Circles

My day started with watching a Film by Stacy Westfall on Body work. This DVD had two discs so it took me a while to watch the entire set but it was well work it. The first disc concentrated on being able to use your reins in order to make the horse go in a circle as well as bend and counter bend. Stacy used the phrase 'give and take' many times during the course of this film. In order to make the horse turn in the direction you wish ,you pull lightly on the reins, and the second the horse goes in the direction you wish you release the pressure. I also learned a new way to hold the reins which makes it easier since I am using reins that are not connected. ( sometimes you will see western riders whose reins are separated and are long leather straps, that is what I am riding with). This is hard to describe without a picture but I will do my best: you cross the rein from the right side to the left and vice-verse. The reins are crossed at this point, you then collect both reins in each your right and left hand, so it looks that you have doubled the reins. I feel that it keeps my hands steadier and I feel safer because I have twice the amount of reins under my control and in my grip. Using this method helped me to not only keep up with my reins but also to feel Midnight's mouth better. I felt that today my release was quicker and our communication in regard to direction was a little better.

This 'give and take' phrase can definitely be applied to humans relationships with one another. I couldn't count the number of times I have heard someone say that they are putting more into a relationship with a significant other than the significant other is. This applies to horses as well; if the horse responds when you give a command, but you do not reward them (by releasing pressure) they will become confused. People do this all the time with one another. If we learn to balance the give and take with our partners in life communication becomes easier. If one person feels they are putting more time and/or feelings into a relationship they can become defensive; just as a horse can become defensive if you are not clear with your signals.

Stacy also mentioned that many riders go saddle up their horse and start riding without any plan or or intention. I decided that my goal or plan for today would be just to communicate with Midnight and try to do circles. Getting a horse to go in a complete even circle is like drawing a perfect circle on paper, you have to do it slowly and really concentrate on what your hands are doing. Our circles were not perfect by far, but the mere fact that I could communicate with him and get really close to a round circle made me happy.

Another important statement Stacy made is ' to look where you want the horse to go next'. 'They can feel a fly land on their body and they can tell where you are looking'. I found this to be true while riding today as well. There were barrels set up in the outdoor pin I was in- I did not use them because I am NOT a barrel racer but they were there none the less. I was just walking Midnight around the enclosure, in an oval, to give him a break from circles, I lost my concentration on him and was looking toward the road, next thing I know he has turned out of the path we were on and headed around the barrel towards the direction in which I was looking. I do not believe this was a mere coincidence, I subtly changed my body and moved it in the direction I was looking, he felt this and acted accordingly. Stacy mentioned this in the DVD ;when you are anticipating the next move, you may change your body and this can send signals to the horse without you meaning to do so.

Stacy talked a lot about telling if your horse is soft in the face, in the neck in its body. With close attention I realized that Midnight is soft on his left side but not at all on his right side. This was evident with the small amount of ground work I attempted and with the circles that I tried with him. I started out by just trying to bend his head toward the saddle to the left and then to the right. I noticed on the ground that anything you did on his left side did not bother him at all, but when you walked to his right side and tried the same actions he was not as confident and trusting. For instance when bending his neck to the right he would also move his feet; this did not happen on the left side. Midnight had no oppositions to circles if I was bending his neck to the left, but did not like to do them if I made him go in the opposite direction- his head was bent to the right. Most people do not realize this but, a horse must see things with each eye. For instance if you pass a barn that is on his left side he sees it with his left eye and he must see it with his right eye also. If he does not see it with both eyes then it will look foreign to him and he will not recognize it with the other eye, and this could potentially spook him. I believe Midnight is not as soft on his right side, because everything is mostly done on the left side of a horse. The saddle is fastened and the horse is mounted from the left side.

I did not try spiraling in and spiraling out yet or the clover pattern, it is a little early for me to try that, I want to establish a decent set of communication skills with Midnight before I attempt something more complicated. (Spiraling in and spiraling out is making a circle smaller and bigger. Like drawing a spiral when you were a kid, only you are trying to communicate with a horse to get him to do that with his feet. The clover pattern is setting up four cones and weaving in and out of them until you can make a visible clover pattern with the horses hoof marks in the sand/dirt.)

On the second disc Stacy used other student's horses to show these moves. This was helpful because it showed that some horses will be resistant to bending and that the use of pressure on both sides of the mouth (pulling on both reins) can confuse them at first. You put pressure on both sides of the horses mouth when you do spiraling for instance. You pull on the reins in one direction to keep them in a circle, but you pull with the other rein every so often to make the circle bigger.

This is more or less a note to myself but I think it is important tomorrow for me to take a look at the bit. I think the bridle might be too tight and that is why Midnight is so quick to respond. I don't want riding to be painful for him at all. He would then associate pain with me riding him, not a good association to have if I will be riding him for a month.