Why You Need To Change Your Horse’s Mind
I don’t need to tell you that to
have a good horse to ride, you need
good ground work on him first.
You need a system.
There are many a system out there.
What you choose to use is OK as long as
you accomplish what you’re after without
hurting the horse.
Different trainers have different
ways. Whatever works for you is what works.
Obviously, some ways are more effective but
the result is what you are looking for.
Why do you want a good ground work system?
There are lots of reasons.
The reason I have in mind at this moment is:
“Change Your Horse’s Mind”
Good ground work has lots of effects on a horse.
One of the biggees is changing his mind.
You see, by directing your horse’s movement,
you can change his mind.
These are the wise words from Sam Burrell,
one of our featured trainers.
Sam is big on systems.
He likes to have a system for various
parts of his training.
Sam is famous for his DVD:
“How To Install An Operating System
In Your Horse – And You!”
But like Sam notes, before you can install the
Operating System he suggests, your horse must have
good ground work in place.
Your horse should be halter broke and broke to
ride before you install his system in your horse.
If your horse has the good system of ground work installed,
you are on the right track with him.
What I mean is, because your ground work is sound you have the
ability to change your horse’s mind and keep him working with you.
To have control of your horse’s mind is to have control of his
nerves, muscles, and ultimately, his legs.
When you have that kind of control, you can do amazing things
with your horse.
(re-read those last two sentences and let it soak in)
Like what?
Like counter arcs where your horse bends his body one way and
walks the other.
You couldn’t teach your horse that kind of stuff if you couldn’t
change his mind in the first place.
When you want your horse to do neat stuff like counter arcs
and such, Sam recommends you start with the Rein Effects.
The rein effects are:
Direct Rein
Indirect Rein
Direct Rein of Opposition
Indirect Rein of Opposition
Assuming you’ve properly convinced your horse you can get him
doing what you like, you’d start with the Direct Rein.
The Direct Rein is a direct rein to the horse
and you’ll be leading him around just like you
would from the ground.
You’ll take the direct rein about half way between
your hip and your horse’s eye (while you’re in the
saddle of course).
Now this is “REALLY” important because
a green horse (or one needing re-training) can see
your hand and knows what it means.
Unless the horse knows what it means, he and you will
struggle to move on to the next thing.
And you shouldn’t move on to the next thing
unless your horse “gets it”.
(another key training principle)
The Direct Rein is what you’ll use to teach lateral flexion.
That will get your horse soft to give when you
want his head to come around.
But remember, your ground work must be in place
before you go to this.
Now Sam’s video doesn’t show you ground work,
but it DOES show how to install and Operating System
in your horse – and you.
Once your horse knows it (and it doesn’t take
‘that’ long to do – and it’s not difficult to do)….
then your horse will ride and guide like a dream.
If you want to read about Sam’s video, click on the following:
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-samburrell.html
One other thing I think you’ll love…
If you’ve ever rode a horse and you have his head pointing one
way but he’s going the other way….but you want him going the
way his head is pointed…wait’ll you hear Sam say why that is.
Sam says it’s “Energy goin’ out of that shoulder”.
Is it fixable?
Yep. Sam shows you how.
And you’d be surprised how simple it is.
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-samburrell.html
OK – that’s it for today. Stay safe out there!
Charlie
