“Horse Training Is Like A Riddle”
I hope your Christmas was enjoyable! We had all the
kids here for breakfast and dinner and really had a
nice time talking and reflecting on the true gift that
Christ Jesus gave to us.
We played board games, ping pong, and simply had a fun time.
Now that 3 of our 5 kids are out of the house, the
times we can all get together are very special.
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You often have to think through it
to figure it out.
Some riddles are easily solved.
Some are very difficult.
Same with horse training.
Take this riddle for instance.
What is it that grows larger the
more you take away from it?
What a weird question because it
doesn’t make sense…until you know the
answer.
And getting your horse to do or
not do something is very much like that.
But the good news is this.
The more you work with your horse
the more you can figure out his riddles.
But you’ll come across riddles you
simply can’t get.
So how do you solve them?
One way is to get a knowledgeable
horseman to help you.
If one’s not available or you want
to figure it out yourself, then you have to
step back think about it.
You may be working with your horse
and you’re just not gettin’ him doing what
you want.
Maybe you’re in the round pen and
your frustration level is shooting through
the roof.
Understand that it’s okay to stop
for a bit and do anything with the horse.
Just leave the round pen for a while.
Go in the house and get a drink of
water.
The idea is to redirect your mind to
something else because when you’re feeling the
frustration, that is often all you can think of.
When that’s all you can think of, then
it’s hard to think through the problem.
So after you’ve got your drink of water
then your mind will have settled down and you
can start thinking through the problem.
And even if you don’t come up with
a solution, you’ve calmed down enough that you
can actually invent one after you get back into
the round pen again.
The thing about horses is there is lots
that can go wrong – at least,…it seems that way.
It seems that way because when you lack
the knowledge and then try to fix something and it
doesn’t work, you feel like you’re out of ideas.
Mostly, the problem is there’s something
you just don’t know and you must find the answer.
That’s the journey.
Yes it can be frustrating.
But it can be fun too.
This is why I urge you to learn from lots
of people.
And this is why I constantly seek new ones
because everyone does it different enough at times
that you get some great tips, tricks, and techniques
without having to travel all over to get them.
Take JJ Rydberg for instance.
One of his biggest “No No’s” is making the
horse mad.
Have you ever made your horse mad?
If you have, then you know how unlikely it
is you will teach him something while he’s mad.
Some horses get mad r-e-a-l easy.
Some seem to never get mad.
Some are in between.
And some are closer to one end of the
spectrum than the other.
Where does your horse fit?
Here’s a BIG clue for you.
Understand your horse’s personality and
you understand better how to work with him.
Here’s what I mean.
If your horse will do what you ask but
he won’t tolerate much of it after a few minutes,
then you say to yourself, “I can only ask him so
much and then we need to do something else.”
Heck, your horse may only allow you to
ask him something 4-5 times and he’s had enough.
If that’s the case, then you should know
that.
And if it IS the case, then do as J.J. says.
Ride him around on a loose rein for a bit.
Give the horse back his head.
You’d prefer to have control of your head too
if you were mad, right?
It’d be like someone gettin’ in your face
and pointin’ their finger and nagging you.
How would you like that?
But if they left you alone, you could calm
down and soon get back to work.
Do you see how important and valuable that
is to know?
Good.
Now if you want to know more good stuff, you
must see J.J.’s information if you haven’t already.
Just click on the following:
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-jjrydberg.html
Now before I forget, you might want to
know the answer to the riddle I posed at the beginning
of this email.
The riddle was: What gets bigger the more
you take away from it?
The answer: A hole
Now that you know the answer, it seems easy
right?
That’s what you’re shooting for with horses.
Keep working with them.
Keep at them.
You will just get better and better.
And you will get better faster by learning
what others teach.
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-jjrydberg.html
Ok… that’s it for today. Stay safe around your horses!
Charlie
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DVDs. Enter the Coupon code FREESHIP on the checkout page.
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