Leadership Learning with the Boundary Box, Part 2: Safety and Emotional Fitness

by Mary Gallagher

I’d recommend reading Part One of this new series first. The Boundary Box® is a process I am developing, and my last post describes the basic premise and practices. -M

Horses are big scaredy cats—that’s why they have those long legs, you see, so they can get out of Dodge fast when Dodge turns into Scary Town. And as we all know, that happens incredibly fast with our equine friends. Everything is going great and then BOOM, a threat appears—a blowing tarp, shiny puddle, unfamiliar dog—just about anything sudden and unfamiliar can trigger their flight response. Our understanding of just how instinctively quick horses are with their feet when threatened can help us help them to become braver. 

Leadership Learning with The Boundary Box

by Mary Gallagher

Good leadership means good boundaries. Human psychology has taught us that healthy relationships require boundaries, or a personal sense of safe limits on the behavior of others towards us.* Horses are keenly aware of boundaries, which are crucial to the safety of the herd; they test boundaries as a matter of survival. So when our horse gets in our space—gets us even a little off balance, fishes for treats, has us stepping back, or a million other seemingly harmless intrusions—they are testing our boundaries in order to test our leadership.

The way we establish leadership in a healthy relationship with our horse, in my experience, is by acting with unaffected emotions while setting clear boundaries that we can fairly and effectively enforce.

Catching the Eye

By Mary Gallagher

From how far away can you catch your horse’s eye?

Laredo and Mary

I caught one of my horses watching me the other day while he was grazing, facing away from me. But he definitely had me in sight, peering around his front legs and under his belly.

As prey animals, horses are visually astute, noticing things well before humans do. They can see up to a mile away, detecting movement in the distance. The horse’s eyes are set well apart on the sides of their head, so with minimal effort they can monitor their surroundings, front, back and sides.

Just yesterday I was working with Grasshopper in the round pen. He became alert, noticing something toward the back of our property—a section we call the Emerald Forest—a good eighth of a mile away. Well before I could figure out what had caught his attention, Grasshopper had picked up that his brother Laredo was coming through the trees, in our direction. By the time I realized it was Laredo, Grasshopper had already relaxed, knowing it was his herd mate coming through the woods, and not a predator.

I make it a point to be aware of my horse’s attention, especially in relation to me; when we are together, I want him connected to me. Fostering our connection in this way affects every aspect of our relationship, and definitely, my horsemanship, making the difference between my being a passenger or a partner.


Pattern Learning: Accepting the Bridle

by Mary Gallagher


Horses and humans are pattern learners and that's a good thing. The first thing you need to know when comparing horse to human learning, however, is that the horse learns quicker. Way quicker.

We humans tend to see tasks as wholes—bridling, saddling, mounting—and get frustrated when, for all our best intentions and care, things don’t go well. The horse, meanwhile, has catalogued a lifetime of minutiae regarding his experience as a prey animal. So to him, that thing that happened that time, probably before you two had even met, affects the seemingly simple, matter-of-fact activity you are attempting.

Let's say bridling your horse tends to be a less than satisfactory experience—he has learned to evade the bridle, and is a bit shy around the ears. How will we go about setting a new pattern? We will start by deconstructing our habitual putting on of the bridle, identifying steps which will address different aspects of the whole process. Then we will install new steps, one by one, setting a new, happier pattern for both of you.

Grateful to Serve in 2017, Welcome 2018!

A Message from Mary Gallagher

I always look forward to writing this New Years message as a way to process the year just past. I am inevitably amazed (and a bit overwhelmed) at just how MUCH a year can hold at Freedom Farm! And as always, I feel so grateful for this ongoing opportunity—also known as “my life”— to serve others through horsemanship—watching, advising, trusting and supporting our students, clients, boarders, and community.

So please bear with me as I try to put into words something of what 2017 has meant to me. What a year!

A Visit to Freedom Farm

by Maya De Vogel
Woerden, Holland

Maya De Vogel has been visiting us since late August as part of a placement, or work experience, program at her university in Holland. A bachelors candidate in Animal Husbandry, Equine Sport & Business at Van Hall Larenstein University, she wrote the piece below as part of a longer report for her advisors. I thought it would be nice to share with our readers as a perspective on her time here. Maya has made herself a valued member of our little community over the past month or so, and we're not sure we are going to let her leave in November! -MG

Maya adds:
I contacted Freedom Farm because I was looking for something other than the ordinary, traditional stables, to learn about natural horsemanship and find out what it would mean for me. To summarize, it is not only a school placement, it is a personal adventure as well!

I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to come here to this amazing barn and to meet so many awesome people! It is my 6th week here already and I am absolutely not ready to leave.

Getting Fit to Ride (Part 2): Finding and Supporting Your Balance Point, Off the Horse

by Mary Gallagher

Jess asks Bucky for flexion.

Most would agree that good horsemanship involves a certain amount of grace. The rider is balanced, strong, and supportive of the horse, whose confidence and abilities benefit as a result. I often tell my students that if they want a more confident horse, they need to work on their own core strength, along with finding their balance point. Especially, I emphasize, OFF the horse. We can work on our core

and balance at home, at the gym, and at the barn, and bring a better prepared rider to our faithful

steed.

It’s that ‘don’t ride to get fit, get fit to ride’ thing. This article will focus on finding your balance point and building your core while off the horse, and safely developing that strength and grace while on the horse. I’ll also share a couple of exercises I’ve come to think of as preparations for riding.

Getting Fit to Ride (a series, part 1)

By Mary Gallagher

As Jess Crouch pointed out in her recent articles on preparing to ride and mounting safely, it is important to review the basics and really prepare the horse for mounting. With time and experience, ironically, it’s easy to get careless or automatic about mounting. So I got to thinking about how we should also prepare ourselves to ride. We are riders in the active sense of the word, not passengers, and riding entails muscle conditioning and balance for the human, as much as the horse.

With this idea in mind, I have begun incorporating targeted exercises for riders in many of my classes, as part of the ground work portion, or in preparation for riding. In this first article, I focus on preparing ourselves to mount safely and smoothly, and share an exercise to support both. It’s better for the horse, and it’s definitely better for us riders! -MG

Mounting a horse is an athletic act. Getting on smoothly and seamlessly, without disturbing the horse—not getting hung up on the cantle, or flinging our leg over the saddle in an imbalanced way— is a practiced motion and a real skill. We need to get good at it. Just like we use ground work to practice moves with our horse that we will repeat while riding, we can also develop our own moves and muscles while on the ground.

Stop! Let’s Think About This: At the Mounting Block (Part 2 of 2)

by Jessica Crouch

So, by now you have gone through your basic pre-ride checks, and decided to ride. The horse feels ready, and you have a good idea of how much he knows and what state his mind is in. You have established a basic communication with him. Next question: To use a mounting block or not?

Almost all equine bodywork professionals will encourage you to use a mounting block as it is easier on the horse’s back.  The torque of a human pulling their weight up can cause significant pressure on a horse's spine. Many people simply need the extra height to get on.  I usually use a mounting block or fence to mount my horse, though I make sure my horses are comfortable with a person just mounting from the ground. So let’s start with the mounting block.

Stop! Don’t get on that horse! (Yet.) Part 1 of 2

by Jessica Crouch

Spring is finally here and many of you are eager to get riding again.  Maybe a friend has invited you for a trail ride and offered you a horse you don’t know well.  Maybe you are anxious to get your green horse going again and see if you can develop him a bit more this year.  YOU are anxious to get riding, but before swinging into the saddle, there are some basic things you should do to check if your HORSE is ready.

Kenny's Fitness Corner: A Triple Whammy Squat

 by Mary Gallagher, with coach Kenny Hall, fitness trainer

During our Monday morning Fitness for Riders class, I asked Kenny to give me and our students an exercise to help with shoulder position, and he gave us a triple whammy: an exercise to work on our 1) balance, 2) seat position in the saddle, as I 3) open up our shoulders. Once again, I got to be the model for this post:

Clinic Report: Craig Johnson - reining and versatility

By Kathy Schmidt

My horse Hazelnut and I attended the Craig Johnson Clinic at Freedom Farm last weekend, and we had a great time! It was a bit out of our comfort zone, as we do Western about once a month for cow work, and otherwise focus on dressage and jumping, along with our usual chores around the Farm. It was a great group, including 8-10 folks and their gorgeous horses who show in western pleasure and/or reining. Craig was great, laid back yet very serious about his job, which has ranged from teaching individuals, to training and showing World Champions in reining, and now coaching folks in ranch versatility!

Lesson Notes: Our Horses, Our Teachers

By Mary Gallagher


Here at Freedom Farm we have the greatest teachers, our horses. Over the years, these great teachers come and go in our lives, but even as the horse passes on, the lessons remain with us.

Lesson Notes: Relationship, Partnership & Leadership

By Mary Gallagher
 
Horsemanship includes relationship, partnership, and leadership. You, the rider, must hold all three in balance as you and your horse engage with each other. In fact, pausing to reflect on where you and your horse are in these three areas is a great way to check in on your progress in general.