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.

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.

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!