Its all in the little things....

You know I get it, I mean I get it at the high level....

I get its all about the feet.. Yes... and I get that if you time things up right, the movement, action or request feels good to the horse and the horse can do what we are asking balanced...

And the horse and the human both enjoy that feeling...

Its like the half pass exercises... How long have I been doing that... 6 years? 7?

And even today, even on Monday, I am still puzzling how I can do it better..

Sure its about getting down to the feet, but its also about the when, its about the try..

Its about the relationship between you and the horse...

Its like the other day I was dinking around with Emma and Bonnie was there..

Emma moved out of position, and Bonnie just real easy like set her back..

And I dinked around some more and Emma moved out of position again, and easy as pie, Bonnie moved her back again...

And I dinked around some more, and Emma stayed put...

Duh.

How many people would have come in with the lead rope, bashing away at the poor horse..

Silencing that try...

Silly Rabbits....

Even I would have been in error there..

Miss M was not moving around because she wanted too, she thought she should. All Bonnie helped her understand was that there was another option, that all that dinking around was not for her, and she could ignore it...

Without quashing that try...

Shit Shit Shit...

Of course, why couldn't I see it...

Simple things...

Small things add up...

Like a horse that won't stand still, or a horse that goes running off with you, or a horse that tosses its head...

Small things, simple things...

Sure its about the actions, of course, but its about getting to the horses mind from the feel, to the mind, to the feet....

Its about our approach in that regard.

The half pass exercise can be just mechanical.. When the horse does this, I do this...

Or when I do that, the horse should do this...

But its more.. Its about the try the horse is putting in, the energy I am putting in, the way the horse is moving, the expression on the horse, the whole horse, and how good I am at getting my timing right so that the right thing is easy and DUH the wrong thing is more difficult....

the right thing...

The sunny place.. the right step, the balanced...

making that effortless, smart and feeling good...

Mutter, grumble....

Horsemanship my friends is not about how much stuff you put on your horse, tie downs, draw reins, curb bits...

Its about how little you have on them... Because your moving them with your heart...

Hiho!

L