Friday Funny - The End of The World

This is about as crazy as I get these days...

 

 

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Riding Thoughts - 6

Betty and I worked with Morgunn and Sugar yesterday, Wednesday. Both horses had really good days - perhaps because Betty and I had good days.

We're very aware now that how we ride affects how our horses perform.

Betty had Morgunn turning, moving and changing speeds with the slightest of cues. He's a strong horse and was trained in a way that used strong cues and that was what he was used to. She is going a great job helping him to learn that her lighter cues are better for him when he responds to them.

Sugar has always been lighter than Morgunn so I haven't had to work as hard with her to get her to respond to my lighter cues. My work has been on her transitions from a walk, to an extended walk and to a gait. At first she would jump into any transition, throwing her head up. Now she's moving from one speed to another, up or down, without any radical change in her balance and rhythm.

The reality is they're getting better as we get better. More work to do, but it's great fun to have a philosophy and a program that's working for us and for them.

More thoughts from Dominique Barbier...

As soon as something is wrong and the horse grows tense, listen to your horse.

Any contact greater than the lightness of the reins will impede both lightness and the horse's desire to perform.

Collection is maximum impulsion in lightness.

Trying to 'collect' the horse with any sort of strong contact is compression.

We must allow the horse to perform, allow him to enjoy his job, not drive him.

Respect the horse's mouth and the horse will respect your hands.

Rein back - If horse has weak back, sit as lightly as you can to allow that weak back to round up under you. Make sure you have impulsion at the halt. Then a very short, timed closing of the fingers will act like a wall and reverse the direction of the impulsion.

Too much work on anything will bore your horse and make him resistant. Work well, work short. Vary it up.

Know the value of short lessons - 20 minutes or less; use 'instant quits' - if the horse does what I ask, I stop as a reward.

A horse's best on any given day doesn't mean perfection - just the best he can do at that particular moment.

 

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Movie Review - Deux

Betty and I went to see an extraordinary movie last week, Could Atlas and I posted about it.

Well, we saw another extraordinary movie today, Tuesday - Life of Pi.

As with Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi is derived from a book.

It's an amazing story and production. It's incredible how far computer graphics have come. You will believe the animals are real - especially the tiger who has an unusual name.

Again, I won't divulge any of the story, but it's a visual feast that will keep you glued to the screen.

We highly recommend it (but not for kids).

 

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Monday Video - Fire Tornadoes

There were some wildfires in Australia that produced some fire tornadoes. Watch this amazing video. (If the video doesn't work, try clicking on the link below.)

Outback fire tornadoes-Australia from chris tangey on Vimeo.

 

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Sunday Reflections - Skills for God

My way of studying the Bible is to read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I'm starting over again for probably the fifth or sixth time.

I'm in the book of Exodus where God is giving Moses instructions for constructing the Tabernacle.

God specifically brings a skilled craftsman to Moses and tells Moses...

Exodus 31: 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills...

Then God went on with his detailed specifications.

That little statement made me stop and think. I have known for years that God gives his people gifts - spiritual gifts - for very specific reasons to further his kingdom. I haven't really thought that maybe the skills, understanding, knowledge and wisdom we have are also given by God for specific reasons.

Some of my skills are...

• I'm a good listener,
• I can ask good questions that help people talk,
• I'm calm in emergencies,
• I can work pretty well with horses,
• I can write reasonably well,
• I can draw

Now that I'm aware that these skills come from God I'm curious to see how he will use them for his purposes.

 

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Friday Funny - In My Time...

Us old folks like to use phrases like, "When I was young...," or "In my time..."

 

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Give Thanks

Betty and I have much to be thankful for this year - our health, our family - especially our children and grandchildren - our friends, our church, our horses and our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

We wish everyone who sees this a blessed Thanksgiving.

 

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Riding Thoughts - 5

This past summer, Betty and I worked with a trainer in Tennessee named Jennifer Bauer and we learned a ton of good stuff. We've been working on those principles and techniques ever since. Jennifer just came out with a new training video called "Riding the Gaited Horse." Even though Jennifer and her mentor Larry Whitesell specialize in gaited horses, their philosophy is based on classical horse training from the Spanish School of Training so it works with any horse.

We watched the first of the three DVDs and the focus was on working on balance, timing and rhythm - both in ourselves as riders and in the horse. The first DVD also stressed the importance of riding circles to teach the horse how to reach under himself to gain collection. Several exercises were shown.

This morning we worked with Sugar and Morgunn on balance, timing and rhythm using the circle exercises and they both responded well. Both of us worked on our body and hand positions and using our hands on the reins as a signal and our body to actually give the cue for a change in direction or speed.

Here are some more thoughts from Dominique Barbier, Jennifer and Larry's mentor.

Work your horse with finger tip delicacy.

The less you ride them the better they are.

Work on not interfering with the horse. Put the horse in the position the horse likes best to do a certain movement. Then communicate by visualizing what you want.

Good balance is related to rhythm, so you must find the right rhythm for your horse. Most of the time, the less one does, the better and the more relaxed the horse is.

Ask very little and reward frequently.

You always have the opportunity of stopping when something goes wrong, then starting anew with a "new rider" and a "new horse."

As soon as something is wrong and the horse grows tense, listen to your horse.

Any contact greater than the lightness of the reins will impede both lightness and the horse's desire to perform.

Collection is maximum impulsion in lightness.

Trying to 'collect' the horse with any sort of strong contact is compression.

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Your Brain by the Numbers

The brain is an incredible creation by God. Here's an infographic that gives some interesting information about your brain.

It's hard for me to believe that this complexity just happened by chance.

 

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Christmas de Caballos Parade

Yesterday was the annual Christmas de Caballos (Horses) parade in Corrales where we live. Betty and I are the 'official' photographers for the horse association that sponsors the parade. Here are some of our pictures from the parade (warning: lots of pictures).

We met with a blogging friend, Lisa, who lives on the other side of the mountain from us. This was her first Christmas de Caballos parade with her horse Apache.

The start of the parade.

Naturally Santa Claus is always the Grand Marshall.

Lots of wagons of all sizes.

And lots of horses and mules, of course.

Including our friend Lisa on Apache.

The parade supports the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and all the riders bring toys.

Finally, here are those brave volunteers who do all the clean up behind all the horses.

Thanks to all who put this on the parade was a great success.

 

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