Influence as Leadership

By Mary Gallagher

Recently I have been working with a young owner whose horse is challenging her leadership. He has managed, with great skill, to make her timid. He is very sensitive to her body language and how she moves away from him each time he steps into her space. He has figured out how to get her to step away with his head, his shoulder, his teeth, his hip, and his hind feet, to gradually gain total control over her. To be sure, she is young and small, and he is big and imposing, and when he asserts himself he is daunting. But this scenario is also quite familiar to many an adult owner and rider, who find themselves pushed around by their horses.

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: Reading Your Horse

by Mary Gallagher

Today I wanted to talk to you about a lesson I often find myself teaching, many times over. It is about noticing how your horse is responding to you, emotionally and physically, at any given moment.

The Transformation of Niko, part 3

A Series by Michelle Grimmer

Upon Niko's arrival at Freedom Farm in December of 2013, we got to work. We had a general plan, but time would tell how Niko's transformation would go. The shoes came off (yikes!), we had a look at his teeth, posture, etc., but these particulars were embedded in a deeper process of healing Niko's mind and body through the environment of Freedom Farm.

Noticing: Why Hurry?

By Mary Gallagher

Third in a series about noticing your horse's body language.

When you first look at the photos in this article, you might think 'gosh, Mary wants that horse to step on the tarp', and you would be partly right. I do want him to step on it--eventually. More important are all the wonderful things that develop while he avoids the tarp. So many times we get the end result fixed in our minds and we think we should achieve it right away. However, if we slow down and allow the horse to work at finding comfort, we achieve so much more.

Here I have my rope just long enough that this horse has to work at going around the tarp. As he avoids the tarp, he has to bend his head and neck around. He is also picking
up his shoulder and reaching underneath himself with his inside hind leg stretching and loosening the hips, ribs, and back.

Noticing Your Horse's Body Language

By Mary Gallagher

Last month I began this new series on noticing what our horse is telling us through body language. I shared my belief that learning to read the horse's head carriage, ear position, shoulder direction, eyes, feet activity, tail position, weight on the rope, and proximity to our personal space is essential in our development as horsemen and horsewomen. All these signs fit together like a puzzle, telling us what is going on inside the horse's skin. We can use this information to put together a plan for how we will communicate back to our horse, ultimately improving our training and enhancing our pleasure time together.

Noticing: Seeing What Your Horse is Saying - A New Series

By Mary Gallagher

Sometimes life imitates art, or more accurately, is inspired by it. I recently received some wonderful horse sketches from artist Carolyn Guske (whom many of you know as Remy's owner), and found myself responding to one in particular. I instantly noted its body language, thinking, this horse looks pretty concerned, and is about to move away from something worrisome, maybe I need a sketch of a calmer horse. Then I noticed my own response, and realized this was a pretty fine sketch, that my usual instincts kicked in and I'd seen it like an actual horse. Then it hit me: perhaps I could use such a sketch, as well as photos, to point out what I see when I look at a horse at any given moment.

Remy's Journey: a testimonial

By Carolyn Guske

I bought my black Morgan "Remy" when he was 4 years old and 14.3 hands. His barn name at the time was "Rambo", and little did I know how appropriate that name was. Because of his young age I assumed the bratty behavior of ears back, and moving into my space on the ground, were easily fixable issues that his previous owners had never addressed. He was such a calm, lovely riding horse, curious about new things without spooking or jumping at anything.

Lesson Notes: Where Does Your Horse Want To Go?

By Mary Gallagher

 
Some of the best lessons in horsemanship are those we once learned that come around again, as if to be understood more deeply in the present. For instance, one of my early teachers, master horseman Jimmy Williams used to tell me, "Allow your horse to escape in the direction you want him to go."
Where does your horse want to go?

Lesson Notes : Making Friends - Horse or Donkey Style

by Mary Gallagher

Here at Freedom Farm we have a welcome ambassador, his name is Salty. His special talent is making friends with any new horse that comes to the farm. Salty has a technique that is so effective that when a new horse arrives on the place I like to take time out to watch him work.

Salty and Friends

The Importance of the "Give"

by Walter Zettl

Classical Dressage Instructor

I was talking to one of my students today about the importance of the "give." The horse has to know he has the possibility to go forward. I like to tell my students, even when you think you cannot give more, give again. Don't throw away the contact - this is just as wrong as riding with your reins too tight. The "give" should come from relaxing the shoulder and softening the arm - not from lengthening the reins or losing the contact.

Lesson Notes: What Really Matters to the Horse?

by Mary Gallagher

Respecting what really matters to the horse is what horsemanship is all about. 
We find out what really matters to horses when we observe their behaviors. Let's say we take a horse out of his/her herd and we notice the emotions come up while leaving her companions. How do we respond? That is horsemanship. If we continue without addressing the insecurity that arises in the horse, we are losing an opportunity to help the horse.

Lesson Notes: legs and emotion

by Mary Gallagher

Why are horses' legs long?


I know you know the answer to this, but I will spell it out anyway. To fly away from fear. Those long legs on your horse were meant to outrun predators. And linked to those legs are emotions, which are hard-wired in the horse's brain for survival. So, that being said, can we use that natural flight instinct to produce a more emotionally fit horse that can be more comfortable in the human environment?

Lets start by considering two attitudes: