Just another day at the Ranch...

You know I never said I was anything but a novice...

A Novice in the study of horsemanship, and a novice in the study of riding...

I honestly dont claim to have any great understanding of how horses operate, or even of how
they see the human..

I just like being around them...

Yet, even for saying that.... there are several things I know...

I know, no matter how soft you try to be with your horse, the horse is only going to remember the time you were the hardest...
That will be the softest they remember...

So if you think of it in this terms.. ie when you go to bridle your horse.. If 1 time out of 100, you bang that snaffle or whatever device of torture you use into their mouth, they will be less likely to give you a good deal.... because the horse will be thinking...

" You know buddy... you may just jab me... so why should I bother.. "

Yes... thats true...

So we have to work at it... We have to be aware of what the hell our hands and our legs are doing...

We have to be on the ball....

We gotta offer up the best deal we can, and always offer the best deal...

Otherwise the horse gets to thinking....

" You know, I am just going to hunker down here.. but you are inconstant, so I never know if I am going to get Jekyll or Hyde.. "

Can you blame em?

Hell in some people we don't even know that!!!

The other thing is we have to ride with confidence and with quality in mind..

Wanna be like Buck or Ray Hunt, or Tom Dorrance? Wanna be like that guy/gal you admire? Then ride like them..

Think.. hmm " What would Buck do?"....

Sometimes that is all it takes..

Regardless though, you have to make it interesting for the horse.. This is often something I fail at..

You gotta offer them a puzzle, let em work it out, look for the answer.. not force it on them..
Hell I can make a horse move.. but I want a horse to sort it out, look for the way out.. look for the softness.. go for my feel...

Yes.. hard.. but the end game.. everything...

Set it up so they can find it.. so they try to find it.. Know the feet, where the feet are.. know when they offer us something, reward the try...

Yes...

HiHo!
LW