I’m still laying in the dirt with the social media stampede. Please take some time and “like” www.facebook.com/Jeff-Wilson-Cowboy-Dressage so I can stand back up and dust myself off. That’d make me happier than a full breeze from a corn-eatin’ horse. I have been training horses for over 35 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 keeps
me young.
how much room a horse can find within the
confines of just simple bit contact to internally
morph from a delicately balanced horse, one that
follows my hands forward into a relaxing horse,
one that follows my hands forward into a relaxing
position, or collects back into a horse readied to
switch gears…to sneaking into a forward-engaged,
gas-pedal down, adrenaline-seeking speedster. I
know and understand how much a horse can really
rely on the security of your hands, and to depend
upon the contact to feel supported. I can even
endorse a bit of leaning on a young, green horse.
But this boy discovered a new tier of “lean in.” This
subtle act of intelligence was sheer brilliance. It
was undetectable to me. Lorenzo would lean into
my hands ever so much as we rolled along the hills
—the Catskill Mountains offering their vast array
of trail diversity—up and down and around.
Lorenzo loved it. He grew more engaging and "into
it!” I watched and enjoyed my protégé all summer,
but as he grew less and less light, his lope turned
into a canter, and his mind became less and less
about walking. At first I thought, “This dude’s an
athlete and he’s really getting into the best shape
of his life. Let him be a teenager,” to “What is
happening?” Lorenzo seemed to have forgotten
everything I had taught him one day. He began
throwing his head with every downward transition,
and seemed to forget all he’d been taught. Instead
of self-carriage, instead of engaging his hinds and
coming back into my hand, he would brace against
me, completely unengaged.
It was a hostile take-over, and I was along for the ride. Then it hit me.
Riding one handed, as I was doing, I had allowed
him to remain steady on the bit. He understood the
contact, and devised his own plan. Lean into it
ever-so-slightly, and give yourself a surge of go-
juice. I had created an adrenaline junky. Any of you
suffer from this kind of head-smacking tunnel
vision? Yeah, I got trained. I’m fairly sure I could
start a FaceBook page for other dupes.
The fix is simple enough, to go back to direct reining. A single rein in each hand. With direct reining, Lorenzo could never lean on just one rein. With indirect reining, or neck reining, pressure is often times on both reins at the same time—it’s just the nature of that style. It encouraged Lorenzo to develop an appetite for moving up under the contact and ever-so-lightly push against my hand. With each rein now, bending him each time he decided to lean, reengaged his slick ‘lil Morgan hiney and backed him off my hands into his light, self-carriage I had put so much effort into. Yeah, I said, “Whew,” once I got everything figured out. One thing about a Morgan, they are a wee bit like a Border Collie—brilliant!
You can watch Lorenzo’s video on my FaceBook page if you're so inclined.
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