Tag: Horse

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Let’s Get Deep About Your Seat

Ian Leighton on why your position is so important to your horse


Let’s Get Deep About Your Seat.

Learning how to use your seat is one of the greatest changes we can make to improve our riding, our horse’s willingness, his balance and carriage and to help him stay relaxed while using his natural energy.
Use your seat in a way that makes the horse feel like he can do what you are asking of him.
Often this is not explained well and is made much more complicated than it needs to be.
Like anything we do it’s not just a matter of learning the theory and everything falls into place but takes some commitment to become what your horse would like you to be as a rider.


If it takes that much effort to learn why would I want to, or why do I need to?

Imagine riding all day without getting tired or feeling like you are really working.
If we can learn to keep ourselves and our horse balanced and not restrict what he does or “get in his way”(a term that is often used to describe a poor or unbalanced seat) the amount of Continue reading Let’s Get Deep About Your Seat

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Young Horses

Young Horses

If you are considering  young horses or a green horse then also consider that young or green horses are still learning.

Young horses
Ian working with some young horses.

If you have no or little experience with young or green horses then you are likely to have trouble. You should not ride and handle youngsters like an old pony you learned on. They are still learning and often too sensitive to deal with that.

You shouldn’t take your green horse home from the breakers, give it a month off, throw on a poorly fitting saddle and swing up expecting to have a great time.

You should not expect that you can do the things you saw at the horse expo or in a video without the practice it takes to develop the feel and timing and instinctual responses that are the difference between good horsemanship and poor horsemanship.

With green youngsters your confidence cannot be false confidence based on a less than frank picture of where your horsemanship is at.

The good news is that many people can learn to be good with a young horse and help it develop into a great older horse.
Those that seek ongoing guidance from people who are experienced and competent with a young horse and are willing to change themselves and how they operate are the only ones that have good odds of being successful.

If you had trouble with your old horse chances are, without some changes, you will trouble your new horse .

Our video series Groundwork For Young Horses is a great place to start.
It covers everything from hardly leading to picking up feet to float loading.

 

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

Body Language – Groundwork for Focus and Energy

Many people associate horse riding with giving their horse a cue to elicit a response, but how do riders get on with a horse that hasn’t been trained to respond to cues, or with a horse they want to take further in its education?

Riders can greatly increase their ability to teach in a way that a horse can understand, without it having had any previous exposure to what is being taught. They can also work in a manner that does not over-stimulate their horse, reducing the likelihood of eliciting a rushed, unbalanced or reactive response. This will help them to be able to direct their horse with the appropriate amount of energy, whilst maintaining a relaxed composure.

What do horses already understand, without training?

“Horses are born with, or develop early in their lives, a natural ability to read the focus and body language of another horse, and that of other animals, developing an understanding of their physical intent.

I guess we don’t think about it enough at times but so much of the horse’s natural behaviour patterns are related directly to their evolution as a prey animal. While selective breeding over the years has changed this for some, many breeds have built on the natural qualities of their ancestors for speed, agility and alertness. Reactions that would have been a huge advantage for prey animals to evolve with would have been an ability to ‘read’ and process the places where a predator’s attack may occur and manoeuvre accordingly to avoid this.

The horse’s ability to ‘read’ the intent of other horses would also be helpful to avoid collisions if they happen to be running fast in a large herd. You only need to see a foal running beside its dam when they are startled or run in fear, to see how it mirrors the mare’s movements and direction, appearing to be attached by an invisible cord. Consider how quickly and accurately they must process this information to avoid collisions and attacks.

When you see young horses being sent-off by older herd members for apparently no, or very little, reason, it makes sense that it is because that is how they learn to avoid a potentially fatal attack at some time in their future. An older horse always seems to gain quite a reactive response from a younger herd member and many believe it is all about respect of a more alpha horse.

I believe there may be a much more critical reason than has become accepted by many horse people. It makes sense to me that it’s more to do with the longer-term well-being of the herd and that it’s an evolved mechanism to assist in the learning of how to avoid becoming the victim of predators.

Nearly everything that has naturally evolved in the animal world is about the betterment or future survival of the species.

HOW does knowing about this help us train our horse?

Having some understanding of the nature of equine body language and intent gives handlers the ability to direct their horse during the process of teaching ground work and to understand how they may conduct themselves in order to lift up or lower energy levels or gain responses without directly chasing their horse.

Let’s take a horse learning to follow a feel on a lead-rope as an example.

One of the most common problems I see in ground work at the many workshops or clinics I teach in, is an inability for people to control their horse’s energy when asking it to move off during ground work.

To help the horse understand where we want it to go, focus and energy can be increased, thereby using our presence like another horse would.

Often handlers will ask by leading out with the rope and then chasing the horse away with a flourish of the flag or stick or the end of the rope, causing the horse to take flight in an erratic or rushed way.  For overly desensitised horses, their reaction may be to ignore the handler and stand their Continue reading THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

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Keeping it Real

Real Women who Ride

Keeping it Real

I’ve been enjoying some travel time with Ian, teaching and supporting Ian’s training workshops as well as finding a bit more time for myself and our own horses.    I’m not much for annual resolutions, but taking some time out at home for the holiday break I’ve found myself thinking about what I set out to accomplish during 2017, and found that my path meandered along as I found new things to be inspired about.  I don’t believe that our path in life is straight, and it’s the winding bends that sometimes reveal the most amazing view.

View from the Spirit of Tasmania – Bass Strait

I have aspirations for my horsemanship, goals if you like, things that I am continually working towards.  It is only on reflection that I realise I’ve achieved more than I think I did.

There is no doubt that working with horses requires a great many qualities, both internal and external, but I think the most important is having an honest dialogue with yourself.  Regardless of your level of riding ability, we can all do little things to make a difference in our pursuit to be better horsemen and horsewomen.

This week I had thoughts that I had disappointed my horse – I set myself up for failure by not keeping the situation real.  My failure was small in the scheme of things, I lost my balance riding and had an unexpected dismount.  Nothing hurt, but I worried my horse during the process – on remounting I had to suck it up a little, find that inner confidence, and accept that I had created the situation and was accountable for what occurred.

Accepting that things don’t always go to plan is part of the process, there is an inherent risk in working with horses, and one that in order to progress we must be mindful of.   One thing I know, I need to work harder off the horse on my fitness, core strength and balance, so that on the horse these critical things are more solid.  This is never more evident as a mature rider than when returning to riding after a break, bringing horses back into work after a spell, riding young or green horses, or when building on training techniques which require me to have control over how my body operates so that I can more readily maintain and correct my balance.    I need to spend more time in the saddle, working on what needs to be worked on to get these things solid.  Never forget those foundations – the basics of softness, balance and relaxation, and allowing my horse to move forward encouraging these elements, and breathe so that I remain soft, balanced and relaxed.

One thing I am now more confident and secure with is keeping the whole thing real.  I am at where I am at physically, and acknowledging this as I work on being a more fluid, balanced rider is liberating.  Taking the realistic approach allows me to take a step back as I need to, and then taking that step forward with the knowledge that I am more capable and committed to doing the work that needs to be done.

This is where we need to keep it real.  To progress as riders, we need to be physically up to the challenge, and it can be a challenge.  This past 12 months I’ve worked steadily to be more physically up to the demands of riding, and in having this honest dialogue with myself, I need to do more.  This doesn’t mean signing up to the gym or running up mountains.  For me it means doing more exercise in a way that fits in with the demands of my lifestyle, and committing fully to the daily exercises set by my physio in order to have my body functioning in a more dependable way.   To life an active life, I have to be more active – and let’s be honest, working with horses is active.

I am fortunate to meet many riders in our travels, from many different backgrounds, with vastly varying degrees of ability, experience and fitness, each one balancing the demands of their life with their desire to improve as horsemen and horsewomen.   We all have one thing in common, our love of our horses and a willingness to do better by them.  Keeping our successes and failures real and in perspective is important to our growth as riders, and to do better by them we must work to do better by ourselves.  If you need a motivation to work on your fitness, remember how much it will benefit your horse and your riding.  Find those 30 minutes a day to do that something better, find them to feel better and live better.  If you need a reason to find those 30 minutes, look at your horse.

I will continue to work on this as we do everything, both on and off the horse – one step at a time.

Oh, and sometimes the view from home is the very best view of all.

Liz Leighton © January 2018

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Things that stick…….

Things That Stick

There are a few things that have stuck with me through the last 15 years or so, which have had a direct influence on how I view my relationship with myself as a rider, and my relationship with my horse.

Like many women with some life experience behind them, I’d had a long break from regular riding and horse ownership, while raising my son, holding down a corporate career and focussing on getting through those teenage years as a single parent unscathed.  I’d had a number of health-related issues, and was neither fit nor in good riding shape.  This continues to be a work in progress to this day.  On graduating as the parent of a fully functioning independent adult, I took a great step into the unknown, sold up, packed up and left the city and moved to a small house half way up a mountain with a few acres outside of Hobart.  The primary reason for this, I wanted to get back to my love of horses and ride regularly again, and I wanted to be able to breathe fully again.   Years of corporate life seem to have a way of restricting how deeply you breathe – my life was a locked in a vice-grip.

Living up the mountain allowed for some release, as I started to plan how my life should move forward.

My first horse acquired after the big move came about through emotional blackmail – well, maybe not that dramatic, but he was an old standardbred, with more than a few racing starts under his belt, and more conformation faults than any other horse I have seen since.  He was a “take him or the alternative isn’t so great” offer, and I figured if he worked out as a trail horse that would do him just fine, if not he would have a comfortable retirement.  Unfortunately for me, his soundness issues became evident very early on, and fortunately for him he landed in my paddock, well fed and cared for with his paddock buddies up until his last day.

Jordie taught me a great lesson – all horses find you for a reason and I learnt so much about conformation from that horse, and his resilience was obvious.  I was grateful he came into my life and it still brings me joy that he was able to have a comfortable (and long) retirement in our care.   He deserved it.

I took time with taking on my next horse, and spent time riding with a friend who taught me many things.  Her horses were seasoned and coped with my lack of fitness & finesse as I struggled to get my middle-aged body fully riding functional.  Let’s not kid ourselves, there are muscles used when riding that get little exposure when your primary daily activity is sitting in an office.  Even the regular walks to the coffee shop (and a few gym sessions on the side) aren’t enough to pull those suckers into gear.  So, I worked on things and committed to my lessons, and worked on what needed to be worked on to become a better rider.

Finding Spirit was a team effort, through the generosity of contacts I’d put out a bit of a quiet S.O.S. to find that elusive mount, the “middle-aged lady returning to riding” horse.  Those things are rare for good reason, once you have one you never want to let them go.  I got lucky.    Together we had lessons, lots of lessons, from finding our forward to working on dressage manoeuvres and made our way together.   I had no delusions about my lack of ability, and put the work in to improve at a rate we both could manage.

I still remember the day someone at a lesson group described Spirit as “tolerant”.  At the time, I thought it was a compliment, yes, my horse was very forgiving of his somewhat unbalanced, unfit rider who is trying to learn how to give him a more comfortable life.   He is a lovely horse, the type that patiently waited for me to sort myself out, and picked me up when my balance wasn’t great.  I made a lot of mistakes and he would give me that “look” but always made me feel safe enough to try again.  He did the same with Maddi in his later ridden years, forgiving her mistakes and waiting patiently for her to work them out.  He is enjoying his retirement here now, well earned & deserved.

Spirit enjoying his retirement 

Only as I grew a little as a rider that I thought perhaps that comment wasn’t so complementary.  For my horse to “tolerate” my riding wasn’t what I wanted, and considering we were trying to improve and working from a fairly low base point, it stuck with me.  I didn’t want my horse to just tolerate me,  that kind of relationship wasn’t one I was comfortable with.    It prompted me to work  harder on myself in and out of the saddle to not make his job so hard.

The way we describe someone or comments we make can have a long-lasting impact.  Perhaps it was a compliment as to the temperament of my forgiving horse, or perhaps it was a way of criticising a learning rider.  Only the person making the comment knows its true intention, but it was never forgotten.

So, we progressed and meeting Ian was a big part of the journey from that point on.  I give him a lot of credit for the perspective I developed and confidence that grew, and how I interpreted this comment to ensure it was a positive to draw upon.   Now, I am thankful that this experience stuck with me.  It reminds me of what my horse tolerates when I don’t get things right and inspires me to continue to improve my skills to give him a more confident and comfortable ridden life.

Most of all in my riding life it was three words written as feedback on an early dressage test that inspired me more than anything else.  Those words were “be more adventurous”.  I knew exactly what they meant.  I’d ridden a test with the handbrake on – I was tight and didn’t allow my horse to give what we both knew he had to offer.  I stifled him and it showed.   At that point in time, I made a commitment to take responsibility for and own the outcomes I created.

These words became and still remain my mantra, the thing I repeat silently to myself when things aren’t coming together.  They are the words I mutter out loud when I question my confidence and identify that I’m not giving my horse the best opportunity to relax, balance and work with purpose.  They are the words I repeat when I feel unmotivated to ride (yes, those days are there – particularly during the Tassie winter) and I think of the possibilities ahead.

So, I’ve learnt as a horsewoman I need to be:

  • Realistic
  • Responsible
  • Committed
  • Forgiving
  • Tolerate
  • Patient
  • Confident
  • Resilient
  • Relaxed
  • Adventurous
  • Courageous

My horse, well, he just needs to just be a horse.

When working on myself or working with others, this is key – taking charge of our own outcomes and celebrating loudly and proudly those small successes. Celebrate your own, and those around you – the secret to success is that you are never alone.  Whether it be the support of friends, family or the companionship of your horse, this is not a solitary journey.

And as always, these lessons are learnt & taught one step at a time.

Liz Leighton © June 2017

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That whole life balance thing

It’s been a while since I’ve written an update, and I’ve made a lot of critical decisions during this time. The most critical thing is with the support of myLiz & Gibson 1 amazing husband I’m moving away from my corporate life and concentrating on what’s truly important. Reclaiming the balance in my life.

For too long, my life-balancing attempt has been like walking a tightrope, juggling flaming batons (that would look rather spectacular), whilst wondering what to cook for dinner, looking after family, thinking about what I need to get done at the corporate job in a 38-hour week (which usually runs around 50 hours), lamenting how many girlfriends I haven’t caught up with in the past 3 months, running the property and horses whilst Ian is away teaching, and scheduling and administering our own business. We really do have a great life, it’s just that mostly it felt like I was missing the living it part.

Liz & Gibson 2We talk at home a lot about balance, mostly it’s about horses, balancing their diet and training, teaching them to balance their bodies and carry themselves in a manner which is conducive to long term well-being and soundness, and occasionally we delve into the whole “work/life balance” discussion.  Recently, Ian wrote about some riders of green horses and said “they stay tight in the saddle and are sort of stuck in a position and miss the opportunities”. That was me, I was tightly in the grips of the corporate squeeze, stuck and missing life’s opportunities. What it took to release myself was pretty severe, and something I could never have done without the love and support of my husband, family and close friends. I gave notice on the corporate job.

Now I’m planning my professional extraction. Sounds dramatic doesn’t it, hoping those guys from tactical response will rappel down from a black-hawk overhead, clip me on and winch me up, but in reality it’s quite confronting, takes some degree of courage and requires me to take that first step. It’s one of those take a deep breath and have confidence in yourself moments that life presents from time to time. When you’ve given a lot of your life to your profession and take pride in the work you’ve done whilst maintaining that fine line between what sits comfortably with your values and ethics and the pressure and stress of corporate life, it’s quite confronting.

I always liked to think of myself as a person defined by who I am, not what I do. The social question, of “so what do you do for a living” seems so often to be the measure by which so many opinions are first formed. Giving up the career defining persona of 30 years and venturing into a new era is something that both excites me and challenges my need for security. I have a passion for our business, learning, refining and teaching horsemanship and encouraging others to be adventurous and courageous, empathetic and supportive. Now is the time to rebalance and focus on where the heart lies.

There’s this theory that there are two determining influences in our behaviour, one is love and the other is fear. When put simply, we can choose to act, make decisions and interact with others out of love, or out of fear. For me, making decisions based on love (where for me love can be defined as acting ethically, openly and honestly) provides a degree of clarify of where I need to be heading, and reinforces the confidence needed to go in that direction. It is far more satisfying, almost relieving, to make decisions based on this kind of thought process. It is far easier to choose life’s direction based on what we love and the feeling that this creates and resonates throughout our whole being, than making choices based on what we fear, want to avoid or are afraid of.

So really, I just made a decision out of love (I could have just started this whole working kendricpiece with this – but honestly it took me the above paragraphs to process this into words). In some respects, this situation resonates with me in the other critical part of my life, my relationship with my horses and the challenges that I face.   Any doubts or reservations are based on this fear based thought process, and recognising this is critically important. If I need to make choices, then they need to be based on love, and not driven by fear.

I’ve read a little lately about riders making life changing decisions based on fear, reservation, a lack of confidence in their emotional ability to change mentally and or physically, and most importantly without embracing the fact that decisions made from fear are rarely made with a positive outcome in mind. They are based on avoidance, rather than embracing the challenge ahead. If you are going to make a life changing decision, make it based on a love of the outcome, and make it a life defining deep breath moment.

When I think about what it means to get my life balance right, these are my new found basics.

  1. Eat, sleep and breathe right – sounds simple, but too often this balance is not maintained. So I commit to myself that I will work on these things every day – out of love to myself. Honestly, we only get one body and this one has to do me for many years to come.
  2. Life a life full of comfort – and not just a comfortable life. Comfort comes in the simplest and honest of forms – embrace the small things that come your way.
  3. Work at doing what you are passionate about, and success will follow. I wrote a lesson to myself a while ago – success is not material or always obvious – but when you feel it, celebrate! I will celebrate more often.
  4. We all have financial commitments in life, they are still there and have to be maintained but they can’t be the focus or reason for each breath I take.

Liz & Kendric 1
Liz enjoying some time with Kendric

As always, each journey in life is taken one foot in front of the other. I will live a life of opportunity, ride with a commitment and relaxation only found through passion and self-belief, and not a life of regret.

So, for a while I’m going to rebalance and embrace life as a horse-wife and focus on what’s important – truly important – and that is to live making decisions that are right for my well-being and that of my family, and live that life happily – one step at a time.

Liz Leighton © 30 March 2016