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Diary of Trail Ride on March 20th, 2005 at Cottonwood Creek Stables
Diary of Wakefield Workshop April 30th, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Aug. 27-28, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop June 10-12, 2005
Diary of Lincoln Workshop June 13-14, 2005
Diary of Cottonwood Creek Stable Class Sept. 24, 2005
Diary of Madison Clinic November, 2005
Diary of High View Farms Workshop, September 10-11, 2005
Lessons Learned at Madison Jan. 2006
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Jan. 21-22, 2006
Diary of Holstein May 2006
Diary of Weeping Water and BKT Arena Spring 2006
Diary of Sioux City 2006
Diary of Chance Ridge 2006
Diary of Private Lesson Days Summer 2006
Diary of Calamus Women's Camp 2006
Diary of Calamus Youth Camp 2006
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Diary from Madison Clinic 2005
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The clinic was good this weekend, but only a few participants. That
didn't matter to me. You can only teach those who want to learn! One
of my favorite saying is "when the student is ready the teacher will
appear!"
We had one horse that was pretty difficult. The handler had just let
the mare dominate her for so long that she was pretty disrespectful
and had quite an attitude when she realized that a human could
remain passively and politely persistant in the proper position,
plus be willing to do what it takes to get desired results. Most of
the time she ignored humans as if they weren't even in the building
with her. It took some effort to convince her that humans could be
trusted in a respectful way, that they wouldn't give up on her, and
that there were boundaries for her behaviors.
On Sunday, to the shock of the handler she threw a huge fit, even
throwing herself down on the ground making a big scene. I just
ignored her fit. It will not produce positive results to punish a
two year old child when they are thrashing around on the floor
throwing a fit, and to punish a horse when they are doing this will
not produce any positive results either.
When she got up, I calmly and persistantly continued with what we
were doing just like it never happened. She was amazingly responsive
and respectful after that and a lot of backing over the two days. At
first she was very hard to back. She was saying "no way am I giving
up my position to anybody." First thing on Sunday morning , I back
her around the whole arena three times. I was helping her to gain
control of her emotions, realize and acknowlege that there were
humans in the building that were worth paying attention to, and
teaching her to lower her head, round her back, and pick up her feet
to make for a more energy efficient and respectful back.
By the end of the clinic the horse had made huge changes and the
owner was quite surprised, even saying that "I cannnot believe that
this is actually my horse." This new horse will only continue if the
handler has the will to continue with the program and continue to
develop her own leadership. Otherwise I am sure that the mare will
just take back over again as the pushy, cranky, leader.
Another thing about this story is that when the person signed up for
the class she told me all about how her horse would head bob
constantly when she rode her and how she tries to run away with her.
When I asked her to ride in a rope halter on Sat. afternoon her eyes
got pretty big, I could sense her fear. I suggested that if she
needed to, she could put both the bridle and the halter on, and to
just try using the halter with the bridle and bit as her back up
plan. Thankfully, she trusted me and chose to ride with just the
halter.
After observing the mare carefully for two days, during the sharing
portion at the end of the clinic on Sunday. I asked the rider if she
had noticed anything quite extraordinary about the horse while
riding the last two days. She said, she was a lot nicer. I then
asked her, "what about the head bobbing". She was amazed that the
horse had quit head bobbing. What was even more amazing to me was
that she had not even recognized the absence of the head bobbing. I
guess when it is not present we don't think about it.
I am pretty positive that the absence of head bobbing was that the
bit was not present with hands attached that were unsure.
The horse did go a little faster than the rider was comfortable with
a couple of times, but it was really neat that she was able to stop
her with the halter using the one rein stop very quickly.
When she did the challenge test at the end the mare maintained gaits
on a loose rein.
We all went away happy and satisfied with the progress that we made.
I had the privilege of riding "Bubba"
a horse belonging to the lady I stayed with. He was a five year old
Pitzer horse, and boy was he nice.
Last weekend I also got to ride "Lucky" a horse belonging to one of
Brenda's young students who was also quite great.
It is a joy to get to ride so many nice horses, and see how soft and
responsive I can get them going in just two days while I am
teaching. I love it!
Here is a poem written by a young girl who audited the clinic at Madison this weekend.
Manes flying,
Dust kicking,
One horse snorts,
Another rears,
Galloping from the waving lead,
Pawing the ground,
Turning and looking.
So curious,
So beautiful,
Moving with rythm,
Moving slow and quiet,
Pusing with pressure,
Horses.
by Devyn 11-5-05
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