Didier Ranch

Trainer Tip Tuesday! When teaching horses of any age to pick up their feet and learn to stand good for the farrier, spend the time to teach them properly. Doing rope work on horses feet is extremely beneficial for not only teaching them to stand nicely for a trim or shoe but also so that they learn to give to pressure. This can also save your horse from an injury if they get caught up in wire. It is preferable to do this on a highline or in a round pen initially. We use a l...ariat rope with a ring on it that allows the rope to come off easily. The reason for this is we want the horse to have the chance to fight the rope and learn to give to that pressure. Therefore they need to have the freedom of movement to learn. The timing of the release is extremely important! Don't release the rope until their foot stops fighting it. But as soon as they do RELEASE! Build on the amount of time they will hold their foot without kicking or a heavy leg over time and repetition. Give them a rub and a chance to think about how they earned the release of the rope pressure. Giving your horse a chance to think and figure out how to give to pressure, is no different than teaching them to lead or not pull back. Set them and yourself up for success and avoid injury for both human and horse. Happy Trails! -Dawn

Trainer Tip Tuesday! With winter on it's way out and spring approaching, perhaps our horses have had a lot of time off. We need to keep in mind that our horses are out of physical shape, just as we are! Start rebuilding muscles and stamina slowly. Repetition and consistency in a shorter workout for both you and your horse will reduce chances of any injuries.... I sure know from my injury just how long it takes to rebuild strength and stamina! Horses are similar to us, their muscles will be out of shape also. We need to be listening to them and giving them the time they need also to get back into a working fitness level. Happy Trails! -Dawn

Had my 6 month set of x-rays done and it is healed up! I am continuing to rebuild my muscles, strength and stamina so that I can get back to riding again. Message me if you are interested in doing lessons with your horse! Spring is around the corner and a great time for a ground work refresher for your horse! Happy Trails! - Dawn

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Trainer Tip Tuesday! When ponying another horse, that horse should respect and respond to you the same as they would if you were leading them on the ground. There should be no difference between leading a horse on the ground or off the back of another horse. If the ponied horse is being rude, trying to pass you, bite you or the horse you are riding, then you need to address this issue immediately. You are still responsible for paying attention to how the horse you are pony...ing is listening to the pressure from the lead rope and being in control of the direction and speed of their feet. You are now multi-tasking and are responsible for the horse you are riding as well as the one your are leading off of. So ideally you should have a good solid mount to ride when you attempt to lead another horse while riding. You need to be able to keep yourself and your riding horse safe. Then you also need to be able to do the same for the horse you are attempting to lead. A great way to start this process is to be able to round pen the horse you plan on ponying, off of the horse you are riding with a flag. Establish a relationship with this horse off of your riding mount first, in a controlled area such as the round pen. When you can control the other horses direction of travel and speed off of you riding mount, then you put the lead rope on and practice ponying them in the round pen. Work on having this horse give to lead rope pressure, disengage hind end, and follow an acceptable distance beside or behind the horse you are riding. In some instances you may need to also use your flag at the same time to help this horse understand what you are expecting of them. If you don't allow your horse to run past you or not come forward with you when you walk them, why would you allow it while you are attempting to pony them? Every time we handle a horse we are either helping and teaching them or we are reinforcing good or bad behaviours. Try hard to remember to reward for tries or good behaviour. Don't set a timeline and give yourself and your horse time to think things through for a positive outcome. Happy Trails! -Dawn

Trainer Tip Tuesday! When you are working your horse on the ground, you need to remember that you are still "riding" them. Everything you are doing on the ground with them should have meaning for when you are astride. The flag or tail of your lead rope becomes your legs. You add pressure with the flag for instance to get the feet to move where you want them to or to encourage them to speed up. Same as your legs while on them. So now envision how you go about asking this on... the ground and whether you are using the flag too much, similar to bumping or kicking them with your legs too much. You start with raising the flag and pointing in the stirrup area from the ground. With your other hand and arm pointing in the direction in which you would like them to go. If there is no response, you then begin wiggling the flag. If there is still no response you start waving the flag ground to sky. If there is still no response then you finally touch them with the flag, while doing the ground to sky motion. All the while your bodies intent must be noticeable to the horse to match what your arms and flag are trying to tell them! This technique is no different than raising your energy in your body and thinking forward, then squeezing with your calves, then possibly bumping your legs in rhythm, before finally getting to actual kicking or using the heel or spur! There is a sequence you should follow, from the least amount of pressure, to doing what it takes to get a response from the pressure you are adding. As soon as they respond by moving their feet you back off on all this extra pressure, and slowly build the horse up to being responsive to your cues. Whether on the ground or astride. The horse responds to the release of any pressure, not the pressure itself, which is why you need to stop continuing to keep the pressure on once you have gotten their feet to move. Happy Trails! Dawn

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Trainer Tip Tuesday! I get questions all the time about neck reining. My pet peeve is that neck reining should be called leg reining! Sure the horse can learn to respond to a neck rein rather than the direct rein. What you need to understand though is that your hand should not move more than an inch in any direction. It is the use of your legs and body that mostly convey for the horse to operate. If you are using pounds of pressure with your rein to ask the horse to "ne...ck rein" the horse gets confused. Simply because when there is pressure in this way, technically they should be bending and giving their face in the opposite direction of what you actually want! Now don't get me wrong here, through repetition the horse can sort out what you actually want. But it will take much longer and you will have issues along the way. Have you ever admired watching someone ride their horse and can't even see that they gave it a cue? Or someone who can ride bridle less? These horses are responding to leg and body cues and moving off of or away from pressure. To have a truly finished "neck reining or bridle horse" these horses are responding through repetition to moving off of your body, not the rein. It takes countless hours to get your horse to this level of riding. Happy Trails! - Dawn