Getting started with effective leading

Posted on 02/02/2014 | Leave a comment

So, go on, having done the “leading yourself” exercise, hands up if you felt constant pressure, or if there were random tugs on your hat, or if there were no instructions at all.

 Monty talks about pressure and release, and when we are leading this is the basic format:

  1. I make a request (PRESSURE) – I apply tension to the lead rein and ask the horse to move.
  2. The horse responds – The horse moves in the direction asked.
  3. The line goes slack (RELEASE) – as the horse moves towards the line, the tension goes away.

It is at the point of release that the horse learns that they have done the right thing.

 If we lead with our horse feeling constant pressure, and nothing that they do releases it, then they learn to lean on that pressure.  So dawdling horses get slower and slower and horses that tow get faster and stronger.

 If we lead with random tugs, then our horse learns to ignore them, so that when we do apply tension and want a response, our horse will probably ignore that as well.

 If we lead with no instructions at all, then our horse will make its own choice about when, where and how fast to move, which may or may not be what we want.

 If we are going to ask horses to move in our world, in the way that we want, it is our responsibility to make requests that are as clear, consistent and light as possible.  In this way, our horse will learn what the requests mean and respond lightly and quickly.

 So, our aim should be to

  • make no request (APPLY NO PRESSURE) when our horse is doing as we want, be that standing or walking with us, or manoeuvring through a gate with us.
  • make short, simple and clear requests (APPLY PRESSURE) when we want our horse to do something different, be that speed up, slow down, move left or right, or halt.
  • immediately stop making the request (RELEASE) when the horse starts to do what we have asked.  (This is known as shaping the behaviour by rewarding the try.  It’s like babies learning to walk, we lavish praise on their first attempt at standing, not wait until they can walk unaided)

 

Monty says that there are only five basic movements, and everything else is built on them: forward, backward, left, right and stand, and over the next few blogs, I will pick these up.

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Leading

Posted on 15/01/2014 | Leave a comment

Leading your horse effectively is one of the Key foundations of your relationship with your horse.  If your leading is unclear or uncomfortable from the horse’s perspective, then the rest of your relationship will suffer.

In this blog, you are going to assess how your leading feels.  Watch the video, fill in the poll. 

Look out for my next blog which tells you about starting to creating a pleasant and meaningful leading relationship with your horse.

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Read about saddlefitting

Posted on 30/12/2013 | Leave a comment

Final post about saddles and saddle fit (for now).  There are a couple of books that I recommend you read:

“Saddle Fitting” by Kay Humphries (ISBN 0-85131-708-1) This 25 page booklet covers a lot of things in this blog, as well as a some different ways of measuring fit, the basics of saddle structure, great photos and how to use numnahs and pads.

“For the Good of the Horse” Chapter 5 by Mary Wanless (ISBN 1-872082-89-0). This is a very deep book, that I recommend anyone who rides or works with horses ought to look at, but it is not an easy read, so tackling a chapter at a time is great way to go about it.

“How Your Horse Moves” by Gillian Higgins (ISBN 978-1446300992) Another great general reading book, but really helps to make sense of what you are trying to protect and allow free movement of with your saddle.

 

In January I will be looking at leading, starting with an exercise for you to do on yourself and a poll.

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Does your saddle fit your horse?

Posted on 13/12/2013 | Leave a comment

This is my second blog about saddles, have a look at the first one if you haven’t seen it yet.

This is my list of 10 things to check when assessing if your saddle actually fits your horse.

 Put the saddle on your horse without girthing it up.

  1.  Is there 3 fingers’ clearance between the horse’s wither and the underside of the pommel.
  2. Is there clearance above the spine from front to back?  Stand behind your horse and look through.
  3. Is the gullet wide enough to sit on the muscles either side of the spine? Put your hand in at the front and back and have a feel.
  4. Is the tree a good width? Put your hand under the front of the saddle, palm down, at the wither.  Run it from top to bottom between the shoulder and the flap.  There should be no pinch points and the pressure of the saddle on your hand should feel the same from the wither to the knee roll.
  5. Does the saddle fit the contour along the length of your horse’s back? Reach up under the saddle flap and panel until your fingers on your horse’s back under where the stirrup bar lies, and run your hand from front to back under the panel.  There should be no gaps (bridging) and the pressure of the saddle should feel the same all the way through.
  6. Do the contours of the panels match the contours of your horse’s barrel? The panels behind the waist of the saddle should follow the shape of the body: they should have a broad contact area, and neither dig in nor sweep up.  Check from the side and from behind.
  7. Does the waist of the saddle sit level to the ground? Stand back and look at the saddle with your horse standing square on flat ground.  The place where your weight will be should be level, not tilted uphill or downhill.
  8. Can you place the saddle so that your horse has full shoulder movement without hitting the points of the tree, and still leave a hand span between the back of the saddle panel and the kidneys? If not, your saddle may be too long or the wrong cut for your horse.
  9. Re-check items 1 to 6 with the saddle girthed up.
  10. Finally, does the saddle sit still when you move? With the girth fastened, walk on and watch the back of the saddle.  Some movement is inevitable, but if the saddle bounces up and down enough for you to see a gap under the panels, then there is a fit problem.  Check again in trot with a rider on board.

(This applies to standard treed saddles: podium, treeless and other specialised saddles are very different. 

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list or the replace the advice of a qualified saddle fitter.  It is just a starting point.)

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Saddles

Posted on 01/12/2013 | 1 comment

Over the years, I have had my hands on many saddles, read around quite a lot and been to a lot of saddle fittings. 

This is the first of 2 blogs that aims to pass on much of what I have picked up.  This first one helps looks at how good your saddle is as a stand-alone piece of tack.

Watch the video, fill in the poll.

 (This is not intended to be a comprehensive list or the replace the advice of a qualified saddle fitter.  It is just a starting point.)

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