In the question of rider balance over the horse, I have been taught of late to take that idea of can you stand if we were to remove the horse from under you to can you take your weight off the saddle and stay balanced while riding. I find this a good way to check myself out as I go, and it helps me find symmetry to my way of going with the horse.
You have no idea how true that explanation actually is. Just came off my horse at 70 years of age and broke my leg. After many years of trying in vein and lots of wasted money only very few instructors know how to teach an adult beginner. Just standing there telling you what you are doing wrong isn’t telling you how to fix it.
This was a great illumination for me when your protégé Stephaney Fish Crossman instructed me a few months ago. My horse finally went forward with rhythm and for the 1st time I was able to keep my heels properly aligned.
Hey man that was super super helpful. I face a hard time getting a lazy horse to respond to my leg aids some days. I’ve tried the whip as well. Do you think there's anything else I can do to get him to transition to a trot?
I attended a MW clinic and the one thing that made a difference, after getting all the correct alignment, lateral and longitudinally, is pushing your stomach towards your hands and sitting very close to the front of the movement. It's vital when riding big moving horses. It then feels like you are riding a pony not a 16.3 warmblood!
I ride Reining Horses I don’t know much about the discipline of dressage, but it seems very similar as we sit with a straight back slightly rounded. It’s imperative to keep a horse completely underneath you, as well as keeping your body straight which sends a signal back to the horse not to lean either way, shoulder or hip. Have I got the right idea?
A lady gave me your book 2 year ago or so been slowly going through it.. I go through stages where the more I read the worse my riding gets bcs I'm trying to apply it to my riding and the more streesed I get but then something kicks and wow may u just say your book is my best trainer u are very good my sitting trot has never been this good and u explain things to the point where there is no possibility that u don't understand what u mean or that someone could maybe miss understand u no that doesn't happen bcs u get to the very detail and I move it thank you thank you
Mary your are changing my way of Riding and my horse especially thanks you sooo much! I‘ve just found one Rwym Trainer and I am Training Myself for my horse and my own sake. We are discovering a new and healthy war of riding. We Are so happy and are making a Huge improvement in our relationship (me and my horse!). Thank you for Sharing your Knowledge!
Hello! I am an entrepreneur. I translate English books about training (Isabel Werth, Carl Hester etc) for Ukrainian Equestrian Sport Federation. I want to ask you can I take videos from your RU-vid channel and translate them? I want to share them on my small RU-vid channel with link to your original videos. Thank You!
The problem is that "on the bit" is an obsession for some people and is encouraged by instructors because if the horse has his head in a natural position (which it should be with novice and beginner riders) it is seen as lack of skill. It is something which should never be encouraged until the rider has sufficient skill to use his weight and aids which are mostly from the advancement of the use of the seat and mechanics.
if i close my eyes while riding at the walk and sitting trot i can feel a tiny figure 8 under my seat bones. i do this in very short increments here and there around the arena. it really helps. love this explanation of the plugging in method, its extremely helpful! ty!
the halt is a three part action. you must first feel the in out motion of the horses sides against your softly relaxed legs take the rhythm and engage your seat bones to start slowing the rhythm , next try pulsing with your fingers on the reins in rhythm with the steps inside finger outside finger in out to further tell the horse to begin the transition and what speed of transition, the third step would be to release the leg and hands as your horse makes the final step. This helps reinforce the fact that although he must carry the bit it is his responsibility to not clamp or pull on the bit either. Think of the bit as a cactus, if you carry it softly and gently you do not get hurt, if you clutch and grab you get spiked. It also helps to think of all transitions as if trying to shift gears on a car or truck. The shifting has to be done in the right sequence at the right time.
I just got a saddle stool to work on my flexibility in my hips as part of my ground work. My goal is to learn to melt in and connect to my seat bones while increasing my ability to relax as well. Do you do this and if so can you direct me to find it. I determined to do this because of my Pilates.
Release of pressure is “relief”, surely, not a “reward”. The release is reinforcing if the desired behaviour is more likely to occur again once the stimulus is removed. I understand that operant conditioning involves more than just negative reinforcement. Having set the environment up to maximise success for the learner, I understood positive reinforcement was a preferable alternative before using negative reinforcement? A horse, like a hippo or hedgehog or any other being with a pulse, learns through all four quadrants. Why is it assumed horses only learn through -R I wonder ?
It's definitely not assumed so but most classical horse training is based off of negative reinforcement. It would be great if more horse people learnt how this (-R) works so that the training used by most of the horse world was done in a more controlled manner and thus more humane, aka the cues are so light and refined that in turn, it's less irritable to the horse. Thus less harsh bits are used, or bits in general (morenbitless woop woop), less spur use because you don't need them etc. etc.. Of course the ideal is much more positive reinforcement and there are heaps of horse trainers and individuals practising it nowadays. Hopefully one day we call all walk around with bumbags full of treats and it be considered normal ay! Check out Melanie Watson, she's a great advocate for +R in the horse world. And Andrew McLean now has a Diploma course too! And Click with horses by Georgia Bruce :)
Anarikins The universal language of training is ethologically driven. Once you get this you can “talk” to them in their own language. The discussion in this video is bullshit. Sorry that’s the only way to say it. .
To halt, simply close the seat and legs and elevate your posture and stop following his motion and I guarantee the he will halt. If you tend to ride with a closed seat you will find that the horse will be sticky
How does this mesh with the idea of a horse having consistent contact with the bit? If your horse doesn't have contact on the bit, yeah they will run into the bit. How can you communicate with your horse without contact? Why are we teaching horses that the reins mean to stop when we should be teaching halt from our seat?
Partially correct. One should not talk about the butt but the crotch; not the clit but the inner area of the top of the legs. The butt is a useless piece of mass that only confuses the horse, if anything. Also, you ought to learn the proper, thorough and adequate use of the bit; otherwise, for what I hear in this video, you might as well go bit-less. Finally, the art of the deal consist not in making the horse do things; quite contrarily, proper riding means telling the horse what to do. Asking, helping, etc. are but hypocritical terms, which confuse beginners and belittle horses.
"IF YOU HAVE THE TALENT GREAT, IF YOU HAVEN'T HARD LUCK!!" Not a nice thing to say, maybe should have said that's something you can work on. Bit bloody harsh, wouldn't want a lesson with this woman, quite rude.
So if your steering the horse like a wheel barrel... does one hand go down a little and the other one go up? For instance when you’re taking a left does your left hand go down a little bit and you’re right and go up while your body leans a tiny bit to the left? Do you lean a little with your body?
@Amy Farness no... Dont take that too seriously, these are just thoughts that may help you stop thinking that you can only turn by pulling the inside rein. This also gives you the nice feeling of making a "corridor" with both reins, the "corridor" showing the horse the direction you want to go. Also, notice that you use your bodyweight a lot while turning the wheelbarrow or a bike!
The knowledge how to NOT hurt horses is always given absolutely for free. This lady explains why horses have their limitations. Learn from her. You can't do certain things either. Any fysiotherapist can tell you. And remember the general rule: no metal. No bits, no spurs, no whip, no tie downs or martingales. No pain, no fear, no dominating or forcing. Speak horse bodylanguage and you won't need all that tackle and metal. And forget about the costume and the accessories. It's not a fashion event. Don't jump or race a horse. They don't like dressage either. Anything he resists naturally is not good for him. Don't keep them in stalls away from other horse or you're asking for trouble. A horse is a herd animal. It is also a prey animal and he scares easily. When he spooks, don't yank on his reigns. It only upsets him more. Groundwork is the basis and patience and baby steps is the only way. Build trust. Prove you are the trustworthy leader that keeps him safe, not the dominatrix that really belongs in an S&M club. And I will keep pestering horsepeople until you start respecting a horse as a leaving creature with rights of his own, not a machine with buttons to push. Horses have off days too.
carolineleiden "anything you naturally resist is not good for y u" BAHAHAH. I'm sorry but that is absolutely wrong. You're sick, so you go to the doctors. They give you some medicine. You take it as directed like you were eating foods. It's not good tasting, so you naturally gag, so then you leave it. You get worse. It could've gone- you sucked it up, held your nose, swallowed it and repeat. In a r suit, you got better. Example. You're riding, and you're scared to jump, the trainer and other riding mates believe you're fine and you're on a bombproof horse. You naturally say no. But rI ally, you want to be a show jumper. Haha. No chance of being that now, eh? I'm sure when you were little you naturally said "no, yucky" to some vege. But little do you know it was a capsicum. Extremely good for you. I'm just laughing at your comment, really.
Bit = mor contact with th horse's mouth. Unless you want to reach down and put your finger in it and ride like that. You need to gain control of the horse, if not, it's not going to listen to you and bolt off like a maniac. Whip= extension of the arm or leg. I'm sure your leg can't reach that far back, nor can your arm. Spur = they're just a little "GO!". I'm sur your boots back is soft, smooth, and flat. That's not really strict enough with the horse.
No PAin or fear or dominating? HAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAH that's hilarious! I'm sure you don't know that in the wild and in "fReEdOm" HORZES are all friendly to each other, all running in a big group having tea parties with no emotions? Pft. It's just like life, we were forced to do things we don't like, we can't like everything okay. In the wild horses naturally dominate each other, and they are prey. Fight or flight animals. OFC they're gonna have fear or pain when they fight or run.
Okay so. What were meant to do -be always happy and kind to your horse. Sorry not YOUR horse. You can't own one and keep it in a stall away from its herd. Right so go into the wild and eye a horse. Do lots of groundwork! Oh! But how can we when we don't have anything to control it with? No fashion allowed. Right. So halter? No. Saddle? No. Saddle blanket? PFT NO. Anything? Uhm NO!!! Alright. Tackles it is. Wait but we can't even go near the wild horses because they feel fear. Ah of course..
Getting it on the bit is torture in the hands of people who don't know what they are doing. Go bitless, it is safer that way for the horse. Humans are only human. They make mistakes. They startle, they are impatient and annoyed and so many are just plain mean and angry. And the horses get punished for it. Play it safe. There is an alternative to that bit that is better for the horse and just as fine for the human. Sure it means you have to change your ways, but the reward will be great. If it is wrong, change it. Don't hurt horses, do your groundwork, teach him what you want of him while walking next to him, and go bitless. He will be so grateful that he will happily do everything for you.
