Leadership: Nature's Way

Nature’s Way: Every Herd Needs A Leader

It is THE LAW of nature that every herd needs a leader.  If you and your horse are together, then there must be a leader and that leader had best be you.  There is  always what we call “testing” by a horse.  What he is actually doing every single time he tests you is actually checking out who is the leader of the herd.  Since it is you and him  together, you have a herd of two. 

If you allow him to ignore you or do his own thing, he is then the leader.  This is not a good position for you and soon you will have a rambunctious, and possible dangerous horse on your hands.  You will not trust him because he does not trust you.  

Tiffy - the leader of our herd

                  Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)                                                                            www.RideNYS.com

Consistency is the Key for Your Little Darling !

When it comes to working with horses, consistency is the key ...  " Consistency is your greatest ally and inconsistency is your worst enemy".

This is one of the best lessons I have ever learned and it makes a HUGE difference in the interaction between you and your little darling.  Why?  Because he is not confused and "gets it" - you gave him the real opportunity to understanding a behavior that you want from him.

A few simple examples:

If you expect him to always drop his head for haltering then that is what you need toalways insist on.
If you allow him sometimes get away with raising his head in the air and you still halter him and then other times you expect the head to be lowered, you are inconsistent and confusing to your horse.

It really does mess him up because he then thinks both actions are just fine.

If you sometimes let him rush out of his stall and other times require him to wait for you.

If you allow him to jig back to the barn and other times require that he quietly walks back.

If you allow him to stomp his feet for feeding and you feed him and other times you  insist that he is mannerly or allow him to head dive in the feed bucket and later don't allow it.

If you allow him to move when you get up on the saddle and climb up there anyways and other times you require him to stand still.

When you ask your horse to stop and allow him to leak forward or move out on his own instead of doing what you have asked him to do.

And the list goes on and on and on ....

You are always training your horse and too often it is easy to forget that.  They are aware of nearly everything you do when you are around them.

So, to help your little darling always be good and well-mannered, be aware of what you are doing and BE CONSISTENT.

                                                  

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#60 Alone

#60  Alone

Lots of folks don't ride alone because they are simply terrified at even the thought of it.  If you are one of these, you are truly missing out on a lot.

It is a skill, like any other, that you kind of have to teach yourself.  What it boils down is a confidence thing.  Confidence in that you may often just not do things alone, or confidence regarding trusting your horse, or trusting that you will find your way out of the woods, or thinking that you will get hurt, or just lacking confidence in yourself.

So those are the things that you will need to tackle, a bit at a time, to go and ride alone.  The time you spend with you and your little darling in attempting to accomplish this is time incredibly well spent.  

Once you start doing this, you no longer have to wait around for some one to go with or put together a schedule, and you can pretty much go riding just on the fly,  and the partnership between you and your buddy will increase triple-fold.

The rewards are simply huge.

Next blog - (if your horse isn't used to going out alone - we'll explain how to get the both of you doing this)

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#37 The Biggest Problem - I Think

Dusty & Henry BFF

#37                                   The Biggest Problem - I Think..
 .

The biggest problems horses seem to have - I think - is the barn sour, herd sour, buddy sour business.  They are such herd animals that it is incredibly difficult for them to be separated from those magnets that is essential in their DNA for the darlings very survival

And, it seems, that is the most difficult problem that riders have with their horses and why so many  just end up quitting riding.  When the sweethearts get the sours - which is generally as soon as you take them away from the barn, they get jiggy, tense, argumentative, disobedient, defiant and scary.


We then get nervous or scared - most of us don't know what to do or how to fix the situation - and we  give in.  The next time we go out, the situation gets worse, and the next time the situation becomes even  horrendous to the point of being dangerous.  Now we're scared to death to go out - so what do we do ?  We stop riding & come up with varying excuses why we can't ride or we spend enormous time just grooming the horse or arrive late to the stable or think our horse is a bit lame etc.


Has this happened to you or to your friends???

I would love to hear your opinion - is that the biggest problem or can you think of another?

Mary Dixon       Adventure Horse Riding in NYS          RideNYS.com