Sam

Do you know what - I'm wondering about horses and horsemanship.

I rode my horse out yesterday looking for our cows. We found eleven, so only nine missing. The thing is there are so many places they can hide. I walked out later and found another six. Tomorrow we have to get them in to start calving, so hope they all show up then.

Anyway, what I was going to say was this, my old horse Sam, he never really had a chance to be as good as he could have been, cos quite frankly I didn't know what I was doing. Do I know now? Nah, not really! But thank the good lord I do know a little more than I used to. Sam has a bit of a tendency to go a bit 'unbroke' sometimes. You know, you kind of have the feeling that you are sitting on a horse that has forgotten you are there, or maybe never even realised it in the first place. But yesterday I had him, right there. I rode like a demon and he was listening all the way.

So what is that thing that I can bring to the deal, that makes the difference. That elusive quality that for years I had no idea existed, and as life goes on, I find it slightly easier to come up with. That is horsemanship and I love it. And actually, if I was going to be really practical here, which I absolutely believe I should be, specifically what did I do different. Well, it was balance - but not in some 'sit like this' kind of way. It was me and the horse in balance as one thing. The feeling to me is of the horse almost being trapped there - I know that is a slightly dodgy concept but it's how it feels to me. Like the horse can't splurge out from under you. Like he is listening to every step. It feels good!

And when I watch good riders, or think back to watching riders I like, I can see they are doing that same thing. The horse is there, under them, physically, and mentally too! And then you put your horse away and think about that ride, and how tomorrow you are going to ride and try and get it right again.

Balance before Movement.

There have been many mile stones along the way, and the day I cottoned on to balance was an important one. If you get your horse in balance you've got him right there in the moment, ready to do whatever you want. I'm not saying he'll necessarily be able to do it, but he will be available to give it a try. And you will have done your part in making it as easy as possible for him.


And the final decider for me on this argument is that balance makes horses feel good. If you can show your horse that you understand this, and that you are not going to ask him to do stuff that he can't manage without losing his balance, then he quickly gains trust in you, and 'the relationship' changes.


I'm done with watching people ask their horses for more than they can correctly do, then watching the horse falling through the shoulder, or tipping on to the front end, in a desperate try to get the job done. Not good horsemanship from the human, I'd say. And then they bang on and on, round and round, thinking that if they do it enough times somehow the horse will find a way. Think about it! Do humans run before they can walk. Now I try to put things together for my horse in some kind of order, that makes sense from his point of view, truly I am convinced he sees me differently.


Here is a quote from Francois Baucher.


'What delights the expert horseman will experience in the progressive application of his art! His pupil at first rebellious will insensibly yield himself to his every wish; will adopt his character, and end by becoming the living personification of him. Take care, then, rider! If your horse is capricious, violent, fantastic, we will have the right to say that you yourself do not shine by the amenity of your disposition, and the propriety of your proceedings.'


And here is another pic of Martin - what a beast!

Time to get serious about horsemanship

Welcome to Martin, and that's with the French pronunciation OK (Martaine). He is four weeks old and his mum, Tilly, is supposedly 10. And here are two very interesting quotes from the lady who 'rescued' her from France nine months ago.

'They treat the horses really badly over there'.

'All of the seven horses we rescued have behaved perfectly since day one'.

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I have to say Tilly is a joy to handle. Martin, on the other hand, is totally bonkers.

Why I like Baucherism

So, anyone who knows me will know I am no great horseman. I reckon my biggest success is to take a pride in my non-greatness, enjoy my horses, and maybe help other 'not so great' horsemen to enjoy their horses too. Since I started out I have always strived to keep things simple. I have fought hard against so many of the semi-abstract concepts and phrases that the horse world is littered with. I see no need for that stuff. Mostly what it does is give the impression to the unknowledgeable that the speaker knows what they are talking about, but to me it feels akin to the blag that you hear from politicians. It's mostly meaningless blather!

So when I come across a horseman who speaks in a language that I understand, I appreciate that, and I am grateful to them. I have come across a few horsetrainers who speak in words that make sense, and who try to explain how this whole thing fits together. They are the trainers who can actually give you some practical help as to how to progress in your horsemanship. You can spend time with them and leave with some tangible advice that you can use, rather than come away with a load more confused dogma to add to the pile of confusion that you already have.

So how does Baucher fit into all this. Well, he was a man of the same sentiment. He strived to get across to people the simplicity of horsemanship, and although in his life time he didn't really enjoy the recognition and success he maybe deserved, the work he did, successfully lives on.

In what is known as 'Baucher's second manner' he provided us with a very clear explanation of how to work the horse in lightness, or legerete. Since I came across this I have been greatly influenced by it, mainly because it works. His clear instructions, coupled with the written explanations of people past and present who work in this way, including General L'hotte, Captain Beaudant, Jean Claude Racinet and presently, Phillipe Karl) make it possible for the ordinary horseman to practise his ideas. In my limited way I have really been enjoying the results of this work - I say 'limited way' because I have no ambition to be a great rider, in fact my riding ambitions stretch about as far as getting to the local pub. But what I have managed to do is turn around some pretty confused horses, simply by being able to explain to them how things work, and in a way that they clearly understand and enjoy. I have also worked with some very interesting people, including a twelve year old boy with his show pony that habitually pushed up on the bit and travelled along like a llama. The young boy had no problem at all in understanding what I explained to him to do, mainly because everything we did was simple and worked. To my surprise he continued the work and now a couple months later his pony is a real credit to him.

It's really important that we understand how things work. If we don't understand something then how can we ever expect our horses to. To understand the bit, and the feel we should have in our hands, and the effects of our actions on the bit, plus the security the horse feels from being in good balance; this is a hugely important step for us, and the horse. I know he is long gone and he won't hear my thanks, but Baucher was a man who helped get me started on this.

Jack and C1

One of the things I work on right from the start is trying to make it really clear between me and the horse what the bit means. I work a lot on the response to a feel on the bit in the corner of the mouth. I want the response to be a mobile mouth and an absolute willingness to follow the bit. This is done with feel - no pull. I am looking for a clean, soft, sideways movement in C1, as in the picture below.

With Jack, on his right side, he really found it difficult to turn his head on the C1 joint. He invariably combined the movement with a tip and twist in the C2 joint. If I really worked at it I could just about get a clear flexion but if I left it to Jack he always gave me a twist.

So why does it matter? Well, as in everything between me and the horse, my requests and my horse's responses need to be clear and concise, but also in this case, it is actually very important for balance. If my horse tilts his head like in the next picture, then I am going to be really struggling to get him to walk around corners even-loading on all four feet. He's going to lose his balance and fall on his shoulder. If you keep your horse in balance it has a big effect on him psychologically. I believe in this to such an extent that I try to always make balance one of my primary aims. From this comes confidence, and for the horse, what almost feels to me like, 'pride in their work'.

So this weekend I had the chance to get Jack's C1 worked on by Dave Siemens. Dave is a chiropractor who we have known for a few years now. I asked him to specifically check out the C1 joint. Take a look at the next picture - Jack now just does it whereas before he almost couldn't.

If you don't use the full movement in any joint then over time that movement will not be available to you. In Jack's case he didn't have an easy option on C1 to his right. At first I thought it was because he didn't understand what I wanted, but as soon as the joint was freed up it was clear that it was a physical issue rather than a training one.

The journey to nowhere

It all started off pretty simple. When I first sat on a horse I quickly decided that for my own safety, I needed to be in control of the situation. I worked out that my horse had a few ideas of his own, and in some situations he even insisted on putting his ideas in to practise. This was sometimes fun, but not always.

Then pretty soon, a whole load of theories about horsemanship came into view. First I came across join up, after which the horse would be only too happy to do whatever I asked - oh, but I might need a pressure halter. And then pretty quickly a whole load more stuff came trucking along. Before I knew it a huge industry was spawned, all centred around this special relationship between man and the horse. Now suddenly, there was lots for me to think about. Am I the alpha, or perhaps I'm not? Is my horse right brained or is he left brained? Is he introvert or is he extrovert? Or, god forbid, is he the 'used one? Heck, this was starting to get complicated.

And then came the books, the endless books, telling me about this deep and meaningful relationship, but mysteriously, somehow not quite telling me how I can get to it.

But for the last few years I've been looking at my horse and wondering. And I'm standing there thinking, 'Nah, he doesn't care a jot about any of this stuff. He just needs to feel safe and know I'm not going to do anything too dumb. That's pretty much the same as what I want from him really!'

Understanding the Bit

I am beginning to think, in fact I now know, that this is a really rather important job, and it is one that often gets rather overlooked. The first thing is, if you don't understand the bit how the hell is your horse going to understand it? There are obviously lots of different opinions about what the bit is for and how to use it and so on. So you have to decide all that before you start. If you understand that the bit is something that you use with force, ie have pressure in your hands, then you have to train your horse to accept that force. If you want your horse to travel behind the bit then you have to set that up too. I personally don't think either of those two options are the best way to use a bit. Both of those ways are 100% counter productive, physically and mentally, to what I want to acheive with my horse.

So, bearing in mind the way that I want to ride my horse, here is my understanding of the bit. There are three simple things I need to set up with my horse: a) the bit is a boundary through which the horse must not go, b) the bit is how I tell my horse where I want him to put his head, and c) the bit is a source of comfort to my horse. Once those things are in place I am in business.

Firstly, setting the boundary up. Well that's fairly straightforward. Never let the horse push the bit around, or lean on the bit, or put weight on the bit in any way. The horse needs to carry himself, in balance, and that is not a balance dependent on you holding him in place.

Secondly, I want my horse's mouth to follow the bit wherever I move it to; left or right, up or down. I want this to happen without resistance from the horse or the use of any force from me.

Thirdly, I want my horse to be comfortable with me using the bit. I don't want my horse to be frightened of the bit, or to be running away from the bit by going behind it. It is important to me that the bit is always right there, comfortable in the horses mouth. This is where I need to work to have a good reliable and consistent nice feel in my hands, that the horse can learnt to trust and love.

If I get all this in place, without grey areas in my or the horses mind, then things can start to really settle down. I am pretty sure a huge amount of horses anxieties come from illogical stuff happening in their mouths.