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Comment by Mary on July 23, 2009 at 12:14pm

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the advice and info. During the last couple of weeks, we've been working mainly in the roundpen. I can lunge her there without a line, just the whip to assist when she isn't listening. She will lunge pretty good except on days when she would rather just stand in front of me and sometimes she tunes out and just goes around and around. lol In the roundpen, she won't follow me like she does in the arena or in her pasture. This has helped with my shoulders a lot. Keep sending the excellent ideas!

Comment by Gail Morse on July 20, 2009 at 2:01pm

I guess I qualify for this group with majorly flat feet and arthritis in every joint and 3 fingers on one hand with no sensation. I find that when I am with the horse I am pretty well able to ignore these things and I agree with a previous poster who says no sense not riding in the summer or you will lose all your fitness. I did not ride for 7 months last winter as the arena was too dusty and at 64 I can't afford to stop again. So for September until the end of next April I will be with an arena and the rest of the year on a trail facility. Cheers! Gail Morse.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 17, 2009 at 10:33am

Boy, the heat is REALLY getting to me this year, even though this summer is a little cooler than normal. The only decent time of day is around 6 AM until 7 AM, then the humidity cranks up. Thank goodness for my ice vest, though it makes it harder on my back when I practice my jumping position. The only thing keeping me going is knowing if I stop riding because it is too hot, then I will have to spend MONTHS getting strength back in my riding muscles come fall and winter.
The good news is that my front-back balance continues to improve while on horseback. I hope this will continue during the dog days of August, when it gets even hotter and more humid here.
KEEP ON RIDING!!!

Comment by Cat on July 12, 2009 at 8:54am

I've been reading through the posts and I would like to say that when I had Adam, We had an amazing bond which developed very quickly. I had him for just under a year before I had to send him back to his owner because of my back injury.

Adam would follow me around the school with his head almost touching my shoulder and I could lunge him without the use of a whip or lunge line. I would use body language and voice commands and he would respond the majority of the time - there were times when he was a little stubborn and I would go back to using the lunge line for a while before going back to just voice and body language.
He was incredibly sweet and would be very content to spend time with me.
I exercised him everyday and varied the activities between hacking and schooling and if I was short of time I would lunge.
He always seemed to know what I wanted and there were times when out hacking we would prepare to have a canter and he would hesitate for a second before going for it, almost as if he were saying are you ready mum! It was very strange and very hard to explain without sounding completely mad. But I suppose bonds do get strong if you see your horse everyday and spend a good amount of time with him.
I so wish I had the ability to do all that again. Be able to spend time with a horse and really get to know them properly and have the physical ability to ride everyday again.
Horses really are amazing creatures.

Comment by Cat on July 12, 2009 at 8:36am

Hi All,
I hope everyone is keeping well. I've not ridden in 3 weeks (I think it is) and I'm noticing how down I am getting. I hope I will be able to get a ride in next week, but health wise has been a nightmare, as well as the usual FM, I have an on going kidney infection, the antibiotics eased it a bit but I'm still not right and the Dr's seem to be dragging their heels and looking at other avenues which are completely irrelevant and just dragging me down even further, I'm hoping to kick them in to gear next week and try to get this sorted. As for my FM, well that's been a bit more settled in the last couple of weeks because of the heat, but if it gets any cooler I will be feeling it.....
Still the thought of going to see or ride horses keeps me plodding on.

Sorry if I'm sounding down. I hope to be better soon.

Have a good ride with your horses!
Cat

Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 7, 2009 at 10:28am

There is also an older American system, Jesse Beery's. You can learn about it at horsetrainingresources.com. The site also sells lots of videos by western trainers, from beginning on up. Read his blogs, each one tends to have a jewel of information that can really help.

Comment by Fiona Hill on July 7, 2009 at 4:03am

Absolutely, well said Shirley. It's very true that no-one person or trainer has all the answers and you have to find what works for you and pick and choose from lots of different ones - to develop your own style. Ultimately it's about your own bond with your horse that counts and no 'set of techniques' will ever give you that. At the end of the day people have been training horses for years in all sorts of different ways, and getting results, so there is no 'one best way'.

Comment by Shirley on July 7, 2009 at 2:17am

Both of these trainers (Parelli and Irwin) and many others bring a wonderful variety of techniques to the table. No one has all the answers. Please just take a look as you can and make up your own mind what will work for you. Both teach ways of reading the horse and how the horse responds to our body lanquage. There is soooo much to learn from them. Both pride themselves in useing gentle techniques. Also, as far as needing special equipment to do Parelli I often play with a regular halter and whip. You do not HAVE to HAVE special equipment. I have their sponsored items but you don't Have to have them. I do know that a rope halter will cause you to have to use less of your strength in most anything you do. I have seen repeatedly when a horse gets frisky and the owner is weak that there is more control easier with a rope halter then with a regular halter. I have friends with arm strength issues that don't use Parelli Training Techniques but still use rope halters for that very reason. I also learned from Parelli's how to push, block and draw my horse with just my body so they both do that.
I have a great bond with my horse. He comes to the gate to meet me when I get to the barn. He will follow me around in the arena WITHOUT a lead rope or treat. I haven't taught my horse to do this yet but I have a friend that can back her horse into a trailer with no leadrope or whip, she just motions with her hands and fingers to let him know what she wants. It's wonderful to see. I really am very impressed with the knowledge that these two guys have (and others too). They do each have their own style and only you can pick which looks like it will help you more to get started. I have Chris Irwin tapes and Parelli & Clinton Anderson, and Monty Roberts & Richard Shrake and have seen Chris Cox clinics and a few lesser known. I have my favorites and I have one that I could barely stand to watch. All I'm saying is check it out and find what you like. There's always gonna be different strokes for different folks. Enjoy the journey with your partner!

Comment by Fiona Hill on July 6, 2009 at 6:06pm

I agree with Jackie here. Although Parelli's stuff looks impressive, I would recommend looking at Chris Irwin's approach, which is much more subtle and teaches real awareness of your body language and teaches you to read how the horse is truly responding to it. It needs no special equipment and requires no rope twirling or stick waving abilities. You can start work with your horse in hand using just a headcollar and lead rope, with a dressage whip. You can practice 'pushing, blocking and drawing' the horse around with just your body. I don't mean to sound like an advertising campaign for Chris, but I think his approach is very kind to the horse and I strongly recommend him. Once you have a good bond with your horse, it will never want to leave you, will be truly relaxed in your company and will prefer to be with you rather than other horses!

Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 6, 2009 at 1:54pm

Mary, just a suggestion--it might help your shoulder if you stop the training session when your shoulder starts hurting when using the whip.
It may also help if you teach your horse the voice commands WALK, TROT, HUP (for canter) and WHOA. Just start at walk and whoa, you have plenty of time and the horse does not have to learn everything in one day. The horse is perfectly able to learn something from a 5 minute lesson, and if that is your limit you may progress as fast or faster as someone drilling for an hour.
Parelli strikes me as being somewhat labor intensive. Do not feel bad if you do not have the strength or endurance to do stuff his way, as there are other systems that may not take as much out of you.

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