This message is from: Starfire Farm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Gail Russell wrote:
Has anyone ever devised a good system for letting a rider know when s/he is
balancing on the reins?
I like to start the rider with "awareness" first, by having them use
only one rein at a time, bringing the horse's head (and therefore neck)
around (i.e., yielding, a' la' Clinton Anderson). The advantages of
using only one rein at a time, and working on the horse bending, or
yielding, are: 1) It can be done with the horse standing 2) The rider
can use her/his eyesight (as well as the horse's response) to see
whether or not they're doing it correctly. The ultimate (lofty, but
attainable) goal is to have the horse give to the request of yielding,
without having to put more pressure on the mouth other than a slight
indication to the corner of the horse's lips. Unlike Clinton Anderson,
it's not about getting an "auto-response" from the horse, it's more
about developing "feel" in the rider's hands and body, and developing
the horse's trust in the rider, which will, ultimately, have the horse
"reaching for you when you reach for him" (a quote from Ray Hunt and
Buck Brannaman.)
Once it's good at the halt, it can be used at the walk, trot, canter,
etc. Then one can work on asking the horse to yield (give vertical
flexion) to both reins at the same time, while the rider works on
instantaneously releasing the reins with every positive response from
the horse, which requires the rider to not balance on the reins.
Jean-Claude Racinet (Another Horsemanship) challenges the rider to start
the horse forward without even holding (or touching) the reins, before
every upward transition, then quickly take up the reins once the horse
has starts to move forward. He also suggests an exercise where one ties
the reins around the rider's back so the reins are connected, but not
taught, when the rider sits up. To ask the horse to go forward, the
rider must lean forward slightly. Then he has the rider sit up to ask
the horse to stop (hands crossed over the chest, not on the reins at
all). The pressure from the reins stops the horse. If the rider has to
lean back to make the horse stop, the reins are tied too long.
I think your idea of using something that would break is an interesting
one, with a very safe horse. It could certainly be tried one rein at a
time. Nuno Oliveira was known to perform riding demonstrations with only
a string in the horse's mouth (and not plastic hay string!)
So ...how is the blizzard going out there on the plains and foothills?
Not too bad here, 3-4 inches, though south and east of Denver received
up to another foot. We're still under snow, however. Haven't seen the
ground for 6 weeks now. Highly unusual, even for "old timers". There are
some things one never sees with warmer temps, however, like these
beautiful ice crystals floating in the air, sparkling in the sunshine.
Or is that just cabin fever? ;-) We're about to receive some nice,
warming temps in the upper 30's and 40's. Yippee! Don't have to worry
about burning the lungs with exertion! Here comes the mud.
Beth
--
Starfire Farm
Beth Beymer and Sandy North
http://www.starfirefarm.com
The FjordHorse List archives can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
