After 25 years of never having seen a full winter, I am now experiencing another in Australia. Even if it is still a little like a U.K. summer in Central Queensland. (Those in the U.K. tell me they are having a warm and dry summer. 😀) The last month has had me in Western Australia for a couple of weeks and I am back there at the end of August & the beginning of September at Horsemanship First in Serpentine with Jenny Jackson and her family.
Presently we have outside horses in for starting as well at home, some of which are getting close to returning to their owners. We have also been busy with cattle work, preg testing, weaning and taking the bulls out.
Whats Coming Up:
Outside horses are continuously coming through our home facilities and at the beginning of August we have a 2 day Foundation Course here at home. In the U.K. we have a 3 day virtual course coming up in Shropshire this coming weekend, starting Friday. These courses have been very well received and the technology does work. For those that are interested I have an online course available as well from the website: https://www.davidstuart.com.au/courses/online-course-the-start/ In September there is also a 3 day cow working and horsemanship course in Townsville. For a full course schedule please visit the website. www.davidstuart.com.au I have put together another horsemanship article below, happy reading, it is long one.
Getting Things Solid
” Have Your Goal Be: To Develop A Dependable Riding Horse.” Yes it does take time. For those that have invested in their own education and have taken ownership of that goal, horses that once, would have troubled them are now in a better place as is the human as well.
In my online course, one of the videos is on trailer loading. This horse had not been on a trailer until 5 minutes before the camera started. I had though, played around and got her more confident with other things. As a result of good preparation, the trailer was not a problem. Prepare your horse for saddling, for riding, for trailer loading, for tying up etc.
As your horse becomes more solid other experiences are often more pleasant for us all. The video below I have put on social media, so some will have seen it before. It is the same horse as in the image above and a very athletic mare and really nice horse to ride. ( There is no music to the video, it took me all day to work out how to upload it to a blog 🥲)
Perhaps if I can give more insight into the video in this blog. At a Ray Hunt course in France around 2005, Ray was having some of us straddle a small ditch with the young horses that we were riding. He said this was something that Tom would often do. It was not intended as a trick, more an ability for you to know where your horses feet are and then be able to direct them to where you would like them to be.
When riding count cadence with your horses feet. Do this when you are out on the trail, it will help you with your feel and timing. It is a simple thing, but it will take discipline on your part.
If you can get to the feet then maybe you could get to the mind, then maybe you could help to get the horse to let down. Maybe it would help you with leads etc. Maybe you could do the same on the ground as well. Horses learn to control each other through how they move each others feet. So there is a lot to this. This is not about dominance, maybe it is about learning to dance with each other, have a conversation with each other.
As you play with this in different ways it will take less and less. In the saddle the feet may start to feel like they are your feet.
As you have more quality to what you are asking it will take less quantity. There are no ribbons or prize money to be won and it is not a competition. It is about enjoying your horses and horsemanship and taking pride in what you do.
I hope the above is genuinely helpful to those that have made it this far. We all have our own road to walk and we all have different outcomes. Keep looking forward, you have come this far, keep going.
We are nearly half way through the year, it seems to have flown by. I am now in Western Australia running a course, that Jenny Jackson at Horsemanship First is hosting. Presently I am enjoying a couple of days rest at Madurah while looking out over the Indian Ocean, the dolphins were again a no show this morning Jenny. Jenny and her family have a wonderful facility and make everyone very welcome. The next block of courses and lessons start on Wednesday at Serpentine.
Schedule: Back home in Central Queensland we continue to have horses in for starting and also have a home course at the beginning of August. For more information please email me at [email protected] We also have our online course available on the website; https://www.davidstuart.com.au/courses/online-course-the-start/ In the next month we hope to update the course schedule with up coming courses for the second half of the year.
I have added a horsemanship article below, happy reading everyone.
The Foundation – The mare above is a really nice mare and now has a handful of rides on her and is really progressing well. She is a sensitive mare and her self preservation is always there on the surface. Apart from riding, we have trailer loaded her, got her to where she is comfortable with a rug and with having her feet picked up. Ridden her outside in a different environment. As she gains more confidence in the human she is also gaining more confidence in herself as well.
When riding this mare, I have done lots of upward and downward transitions, mainly walk to trot, trot to walk with a few canter transitions. With the focus being to keep the transitions smooth. Again all of the above helps to build confidence and a calmness in the mare. I am trying to use and direct that sensitivity and life in a positive way.
While this does take time to develop a mare like this. You have to go slow to go fast, if you want to find the holes in your approach, just add speed.
It has been a couple of months since my last blog, so time to put pen to paper. In the last few months we have been busy with courses at home and in Brisbane at Anstead Acres. Thank you to Pam Andrews for another great course at Anstead Acres. We have also had many horses in for starting as well. Presently I am running a horsemanship course on a large cattle property in North Western Queensland, everyone is doing extremely well. To have an opportunity to fly up here from home and see the country from the air is amazing. To see how the country has responded to recent rains and the scale of size, words do not do justice.
Whats Coming Up : As many now know we have had to reschedule our return to the U.K. for next year, it had been planned to take place in August. We now have a small schedule of virtual courses planned for the new year. These have been well attended over the last couple of years and work very well. The schedule is now available on the website; https://www.davidstuart.com.au/courses/ In May I am back in Western Australia at Horsemanship First in Serpentine. It is really great to see the progress that all have made now over many years. There is also a home course planned for the middle of the year and there is also the online course available as well. For the online course, please go to the home page and click on courses and a drop down box with online courses will appear. I have put together a horsemanship article below for all. Happy Reading.
The image above is from a young horse presentation at a home course earlier in the year. When you start a horse well and get things to where they are solid. You make life so much easier for horses and humans. I am also of the view that we also need to continue to educate ourselves for our horses. I believe, that like the horse does not do things to be wrong, neither does the human. We often do not know how to be right for the horse. With experience and understanding we can often adjust to fit situations better.
Most times I like to use a rope halter, in this case one was not available. With time, presentation and feel, you can overcome many shortcomings. As Ray Hunt said many times ” In the midst of adversity, lies opportunity.”
On this occasion, I only saddled and sat on this mare and bent her head around. The time invested here will pay dividends in her future development. Stay safe and enjoy your horses and I look forward to catching up in our travels.