Warren & Rita Thompson ~ Sterling, Co ~ (970) 580-9081
- Get with the feel of the horse to get the horse to feel you
- Develop and maintain feel, timing, and balance
- Practice patience and calmness
- Build trust and respect while establishing leadership
- Ask and release (the release of pressure is the horse's reward for attempting or completing a request from you.)
- Learn the importance of using your legs to direct the horse
- Have a clear mental picture of what you want the horse to do and present it to him in a way he can understand what he's supposed to do.
- Think in terms of "help him do it" not "make him do it"
- Don't try to do too much, too fast
- Practice frequent stop and back sequences
- Practice three speeds of walk, trot and canter (slow, medium, and fast)
- Riding is controlling the direction and speed of the horse's feet.
- If the horse becomes scared or excited, keep the feet moving in a controlled direction at a controlled speed.
- Use hip disengagement to control horse bucking or bolting.
- Be forgiving of lack of experience, but don't tolerate disrespectful behavior
Be relaxed, ride relaxed, stay relaxed