Be good to the horse!

Well, I'm just about at that point where I don't really want to hear any more discussion on horsemanship, but I needed to get that foot trimming post off the top of my blog.

There's just a couple of things really. I want to try and make sure that any horses I work with understand what is going on, as best as I can make sure of that, and I want to carry on practising my balance and relaxation in the saddle, as best as I can make sure of that too.

For the last couple of years I haven't really seen anything else that makes sense to me concerning horsemanship. I'm convinced that there is very little, if anything, to be gained from confusing a horse, and I am equally certain that any ridden work done with the horse out of balance is at very best a waste of time.

I've watched quite a few horses now taking their first few ridden steps in balance. Sometimes they stumble - it's as if they can't believe it is being asked of them. But they soon get it. It feels good to them. From balance comes relaxation. A horse in balance is in the moment, enjoying being there, with his owner, two beings as one. It might start with one small step in walk, and it might seem to the rider that the road ahead is just too long a journey to go on. And I know a lot of folks won't bother to try. But I've lost interest in the other stuff now. I used to wonder where man meets the horse. It took me a while to figure it out. We meet in the moment, but we both have to be there or it simply isn't going to happen.