I’ve got a great video for you today from the Happy Horse course that shows how quickly and easily you can straighten your horse with a very simple exercise.
But before you do that, I want to remind you that the Happy Horse Retirement party officially starts tomorrow, Friday, April 30 at noon Eastern time.
Remember: The retirement party ONLY lasts 4 days, or less than that if my current inventory runs out first. So be sure to come right when the doors open at noon.
Mark your calendar now, and claim your course tomorrow at:
Wanna know what’s so cool about the Happy Horse course? People from all over the world have told me that it’s helped them sort out so many common problems quickly and easily.
See if any of these common problems sound familiar to you.
• You’re just plain confused and frustrated because trainers tell you what to do but don’t tell you HOW to do it.
• You can’t find anyone to explain things in a CLEAR, step-by-step, easy to understand training system.
• Sometimes you find training to be a struggle, exhausting, or a tug of war rather than a joyful process that creates a happy, athletic horse.
• You can’t get your horse consistently on the bit.
• You can’t afford to work with a trainer on a regular basis.
• You can’t find any decent trainers in your area.
• You can’t afford a fancy warmblood so you think training will be more difficult with your Quarter horse (Arabian, Haflinger, Friesian, Morgan, Saddlebred, Fjord, Thoroughbred, Draft Cross etc).
Do any of those issues sound like what you’re dealing with? Then the Happy Horse course was developed for you.
Chester Weber wears a helmet cam on his Charles Owen helmet. Weber uses the helmet cam as a training tool and is a strong proponent of wearing a helmet for safety. (Photo courtesy of PicsofYou.com)
Ocala, FL (April 27, 2010) – Helmets are the center stage topic in equestrian safety right now, and USEF Safety Committee member Chester Weber has turned his Charles Owen helmet into a box office hit! Safety really is a movie, thanks to a camera installed on Weber’s Charles Owen helmet.
Combined Driver Weber, the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Champion, uses his helmet camera as a training tool. “The helmet cam is a way to record the driver’s-eye view of a four-in-hand team. I use it as a training tool at home,” Weber said. “The helmet cam makes safety fun and acts as a training tool that can enhance future performances.”
When it comes to safety, Weber has always put his money where his mouth is. He and his team are long-time users of Charles Owen helmets, which provide safety and offer unparalleled comfort. “The importance of wearing helmets is in the spotlight right now, and as a driver I certainly recommend wearing helmets, especially in the marathon,” Weber said.
When your horse tilts his head, it’s often a sign that he isn’t “through”. So, if you’re tracking right and his right ear is lower than his left ear with his mouth going to the left, you’ll need to supple the left side of his poll. (Supple the right side of his poll if he tilts the other way with his left ear lower.)
Remember, you can’t use your connecting aids successfully if he’s locked anywhere including the poll. (Suppleness comes before Connection on the training scale.)
Monty Roberts will share his famous Join-Up technique and wisdom March 26th at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo courtesy of Monty Roberts)
Wellington, FL (March 18, 2010) – World-renowned trainer and clinician Monty Roberts is returning to West Palm Beach, Florida to host a clinic March 26th at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center. Monty Roberts is known the “Man Who Listens to Horses,” an award-winning trainer of championship horses, best-selling author, and creator of the revolutionary equine training technique, Join-Up.
Roberts has won countless awards and received worldwide press coverage. He is the author of three books on the New York Times best-seller list. He trained horses for Queen Elizabeth’s equestrian team and been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich.
Wellington Classic Dressage, Inc., which hosts horse shows and events for the equestrian community, organized the Monty Roberts clinic after the famed clinician was featured at the USET Holiday Fund Raiser last December held in conjunction with the Wellington Classic Dressage Holiday Horse Show. “It is definitely a case of back by popular demand,” said Wellington Classic Dressage Sponsorship and Events Director, John Flanagan. “When Monty was here in December, people just kept coming up and asking us when we could have him back.” So Flanagan went to work to schedule the March Monty Roberts event. “He has universal appeal across the disciplines,” Flanagan stated. “Monty’s proven training methods have helped show horses, race horses, and riding horses of all disciplines.”
Use Bryan Neubert's colt-starting techniques to get your ranch colt ready for the range.
Cowboy, clinician and horseman Bryan Neubert shares his insight into starting ranch colts.
By Bryan Neubert with Jim Bret Campbell in The American Quarter Horse Journal
Mount Up
Once the horse has softened and accepted the lessons from Part 1, he’s ready for me to prepare him to carry a rider. Remember to stay soft and quiet as you get on. I’ll slowly introduce my weight in the stirrup and just let him get used to the feel before I proceed. (See the photo gallery.) I’m also ready to step back down, draw his head toward me and move his hindquarters away from me to prevent him from pulling away or kicking me. After he accepts my weight in one stirrup, I lean over and rub him on the shoulder and hip on the right side. I might also move the fender of the offside stirrup a little to get him used to the movement. When he’s handling this well, I step into the saddle, remembering to stay soft and quiet.
Once I’m there, I don’t worry about trying to guide him much. I’ll let him adjust to the extra weight. I have a Cheyenne roll on the back of my saddle, and I’ll hold on to that in case he bucks. They almost never do if they are prepared up to this point.
Shoulder-in is the father of the advanced lateral dressage movements. It does many wonderful things for your horse. Here are just some of them:
Shoulder-in is a suppling exercise because it stretches and loosens the muscles and ligaments of the inside shoulder and forearm. During shoulder-in, your horse passes his inside foreleg in front of his outside foreleg. This motion increases his ability to move his forearm gymnastically in other movements.
It’s also a straightening exercise because you should always straighten your horse by bringing his forehand in front of his hindquarters. Never try to straighten him by leg yielding his hindquarters out behind his shoulders.
Shoulder-in is also a collecting exercise. It increases your horse’s self-carriage because he lowers his inside hip with each step. As a result, his center of gravity shifts back toward his hind legs. His hindquarters carry more weight and his front end elevates. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10240
Can you feel when your horse’s hind legs are on the ground? This is an important skill to develop because you want to time your leg aid so that you give it when your horse’s corresponding hind leg is on the ground.
In fact, the exact moment to influence a particular hind leg is just as it’s getting ready to push off the ground.
You can learn to feel where the hind legs are by feeling your horse’s hips. When a particular hind foot is on the ground, your horse’s hip is higher on that side. It feels like your corresponding seatbone is being pushed forward.
Hi everyone. A lot of you have been asking me about how I begin to diagram a pattern or how I start to memorize a test.
I start with these blank arena diagrams. I find them useful for a number of things.
1. Memorizing regulation tests.
2. Learning the exact geometry of the arena.
3. Learning my exact tangent points for movements such as circles and serpentines.
4. Drawing my tests from beginning to end.
5. Drawing each movement according to where the judges are judging (this way I know when the judge begins judging a new movement).
6. Showing a student where a movement begins and ends exactly.
7. Mapping out individual movements when I start to create choreography for a freestyle.
8. Looking at the pattern from beginning to end of a new freestyle, to see if I have used the arena wisely.
9. Checking to see if I have included all required movements for a competitive freestyle.
10. Mapping out each movement of a new freestyle so my clients and students have something to study that is very visual.
11. Checking to see if I have been inventive with the pattern.
12. Checking to see if my movements are equally used from the left and the right.
…and many more!
So I though I would give these diagrams to you guys for your use. Feel free to print them off and use them any time you want, and while you are on my site, sign up for the newsletter if you have not already! You will automatically get the link for the diagrams in the welcome letter of my newsletter, so you don’t have to go looking for it! Ruth
