Foundations for Becoming the Leader Your Horse Needs (Part Three of ‘The Horse, The Environment, and You’)

By Mary Gallagher

Starting a 2-year old with the Boundary Box

In my last two posts, I discussed you and your horse in relation to the environment (‘out there’),
boundaries (between you and your horse), and most importantly, your ability to ‘observe, observe, observe’ and see your horse experiencing you in the environment, and respecting your boundaries (or not).

With a level of safety established by our increased awareness, we can start talking about communication. Your body language is a big part of setting healthy boundaries, being safe, and becoming the leader your horse needs.

If you have read my previous posts, you already know that I like to start with a boundary box. It’s a simple concept, but deep in terms of how much you can accomplish, and how challenging it really is to do well and grow your practice.

The Leadership Gauge (Part Two of "The Horse, The Environment, and You")

by Mary Gallagher

Building a language of leadership is our best tool in developing a confident horse.

In last month’s blog post, I introduced a diagram that helps us understand the importance of using boundaries in the proper environment to build a language of leadership. When we are in the ‘sweet spot’—good observation, strong boundaries, balanced emotions—our horse’s confidence enables connection, communication, and cooperation between us.

This month I am taking the diagram further, drawing our attention to how crucial awareness of the horse’s emotions is in keeping us in that sweet spot where optimal learning occurs. Because the diagram helps us see where we are with the horse at any given moment, I am calling it the Leadership Gauge.

The Horse, the Environment, and You (Part One)

 by Mary Gallagher

Astute observation by many horsemen over the years has clarified the horse’s need for the herd as a place to feel safe in an uncontrolled environment. As a trainer for many years, I have come to understand and respect what a huge part ‘uncontrolled environment’ plays in their learning ability. Simply put, horses learn better if they feel safe, and the environment is key. So within the environment ‘out there’ beyond our work space, I need to: 

 1) establish a safe environment in which to cultivate leadership and healthy boundaries, and 

2) establish my place in our herd hierarchy of two by doing so. 

The more competent the leadership, the less threatening the environment; the safer the environment, the more opportunities for learning. 

Giving the Horse a Pathway to Solve Problems, From the Ground

By Mary Gallagher 

Very often, the mistakes the horse makes under saddle are mistakes by the rider in terms of balance, connection and lack of lightness in communication. Horses want to move rhythmically and efficiently, and too often it’s we that get in the way. Like other trainers, I am good at working through issues from the saddle, but I’ve been practicing new ways to reduce training time and get even better results from the ground. 

Trees Can Help Your Horse Find the Feel

By Mary Gallagher

Tree as helpful obstacle

Here at Freedom Farm we are blessed with a wooded playground we call the Emerald Forest. It has provided everyone here with the added benefit of exposing their horses to natural obstacles as well as a quiet retreat to strengthen their relationship with their horses. So with improved weather this month, it was a pleasure to get back out into this beautiful training area. Trees are wonderful obstacles: you can go around or between them, under their branches, over their exposed roots or fallen branches. Today I will share with you one of my favorite ways of using going around a tree to help the horse develop a softer feel.

Honoring the Horse’s Learning Process: reflections on a clinic with Martin Black

by Mary Gallagher

We were privileged to host Martin Black for a great clinic last week, in which he stressed his approach to “evidence-based horsemanship” —recognizing the results of our communication in the horse’s immediate response. The participants came with a good foundation in connecting to their horses’ feet, so Martin was able to further refine our understanding and inspire us with his unique insights. He got us out of our comfort zones, challenging what we thought we knew, while giving us tools to communicate more effectively.

 

Readable Neutral: the art of slowing ourselves down and allowing our horse to communicate

By Mary Gallagher

Getting in sync, around the box slowly...

In our horsemanship ground class last week, we were debriefing after an exercise emphasizing real connection with our horses—literally getting in sync with their energy, rather than insisting they get in sync with ours. We had been working with this idea in earlier classes, and this week, we all seemed to get to the next level. Each student had their own insights, and as we reflected on our progress one commented, “Gosh, you can do everything ‘right’ and still not connect!”

Keeping Cool While You Ride (Connecting to the Feet Series)

By Mary Gallagher 

No, this article has nothing to do with that incredible hot weather we had last week. But wasn’t that something? At Freedom Farm, we survived by starting our day much earlier and getting our riding done before the heat of the day—something that folks in southern climates know a lot about! -MG 

Today I’d like to talk about keeping our cool while riding—maintaining that conscious patience so crucial to building and maintaining relationship. Losing that balanced attitude can jeopardize our connection with the horse, and if we don’t find and restore it, there goes our whole training program. I know this sounds extreme, but there can be a domino effect that takes us right back to square one. It starts with me. If I can just stay cool—keep emotions in check, stay patient and quiet—when my horse gets distracted, it will save time and frustration in the long run. 

Riding in Sync with the Feet, Part 2

by Mary Gallagher

I have been having so much fun continuing to develop the ‘riding in sync’ exercises I introduced in my last video. It’s basically a flexible warm up program that gets you and your horse moving and feeling together. How we warm up and the attitude we express in our hands travels down to the horse—who feels everything. Sure, he feels our body move, and our hands move through the reins, but even more importantly, he can feel our intentions and attitude. So it’s as much about managing ourselves as anything. Horses pick up on everything!

Observe, Observe, Observe!

by Mary Gallagher

Pecan responds to Mary while keeping an eye out

Imagine standing on the ground, watching a horse in the process of spooking. What can we observe?

1. Thought exits: “Yikes! What is that spooky thing?!” Their mind goes blank—run! They turn around, get ready to run again—head up, lots of blowing.
2. Thought returns: They turn around, freeze—stand still (testing the stop) run again, stop without freezing, take a few steps. Then—
3. Extend nose, while blowing and smelling.
4. Stretch and reach with nose and neck.
5. Cautiously move in the direction of the nose, engaging the feet.

Spooking is something all horse people have witnessed, but I’ve made a point here to break it down to predictable components—sort of a slow motion camera to show the process. We can expect this pattern in a spooking situation, and that kind of predictability gives us options, if we can train ourselves to 'observe, observe, observe'. Now extend that expectation to all horse behavior. What if every movement is the horse testing to see if it is safe to linger or better to leave...?

Fun and Imagination Can Be Useful Tools in Training: Introducing Colts to the Trailer

By Mary Gallagher

Recently I trailered a couple of young horses I’ve been training back to their home at Wensleydale Farm in Oregon. I invited two of my advanced Hoof Beats students, Elise and Elly, since they had been handling and riding the trainees, and since there are more great young horses at Wensleydale, including new colts. I really enjoy coaching my students, and this day was extra fun for us all because we got to play with baby horses!


Horses are full faculty learners at birth, ready within a few hours to follow Mom out into the big world. What this means for trainers is, you can’t start too early exposing a baby horse to all sorts of different things, familiarizing them with human contact and making it easier for them to adapt to the human world in the future.

With talented students, it is a match made in heaven—a curious colt and an imaginative handler. In this case, there were no great deeds to accomplish, just a chance to let the girls help two colts test out life in a safe way.

We decided to try some basic yields which would help prepare the youngsters for trailer loading. Elise and Elly played some preparatory games on line, getting the babies to follow a feel in all directions. After they all got comfortable moving around outside, we thought of asking them to move in and out of open stalls in the barn.

Imagination is a Great Teacher

by Mary Gallagher

I’ve been thinking a lot about imagination, as I do my rounds at Freedom Farm. As I shared last month, I’ve been spending more quiet time doing a greater variety of things with my personal horses and trainees, and have been encouraging my students to do the same with their horses.

Without the pressure of upcoming shows, and with the necessity of quiet, more individualized activities, we are discovering and developing new avenues of purpose with our horses, making use of our surroundings to develop, test, and hone our skills and our partner’s skills.

With a little attention, we can easily find sources of inspiration around us, to get us going on a meaningful journey of discovering our oneness with nature. And with our horses, by mindfully cooperating, we can awaken the intelligence innate in both us.

Lots of time on your hands? Work on Enhancing that Relationship!

By Mary Gallagher

Creative grooming.

With all the extra time we are spending at home during this month of quarantine, I thought it would be a perfect time to really focus on enhancing my relationship with my horses. Young Einstein, one of my trainees from Wensleydale Farms, offers a perfect example of the benefits of enriching and enhancing our relationship through fun and seemingly random
activities.

When I begin with any horse, I spend time observing them before we start. I try not to have a set-in-stone plan of what I want to do, but just a general idea of where I want to go. I start from who the horse is, and where their natural skills will take them.

Sure, there is the usual pan of oats and grooming, but even that should not be the same every time. I make sure to groom him untied, most of the time. And with all the hair the horses are shedding this time of year, it’s nice to groom in an area where we don’t have to sweep it up, like out on the grass. (Birds love using it for nests)

Einstein is almost three, a growing part-draft horse whose strengths, I feel, will lie in being an all-round ranch horse. So along with his general training, I have been taking him for outings around the farm. These are not necessarily riding excursions, but I do put a saddle on him in case I come across something that I would like to do while riding. 

Body Language 101: the Value of Quiet Work

by Mary Gallagher

Nina and Mary working quietly.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the deeper aspects of communicating with our horses. We all know, more or less, that we humans tend to express ourselves with words, and that horses are more about body language. Most of us are accustomed to our horses watching and responding to us in our daily interactions. For an obvious example, your  horse notices when your hand enters your pocket, right? and responds by asking for a treat? Or when picking out your horses feet—does he offer his hoof to you before you ask? or even better, does he shift his weight as you prepare to ask? If your horse can do this, how much more might he perceive?

Things go along pretty well as we use all the horsemanship tools we’ve been given to direct the actions of our horses. We even call it ‘schooling’, with us as the teacher and the horse as the student. Horses pretty much buy into being schooled, as they are hard-wired to accept leadership. But if we really pay attention as we school our horses, we may discover that they are teachers in their own right. How many times have we thought we have things going pretty well, only to have our horse show us something we missed? Or maybe it’s just that we aren’t getting the result we were looking for, and despite our best efforts, we seem to be at an impasse…?

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.

Connecting to the Feet, Part 3: Intention, Attention, and Calibrating the Feel

by Mary Gallagher

Why: To expand on the previous concepts and exercises in Part 1 and Part 2, helping you and your horse develop a language of feel and connection. Continuing a series of articles on Connecting to the Feet, in advance of Mary Gallagher's clinic of the same name (at Freedom Farm this August, 2019).

Horses have an uncanny ability to feel inside of you—they can tell if you have a plan or you are winging it. As you stand with the lead rope, or sit with the rein in your hands… have you thought about a task for their feet? or are you caught up in emotion, pushing an agenda, driving for an end result?

The answer matters more than we think.

When we bring our intention into the present moment by directing the feet to a specific place, we get our horse’s attention. This is different than correcting mistakes. There can be no mistake when you synchronize your mind and then your aids with the horse’s feet, you can feel the horse’s feet, and the horse can feel that you feel his feet.

Connecting to the Feet, Part 2: Feeling the Feet, Placing the Feet

By Mary Gallagher

Why: To become aware of your horse’s foot placement, feeling it through your body, enhancing your ability to support your horse with well-timed aids.  Part two of a series of articles on Connecting to the Feet, in advance of Mary Gallagher's clinic of the same name (at Freedom Farm this August, 2019). (Read Part 1 here.)

The exercises in this article series are aimed at helping you connect with your horse ever more deeply, through greater awareness of what he’s doing with his feet at any given time. In part one, we got you synchronizing with your horse’s front feet, stepping together over cavalettis on the ground, feeling those same steps from the saddle. Now lets go to the hind feet to complete the picture.

Connecting to the Feet—a daily progression to better communication

By Mary Gallagher

Lily and Joia in step...

Why: To time your aids to best complement your horse’s movement, communicating in a simple way that enlists your horse’s cooperation. 

We are all looking for that special sense of connection, that moment when our horse effortlessly responds to our wishes, and we are one with his movement, in perfect balance with each step.

Do you achieve that feeling as often as you’d like? Is it a ‘superpower’ you two share? If yes, I salute you. If no, I’m here to help!

You and your horse can begin this wonderful journey to connection and communication right now. In this series of articles, I will get you started, breaking down the basics for you in a series of simple exercises.

Yes, My Barefoot Trimming Practice is Safe

by Audrey Bryant

Audrey Bryant is a familiar and welcome presence around Freedom Farm—we all appreciate her wisdom and skill as a professional hoof trimmer and adviser on equine health. -MG

I’m often asked about the way I trim—with the horse lightly tied, or lead rope loose on the ground—and whether or not it’s really safe. Safety has always been paramount in what I do; I have a definite approach to horses, grounded in my understanding of their psychology and behavior, and tested for many years of practice in every kind of farm setting. So yes, my method of barefoot trimming is very safe—the few times I have felt otherwise were when I did not follow my own rules!