A Few Things

 

We’ve had some crazy weather here.  Everything from thunderstorms, to snow a few days ago, to 70+ today.  Needless to say, the riding and the footing have been variable, but I’m averaging 3-5 rides a week with groundwork pretty much every day.  A few insights have come up since I subscribed to JOSH NICHOLS RELATIONAL HORSEMANSHIP that I thought I’d share.

Honestly, the form of what you do under this program is very similar to a lot of other natural horsemanship systems.  The yields and footwork are very similar to the TRT Method, Dressage Naturally, or even Warwick Schiller.  The difference is in the feel.  In this program the horse needs to be in a receiving energy ideally, so all the yields flow.  Think moving an empty box versus a box of rocks with your finger.  There is also a lot more emphasis on having the horse turn to you/draw when under pressure or when their mind is away from their body.  You want to be able to put pressure on the horse and then draw him and get a soft release or get smooth yields from just your energy.  I think this is probably what a lot of really good NH trainers do, I just find JN explains it and breaks it down a bit better.

Also, the groundwork patterns flow seamlessly into the riding patterns.  After you figure out if your horse is a pressure, space, or mind horse primarily and you meet that need, the work builds on the pattern of a weight shift to the outside shoulder, poll flexion to the inside, and an activated inside hind leg.  The basic riding pattern is the same with the rider’s slightly lifted inside shoulder/weight on the outside seat bone to shift the horse onto the outside shoulder which allows the poll to flex to the inside, and the inside hind to engage.  This is the basic position that all more advanced movements flow from.  Horse’s weight slightly shifted to the outside shoulder, which allows the poll to rotate inside, and the inside hind to engage.

Between getting Cruise in a receiving energy in the ground work, getting him slightly shifted to the outside shoulder, getting his poll rotated to the inside, and getting his hind engaged, the magic seems to be happening.  He’s now stepping into canter the first step I ask.  The canter is balanced and light.  He’s mentally much more with me, even with the high winds and variable temperatures.  He’s just much more relaxed in general.  It’s early days but I’m finding this is another layer of the onion that is super helpful.

What new online learning tools have you been finding useful lately?