:

Mark Rashid 1

Mark Rashid 2

We also met up with Breathe of Horsecentric Blog during Mark Rashid's clinic. She was riding her new (then) colt, Smokey in his clinic. Breathe wrote up a couple detailed posts about her experiences.

And our friends Dan and Betty, who are avid horsemen and own an Icelandic gelding and Rocky Mountain Horse mare were there, too. They did a great post about Mark Rashid and what they learned from him over on their blog Dan & Betty's Place.

Even though it wasn’t free to audit Mark’s clinic, his hosts did provide a table for everyone to help themselves to plenty of hot and cold beverages, yummy snacks and a delicious hot lunch during the clinic. Mark Rashid is someone I relate to well because of his quiet, calm, level-headed demeanor. (I'd like to be more like that myself) He has a great sense of humor, is easy to talk to, isn’t interested in using his clinics to sell stuff or advertise for sponsors, and is all about the horse.

But like I said before, there is always something to be learned and taken away from all clinics we attend and from all experienced horsemen and women involved in riding, working with and around horses. Anything we can learn to improve our horsemanship is a good thing for us and our horses.

 

To be continued……..

You can read more about the clinic and see some great photos over at the Fantastyk Voyage Blog.