Dear Reader,
Lyle and I continue to work. He continues to bull on the bit. This forces me to work closer to him than I would like to. This does bother him. But this is the only way that I can give him the opportunity to yield to the bit and so that I can then give my release to his yield. So we continue. Tomorrow I will have to ride him away from home and work him on some slopes. He needs this new mental stimulation. I have the feeling that he would really like to stop bulling. But he just does not know how to stop. So I am trying to prove to Lyle by the feel that I offer him that he can safely yield because he can trust my release. I remember that Mr. Bill Dorrance, in his book "True Horsemanship Through Feel" said that it took him a full year of riding his mare Beauty before she started to come around. So Lyle and I have our work cut out for us.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Penny Johnson
Bonners Ferry, Idaho
I worked for an older gentleman several years ago. He had me sit and watch the whole Ray Hunt series before I was allowed to work with his horses. I think alot of trainers today really play off of what Bill and Ray knew many years ago. I remember several of the things he taught but would really like to get my hands on those videos again cause they where really good and work on some of those basic things with our horses. Have do to something over the winter months right? =) Keep plugging away with Lyle, look how far you come this year so far! Some one told me 'don't ride with an agenda, you will only be disapointed' man is that ever true, since then riding has been more enjoyable too.
ReplyDeleteDana,
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think you are right. I really need to study the Ray Hunt video series. I will order it from Eclectic Horseman. What seems to be happening to Lyle is that he is having "flash backs" to his old training. That is, he seems to think that I want him to go in the western rollker, hyper-flexion frame. So, yes I have to acknowledge that Lyle is doing the best that he knows how to do. It really does break my heart to see Lyle harming himself to serve me. So it is just a question of giving him a better feel so that he can understand.
Thank you,
Penny