My Trip to Colorado

August was an exhausting and exhilarating month of horsemanship, fellowship and realizations. I heard things said in ways I had never heard before. There were concepts that got a lot of emphasis that I had not experienced in past lessons or clinics. These things really helped to make sense of and clarify the direction I am going with my horsemanship and my teaching. 

The first concept that Pat and Carol emphasized was: 

We are in charge of the gas, our horse is in charge of the turn.  

The more I have thought and put this concept into action, the more effort I have been getting from my horses. Not because I'm urging them to go, but teaching them that they must go until I say otherwise. Now that Walker and Maverick are learning this, they are putting more effort in on their own. Interestingly, most of the time, it is the other way around, the horse is in charge of the gas and we are in charge of the turn. That is a dangerous situation. When the horse knows their human is in charge of the go button, the less likely they will "go" on their own. When my horse KNOWS he MUST turn at an obstacle (or go over it), it makes it much less likely that I will get launched over a fence or into a tree because my horse has stopped in front of it. 

So the key for me is the energy and focus I bring when teaching my horses this. If we are trotting along at a passenger lesson and my horse is thinking slow down or stop at a fence or barrel, or whatever, I put all my concentration and effort into making sure they understand GO. I don't care whether they turn left, right or jump, they just must not stop trotting. When I started playing with this I realized pretty quickly not to have anything in the arena I was not comfortable with jumping! At that point, the only concern from my point of view is that they go until I say otherwise. It is amazing how quickly the horse catches on to this game. Once they do, I move on to something else. 

At this point with Mav and Walker, Mav as the introvert has more trouble with go than Walker. However, that is no excuse! He can learn to do this just as well, but it may take a little longer for him to be obedient to the concept. The key for Mav is rest when he does get it. The key for Walker is release in motion when he gets it. Walker always has a way to tell me when he has moved enough. Most of the time, I am near exhaustion before that happens, but it is important I follow through for him to learn!

The other key is the phases of go so it takes very little for your horse to know that you mean go:

1) Smile with all four cheeks
2) Turn the smile into a squeeze (turn both toes OUT)
3) Smooch ONCE (otherwise the smooch will mean very little after a while)
4) Spank the air (with popper on macate reins or savvy string, I prefer the popper, I can do less with it and get more response)
5) Spank the hair (of the horse); if you have to go to this phase, be aware that anywhere behind you can also push the up button on your horse. If you can ride that, great, if not, stay to spanking over your horses shoulders