Thursday, February 12, 2009

According To H.T. part 7


I want to take a minute to thank all of you for visiting our blog. I would like to know that you are out there, but if you are like me you are a little intimidated by all of this. I see I have some followers, but I know I have more than the ones that are showing on this blog. If you are viewing us through our website, please place your mouse over the title and click. That will take you to our actual blog page. Go down to followers on the left and click on some of the people that have already joined this blog. You will see their profiles and things they enjoy about horses. Some have not written anything in their blog, but I encourage you to, we can all have a lot of fun sharing things that go on with the day to day events and care of our horses. The more people who join the blog the more fun we can have sharing our ideas. I encourage you to sign up and follow the blog.

We always start our session the same way (from the ground). Today we will ask a little more from our horse. After we walk him off and ride him over the obstacles we will ask him to pick up his pace (speed not the gait). The reason I have not ask before is that I have found, if a horse is going to cut up it is usually at the higher speed. In the beginning I always ride with my hands close to the saddle horn (or where the horn should be). I am not too proud to grab some leather or mane if the horse jumps. Always pay attention to your horse by watching his neck and ears. You can usually tell when a horse is getting ready to jump by the feel and his demeanor. If your hands are close to the saddle, you can grab the horn with one hand and lift the reins with the other. Usually this will void the jump. If he tries to speed up on his own, flex his head to one side. This will disengage his hips and will limit his power making him unable to jump or run. When he stops let him walk off or back him up, then walk off. Cluck to him and proceed at a faster pace. Repeat the above process until he does as you wish. If you don't feel comfortable with his behavior, don't be afraid to go (if you think you need to) back to the round pen for a refresher course with your horse.

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