I'm back from frozen Calgary, but I had a super time. My clients there are great people, and they're coming along by leaps and bounds, which is very exciting for me!
The moving the horses out for 3 weeks was pretty bizarre. We were hauling out the afternoon and evening the fire blew up into a firestorm, and I had had (weirdly enough) a premonition about the fire, and had set up a place for my own horses to go. I got them out in a hurry, and drove them to a community south of us, out of the way of the winds and the fire. I had to haul my parents' horses to safe haven as well, but the emergency preparedness people were onto things quickly so we hauled to a racetrack and fairgrounds at another community south of us. Then I started hauling friends' horses, as the burning branches fell out the sky. At 7 p.m. I had the headlights on on the truck but couldn't see the highway. I hauled until 1 a.m. that night, and then went home to sleep. My family was put on 10 minute alert, and my parents were evacuated that night. They went to stay with my sister south of us, which is where my family ended up as well. We lived in tents on the lawn, and ran from venue to venue all day every day to exercise horses, clean barns, and feed horses. My law office was also evacuated for 3 weeks, and we moved into vacant office space in the mountains north of us. That menat moving all the files, competuers, networks, etc. It truly was a nightmare. I'll tell you about hte corrkedness issue in the next e-mail, as I expect I'll run out of spece shortly!
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Most horses are hollow to the right, so yours is just normal. Some are hollow to the left, but the majority are hollow to the right - the side the mane falls on is a big clue! Exercises like leg-yield in walk and trot (and even canter, just make sure you hold canter position in your body) and shoulder-in, properly ridden on the outside rein will help a lot. What will help most is to take and insist on keeping right rein contact, while releasing left rein contact and pushing the horse into the right rein with the left leg at the girth. That's hard going to the right, but if you are consistent your horse will begin to push into your right hand, as your left rein connection is too intermittent to allow the horse to carry itself there. Bear in mind that you are no doubt feeling the effects of some of Heather's workouts, and your horse will have a similarly hard time at first. All horses are born crooked to some degree, and are just as one-sided as we are, so starightening them out takes time, patience, and commitment, but it will come. You need also to ensure that you sit on the right side of your horse, as you will instinctively sit on the strong side, which is the left. You must cosciously put your weight in the right stirrup and in your right seatbone, to encourage your horse to push its back up against your weight on the right, thereby straightening itself. I have very straight horses, and they bend evenly to both sides - judges comment on my tests to that effect regularly. My attention to that is partly what pushed me towards Heather, as I knew I personally wasn't as straight as I want my horses to be, and that seemed unreasonable and unfair. Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!
I'm zooming off to teach a clinic this weekend, so this is very short. I'll get back to you in more detail next week!
Yes, you want to keep the connection in the right rein even when circling to the right, and insist on the horse moving from the left leg into the right rein. Most horses are lazy off the left leg (again, not all, but any horse who's hollow to the right will almost certainly be lazy off the left leg), so you are working that as well as on the honest right connection. It sounds like your horse is improving by leaps and bounds, and of course doing Heather's workouts will make you straighter and more aware, as well as more effective.
I'm glad your summer's been better than expected. We are very worried about ours, as we've had such a warm winter, with so little precipitation, that usually means a very long, very hot, and very dry summer! I'll be in touch once I get home!
Jan Jollymour
I'm back from frozen Calgary, but I had a super time. My clients there are great people, and they're coming along by leaps and bounds, which is very exciting for me!
The moving the horses out for 3 weeks was pretty bizarre. We were hauling out the afternoon and evening the fire blew up into a firestorm, and I had had (weirdly enough) a premonition about the fire, and had set up a place for my own horses to go. I got them out in a hurry, and drove them to a community south of us, out of the way of the winds and the fire. I had to haul my parents' horses to safe haven as well, but the emergency preparedness people were onto things quickly so we hauled to a racetrack and fairgrounds at another community south of us. Then I started hauling friends' horses, as the burning branches fell out the sky. At 7 p.m. I had the headlights on on the truck but couldn't see the highway. I hauled until 1 a.m. that night, and then went home to sleep. My family was put on 10 minute alert, and my parents were evacuated that night. They went to stay with my sister south of us, which is where my family ended up as well. We lived in tents on the lawn, and ran from venue to venue all day every day to exercise horses, clean barns, and feed horses. My law office was also evacuated for 3 weeks, and we moved into vacant office space in the mountains north of us. That menat moving all the files, competuers, networks, etc. It truly was a nightmare. I'll tell you about hte corrkedness issue in the next e-mail, as I expect I'll run out of spece shortly!
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Feb 8, 2010
Jan Jollymour
Most horses are hollow to the right, so yours is just normal. Some are hollow to the left, but the majority are hollow to the right - the side the mane falls on is a big clue! Exercises like leg-yield in walk and trot (and even canter, just make sure you hold canter position in your body) and shoulder-in, properly ridden on the outside rein will help a lot. What will help most is to take and insist on keeping right rein contact, while releasing left rein contact and pushing the horse into the right rein with the left leg at the girth. That's hard going to the right, but if you are consistent your horse will begin to push into your right hand, as your left rein connection is too intermittent to allow the horse to carry itself there. Bear in mind that you are no doubt feeling the effects of some of Heather's workouts, and your horse will have a similarly hard time at first. All horses are born crooked to some degree, and are just as one-sided as we are, so starightening them out takes time, patience, and commitment, but it will come. You need also to ensure that you sit on the right side of your horse, as you will instinctively sit on the strong side, which is the left. You must cosciously put your weight in the right stirrup and in your right seatbone, to encourage your horse to push its back up against your weight on the right, thereby straightening itself. I have very straight horses, and they bend evenly to both sides - judges comment on my tests to that effect regularly. My attention to that is partly what pushed me towards Heather, as I knew I personally wasn't as straight as I want my horses to be, and that seemed unreasonable and unfair. Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!
Feb 8, 2010
Jan Jollymour
I'm zooming off to teach a clinic this weekend, so this is very short. I'll get back to you in more detail next week!
Yes, you want to keep the connection in the right rein even when circling to the right, and insist on the horse moving from the left leg into the right rein. Most horses are lazy off the left leg (again, not all, but any horse who's hollow to the right will almost certainly be lazy off the left leg), so you are working that as well as on the honest right connection. It sounds like your horse is improving by leaps and bounds, and of course doing Heather's workouts will make you straighter and more aware, as well as more effective.
I'm glad your summer's been better than expected. We are very worried about ours, as we've had such a warm winter, with so little precipitation, that usually means a very long, very hot, and very dry summer! I'll be in touch once I get home!
Feb 25, 2010