Navigating horses safely is humongously important, mostly because the consequences of not being safe can be catastrophic. There are two risky areas in particular: (1) when you are approaching a horse and (2) when you are walking behind a horse.
Using Your Voice
When working with horses, you have four basic aids: legs, weight, hands, and voice. Of these aids, voice is often overlooked or forgotten—maybe because people are embarrassed or think it sounds silly, or maybe because people just plain forget most of the time. Truth is, a lot people spend much of their time around horses without ever making a sound. And if you think about it, they’re …
2 Knots
There are 2 knots… that I think are a must to know if you have or work with horses. But the first thing I want to stress is the importance of watching your fingers. Fingers get caught in knots, when they do you lose them. Don’t put your fingers in any loop – ever. Hold the rope in such a way …
Introducing Your Horse to Stuff: Umbrellas
Along the lines of Letting Things Take as Much Time as They Need to Take are the essentials of desensitizing your horse to crazy scary things—basically anything your horse hasn’t seen or experienced before. Let’s use umbrellas as a starting point for jumping into the wonderful wild world of introducing your horse to the unfamiliar and helping him see them as harmless things that won’t …
Mounting and Dismounting, or How to Get On and Off a Horse
I see it all the time, people mounting in a way that makes their hose scared or uncomfortable and puts them (the rider) in danger. When getting on or off a horse, there are a bazillion options of where to put and organize your body parts. But keep these rules in mind when deciding how to do it: Here are the rules I …
Basic Grooming
So many tools…hoof picks, dandy brushes, body brushes, curry combs, shedding blades and vacuums. What’s a girl to do? Here is a basic guide on how to get a horse ready to ride. We’re not talking competition grooming, we’re not even talking nice-restaurant clean, but we are talking clean enough and thorough enough for everyday use. The necessities. Three H’s …
How to Swing Up on a Horse – With a Saddle
DON’T DO THIS. But if you want to, this is how you can. But… DON’T DO IT. Below is a brief how-to. Stop laughing and press play.
On Relationships & Shoveling Poop REPOST
The following seems fitting after the post Letting Things Take as Much Time as They Need to Take. Think of it as real-world proof that everything takes time. But even more important is what happens after that time has been taken. On Relationships & Shoveling Poop addresses that end—taking your time is worth it. Caro’s relationship with her horse (after time and effort) has become …
Letting Things Take as Much Time as They Need to Take
Patience is key. When you work with horses, you have to remember that to do it right, it takes time. Slow down. Watch and listen. Remember that weeks, months, and years should be your time frame, not seconds, minutes, or even days. Take Buster here. He doesn’t like bridling. Don’t know why. Maybe someone wasn’t very nice to him, …
Circles, Let Us Count the Ways
Here’s the deal. If you work with horses, circles are your friend. Use them. Abuse them. Incorporate them into every activity you can. If something isn’t working, circle. And when you get dizzy, keep on goin’. What is a circle? A circle is round-ish. Depending on what you’re doing, you may be in the center of the circle or on top …
The Importance of Not Taking It Personally
The Rule:When you’re working with horses, you’re not allowed to take anything personally. Why? There are a lot of reasons. First and foremost: horses are horses. They are not people, so when they do things, they do them for horse reasons, not people reasons. We, as humans, have all kinds of reasons why we do what we do. Sometimes we do …
You Can’t Do This Enough
[vc_row no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”none”][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”all”][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
All About Hooves
Let me tell ya, picking a horse’s hooves is one incredibly important thing to do. And you can’t do it enough. Those feet are your only connection with the ground when you’re on your horse’s back so take good care of ’em. Doesn’t mater if your horse has shoes or is barefoot one of the most important things to …
My Approach
My Approach is the hardest definition I’ve had to produce yet. The short and sweet is that My Approach is Natural Horsemanship with an emphasis on the school of “I’m open to new ideas.” I wish I could say I believe in whatever works, but when I take a hard look into myself, I have a few beliefs that outweigh this idea. First and foremost, I …
Anthropomorphizing Horses
Prerequisite: Understanding Anthropomorphizing Anthropomorphism Horses are horses. People are people. Horses aren’t people and people aren’t horses. This doesn’t mean that a person can’t have a nice, understanding relationship with a horse. What it does mean however, is that people (due to their size in relation to the horse) need to be careful and a bit wary of the horse in order …
Picking a Hoof
Let me tell ya, picking a horse’s hooves is one incredibly important thing to do. And you can’t do it enough. Those feet are your only connection with the ground when you’re on your horse’s back so take good care of ’em. Doesn’t mater if your horse has shoes or is barefoot one of the most important things to do …
Just Bought a Horse?
So you just bought a horse. Now what? If this is your first horse you probably have nothing but a horse and maybe a halter. Well here’s a list of the essentials. Go to the store and spend more money. If you bought a horse you probably have more than you know what to do with anyway so you might …
Haltering and Tying a Horse
Prerequisite steps needed… Step 1: Read my post 2 Knots. Then come back. It’s important to have a knot down so well that you don’t have to think about it. Then come back and move on to step 2. Step 2: Learn to tie a rope halter correctly right now. The halter will be much safer and will work much better …
Hand Feeding a Horse
“But it’s so fun” said every girl in the history of all time. – Denise OK, first things first. Don’t hand feed your horse. But, if you are OK with the possible implications of it…go for it. As long as you are aware of the following information, make your own decisions. But, don’t hand feed ’em. Here’s the deal, if …
If your horse wants to move… And you don’t.
Lets say you’re standing there having a good ‘ol time just standing still, talking to a friend. Out of nowhere your feet start to move. They just start walking around. Walking to no place in particular, at least none that was discussed and agreed upon. Would you be happy about this? What would you say to your friend standing there …
Feeding
Good lord this is a hard one. Once again remember the incomparably smart words of my better half: “I’m a firm believer in whatever works….” –CA Here’s the basic breakdown: How much food? ~2% of the horse’s body weight per day in total feed. What kind? This is where it really gets sticky. But basically for a plain ol’ trail horse alfalfa …
Helmet, Rope, Boot
HelmetTroxel Sport It’s really hard to know where to start when looking for your first helmet. There are a lot of companies that sell ’em so if your looking for an inexpensive, good looking and safe helmet . . . The Troxel Sport is my suggestion. The Sierra and Legacy Gold are also good helmets but for a first time helmet, the Sport should do …
Online Resources
PARELLI’S ONLINE RESOURCE http://www.parelli.com/articlestips.html This is a great place to look through some of the best training articles on the net. When you find a place like this, it’s hard not to spend the whole afternoon reading. HORSETRADER.COM http://www.horsetrader.com/ Looking to buy a horse? Thinking about it? Look here first. Start searching, see what’s out there. I promise, it won’t …
Reading materials
CHA COMPOSITE HORSEMANSHIP MANUAL The Certified Horsemanship Association has one of the most comprehensive and well organized manuals out there. It’s really too bad that more people don’t know about this. It’s organized into four sections that will take you from novice through advanced riding. I’ve found this to be my go-to manual for 20 years. They keep it up …