Friday, June 29, 2012

Feeling Better.

Just got me a copy of Bill Dorrance book, “True Horsemanship Through Feel”.
Having read some of it, and then re read, I have to be honest and say it is a remarkable collection of insights and advice. A whole life`s work. For me being quite ignorant about Western Riding, it, together with several other books has given me lately, more of an impetus towards improving my riding skills, and bringing along Sunny. I have been a bit lazy recently, and have lost faith in my own abilities to train the young horse. Its been a real poor time. Sunny hasnt suffered at all, she continues to be herself, and soft too. I think these old timers really knew a thing or two about training horses.
In the past, I have always wanted to get things done as soon as possible, but over the last few years, my whole thought processes have become changed, thanks to these people. I have slowed right down  the process with Sunny, and the response has been dramatic!  Dont get me wrong, my other horse the brave Gracie, has been fabulous, but I have a real belief that Sunny will be better. She responds so much quicker, learns easier, and has allowed me to learn along with her. Just the simple things like standing still? Flexing, and giving. Gracie was always so much quicker to lose interest, and was always looking for the next thing. She also has a tendency to “decide what she wants to do!” Its not as bad as it was but, I have never been able to totally eliminate it. So today, with the wind bending the trees almost double, I spent a good hour on Sunny, despite the wind, practicing her turns, stops and her walk and jog. I finished with a good “try”, at backing up more than the usual two steps, we managed a good five!
Then it was Gracie`s turn, everything went fine, walk, jog, turns, stops and her rather fast canter! Slowing this down isnt easy, she really loves to go.  But after trying for a few minutes, and being more “feeling” with her, I began to feel her relaxing, it was really hard at first to detect. There was resistance to the slowing down, she would shake her head and raise it. But towards the end, I felt as though she caught on to what I was asking, we stopped on a good “try”, she gave me a half circle much slower than all the others, with her head in a good settled position and without any resistance.  My words are not as “equine” as some, but I hope you get my meaning.
Finally, we have another equine friend staying for a while, his name is Charley, a gelding of about 18 years old.  I`ll fill you all in later.

16 comments:

  1. Am I right in thinking that Sunny is an appaloosa? Not that I'm biased or anything (ahem)but they are super quick learners.
    That's a beautiful header Cheyenne.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Denise, Your dead right, Sunny is an Appy cross, the horse in the header, her sister was the mother of Sunny! Just as an aside, when I started teaching Sunny to give to the Bosal, it was truly amazing just how quick, she got it, and I wasnt even trying too hard, just playing with her!

      Delete
  2. We had a copy of Dorrance's book that we lent to someone and lost, argh!

    Good for you in slowing things down. I think it helps my focus when I decide not to have an agenda.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sure does work better, Dorrance had it down to a tee! I have tried to switch off each time I go to the horses to work, but not always with success, but know? I seem to have achieved it.

      Delete
  3. Hope that you folks are trying to stay cool! Richard from the Amish community of Lebanon,pa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We cant help but Richard! Its been only 14 degrees for ages!

      Delete
  4. That's a great book, and it's the fore runner of the "natural horsemanship" craze.
    Slowing down with age is commonly called "Wisdom".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You must be right! I find myself sitting in my new rocking chair more, theses days!!Lol

      Its a really good book, I cannot put it down at the moment!

      Delete
  5. Great book!
    His brother Toms book "True Unity" is a special book too! I have them both in my horse library!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good to hear from you! Hows things with you? Things going ok? ...I must try and get a copy of this book, for my library! Thanks for popping by!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You would enjoy the big state fair shows around here where they often have a educational part in them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, if I could pop on over, I surely would! Lol!!!

      Thanks for that, really, if only I could! But I am coming to Montana, in June next year for two week Ranching vacation. Looking forward to that!

      Delete
  8. There's a reason why they say haste makes waste.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just love the photo at the top of the blog! Appies have good minds, brought one of the "unhandled" foals in today to give her a break from the rain (yip, then it stayed dry, she thinks I've lost my mind) and thought I'd teach her to pick up her feet... walked round picked up every foot, moved her over both sides and left the stable two mins later. Been here before :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've picked that book up many times and almost bought it. I will buy it next time, thanks!

    ReplyDelete