Horsemanship

It has been a little while since my last blog, so time to rattle the keyboard again I guess. My typing is quite slow, so the keyboard does not get to rattle loudly. Since my last website blog we have been busy with horses, cattle and courses.

Whats Been Going On: We have had 3 home courses in the last 5 months, 2 of which were open to all and a private course for an agricultural company. Horses continue to come in for starting and foundation education. Our country and livestock, like all of us are waiting for rain.

As yet we have not got to putting next years schedule up on the website and that will probably happen in the new year. There will be home courses and away courses, so stay tuned for the schedule update.

I have put together a horsemanship article below, happy reading. In case a December Blog does not happen.

Rachael and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you all for your support over the now many. many years.

When putting these articles together I try to make them of useful nature. A friend of mine told me a long time ago, David you need to read more to confirm your beliefs and understanding and to increase your knowledge and understanding.

I do get writers block and this is where videos perhaps say more than words. The video below is of a horse that I have started recently for a client. This filly is very intelligent and athletic and I am sure will have a successful future. She is also quite a sensitive horse and could also get to taking over as well.

Horses are very sensitive to movement and the horses eye is considerably quicker than the humans. Her sensitivity to movement is also what will make her a very athletic cow horse.

While she already shows a strong interest in cattle, with a horse that is still very green with a little over 20 rides on. I prefer to get her confident with situations like the flag and swinging a rope and riding outside. With a filly that is small and slight in build, I am also conscious of not over riding her. By keeping things slow and as she gains in strength and confidence, her ability will shine through when she does get in front of a cow.

In case readers where wondering about the baling string, it is a means of helping a horse that may be inclined to put their tongue over the bit. It will not always prevent it, just makes it a little difficult. The audio is poor with the video, but maybe the footage is helpful. My back cinch is also very loose due to not having a smaller one available.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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.

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.

I had always thought that an Australian winter in Central Queensland was a little similar to a U.K. summer. From what I am seeing this year in the U.K. that is probably not the case. It looks like it maybe the start of an Indian summer for the U.K.

Whats been going on: Since my last blog we have had a home course with another scheduled for mid October. Horses continue to arrive for starting and return to their homes. This coming weekend we have a virtual course in the New Forrest in the U.K. at the home of Kate McMorris and Steve Parley . Kate is riding her horse Marilyn from John o’Groats to Lands End in the U.K. a distance of 1407 km, she is now nearing completion of this ride. You can follow Kate’s adventures and donate to her chosen charity on Facebook. The course schedule has had a few more courses added and continues to be updated with new upcoming courses.

Horsemanship: I have written a horsemanship article below, happy reading.

Recently in a conversation we were discussing, “The Road To Success, ” everyone has their own definition for this. What I found interesting was that this person who coached sport said that to improve their skills they did not take well meaning advice from those at the pub or coffee shop, they went to those that were attendees at a sporting academy or were ” further along the chosen road. ” This can be applied too many other activities as well, success leaves a trail. ( Sometimes you never know who you may be speaking to at the pub to I guess.)

In a recent video presentation, I made reference that for many, time and knowledge is a challenge. A genuine desire to want to improve, in this case their horsemanship is essential. If the desire is not strong you are not going to want to get out of bed to go and ride your horse on a cold winters or a warm summer day.

Over the years of teaching, which I think are now around 30. I have observed that those that make a commitment to improving their knowledge and understanding, given time make progress and have nice riding horses. A commitment to continuing to improve our knowledge and understanding and ” Polishing the Stone,” creates better saddle horses.

While the above writings are not new or perhaps not directly horsemanship related. They do reflect the reality of many of us.