Joe Wolters Clinic - Eaton Ranch 2012

The Joe Wolters clinic is being held at a beautiful ranch nestled far back into the Carmel Valley Hillside.  Green rolling hills, dotted with furry oaks it’s a idyllic setting for such a renowed horseman.

The clinic started early Saturday morning with 5 colts working diligently with their riders.

Joe commented frequency on releasing for the try, and doing enough as it takes to get a change and then letting it go.  It is a difference in style from Buck, Peter or Shanyne.

His style is more open, letting the riders find out what to do instread of repeating over again the basics.  While some of the structure was the same the deployment is handled differently.

Interesting things were mentioned in the colt class which I had not heard of before but which were the same as we had spoken about with buck.

Hetting to the feet through feel….

He had said something along the lines of getting the horse to livin up before it bottled up… That when the horse started feeling bottled or otherwise to get it moving…

The other thing he did was to get the horse moving by following its ears.  This is something I had not though about before, but which made sense.   And when the ears went forward he release to let the horse find it.  That eas beautiful.   If the horses ear picked up left, then he picked up the rein left, and right and back and forth again until both ears went forward and then he let the riens drop…. And the horse walked forward.. I mention this as he was working to get the horse to go through a tight space…. And the horse was struggling to find it… so the ears were bouncing back and forth until he did find and and both ears were forward.

Then he worked on getting off the horse… It was worthwhile to note that as his weight shifted to get off the little horses started to move.  So then he just started shiffing his weight in the get off motion, the little horse started to move and he continued until the little horse could handle that and stop… then he got off…

Right on!

Now on to cattle.!

He was mentioning something about the horse bumping into his leg… Now that was interesting… Because he was riding the little horse forward and the horse was trotting and then the little horse bumped into him…. Not sure.. still got to figure that part out…

When working the cow, when the cow stops and looks to you, you just wait until the cow looks back straight, then push to the shoulder and that will drive it straight.

If they go round the pen coolected pretty soon they are thinking about being collected, and pretty soon enough they are stopping with feel.

When working with the cow don’t step to them when they are looking at you with both eyes.

Then when you ride to the cow ride at the same speed, and to the neck…

Cow turning away from you is the same as asking the horse to stop.

What I am trying to get from my horse is that he is on the teter, that he is waiting to ask what is my question?

There has got to be something in it for the horse.  I think they think, I get to stop, I get more work then I was getting.. The stop is work!  The stop should be pleasure.

How can I get what I want to feel good to him.

I want to do less not more..

There all kinds of ways to do it, it may be appropriate that way one time.. but it needs to fit.

Get the life up, that may help shy or when they are afraid of something.

Grass eaters, if I can bring the life up in him. If I can not get those feet moving, he will be eating grass.

If his head goes down, and I am riding out here,  In order for him to eat his feet have to slow. When his head goes down my legs come in.  If his feet are going somewhere.

I would be wrong to keep hin to straight,  I turn him loose to so I can see what his opinion is..

You got to work on the problem before it happens, you have to study what the horse is doing and then fix it up.

If the cow is on my right, I want the horse on the left lead.

He got relief coming out, not going in.

Let our idea become their idea!

L

Left lead

Nose to the left, shoulder to the right, hind to the left… depart.

Notes from Bucks Clinic :

One of the interesting things I remember is getting down to the horses feet, trying to get the horse to remember.