The Ulitmate Horsemanship Experience
Having just finished co-teaching the first of the “The Ultimate Horsemanship Experience’’ courses with Tony Robinson at the awesome ‘Banyandah’, Howlong, NSW, the results and feedback from the students indicates that we need to do more of these courses. The participants saying that the only problem was that it wasn’t long enough and they have already asked for another course in January. The changes in horses and riders was phenomenal, much more than usual and I have always prided my self on being able to get pretty big changes
in horses and people.
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Braceiness Part 1
Riding should feel soft, fluent, harmonious, effortless and easy. If your horse is bracing on the reins the above qualities are not what you will be experiencing. Bracing on the reins can be caused by:-
• a lack of confidence in the horse
• clostrophobia
• unwillingness to follow leadership/ direction
• conflicting aids from the rider
• lack of feel from the rider
Bracing on the reins will be associated with bracing through the horse’s mind and body. In this article we will focus on having more feel and organizing the horse’s ribs and HQ’s to help the horse get be softer in the reins, particularly in relation to bending to a stop and the indirect rein.
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PART 2 – Dealing with Braciness on the Direct Reins.
Riding horse’s that are heavy and leaning on the reins does not feel pleasurable to the horse or the rider. With novice riders this commonly appears to be a problem as they try to direct their horses to follow straight lines, turns or circles. What is a direct rein ? The direct rein leads the horse’s front end through a turn. It talks to the horse’s nose to ask for a slight amount of flexion and specifically talks to a front foot. That is the
left direct rein specifically talks to the left front foot and the right direct rein specifically talks to the right front foot.
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Riding in Synchronicity
When the rider can totally become a part of the horse and they move as one being then riding can feel like magic for the horse and the human. In this course you will understand and implement riding techniques so horses can be ridden in a balanced, fluid and biomechanically correct posture. In such a self carriage horses will be sound, healthy, happy and athletic. Performance maneuvers will feel effortless. Participating in body awareness simulations and exercises will develop and improve your mental focus, mental attitude, balance, coordination, feel and timing. These are the keys to experiencing the magic in riding a horse.
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Students account of the seminar and riding workshop
I have been attending Horsemanship courses run by Mel Fleming’s for seven years. I always have a great time and come home with lots of gems to help me on my journey with my horses but this time it was a real adventure… THE weekend started with a seminar presented by Mel Fleming and Tony
Robinson. In the beginning we were asked to do a walking exercise for 10 minutes. So off we went, no-one knowing just what it was we were to do or feel but we all participated without question. When we were called back and were asked how we felt, the general feeling was one of calmness.
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Balance and hindquarter engagement – what does it look like?
What does a horse’s body position look like when it is working in a good balance with hind quarter engagement? Very few people seem to have an
understanding of the balance and self carriage that horses need to have, in order to be ridden so that they can remain sound, healthy, happy and
athletic. This is a very important subject in all of my courses. It is equally as important as using psychology to work with horses. Their mind will be in a better frame when their body is and vice – versa. This article is to give you a pictorial view so you have more of an idea of what you are looking for at the end result and in the process.
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