2012 was the 6th year for Light Hands Horsemanship (LHH) and like previous years it sold out early. The world is learning that Light Hands Horsemanship is an unequaled opportunity to learn from some of the top clinicians in the world. It spanned the globe again this year with attendees from Canada, Australia, Hungary, Mexico, Denmark, UK, Switzerland, Austria and Scotland. People attended from 16 states as well. It is a small, intimate event that gives attendees the chance to meet and talk one-on-one with the presenters, ask their individual questions and learn how to improve their communication with their horse.

All the presenters at Light Hands Horsemanship are unique in their background, their techniques and their approach. But they are very consistent in their focus and goal of creating “lightness” in their horses. Lightness is the cornerstone if this event. It is what each presenter strives for from the first time they touch a horse through that horse’s advanced training. Attendees are taught about creating lightness in horses from beginning work, introductory work, advanced work and the finishing stages.

Featured this year were presenters Dr. Robert Miller and Rick Lamb. Both gave lectures throughout the event. Eitan Beth-Halachmy, Richard Winters, Jon Ensign, Lester Buckley and Jack Brainard returned. Each of these presenters is very accomplished and more information about each can be found at lighthandshorsemanship.com and at their individual websites (links can be found on the LHH site). More importantly, each presenter at Light Hands Horsemanship is an excellent teacher. They all have an innate ability to explain a concept, point out subtleties in movement and horse behavior, to simplify the complex and all with a sense of humor and lots of entertainment.

Light Hands Horsemanship was fortunate to add Sheila Varian and Leslie Desmond to the lineup this year. Sheila shared her Vaquero Horsemanship knowledge and Leslie was a perfect fit for LHH since her main goal is “to teach others how to teach their students to develop a reliable partnership that is based on feel.”

There is no doubt people come to Light Hands Horsemanship each year to learn how to create lightness in their horse too. But there’s more to the event than horses. There is a Museum of the Cowboy Tour and a tour of the Intrepid Museum Collection. Every day features Santa Maria Style BBQ with treats like Kobe burgers, oak grilled prime rib, white cheddar and sage popovers and endless popcorn, tea, water and coffee.

Tall Tales is now an annual event where the presenters share stories, tell jokes and have fun with each other and the audience. There was also a sing-a-long this year. Richard Winters does a Sunday morning service each year as well.

The 7th Annual Light Hands Horsemanship is already scheduled for May 30 – June 2, 2013. The past years have sold out early so keep a close eye on lighthandshorsemanship.com and spalding-labs.com for registration information.

Spalding Labs has sponsored Light Hands Horsemanship since the very first year. Through products like Fly Predators, Fly Traps and Bye Bye Odor, Spalding Labs provides the tools needed for healthier and happier horses. Through ongoing support of Light Hands Horsemanship, Spalding Labs provides the means to a healthier and happier relationship too.

~ by Pi Polletta

Round pens are very popular at stables and ranches across the country. Yet, I’m not sure that people always have a good plan on how they’re going to work their horse once inside the round pen. Any time we work with our horse, it’s important to have an objective and be able to clearly communicate our ideas in a way that our horses can understand.

When a client brings me a horse for training, I like to begin opening the lines of communication while working in a round pen. It’s a safe environment for me to introduce myself to the horse. I can learn a lot about a horse and establish my leadership in the first and second sessions.

Here are a few things that I keep in mind when I work my horse on the ground at liberty in a forty to sixty foot round pen:

1) I want my horse to learn how to travel around the pen in a consistent manner without inadvertently changing directions.

2) I want him to stay out on the rail and not cut the corners when moving around.

3) I don’t want to have to beg him to move — In other words, I do not want to have to run around the pen chasing him to keep him moving.

4) When I take the pressure off my horse by backing away, I want him to turn and look at me. This is how I will help him understand how to face up in a willing and respectful manner when I step into the pen to catch him.

My body position is very important as my horse moves around the pen. I want to direct the energy toward his hindquarters. If I step towards his front end, I take a chance of cutting him off and he inadvertently changes direction. I want to see my horse move around with purpose. You don’t need to be aggressive as you send your horse around. However, you do need to be assertive. During this exercise, I want to see my horse begin to move around the pen efficiently. In other words, if it takes twenty pounds of energy to trot or lope around the pen, and my horse is putting forty pounds of energy into it, then I really haven’t helped him relax and he’s really not in a receptive frame of mind. I am looking for that point where my horse is not only physically warmed up, but he is mentally warmed up and engaged as well. This is the point when I will invite my horse to turn in and look at me. As I prepare my horse to turn in and face up, I envision my round pen as a clock. I’ve been keeping subtle pressure at my horse’s hind end, encouraging him to keep moving around the pen. As he trots around to 12 o’clock, I back straight up to 6 o’clock. (I won’t do this when he’s loping because things would probably be moving too fast and he would miss my suggestion.) In doing this, I’m taking all the pressure off my horse and trying to create a “draw” and inviting him into my space. I’ll back all the way up to the panel of the round pen. At this point, he has to make a decision. He can stop, turn and look at me (that’s the bare minimum positive response). He can keep on moving around the pen (if so, he’ll come right up to me anyway). Or he can turn into the fence and go off the other way. If he turns away from me, or if at any time he shows me his butt rather than his face, I’m going to chase him out of the way. I want him to realize that he can be comfortable if he faces me. If he chooses to be evasive and show me his rump, it will turn into more work for him. This round pen game exemplifies the horsemanship principle of “making the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult”. This is how horses begin to hook on to us at liberty and willingly follow us around the pen. It’s not because we’re big pals, or that I’m a horse whisperer. It’s simply because a horse realizes that being with me is the best deal for him. Keep in mind that I mentioned backing straight away to 6 o’clock. Many people start backing up in a semicircle. Body language is what your horse understands, and it’s important that we are clear and consistent with our body movement and posture. Some horses learn this behavior quickly and want to come right in and be with you. Others offer the bare minimum and will only stop and face up. Once you’ve established this behavior, it’s important that you don’t allow your horse to come in to you whenever he feels like it. Keep your horse consistently moving around the perimeter of the pen until it is clearly your idea for him to come in.

Whatever you do, your goal should be to engage your horse’s mind and not just chase him around until he’s hot and sweaty. Having a plan when you step into the round pen will help you develop a horse that is not only physically fit, but mentally and emotionally fit as well. Please Google “Richard Winters Horsemanship Youtube Channel” for footage to compliment this article.

 by Richard Winters
www.wintersranch.com

Every once in a while a pearl of wisdom, new found knowledge or a hard learned lesson comes my way. From time to time I would like to share some of these "epiphanies" with you. Most are not profound but are somewhat noteworthy. I am not sure what to title these "tidbits" of information. I have thought of "A View From My Saddle" although clever and fitting it is has been used. I do like it's close relative "My View from the Manure Pile” in my case I have had to shovel a lot of it in my life so it seems quite appropriate. As a young boy I was sure there was a pony under that pile of manure and it kept me inspired and shoveling. What I eventually learned was that there was no pony, just more manure.

As a horseman I "felt" much of my horsemanship. It was not book learned or lessoned into me. I was a keen observer and had a strong work ethic. I made mistakes but learned from them and it was during my observations of other trainers that I would learn as much about what not to do as much as what to do. I went through stages, as a young man in my 20 and 30's where I was a constant student of the horse. In my 40's and 50's I thought I knew it all and then in my early 60's I found out I still had a lot to learn. As humbling as it was it was very productive. So it was back to being a student again. Maybe I should give myself a bit more credit. By the time I was 50 I had a lot of "wet blankets and saddle miles" on me. But in my early 50's I found I wanted to fully understand and know more. I think what inspired me was when I became a teacher and started doing clinics I felt a huge responsibility to have correct and educated answers. I could not teach people how to feel as I do but I could define things in a manner that was easy to understand and they could then develop their own feel. One of my biggest concerns was that a student would ask me a question I would not have a correct answer for. It was time to go beyond feel and start to articulate….. Hence a new journey and a new DVD.

As I did research for my latest DVD, Poetry In Motion, (www.cowboydressage.com/storefront.html) I wanted to take basic equine anatomy along with footfalls and cadence and create a presentation that was easy to understand and digest. (I tried to use as few big words as possible). I used animation and video footage of my own horses as I worked them. I added chapters and a menu to make it student friendly. What I learned while making that DVD changed the way I ride my horses. I actually can now ride the horse from the inside out instead of just from the outside. This is a huge benefit for both horse and rider. Because of what I learned I am now able to take that "feel" and put it into words that I can share and teach others with. I knew that to be a good horseman you needed to have control of the horse’s feet. In order to have that control you need to know where the feet are at all three gaits. Walk, trot, and lope/canter. If you can master this and it is not as hard as you think, you will be enriched beyond your horse crazy dreams. I know I have been. It has now become one of the main topics of my clinics. I know fellow horseman, teacher, and friend Jack Brainard includes this study in his clinics as well. Dr. Robert Miller makes a point of it too during his lectures. "Control the feet and you control the horse." Profound and simple but highly overlooked and often miss-understood.

So my first pearl from the Manure Pile is: The four beat canter or lope....what is it? If you show or observe western pleasure horses you will often see a horse that is four beating at the lope. Many can recognize it but few can define it. If you can’t define it how can you improve or fix it, or avoid it in the first place…. So listen up, here goes: The western lope is a 3 beat gait that consists of a 3 beat footfall. Within each lope stride there is a diagonal pair that should hit the ground at the exact same time. When the diagonal pair is out of sync or broken you have a four beat canter or lope.

Correct example: Right Lead. The horse is asked to engage with his right rear leg. This is done by moving the ribcage to the outside (to his left) creating a soft arc. He then pushes off with his left outside hind leg. It is then followed by the diagonal pair, the left front and right rear legs that is then followed by the leading right front leg. 1-2-3 beats

Correct example: Left Lead. The horse is asked to engage with his left rear leg. This is done by moving his rib cage to the outside (to his right) creating a soft arc. He then pushes off with his right outside hind leg. It is then followed by the diagonal pair; the right front and his left rear legs and then followed by the leading left front leg. 1-2-3 beats

Four Beat. Right or Left lead. The diagonal pair does not hit the ground at the same time. Most often the front diagonal will hit the ground first and then the diagonal rear will follow. This will give you 4 beats. 1-2-3 and 4…out of sync and incorrect.

The four beat lope or canter can be the way the horse moves naturally because of conformation, breeding or training etc. It can be also be man made, or trainer made in this instance. You do not create a jog by slowing the horses down. He will loose his cadence if you slow him down to much. The correct way to create a jog is by shortening the stride thus keeping the horse in sync.

If you know your footfalls and can feel where one foot is you will know where the other three are. In theory you can then ride to prevent or improve the broken or out of sync diagonal pair.

It is not enough to know the how and why of footfalls, you must also know at what time during the sequence of footfalls to queue a horse to send the proper message. It makes it so much easier for the horse. Both horse and rider are set up for success….ah yes, timing is very important….. My next DVD

EITAN

Filippo attended LHH last year and will be returning again in 2012. We look forward to his return as any horseman that has this kind of passion is always a welcome guest  at LHH.  Thank you Filippo for your thoughts.

Actually I would have a few topics to talk about. Maybe they are not strictly related to LHH but surely they are related to the LHH mission. I am talking about the “Revolution in Horsemanship”. I have found LHH an excellent LAB and very fertile environment for promoting the Revolution in Horsemanship. Whoever I met at LHH was a very kind, interesting and skilled (or willing to be skilled) person.

I am honest when I say that LHH is an incredible positive experience.

I find very true that the Revolution in Horsemanship has not to do just with a few techniques about how to deal with horses. Of course it is also that but it emphasizes or it helps us to understand that we need to change from the inside and then we will see the great results. Who can better remark how we are changing inside if not a horse ? I was not surprised when I read in Dr Miller book that some people turn into tears when they watch Eitan dvds. That’s art and art penetrates all barriers and reaches our hearts.

With my introduction I would like either to share my ideas with you or to tell you something additional which is basically also the topic for the hypothetical blog.

I have tried, with my very few experiences and poor skills to meet people in Germany who are interested in the Natural Horsemanship and to be honest in the last months I have found some (actually I have realized that there are even more interested people than I was thinking of). However people are spread into far away distances and there cannot be any community. Or let’s say there can be and there are several spread and fragmented web communities but not communities where people can really meet and support each other every day.

I can summarize in another way by saying that I find really important that people who want to live and practice Natural Horsemanship have the chance to do it in our daily lives, at our barns. Clinics, seminars, web communities are all very very important but at the end we need to have the chance to practice in our daily life otherwise we cannot really feel and live the change.

Why I am telling this story? Because I find really hard for people who practice Natural Horsemanship to have an easy lives. I am experiencing this at least in Germany or better saying in this part of Germany. Several times no facilities are offered to the ones who want to follow this way, many times the use of equipment/tools for desensitizing horses are not tolerated, criteria (strongly promoted and recommended by any horsemen) for developing/build a better relation with our horses are strongly criticized. People sometime deride, etc. Of course as many people like me are (which means beginners), we make several mistakes and this does not help us too much. The result is often that a lot of people move often from barn to barn with the (often vain) hope that in the next place it will be better.

Last summer at LHH 2011 I have talked to many people about the idea to find a solution for having entire barns where the majority of people follow the Natural Horsemanship and I got a quiet interesting idea from Susan Sember. She said something like, we could try to create a network where all people have the chance to join together. As an example she said that she has a few hundreds of customers in Germany and if we could all create a network where Natural Horsemanship oriented people could meet and make projects like create barns or being in the same barn or talk to business men for investing in the Natural Horsemanship, this could help us a lot.

Of course the network would not be limited to Germany but worldwide open. I am just talking about Germany because this is where I live.

I have seen that in Germany there are people like Monty Roberts, Pat Parelli who are quite popular and a lot of people are interested in what they offer. These are not the only horsemen people know and follow. Last September I was at a Linda Tellington Jones clinic and there were a few hundreds of people who participated. Also Mark Rashid is quite known, Gawani Poniboy, Steve Halfpenny, Peter Pfister (a German horseman), Buck Brannaman, Frederic Pignon (a French horseman), Leslie Desmond, Lester Buckley, Dr Miller, Dr Heuschmann (a German vet) and surely several others. If all these people could promote the creation of such a network I am sure soon there would be thousands of people connected together with a unique aim: the interest for the Natural Horsemanship. And this could be an additional and strong impulse for widely spreading the message.

When I went to visit Ellen (DiBella), she was encouraging me and very kindly supporting me and my idea. And I asked her: why do not you come all LHH/WDAA/Cowboy Dressage clinicians periodically to Europe and organize clinics constantly? I am sure soon people would start to convert. I am sure of it. I might be wrong for Germany (at least at the beginning) but definitely not for Italy, Netherland, Spain, France, etc.

I think nowadays also the barn owners are a little bit in crisis. The society is changing and those tournaments that in the past were bringing thousands of people (and money) and making barn owners happy are nearly gone. The new generations are probably looking for a different relationship with their horses and the answer can be either quit the equestrian sports or the Natural Horsemanship.

If I can tell you the truth, Germany is a quite tough country and it is not easy to deal with !
Maybe people like Dr Miller could make change their mind to Germans. Why? Because Dr Miller is far away above bigotry, localism, hypocrisy, etc.

I hope for your big help and I also hope to see you and Eitan soon here in Europe.

Many thanks.

With my best greetings,

Filippo
Filippo Smedili
Düsseldorf, Germany
E-mail: filippo.smedili@googlemail.com

John Alcorn has been a part of the LHH staff since it’s first year. He is what LHH is about. Be sure to introduce yourself to John, he makes sure all our guests are happy and comfortable.
 
I don’t know if this is something you would be interested in for the blog but since June of this year I have been volunteering with a horse rescue here in San Diego county, The Horses Of Tir Na Nog  They have a website but can also be seen on Facebook if you have a second to look them up.

Mostly we rescue horses who have medical issues. However I was contacted to work with a “wild” horse they have. Her brand was cut out and she was abandoned in the desert east of here.  This group has volunteers who come out twice a month to scoop poop and brush and groom the horses but most of them are not horse people.

I saw what a great job these folks are doing and I felt compelled to help out. I was asked to give a talk to them about general horse handling and that turned into “Horsemanship 101” clinics every other Sunday. There is no riding involved.  Otherwise I mostly do remedial work with the horses helping to get them over issues like fear, won’t pick up feet, can’t be haltered etc.

It is great fun and a terrific learning experience for me teaching the basics to folks who are interested. It also keeps my edge sharp working on problems since my own horse is pretty well along.  Being involved with these folks is one way I can spread the word about PROPER care and handling of horses.  It also gives me a sense of satisfaction that I am GIVING BACK some of the time and effort people like Jon, Lester, Bob, Eitan and all the others folks I’ve met and known in horses have given me.

On another note, I spread the word to every poor soul who come in earshot about LHH. There are several people around here who I think will come up next year.

I look forward to seeing you all every year and do so again now.

Love to you all,

John Alcorn