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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010

Natural Horsemanship as it Relates to Parenting

I was thinking the other day how natural horsemanship really does apply to all areas of my life. It affects how I relate to people and especially how I am with my son.

Because I only have one child, I really don’t know if my observations that relate the way Ben responds to my methods are really accurate – I haven’t exactly had a lot of different case studies! But the way I approach parenting (and urge my husband to do the same) is with consistency, a whole lot of love, a sense of fun and a sense of justice.

Ben is nearly two-years-old and a really interesting little person. The other day, he took a round cork trivet and a pair of oven mitts out of a kitchen drawer, put the mitts on and carried the trivet around, proudly showing me his ‘pizza’. I never cease to be amazed at the things he comes up with all on his own.

And wow, if you want to know how emotionally fit you are, just try being the primary caregiver of a young child in pain. Some children are easy teethers – Ben is not! Before he was five months old, his first teeth came in. Since then, we’ve had months and months and months of teething. For both for Ben and for those around him, the sleepless nights and misery can last for ages – for example, he’s been working on his two year molars since December and it is now June and they’re still not in! I was happy that I came into this with more emotional fitness and more awareness of my emotional state and how to change it than I used to have. It has also clearly shown me some areas that need improvement!

Aside from the whole teething thing, Ben is a really happy kid. He has and understands his boundaries; he has determination but knows that if he is really struggling, we will help him out; he trusts us implicitly and feels safe with us. He knows that he won’t be told that he can do something today and then be reprimanded for doing it tomorrow. He understands when he makes a mistake that we still love him, and he has shown us the value of repeating things over and over (and over and over) again with patience and understanding.

I’m not a perfect parent, but natural horsemanship has sure helped me be better than I otherwise would have. And really, I think that parenting has helped me to be better with my horses.

POSTED BY CELENA AT 6:09 PM      0 COMMENTS     POST A COMMENT
CATEGORIES: EMOTIONAL FITNESS, HORSEPEOPLE - A BREED OF OUR OWN, LAYING THE FOUNDATION, MY FAMILY, REPETITION

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

A Good Start

You know how they say that a good start is half the finish? I’m with them.

Yesterday we took Blondie, our 4-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse mare out for her first trail ride. It was her seventh time being ridden – and four of those rides happened last fall.

When we got Blondie last June, she was mostly wild – we couldn’t even catch her. It took two weeks of taking it slow and showing her people were a good thing to finally be able to halter her. But once we had earned her trust, she turned into a different horse.

For most of her life, she had been living, pretty much unhandled, on a breeding farm. But she did have one short period of incredible handling, and I believe those few days made a big difference in this horse.

As a three-year-old, Blondie participated in a clinic with Ray Hunt. And just those few days of great handling stayed with her. We noticed it as soon as we were able to halter her. She was extremely respectful of pressure – she never thought of pulling back while tied, and led like a dream.

After we’d had Blondie for two weeks and had just been able to start handling her, a young rescue horse who we’d found a home for needed to be loaded into a trailer. This youngster, Spirit, had been badly abused and I had only been able to touch him once – and now we needed to get him into a trailer!

Spirit had bonded with Blondie, and would follow her everywhere. So we haltered Blondie and led her into the trailer, which had been backed into their pasture. She was a little bit nervous of getting in, but had been taught to lead so well that within seconds she was hopping in – and Spirit followed right behind! The hard part was getting Blondie back out, but again, her respect for pressure made it a lot easier than it could have been.

When we started working with her in the round pen, Blondie was your usual green horse – worried about new things and a little anxious about what was going on. But she settled into the routine quickly and accepted new things much more easily than you would expect an unhandled horse to do.

She was like an experienced trail horse when we rode out yesterday. She had been taught to move off of pressure so well that even on her third ride this year, she was moving off the slightest suggestion from my leg. And I got to enjoy that amazing running walk!

Even though she’d hardly had any handling as a youngster, the handling that Blondie did have was excellent. She is one of those lucky horses who has never had a bad experience with people. She has so much trust and confidence in people, and that makes her very willing even when faced with new experiences. It is so wonderful to see and experience what a difference that makes in a horse.

Thank you, Ray Hunt.

POSTED BY CELENA AT 9:29 AM      0 COMMENTS     POST A COMMENT
CATEGORIES: LAYING THE FOUNDATION, NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP PROFESSIONALS, RAY HUNT, YOUNGSTERS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010

What Do YOU Think???

Owing Heartwood, where we have a lot of fun with our horses, lay a solid foundation and find them great new homes, is an amazing opportunity. Not only do we get to do what we love and meet great, like-minded horsepeople, but we get to experience many different horses. And what a gift that is for developing our horsemanship!

Because we are not currently blessed with an indoor arena or good weather, we are spending a lot of time this winter researching different horsemanship methods. Yes, that means that we get to read horsemanship books and watch horsemanship DVDs while on the clock. What could be better?!

Our goal is not just to further our own horsemanship, but also to outline a horse development strategy. In the spring, we plan to hire a student to come in and work with us. So far, since Anna and my philosophies are pretty parallel, we haven't laid out our exact program - that is, what we do, step by step, with our horses. But since we are bringing a student into the mix, in order to reduce the number of gaps and ensure that our horses have that real foundation, an written game plan seems like a good idea.

Anna and I have both always been very open-minded and explored many different avenues of horsemanship. We like to sort through information, take what we feel is relevant and in line with our philosophy and leave the rest. We love seeing the different methods out there and incorporating different techniques into our training as we find them.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to just stick with one program, but most of the time I'm pretty happy to take note of the similarities and differences in the approaches out there and use what makes sense to me.

So what do I want your input on? I want to know the one thing you have found most beneficial to you and your horse. Is there an exercise that you find indispensable? A technique? A game? Why?

As a 'collector' of horsemanship information, I'm hoping for some really neat ideas to try out!

POSTED BY CELENA AT 8:17 PM      2 COMMENTS     POST A COMMENT
CATEGORIES: ANNA, APPLYING NH, ASPIRING HORSEMAN, DEVELOPING HORSES, LAYING THE FOUNDATION, NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP EXERCISES, NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP PHILOSOPHIES, NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP TECHNIQUES

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2009

Dashing Through the Snow

Is there anything better than riding in the snow?

Well, yes actually. But tacking up on a crisp day and going out for a jaunt through the snow is definitely the best part of winter. Anna and I went out riding the other day on two of our young horses, Chica and Rosie. Chica, as always, marched through the snow with great enthusiasm. Rosie, an Andalusian-Arab cross who is our newest acquisition, was also eager to be out and about, despite not being in as good shape as Chica.

There was a definite chill in the air, but aboard the beautiful Rosie, I really didn’t care. We walked and trotted on the logging roads in the mountains behind the farm – and with that dusting of snow, the scenery was truly breathtaking and made all the better by being on horseback. We stopped and looked at animal tracks in the snow – Anna and I agreed that we need to get better at identifying tracks – and picked out a Christmas tree to chop down later.

Then we got to the meadow where we often canter the horses. Anna and I looked at each other and grinned, each knowing the other was up for a canter. Rosie is green and we hadn’t cantered her yet, but she was feeling fantastic – her gaits were smooth and easy, and her attitude was willing. I was sure she was ready for it, and I was eager to feel the canter that I had seen her do from the ground.

It was amazing. She stepped right up into the canter and followed Chica, winding through the meadow on the snow-covered logging road. She didn’t try to pass or lag behind – she maintained the exact same distance behind Chica the whole time. And she didn’t disappoint me – her canter was wonderfully balanced and rocking. It was, without a doubt, the best first canter I’ve ridden.

No matter how many horses I start, seeing them progress never ceases to amaze me. Riding out in the snow, having such a wonderfully positive ride and first canter, really made my day.

POSTED BY CELENA AT 9:27 AM      0 COMMENTS     POST A COMMENT
CATEGORIES: ANNA, CHICA, LAYING THE FOUNDATION, ROSIE, WINTER RIDING