This is Sorry looking back at you on a trail ride at the Women's Confident Leadership Camp I hosted and instructed at the Calamus Outfitters Ranch near Burwell, NE in Oct. of 2006.
Unfortunately Sorry hasn't been ridden all winter. She is quite full of energy, but the good thing is, it is controllable. I like her spirit and fire. We started out the day doing ground games on a trail walk. At first she wanted to run and show off her athleticism. I allowed it for a little while as long as she wasn't putting tension on the lead rope. I was amazed at how fast she could run without putting any tension on the line.
After allowing her to let off steam, I began to approach my request in a way that communicated when and how much speed was acceptable. I did this by mixing things up with backing, side-pass, change of directing and transitions. Plus there was plenty of time for grazing and relaxing.
By the time I saddled her she was ready to be ridden, because we were making connections. After saddling, a few more games and pre-flight checks, I mounted and sat for quite some time petting her, bending the nose around, and disengaging the hindquarters. Then I asked her to move forward, so I could take a passenger lesson. I was riding her in an alleyway next to the corrals. The pasture gates are open where the green grass lives and she knows it because we have just played there for the last hour.
In a passenger lesson your job is to ride without directing the horse. Just relax going where ever the horse goes in rhythm and time with his movements. The only thing you can do is ask them to go and stop. Use a one rein stop if they go faster than you are comfortable with. (Most people should start in a confined area).
When I asked Sorry to go, she moved a very short distance and stopped. I said thanks very much, gave her a pet and then asked her to more forward again by using my go buttons. She went forward on phase one. I like that. We have to repeat this several times. Then she started to go in tiny circles to the right in front of the gate. She stopped every-time at the opening to the gate of her corral (which by the way is closed and her buddies are in there). I didn't get worried or frustrated. Everytime she needed to stop, I stopped riding in my body, followed by more petting and another request for forward motion. I was thinking, "Do you like circles? ME TO!"
Once in a while she trotted the circle but did the same pattern, over and over and over. I was saying to myself, "Isn't this a fun trail ride?" I told her, "You can take me for a ride anywhere you want to go, and I'll be happy to go with you. The gate is open to the pastures. You're free to roam any place you like." Did she? NO.
About 20 minutes later the circles started to get bigger and she doesn't stop at the gate any more. I say, "Yahoo, I can see the mountains coming now. We are about to go on an adventure. I can't wait to see where you are going to take me, Sorry. I bet the views there are fantastic. I'm getting tired of this view, but it has been a fun ride." I think to myself at least we are riding and moving safely, with harmony, and at a controlled speed with no brace or resistance.
Next she started going down the fence line a little ways. And she would stop for a short time by a post. Followed by a retreat to the same gait. Each time she went a little further away from the gait to the next post. Remember I am not encouraging her or directing her. I am letting her take me on a trail ride. It was fun to be in harmony with her ideas. I was thinking about the beautiful mountain views that Keith and I used to see on our trail rides in WY.
It wasn't long before she went out the gate into the pasture. She was on a mission to go for a walk somewhere, because it was her idea. I hadn't pushed her past her thresholds. She had to approach and retreat a lot more than most people would be able to stand without getting into direct line thinking mode. But I didn't mind how many times she had to approach and retreat or how much time it took. It was worth it because her confidence in herself and in me as the kind of leader who won't push her over cliffs was more important than how much time it took.
She was still only going so far out into the pasture before she felt the need to retreat. However I was very happy that she walked back to her comfort zone with great calm. She didn't feel the need to hurry. It was like she was checking in. Then she would turn around and go a little further out into the pasture each time.
After a while I allowed her go out as far as she wanted in the pasture and when she tried to retreat I lifted the reins suggesting that we keep going straight and she said, "OK I can do that." And off we went through the second pasture gate without hesitation.
Now we were going on a trail ride together. I wasn't just riding her where she wanted to go and I wasn't taking her where she didn't want to go. We were going together.
I know some people say, I don't have time for all of that. I just want to go on a trail ride and NOW, DARN IT! My reply is, "You don't have to do all of this, but you may be sorry that you didn't."
These kinds of activities and communication of will cure your barn sour problems forever, because you gain your horses confidence and develop a connection of doing things together. If you don't do this, you will continue to have problems, because you horse doesn't trust you, and is not connected to listen to you when you need them to. The problem may go away sometimes, but it won't be permanently fixed, because there is a hole in the connection, or relationship.
"An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth." -- Bonnie Friedman
Happy Trails,
sherry Jarvis
www.heartinyourhand.com
