Offering choice to build trust, by Jesse (www.PartridgeHorseHill.com)

Offering choice to build trust

The most important aspect of training I have learned in the past week is to always offer a horse a choice. Not to force the right behaviour, but to encourage the right behaviour and make it worth their while. By allowing a horse a chance to think through their options, and then subsequently be rewarded for making the right choice; you give the horse confidence. And positive encouragement to do that action again willingly, by their own accord.
An interesting example was with Rema, a client's Icelandic pony whom Lindsey is starting. She is a pokey little pony, and can be hard to motivate around the ring on the rail. So Lindsey offered her a rewarding rest in each corner of the arena when they passed by them. Rema learned that corners were comfortable, so she became excited to get to them. When Lindsey then moved her away from a corner, Rema had the choice of how fast she would move towards the next corner. And since Rema wanted the comfort in the corners, she decided going fast would be the best option! Here Lindsey has given Rema the choice to her own speed; and Rema has chosen to work harder for the reward in the corner. Without having to whip or kick this pokey pony around the ring, and Rema has learned she can make choices with Lindsey as a partner.
Another example of choice would be when we were teaching Shania how to canter under saddle. When asked to canter she would race around at a very speedy trot, rather than switch her gait to everyone's comfort. So we offered her the choice to follow another horse at the canter, to encourage her gait change; or she could choose to continue to trot. When she would pick up a canter for a few strides, we would immediately stop and give her reward. If she didn't, we would continue to trot and ask for transitions. In this way she learned the reward came after she tried to canter, and more work came when she continued to trot. From here we also took her on a trail ride, to allow her some room to run and the choice to run (canter) with the other horses on the trails. She took to this method extremely well; and by the end of the ride she was offering canter transitions off of a simple voice cue.
Choice is a very important part of a partnership, and it invokes the need to trust each other. Offering choice therefore builds confidence in both horse and handler, for their own workings and for working together. When you continue to offer a choice to a horse, and they continue to enjoy the outcome of the right choice; they become more likely to trust you and begin to follow your leadership without question. If you force a horse; you break that trust and they are weary to follow you. Force invokes fear, and fear can lead to all kinds of nasty attitudes. A good example of this happened just today with a horse named Angel. We hadn't expected any issues with her, and had pulled her out to ride as a leading horse to pony another horse we were starting. But when I got on Angel, we discovered some sour attitude. She would stop unexpectedly, and stand with pinned ears. Even with no leg pressure, and no rein contact; she would stand angrily. When urged forward, she would threaten to rear and pin her ears further. After some long thought on the matter, we concluded that after a lesson with another student, Angel had become sour to leg aids, as the other student had been too firm with her squeezes and kicks. By pushing Angel constantly, this rider had taken away her choice. And had doing so had made her sour to wanting to do anything at all. Together Lindsey and I reaffirmed Angel that all we wanted was for her to walk on, and that we would not kick or push her too hard. By positively reinforcing her tries to work for us, and by only asking her to move with our voice; Angel learned once more that she had a choice. And so again, she trusted us as her leaders and was able to walk/trot around the ring easily again.

By Jesse - a student with Partridge Horse Hill from Guelph

(Pictured is Jesse with her horse Johnny at a 2012 Partridge Horse Hill clinic)

Horsey Talk - by Jesse, a Guelph student doing a placement with us

Horsey Talk
Learn more at PartridgeHorseHill.com
This past week I have spent my days working alongside Lindsey learning everything I can pick from her brain on how she trains horses through Natural Horsemanship. But it's not just a training technique; it's a language. She doesn't just walk up to a horse and force it to work for her, she asks this 1000lb beast to make a choice. By offering this choice, she creates a partnership. One that I have high respect for. Because I can see how it functions, and I can see how effective it really is for training. But you cannot ask a horse to make a choice, if they do not understand the question in the first place.
I have been taught many ways to do the same thing with a horse; the most common is lungeing. I have been taught 100 different “right ways” to lunge: facing the horse, locking shoulders with the horse, following the horse, whipping the horse, yelling, stomping, and everything else few and far between. The first day I was out with Lindsey she asked me to do ground games with one of her horses, Fiona. I immediately set out to show off my newly learned lungeing techniques and was quick to notice Fiona's uncomfortable demeanor to my techniques. I was confused as I was perfectly set up in the way I had been taught; lunge line in one hand, whip in the other, and facing my horse, following the circle around me. She ran in circles around me, sure; but she was also turning in on me, flicking her ears back and almost half stepping at me telling me to stop with the pressure! Lindsey showed me how to do circles with Fiona from there, how by facing Fiona I was constantly putting pressure on her with my belly button and her reaction was out of confusion and discomfort. So I tried again, this time facing the direction in which I wanted Fiona to travel, and lead her with my belly button. I think of it now as using my belly button as a big light beam to show my horse where I want them to go. This was a new language that I had never been taught before, this wasn't some quick fix for a snarky horse, this was understanding why Fiona was upset and adjusting my own behaviour to properly convey my goals to her.
From here I have been working hard to be a very strong observer while working with the horses day by day. I understand now the importance to learn their language so we can better learn together; rather than trying to force them to understand my language. It's funny to think, but how often have you seen trainers pushing a horse to do a task by way of human language, and human force. And yet they think the horse is the stupid one. When we should be smart enough to understand how to communicate on their level, if we want them to do things for us.

By Jesse - a Guelph student doing a placement with Partridge Horse Hill

Milestones at Royal Winter Fair 2012 By Marcie

Milestones at Royal Winter Fair 2012

This years Royal Agricultural Winter Fair marked a mile stone for me. It has
been just over a year since I began riding. In that time I have gone from
having almost no experience riding and possessing next to no knowledge
about horses to working 3 days a week on a horse farm helping to train
horses, competing in endurance races, and coaching lessons and a summer
camp.

The breadth of how much I have advanced in the horse world became
apparent while I was watching this years International Jumpers competition
at the fair. Last year, which was also my first year attending the fair, I
could hardly tell the difference between a trot and a canter. This year,
however, I found myself counting down the canter strides for each horse as
they approached the jumps. I was also able to point out canter leads and
visualize the turns involved in the course before it was ridden.

As I watched this competition my friend, who is an experienced rider
and horse trainer, made the comment that what I have learned and
accomplished in such a short time period is truly amazing. Her words to me
were very uplifting as I am still quite nervous in certain situation and Know
that there is still a lot for me to learn.

My most recent adventure into the horse world has involved me owning
my very first horse. She is a lovely little mustang that is very smart and
willing. By working with her I am able to see in myself just how much I have
learned. I hope to make my connection with my new friend stronger by
working on learning the finer movements in horseback riding, which I was
able to watch in the dressage competition at the Royal this year. Hopefully I
will be able to continue digging deeper into the horse world and I am excited
to see how much I will accomplish and learn in this upcoming year.

Marcie
www.PartridgeHorseHill.com

A Royal Success - Our two cents from the Royal this past week

A Royal Success
By Lindsey Partridge (formerly Forkun), www.PartridgeHorseHill.com

This past week was another successful year at the Royal Winter Fair. We went to the fair both Tuesday and Wednesday (November 6th and 7th, 2012). We enjoyed some of our traditional favourties, and watched the Royal Horse Show with a natural horsemanship perspective.

If you are wondering what day to go to the Royal next year, I would opt for Tuesday - the crowds were much smaller, the lines fewer, and still plenty of action with Super Dogs and International Horse Jumping. Of course every day at the fair there is sure to be fun and excitement, but if you are looking for a less crowded day, Tuesday seems to be a great pick.

Every year I get excited for the food. My favourites are the Rosti (hash brown type potato with sour cream and cheese), the Roast Bison on a bun, perogies, and the very popular apple dumpling with ice cream and caramel, yumm! I always forget about the Foods of the World section though because it is tucked away at the opposite end of the main hall so I haven't tried anything from there.

The Super Dogs were fun and fantastic as usual. I really love the dancing with the dogs because it shows off their tricks and looks really fun. I was happy to see they had moved on from the destructive bull dog routine... that same routine has been happening for a few years so it was nice to see something new. One thing to keep in mind for the Super Dogs show is the last show is at 6pm and you can't enter late, so it can be hard to get to if you are coming after work. Usually they do a similar but different show for their performances, but this year we only went to one so I couldn't compare.

We enjoy trying all the different samples at the Royal and this year was no different and the Royal didn't disappoint - there were many choices including jams, chutneys, smoked fish, smoked meats, goat cheese, cookies, apple slices, different types of milk, juice, cream cheese bars, and even a cooked potato with butter!

The displays are really fun and there is so much to see just from walking around and so much to learn. The butter sculpting is always impressive, we enjoy browsing all the booths, and taking a sneak peak at the Horse Palace.

We spent a lot of time browsing the shops - we came home with jams, chutneys, smoked fish, horse blankets, bridles, shipping boots, bits, lead ropes, leather belts, belt buckles, moo bars, and my personal favourite pumpkin pie fudge! Despite so many purchases, we were a bit disappointed with the shopping deals.

The sales at the Royal used to be legendary - I remember the days of leather gloves for $7 at Greenhawk (retail approx $30), and rain sheets and winter blankets for $50 at Pleasant Ridge. This year there were still some deals (a $20 gift card from Picovs with the purchase of a Bucas was one of the deals we took advantage of), but nothing so spectacular to brag about - let us know if you found a great deal!

The major excitement is always about the Royal Horse Show - and we always watch with an eye for natural horsemanship and if the riders seem like they are a partner or an intimidater. We were pleasantly surprised with the international jumpers - many of them showed really calm leadership with their horses including Shane Sweetnam of Ireland that was one of the riders to calmly show his horse some of the scary fences before crossing the start line.

It was Christine McCrea that really impressed me though. Her Dutch Warmblood mare, Zerly, a young 8 year old, entered the ring really nervous and upset. Zerly was bucking and trying to go back out of the in gate. To my delight, Christine helped her horse so calmly and was patiently persistent in coaxing her horse forward politely.

Christine didn't use a crop and didn't get aggressive with her horse - and it paid off with a clear round! Some riders would have smacked the horse for misbehaving and probably would have provoked the horse to become even more upset which means even more dangerous, but Christine kept a level and patient head and helped her horse.

There were also displays of riding that I wasn't happy to see, including Angela Covert-Lawrence aboard a 15 year old Belgian Warmblood mare. Her horse had its tongue out the side of its mouth bracing against the bit, was jerking the reins from the rider, and carrying her head really upright and tense - the horse was very clearly telling the rider to soften up but instead of listening the horse was equipped with contraptions to leverage the horse's head down and tie the mouth shut.

The horse fought with the rider so much on the way to a jump that is caused a knock down. This is an older mare, and an experienced horse - the horse should be softer and more accepting of the bit, but instead the horse has really learned to fight the rider.

I completely understand having a horse that hates the bit and is strong - my own horse Thetis is an ex race horse and used to hate the bit and would stick her tongue out if I was pulling too much. I switched to riding her with no nose band so if she needed to open her mouth she could, but I also do a lot of freestyle work where I ride with no bit all. I've softened Thetis up so she doesn't pull and is very easy to ride with no bit all, and even with a bit she doesn't stick her tongue out anymore.

I know my horse is different from Angela's, but it's just an example that horses can change and become softer - the answer isn't to 'shut them up' with contraptions but instead to fix the root cause... with such an older and experienced horse I would have hoped to see a horse and rider really meshing together and traveling as one - not fighting at every turn.

Overall I think the Royal Horse Show was a fun and spectacular event with a lot of really great riders.

When we watch the Royal we always play a fun game - if its a non jumping class, everyone in your group picks an entry and see if someone can guess the winner before the placings are announced. If it is a jumper class then everyone in your group picks two jumps. Every time your jump gets refused or knocked down you get 1 point, and the most points win (it makes you think about what jumps are the most difficult in the course).

Another game we will play is counting down the strides - people in the group take turns counting down the strides to the fences, and for every time you get it right you get a point. Most points wins.

The Royal is always a fun event to attend every year - and it seems to me that more and more riders are becoming better leaders for their horse.

I think it's important for all riders (including myself) to remember we need to keep learning and trying to understand our horse. After all, a horse that understands you and is willing will be much more successful than a horse that is fighting every stride.

Picking up Your Horse's Feet - Some Easy TIps and Steps

Pick Up Your Feet - Please!
By Lindsey Partridge (formerly Forkun), www.PartridgeHorseHill.com

This week I had someone asking me about how to get their horse to pick up their hooves more easily. The answer is one of good timing and patience.

When working with horses it is important to remember that it's usually best if you work in baby steps. Don't expect your horse to pick up their feet and hold them up politely for 5 minutes right away, instead work on picking up feet for a few seconds at a time.

Horses need to know that they are doing the 'right' thing - so you need to reward often. Depending on what you are doing the reward will be different, but the reward is always in the release of pressure. When picking up hooves, the release would be letting the foot be put back on the ground.

Here are simple and easy steps to making picking up hooves easy:
1) Make sure you can rub your horse's leg all the way from the shoulder to the hoof without any anxiety. If the horse starts to dance around or get tense, continue practicing desensitizing the horse until they stand still. When the horse stands still you should reward them by stopping rubbing their leg.
2) Desensitize your horse to a rope being put around one of their legs at a time. Rub the rope up and down their leg.
3) Teach your horse to lift their hoof. It can be easier to do this by putting a rope around your horse's pastern (below their fetlock/ankle) and pull on the rope to lift their hoof rather than bending over all the way and using your hand. Just be careful the rope doesn't get wrapped around the horse's leg. Ask the horse to lift the hoof and then immediately put slack in the rope or gently let go of the hoof. Don't ask the horse to keep their hoof up, just ask them to lift.
4) Then teach your horse to lift their hoof longer. After the horse understands 'lift' on all 4 hooves, then you can start asking the horse to keep their hoof up for longer. Start with a short amount of time like 5 seconds. If the horse struggles or tries to toss their hoof around, try your very best to hold onto the hoof (or keep pressure with the rope on the leg if you are using the rope). If you pull the hoof up really high it is harder for the horse to scramble free. It is important that the horse's hoof stay up and only released when the horse is standing quietly and relaxed with their hoof. If the horse scrambles and gets their hoof free then they will learn that it is a good thing to scramble and kick their hoof free because it gave them a release in pressure (i.e you dropped the hoof). Try to release the horse's hoof in the exact right moment of the horse being quiet and still - if you have a very anxious or impatient horse don't expect them to be still for very long, accept just 1 second of being still and quiet and then reward them by releasing their hoof. This is why using a rope can make it easier (it can be difficult to try and hold onto a kicking hoof with your hand, but a rope is much easier to hang onto and release in the right moement).
5) Gradually build up the horse's tolerance. Depending on the horse will depend on how long it takes before you can hold a hoof up for several minutes. Over several tries ask your horse to hold their hoof up for longer periods of time and only put the hoof down when the horse is still and quiet. Even if the horse can pick their hoof up for a long time, sometimes it is good to pick up the hoof and only hold it for a short time (a couple seconds) so that the horse keeps paying attention but also so the horse doesn't think that every time he picks up his hoof it will have to be up for a long time.

Extra Tips:
- If your horse really doesn't like to stand still, why fight with him? Try making it your horse's idea to stand still either by doing some ground work and free lunging first to let your horse get his play and friskiness out, or by giving him his dinner while you do his feet - this way you can make it so your horse wants to stand still.
- Remember horse's gain confidence when they can go back to their 'safe place' - this means that a horse that likes to have all 4 feet on the ground will be more relaxed if you only ask for him to hold his feet up a short time and then let him put his foot down. It would be easier for the horse to pick up his foot, let you clean a little out, put the foot down, then pick it up again, let you finish cleaning, and put it down again, etc, rather than just keeping the foot up for the entire cleaning.
- Horses usually stand on 4 feet, so make it easier on your horse to stand on 3 legs by keeping him on level ground, and making sure his other legs are positioned in a way that is comfortable to stand on 3 feet. This is another reason why picking up the hoof for short amounts of time works well (it allows the horse to re-balance their feet if needed).
- The higher you pick up a horse's foot the harder it is for them to kick it free, but also the higher you lift a horse's foot usually the harder it is for them to balance. When you first start lifting a horse's feet, try not to lift them too high.

I hope this helps you with your horse's hooves!

Dream of a Forever Home - Horses with Sore Feet (new blog post at lfequestrian.blogspot.com)

Dream of a Forever Home - Horses with Sore Feet
By Lindsey Partridge (formerly Forkun) www.LFEquestrian.com

This past summer has been long and busy and we have had a lot fun and successful events. However, we had some struggles and challenges too. One of our challenges was with our horse Dream - she was struggling with sore feet.

Dream is an 8yr old ex race Thoroughbred. She came to us in April and we started training her for long distance riding. She was absolutely amazing because she was so level headed and very quiet on the trails. She was very reliable and didn't get excited - she was a dream!

We were really enjoying Dream until she started to get very sore feet. In mid June she had both front feet that were really sore. She walked very cautiously, and she only trotted if she absolutely needed too - like to get away from another horse. After another week or so she developed her first abscess. We treated the abscess with a bran mash and epsom salt poultice.

An abscess is an infection in the hoof. The inflammation and white blood cells rushing to the area in the foot create a lot of pressure inside the hoof because the hoof doesn't swell very well (unlike when you get a sore throat for example your tonsils can swell quite easily). Because the hoof can't swell, there is a lot of pressure and the horse gets very sore - it can look like the horse has a broken leg because they don't put weight on their hoof at all.

We used a very traditional and old remedy of an epsom salt poultice. This is 2 parts bran to 1 part epsom salt, with water to make it mushy. At first we wrapped this with a diaper, plastic bag, and duct tape to keep it in place - but after a few times of fighting with the duct tape we bought a hoof soaking boot which is so much easier (you just put your remedy inside and place the boot on the horse).

Dream's abscess healed, but then her other hoof had an abscess. This kept occurring where one foot would heal and then the other would become sore. We even tried leaving a 'barrier boot' on her to make sure the hoof was keeping clean and protected the sole.

This was really unusual because Dream is barefoot and trimmed by an excellent natural barefoot trimmer - so there are no nail marks from shoes for an abscess to get in, and she didn't have an hoof abnormalities. Other than sore feet, she was actually getting even healthier and gaining weight and getting a nice shine to her coat.

In September the abscesses seemed to have stopped, but we decided to xray her hooves to see what was going on inside. From the xrays we could see she has pedal osteitis and her coffin bone appears damaged - probably from her many years racing causing a lot of concussion on her feet. If we had known she had damaged hooves (inside) then we could have kept her to light riding, but we didn't known because outside the hooves look normal, and she didn't move like she was sore.

The vet's prognosis was not good - Dream could likely never be a long distance riding horse, with no riding on roads, and she should be kept to light work in the future only after having many more months rest. The vet did say it was possible for Dream to go back to being as comfortable as she was when we first got her in April but no guarantees as to how much riding or work she can do.

This was bad news for us because our trails require riding on some road or gravel which wouldn't be good for Dream even if/when her feet get better, and she wouldn't be able to have a job in our natural horsemanship program. Horses enjoy having a purpose and a job - it keeps them healthy both mentally and physically, so I decided to look for someone special to give Dream a new home and purpose.

To my delight I found the perfect purpose and person. Someone with their own farm and a couple other horses that were older and with sore feet, so they have experience caring for horses with sore feet. Dream's new job is as a family companion with potential future riding at the walk only on their soft sandy trails just for pleasure.

Dream moved to her new home at the end of October and she now has her own paddock where she doesn't get bothered by other horses so her sore feet are getting more of a break - but when she is ready she will get to have pasture buddies.

I couldn't be happier for Dream, and I am so thankful that with a little patience I was able to find the perfect forever home for Dream. (posted is a picture of Dream at her new home)

Learning this week: A simple treatment for an abscess is a bran and epsom salt mash. If the horse is struggling with sore feet then xrays can help you see what is happening inside the hoof, and if your horse can no longer do their regular job - have faith and patience because their next loving home could be waiting for them!

New Sign Up Online for Trail Rides! & Check out or Final Fall Event!!

New - Now you can sign up for trail rides online! Its really simple and easy to see all the information, see who is riding, request a horse, and you will automatically get an email reminder for your booked trail!

Check it out at : www.SignUpGenius.com/go/409044AA8AF2BA02-trail

We are also launching our Final Fall Event - a Scavenger Trek Trail!!!

This is going to be a really fun event with fun prizes and a BBQ lunch!

Find out more information or sign up at:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044AA8AF2BA02-scavenger

As always, you can bring your own horse or reserve one of ours.

For more information about Trail riding, lessons, or other events, check out www.LFEquestrian.com

Having fun at the shows! Check out pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433095089/

Today was a fun day at the Blue Star Farm Bronze hunter/jumper show!

We had Alexandra, Kristin, and Paige all competing, and all with a different focus.

Alexandra and Cody have been a team for many years now. They have worked hard together to overcome challenges and build successes. Cody appears to be an easy going hunter pony in the ring, but in reality Alexandra has worked really hard to turn Cody into a confident jumper. This is extra impressive because Alexandra rides Cody bitless in her rope hackamore (bitless bridle).

Alexandra headed into the baby jumper ring to work on achieving a year end title. This is from showing at multiple shows at the same level with the same horse over the year, to be ranked 1st or 2nd overall for the year.

Cody and Alexandra put on 3 fantastic rounds placing 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, and reserve champion for the day! To their delight as well, Cody and Alexandra were ranked 2nd overall for year in the division (reserve champion)!!

Kristin and Thetis headed into the show ring with the goal of doing well, but most of all reestablishing a partnership in the show ring. Kristin part boarded Thetis a couple years ago and competed, but Thetis hasn't competed in jumpers since then. Today was about re-establishing a partnership and doing well together.

Kristin and Thetis put on an awesome show and proved to be serious contenders in the ring placing 1st and 3rd!

Paige and Rumple had a different focus too. This was Rumple's first show ever - so it was Paige's job to keep it a very positive experience and not too overwhelm Rumple so Rumple would enjoy the show.

Paige entered in one of the hack classes (a flat class of walk, trot, canter) so that Rumple could see the ring and jumps without being asked to jump them first. This is because the hack class is held in the ring where the jumper classes are later on.

After the hack class Rumple and Paige entered in the Baby jumper division. They had the goal of taking it slow and easy and making it over all the jumps.

When Rumple was in the ring he showed us he wasn't scared of the jumps - in fact he jumped everything that Paige pointed him at very easily. The hard part was that Rumple was nervous being in the ring by himself. Rumple tried calling to his buddies and would try to go back out of the ring.

Paige did an awesome job of keeping Rumple focused on the course by not allowing Rumple to 'change her mind' (so for example when Paige pulled her right rein to go right, she was careful to keep asking for the right turn until Rumple understood). Paige also did a great job because she was slow and patient.

It is better for nervous and green horses to take the jumps slowly - even at a trot - so that the horse has a chance to see the jump and collect his thoughts about jumping. When you go fast the horse has to be really focused, and if they are distracted because they are nervous then going fast will not work out too well.

Paige was also careful to walk a calm circle and give lots of praise before leaving the ring after her rounds. This was important because Rumple didn't get to quickly leave the ring - instead he only left the ring when he was calm, and after he had gotten some praise for being in the ring.

Paige's patient efforts paid off and Rumple had a clear round for his final round with only 1 time fault. They ended up placing 6th!

Congratulations to all the riders - you all accomplished your goal!

Pictures of Kristin and Thetis at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433095089/

Key tip this week:
When taking a horse to their first show, make it about being a positive experience for your horse. Allow your horse time to be slow and build their confidence. Slow and steady will keep it a positive experience for both of you, and you can build to faster speeds as you go!

Natural Horsemanship Summer Camp finishes with a big success! http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432993343/

We had a lot of fun with natural horsemanship and LFEquestrian Summer Camp 2012!

This year LFEquestrian hosted 2 weeks of summer camp out of our new home facility in Pontypool. We were able to do something neat for the first time and offer overnight camp!

Some campers came for daily camp, and other stayed for overnight. Both sets of campers got to spend all day with horses - well except we had to eat sometimes!

The campers who stayed for overnight also got to go for evening trail rides and spend some extra time with the horses.

Campers this year learned how to ride bridleless, do western speed events, play natural horsemanship on the ground, ride obstacles, ride bareback, ride with hills and open fields, jump, and even swim with the horses!

You can check out the pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432993343/

New pictures from oour first week of summer camp - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432993343/

Our first week of summer camp was a lot of fun! It was LFEquestrian's first time offering overnight camp and it was a huge success!

We had a lot of fun together with the horses. Campers spent many many hours with the horses - and if we didn't have to stop for snack and lunch I'm sure we would have been with them all day!

We did a lot of different things like riding bridleless, bareback, with no stirrups, doing ground games, trail riding, western riding, jumping, and the big hit was swimming with the horses!

Check out some great photos from the week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432993343/

Phin, Erin, and Natural Horsemanship

I started learning Natural Horsemanship with Lindsey a few years ago, and have enjoyed it ever since. When I first met Lindsey, I was at a typical riding school, where you used crops and force to get the horse to do what you wanted instead of leadership and trust.

My lessons with Lindsey were always different compared to other coaches and were based on getting your horse's trust and letting them know you are their leader, while still jumping, cantering, and learning the same things, as well as additional things like sideways and forehand and haunch turns that keep your horse interested and thinking "I wonder what we are going to do today."

I found these lessons much more fun and now I know that they were safer too, because the horse trusts you more and will listen to what you are telling them and become less unpredictable. At regular riding schools, you are constantly switching horses, so it can be difficult to build up a partnership with a horse.

With Lindsey, for a while I rode different horses, trying to find one that I really connected with and got along with. In May of 2011 Lindsey got Phin, a dark bay, 16.2h, 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding who is an ex-racehorse. At first I didn't ride him very much, just here and there, but after the summer of 2011, I started to ride him more and more. We've been in a parade, gone to shows, been swimming, and just about anything else you can imagine! I can throw a giant ball on his back or have him walk over a tarp and he could care less, or I can have him do more complex things like leg yielding (in the saddle) or have him position his feet in a certain way over a pole. I tested how much he really trusted me by taking him on a trail away from home with none of his horse friends, just two horses from another barn visiting for a clinic.

He used to be a little herd-bound (meaning he doesn't like to leave his horse buddies, and can get very upset if you take him away), but he walked along calmly without calling to his friends or even looking in their direction. How did I get this trust? Countless hours of working with a horse and them having good experiences with you and having faith in you as their leader. In the wild, horses rely on their leader to keep them safe, and if you can take that position, they will trust you and try harder for you. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you have a partnership with a horse.

When I am working with him, I feel like I can do anything. Recently, I was able to get him to stand on a pedestal, and we took off his halter and tack, and I sat underneath him on the pedestal while he calmly stood until I told him that it was ok to get down. That was a very proud moment for me as I saw what I had accomplished because of natural horsemanship and my amazing partnership with Phin. I can't imagine life without him.

Making big strides with Prophet - read the blog post at http://lfequestrian.blogspot.ca/

Making big strides with Prophet

Just a quick report to let you know that Prophet is continuing to do very well! I can now reliably ride him at the walk on my own around the ring... it took longer than normal to get there, but I am very excited about these steps in the right direction!


View more pics of horses trained and Prophet at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432934967/

Congratulations to Kylee and Angelica for making huge steps of success! - read the blog post at http://lfequestrian.blogspot.ca/

Kylee and Angelica Make Progress in the Helpers Program

LFEquestrian launched the Helpers Program this summer - a program where anyone age 12 and up can earn riding and lesson time by helping around the farm. Angelica has been helping us since the launch of the program.

Some of the tasks include feeding the horses, tacking up horses for training sessions, and doing general chores around the farm. Some of the tasks also include helping with horse training.

Kylee is one of my new horses that just arrived this summer. Kylee had experience as a racing Standardbred (cart horse) but had never had a rider. I spent some time with Kylee and started riding walk/trot with her very easily.

Angelica has been learning a lot about horses and riding, and she has a goal of being involved with horse training as a career so she has been helping me a lot with the horse training. Angelica was the 2nd person ever to ride Kylee - and she did a great job of riding walk/trot and practicing steering with Kylee.

Angelica has started to learn to form a partnership with the horses - Kylee used to be very timid around us and would run away and not want to be caught.One of things Angelica does to help this partnership is to visit Kylee in the field to rub and scratch Kylee, without going to catch her all the time.

This helps because non-demanding time is really important with horses. If you spend time with your horse when you aren't asking them to do anything, it helps the horse to view you as a partner and not just that bossy human.

Angelica's efforts are definitely paying off- now Kylee will sometimes greet us at the fence, and she isn't difficult to catch at all. Kylee even trusted Angelica to ride up onto the pedestal!

Congratulations to Kylee and Angelica for making huge steps of success!

Learn more about the Helpers program at www.lfequestrian.com/helpersprogram

Happy Success with Prophet - Finally!! Read the blog at http://lfequestrian.blogspot.ca/

Happy Success with Prophet - Finally!!
By Lindsey Forkun, www.LFEquestrian.com

Yesterday was a special day for both me and Prophet - it was a day where we achieved a big milestone together. Prophet is an amazing horse - extremely smart and very talented, but he is also very claustrophobic and panicky (like most horses are, except Prophet had a habit of 'exploding').

Prophet would get very tense with anything around his belly - even a rope around his mid section, or me just hopping up and down beside him near his belly could send him exploding (leaping forward with some bucks).

My goal was to teach emotional control - to keep going to Prophet's 'threshold' and showing him that he could stand, think, and relax. I interrupted the bucking pattern and after a couple months I could saddle up Prophet, send him over jumps, sideways over a barrel, do tons of different ground work patterns and exercises, hop beside him, and sit on him. We even did some walking while riding, but he still felt very tense.

Every day Prophet comes into his stall for his daily grain feeding. Most of the time he gets saddled too - just to eat dinner. Then sometimes he gets unsaddled and turned out, sometimes he gets put in the round pen to eat grass with the saddle on, and sometimes does a training session. Prophet has learned that the saddle is nothing to be feared - he can do 'normal' things with a saddle on.

Recently I started ponying Prophet on trail rides - the goal was to help get him out of the arena and show him what riding can be about. It got him used to seeing me up high on top of a horse. It got him used to getting close to me and having his belly occasionally brush up against my leg as I was riding right beside him. He also started to really move into the saddle as we went up and down hills, through water, over logs, and let him see a purpose to what we were teaching him.

We discovered that Prophet did great on trails - he loves them. He became so relaxed and moved so nicely into the saddle. When we got back from rides I could swing my leg over, bump Prophets sides, sit on him, and he felt the most relaxed he has ever been.

Last night was an exciting night because I decided to try riding Prophet - but not the normal way I would start a horse. Instead I had the help of Cait - Prophet's owner's daughter who is an accomplished rider and has experience exercising polo horses... so she has experience ponying 5 horses at a time!

Cait rode Vinnie and practiced ponying Prophet in the arena. Once she felt ready we hit the trail - me walking on the ground to start, and Elana on Shawna taking up the rear. After about 15 min and Prophet was super relaxed, I decided to hop on him.

I got on Prophet, made sure he was relaxed, and asked Cait to continue ponying him. Prophet took a few steps at the walk, and stopped. We allowed him to stop and think - this is a great response compared to exploding. We want to encourage Prophet to stop and think if he feels nervous.

After he had a minute to look at me on his back and then relax and lower his head, Cait cued him to walk again. I just sat there like a passenger, not doing anything. We rode the rest of the trail walking and even some trotting! A couple times I tried doing simple little things like dropping my stirrups and picking them up, picking up the reins to ask for halt when Cait was too, etc and he was fantastic! I did get off and on a couple more times throughout the ride and Prophet was relaxed for all of it.

When we got back to the arena I could cue Prophet to trot and he was listening really well and stopping!

It was a really exciting night for me - we finally made some huge progress with Prophet - but it took some creativity and willingness to do things a bit differently.

Next steps for me are to try riding him on the trail again, with Cait leading me again, and then for me to start picking up the reins and initiating more of the cues until its me doing all the cues. Once I am doing all the cues (not Cait) then I can try un-clipping the lead rope and riding Prophet on my own.

Very exciting!!

Some tips when starting new horses:
- If the horse feels tense, don't bother trying to go to the next task. A horse needs to be relaxed at walk if you want trot or canter to go well too.
- It is important we teach our horses to stop & think when they are nervous or scared. If your horses gets nervous or scared, don't just try and tell them to 'go', or you could end up teaching your horse to explode or take off.
- It's okay to ask for help! Sometimes it is safest and best if you have someone else help you. Every horse is different.
- Keep it positive. It is important that Prophet felt like he could do the things I wanted - so I always keep my exercises realistic for what he is both physically and mentally able to do.

Key learning this week: There is hope for even the most difficult horses - time, patience, and natural horsemanship can help!

New Trail Riding Club with LFEquestrian - Come Trail with Us!

LFEquestrian has launched a new Trail Riding Club!!!

Partridge Farm, home of LFEquestrian, is surrounded by thousands of acres of trail riding through Pontypool Forest, Fleetwood Conservation area, Durham East Cross Forest, and more!

We even have access to the ponds of Pontypool where you can go swim with your horse!

We have launched the new Trail Riding Club to make it easier for you to join us on trail rides!

You can come join us on a single trail ride, buy a monthly, or season pass so you can take advantage of our quiet, safe, and well trained horses on the beautiful trails.

Learn more at http://lfequestrian.com/trailriding.html

Some pictures of our recent adventures around the farm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628432662965/

New Helpers Program! Earn Riding Time and Lessons for FREE!

LFEquestrian launched a new Helpers Program!

This is a program where you can help out at Partridge Farm (in Pontypool, Kawartha Lakes area) and earn hours for free riding time and lessons with LFEquestrian!

The program is perfect for summer time students looking for something to do - and great for anyone who has a love for horses and wants to make horses a part of their life.

Learn more about the program here: http://lfequestrian.com/helpersprogram.html

Pictured here is one of our new helpers, Anjelica, who participated in the Trail Riding Clinic with Riddler after earning helper hours to pay for the clinic!

Getting Started with Natural Horsemanship

Getting Started with Natural Horsemanship
By Lindsey Forkun, lfequestrian.com

Over the June 23/24 weekend we had a get started with Natural Horsemanship clinic and learning to advance your skills clinic. The Saturday focused on learning to get really good basics with your horse.

It is really important to have really crisp, clear, and easy to understand body language between you and your horse. This is because if your horse can understand very precisely to back up, move just the shoulder, move just the haunches, move sideways, or go forward then you can combine cues to make things more advanced and fun.

Some tips to having really good basics:
- only perfect practice makes perfect: so make sure to always end on a positive note that is better than how you left it, and double check you are using proper technique
- give a long ideal cue: give your horse a long chance to notice and respond to your ideal, then add pressure quickly so your horse is motivated to respond to the ideal cue
- don't give up: have the patient persistence to keep asking and trying until the horse starts to respond the way you want
- put it to a purpose: once you have some basic understanding, start to play with your horse so that you don't become a drill sergeant

Sunday was a day when we learned how to advance our skills and really have fun with horse. This means we used all of our basic cues and then learned how to have fun with it while building better trust, communication, and respect.

Some ideas for putting basic cues to purpose:
- backwards figure 8
- backwards weave pattern
- halt halfway over poles
- go sideways over poles
- back up over poles
- do traveling circles
- go over a tarp
- push a giant ball
- follow me (on the ground have the horse stay beside you as you walk, trot, etc)

The key message after the clinic was to be aware of your body language and how to use it to communicate with your horse.

Key tip this week: Establish really good basics with your horse. Make sure you can move them in all different direction. Once you have understanding, then have some fun and put the cues into patterns like a backwards weave pattern. This helps to make it fun, fresh, different, and more like a conversation.

View pictures of clinics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433224817/

Trail Riding Natural Horsemanship Style

Trail Riding Natural Horsemanship Style
By Lindsey Forkun, lfequestrian.com

On July 7th we had a trail riding clinic at the farm. The purpose of the clinic was to help riders and horses become safer and more confident out on the trails using natural horsemanship.

Some things we learnt to help set a horse up for a safe trail ride:
1) Desensitize the horse to various objects like umbrellas, dogs, bikes, tarps, plastic bags, etc so that the horse understands to stop, think, and wait for your cue instead of taking off in fear.
2) Sensitize your horse to the cues and movements you want your horse to react to like teaching good steering, brakes, and being able to move your horse around or over obstacles.
3) Think about Herd Dynamics so that you don't take two hot and anxious horses out on a trail, or try to make a dominant fast walking horse ride at the back of 10 person ride.

We practiced some different exercises to help horses and riders gain skills in the above three areas. Some things you can do to get better in these areas:
1) Send your horse over a tarp, log, water, and in between tight spaces like between two barrels. Practice opening and closing an umbrella as you walk away from your horse. Have someone ride their bike in the arena while you ride around.
2) Practice exercises to help your horse be sensitive to your cues like transitions, steering exercises like a weave through pylons, or riding patterns like circles and serpentines.
3) Practice riding with calm and quiet horses, and practice asking your horse to follow horses, then move into a lead position, and then fall back to a following position again. This will help your horse become more comfortable at riding in different positions on a trail, and help the horse be more calm.

Key tip this week: Trail riding can be fun and relaxing for both you and your horse, but it takes some preparation to help make sure both your and you can stay safe. Take the time to do some exercises with your horse before you go out to make sure your horse is ready for the challenges that come up on a trail.

You can view pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433224817/

Gemma Finished her Training - Some Things to Remember with Green Horses (or any horse)

Gemma Finished her Training - Some Things to Remember with Green Horses (or any horse)
By Lindsey Forkun, www.LFEquestrian.com

This week Gemma completed her 3 months of training and was returned home. It was sad to see her go because she is such a beautiful and smart mare, but it is always rewarding to think about what they have learned over the last couple months.

When Gemma came 3 months ago, she hadn't had much handling other than leading into her stall for dinner time, or basic handling for the vet and farrier.

Within the first month Gemma had learned all the basic cues both on the ground and in the saddle. She knew walk, trot, canter, halt, back up, forehand, and haunch turns. She knew sideways on the ground - but not yet in the saddle. All in all she had learned quite a bit and was quite relaxed, calm, and willing too. By the end of her 3 months she has become a trail riding star - going through town, forest, field, subdivision, roads, and even leading trail rides too.

When horses are in for training, owners are allowed to watch all training for free, take free lessons with their horse, and/or participate in clinics for free too - this helps owners get to know their horse, the cues, and understand the process.

When it came time for Gemma to leave, I wanted to share some key tips for her owner to remember... and you can use them with all horses, but they are especially important for young and learning horses:

- hold with loosely on the rope: I usually hold about 2-3ft of slack... because the horse is trained to stop/back up with a wiggle in the rope. If you hold right under the chin there is no room for a wiggle in the rope. Also if you hold under the chin it is like you are trapping the horse - which shows the horse you are not a partner. Holding under the chin will also provoke a pushy natured horse to be pushy.
- use patient persistence: never give up once you ask for something, and never second guess yourself. Have the patient persistence to wait for the horse to respond correctly. If you keep your energy calm and your message clear, the horse will eventually get it and then you can reward them (or at least a step in the right direction). For example if you are riding and trying to go left, you should NEVER give up and decide "ah well it would be easier if I just switched hands and pull right" - it is important you keep on the left rein until the horse understands to go left.
- reward means praise or silence: reward doesn't mean treats, or a pat on the neck. Often my reward is just the release in pressure (i.e. I stop bugging them with the cue). If it takes the horse a minute or two to understand something, then allow a minute or two for them to think about it before asking for more or something new. You can give the horse a friendly rub... but it is really good for the horse to just be allowed time to think.
- nothing says you have to stay mounted: there is no rule that says once you start something mounted that you can't finish it on the ground. If you get on and something doesn't go right, get off, and walk the horse with you on the ground to complete whatever the goal was. Once you are both relaxed again, you can always get back on.
- start with some ground games: always start with a few ground games to see how spunky, respectful, and full of play your horse is before you go to get on. Once you have played with your horse enough to know they are calm, respectful, and ready to listen, go ahead and ride. Otherwise stay on the ground and play - it is safer than being in the saddle.

With these few key things in mind, it should be really helpful to set your learning horse up for success.

Key tip this week: Working with a young or learning horse takes a lot of knowledge, patience, and confidence in yourself. If you are working with a learning horse, learn as much as you can to help set both your horse and you up for success.

2 New horses at the farm - Fiona and Kylee

Fiona and Kylee Arrive - Bringing New Horses Home

Monday was a very exciting day for me - I got to bring my two new horses home, Fiona and Kylee. Fiona and Kylee are two lovely mares that I am hoping to introduce to the LFEquestrian lesson program. They are very sweet and well tempered horses that are athletic, so I hope they are a good fit.

Whenever you bring a new horse home, it is very helpful to do a few things to help make it a safe and easier transition:
- Help make the trailering experience positive by allowing enough time to load with a natural horsemanship approach
- Introduce the horse to their new home in an environment that won't be too overwhelming for the horse (start with a smaller paddock and fewer horses, or even a stall or private turnout to allow the horse to take in the new environment)
- Show the horse where the water and hay is in the paddock
- Make sure the new paddock is safe and free of debris (or that the stall is clean and free of clutter)

After the horses have a day or two to settle in, then you can introduce them into larger herds or paddocks if that is your plan. Sometimes horses can be very dominant. It can help to introduce a new horse with the dominant herd leader in a small paddock first. That way the dominant horse can learn to accept the new horse without the stress of having to protect their herd. This can really help to minimize fighting and chasing.

I was happy that bringing Fiona and Kylee home went really smoothly. They were introduced into a paddock with 3 other horses that are very submissive and quiet, so I wasn't worried about any horse getting bullied.

All the horses were eating side by side at the hay hut within a day, so it was nice to see they are making friends so quickly.

You can view pictures of Fiona at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157630332257558/

You can view pictures of Kylee at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157630332247820/

I will have updates about their first training sessions at the farm soon!

Key learning this week:
Introducing a new horse is an exciting experience, but make sure it is a safe experience by doing a few simple things to help make it an easier transition for your horse.

Chica goes for her first trail!

Chica's first trail ride - learning to lead

A couple weeks back I took Chica for her first trail ride. It is always a fun and exciting experience to take a horse for their first trail ride - but I always want to make sure it is a safe and positive experience too.

To help get Chica ready for her first ride I:
- did some ground work for desensitzing like going over logs, tarps, and in between tight spaces like between too barrels or jump standards
- did some communication exercises to make sure we understood each other really well like transitions, halting over poles, steering exercises through pylons and obstacles

When it was time to head out for the ride, I helped make it a good experience by going with calm horses from her paddock - so she had comfort from the horses that we went with.

I also started the trail by leading her from the ground. It didn't take very long for me to realize that she would be relaxed with me, so I was able to get on very early into the ride. We went through forest, around water, open field, and even through the town of Pontypool!

Chica even led a large part of the trail and showed that she can be quite a brave leader - this was interesting because she is not a leader in the paddock. What is important to understand with horses, is that your energy and focus is really important.

Because I stay really focused on the trail and my energy is very calm and relaxed, it helps my horse to stay calm and relaxed. It is important that if a horse is being distracted that you help focus your horse by keeping their attention on the trail. You keep the horse focused on the trail by steering your horse's nose to always be pointed where you want them.

Chica hadn't been under training for very long, and it was her first trail ride that completed her 2 month training package. We had done a lot of work developing trust and understanding before then, so it was really rewarding to have such a positive experience out on the trails.

Since then, Chica has been ridden by her owner and some friend's of her owner and she has been really great on the trails!

Key learning for this week: Having a first positive experience is so important - it sets your horse up to be even better the next time. Take the time it takes to make sure your horse is calm, respectful, and trusting before you hit the trails.... and then when you get on the trail, take the time it takes to do what your horse needs to feel safe and relaxed. That way trails can be fun, relaxed, and safe.

If you are looking for help with getting out onto the trails, come participate in our Natural Horsemanship Trail Riding Clinic Saturday July 7th from 9am - 4pm. The cost is $100 for the day to participate (bring your own horse or borrow one of ours), or it is free to watch. Lunch is optional and is $5. RSVP by emailing lindseyforkun@gmail.com or visit www.LFEquestrian.com for more information. Located at 531 Hwy 35 in Pontypool.

Getting a Good Saddle Fit

Getting a Good Saddle Fit
www.LFEquestrian.com

As most of you may already know, getting a saddle that fits your horse is extremely important. Without a properly fitting saddle your horse can develop physical problems like a sore back, tight muscles, etc, but they can also be in pain so they do negative things like swishing their tail, reluctance to go forward or jump, or even buck.

Yesterday I had Jim Ward (705-786-2226), a saddle fitter that I met at the Everything Equine Trade Show in Uxbridge, come out to the farm to fit my horses. Finding an unbiased saddle fitter is difficult, and I decided to try Jim because he said he would look at any saddle and he wouldn't be bringing any saddles to try to sell me.

The horse that I know needed the saddle fitting the most is my demo/show horse, Thetis. She is a Thoroughbred mare, and was fitted by Allan from Foxhunter Tack Shop last year with a brand new adjustable Collegiate. However, horses change over time, and in the last couple months I noticed she was no longer comfortable in the saddle because of the tail swishing and pinning of the ears - she even did some bucks. When I ride her in the Western saddle, she is just fine.

I did have Dr. Elena Silverman (647-829-8929) come out to adjust Thetis - she is a really good chiropractor that does an excellent job and will massage the tight muscle knots too. She did a couple adjustments on Thetis, as I continued to only ride her Western, avoiding the English saddles all together.

I did go to the Pleasant Ridge Tent Sale and bought Thetis a new saddle, based on her medium-wide measurement and a few other things I knew to keep in mind... but when I tried it at home she still didn't seem 100% comfortable.

This actually interfered with my demo at the Everything Equine trade show last weekend. I wanted to do some big jumps and do something more for the crowd, but I knew the saddle wasn't quite right - so instead I fitted the saddle the best I could by changing the gullet, and using a memory foam/thinline pad to help her be more comfortable, and I kept the jumps low for the demo. Even still she wasn't super comfortable and she did have her ears pinned, so for the other demos I stayed Western because I didn't want to damage my horse.

I was excited to find a new saddle fitter, Jim, and booked him right away to come out to my farm - luckily he lives only up the road in Lindsay so it was much more convenient than previous saddle fitters I have used. He started with Thetis and did a full assessment and noted her right shoulder is more developed from her left (likely because she pulled a bum muscle during our endurance race and was lame in her right hind for a few weeks.... so she likely was working her right shoulder extra hard). He then took a bunch of my saddles and tried them on.

Because I have so many school horses - I also have a lot of saddles. He looked at my brand new Collegiate and pointed out that it's actually slightly too long for Thetis's back. He said it goes beyond the weight bearing ribs in her back - or what Jim calls the 'bucking line'. It was also too tight around the withers.

I always knew to check for wither clearance in the saddle (making sure the saddle doesn't touch the wither bone), but I didn't know that you also need 2 fingers of clearance on the sides of the withers. Jim explained that the saddle shouldn't touch the horse until where the panels start.

Thetis proved to be a bit of a challenging horse to fit... we tried my Collegiate, Wintec's, Avante, Degrada, Santa Cruz, Griffith, and finally landed on my Bates. The Bates is a CAIR system (has air in the panels instead of wool or foam), and it is an all purpose model, so its not ideal for jumping, but workable.

I was asking Jim about my different saddle brands and asked what he recommended. He said that unless you get something fully adjustable like a Schlesse, which are about $4000, or something like the Santa Cruz with the new Genesis system that can fine tune the gullet within a millimeter, its probably best that I have a variety of different saddles.

Jim said its not that a Wintec, Collegiate, etc are a bad saddle and thats why it didn't fit Thetis - its just that they didn't fit Thetis and couldn't be adjusted enough to be comfortable for her. This doesn't make them 'bad', but not useable on her. He did say that certain saddles tend to fit more horses because of their balance, etc. My Collegiate actually proved challenging to find a school horse that it would fit.... and luckily we found a match with Riddler after changing it to extra wide (thank goodness it has an exchangeable gullet!).

The Bates has good balance on Thetis's back, and sits nicely on her. I rode her with no saddle pad so Jim could see the dust pattern after a ride. She didn't buck at all. We didn't need to change the saddle at all, but Jim recommended I ride with a half pad to help bring the saddle off her back a bit more to let the saddle sit higher and give her wither clearance. He said ideally you wouldn't need a half pad, but since I wasn't looking to purchase a new saddle, that this one would be comfortable for my horse with a half pad.

We then went through all of my school horses and fitted them all to their own English Saddle. Luckily I was able to find my brand new Collegiate could fit my school horse Riddler, and my other brand new Degrada saddle fit my school horse Dream, or that would have been a waste!

In the end I have a saddle from my original stock of saddles that fits all of my horses comfortably. A couple need a riser pad or half pad to help with wither clearance, but most of them don't.

Jim also explained that some of my horses would need to use the front two billet straps for the girth to help make sure the saddle stays in the right position and doesn't slip forward - this is different than what we are used to, so we'll give it a try.

Some tips I learnt from Jim:
- Always check that you have 2 fingers of space between your wither and saddle at the top and sides of wither
- Check to make sure your saddle sits behind the shoulder, but in front of the last weight bearing rib (Alan showed me this too)
- Check to make sure your saddle has good balance (that it doesn't tip or rock from back to front of side to side... that it sits level on the horse)
- It is best not use half pads or gel pads because they can make the space smaller and tighter around the wither, however, a half pad might help with wither clearance or balance depending on the shape of the horse, but you still need to make sure there is room for the shoulder to move easily. It's best to ask for the saddle fitter's advice first... don't just use a half pad or gel pad because you think it might be more comfortable.

All in all it was a great learning experience and I am so happy that all my horses now have something fitted to them.

Key tip this week:
Make sure your horse is comfortable with your saddle - it can help save you time, money, and aggravation in the long run. Having a saddle fitter can help you make sure you have something that will work for your horse.

After all of the saddle swapping, I have decided to sell 2 of my English saddles that weren't assigned to any of my horses.... and then perhaps I can get Thetis a jumping saddle instead of an all purpose!

1) 17.5" Medium close contact, Santa Cruz, pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157629588942136/
This saddle actually fits Spice, and has good balance for a lot of horses - but in the end we decided to go with other options. New this saddle goes for around $800-1000. It is approx 6-10yrs old (I don't remember - but originally I bought it from Foxhunter Tack shop)... Reduced price to $300 for a quick sale so I can get a new one for Thetis.
2) 17" Medium Avante close contact saddle with exchangeable gullet. Pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157629588937706/
This saddle I bought last year from Pleasant Ridge to use in my summer camp... thats all I've used it for. It is a cheaper saddle (new it was about $300 with tax), so the leather is a little stiffer than a higher quality saddle. The panels are nice and wide, and you can buy new gullets for it. I don't have any extra gullets for it - so I decided to stick with my Collegiate, Bates, and Wintec which can all use the same gullets that I already have.... Avante is a different brand and doesn't use the same ones. It also sits a little downhill, so to have good balance it is best for a horse that is built 'uphill', or used with a riser pad/half pad. $100 for a quick sale so I can get a new one for Thetis.
3) I also have some child saddles... I haven't measured them, one is a small child English saddle - good gullet size, medium/wide, fits a lot of my horses but is very small (I'm guessing around 12" but I can measure)... it is meant for a small or medium pony... or little kids under 10 yrs. I also have a little Western saddle... super cute, light brown leather/suede seat, also meant for little kids... these saddles would work great for small ponies and pony rides - I don't have a use for them. Priced $75 each, or $100 for both for a quick sale. I don't have pictures up yet, but let me know if interested and I can get some.

Everything Equine Trade Show - A lot to learn

Everything Equine Trade Show - A lot to learn

This past weekend, LFEquestrian went to the Everything Equine Trade Show in Uxbridge. We did 2 different demonstrations, and then a 3rd demonstration in part with the Natural Horsemanship Association. Each demo had its own message... so here are some highlights and tips:

1) Long Distance Riding - we showed how you can use natural horsemanship to make a safe and trusting horse to do trail riding with, and even to compete in some long distance rides. A big thanks to Marcie, Erin, and Micheala who helped take part in a demonstration race! We did a demo ride and tie race - Micheala and Marcie with our mustang pony Shawna won the race.

Some tips for getting a horse ready for a long distance ride:
- desensitize your horse to various obstacles like poles, tarps, and jumps, so that anything out on the trail won't seem too scary for your horse
- build your communication through ground work so your horse will trust and understand you out on the trail

2) Jumping with Natural Horsemanship - we showed how you can use natural horsemanship to create brave and calm jumping horses. Micheala and Shawna did a nice demo of an exercise you can do to build control and calmness with your horse (start with a pole at the walk. Ride a straight line over the pole, then halt, and do a pivot turn and repeat. Slowly raise the height and change your gait). Then Erin did a demo piece with Shawna showing how you can do traveling circles and make the jump part of a circle so your horse doesn't get anxious or 'worked up' about jumping.

During this demo I showed the crowd how you can help your horse jump by doing ground work - allowing the horse to jump without you interfering on their back. Instead letting the horse figure out jumping on their own. Then I challenged the crowd to create the scariest jump they could - everyone was invited to add anything to jump - hats, blankets, even a sign was added to the mix.

Thetis went over the jump on the first try - so I didn't get to show the crowd how to work through a refusal... but I did get to show the crowd what a brave horse and trusting partnership you can create with natural horsemanship.

Some tips for getting a horse ready for jumping:
- start with the walk and poles. Let your horse understand the idea of what you are doing before you add speed and height.
- start your horse over some jumps without you on it's back
- do other desensitizing and trust building exercises so your horse gets more experience

3) The final demo was with the Natural Horsemanship Association (www.nhassociation.ca). Laura rode Shawna dressage style, and Cindy joined us western pleasure style with Fergie. I was using Thetis. Cindy showed how she uses natural horsemanship to create a safe and trusting partnership that she uses for trail riding. Cindy showed us how Fergie can play with the giant ball, and how they use hula hoops. Laura demonstrated some ground work including going over a tarp and some riding exercises. I demonstrated some sideways over a jump and other movements.

The demo was showing that you can do lots of different things with your horse to help make your partnership better - no matter what your goals are. We showed how ground work can get your riding better, and we gave some ideas for how to get started.

Here are some tips to getting started with a natural horsemanship approach:
- Always start with your ideal cue
- Always release pressure when your horse gets the cue right (or starts to get it right)
- Stay out of a routine and stay in a conversation. This means don't just go ride your horse walk, trot, canter, change direction, walk, trot, canter - instead keep your horse thinking and communicating with you. Try different patterns like figure 8's, and traveling circles. Try tasks that cause your horse to think like halt halfway over a pole, back up over poles, sideways over a pylon, etc.

Key message this week:
Getting forceful with your horse only hurts the partnership - you can't force a horse to trust you and want to be with you. Instead you need to use leadership and communication. Once the horse wants to please you, you can do everything better together!

A big thank you goes to everyone involved to make the trade show a great day. Peter, Brenda, Karen, Marcie, Laura, Micheala, Erin, and of course my wonderful parents Richard and Annette!

See more pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433031337/

Champion - Success in the Jumper Ring

Champion - Success in the Jumper Ring

This past Sunday I went with a student to the Bronze level Blue Star Hunter Jumper show. My student was competing in the jumper division with her pony. Horse shows are always a pretty long day, but it can be really rewarding to challenge your partnership with your horse.

Being at competitions really tests yourself and tests your horse. There are some things you can do to help make it less stressful and more fun:
- Make a list, check it twice: Make a list of all the things you need for the show day. Make a list for your horse and yourself. Remember both you and your horse will need water and food, as well as your tack and riding equipment.
- Get a good nights sleep: our bodies function much better when well rested, so make sure you leave time for yourself to get some good snooze time.
- Arrive early: it's no fun rushing around to find things or get ready, it only adds to tension. Your horse might need time to settle too, so arrive 30 - 60 minutes early before you think you need to be there. That way if something goes a miss you've got extra time.
- Be calm and relaxed around your horse: it's quite normal to be nervous at a show, but try to be calm and relaxed around your horse. Horses can feel our energy and mood - if you are nervous and anxious it could make your horse nervous and anxious.
- Practice only what you need to: horses often need a warm up before they go in a competition ring, but its important not to over due it. If you practice too many warm up jumps for example, you could make sure horse tired or muscle sore. You can also make your horse sour to the idea of competitions if it means being over exerted.
- Remember your a natural horsemen: you will be surrounded by a variety of people at horse shows. Some will hit their horses with crops or kick them with spurs. Others might use really harsh bits. It is important to remember what training methods you believe in and stick to them. Give yourself time in the practice ring to work through any challenges with your horse the way you want to.
- Be organized: It is important to know what is happening at the horse show - where to warm up, what the course is, when to enter, the rules, etc. Giving yourself enough time to learn everything you need will help, or bring someone that knows what they are doing.

My student, Alexandra, arrived early with her pony, Cody. We had enough time allow Cody to relax before doing a warm up in the practice ring. We did the warm up very relaxed and did just enough jumps to make sure both rider and horse were ready. It was a muddy day with rain threatening overhead, but we memorized and walked the courses, and they rode their courses with no refusals or knock downs! It all worked out nicely because Alexandra and Cody were champion!

Key Learning this Week: Horse shows can be a fun challenge for you and your horse, but remember to think it through and be prepared so you can both have fun.

Prophet's First Session - Learning to Want to Be with Me

Prophet's First Session - Learning to Want to Be with Me

Yesterday I worked with Prophet - a very sensitive and anxious quarter horse gelding. Deep down he is a sweet and loveable horse, but he is very timid and lacks a lot of confidence. He arrived 2 days ago to be started walk, trot, canter. In his past his owner did a lot of work with him and was progressing fairly well to riding him at the walk, but after getting thrown a couple times they decided to consult me for training. Prophet only ever reacted in fear - he is not a mean horse, just very timid. He is actually incredibly kind to people and animals, and not dominant at all in the paddock with other horses. His reaction is purely out of anxiety and tenseness from being scared and claustrophobic.

When I began to start Prophet last year, I realized he had a lot of confidence and anxiety issues related to the saddle and riding. Without the saddle he was a complete dream and responded to cues relaxed and confidently. With the saddle he was a lot more anxious and tense - like a bomb ready to explode. I did a lot of work desensitizing him to the saddle so that he would stand quietly while I tacked him without him being tied. I also did a lot of work to help him with his claustrophobia - this including sending him in between tight spaces like between barrels, and bumping his sides. We also spent a lot of time developing our communication and trust with a lot of ground games. By the end of summer he was doing amazing things on the ground with a saddle on like sideways over a barrel and responding to cues so softly that it was like magic.

I then progressed to mounting and dismounting from both sides, and eventually to riding him at the walk. The process was extremely slow because I know that Prophet has previous experience of tossing his rider to get rid of the tension - so my approach was to advance his training to the point where he was starting to feel anxiety, but not so far that he would have a melt down and try to get rid of me. The idea is to teach him emotional control - to push him out of his comfort zone slightly, to show him he can handle it, and then go back to things he finds comfortable. This process is time consuming, but it teaches the horse to be a thinker, and not turn into a crazy, explosive, ready to take off type of horse.

I was successful in that the times that I did ride him, he never tried to buck, rear, or run away - he stayed my thinking and willing partner. This is very important because once a horse learns they can toss you off, it is very hard to stop them from doing that unless they become a willing partner.

Over the fall and winter Prophet spent his time at his owner's place not doing a whole lot. Then at the start of June he is back with me to finish his training. I did his first session of the year yesterday. I had the plan to saddle him up and do some ground work to refresh his memory.

Instead Prophet decided to be very anxious and wary of me - and didn't want to be caught. I had to change my plans and instead use my understanding of horse psychology to try and get Prophet to want to be with me.

I followed him around the ring and if he looked like he wanted to come visit, I would invite him in. If he turned away from me I would send him away causing him to canter. I was trying to tell him the message of 'being with me is easy and inviting, turning from me is hard work because you have to canter'.

After about 20 min or so he got the message and finally came over to me. I spent some time just rubbing him all over - I didn't clip him to a lead rope. I didn't want Prophet to think that if he visits me he will get trapped. Instead I rubbed him all over and then allowed Prophet to follow me at liberty (no rope attached). He followed me at walk, halt, back up, and through sharp turns around the ring. I then clipped him up, rubbed him all over, and unclipped him again.

I wanted Prophet to think that being caught isn't a bad thing - I wanted Prophet to want to be with me. This is because if he is already trying to get away from me with just the idea of being caught, then it will be much worse if I try to add a saddle. I had to adjust my plan to suit the horse.

For those of you wondering why I don't just saddle him up and ride the buck out of him... well, first off, that is dangerous, second even if I can ride the buck and push him through it he's likely to try bucking again with a different rider eventually to see if he can ditch them so I'd be putting future riders at risk, and thirdly it'll definitely make the horse harder to catch!

I am going to play with Prophet more this week. My plan will be to 'hang out' with Prophet this week and do only simple tasks. I want to get him to catch me (want to be with me), and then just spend time with me while I teach some lessons or read a book (right now I'm reading the Hunger Games series and I love it!) - this way Prophet can start to change his mind about being with me... something that is apprehensive right now into something positive.

I do have some tricks up my sleeve for new strategies to try with Prophet this summer for training (largely in part to lessons from Don Halladay at the Young Horse Start Clinic run by the Owens last year), but first I need his trust and willingness to be with me. Stay tuned for updates!

Key Learning this Week: Have a goal, but being willing to change it if the horse that shows up in the moment isn't ready for what you want. A good horseman won't let his own personal agenda or goals ruin the partnership.

Bree goes for her first trail ride!

www.LFEquestrian.com

Sunday was a big day for Bree... she finally got to hit the trails after about 1.5 months of getting her skills up in the arena. I have been working with Bree to teach her some ground games and riding skills. Bree has been riding walk, trot, and canter in the arena really calmly for a couple weeks now, so it was time to hit the trails.

This is a pretty big step for Bree because the farm where she has lived with her owner before training is fairly small and doesn't have a lot of space to expose her to different things... so even going up and down hills would be new to her.

When taking a horse out on their first trail, you can help set them up for success by:
- go with a group of calm, trained horses
- go with patient riders that will be willing to stop and wait for you if needed
- start on the ground walking with your horse, and only get on if the horse is relaxed
- be ready to dismount if the horse begins to get upset, confused, or anxious
- be ready to do some ground work if needed to help relax the horse during the ride

I started my ride on the ground, and I brought my lead rope and rope halter with me - I left it attached to Bree at all times, so it was ready to use if I needed it. To my delight, she was really calm as we headed out, following a couple of horses ahead, with a few quiet horses behind us.

After about 5 minutes I knew she was calm and relaxed because of her breathing, relaxed position, and relaxed movement. I decided to mount up and try continuing the trail riding.

Bree was fantastic! We went on roads, in forest, by open field, and over water. She was really well behaved and did excellent. She did start to run out of 'gas' so we took a few rest breaks a long the way - our ride was about 2.5hrs!

Bree wasn't a big fan of fast moving vehicles on the road - at first she was scramble her feet a bit and jump sideways. However, I stopped her right away, and then asked her to move forward once relaxed.

After a few cars, she had learn to stop and watch the car go by, and then continue walking.

It is always much safer for a horse to stand still and observe when they get nervous, than to jump around - this means that when a horse does get nervous or scared, it's our job to allow the horse to stop. It is important that we don't kick our horse past what is scary and tell the horse to just 'go', or the horse could go a lot faster than you want.

All in all it was a fantastic ride and Bree had a great first experience.

Key tip for this week:
Remember that the goal for a trail riding is a safe and enjoyable experience - so it's okay if you need to dismount or start on the ground to help you and your reach that goal.

Pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433031337/

The First Natural Horsemanship Association Play Day - and Gemma's first trail ride!

The First Natural Horsemanship Association Play Day - and Gemma's first trail ride!
www.LFEquestrian.com

The NHA playday is about bringing natural horsemanship people together and playing with your horses. You can watch and learn from each other and try new things.

We hosted the playday at Partridge Farm and set up various obstacles between our 2 grass rings. We started the day with a brief tour around the rings, sharing some ideas you could with each obstacle.

I decided to play with Balius - partly because Thetis is still having time off from her 25 mile Competitive Trail Ride we did last weekend, but also because I haven't been playing with my young guy as much as I want to, so it was nice to bring him out.

We had a few horses trailer in, and some people use some of my other horses. Marcie played with Shania, which was nice because Shania doesn't typically get a lot of attention.

We played all morning through the various obstacles - jumping the barrels, doing a squeeze, kicking the ball, and more!

After a fun filled morning of a bunch of ground games, we had some potluck lunch. There was tons of food - and lots of fruit and veggies :) The chocolate cupcakes satisfied the sweet tooth before saddling up for the afternoon trail ride.

I decided to take Gemma on her first trail ride - she's been riding walk, trot, canter very nicely in the ring, so I thought this would be a good time to try her on the trails with so many other quiet horses for her to show her what to do.

The weather was sunny and warm, the trails were quiet and beautiful, and Gemma was an absolute Gem! She wasn't spooky at all and we did forest, open field, and even road partway through a subdivision! We even rode walk, trot, and canter. She did give a large rock a bit of the look, and did toss her head playfully a couple times - but overall she was just fantastic... and we did about 2 hours of trail riding!

Marcie took Merlin on the trail which was a great experience for him too - he will be returning to his owner soon, and it was nice to give him an experience with someone different riding him (but still staff of LFE). Merlin was golden as expected - he really has become a super easy trail horse.

There are lots of pictures from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157629932693224/

Going for our first Competitive Trail Ride!!

Competitive Trail Riding - Our first time!

On the May long weekend I signed up for a Competitive Trail Ride with 2 of my students (Marcie and Erin). We've been training since March to get our horses in shape for riding 25 miles (approx 40km)!

The Ontario Competitive Trail Riding Association (OCTRA) hosts a variety of events that involve long distance riding. The one you've probably heard of is Endurance riding. Originally we thought we would like to compete in endurance, but we realized the Competitive Trail Ride would be a better start for us.

Endurance riding is like a race - but over long distances of usually 50 or 100 miles and through forest and country trails. There are vet checks where your horse will be checked over to make sure the horse is 'fit to continue', and if your horse is still healthy you are allowed to continue racing.

To ride in endurance races, and have a chance of placing or doing well, you need to be very well practiced and your horse has to be very fit. Many endurance riders choose Arabs because they can handle long distances, and their heart rate can usually come down a lot quicker than other breeds - so they are more likely to be 'fit to continue' at the vet check point.

Given that we've only been practicing since March, and we were taking 2 Thoroughbreds and a mustang, we wanted something that would be more fair to our horses.

We decided to try Competitive Trail Riding (CTR). A CTR is a long distance course, we did 25 miles. An 'optimal time' is set based on the trail. For novice riders (riders new to CTR) it was 5 hours and 45 minutes. For open riders (experienced) it was 5 hours and 15 minutes.

The goal of CTR is to have the best horse for a long distance ride - it teaches you how to pace a long distance ride, and take care of your horse during a long distance ride. You are scored at the beginning of a ride and every little scrape, swelling, scratch, etc is recorded. When you finish your ride, your horse is assessed again and you get points for every new scrape, swelling, etc. The goal is to have a score of 0.

You get points if your horse's heart rate is too high during the vet checks, the horse finishes with more scrapes/scratches/lameness, if you are too slow or fast on the ride (if you don't finish within 5 minutes of the optimal time), if your horse doesn't behave well during the vet checks, or anything negative about the horse's health could give you points.

One neat thing about OCTRA events is that it is a 'camp with your horse' type of event. People come for the weekend and set up temporary paddocks/stalls for their horses. They pitch a tent or bring a camper, and stay for the weekend. It is a very neat experience because I am used to hunter/jumper shows where typically you arrive and leave the same day, or if you need to stay over you rent a stall and book a hotel room.

We arrived Sunday morning at 6am with the first two horses - I have a 2 horse trailer and was taking 3 horses... but I only lived about 30 minutes away from ride. Dream and Shawna were the first to be dropped off. However, as Dream backed off the trailer she stepped off the side of the ramp and scraped her leg a little bit. Nothing major, but it was bleeding a small amount.

I didn't think much of it, so I headed out and picked up Thetis. So far everything was on schedule and I was back with Thetis at about 7:30am, and ready to take our horses for their first vet check. We headed over and had our vet check, but Dream wasn't allowed to ride because of her hind leg. Although this wasn't good news, I am happy that OCTRA really looks out for the well being of the horse.

So the ride manager was really nice and allowed us to delay our start time so that I could go take Dream home and pick up Flower instead for Marcie to ride. We were supposed to ride at 9:03am, but instead we started at 10:14am.

Because everyone is riding through the forest, they start riders in groups of 1-3, a few minutes a part so that the trails don't get too congested.

We were very excited and headed out on our ride - myself on Thetis, Marcie on Flower, and Erin on Shawna. Before we left we were instructed to follow the white trail. This is because there was a white, blue, and orange trail that had been marked for 3 different types of rides happening that day. We were doing a 25 mile ride and instructed to follow the white ribbons.

We head out on our trail. It started with a little loop along the field, into the forest, onto the edge of a crop field, and then we came to the road. We saw an orange arrow pointing left, but didn't see a white ribbon so we continued straight. After about a kilometre or so of not seeing anymore white ribbons, we realized we were a bit lost.

We rode back to the last white ribbon, and continued straight again. We didn't see any white turn offs so we decided to follow the orange arrow left. Sure enough we turn the corner and there was a white ribbon in sight. Silly us!!

We continue down a road that leads to another forest trail, across a hay field, down some more forest, and onto another road. This leads us to the Ganaraska forest and we spent many kilometers in the forest. Eventually we get to some water troughs that have been set out for us. We let our horses drink, and we sponge them with cool water to help lower their heart rate.

We continued riding through the forest, and then back to a road. Then we reached the ½ mile mark. There was another water trough to stop and cool your horse and let your horse drink. We were instructed to take our time, but when we were ready that we would have to trot the ½ mile into the vet check point. This is so the vet can take a pulse.

We cool our horses and then do as instructed. We trot into the vet check point. We are instructed to take 4 minutes to unsaddle our horses and cool them off. Wow does 4 minutes go fast! There was enough time to give our horses a quick sponge over, and then into the vet check we went.

Shawna had a perfect score and was allowed to continue, but Erin would have to wait for Marcie or I to ride with her, because she is under 18, she needs to be with an adult on the trail at all times. Both Thetis and Flower had heart rates that were too high, so we were given another 10 minutes to cool our horses.

Mustangs are also known to be really good for long distance, and Shawna has been training since March - so it wasn't surprising that Shawna had such an excellent recovery time. Flower is also a mustang, but she hasn't been training because Marcie thought she would be riding Dream. Thetis has been training, but is a Thoroughbred, so they take more time to get into long distance riding.

We sponged cold water on our horses for 10 minutes and then had them checked again. Both Thetis and Flower passed the heart check, but Flower was starting to get a girth rub so she wasn't allowed to continue. This was disappointing for Marcie, but at least she was able to do the loop.

The ride was set up with the start, middle, and finish to be all at the same spot. The 25 mile ride was a 12.5 mile loop that you ride twice. This meant Marcie had already gotten to see the whole trail, but just wouldn't able to ride the second half.

So Erin and I headed out on Thetis and Shawna for the second loop. This time we remembered to turn at the orange arrow! We also had to ride faster because our first loop we took extra time getting lost, but also we went slower because Flower wasn't in the same good shape as Thetis and Shawna.

I used an app on my blackberry to track our kilometers and time so I knew how fast we needed to be going. Most of the trail we trotted, with walk breaks when our horses needed them or on the gravel road. We did some gallops on the open wide stretches too.

We ended up making up all of our time and reached the ½ mile mark with about 15 minutes to spare before the optimal time. We were able to drench our horses with cold water to cool them off before going into the final vet check.

We made it back and had our final vet check. Shawna had a perfect score. She only had a few points for 'lack of impulsion' when she trotted for the vet, and her presentation - total score of 7.25 points (remember 0 is perfect). Thetis got perfect on most things except she was a grade 2 lameness on her right hind - I remember on the ride we were on a hill and she stumbled a bit, I suspect she pulled something so we took it easy the little distance we had left. Thetis also needed the extra 10 minutes to have her heart rate back down. We finished with 22 points.

We finished up, let the horses eat, and had some BBQ food ourselves. After dinner they presented the awards. Thetis was 6th and Shawna was 2nd! We were really excited about that, and it was really neat to read the score card to see how we were graded.

After a long day we finally headed home. All and all it was a great learning experience and something I am looking forward to doing again!

Check out pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628433031337/