Getting Ready

I love the look of a young horse exploring! His youth and trainability show in the way his eyes look curiously around, his ears move to and fro gathering more information, when he sticks his nose up and takes in the air, and when something catches him off guard and he is reduced to spooking, he quickly finds that whatever it was, wasn't really worth all that fuss and he works his mouth thinking that "next time I see a butterfly, I can stand for it."

Older horses mostly have things figured out. They have been going through the motions for many years and know what to expect, and if they see a way, they even know how to get out of doing things they don't feel like doing. There is always the possibility for improvement, but a horse who has things figured out is really hard to change.

This describes my mare Twister. Without a strong leader, she feels the need to take over. I do see the curiosity in spurts, and I relish every moment of it. But she has learned in her many years of experience that spooking also scares her rider...and she can get out of a lot of work by using this very special tool. I have been working with her for 4 years and she is teaching me much about horses. But, Since she is my 1st horse, I lack much of the experience that would help me through most of our issues. I say "our" because as we go along, I find that the better I get, the better she also gets! Who'da thunk it??

My hopes are that by taking this class, I can better get down to what is natural in older horses, and thereby better preserve these qualities, rather than helping to further diminish them. And maybe someday when I know I can be useful, I will want to start a colt.
Enough about my history..on to the class.

Ariana Strozzi 2004 ; Intuitive Horsemanship
I just loved this video. I had never seen it before, but Arianna describes these things we have been studying in these FRC horsemanship classes in a new light. She really puts much emphasis on how intuitive horses are. Since they naturally would live on open planes and be subject to an end as a dinner for some prey animal they are REALLY aware of your presence (energy). This is nice to know when you can figure out how to use this as a tool.

Buck Brannaman 1990 ; Groundwork & The First Ride
I love Buck Brannaman. Early on I read his book "Faraway Horses" and learned to appreciate his wit and how he got where he is. Watching him train a horse is amazing. He makes it look so effortless, but this is because of his incredible timing and the fact that his awareness of the nature of the horse is so advanced.