More Time To Work...

If you're new, click back to the first few posts to see how Max, my first horse, and I came to use Clinton Anderson's methods so I could get control on the ground and re-gain my lost confidence in the saddle after an incident last autumn.

MORE TIME TO WORK...

Yes!  Today we made more progress on the ground and good progress in the saddle.  Our groundwork is coming from Clinton Anderson's Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  Our work in the saddle is from Riding With Confidence-Series 1.

We had quite a workout on the ground first.  We backed.  We yielded forequarters.  To the right we’re doing great.  To the left…still not so great.   We lunged just a few circles each way.  (We’re still not ready for Lungeing for Respect-Stage 2.)  Then, we sidepassed all the way down the fence, turned around and sidepassed back.  It’s still rocky.  But we’re getting there…slowly.

In the saddle, we backed, trotted and posted and cantered. 

We also yielded hindquarters at the standstill.  I had forgotten to practice this on the ground today, so I really wasn’t expecting much in the way of Max remembering our practice yesterday. 

But he did remember. 

We yielded a couple of steps on both sides.  Good Boy!  This was major for me because, if you remember, I’ve had such an issue with the teaching of it on the ground.  My problem with it was that I was slow to catch on to the movements I needed to do to teach it, which made it confusing for Max.

I guess it just goes to show, when I got over myself and just did it exactly like Clinton Anderson said to do it, it works.  Anyway, now that I have these small results, I’ll be practicing it consistently until we’ve got it down.

We definitely need to get back to more nice, long workouts…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Great Day...

            Hi – If you’re a first-time reader, I’m a “beginner all over again” in the horse world.  And I like to watch the horse training shows on RFD TV.  I have a “lost confidence” issue that I’m addressing while using Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground and Riding With Confidence series.  The first few posts tell how I lost my confidence due to a fall, and came to use Clinton Anderson’s methods.  Feel free to comment.

Great Day…

We had a great session today, on the ground and in the saddle.  We didn’t work a long time at either one, but our time spent was excellent!

On the ground we did backing, yielding forequarters and lungeing at the trot and canter.

He’s still heavy on his front end, when yielding forequarters, but he’s trying.  I think I’m getting a little sloppy with my instruction on yielding forequarters.  We only did each direction a couple of times.  Maybe I’m getting sloppy because we practice it so much. 

I know something needs to change.  Maybe I should back off of yielding forequarters for a few days, then go back to it.  I need to insist on quality yields and maybe I just need a break from it myself.  Then, take it up again with sharp cues and insistence on quality.  I know it will take several days at that intensity level to get yielding forequarters to a B or A grade level.

His backing seemed slow and heavy today, too.

So, how could my session today have been so great with these flaws?

When I got into the saddle, I could tell both of us had made progress.  When I cued Max to canter, he did, and it was definitely slower and smoother.

And…since it was slower and smoother, I was able to stay with it and have control at the same time.  I see “cruising at the canter” from the Riding With Confidence series in our very near future.

I really believe the work we have been doing on the ground at the canter is directly responsible for the progress in the saddle.  His canter seemed more relaxed.  Therefore, I was relaxed. 

My confidence level skyrocketed.  And I just loved it.  I have missed that feeling.

Only one time did he resume that fast-paced, kind of frantic-like, canter.  I shut him down with a one-rein stop. The rest of our canters today were much easier feeling. 

Yep.  It was great…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

New Post Coming This Evening...

New Post Coming This Evening...


               For those just landing here, I'm a "beginner all over again" working with my horse, Max, using techniques I'm learning from viewing Clinton Anderson's horse training dvds.  Right now we're working on Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground Series 1 and 2 (We've just recently started Series 2) and Riding With Confidence Series 1 (I'm a little stuck in the saddle on this one.)
               Anyway, it's helping me regain confidence I lost through a "fall" I took last fall. (LOL) Really.
                I like watching all the horse trainers on RFD TV.  Clinton Anderson just happened to be the first one I connected with.  The first few posts tell how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's methods.

No More Excuses...

              
             With lots of help, I moved the arena (Still a verrrry loose use of the term, arena.)  Now I have no excuses for failing to progress from cruising at the trot to stick to the fence at the trot and on up to cruising and stick-to-the-fence at the canter, all riding exercises on Clinton Anderson's Riding with Confidence-1. The ground is a bit unlevel in some spots so we’ll walk it several times to get used to it.

Next Day:

Max and I took our first ride in the new “arena” location this morning.  It’s not quite as level as the other arena was, but Max seemed more relaxed.  (Therefore, so was I.)  We walked the perimeter first and then trotted it.  We rested in the only scary place left and he didn’t bat an eye.  So I can’t do anymore whining about the “spook” element of the arena.  Maybe I’ll be able to make some progress in the saddle at last…

Next Day:

Max is pivoting on his right hind foot when we yield forequarters to the right!  Woo-hoo!  We’ve worked on it just a few minutes, most days for a couple of months, and he can finally do it to the right!  Good Boy!

To the left…not so much…  We’ll keep working on the left.

Love the new location of the arena.  We had a relaxed ride today.  We mainly trotted. 

We also did yielding hindquarters at the standstill.  He’s a little sticky, but with a reminder (a tap on the hip) right at the beginning he gets it.  I seem to be getting more coordinated with the teaching of this skill, and the timing of it, the more we practice. 

At first, I had to really slow down and think about each individual step.  I had to think through each step as I did it:  draw his head around, correctly place my foot, release my foot when he moved correctly, wait for him to “give” and release immediately.  It’s becoming a smoother movement now.  The smoother I get with it, the smoother he seems to move.  We’ll keep working on it.

And get this.  I cantered about three times today.  One was a really long time!  I was so impressed with myself for letting him go with it that I forgot to count how many strides I hung in there for.  I was really trying to get the feel of it.  I’m trying to build up to a few strides more each day.  I didn’t have much control, but I was so wrapped up with the fact that I was cantering, I didn’t think a lot about it.  Max stopped anyway.  Good Boy!  LOL!

His canter is still a little too fast for me to be totally relaxed with it.  But I think we’re making strides (no pun intended) with that, too, on the ground.

I’m going to have to re-watch the cruising and stick-to-the-fence episodes on the Riding with Confidence-1 Series.  Not really to learn the method of teaching it so much as to use the episodes to build up my confidence. 

It helps me to review the lesson and remember things that Clinton Anderson says in the lesson like, “Any time you get uncomfortable, do a one rein stop.”  I really need to get that embedded in my head for when I can finally take on cruising at the canter. 

And we’ve worked more on the ground lately than we have in the saddle, so I may have to relax, slow down and just review trotting with Max in the “new” arena, then work up to the canter. 

Uh-oh, was that just an excuse???

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

#1-What Is TVhorsetalk?

So, what is TVhorsetalk?  I like watching all the horse trainer shows on RFD-TV.  A few years ago I discovered that there were several popular horse trainers with regular shows.   (I know I’m a little behind everyone else.)  Clinton Anderson, Chris Cox, Craig Cameron, Julie Goodnight, Ken McNabb and Ryan Gingerich are a few. 

Who knew that while I had been working and living in the big city all these years that there was a whole horse world of trainers and clinicians going on out here?  They’re all good.  I have watched all of their shows and have learned from each one. 
We didn't get RFD-TV in the city.  Now I don't get enough of it! 

TVhorsetalk is about the experiences I’m having as a BEGINNER using the techniques I learn from the TV horse trainers.

            Did I mention that I’m a lifelong horse lover?  I love everything about them.  I like watching shows about them, reading about them, talking about them, watching them, watching others work with them and ride them, and I love riding them myself, too.  Badly, but happily, riding them. 

            And a few years ago, when I knew getting my first horse was going to happen, but was still a little way in the future, I saw the clinician (new word for me) on RFD-TV named Clinton Anderson.  He was really good, both training the horse and explaining how he did it.  At the end of his show they listed locations of his upcoming tour stops.   
             I went, I saw it live, and I loved it.  I boldly ventured to think, “Boy, when I get a horse, maybe I can do some of this!”  I mean, who knew?  I never knew all this stuff about horses, but it made absolute sense.  That’s been a few years ago. 

            Fast forward to now.  I have moved to the country, out in the woods, with plenty of space, and I acquired my FIRST horse.  (The one my family had when I was a kid was really my brother’s horse.)

            And I still love to watch all the horse people on tv train horses… and train people who ride horses…

Last September I got Max.  I wanted a ten to twenty year old dead broke beautiful golden palomino quarter horse about 14 to 14.2 hands high.  Max is a six year old, pretty darn broke, (more on this later) pretty nice-looking, pinto grade quarter horse about 15.2 hands high. 
And I love him.

I decided I'd use the information and techniques I'd been watching on RFD-TV in order to become the leader of the pair of Max and me, and to improve my practically non-existent skills. 

I have a few background entries first so you'll know where I'm coming from.  And Clinton Anderson is the first one I'll explore because he's the first one I connected with.  (See later posts for explanation.) 

I’ve been keeping a log as I have been following Clinton Anderson’s Round Penning, Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series I and Riding with Confidence-Series I.  I’ll post one or two entries per day until I get caught up with “real time”.  You're welcome to share our journey through TVhorsetalk as Max and I follow Clinton Anderson's method.  I'm looking forward to extraordinary results! 

Have a good ride!

Greenhorn