Post by Calaminty Jane on Oct 14, 2010 10:18:34 GMT -5
Somebody sent a private e-mail to me asking if Brent has a "checklist" of things to do when he's doing groundwork with a horse. Although I think that person was probably asking for a list of tasks, that's not how Brent approaches a horse. If I had to make a list, it would include things such as,
>
> * Awareness
> * Intent
> * Forward, Calm, Straight, supple, feel, timing, balance, soft, responsive
> * Preparation
> * Positioning
> * Correctness/Quality/Clarity
> * Boundaries
> * Connection/ Energy: Connect with the mind; Connect with the feet; connect with the emotions. Brent looks at it as "we are one animal". It's not the human asking the horse to do something, it's "we" are doing something. Maybe half of "we" needs to go in the trailer. That's part of the Buddha like connection somebody mentioned in an earlier message. Many of you have probably seen Brent giving a feeling of calm to a horse. It comes from inside of him and goes to the inside of that horse.
> * THINK! What pieces are you missing from the saddle and how can you explain those pieces to the horse from the safety of being on the ground.
>
> As we travel the country, I see lots of folks working with their horses. A real common scenario would be watching somebody ask their horse to do some sort of obstacle. Whether it's loading into a trailer, going over a tarp, etc…
>
> The HUGE majority of the time, the person working with the horse isn't connecting with the horse's mind, they're just pushing body parts around.
>
> A lot of the time, people forget to make their requests in time with the horse's feet while they're doing groundwork (even if they try to do it from the saddle they forget about that part of their timing in their groundwork.) When I refer to getting in time with the feet, I'm talking about making your requests during the right point in the stride; NOT mirroring the horse with your own feet.
>
> Another common mistake is the person blocks the horse from doing what they're asking them to do. Maybe they're blocking by making big exaggerated movements, or having poor positioning. Exaggeration causes brace.
>
> Personally, I have mixed feelings about verbal praise. Part of my hesitation with it is most often, when the person starts talking, they stop LISTENING to the horse. A lot of the time, during verbal praise, the person dis-connects from the horse (with a high pitched "good girl/boy", then they march off to the next obstacle, dragging the horse behind them. Remember, DON"T LEAVE WITHOUT YOUR HORSE. YOU ARE ONE ANIMAL. Connect - have your mind with the horse and keep the horse's mind with you, then go together.
>
> When you're doing groundwork, pay attention to things such as suppleness, balance, how is the horse operating his feet, where is his mind, which muscles are loose or tight, what is his expression, is he maintaining the correct bend, are the two of you maintaining a "feel" of each other and that "we are one" type of connection.
>
> Time and again I see people doing groundwork in a way that doesn't relate to their riding. I even see "professional" trainers do irrelevant groundwork. If somebody sends their horse to a "professional trainer" to be started, I would think the huge majority of the time, that person should be able to get in the saddle and start riding within the first week. If they're doing groundwork for weeks on end, that probably means their groundwork isn't effective and they need to re-think some things. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the touchy feely "we need to develop a relationship and build trust" thing. But if you've hung your shingle out as a "trainer", I would expect you've got the skills to get in the saddle and get it done from there.
>
> When Brent was starting colts, he would have them saddled the first day or two and then would usually be in the saddle within the first few days. We worked with a bunch of colts this past week and most were saddled within our first 2 days with them (and we only worked ½ days). I guess it averaged out to an hour or two per horse. (They weren't old enough to ride). I don't expect that everybody would have Brent's skills but, a week is certainly plenty of time. If a "trainer" is taking more time than that on a consistent basis they need to be real honest with their clients about what kind of timeline they can expect, and go from there. I get a lot of private e-mails from folks wondering if it's typical for a trainer to take a month, and the horse isn't even saddled or ridden yet. (Sometimes two, three, or four months!!!) Again, if their groundwork was clear, effective and relevant to the next steps in the horse's education, it shouldn't take that long. Horses learn so much faster than we give them credit for.
>
> I've got a lot of chores to do, better get going.
>
> Kris
>
> * Awareness
> * Intent
> * Forward, Calm, Straight, supple, feel, timing, balance, soft, responsive
> * Preparation
> * Positioning
> * Correctness/Quality/Clarity
> * Boundaries
> * Connection/ Energy: Connect with the mind; Connect with the feet; connect with the emotions. Brent looks at it as "we are one animal". It's not the human asking the horse to do something, it's "we" are doing something. Maybe half of "we" needs to go in the trailer. That's part of the Buddha like connection somebody mentioned in an earlier message. Many of you have probably seen Brent giving a feeling of calm to a horse. It comes from inside of him and goes to the inside of that horse.
> * THINK! What pieces are you missing from the saddle and how can you explain those pieces to the horse from the safety of being on the ground.
>
> As we travel the country, I see lots of folks working with their horses. A real common scenario would be watching somebody ask their horse to do some sort of obstacle. Whether it's loading into a trailer, going over a tarp, etc…
>
> The HUGE majority of the time, the person working with the horse isn't connecting with the horse's mind, they're just pushing body parts around.
>
> A lot of the time, people forget to make their requests in time with the horse's feet while they're doing groundwork (even if they try to do it from the saddle they forget about that part of their timing in their groundwork.) When I refer to getting in time with the feet, I'm talking about making your requests during the right point in the stride; NOT mirroring the horse with your own feet.
>
> Another common mistake is the person blocks the horse from doing what they're asking them to do. Maybe they're blocking by making big exaggerated movements, or having poor positioning. Exaggeration causes brace.
>
> Personally, I have mixed feelings about verbal praise. Part of my hesitation with it is most often, when the person starts talking, they stop LISTENING to the horse. A lot of the time, during verbal praise, the person dis-connects from the horse (with a high pitched "good girl/boy", then they march off to the next obstacle, dragging the horse behind them. Remember, DON"T LEAVE WITHOUT YOUR HORSE. YOU ARE ONE ANIMAL. Connect - have your mind with the horse and keep the horse's mind with you, then go together.
>
> When you're doing groundwork, pay attention to things such as suppleness, balance, how is the horse operating his feet, where is his mind, which muscles are loose or tight, what is his expression, is he maintaining the correct bend, are the two of you maintaining a "feel" of each other and that "we are one" type of connection.
>
> Time and again I see people doing groundwork in a way that doesn't relate to their riding. I even see "professional" trainers do irrelevant groundwork. If somebody sends their horse to a "professional trainer" to be started, I would think the huge majority of the time, that person should be able to get in the saddle and start riding within the first week. If they're doing groundwork for weeks on end, that probably means their groundwork isn't effective and they need to re-think some things. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the touchy feely "we need to develop a relationship and build trust" thing. But if you've hung your shingle out as a "trainer", I would expect you've got the skills to get in the saddle and get it done from there.
>
> When Brent was starting colts, he would have them saddled the first day or two and then would usually be in the saddle within the first few days. We worked with a bunch of colts this past week and most were saddled within our first 2 days with them (and we only worked ½ days). I guess it averaged out to an hour or two per horse. (They weren't old enough to ride). I don't expect that everybody would have Brent's skills but, a week is certainly plenty of time. If a "trainer" is taking more time than that on a consistent basis they need to be real honest with their clients about what kind of timeline they can expect, and go from there. I get a lot of private e-mails from folks wondering if it's typical for a trainer to take a month, and the horse isn't even saddled or ridden yet. (Sometimes two, three, or four months!!!) Again, if their groundwork was clear, effective and relevant to the next steps in the horse's education, it shouldn't take that long. Horses learn so much faster than we give them credit for.
>
> I've got a lot of chores to do, better get going.
>
> Kris