NHA horse show finale weekend with Tips for success!

Last weekend was all about the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)- well except for Friday evening when I spent a couple hours with my centered riding coach Esther Johnson to start work on my freestyle routine for Kentucky. That was a lot of fun getting things figured out – we still have a lot of work to do, but we are putting together a nice routine for Kahleesi – Cupid you are next!

I was lucky to have a couple volunteers to help me set up for the NHA obstacle show – our gamblers choice had over 40 options so it was a lot to set up. We were blessed with good weather for the show and the best turnout for classes yet.

The horse agility classes seemed to be popular with 12 in the novice! The liberty classes still only had 3 entries, so perhaps this will condense to be just one class next year. Our judge, Shelley, gave some tips for scoring well in the class.

Tips for Scoring well in Horse Agility:

• -        Find a way to get your horse motivated, even if that means using a treat as a reward after some obstacles so that your horse looks keen, interested, and has a little spring in their step.
• -        Be careful to set your horse up nicely and straight to the obstacles so that they can complete them accurately.

We moved into the riding classes and there was a lot of fun to be had. We received a lot of great feedback about enjoying the Finesse, Speed, and Gamblers Choice classes because of the variety. 

Having prize money for the gamblers choice seemed to go over really well too - I guess everyone likes money? A lot of people stayed to enter the money class at the end of the day with 100% of the class entries going into prizes. We were happy with 14 people in that class, a good turnout for it's first time.

It was fascinating to watch the different ways everyone completed their gamblers choice, with more than 40 options there was a lot of variation to how you could do it. It was also interesting to see who dared master the big bridge for 15 points, and who was able to do the gamblers choice obstacle of the splash box worth 20 points.

The splash box is a box filled with water, with a floating piece of wood with holes in it. It looks solid to the horse but when they step on the floating wood, it sinks with water gushing up through the holes. You can imagine that a lot of horses find it intimidating at first.

The Unexpected Obstacle

What we didn’t expect, is that as everyone was splashing through the box, there was more and more mud created around the box which actually became more of an obstacle to some horses.

Being Impressed

I was super impressed with the riders and horses at the competition – I was also happy to have competition for the first time in the extreme division… the last two shows it had just been my horses and I, but this time there were 7 entries. It was great to see talented riders and horses competing at that level.

In particular a few things that impressed me –

• -        Andrea and her ability to ride a gate in a few seconds. She made it look so easy and inspired me to practice the gate to master this skill better… I am still not as good as her at it, but now I can ride the gate with Kahleesi!
• -        Dave with his horse that would walk on water if he ask or jump to the moon. He’s raised such a willing partner.
• -        Cody with his young horse that he did just the right amount to progress his young horse without pushing him too hard.

Everyone really did a great job and I was super thrilled with everyone’s horsemanship and sportsmanship at the show.

From watching & riding gambler’s choice, here’s some tips I picked up:

• -        Ride the high point obstacles first to make sure you get the big points
• -        Only attempt the obstacles you are sure you can do pretty easily/quickly because the seconds count down fast
• -        Have fun and smile! The horse can feel your tension, so if you smile and have fun your horse will do better.

All in all it was a great show day! 

We want to know what you like to see in the shows!

We are taking feedback for next year and would really appreciate you take the NHA Horse Show survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BNSS3SJ 

– or email us any feedback (good or bad) you are willing to share to nhassociation@gmail.com because want to do this again next year, and want to make it better for you.

Sunday Wrap Up

The day after the horse show we had a fun trail ride out to the pond – it was a nice day to take a quick dip with horses – thank you for everyone that came out!

Also a big congratulations to the PHH riders that showed at Oak Ridges Equestrian Centre, we had a few riders come home with champion and reserve champion ribbons. Well done girls and thank you Caileigh-Anne for being our show team coach!

What's up Next?

Tomorrow the fun continues with our Partridge Horse Hill Show – we have hunter, jumper, obstacle, and speed event classes. We hope to see you there! More information at http://partridgehorsehill.com/HorseShowClinic.html

Keep in the know at https://www.facebook.com/PartridgeHorseHill 

The first Horse Agility and Obstacle Challenge Show from the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)

On Saturday May 30^th, Natures Run Equestrian hosted the first horse agility and obstacle challenge show by the NHA. A lot of work went into the show and the show series – deciding on classes, judging criteria, obstacles, organization, etc. The NHA really wants to promote a fun and supportive place to show horses using different obstacles.

Partridge Horse Hill (PHH) took a group to the show. The morning started with a bit of glitch when I slept in past my alarm, and then one of the two horse trailers popped a tire! Somehow we managed to arrive at the show before it started, our optimistic and resilient attitudes shined through as we were still full of positive thoughts throughout the day. 

The day started beautiful and sunny, and the horse agility classes got to compete outdoors in lovely weather – except at the end when the rain started. Luckily NRE has an indoor arena so we were able to move everything indoors after the first Essentials class and continue with the show.

I was very proud of the PHH students and their success. They were very supportive of each other. Kim brought Shawna, Yvonne with Allure, and Laurie with Cheyenne all for their first offsite show – it was also Allure and Cheyenne’s first offsite show. They all participated in the starter and first level of Horse Agility which are friendly introductory classes. Then they rode in the Essentials division for the obstacle challenge which is a walk/trot division. Everyone was very nervous but the nerves settled after a 1^st place for Kim in the first class, 2^nd for Laurie, and Yvonne finished up with reserve champion. All that hard work and practicing paid off.

I brought three of my off the track Thoroughbreds to the show – Kahleesi and Cupid are the two I bought only about 3 months ago for the Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover for Kentucky. This was Cupid’s first horse show and Kahleesi’s second show. I also brought Thetis who is my Parelli certified Level 3 horse. Despite Cupid and Kahleesi being very inexperienced I still entered by horses in the most advanced classes because of my level – we did Intermediate (for Cupid & Kahleesi not Thetis), Advanced, Liberty (two classes), and the Extreme division. I also took Thetis in one Exciting class (Finesse) so that I could try a class with no bridle.

In the intermediate we competed against other people and I was very happy at how my horses excelled and completed tasks like a pivot on the pedestal and sideways over the pole with relative ease. I was so proud of my horses and how calm they were in the ring. This was a milestone because Cupid and Kahleesi at the trade show in April were very tense and upset in the ring by themselves, and during the show they showed me just how far they've come in their training and now are completely different horses.

Even when it started to rain and everyone was hiding indoors or in their trailers (so no horses were around the ring) they were still very calm and connected to me which made me so proud. One of the things I’ve been using to build the motivation are treats. I don’t use them as a bribe, but when they do something well I give them one cookie (I use roughage chunks that are a health tasty treat). This helps give them another reason to try extra hard. 

 

For the most advanced classes of the day I was the only one entered (Advanced, Liberty, and Extreme division). This was a bit odd to compete against myself using my 3 horses, but it was the experience my horses needed. Cupid and Kahleesi have a lot to learn before Kentucky and it was great they could have a good show experience.

Because the show was running late I offered to drop my classes from 10 obstacles to 5, and reduce my gamblers choice from 3 min to 1min to help speed things up – which kept my horse’s experience short and sweet. As you can expect I was both champion and reserve champion of that division, and 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in my classes.

This raised an interesting reflection – was it wrong or right for me to compete in classes where it was only me entered?

Keep in mind there was another class with only 3 people, and one other class with only 1 person (some people left because of the rain) that did run.

My thoughts are that I had paid to trailer my horses there, had supported everyone else, waited my turn, and shortened my classes to make it quick, so it was reasonable to want to do my classes too- but what do you think?

In any event I was proud that my horses could complete the most advanced classes despite their inexperience, and thankful for the chance to give them show experience offsite. 

For liberty I left the halters on Kahleesi and Cupid because it was their first time, but my goal for the last NHA show is to feel confident taking the halter off so we are completely at liberty (instead of just no lead rope).

A quick tip:

- Remember your horse needs a pay cheque. Think 'why is my horse showing up to work?' This doesn't have to be food, but food can certainly help when used properly to build that extra motivation. 

Watch the video of highlights from the show:

Tom Shields gives me Insight into working with Kahleesi

I was lucky to have Tom Shields work with my newly purchased off the track Thoroughbred mare, Kahleesi at the 2015 Natural Horsemanship Trade show. Tom shared a lot of knowledge and expertise during his hour demo with Kahleesi.

Little did I know he would provide me more insight and knowledge in a follow up email - I want to share it with you because I think he shares some great information.

We are currently planning a clinic with Tom for a weekend in November later this year - stay tuned for details later this spring.

"You asked me a question on Saturday about "matching the energy of your horse".  I gave you a short answer about bringing the horse my peace ... but upon more pondering I believe the question (a very good one) requires a more detailed answer.  I will attempt that with as few bunny trails as possible.  I will speak from the rehab perspective or dealing with mentally damaged horses.  

When first working with a damaged horse the energy we usually encounter is a combination of fear, flight and mistrust.  This energy is toxic and does physiological damage to all systems in the horse.  This energy should be met with a calm, confident push balanced with enough passive draw to assure the horse that they are in "good hands".  "Good hands" needs a clear definition in our industry.  In my world, good hands never pull ... they only block.

Once the initial push and draw has been established most horses with initiate multiple challenges to your abilities as the new leader.  As I said on Saturday ... it is the obligation of your horse to test and challenge your ability as a leader.  Since leadership is established through competition and ability ... this is very much like sparing in martial arts.  There are a set of rules that must be adhered to so you can't be accused (by the horse) of cheating.  If you are correct consistent and fair in all your actions ... if your response to the behavior of the horse is appropriate (from the perspective of the horse) and predictable your behavior will bring a calm to the horse.

If the horse's energy comes up and becomes toxic again our job is to de-escalate that energy and turn it into a calm and focused energy.  If the horse's energy drops away to pouting or just being overwhelmed ... our job is to reassure and strengthen.

(Kahleesi) is a very smart mare.  As I worked with her on Saturday she started inverted (hollow) and stressed.  As I worked with her she tried a bunch of things ... some overt and some subtle ... to suck me into making a mistake so she would have an excuse to be mad and stressed.  Because I met her energy with a calm, assertive push and balanced that push with a passive draw ... and because my body language never gave her an excuse to be mad at me ... she began to pout.  If you remember, she made wiggle marks in the sand with her nose as we were working.  That's the body language of a pouting mare who was being told she simply was not top horse in my presence.  I didn't make mention of that during the demo because I don't want people focusing on that and missing the entire issue of relaxation in general.  Once (Kahleesi) feels the physiological and bio-mechanical benefits of being with me (or you) ... the "work" becomes easy and fun.

So the long answer to your question is ... I match the horse's energy with the appropriate energy to bring a calm, focused work ethic.  That looks different for every horse in every circumstance.  The principal, however, works for every breed and every temperament.  Application of the principal requires a base of knowledge and attention to detail ... and a keen willingness to listen to the horse and modify our behavior to benefit them.

So I apologize for the short, trite answer.  Hopefully this fills in the gaps I left.

Blessings ... Tom"