Rosie Jones Horsemanship

I had a wonderful time in Wales last week, culminating in a riding clinic which I ran with RA Anne Marie Marek. We affectionately christened her 'The Badger' a couple of years ago, because of her surprisingly ferocious control of the shopping queue on Monty Roberts tours where she is in charge of merchandise - but she's actually lovely and always cheerful, so it doesn't seem so appropriate any more. But when a name sticks what can you do?!

I was worried that I would only be able to ride horses on the left rein, since I had managed to crick my neck white water rafting (which was tremendous fun!) and couldn’t turn my head to the right, but luckily the Badge loosened it up with some Shiatsu and all was fine. The clinic was a new format for me, 8 riders back to back, each had a session in the morning and afternoon. One session was with me, focussing on behavioural tools to bring out the best in the horse, and one was with Anne Marie, who is training with Mary Wanless and focussed on position and balance. The horses I worked with largely fell into at least two of three categories - those who didn’t move forwards off the leg, those who needed to relax, and those who had an insufficient grasp of the basic steering mechanism! It was a good reminder for me that there is so much mileage in really getting the basics in place properly, so many riding horses go along without ever properly learning the foundations. I'm going to be bossy for just a second- if your horse does not stand still and relaxed for you to mount (and move around when  you are aboard!!), does not move forward or laterally off a leg aid, does not stop and stand still and quietly when you ask, or cannot turn softly and steer accurately, or does not seem to enjoy being ridden at all - then you have absolutely no place in saying 'for no reason at all' or 'out of nowhere' he 'suddenly' ...(insert traumatic and painful ending here).
I have to say, it seems that people are generally happy to just put up with a certain level of misunderstanding, stress or worry in their horses, and in doing so they get so used to the horses behaviour that they stop reading or reaction to it.
The students on the clinic were fantastic at participating in the thinking behind all of the sessions, and beginning to get a grasp of how we can use pressure and release, plus a bit of clever thinking, to get the horses understanding what we want and finding that comfortable and enjoyable. Some of the participants were riding horses that were borrowed and entirely new to them, which made for an even bigger challenge of identifying what the horse needed to work on and getting to know how that horse learns in order to construct a useful session - all really good fun.
My voice was hoarse though and I was pretty spacey after 8 horses back to back, I get quite animated when I'm teaching - plus like to ride every horse I'm teaching with. Anyhow, we parked up in a lay-by and wiped the mud and sweat off with tissues, put on some lippy and a dress and headed on to a wedding! Not quite a miraculous transformation, Han found mud on the end of my nose part way through the evening, but I think in dull lighting we managed to avoid any big social blunders.
The holiday vibe has continued since heading back to sunny south England, yesterday was a superb day for all the horses I worked, the sunny weather does help! Delilah, a young dressage bred warm blood who has taken some time to start under saddle had her first real solo ride yesterday, mounting from the block, and riding in walk and trot over poles and around obstacles in the arena and she was a DREAM. The trot is feeling fantastic and she is so naturally supple- one to look out for in the future. Little Lana the spooky Dutch warm blood did fantastically with logs (his nemesis apparently) and then dustbins, tarps and cardboard boxes. Spooky horses are so varied and need very different approaches, but  the knack with him seems to be less is more - given time, a relaxed rider and a loose rein, his brave and curious side emerges all on its own. Rocky - our remedial restarter is accepting a rider pretty happily now, and going from strength to strength. Perhaps best of all was Tutti - beautiful warm blood with a nasty nap and rearing habit. Yesterday was my third visit, to date we have worked on groundwork - leading out and long lining, and begun ridden work, things have been improving but yesterday was a world ahead of the last session. She's now on regumate, I rode off the dually rather than the bit, and I rode a little in her paddock at home before going out, working mostly on soft circling (which helps prevent a rear), soft backing up and a good forward reaction to the legs. it remains to be seen which of these things (or the fantastic weather) we have to thank - but Tutti's behaviour was really faultless, so much better than last week, and she rode out down the track and back without hesitation. Looking forward to a repeat performance tomorrow.

Perhaps the title of the blog is a little misfit - (I am always so partial to a little alliteration and there were fantastic mountains in Wales), in truth, though there is only really one pretty tiny molehill in my world at the moment and that involves the handsome Harv. Those of you who follow the blog will know Harvey, my ex nappy TB. I have decided I need to move yards - away from Jim Goddard RAs place. This is a nightmare for me, since Harvey is so settled at Jim’s and its been great working closely with Jim, but the 45 minute drive means I'm just not getting time to ride Harv as much as I'd like to so I'm moving him closer to home. Hopefully. The attitude to cribbing  is crazy though - I have found it so hard to find a yard that doesn't suggest electrifying his stable or keeping him permanently in the dark with the top door closed! There is definitely a missing link between proven scientific information (that vices are unlikely to be copied in happy adult horses) and assumed facts (that cribbing is entirely contagious!) Still, I think I have found somewhere just 8 minutes from home - fingers crossed the move goes well and Harv settles in OK. I was jumping him on the long lines yesterday too (another highlight) and he was simply flying so really looking forward to getting fit and out and about with what’s left with the summer - the new yard has a cross country course on sight and my fingers are itching to see how he goes. I'm off to drink lemsip, eat hobnobs and watch nature documentaries now - (this seems to ward off any threatening cold bug before it materialises) but will be back soon with a blog all about horses and work ethic.
Hope you are all enjoying the sun and enjoying your horses! I will do my best to get some new pictures on here soon - they are all sitting in various cameras but I think we can rustle something up... check back soon!

Rosie