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  • From: "Lila Corey" <Caballera@embarqmail.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Mounting and getting more from your horse.
  • Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 19:34:22 -0400

Parelli Natural Horsemanship has been teaching these things for years.   His program is a good one for seasoned as well as new riders and horses.  In level 1 of their training, everything is done from both sides, amazing Karen how many horses don't ever get that type training.  I am almost finished with Level 2 PNH with my horses and I teach my students the same methods - whether they are MSAR or just trail  or show folks. 
Lila
----- Original Message -----
To: MSAR
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 3:43 PM
Subject: [MSAR] Mounting and getting more from your horse.

This is probably routine for most teams out there, but on the subject of mounting, many riders out of habbit and tradition mount up on the left.  Training your horse to mount from both sides not only helps it keep balance in training (by that I mean working and training both sides of the horses brain)  it will help you too as the rider.  There is nothng worse than riding a one sided horse.  It not only makes it for a very long day in the saddle for the rider and I dont care what breed you ride, but you do your horse an injustice as well as yourself..
 
I see many people longing their horses in both directions thinking that longing exersize alone will supple them.  That is the farthest thing from the truth.  Equally many times I see riders "cowboying" or bully training their horses by excessive yanking, spurring, whipping and jerking them into stops and circles.  The yanking, spurring, whipping and jerking is just more irritation, thus training nothing.  It serves only to make your mount more hard headed and hard mouth and more unresponsive.  It can also be abusive on the extreme end.  Throw the spurs and whips out.
 
You must teach your horse to break and bend at the poll and neck and to follow itself on the curve from nose to tail.  Sitting on the horse that is one-sided you will note the horse has an "s" to its posture from veiwing it above.  This "s" is fully an indication that the horse is not supple.  Most horses that are not supple will be snipey, they will pin their ears, they will ring their tails, try to bite and show other paramounts of aggitation.  Persisting to ride your horses without a fully suppled body will not only also cause the horse irritation in attitude, but you as well as the rider  as you too are also not supple on both sides. Training that persists in not gettign the horse supple only persists making the horse hard and unco-operative. 
 
You may also garner some saddle sores to your mount by it gouging its whithers or elsewhere as well as garner some sore muscles from trying to fight with the horse and fighting with it is not teaching it.  If you have ill fitting equipment, you cannot train properly either.  Most good traineirs hve a large closet of different peices of tack and of many sizes and that includes saddles, briddles etc.  One size does not fit all and while it might fit the rider, does it really fit the horse?  If it does not, you are hurtign your training.  Oddly enough, many riders make their horses onesided or irritated because that is how the rider is only able to carry his/her body and if the rider is stiff, it transposes into the horse.  Teaching the animal is not bullying or forcing, it is asking and getting the wanted result.  Good fitting equipment yeilds to good training results too.
 
Signs of saddle sores -  bad attitude, dry spots when you remove the saddle, scortched hairs on the whithers or elsewhere, rubs on the hips or back portion where the saddle may ride. Other baddies are lip sores from ill fitting bridles and bits, sore mouths from jerking the horse or being to heavy handled most likely caused by you struggling to ride a onesided horse, hairless areas.  Tail ringing is a sign of total displeasure as is a horse that will try to kick.  Belly kicking and stomping are not always an indication a fly is at the horse.  It could very well be YOU are the horse its irritation.  And of course, the ever populare lets dump the rider. Well, that one speaks for itself.
 
Too many times I see riders taking a crop or tying the horses head down or to the side trying to supple their animals.  It does not work all the time, and it does not teach the animal to be supple on all counts of its spine, only parts,  and only serves to make the animal more irritated as time goes on if points needing suppling are not getting there.  To teach the horse to break or bend at the poll takes patience, some know how and a whole lot of give and take asking and once done correctly, your mount will serve you better.  To teach the horse to bend at all points of the spine properly incrues certain flexion points to yeild and that is not always accomplished by being in the saddle.  Throw the crop or whip away.  The only thing they are good for is if used properly and beating is not proper.  Teach by touch.  Walk away from traing if you are finding you are asking too hard or having to use more force than needed.
 
Most bad and cranky horses are caused by bad trainers or trainers not skilled in knowing how to supple and also are horses that have been forced or bullyied and they have become combative.  Diffusing  a combative horse cannot be done by force or more bullying.
 
Mounting from the right side vs left draws the horses head in the opposite position to which the horse is commonly  accostomed.  Mounting from both sides will act to help supple the horse as well.  This is a simple exersize and will benefit you and the horse.  Or perhaps if you are a rider with a bad knee, mounting from the oppisite side will gain you and your horse more confidence as you work the animals other side of its brain and your physical being as well.  Regretably, again a onesided rider is a problem to a two sided horse or a horse that is supple on the oppisite side the rider is.  You have to make this a team matter and a matter to where you and your mount are most comfortable in functioning if you have physical limitations.
 
Mounting a horse like Una stated as if you were getting on a log from in water is great.  It takes practice and comes with time.  Doing  "dead mans slings" are another great exersize for both the horses and rider.  A dead man sling is where you hang on the horses back on your belly no hands touching once on.  Doing it on both sides.  If you have not done it from both, you wil find the nontraditional side a lot of work and you may send your horse in a frenzy by putting your elbow into a place where it may have not been before and it is not used to and not welcome.  Your elbow can carry a heavy PSI.
 
You can also ask the horse to yeild to tuck its head to your shin or the shins position when in the saddle or on the animal or on the ground.  To do it on the ground you use an indirect reign.  Most horses that are onesided will strongly benefit from this exersize.
 
I have worked with quite a few sour horses and most sour horses that are taught to yeild and bend properly will come around in attitude.  Forcing or cowboying the beast to yeild serves no purpose when teaching the animal to yeild to become supple.  Does not matter the horses age.  A supple horse at any age is a pleasant beast to be with.
 
Other things you can work with to help your horse is to teach it to accept the saddle from both sides when setting it on its back.  Of course you can only cinch from one side depending on your gear, but some saddles are ambadexterous (sp) where the cinch can be relocated.  Toss your chaps on the horn on both sides or what ever gear you can rotate to give you more examples.  The more you do, the better for you!
 
For a better trained mount you have to break from the tradition of doing.  Tradition being mounting from the left side.  Tradition stemming from when knights carried swords and hence could only mount from that side without the sword affecting the mounting.  Non tradition is traing the animals brain to function on  BOTH sides!
 
We also work our mounts in a pen.  We lasso them to get them used to things flying at them.    Tossing the rope and whether or not you get the head caught is not as important as the "sacking" the horse gets by the rope.  But if you can lasso a head now and again, so much better for you.  Many mounts will just come to a dead halt if a rope is on their neck or back once they learn that being lassoed will stop them.  Circling a rope above the animals head is a great exersize too.
 
Using a rope to slither under the horse or around the buttocks also helps the horse gain confidence, but you must also not be abusive. Tossing the rope while on the horse can garner the horse and yourself some confidence.  Beating the horse with it or a whip will not teach the animal anything other than it is abused.
 
Ponying them teaches them a lot of things too.  Pony from BOTH sides.  Use a trusted steed to teach a younger steed.  It is amazing what horses will pick up from their more trainnnnned counterparts.
 
By above all, teach the horse to WHOA using a verbal command WHOA and STAND.   goes a long way when catching a runaway mount or a mount you might not be familiar with and happens to be a member of your teams.  This should be  your first leassons to make sure are down pat.
 
We recently installed walled sides to half our training pen and the walls help keep the horses focused on the rider.  It is amazing too what else the walls offer in benefiting in training, but that is another lesson. 
 
Lastly, perpetual ring work can sour a horse, or being in a stall for days, lack of work, and boredom can act to sour them as well and so can poor feeding habits.  While horses are creatures of habit, they also like variety.
 
Well, anyway, these are a few more things that definetly work for us.
 
Good luck and may you always have a safe ride.
 
      Karen
 
PS - I will be posting these hints with some photos in the near future on our website.  Hope they will help you in your training.  Please inquire at my email as to the URL of those pages if you have training questions or comments.   Please note too, that these above exersizes are better seen first to do properly than just trying them from what you read.  If you are having a specific problem, let us know and we will see if there is a good answer to the training problem.  And also, what may work for us, unless you do it proper, may not work for you. Thanks.
 


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