A Report on Dennis Reis "No Dust" Tour Stop in Lincoln The day on Sat. was divided up into four main parts. The first session Dennis started a fresh two year old, then we watched his wife Debra play at liberty with her Arabian and ride with her sticks. After that Dennis worked with a problem horse and finally he played with his Stallion Cal and rode him bareback and bridleless.
The Four main points that I took away were: 1. FORWARD MOTION IS KEY! (Move your horse out!) It is soooooooo important to get your horse going forward. I have written about this before. I have quoted Ray Hunt "you can't train a horse unless he is moving!" In the past week I have received at least a half dozen e-mails from people who have horses with a broken forward. The main problem is many people are afraid to do what it takes to get their horse moving forward because they fear it may buck. Many people say "GO" but then as soon as the horse moves they tense up and say "WHOA!" The horse gets confused and quits trying. Some people think they need spurs or to kick the horse, but these tactics usually sull up the horse and the problem gets worse. What did Dennis do to get his horses moving forward? Ask, Suggest and Encourage! Ask is to bring your life up and squeeze your legs, but only using ounces of pressure.Suggest is to raise your arm and act like you are going to spank the horse's butt. Encourage is to lightly spank the horses butt! He used a cowboy rope or his hand. Sometimes he spanked his own leg instead of the horse's butt. These are the exact same phases and cues as Hunt, Dorrance, Parelli, Anderson, Lyons, Hargis, etc. Pick your trainer! They all know you need to get your horse moving and you have to be willing to do what it takes without using force, fear, pain, or intimidation tactics. They simply call their techniques by different names. But essentially good natural horsemanship is the same across the board no matter who or what program you follow. Another way he got the horses moving forward was to have another person on the ground encourage the horse with a stick and string. This is a very effective way to get a horse moving. But the rider must remember to be a PASSENGER! Dennis did not touch the reins and even rode without anything on the head of the problem horse the first time. It is important not to direct the horse or get in his way. The goal is a willing horse moving forward with freedom and without opposition reflex. When the horse felt like it was going to buck he encouraged the horse to go faster. I am reminded of what Pat Parelli says, "if you want to be natural just do the opposite of what seems normal." Our first normal instinct is stop a horse when we feel it is going to buck. But aren't we rewarding it when we do that? Aren't we teaching it to buck by the release of the pressure? One day recently DJ was bucking in the circling game on line. Everytime he did I asked him to go faster and it wasn't long and he decided that wasn't the game he wanted to play anymore. This solved his kicking up problem when riding also. I have been experimenting the past couple of months on getting better forward motion from a couple of my horses. I have learned that the better they move forward on the circling game the better they move forward when I ride them. PERIOD! It works like a dream. Here is my general rule: If your horse trots 2-4 circles without any nagging from you, he doesn't change gaits or directions and doesn't pull on the rope he will maintain a trot when you ride. The same goes for cantering. The better you prepare you horse on the ground the easier riding will be. I PROMISE! The other day Keith was riding Ginger and he was having trouble with forward. I asked him, "How's your circling game at the trot and the canter?" He admitted that it was very poor. HMMMM! While riding I do have to use an occasional spank. I am consistent and fair with spanking and don't stop until the horse takes the desired gait. I ignored undesirable behaviors and remain persistent with gentle encouragement staying in the proper position. I either use my hand or the end of my savvy string, that is tied to the horn. I spank myself first so the horse knows it's coming. This will prevent startling your horse which could be followed by spooking or bucking. Once the horse gives the slightest effort to move forward the release must be immediate. Then reward with a generous amount of petting while the horse is moving. Petting the horses while riding will help prevent you from pulling on the reins and tensing up. Dennis did lots of petting while riding the colt and problem horse and it calmed them down nicely. 2. PASSENGER RIDING IS FOR EVERYONE! (Let go and live!) Dennis did a tremendous amount of passenger riding with the colt and problem horse, and even with his 23 year old stallion, Cal. And some of you thought the passenger lesson was a Linda Parelli thing. But all good horsemen do it! I first learned about it from Bryan Newbert at a colt starting class in Wyoming. By riding the horses without micro-managing them he gave each horse the opportunity to be who he was in the partnership. This activity also allowed him to gain their trust, instill confidence, develop courage, and build a communication system. By staying out of the way of the horse during these forward motion exercises the horses naturally became better balanced in their movement with more effective self-carriage. I do a bit of passenger riding at the beginning of every one of my sessions no matter how broke the horse is. It loosens us both up physically and mentally. Plus it helps our harmony because I'm not directing. Instead I concentrate on staying in time with the horse's movements. Passenger riding is a very valuable tool, but like anything shouldn't be over done or ignored. It was quite impressive when Dennis rode his stallion Cal bareback and bridleless as a passenger. It brought tears to my eyes as he sped around the arena with such confidence and oneness with his horse. I'll bet he also had tears in his eyes because of the wind blowing in them. Now they were moving! Dennis said "I can ride him as fast as he can run!" And he did! It was great, they both looked like they were having the time of their life! 3. HINDQUARTER CONTROL IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED! (The butt is where it's at!) Like all good trainers and clinicians Dennis reinforced to the audience the importance of hindquarter control. He spent a lot of time driving the hindquarter and loosening it up on the ground, and then again when he was riding. Believe it or not this is another way to get a horse moving forward. Move the hindend over (using an indirect rein) then let the front end come through (using a direct rein) and walk out of it. Works especially well when a horse gets stuck. I also use it to teach foals to lead. Remember the butt of the horse can work like a rudder of a boat. Like magic you influence the direction of travel using the hindquarter instead of pulling on the reins. You can also stop the horse by disengaging the hindquarter. It is critical that you learn how to communicate with your horses hindend. Until you do, you will remain fairly out of control most of the time. Plus your horse won't get as soft and supple if the hind end gets locked up. Your horse will be much more athletic and his performance will improve if together you both learn to use the hindquarter properly. 4. LATERAL WORK IS VITAL TO YOUR SUCCESS! (Learning the feel) A horse that will move laterally off light pressure is a treasure, because it will improve everything they do no matter what discipline or horse activity you choose to participate in. All horses can do it! Dennis stressed the importance of lateral work. I realize that to some people this thing they call lateral work seems a mystery. Some of my students contacted me afterward with questions about this. It seems they didn't quite understand why it is important or how to do it. I must admit that it also used to baffle me. But now I love practicing and experimenting with it, because there are so many variations and ways you can be creative with lateral moves. There is nothing like the feeling of the horse flowing laterally beneath you with ease and grace. This suppleness that can be achieved with a horse is the artistry of horsemanship. To obtain it one must get the focus, feel, timing and balance that the Dorrance brothers speak of in their books. Dennis definitely has it. The only way to get it is experience, heart and desire. Let the horse teach you. None of us like riding a stiff, bracey horse with lots of opposition reflex. Lateral work will cure these ailments with correct timing and feel. You can't do too much lateral flexion. Your horse can't be too soft and willing. You won't complain about a horse who yields to your leg or hand aides. The key is teaching your horse to give to no more than 4 ounces of steady pressure. One of the techniques Dennis showed which has already helped me, was moving the hindquarter over in a circle with an indirect rein and then turning it into a step of sideways. (The horse moving off leg pressure). I had been doing something similar on the fence rail, but since it was so straight I was getting stuck more often then I wanted. The circle seemed to give me the momentum I needed to set the horse up in the proper position to transition into the lateral movement. ALWAYS LEARNING! (You can teach an old horse new tricks) There you have it the four main points I wanted to share with those who missed the "NO DUST TOUR" by Dennis Reis. I am sure that other people gleaned different things from the seminar. There were other things that I observed and tucked away in my mind for future reference. But these four concepts stood out for me to share based on what I am seeing when I teach and the questions I get from students. It is always a learning process no matter who you are with, what program you study, or which horse you are interacting with. Every time I go to one of these events I realize how much more there is to learn and how I love helping others learn and grow as well. I hope that you learned a few things from this report. Remember that I am only a phone call away if you need someone to talk with, and I have plenty of opportunities coming up for you to learn more about natural horsemanship and the concepts that I have shared in this report. Happy Trails, Sherry Jarvis
