This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 11/6/00 1:06:02 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Do any of you use pictures or videos to critique yourself? Brigid in CA >> Hi Brigid, INDEED, videos are a valuable tool! I like to video my students about once a month on the same tape. They then have an ongoing 'movie' of their progress. It is neat! As an instructor, I can tell a student what they are doing wrong, they THINK they are correcting it, but when they watch themselves on TV, it gives them a much better tool for mental visualization in their next lessons. The other things you mentioned about holding the reins too tightly and signals you have been giving your horses through your body language, are things that several of my students have been working on lately. It is absolutely unbelievable how 'tuned in' horses can get to your body language. The poor dears, sometimes I feel soooo sorry for them when I see an inexperienced rider unknowingly telling them to do 14 different things all at the same time. Then when the horse doesn't do what the rider thinks it should, they haul off and clobber them! ARRRGGGGH! I like to use Dusty as a lesson horse because he does exactly what the rider tells him to do, whether or not they realize they are telling him! He MAKES a rider become very observant of their body language! He definitely keeps a rider honest! Riding reining horses has taught me a ton about keeping the horse's front end free. For some reason, we people think we need to muscle a horse into performing these movements. In all actuality, when we do that we are padlocking the horse's front end and making it impossible for him to perform the maneuver. The details of this are too lengthy to explain here. These are things that we'll cover when you come for your 'student trips' next spring after your 'boys' have completed their 'kindergarten course' here. I just love showing folks how to communicate correctly with their horses. Most horse owners don't ever realize the depth to which they can develop their relationship. It is great fun to watch the smiles on faces - horses too! It is much more pleasant for them! Gayle Ware Field of Dreams Eugene, OR www.fjordhorse.com
