Cowgirl Confident Horsemanship
6639 Wellington Rd. 109 N0G 2P0 Palmerston, ON, Canada

If you look around and see someone doing something you have always dreamed of doing .. the you can do it too! Whether its trailer loading or liberty or bridleless dressage. (or bridleless dressage with a Fjord? )

This Winter is extra quiet with lockdown and lessons cancelled. But the quiet of winter is the perfect time to dive into your laboratoryand see what you can create with your horse! I keep a notebook for each horse and will often jot down ideas throughout the year that I want to explore further when time allows! In the coming months I will share samples of some of our sessions! This first one is Tidos development of his 360 spin on the pedestal at liberty! Pretty pleased with his progress! What are you and your horse playing with?!

Such a beautifully written piece! I have had many people question my rates over the years ... especially when it comes to children. My #1 focus will always be safety. And it takes a lot to ensure my horse, equipment, stable environment, my training including first aid, insurance etc ... all contribute to safety for riders.

The concept of maintain gait is the essence of giving your horse responsibility within the partnership!! As humans, we have a strong instinct to micromanage which creates undesirable behaviours in horses. Having horses maintain the gait while riding eliminates having to constantly ask them to slow down or nag them to keep moving! Maintain gait on the trailer means horses stand quietly and patiently while travelling or sitting in traffic! The applications of this concept are vast ... but the result is happy, quiet horses that are a JOY to be around!!!!

A friend posted a discussion about how humans can easily and inadvertently create unwanted habits in our horses without realizing it. Her point being about how necessary it is to be diligent in monitoring how and when we reward our horses to ensure we are building positive behaviours. Goes for horses, dogs .. even children! But this topic reminded me of a conversation I had with Temple Grandin (yes, THE Temple Grandin - what a privilege) about horse & cattle behaviour and... the animal's perceptions. When I looked confused, she used the example of a piece of plastic blowing under the fence and scaring a cow. Sometimes the cow will realize that it was the plastic that scared her, but sometimes they will associate fear with where they were standing or what they saw in that moment. She may have felt fearful at the same moment that she stepped from the dim of a shadow into full sun or suddenly seeing a large man wearing a black shirt standing off to the side of the fence. In the moment she felt fear, her brain may then associate that fear with men wearing black or stepping from shadow into light!! This holds true for reward and positive behaviours. If our intention is to reward a specific response with a treat .. but the treat is given in the same spot in the arena each time, then our intention for the reward could be misunderstood and the horse may start seeking that spot in the arena! Our job as horsemen is to teach horses. The focus of a good and effective teacher, is to teach so that the student understands from THEIR perspective. To let go of our own assumptions and habits to seek understanding of that perspective so that we can teach and reward appropriately! Certainly sounds simple .. but definitely not easy! <3

This year with many of our usual horse events cancelled or changed to virtual platforms, we find ourselves with more time. Time to immerse in learning, time to explore new methods and tasks, but also time to slow down .. time to just "be" with our horses. We have horses because we love them so much and the pure joy of this little girl is in each of us!

One of my all time favourite quotes!!! We simply cannot fit horses into a cookie-cutter model of training! Horses, like humans, each have an individual learning style and a history of learned responses based on their past experiences. A horseman constantly asks who she needs to be for the horse, knows that the horse is in charge of the timeline and embraces tasks and concepts that might deviate from what is traditional!

So many of my students are making amazing progress during this pandemic!! Taking the time to give attention to the little things creates big accomplishment!!! Happy Canada Day everyone!! (pic: student Cathy and our Oakley playing with seat communication)

Lessons have resumed both at my barn and at student's locations (with proper covid19 protocols and permission of boarding facility owners)!! Contact me to book your session today!!