Riding on wet trails

As the snow melts away please avoid riding on wet trails. Riding on wet trails can damage them. The hoof prints left behind collect water accelerate erosion. While we all can't wait for better weather and the chance to ride the trails again, a little consideration now will be appreciated by your fellow trail riders, hikers and the parks who work to maintain the trails. --Brian

Right now - even though the temps have been climbing into a comfortable range - there is snow pack - below the snow is ice (usually) and below the ice is mud....while the horses are totally capable of walking through this type of terrain, and the weather is tempting - please stay off the trails until the conditions improve - your fellow riders will thank you - as will those precious tendons on the bottom of your horses legs!

Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

Riding on wet trails

As the snow melts away please avoid riding on wet trails. Riding on wet trails can damage them. The hoof prints left behind collect water accelerate erosion. While we all can't wait for better weather and the chance to ride the trails again, a little consideration now will be appreciated by your fellow trail riders, hikers and the parks who work to maintain the trails. --Brian

Right now - even though the temps have been climbing into a comfortable range - there is snow pack - below the snow is ice (usually) and below the ice is mud....while the horses are totally capable of walking through this type of terrain, and the weather is tempting - please stay off the trails until the conditions improve - your fellow riders will thank you - as will those precious tendons on the bottom of your horses legs!

Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

Piero's training

I can not say enough about this little guy. Don't let his size fool you, he is the COMPLETE package!

He takes the beginner children around on the lead rope, then makes them feel really great when I take them off the lead. He simply follows me everywhere I go. They all get a kick out of that. The older, more experienced riders really enjoy how easily maneuverable he is. Just turn your head and look where you want to go, and he's off. Just a push with your seat and he walks on. Simply stop riding, and he halts. The students that are trotting are also having a blast with him. He is extremely reliable and hard working. He just loves his job!

He's been out on the trails now several times. I took him out for a long trail ride myself and was very impressed, as were my trail riding buddies. He crossed every creek, drank from the river, went in the water, carried himself downhill wonderfully, and seems to pick his footing very carefully and wisely.

My 12 yr old daughter has ridden him a few times out on the trails now, and I led a student (for the first time) on a short trail loop.

Let me know if you are interested in learning how to trail ride and we can set up a time to get you out there!




Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

Piero's training

I can not say enough about this little guy. Don't let his size fool you, he is the COMPLETE package!

He takes the beginner children around on the lead rope, then makes them feel really great when I take them off the lead. He simply follows me everywhere I go. They all get a kick out of that. The older, more experienced riders really enjoy how easily maneuverable he is. Just turn your head and look where you want to go, and he's off. Just a push with your seat and he walks on. Simply stop riding, and he halts. The students that are trotting are also having a blast with him. He is extremely reliable and hard working. He just loves his job!

He's been out on the trails now several times. I took him out for a long trail ride myself and was very impressed, as were my trail riding buddies. He crossed every creek, drank from the river, went in the water, carried himself downhill wonderfully, and seems to pick his footing very carefully and wisely.

My 12 yr old daughter has ridden him a few times out on the trails now, and I led a student (for the first time) on a short trail loop.

Let me know if you are interested in learning how to trail ride and we can set up a time to get you out there!




Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

Piero's first trail ride!

I've only ridden twice since my fall in April. Both were very short rides on Astro. So, I'm feeling better and decided Piero needed work and this was as good a time as any. Then, to add to that I figured, what the heck, I might as well go for it. I'm feelig pretty good and I eventually need to see what he is like wiht a real rider not in a ring setting.

I mounted him outside of my ring and preceeded to the front yard. I was nervous and he knew it. I was taking very deep breaths and sitting very deeply. I could sense that he was excited, and feeling my nervousness. Several times I sensed him thinking about bucking. Now I actually mean thinking about it. He did not kick out. He did not stop moving forward. I just felt him, well, think about it. I wonder if it's my intuition at play, or if it's some sense I've gained as a rider within my seat. Perhaps it is both. I guess it doesn't matter what IT is, as long as I pay attention to IT, and IT is correct! LOL

I pretended as if I had a ring there and rode around for several minutes like this. A horse and neighbor, Susan & Mo, rode by and invited us to come along for a short walk down the road.

Piero was EXCEPTIONAL. He just looked ahead and walked forward. Please note, this pony has never been on this road before. Never walked down this path, never into these trails. None, nada, nilch. Didn't even turn his head looking out of each eye, side to side. Susan could see his eyes moving, but his head was dead pointing straight ahead.

We took a short loop, in and out. We led and Piero kept a very forward, steady pace. Even walking faster than his new friend, and Irish Sport Horse. Oh, Piero is only 12.2 hands, all a registered Dartmoor can be.

We came home safe and sound which was the plan. And very happy I might add. Now I know I have a great little show pony who is also a great little trail pony, not to mention he is as CUTE as can be.


Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

Piero's first trail ride!

I've only ridden twice since my fall in April. Both were very short rides on Astro. So, I'm feeling better and decided Piero needed work and this was as good a time as any. Then, to add to that I figured, what the heck, I might as well go for it. I'm feelig pretty good and I eventually need to see what he is like wiht a real rider not in a ring setting.

I mounted him outside of my ring and preceeded to the front yard. I was nervous and he knew it. I was taking very deep breaths and sitting very deeply. I could sense that he was excited, and feeling my nervousness. Several times I sensed him thinking about bucking. Now I actually mean thinking about it. He did not kick out. He did not stop moving forward. I just felt him, well, think about it. I wonder if it's my intuition at play, or if it's some sense I've gained as a rider within my seat. Perhaps it is both. I guess it doesn't matter what IT is, as long as I pay attention to IT, and IT is correct! LOL

I pretended as if I had a ring there and rode around for several minutes like this. A horse and neighbor, Susan & Mo, rode by and invited us to come along for a short walk down the road.

Piero was EXCEPTIONAL. He just looked ahead and walked forward. Please note, this pony has never been on this road before. Never walked down this path, never into these trails. None, nada, nilch. Didn't even turn his head looking out of each eye, side to side. Susan could see his eyes moving, but his head was dead pointing straight ahead.

We took a short loop, in and out. We led and Piero kept a very forward, steady pace. Even walking faster than his new friend, and Irish Sport Horse. Oh, Piero is only 12.2 hands, all a registered Dartmoor can be.

We came home safe and sound which was the plan. And very happy I might add. Now I know I have a great little show pony who is also a great little trail pony, not to mention he is as CUTE as can be.


Loretta

the natural horseman
clear communication/visible results

My Introduction to True Natural Horsemanship Part 2

In part one I told you about purchasing Scottie, and how great everything was in the beginning. Until one day it seemed, that everything just fell apart. There I was in my field, watching my horse run around with his custom made bridle dragging beneath him. Of course that scared the pants off of him. In an effort to 'get away' from the evil reins that were trying to eat him, he thought it would be a good idea to jump over the fence into the neighbor's pasture. That didn't go so well for him. He had not ever jumped 4.5 feet, and proceeded to crash through the fence, my neighbor's fence. Oh boy. Now I was really freaking out.

Scottie came out of that with only a scrape on his inner thigh. Thank God.




When I finally stopped crying, I realized I desperately needed help. So my quest for a trainer began. We went through a few trainers before we found the right match for us. All were some sort of natural horsemanship trainer, but we found that a few styles were too harsh, and there were also a few that were just not enough. We ended up working with Page Turner, a certified Frank Bell trainer. Page seemed to think that a series of events caused Scottie's mental meltdown. It probably began with the fact that he had never left home, or his mother before. He was rarely used, and now here I was riding him 3-4 days every week. Add to that the fact his previous owner had him in a rope halter, and I did not.

Apparently another big mistake I was making was letting him decide what gate to be in on the trails. Initially I couldn't understand why that was a big deal. If it was safe and my previous horse picked up a trot, well then, we trotted. No biggee, right? Wrong. At least for Scottie. Over time, to him, this meant he had control. After all, he was making decisions. These seemingly little subtleties had completely changed my new horse.

Page and I decided to start from the beginning. We pretended as if he had never been broken. I will tell you the next part of the story tomorrow.

Loretta

p.s. Interested in Scottie's version of this story? Watch for it in future posts!

Clear Communication
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My Introduction to True Natural Horsemanship Part 2

In part one I told you about purchasing Scottie, and how great everything was in the beginning. Until one day it seemed, that everything just fell apart. There I was in my field, watching my horse run around with his custom made bridle dragging beneath him. Of course that scared the pants off of him. In an effort to 'get away' from the evil reins that were trying to eat him, he thought it would be a good idea to jump over the fence into the neighbor's pasture. That didn't go so well for him. He had not ever jumped 4.5 feet, and proceeded to crash through the fence, my neighbor's fence. Oh boy. Now I was really freaking out.

Scottie came out of that with only a scrape on his inner thigh. Thank God.




When I finally stopped crying, I realized I desperately needed help. So my quest for a trainer began. We went through a few trainers before we found the right match for us. All were some sort of natural horsemanship trainer, but we found that a few styles were too harsh, and there were also a few that were just not enough. We ended up working with Page Turner, a certified Frank Bell trainer. Page seemed to think that a series of events caused Scottie's mental meltdown. It probably began with the fact that he had never left home, or his mother before. He was rarely used, and now here I was riding him 3-4 days every week. Add to that the fact his previous owner had him in a rope halter, and I did not.

Apparently another big mistake I was making was letting him decide what gate to be in on the trails. Initially I couldn't understand why that was a big deal. If it was safe and my previous horse picked up a trot, well then, we trotted. No biggee, right? Wrong. At least for Scottie. Over time, to him, this meant he had control. After all, he was making decisions. These seemingly little subtleties had completely changed my new horse.

Page and I decided to start from the beginning. We pretended as if he had never been broken. I will tell you the next part of the story tomorrow.

Loretta

p.s. Interested in Scottie's version of this story? Watch for it in future posts!

Clear Communication
Visible Results

Astro learns to pass scary trail exit

Yesterday, my friend Sean and I had a quite a nice ride. Very sunny, blue sky day in Northern VA. I rode my 4 yr old pony, Astro. (When I find my camera cable I will post pics of him.)

There is a trailhead that has large amounts of sticks lining the sides. In addition there are several boulders, and the passage through them is quite narrow. There is also a yellow gate where county vehicles pass. Astro has always shied away from this area. I kept meaning to hand walk him down there, but hadn't yet gotten around to it. Yesterday, Astro walked right through it like he'd done it hundreds of times. YEAH!

Have you checked out my twitter page?

http://www.twitter.com/naturalhorseman

Astro learns to pass scary trail exit

Yesterday, my friend Sean and I had a quite a nice ride. Very sunny, blue sky day in Northern VA. I rode my 4 yr old pony, Astro. (When I find my camera cable I will post pics of him.)

There is a trailhead that has large amounts of sticks lining the sides. In addition there are several boulders, and the passage through them is quite narrow. There is also a yellow gate where county vehicles pass. Astro has always shied away from this area. I kept meaning to hand walk him down there, but hadn't yet gotten around to it. Yesterday, Astro walked right through it like he'd done it hundreds of times. YEAH!

Have you checked out my twitter page?

http://www.twitter.com/naturalhorseman