We Ride Sport and Trail Magazine May 2017 | Page 27

I have been training horses for over 30 years and value the western horse lifestyle in my approach to training. Giving clinics and seminars on how to reach your full potential with your horse through the training foundation of Cowboy Dressage makes me happier than a full breeze from a corn-eatin’ horse.

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www.competitivetrailhorse.com

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A Little Song

Here’s a little song to send you on your merry way up the trail (horse sings the first and third verse, rider sings the verses in between).

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk

I'm a (wo)man’s horse: no time to balk

Cues are loud and saddles on, I've been clucked around

Since I was born

And now it's all right, it's okay

And you may cue another way

You must try to understand

The corn and oats effect on me

Whether you're bronc-ish or whether you're mare-ish

I’m stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Feel my heart a’quakin' and my knees a’shakin'

But I’m stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive

Well now, I can spook and I can buck

But I won’t do either, I really tuck

Got the wings of heaven on my shoes

I'm a dancin' horse and I just can't lose

You know it's all right, it's okay

you'll live to see another day

You must try to understand

The corn and oats affect on me

Whether you're bronc-ish or whether you're mare-ish

I’m stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Feel my heart a’quakin' and my knees a’shakin’

But I’m stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive (music fade to a whistle)

Most often, riders have trouble maintaining this connection with their horse while riding. "Soft Feel is the guiding principle of Cowboy Dressage™. It is a wordless, intimate and seemingly spiritual communication within the partnership between horse and rider. Soft feel is not only sending messages but having the sensitivity and awareness to feel and receive the message the horse sends back."

A lot could be said here about soft feel, but I’m outta time and the exit music is playing. To be as honest as I need to be, the experience of riding is coveted, because it is so rare until cultivated. It shouldn’t be taken for granted. Where can you go to find a peaceful place to work on your partnership, because learning needs to happen without pressure? Becoming a partner starts with rewarding the try from your horse, and having yourself rewarded from those around you for your best try. You may have to work on safety issues, but get out of the worry doldrums and git out the new shickers while you do.

www.cowboydressage.com/competition.html