Lessons in Tuning Your Horse—and Yourself! (Growing our Horsemanship With Martin Black, Part Two)

By Mary Gallagher

I am still learning from our recent, fabulous clinic with Martin Black. I'd like to share what I've been doing lately with some of what I learned, though I'd recommend hearing it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, if you can. I can’t recommend Martin highly enough, and you can join us for his next clinic with us in March 2024 to experience much more, first hand!

I’ve been walking my students through a basic pattern of foot placement exercises learned from Martin, relating it to what I’ve been teaching for years. One of the students, a musician, commented that taking time to learn and refine these exercises was a lot like practicing scales. Musicians want to play songs and do the cool things they are inspired by in other musicians, but without developing dexterity and musical sense through patient practice of scales, the goal remains far away. I thought it was a great analogy. We tend to want to jump in and ‘make music’—get our horse ‘in frame’ by various means, trot, canter, and go right to the things we ride horses for. To get there, too often we solve issues with specialized tack, firmer aids, stronger grip…the list goes on.

Growing Our Horsemanship with Martin Black

By Mary Gallagher

We had been looking forward to our clinic with Martin Black for months, and Martin did not disappoint! He is definitely a special horseman, bringing to us 6 generations of ranching wisdom, including the mentorship of many top horsemen. In his own career he has started tens of thousands of colts, ready within weeks to help managing cattle on the open range. Martin has also trained thousands of eager clinic participants, ready to absorb the horsemanship he has so finely distilled. Those of us fortunate to spend last week with Martin are the richer for the experience.

No Stirrups—or Reins—November!

Elise and Blackie, no stirrups, one rein, connecting through feel.

By Mary Gallagher

In light of last month’s article on achieving balance and freedom of movement, minus restricting tack, this month I want to talk about taking away the reins and stirrups.

Yes, you read me right. Riders rely too much on reins and stirrups for balance, dulling their horses’ natural abilities to connect and communicate through feel.

Our Hoof Beats youth riding program (and many of our adult students) has long since adopted the ‘No Stirrup November’ practice popular with many trainers and riding schools. What initially seemed challenging has become a fun—the kids are naturals at finding the connection with their horses based on balance and feel, whether using bareback pad, saddle sans stirrups, or neither. By December, their return to stirrups reveals much-improved equitation and a deeper bond between horse and rider.

This year I decided to take it up a notch, to No Stirrups and No Reins November. Our goal: to ride with no bridle by the end of the month.

So far, so good. One week in, everyone is getting comfortable riding with one rein—actually a lead rope attached to a rope halter —and one stick, but as the month progresses we aim to ride with no reins, two sticks or one. Some of our advanced riders, see Elise, above, are getting quite comfortable at all gaits, even jumping with one rein.

Beyond the thrill of realizing how well we and our horses can communicate without traditional tack, the point of this process is to bring us into better synchronization with the horse, training our bodies through strong focus and better understanding of body language.

Here’s how it works:

The idea is to essentially mirror what we want our horses to be doing.

Basically, any time we get on our horse, we have a plan, our horse has a plan, and it is up to us to get our horse to buy into our plan. But without stirrups or reins, it is crucial that we understand his plan in the process.

When the reins disappear, we develop a heightened awareness for what our horse is thinking and preparing to act on, and it can be a little scary. Whether it is a slight drift to the gate, or a mental distraction that may lead to a spook, we feel it instantly, but without reins, we quickly realize the need to get his mind and body back on track before it develops into the latter.

This is a good thing—riding without reins or stirrups give us a very clear picture of what is not working and needs to be cleaned up, because in the normal course of riding with the usual tack, we are far more likely to allow more distraction in our horse. Without reins and stirrups, we very quickly learn just how effective our balance, seat, and leg aids are in holding our horse’s interest and attention!

Wendy and Zeus, communicating at the trot.

So, this month is all about becoming more aware of where the horse needs our weight and balance to be, in order to stay in balance himself.

We are learning to use our focus, seat, and leg aids to connect to the horses' feet. First at the halt, with isolations, turns on the forehand, turns on the hind quarters, stepping forward, backing up, and sideways movements. Also, learning to flip the rein from one side to the other, without changing our balance. Lots of practice, lots of practice, lots of practice.

As we master all of these movements at the halt, we then apply these same communications as we progress into a walk, then a trot, and finally, the canter. Any difficulties at each stage sends us back to the basics; success at each gait depends success at the previous stage—there’s no faking it as we move forward!

Asking for a step back...

...got it! Ellie and Harriot relax.

I should note that success at rein-less/stirrup-less riding is definitely not about gripping with the knees or keeping a tight grip on the rope, both of which interfere with the type and level of communication we are seeking. Crucially, success here is about balance and effective communication, which require neither reins nor stirrups.

I am very excited to see how our young and adult riders fare over No Stirrups or Reins November! I expect everybody to realize quite an upgrade in their ability to connect, communicate, and cooperate with their horses.

Stay tuned for my report in December!

Using the Minimum to get the Most: Tack and its Restrictions

by Mary Gallagher

I came home from the show I describe below inspired to tell the world about our 'less is more' approach to tack, though feeling like a voice in the wilderness. I fired up my computer and opened my email to find an excellent blog post on that very subject by someone I respect--Karen Rohlf [link at end of article]. It seems I'm in good company! Hopefully, we are part of a growing movement. Thank you for reading. - MG

At a recent horse show, I was struck by the common use of restricting tack—tight nosebands and martingales used with best intentions, in the name of safety and balance. I guess I’ve changed—twenty years ago I would not have given it a second thought. Of course we used nosebands and martingales as training aids to support our horses’ shape and carriage; now however, all I could see was the horses’ unnatural movement and bracing. The horses were using their martingales as part of their shape and balance—which is the idea, right? But their mouths were clamped shut, restricting their ability to relax in motion through working their jaw and tongue, releasing crucial endorphins. Many horses’ eyes told a clear story of physical and emotional stress.

Balanced Performance—good health, versatility, and fun as a path to excellence

by Mary Gallagher

In my recent posts, I have been sharing the progress and development of a 4-year old warmblood named Zeus who is in training with me. He came into our lives thanks to Joe Wolter’s clinic here last August. Zeus’s owner, Wendy Comstock, had brought Zeus all the way from her home in Yamhill, Oregon for the clinic. Joe, as always, was incredibly wise and helpful, and Wendy and I also connected regarding Zeus’s further training. At the end of the clinic, Wendy left him with us and he has been a pretty popular guy at the Farm, with his handsome good looks, easygoing, willing personality and eagerness to learn.

Balanced Performance and the Teeth—Honoring Nature's Model

By Mary Gallagher

November Freedom Farm Newsletter readers! Our apologies, this is last month's article. The blog post you want is here. -MG

In my last post I talked about connecting to the feet in order to foster balanced performance. Taking the example of recent arrival Zeus, a  4-year old with us for training, I emphasized how important the well-balanced, healthy, unshod hoof is to our working horses, as well as training the horse to think with his feet. This time, continuing with Zeus, I want to focus on the relationship of the horse's mouth to his health, well-being, and balanced performance.

Timing and Degree of Consequences in Training Horses

Grace and Cysco in conversation.

By Grace Mitchell

Hoof Beats Beach camp is our best horsemanship camp for our advanced students. Each summer we spend 5 days at the beach immersing ourselves in our horsemanship as well as having a lot of fun with our horses.

We combine ground skills, on line and at liberty, to test the strength of our connection, and define the weaknesses in our communication so we can progress in our relationship with our horses.

Model student Grace Mitchell had some very wise insights to share with her fellow students this camp. I was so impressed with her ability to articulate this to the other students I asked her to write her thoughts down for our online students (and wrote a companion piece). Here are her words. -MG

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.

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:

The Transformation of Niko: Mary Gallagher comments

by Mary Gallagher

Niko recently.

Michelle’s series on the transformation of her off-track Thoroughbred, Niko, is a testimony to time,
healing, balance and perseverance as cornerstones of natural horsemanship. We were privileged to welcome Niko to Freedom Farm and help with his transition from promising but challenged prospect, to the happy, healthy guy he is today. Michelle has done a great job of sharing her journey with Niko, and now Jess Crouch and I are relating some of our contributions along the way. I hope this article series will prove helpful and maybe even inspirational to anyone with a horse in need of transformation.

Invisible Balance

Jerry Schmidt
Balanced Equine Services

 Horses were meant to graze 18 to 20 hrs per day. They have a highly specialized system of wear and eruption of their teeth that, if respected, will keep them alive for a very long time. They need freedom of movement in their jaw, side to side and forward and back. This free range of movement in the mouth affects the balance and movement of the entire horse.