flag62003

About Me

Natural Philosophies:
Bill Dorrance
Buck Brannaman
Classical Dressage
Harry Whitney
Jack Brainard
Mark Rashid
Pat Parelli
Ray Hunt
Tom Dorrance

Riding Disciplines:
All around
General English
General Western
Natural Horsemanship
Cattle work
Trail horse

Location: Gemara Farm, Barnesville, GA

Profession: horsemanship coach

My Website

More About Me: I've had horses for approximately 40 years, but it's been within the last ten years that the study of horsemanship has really improved all aspects of dealing with horses! It's the trickle down effect, but I'm trying to help others learn and keep from doing things the hard way.

My Horses

Bopper's Gold Dust ("Dusty")	Cody P's Polly Ann ("Polly")	Gemara's Glorious Star ("Glori")
Gemara's Joyous Adventure ("Joy")

My Tips

Displaying flag62003's tips. Have your own tip? Add it here.

leadline safety

Most of us know to be careful not to have a lead wrapped around our hand, but it is also important not to drape it over one's shoulder when cleaning a foot,grooming, etc. I've heard an account of what happened one time when someone did and the horse.... Read more

TIP POSTED BY FLAG62003 ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010
HORSE HANDLING | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Going through a gate

Instead of always leading your horse through an open gate, send them some of the time and then ask them to disengage and stand near the fence or wall. This accomplishes several things: the horse doesn't anticipate and just rush or go through the gate.... Read more

TIP POSTED BY FLAG62003 ON SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010
TRAINING: GROUNDWORK | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Keeping halter ready

Tie your rope halter with a quick release knot when it's not in use and open the crownplece to store the folded lead line. Then whey you are ready to use it, open the crownpiece and let the lead slide down to your arm and you'll be ready to halter.... Read more

TIP POSTED BY FLAG62003 ON TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010
EQUIPMENT | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Gemara Farm's Bulletin Board


flag62003 says... Yes, Celena, our little mare Joy is now in Germany. Thanks for the congratulations. It was an internet sale with LOTS of e-mails back and forth before we were both comfortable with moving forward on the transactiion. The lady had been searching for two years and knew exactly what she wanted and didn't want. Dealing with her was easy, the slow part was waiting for the quarantine to be over. We thought about getting set up to do it here in hopes of saving her some money, but it worked out better that she decided to send her to a quarantine facility which happened to be in TX and then she flew to Luxemburg and went by trailer to Germany in October. She and her new owner and the owner's other horse took to each other right off. I was thrilled to hear that because doing things sight unseen can be a little nerve wracking! Two weeks later I sold my spotted gelding Stripe, but that sale was made after the buyer came down and spent several days with us and him making sure they were a match. He's up in MD near the D.C. area now living the life of luxury with a stall, blankets, and and indoor arena to exercise in during the winter. POSTED ON DECEMBER 14, 2010

flag62003 says... Our mare Gemara's Joyous Adventure is going to live up to her name. She has been sold to a lady in Germany and will finish quarantine and be on a plane to her new home at the end of September! POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

flag62003 says... We've ridden in the Brent Graef Horsemanship clinics the last several years when he's been to GA, and last fall we even took our horses out to TX to ride in the Canyons Clinic. I'm thrilled this year to be the clinic host for their GA clinic. It's a two part clinic. People can do Horsemanship on the Trails or Horsemanship with Cows, or both! The setting is a big Cattle ranch and covered arena facility in middle GA. We're so looking forward to it! POSTED ON APRIL 24, 2010

Celena says... Hey! I didn't realize that Lee Ziegler had passed away. That is really sound. I've sure enjoyed her book - it's a breath of fresh air after seeing the abusive methods that are often used to train gaited horses. Thanks for letting me know your email address (I didn't get your email) - we'll send you the coupon code shortly! Also, just a tip for using the bulletin boards - if you reply on the other person's bulletin board, they'll get an email notification. One day we'll be able to "tag" people, but that's a little down the road :D POSTED ON APRIL 18, 2010

flag62003 says... Celena, I don't know if my e-mail got through to you or not, but my address is gemfox@bellsouth.net. I'm excited about winning the Super Fancy ad for the week. Thanks POSTED ON APRIL 13, 2010

flag62003 says... Wynne, Your camps sound like lots of fun as well as educational. I wish there had been something like that around when I was a kid! Bonnie POSTED ON APRIL 11, 2010

flag62003 says... I'm slow to figure out how this bulletin board stuff works. I think I may have it now. Lee Ziegler was a wealth of knowledge about horses, especially all of the gaited ones, and how to train them without gimmicks and rough stuff.. She passed away four years ago, shortly after her book Easy-Gaited Horses was published. It was a great loss, but her book is a wonderful legacy. POSTED ON APRIL 10, 2010

Celena says... And also to let you know, you are the winner of our free Super Fancy ad for this week! Thanks so much for getting involved. Please send me your email address and I will email you your coupon code for the ad. We're looking forward to getting to know you! POSTED ON APRIL 10, 2010

Celena says... I really like what you said about gaited horses being horses first! I'm reading a book by Lee Ziegler at the moment, but other than doing that, we've just worked with our TWH as we would work with any other horse and just enjoying her gaits and she offers them to us. Let me know if you write that article! And another question for you - do you know what it is in a gaited horse that allows it to move that way? Is it purely conformation-related or is it just "in them"? We've noticed an incredible ability in our TWH to get her hind end under her and she overtracks enormously even just at the normal walk, but other than that, we can't pinpoint anything different about her that allows her to move in such a nifty way. Any thoughts? POSTED ON APRIL 10, 2010

poohlu61 says... Actually I think the gaits are pretty interesting. Thank you. As for camps, we start off riding in the mornings. Depending on how many children I have, we may ride for an hour and a half or split into several groups. Then it's time for lunch, pool, arts and crafts, lectures. I usually have the children do some lectures as they look up info so it's not just me talking. I have weekly sessions just for the month of July as August gets hot and most folks go away. Wynne POSTED ON APRIL 8, 2010

Celena says... I'm eavesdropping on your conversation about MFTs and TWHs - very interesting! We have a TWH right now and she's the first gaited horse I've ever ridden/trained. She does a great running walk, and then she does a faster gait that we have no idea what it is. Maybe a rack? I might just have to video tape it and slow it down to see what she's actually doing with her legs! POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

Celena says... To find people who haven't written on your bulletin board, click on 'Find Friends' at the top yellow toolbar. It will take you to a page that has all of us listed - not too many yet, but we're getting there! POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

flag62003 says... Thanks Poohlu61, Missouri Fox Trotters and TWH have some of the same ancestors, but the signature gaits of the two breeds are different. TWHs are known for their running walk, and MFTs are known for the fox trot. The fox trot is the only soft gait that is diagonal. All others are lateral gaits. The fox trot differs from a regular trot though in that there is a delay in the back foot setting down instead of it landing at the same time as the diagonal front foot. That's what makes it smooth because there is not a time when all four feet are off the ground like in a regular trot. It also makes the gait more sure footed than the lateral gaits because it is diagonal. Probably more information than you wanted, LOL. Thanks for asking though! POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

flag62003 says... Hi Celena, To answer your question about natural horsemanship and gaited horses, no, there is no one specific person I work with or study. Gaited horses are horses first, and we don't really do anything different than we do with non gaited horses. We do consider each horse's abilities and work with them where they are, but that's true about each horse, no matter the breed. Some are built and wired differently and have different strengths and weaknesses. I think there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about gaited horses out there. I hear a lot of them coming from the mouths of gaited horse folks! Hmmm, sounds like another article coming on! LOL POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

Celena says... Hey, thanks so much for joining us here! I'm enjoying reading through the articles you have posted on your website, and I am looking forward to getting some here on SNH. I'll get in touch with you soon! Do you work with someone specifically who applies natural horsemanship for gaited horses? POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

poohlu61 says... Your horses are beautiful! Is a MFT like a TWH? POSTED ON APRIL 7, 2010

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