One Bad Apple Spoils The Bunch

Here is a topic that's touchy for sure, and make no mistake, the horse world has more than its share of unsavory characters. Unfortunately, there aren't many ways you can research those you'll be communicating with when you're looking to buy a horse, however, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself. Now, let's be clear. I have nothing against horsetraders in general. They're out to make a living just like the rest of us. Many are decent, honest folks who happen to enjoy buying and selling horses, and interacting with the public. Then there's that other element.

Let's define what a horsetrader is. Generally speaking, it's someone who deals in buying and selling a large volume of horses. Those who honestly portray the horses they're marketing are usually only going to do a cursory evaluation of the horse before offering it for sale. Because as we all know, the longer you hold onto a horse, the more money you're going to have invested in that horse and if you've bought him to resell, your profit margin decreases the longer you own him. Horsetraders usually buy a majority of their horses from low-end auctions or sale barns. This is generally because there are lots of horses to choose from and it saves both time and money not having to drive from place to place in order to fill the trailer with horses to resell. Buying at auction for $200 to $500 and turning the horse over for $1000 to $2000 within a couple of days can be decent money. Of course, the major problem with this is that many things a buyer would notice looking at horses in a private sale setting might be overlooked.

Soundness issues are a common theme with auction horses, as many wind up at the sale yard because they're unsound. You cannot vet check an auction horse before purchasing him, and you can be positive that trader won't spend anything deemed an "unnecessary" expense, so never take his (or her) word that the horse is sound. I used to only recommend a vet check with higher priced horses, but you're really better off safe than sorry. Invest in a vet check. A couple hundred dollars even spent on a cheap horse is money well spent if it saves you thousands in vet bills down the road.

There are several things many horsetraders do that don't sit well with me, so buyer beware is always the best policy. In addition to possible soundness problems, you often encounter behavioral issues in a horse sent off to auction (and picked up for resale buy a trader). It's not a huge deal unless the seller deliberately tries to hide such things from buyers. Keep in mind, what you see isn't always what you get -- that good looking horse who seems perfect may have a habit of kicking his stall walls to smithereens, and if you buy, him you're stuck correcting the issue, dealing with it, or sending him down the road again. Here's where my major beef with unscrupulous horsetraders lies: They usually target buyers looking for gentle, safe, well trained and frequently child safe mounts. Then, even after picking up the horse at the previous night's auction, that trader is already advertising him as "sound, safe, bombproof" the very next day, often after not even getting on the horses back once. Inevitably, some naive family will come look at the horse because he's priced so low, and get suckered into buying him, not realizing what they're in for.

Dangerous horses get people hurt. Hurting horses can become dangerous because being ridden causes them pain and they don't understand. See where I'm going with this? When a newcomer to the horse world, or someone coming back to horse ownership from a long absence is injured riding an unsafe horse, an untrained horse, or a horse with pain issues, they often times want nothing more to do with horses or the people involved in the horse world. Those victims of shady horsetraders frequently feel so burned that they give up entirely on ever having the right horse, that they find another venue for the recreational dollars. That affects us all, and it affects the horses we love, because that means fewer homes available and less money being invested in equestrian sports. That's my bottom line being reduced,  folks, interfering with my ability to make a living.

If you are a potential buyer who needs to find that truly bombproof, safe, well broke horse for your family, first find an honest, reputable trainer or horseman / horsewoman you can trust to help you look. Don't discount the joy you'll experience when you purchase the right horse (at the right price).

~SFTS

Walking Tall...Errr, Riding Tall

Most of the time when I discuss riding and how to ride better, I talk about using your seat and legs. That's largely because they're the most important aspect to riding and doing it well. But your upper body can play a significant role in how you communicate with your horse and get the most out of him or her.

We all know about the age old -- ear -- shoulder -- hip -- heel rule if we've been riding any length of time, and the way our bodies should be aligned while in the saddle. But how often do you think about why that is? It's a pretty elementary concept: Balance. One of the mantras I preach routinely to my students is, don't let your shoulders to get in front of your hips, except under certain circumstances Even being able to walk a young very green horse forward, which requires mainly your seat just like with any horse, I still want correct alignment even though I'm urgent the horse forward with my upper body along with using my lower leg.

What's key in using your whole body while riding the horse is to not let your shoulders lead, or allow your hips to get left behind. I want my riders to sit tall in the saddle, look ahead at where they're going, and be aware of how they're communicating with their horses. Every ride, every time, you're teaching that horse something...good or bad. We should always strive for the good. A pet peeve of mine was the trend some years back of Hunter/Jumper trainers having their students ride an entire course in two-point position. No better way to encourage a horse to refuse a fence than that! When your center of gravity is too far forward (i.e., shoulders ahead of hips), you're teaching the horse inadvertently to quit, because that's the easy thing to do. We all know horses tend to be naturally lazy, right?

How can remind ourselves to ride correctly? That's probably the most commonly asked question I receive from my older riders, or those who are returning to riding after being away from the sport for a certain number of years. We all have a tendency to become complacent in our riding, even professional trainers. I have my own bad habits, which is why I took to entering Equitation classes at horse shows again some years back, when I had the opportunity. Eq is judged on the rider's ability, performance, position and precision. Doing so helped me challenge myself into riding my best, which translated into my horses working even better. It was definitely a win-win situation.

Summing up this discussion, don't forget that riding is a pretty uncomplicated endeavour, though doing it well can be quite a challenge. With a solid foundation though (just like our horses), you'll be unstoppable in any discipline you choose to ride!

~SFTS

Gimme Just A Little Bit!

There are few things worse than having a horse who doesn't want to respond when you ask him to. While ideally I'll be using my seat and legs 1000x more than my hands, responding to the bit or hackamore is still essential for the horse to understand. That's where we begin.

We've talked a considerable amount about lateral flexion and what it means in comparison to vertical flexion. While keeping in mind that a headset is not collection, which comes behind, we still want our horses to soften in our hands and give to the bit (or hackamore). One reason is, especially when working on our suppling exercises, we want the horse to use his body while following his nose. It's really that simple.

To get started, we'll ask for a nice walk with long and low carriage and a lengthened stride. I don't want to even ask for anything remotely resembling a headset for a little while, at least until I have a relaxed and forward walk, then a quiet halt. At that point, I'll pick up my inside rein and request just a slight give. If the horse resists, I'm going to hold light yet steady pressure until I have the slightest response. Repeat toward the outside.

Next, we will walk forward again and I'll ask for the same only slight bend. First to the inside, then to the outside. All I want is the horse to respond when I pick up each rein, inside then outside. Any resistance is met with only light steady pressure until there's the tiniest bit of give. Now, ideally the horse is going to begin giving to the bit as soon as I start to lift my rein and not wait for pressure on the bit itself. Lots of praise follows that response.

When the horse consistently responds the exact same way every time I ask ,both at the halt and at the walk -- it doesn't need to take all that long to achieve -- we'll start trotting while asking for the same give. At this point, I'll have the horse halt again and introduce the concept of taking hold of both reins simultaneously, then asking him to give vertically. We'll then repeat the same steps both at the walk and again at the trot.

Once more I reiterate, what I'm asking for isn't a headset, it's a reaction and response to rein pressure. I don't care so much if the horse looks pretty at this point, my goal in the earlier stages of training (or retraining) is self carriage and a responsive mount. This goes for any discipline the horse will ultimately have as a primary job.

Without flexibility, willingness and responsiveness, riding and enjoying that horse will be an uphill battle. I like my horses to be willing, flexible and responsive. From there the horse can go in any direction, and it doesn't matter whether he's a trail horse, a cow horse, a pleasure horse or performance horse. Foundation is the key!

~SFTS

It's All About The Bend

Now that we're back to discussing horses, we can delve back into our training issues and begin to chart our horses' progress. This is a great topic for really Illustrating the whole theory behind "laying the foundation". When you have a horse who's inflexible, you'll never get a decent ride out of him. It's just a fact of life. I've covered lateral flexion, vertical flexion and slow work in the past, however, your best bet to accomplish having a balanced and supple horse is loping or cantering circles, figure 8's or serpentines.

Let's understand, if your horse isn't flexible at the jog or trot, he's not going to comprehend being flexible at the lope or canter, and if he's got an issue with flexibility at the walk, you can be sure that will be an issue at the jog or trot. Always remember to start from the beginning and build your foundation first. Remember also, that your horse needs to have good lope/canter transitions and know his correct leads before beginning these exercises. Every time you ask the horse to move forward, you want him to step up under himself with his hindquarters and lift his shoulders. This doesn't mean you pull on his face! In order to achieve elevated shoulders, a rounded back and a balanced hindquarters with impulsion, you need the horse to understand bending while moving forward. That's where your circles and figure 8's come in.

For the purposes of this article, we're going to use the Western terms of jog and lope. Begin by asking for a nice loose forward jog, you can either sit or post. Request that he stay straight until you encourage a slight inward bend when putting him into a 20 meter circle. By bend I mean his whole body, from his poll through his hips. What I don't want is for the horse to lean on my inside leg, or drop his inside shoulder. Putting your weight on your outside seatbone  (and thus your outside stirrup) allows you to free up his inside shoulder and drive him forward with your outside leg. This will help him stay straighter and more balanced as you continue to ride your circles. After you have nice jog circles with your horse bent properly to the inside -- key words here are "bent properly" -- we'll start a slight counterbend while remaining in that same 20 meter circle, progressing into slightly more bend toward the outside.

After mastering the task of counterbending on a circle, we'll start riding 20 meter figures of 8 in that same forward jog. If you're posting, don't forget to change your diagonal! All a figure 8 truly is, is two opposing circles connected by a change of direction at the center meeting point. During your figure 8's, keep the horse on an inward bend by using your seat and legs. Then we move into serpentines (loops) doing the exact same. Once your horse is performing correctly at the jog, you can ask for the lope and continue enhancing his performance. Once again, you want to make sure he's got solid lope transitions and knows his leads. Those 20 meter circles while loping are very basic, as are the counterbent lope circles. If you've laid a solid foundation, the next steps are easy.

When loping figures of 8, we will utilize simple changes of lead ( even if your horse has flying changes). While you should already be familiar with them, a simple lead change is one where the horse drops down to a trot in the middle of the 8 before picking up the opposite lead. We'll do the same with our loping serpentines. On those simple changes, I only want 4-5 jogging strides at the very most, ideally just 2-3. But, there must be a clearly delineated jog. Why, you might ask, would you insist on a simple lead change as opposed to a flying change? Because our focus here, and thus that of the horse, must be on maintaining correct momentum, proper carriage and the right trajectory during this exercise. We're not working on the lope here, nor on the lead changes. We are focusing on the horse's body and how he carries himself.

Finally we will start counter canter work, which begins out of our circles down the long sides of our arena and requires a responsive horse that trusts his rider and will pick up the asked for lead regardless of the direction of travel. I've had horses thought to be highly well trained that would switch leads when asked to counter canter, but that's not correct! If we're traveling clockwise and I request the left lead, I want a left lead! So, by now you and your horse should have a clear concise idea about circles and bending. With the exercises outlined above, your communication and performance should be well on the way to being stellar.

Remember, training is a process and there is no end to it. We are constantly seeking to improve our horse's performance and our communication with the horse.

~SFTS

In Need Of Rescue!

Cold, Hard Realities of the Horse Industry.

For my first foray back into actual equine subject matter, I've chosen to talk (write) about where the horse industry is headed. It's no surprise to those of us who have been watching trends over the past 10 years that were in very real trouble. We actually have been for a long time, due to economic shifts and the widespread influence of modern technology. At our fingertips we have so much visual stimulation, just sitting on our behinds inside, from cell phones and tablets, to computers and videogames -- it's sensory overload.

When I was a child, my mornings were filled with feeding and riding horses, my afternoons were filled with chores like cleaning stalls, stacking hay, cleaning tack and more riding, my evenings were filled with dreaming about horses. They were an all consuming passion and I couldn't have imagined life any other way. Most kids today don't understand the commitment to these majestic creatures and cannot comprehend how magical life with them can be. But unless you've given your heart to a horse, you won't feel it either.

Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? Our world has changed. In actuality, our world is ever changing. Horses are no longer a necessity,  they are luxury. And in a struggling economy, luxuries are the first things to be cut out of our lives. But how about when that luxury "item" is a living, breathing animal that's too big to live in your home with you, requiring a large piece of land and special outside accommodations? It's not that difficult to understand why our industry is suffering.

What are the answers? How do we improve things for the horses we love and the future of the business of horses? Some say we are being harmful to these animals by having built an industry around their presence in our lives. But the way I see things from my perspective, because of the desire we humans have to ride horses, there will always -- at the very least -- need to be folks who can train them and folks who can teach others to ride them. Hence, the horse business. Add in the support portion of this industry (feed, tack, barns & corrals, farriers, veterinarians and so forth) and you have an entire segment of the economy. When the country, and the world, suffer financially, so do the horses.

Many of us who devoted our lives to horses and who've been involved in at least some aspect of the horse rescue world understand things aren't good. There is turmoil in our pocketbooks and holes in our hearts, knowing we cannot possibly save them all. Change needs to begin with breeders. By choosing your bloodstock carefully and breeding for a specific purpose, the horses you produce will become more desirable to buyers. By ensuring your young horses have at least some training (halterbreaking if they're too young to be saddled) before they enter the market place, they'll stand a far better chance of finding good homes.

This indeed is a multi-faceted problem which needs to be addressed by a majority of owners, whether or not they breed, whether or not they are professionally involved with horses and some capacity, or whether they simply enjoy owning these amazing athletes. I don't think I have ever heard a more fitting or appropriate use for the phrase, "It takes a village."

~SFTS

Reflections: Revisiting LTF, Looking Back

In the beginning when I started Laying The Foundation as a monthly column in Horsin' Around Magazine tackling horse training, and behavior issues in horses, I could only imagine that it would still be viable and valuable 22 years later.  What began as an idea to impart some of the knowledge I've gained over many decades of horse ownership and as an equestrian professional, has grown into somewhat of its own entity. Yes, I am the writer, however, this is part of me giving back to the community.

We've covered everything from show ring fashion, to Reining training; from the benefits of snaffle bits, to rating jumpers; from the most basic of basics, to extremely intricate techniques for getting the most out of horses that have high level performance careers. Pretty much everything horse-related imaginable, I've written about and posted to this blog. And there's so much more to write about.

One thing I have learned in my lengthy career is, you can never know too much, and you can never learn enough. I've already got some fabulous topic scheduled over the next month, and have about a million more ideas I'm going to be touching on. In some cases, I'll be learning right along with you. This is an opportunity for me to explore equestrian sports that I'm interested in, as well as educate and entertain the rest of you. Over the coming weeks and months, we'll be learning together. I'm excited, and can't wait to see where we go from here.

~SFTS

Setting Sail On [Another] New Journey In Blogging...

Welcome back! Again. I know, how many times have we danced this same dance together? More than a few. That's my fault, and I've never shied away from admitting my faults or from taking responsibility. So, here we are, one more time. All I can do is promise to make more of a commitment to post more frequently. Right? So let's get to it.

This blog began in 2009, dedicated to helping horses and their owners. It's also been a resource for trainers and other equine professionals. We've covered many topics over the past 8 years, and there are so many more I can't wait to explore. If you have a topic suggestion, email me at sunlitfarmtraining@yahoo.com, or send me a Facebook message through our page -- https://www.facebook.com/LayingTheFoundationHorseTraining/.

While I've been on hiatus, I have had some great ideas for posts, so be sure to follow along and gain more wisdom on this amazing journey we call horsemanship.

~SFTS