Glenshee Equestrian Centre

"Huh?" I came across an article about a stupid study, and i just had to comment.  I couldn’t find the original study, so I wasn’t able to verify any of what’s written in this article.  But from what I can tell, it seems like a pretty crap study.  It sounds a lot like they set out with a conclusion in mind, designed a study that would prove it, and then congratulated themselves on being right all along. The theory was that nervous people make horses calmer.     Take a minute to let that soak in. Here’s the   link. Now, I can understand a schoolmaster—or even an unbroken horse—feeling less threatened by someone green and vulnerable placed at the center of a situation like this versus, say, a more confident handler venturing in there with the intention of “being the alpha,” who is naturally going to provoke a more wary, nervous response in the horse.  If the study was just making the distinction between horses' responses to people who see...

I recently posted about getting a horse started “ on the bit ,” but I probably should have started here, with the somewhat obscure concept of “jaw flexions.”     I first got thinking about this after a great  conversation   started by smazourek over at   Quarters For Me , and there's a great post on the subject that you should check out as well:   Cession de machoire First off, let me start by saying that I dislike the term “jaw flexion,” as I think it’s something of a misnomer; I prefer the term “jaw releases” (and even that’s imperfect) if we have to refer to this process at all. So, what are the mysterious jaw flexions or releases?     It is a concept and practice developed by Baucher in his Second Manner and over the years has been misunderstood and mangled by successive trainers and amateurs to the point of being nearly incomprehensible.     For all I know, I may be about to add myself to that list, but here is ...

I saw this in an e-mail going around work and for some reason just had to share.  I had to read it twice:  once with my regular brain and again with my "shut up and act like a normal person" moderator in place.  After you get past the initial shock and stop laughing, it's actually very sweet, and it's something I might have written at a young age, though I seriously hope my parents would have checked it before I handed it in!!!  But I do have to appreciate any young person so enthusiastic about (hopefully) horses. But I couldn't help getting a good chuckle out of it after a very long week, so hopefully you'll see the humor in it too and not be too offended.  And if you are, too bad!  Hahahahah ;-) It came from this list:   http://www.happyplace.com/3907/unintentionally-inappropriate-test-responses-from-children/page/1   so If you don't mind rude humor, there's more of the same. But it's not for the faint of heart.  Don't say I didn...

I know I’ve been pretty lax in my posting lately.  I have plenty of excuses, but none of them are especially convincing, so I won’t insult anyone by listing them here.  The truth is I’ve probably just had too many other things on my mind to put much thought into posts anyone might remotely want to read.  I’ve got limited time and space in my brain these days, which is a really bad combination. I’ve also been feeling a little grinchy in general.  I got my Christmas shopping out of the way pretty early (for me) and did a minimum of decorating.  I didn’t even bother with a tree this year.  Instead I got a dumpster and decided to tear apart my house, garage, barn, loft, feed shed and equipment shed and finally get organized—kind my gift to myself this year—so it seemed counterproductive to drag a tree and decorations out into the middle of the chaos. I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder or anything, but I have a definite knack for hanging onto semi-useful...

“ON THE BIT”—FIRST PHASE: LONG AND LOW KEY POINTS: ·       Flexing ·       Loosening ·       Lengthening FIRST STEPS: LOOSENING In this fist phase, the main priority will be to release any tension in the jaw, neck and poll, and thereby relax the topline, which will encourage the horse to naturally adopt a long and low frame on his own as opposed to an inverted and braced one. WHAT DOES THIS ACCOMPLISH? To accomplish this, one uses a single, simple rein aid: the “ Direct (Leading) Rein. ” The basic theory behind using the leading rein to get the horse stretching and relaxed in his topline is based on a technique advocated by Boucher.   He understood that, in order to raise the head and invert the topline, the horse has to brace the muscles on both sides of the neck as a pair.   Bringing the head to one side with a gentle leading rein (he employed a lifting hand for th...

AoifeTheRambler asked some great follow-up questions in a comment on my previous post , so I thought I’d take a few minutes to answer them because I think they are important issues we all deal with when using the following/automatic release.  While I don’t claim this is the definitive ruling on any of these issues, in my opinion and based on my experience, this is how I’d address them: Q:    “I used to keep my shoulders back (along with most of my torso) no matter what back in the age of the crest release, but now I curl up slightly when I go forward. Is this due to the release, and if so, do you have any tips to fix it without interfering with my release?” A:   Most of us are taught to ride with an arched back and square shoulders to go along with the crest release.  And with the crest release, this kind of position is possible because the elbows are bent and the support of the upper body rests in the hands, not the hips and back. ...

Many of us agree that the ideal way to help our horses jump their best is to use the following--or automatic--release.  But this is obviously easier said than done.  So, what are some ways to practice and perfect this method?  Here are a few I’ve found helpful in my own riding and when helping students to wean themselves off the crest release: 1) Flat work: Probably most important is to practice a secure and balanced half-seat and two-point/jumping position at all gaits for at least some portion of your ride every day.  Once your legs, hips, abs and back are strong enough, practice this while concentrating on keeping a fluid, mobile arm; shoulders, elbows, wrists and fingers should all remain relaxed, independent and capable of following the horse's head at all times.  Once you're able to maintain a secure position while keeping a soft following hand in jumping position, practice this without stirrups. 2) Hill work: Chances are there i...

4/9/11-- Just a quick post to say Happy Birthday to my "Tater."  He's 16 today, which means he's been with us for 12 years now!  Above is a picture from the first day I ever saw him.  He was 4 year old DWB fresh from Holland sent to me for training by a breeder I worked with.  For those who don't know how he got his name, his reg. name is "Napoli," but I worried that his inevitable nickname "Nappy" could also mean either a diaper or a recalcitrant horse - neither particularly flattering.  But we also had a running joke that he had the attention span of a gnat... and 'gnat' turned into the slightly more flattering "Nate."  But of course that has since degenerated into "Nate-o-potato" or just "Tater." I can't get over how little he's changed since then - just as big and goofy as ever ;-)  Once he arrived and I started working with him, I just fell in love with him and ended up buying him for myse...