The Road To Horsemanship 2.20

The following programmes have impulsion or emotional fitness benefits for you, your horse or both. Some are for lengthening short horses, i.e. give them a bit more go; some are for shortening long horses, i.e. slow them down. Some are for both.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.19

At this stage of the programme, it’s time to reintroduce the bit and bridle and for this purpose we will use a snaffle. We will discuss bits and bridles at length in a later article.
 

For some of you, the original prospect of riding without a bridle and only having a halter and one rein, would have seemed like lunacy at best and mission impossible at worst. Knowing what we do now however about how the horse thinks, moves and acts, riding in one rein or a hackamore has become as natural as horsemanship itself. So, if we no longer need a bridle and understand that pulling on two reins never guaranteed us brakes anyway, why go back to a one? Having tasted that sense of freedom, while spoil it?

Some of you may be doubtful that YOU are ready, being so very aware of how much our own riding and independent seat, or lack of it, affects our horse. If you are unsure of just how much your hands affect your horse’s mouth, try this experiment. Take a hold of your Horseman’s String at one end and have a friend hold the other. You should both be holding the string in a firm fist, with the string coming out the bottom of your hand. Put a little tension on the string, then one of you open and close just your little finger. Notice how much the other persons hand is effected when you do this. This hand represents your horse’s mouth and the string is the metal bit!

The answer to the question lies in the metaphor of horsemanship being like learning a language. Level One is the alphabet and basic words. The early stages of Level Two are putting together sentences and now, at this point half way through Level 2, we are beginning to hold a conversation. As we become more fluent and our conversations become more complicated, we need a more sophisticated form of communication. Our horse is asking it of us; hence the bridle.

To continue to use the high phases and exaggerated movements of Level One and Two is simply too crude. It would be like adults communicating with baby talk. Your horse is getting lighter and lighter and more responsive, so you will want to interact with him in a more subtle and refined manner. Not doing so would be insulting to your horse. Because of the refinement that communicating with a bit will give you, everything will seem exaggerated for your horse, which will effectively magnify the good stuff and the not so good. This is the kind of communication we will be looking at in Level Three, so the time to begin preparation is now.

At this point in the programme we go through in detail, the steps and check lists to prepare both you and your horse for a bridle. In the meantime, here are a few things to consider. Horses never forget, but fortunately they are always willing to forgive. For some horses, going back to the bridle will bring back old and unhappy memories. For horses started naturally, this will be their first experience in a bit. It is important to understand the need to be prepared to make this transition. If you are, it will be an easy and natural progression. If you do it too soon, you’ll just drag out any and all bad memories or create a whole new set of issues for your horse. Be savvy about how you approach this and it’ll be a snap.

Make sure that you have been working on that independent seat so you won’t be jagging on your horse’s mouth every time he moves; know that nothing changes in a bridle – no pulling on two reins (one rein for control, two for communication) ; no gathering up the reins and riding with contact unless your are doing contact riding; make sure your horse is mentally and emotionally prepared for the extra claustrophobia he will feel as you take more control. Impulsion is a major factor now, for both of you. Be soft and light and polite; everything is magnified with a bit and bridle so if you are still riding like a cowboy it’s your horse that pays the price. Lastly, make sure you can do all of your ridden contact yields with only the lightest of pressure with the reins, including backwards and sideways. The next article will look at impulsion programmes to help you prepare emotionally.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.18

You may have noticed already that just because you and your horse can do something well on one side or in one direction, it does not necessarily mean that it will be equally as good on the other.
 

Just like us, horses tend to be right or left sided. While most humans are right handed, the majority of horses tend to be left sided. That is, they tend to be happier and softer on the left side than the right.

This factor can stem from birth and will depend on which side of her body the mare tended to keep her foal when protecting it. Theories and speculations abound as to the original cause, whether innate or learnt, with a compounding factor being our own tendency to also favour one side.

Right from the start, most right-handed people will head to the left or near-side of the horse. It is a subconscious act for the most part and we go there because this is where we feel the most comfortable. If the horse is left-sided he will also be more comfortable with us on this side.

Our behaviours and patterns from this point consolidate the one sidedness in our horses from here on. Traditionally we are taught to catch our horse and halter him from the left side, saddle, bridle and mount all from the left. The greater majority of people, when posting the diagonal in the trot, will post with the left diagonal, building up the muscles on that side of the horse even more. A horse that is strong on the left will find it much easier to pick up a *left lead than a right one. On the ground, some horses will try very hard to not allow a human on their other side at all, even just to rub then.

In our quest for horsemanship excellence, it’s important for us to understand the need for both our horses and ourselves to become more ambidextrous. If you do not prepare you horse on both sides, or practise doing things with your other hand, what may possibly happen, if one day you had to put your horse on the other side of the horse-float? Or you were in a tight spot … maybe on the side of a steep hill or cliff and the only way to get off your horse was from the off or right side? In situations like these you might be glad you prepared the two of you for any eventuality.

Aside from these situations, the one sidedness of your horse will also affect your horsemanship pursuits. Lateral (sideways) movements such as might be needed for reining, cutting and dressage will be effected. You may find it difficult to change directions at all let alone freely and smoothly. Your horse will feel soft and light on one side and resemble a Sherman Tank on the other and you may spend hours driving yourself and your horse crazy trying to get those flying lead changes to happen.

If we expect our horses to become ambidextrous, isn’t it only fair that we are prepared to do the same thing ourselves? You can guarantee, that right in that moment when you need to do something quickly and effectively with your other hand, that you horse will spot any weakness and take full advantage of it without hesitation. This is how he has survived for so long … out manoeuvring predators.

Simple everyday things will help you build your ambidextrous skills and break old patterns. Things like putting on the opposite shoe each day, brushing your teeth with your other hand, changing hands with your knife and fork or even combing your hair. Doing little things often and making the most of opportunities will gradually build your skills. Then you will have become an even better leader for your horse.

* see article in Lesson 8 on leads and lead changes for more information on this subject.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.17

A wise horseman once said that horses are like computers; they never do what you want but they always do what you tell them!
 

Sometimes people are afraid to do their homework with their horses, as they are concerned that they might get it wrong and confuse their horse! However, your horse doesn’t know if you get it right or wrong, he just does what you ask him to do. Given that horses respond directly to our cues, they cannot do something ‘wrong’, they can only do as we ask. So if your horse is giving you a different answer to the one you want, maybe you need to ask the question a little differently!

Your horse can be your mirror in a couple of ways. One way in which he is just like you, like a mirror image. A bit like some dogs are just like their owners. Have you ever come across a horse that is fast, flighty and nervous? The horse tells the story. Is the owner also fast, flighty and nervous?

In another way, your horse can be a direct reflection of you. That is, a direct result of your leadership and horsemanship skills. Take the same flighty, nervous horse and now put him in the hands of someone who is calm, laid -back and easy going. If this person has good horsemanship skills, the horse will soon take on these characteristics himself. This kind of easy assurance is picked up on very quickly by the horse and is a trait of a good horseman. It is one of the intangibles that we must develop in order to become good with horses. Do horses become excited and nervous around you; pushy and dominant, or do they become calm, relaxed and respectful?

Now, there is no need to panic if you have the horse from hell! Maybe you’ve only just bought him; maybe someone else has been riding him; maybe the two of you are a mismatch (not every horse will suit every human partner) or maybe you have just begun your journey toward horsemanship naturally.

As you progress through the levels, you will notice changes in not only your horse but also yourself. Particularly if you have been savvy enough to recognize that in order for our horses to change and for us to have success, first we have to make some changes ourselves. How your horse is going, mentally, emotionally and physically can be your guide or measure to how you are going and how much progress you have made. Think back to what he was like a year ago, a month, a week. Keep a diary so you can keep track of your improvements. Go and play with a pre-level one horse again and see if you can notice the difference.

There is one thing your horse was born doing brilliantly and that is being a horse. If we want success with horses, the first steps must come from us.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.16

So far through Level 1, we have looked at things like building respect and partnership on the ground; developing and maintaining communication and rapport with your horse; establishing the importance of you becoming an alpha leader for your horse and applying all of this to your riding.
 

We have looked at safety issues in float-loading, saddling and mounting; preparing our horses for as many situations as possible via simulations and desensitisation and the importance of understanding the motivations of a horse, i.e. why they do the things they do plus how to overcome some of our own instincts to become less predatory and more horse-like.

Some of you may be finding that you have solved a lot of the issues that you used to have with your horse. For others of you, you may see a light at the end of the tunnel but still have a way to go. Yet others will feel like they have just scratched the tip of the iceberg. All of this is perfectly natural and will vary from person to person, horse to horse and situation to situation.

Now, in Level 2, we uncover a whole new world of building respect from greater distances through longer lead ropes; have your horse respond to you with no halter or lead rope attached as you begin playing at liberty; discover true impulsion and confidence for both of you at all gaits; learn about footfalls, diagonals and positive patterns for calm, confident jumping, galloping and lead changes.

There are five lessons in all in this section of the programme, with many topics covered to date and much more to come. Lets take a look at what sort of things we can expect to be working on over these five lessons.

Lesson Five
In Lesson Five we move from a 12’ lead rope to a 22’ rope to advance our skills and respect levels. We will have our horses float-loading, jumping, changing gait and direction confidently on this longer line. We will take our first steps in the round-yard and begin playing at liberty; being able to ask our horses to do all of our Level 1 Ground-skills now without a halter or lead rope. Plus, we will begin to truly develop our independent seat and confident riding skills through bareback riding.

Lesson Six
In this lesson, we will build onto the 22’ rope tasks that we began in Lesson 5 and go looking for the truth by taking our first steps without a halter and lead rope to rely on at Liberty. This is a very exciting time when we put all that we have learnt about focus, feel, timing, body language, trust, respect and rapport into practise and begin communicating with our horses on an level playing field, one-to-one, just us and them – no strings attached.

The bond that you will create as your communication becomes more fluent through playing at liberty, will be stronger than any round-yard or lead rope could or should be. You will be creating a very special form of interspecies connection, where success depends on both parties being willing participants. Learning how to relate to your horse in such a way that he understands and appreciates, where just the right cue asked politely will get the result you are after and just an ounce too much ‘make’ will have him gone with the wind! There is nothing quite like having your horse choose to be with you because it is what he wants.

In this lesson we will also make great inroads into gaining and maintaining an independent seat, by beginning bareback riding. The best riding teacher in the world is the horse and nothing will teach you more about balance, timing, moving with your horse, feeling the feet, how to stay out of your horses way and how to ride like the wind, than bareback riding.

As we approach the impulsion section of Level 2, which we will discuss at great length in upcoming articles, it is becoming more and more important that we humans - as the new leaders of our horse’s herd - are beginning to develop and build our own emotional fitness. In the coming lessons, our horses are going to need us to be mentally and emotionally prepared, so that we can help them to overcome their instincts and also become calmer, smarter and more brave.

Some of you will be champing at the bit and just waiting to get to stuck into the ridden sections of Level 2, while some of you will be feeling a little daunted by the prospect of riding bareback.We want you to have some fun with this Level and be well and truly prepared for the exciting lessons to follow. We urge you to be sure you have done ALL of you *Level 1 ridden programmes; all of the passenger lesson sessions, the follow the rail, direction change and go and whoa programmes. If you have, you’ll be all set to move on and have a lot of fun with Level 2 riding. If you haven’t, we strongly recommend that you take some time to go back and get them done. Both you and your horse will be glad of it in time to come.

All of your Level 1 skills will now combine and play an important role in developing the next stages of your relationship with your horse. New horizons are about to open up for you, as you discover the freedoms of liberty and bareback riding. The possibilities that can be achieved for you and your horse through a closer, more confident relationship are limitless. Explore, expand, enjoy.

Lesson Seven
While many of us dream of creating a new and special relationship with our horses, few people actually follow through and make that dream a reality. If truth be told, the main cause for this is fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of taking a risk, fear of looking silly, fear of having to try and work through the hard bits, fear of getting hurt or just fear of stepping outside of our comfort zone.

Generally, most people will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals; as long as they can do it within their comfort zone. How many people do you know, go out of their way to do something new or different and are prepared to risk feeling silly or inadequate for a while as they learn new skills? Fear is the greatest paralyzer, one that stops many, many people from experiencing the so many wonderful and varied opportunities and experiences in life. It’s easy to tell when fear steps in and takes a hold, as this is when the excuses all start come out!

In Lesson Seven we look primarily at impulsion. Impulsion is, in a nutshell, emotional fitness for your horse. That is, teaching him to overcome his instincts and learn to run calmly left-brain at any speed. While this is an important ingredient in achieving success with horses, it is very little use to us if we are emotionally unfit! Have you ever experienced two different people ride the same horse with two totally different outcomes?

In this lesson, we will look at positive patterns and programmes to help your horse have impulsion. This is the lesson where we really start to get our teeth into riding, so having our emotions under control will really help and all those passenger lessons you did in Level 1 will start to pay off with the benefits to your confidence and independent seat.

We understand the emotional stretches that some of you face, which is why the programme has been designed the way that it has. If you have done the preparation, you will be ready for this next lesson. We want you to have fun with your horsemanship; achieve your goals and experience that wonderful sense of accomplishment that comes with taking a chance, stretching to new horizons, reaching new outcomes and triumphing over adversity. If you haven’t yet done the preparation, or have but feel that you could do with spending a bit more time on a couple of things, we encourage you to take the time now, to go back and get it done and build your confidence. Prepare your self to become the kind of horseman you deserve to be.

Lesson Eight
In this Lesson we build onto the impulsion programmes that we covered in Lesson Seven; expand on the positive patterns we began way back in Lesson Five and increase emotional fitness for both our horses and us by raising the bar and picking up the pace. It’s time to put our impulsion to the test and stretch our comfort zones by beginning positive patterns for confident galloping, jumping and easy simple and flying lead changes.

We will also take a close look at the fascinating subjects of footfalls, weight shifts and distribution at all gaits, diagonals and feel … which all are fundamental necessities in the pursuit of true horsemanship.

Horses love to run but the truth of it is, not many of us, when we first begin this journey, are emotionally fit enough to allow our horses to run and express themselves. So many times, problems with horses arise from the human’s desire to control and contain them. Just as much as we enjoy their freedom and sense of exuberance in the paddock, we tend to want to control and confine them when we ride.

Now, at this point in the Quantum Savvy programme, not only will your horses be allowed to run, you will be asking them to! Can you imagine how it will feel to ride your horse confidently, at any gait, on a loose rein and know that he is left-brained, confident, sure footed and is enjoying it too! What will his perception of you be now do you think?

For the hoons of you out there, this lesson will be a lot of fun and give you the chance to really ride. For those of you who have had some concerns with riding at speed, jumping or being confident in open spaces, this lesson will give you some very powerful and positive patterns and strategies to help you tackle these areas with confidence. At Quantum Savvy we do not believe in the sink or swim method. We know, as you do to, that confidence for horse and rider is paramount to success.

In Lesson Eight, we also demystify footfalls, diagonals and lead changes by observing how a horse moves and where his weight is at each gait. By learning the natural dynamics and way in which a horse moves, you will be able to learn to stay in time with his motion, begin the first steps toward achieving feel and be able to influence your horse’s movements with even lighter phases.

Lesson Nine
With this lesson have reached the point in the programme where we will take all that we have done to date and begin to refine it; to lessen our cues and phases, offer and receive more lightness and subtleness and to have a closer and more accurate interaction between our horse and us.

As we discussed in Level 1, contact riding is about shortening up our reins and having a more direct and close contact between the two of us. In Level 1 we did this when riding backwards in the re-bounds and in riding sideways. Now in Level 2 we will take this one step further and begin to add in soft feel. We will discuss Soft Feel at length in coming articles; for now understand that basically it is a soft, light communication between horse and human via the human’s seat, through his arms to his hands, down the reins and to the horse’s mouth via the bit. It is your horse wanting and willingly listening for and taking your requests lightly.

Being in such close contact with very short reins, is obviously a claustrophobic position for your horse to be in, in fact it is a form of flight test. Many horses, if not properly prepared, will have a great deal of trouble with this kind of confinement and become extremely stressed. By asking for this type of confined position, we are asking our horse to become short from nose to tail, engaging his whole body. In effect this empowers him as it engages his hindquarter. This is the point at which time we must be sure our horse is prepared mentally, emotionally and physically in order to engage in a positive manner. If not, we are simply empowering a scared, confused prey animal that is stronger, faster, quicker and more keyed in for survival than we are.

To date we have spent much time and effort in teaching our horses to yield from pressure and this, in part, is why at this level we will do very little forward movement with soft feel. Horses will more naturally put themselves into soft feel when going backwards and sideways, as it is easier for them to move in these directions when using their hindquarters. Your horse will naturally be more willing and feel less troubled with this new challenge when going in these directions than when going forward. So, we will leave forward with soft feel for Level 3, when our horse better understands the yield and is more confident offering it to us.

So, be sure you help your horse out with this new area of study, by working on your independent seat and emotional fitness and look forward to an even closer relationship with your horse.

Prepare yourself for a whole new relationship as you take your partnership to the next level of success with horses.

*see Quantum Savvy Lesson Packs for more information.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.15

So just how much is enough when playing or working with your horse? And how do you know when you have done too much? Sometimes, taking that first step is the most difficult. Our uncertainty and fear can make it difficult to get motivated; to get us to make a start and take action.
 

Then when we finally do, it’s like the tide of change has swept across us and we set out with a vengeance to make up for lost time. Often, we humans will go from one extreme to another, either not doing enough - or doing too much. However, not knowing what to do is no excuse for doing nothing at all.

Imagine the horse whose owner hasn’t ridden or done anything with him for months, other than feed and brush him every now and then. One day, out of the blue (human just got two weeks holiday), his owner shows up and it’s on. Out come the brushes, the hoof pick, the curry comb … the owner is all over him like a whirling dervish. Next … on goes the saddle and with no more warm up they are off for a two-hour trail ride. This happens every day for the first week then gradually peters out over the second week and finally the owner goes back to work, leaving the poor old horse stiff, sore and wondering what happened.

Or, what about the horse owned by the weekend rider. For five days the horse is left alone in the paddock but then Saturday comes. His enthusiastic owner has a whole week to make up for, so it’s straight into training, trail riding, drilling or flexion from Saturday morning until Sunday lunch-time. No preparation, no warm up, no rest and no warm down. The horse then has five days to recover from the stiffness and torn muscles created on the weekend before it all starts again. The owner is bewildered when his / her horse breaks down after a few years!

As you progress through the levels, particularly from the middle of Level 2 onward, it’s important to take into consideration the workload of your horse. From here on in, you will be expecting more and more athleticism from your horse and as such they need to be treated like an athlete.

What do ‘A grade’ footballers do before playing a match? They warm up, they do some stretches and they prepare their muscles. If they didn’t, they’d get cramps and muscles strains or even more serious injuries during the match and not be able to train for days afterward. They also warm down after the match to release toxin build up.

Horses cannot talk and tell us of their aches and pains, so it’s important that we are thoughtful about how we go about our practise and play sessions. We need to develop some awareness and notice any signs of sore spots or stiffness and not just carry on until it’s too late. A little attention paid early on may save you a hefty vet bill and months of inactivity later on.

Having said all that, horses are pretty resilient. For every horse that is getting hammered about that shouldn’t be, there are two being molly coddled that needn’t be. Remember how long horses have been around for. They are an extremely effective and sturdy prey animal, which is why they have evolved and existed for so long.

It’s a great plan when you start getting into the more active Lessons with your horse – pretty much from here on in – to make sure you warm your horse up first, on both sides. Maybe plan your practise sessions something like this:

The Road To Horsemanship 2.14

If emotional fitness is defined by impulsion and impulsion comes from hindquarter control … and hindquarter control comes from controlling the flight response … and the one who controls the flight response is the Alpha horse, how important is it that we are emotionally fit, fantastic leaders?
 

Are you your horse’s leader? Do you own that hindquarter, or does your horse just lend it to you periodically?

Throughout the programme so far, we have looked at the importance of disengaging the hindquarter and getting our hindquarter yields as soft as possible. In Level One, hindquarter control and disengagement was imperative for safety - safe leading and handling, bending to a stop, slowing and turning. In Level Two we begin to look at how well our horse disengages in our on-line work - falling leaf patterns, change of directions maintaining the trot, at liberty - spiralling in to us and having our horses stay with us and in no contact riding - gaining and maintaining impulsion, smooth and easy upward and downward transitions.

In Level Two we will also take our first steps toward contact riding; that is, riding with two short reins and soft feel. All of this is in preparation for Level Three where we will begin to add in greater soft feel, begin lateral movements, regulations and engagement of the hindquarter.

Levels One and Two are about learning how to influence the horse’s power and flight distance by disengaging the hindquarter. Engaging the hindquarter is something a horse will do in order to power up and be prepared for flight or fight. If our horse still perceives us as predatory, he will tend to use his hindquarter in a negative way. In order to have true soft feel and refinement in contact riding, we need to engage the hindquarter in a positive way.

Signs that your horse’s hindquarter is:

We spend most of Levels One and Two trying to disengage our horse’s hindquarter so that in Level 3 and beyond we can begin to re-engage it. Trying to engage the hindquarter before the horse is ready, i.e. mentally, emotionally and physically prepared, will only result in empowering a horse that’s scared, right brained, impulsive, reactionary, short, braced, or explosive … or a combination of several of these things. This is part of the reason why we begin with one rein and do not progress to a bridle until the end of Level 2.

In order to be able to re-engage in a positive manner to perform some of the more sophisticated manoeuvres in the higher levels, our horse must first be confidently and happily disengaging … trusting us with influence over their power and flight response.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.13

How would you like to be able to just think go and your horse goes … at the gait you asked for? Then, to be able to just think stop, and your horse stops? Throughout your journey to horsemanship and in particular through Level Two, you will frequently come across the word impulsion and the importance stressed in achieving it. So, if it’s so important to have, what exactly is it?

In it’s most fundamental of meanings, impulsion is when go equals whoa. In other words, your horse stops and starts equally well. In Level One, we introduced the ‘Follow the Rail’ programme. One of the tasks for this programme, was to practise transitions until you could make upward and downward transitions with no more than phase two. This was your first step toward impulsion and a step of paramount importance to your success in Level Two and beyond.

Impulsion is controlled forward energy coming from the hindquarter. In other words, the hindquarter is soft and yielding, not locking against you in preparation for flight or fight. Many of you would already be able to see the more obvious benefits and necessities of having impulsion; for example a horse that does not run off with you. Other benefits will become more apparent as you progress through the higher levels, in particular the contact riding sections of Level Three.

On a scale of 1 – 10, a horse with true impulsion would rate about a 5. A horse deemed to be short, i.e. one that would rather go nowhere than somewhere, would be on the scale from 0 – 4; lacking impulsion. A horse deemed long is one that is easy to get going but is hard to stop. This horse would rate from 6 – 10; impulsive. An extremely short horse that has no go, or no forward, is one that would go up - in other words buck - rather than go forward. On the other end of the scale is the horse that bolts or shies and won’t stop, regardless of what bit you put in his mouth. Some horses are innately long or short; some have simply learned the behaviour from a previous experience of finding comfort or release. It is our task, regardless of at which end of the scale we start, to get both ourselves and our horses, to the middle ground - rate a 5. In the Quantum Savvy programme, we do this via our homework cards and the impulsion programmes introduced in the Lesson Packs.

Some horses are bred to be long, medium or short, depending on what type of job or purpose they were bred for. Listed below are a few examples.

Not all long horses run, they may just need to go for long distances, like a Walking Horse covering a lot of ground checking crops, or a Clydesdale trotting all day pulling a cart. Horses that need to get up and go quickly then stop and relax, are ideal for working cattle and are right in the middle at 5.

This then, is the goal of all horsemen, to achieve this sometimes elusive 5; where moving together with your horse is effortless … turns, yields and stops are light and responsive, on a horse that is calm, cool and collected – mentally and emotionally … this last being the true key to impulsion.

Naturally, a great majority of the time that horses run is when they are either running away from something or playing. Keep in mind, that to many animals, play is preparation for survival. Watch your horse in the paddock with his mates when they all get going. Where is his head? What kind of expression does he have? Does he seem alert and watchful or dull and switched off? Which side of his brain do you think he is using?

Think back to Level One when we discussed the Flight Response. When a horse feels the need to flee, his head comes up, adrenalin kicks in and he’s off, trying to put distance between himself and the danger as quickly as possible. Straight lines are the quickest way to do this. When he is done running, he will slow down and turn, disengaging his hindquarter and thinking with his left-brain, effectively calming down. It’s important to note then, that straight lines that engage the hindquarter will lengthen a horse; circles and patterns that disengage will shorten a horse.

True impulsion comes from both horse and human being emotionally fit and confident. Some horses, or humans, will be fine at the walk, even the trot however, as soon as the speed picks up, that little right-brain metre starts to kick in again and the emotions and impulsion go out the window.

Through the impulsion programmes introduced in this portion of the *QS programme, you will learn how to gain impulsion at all gaits, right through to the gallop. It is important that you follow the programmes closely, do all of your homework and work on your own emotional fitness. Remember, if you expect your horse to try, to put in effort and to overcome his fears, the same applies to you. Do you have impulsion problems? Do you need to work on your own emotional or mental fitness?

*see Quantum Savvy Lesson Packs for more information.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.12

There are a couple of useful ways in which to teach your horse to handle new situations and to accept all sorts of things that may occur in the human environment. One is by habituation and one is with progressive desensitisation.
 

Habituation, which is used in imprinting, is a bit like a ‘get used to it’ approach, where something is introduced i.e. tapping on the underside of your horses hoof consistently and with rhythm until he accepts it, to prepare him for shoeing. While it is a great technique and handy to use, it takes a certain degree of horsemanship skills and savvy, excellent timing and the recognition of the slightest try to be successful. We’ll discuss habituation at greater length in the coming Levels.

Progressive desensitisation is another technique whereby new things are introduced to the horse gradually over time and is a fabulous one that anyone can use. As the name suggest, you will progressively desensitise your horse over a period of time. In this way, horses can be taught to accept all sorts of situations. By combining your phases, approach and retreat and ‘no yield’ at just the right time, your horse will very soon be able to handle all manner of things.

Use progressive desensitisation to introduce your saddle, swinging ropes, sticks, plastic bags, balls, flags, hoses and running water, being touched all over and inside sensitive areas, horse-floats, stalls, tarpaulins etc. Let your imagination run free.

It’s important with Progressive Desensitisation that you start small and with rhythm, introduce the new thing gradually, build to where your horse’s comfort zone is stretched a little, wait until he relaxes a bit and then quit. Timing and release are the key elements to success here.

The Road To Horsemanship 2.11

How would you like to feel as at home on you horse’s back as you do on your own two feet? To be able to move when he moves, stop when he stops, all with ease and confidence.
 

Having an independent seat means being able to get in time with your horse’s movement; staying out of his way as he runs, moves and turns; not needing to swing on the reins for balance; just going with the flow and flowing with the go. All this with next to no pressure!

An independent seat will afford you greater confidence in riding, a more relaxed body position and posture which will inturn make feeling your horse’s movement and footfalls much easier and allow your horse a far greater range of motion without you getting out of balance and impeding his movement. An independent seat gives you a real sense of freedom and moving as one.

Throughout *Level 1 of the Quantum Savvy programme, we introduced a few ways to get you started on improving your own independent seat. Through your riding programmes; i.e. – follow the rail and direction changes and especially all of the passenger lesson exercises - you may already have felt some improvement coming. In Level 2 we will build onto these with impulsion programmes that have been designed to increase emotional fitness in horse and human.

The best riding teacher of all is your horse and nothing will improve your riding more than just hours in the saddle. Just one hour a week of bareback riding in a safe area, will make all the difference. Using a bareback pad will help give you some more stick and confidence with all the benefits of bareback riding.

We encourage you to get out there and do your ridden programmes, leave your horses head alone as much as possible so that he can learn to carry himself and you can learn to balance and move with him. You will find dramatic improvements in a very short time if you consciously work on developing your independent seat.