Senior Horsemanship - Tips to Help Us Enjoy Better Years with Horses and More of Them
The podcast name is changed to Senior Horsemanship and I’ll be building the senior horsemanship website over the next few weeks.So why the change? Probably the most important reason is that I’m certainly a senior horseman at age 71 with three horses. I’m very interested in riding, caring for, and training my horses as long as I can. I’m also very interested in making as long as I can to be as long as possible.That’s my goal in horsemanship. I don’t have any goals in the competitive arena, Not that competition is bad, but I just want to enjoy my horses. If you compete, then I hope you do it for the joy of working with your horse.So what will we talk about? How about the following.I’d like to talk about horse training, first because a well trained horse makes life safer and makes our time with our horse more enjoyable. A well trained horse also has better prospects for a good home if for some reason, we can’t continue to keep our horse. So for the good of ourselves and our horses, horse training for seniors is a great topic.I’d like to talk about horse care. I care for my horses myself and I’ve learned some things in the process that I’d like to share. I also hope to learn from others about ways to make horse care better and easier as we grow older.I’d like to talk about riding fitness and safety around horses. I’ve lost about 40 pounds over the last year and a half and it’s made riding easier for me and my horses. But with the weight loss has come a loss of some strength. I’ve also suffered from my share of horse-related injuries over the years including a broken arm, broken ribs, several concussions and most recently broken toes. What can we do to be safer with our horses. I’m not as nimble as I once was.I’d like to talk about the mental aspects of horsemanship because we need to rely on the mental more than the physical as we get older. When I was younger, there were ways of handling horses that could be characterized by “make them do it” and “don’t let them get away with it”. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that there are better ways and I’ll talk about them.Finally, I’ll talk about how horsemanship can be much more than riding a horse. I’ve been a volunteer with Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society here in Texas for a number of years and there are some volunteers who could be examples for all of us. Several volunteers can’t ride anymore, but they foster horses and give them a great start on a new path in life. Other volunteers work on the admin side to give the organization the ability to help as many horses as possible. All of those activities count as horsemanship. We’ll talk about those and more.Again, I appreciate all of the topic ideas I’ve received from members of the Equestrian Seniors Facebook group. I appreciate your interest in the podcast. And I hope to continue to provide information that interests you in the days ahead.Thanks for listening.
Senior Horsemanship - Tips to Help Us Enjoy Better Years with Horses and More of Them
Horsemanship Is Individual to You and Your Horse
There is so much variation in the human individual that the approach has to be a little different in order to fit each person. They might come out with the same results as someone else, but if everyone tried to take the same approach, there wouldn’t be too many of them coming out with the same solution. That’s another thing I think is important to emphasize — this is an individual process. I tell people that over and over when they are trying to get something worked out. I say, “All I can do is try to help.” It has to come right out of the inside of the individual. There is no other way I know of that they can get it. It depends on what the situation may be; there might be many things, but there is a variation in how they are applied. People tend to say, “That’s a little deep. I know what you are saying but I don’t understand it.”
This quote is from the book, True Unity - Willing Communication Between Horse and Human, by Tom Dorrance.
In the quote, Tom Dorrance emphasizes that humans are individuals and that our horsemanship approach should be individual too. Our horses are also individuals and the relationships that we have with our horses are unique.
For years I read books, watched videos and attended clinics where various approaches were taught as if the same approach would yield the same solution. That was not the case. Maybe I needed a certain trainer’s saddle or bridle or maybe another video would help. I was taking the methods from these clinicians and applying them to my horse without taking his unique personality into account.
When my horse didn’t respond as the video or book or clinic indicated he should, I interpreted this as resistance or stubbornness. Our relationship was characterized by drilling and tension. Over years of clinics, books and videos, we headed down the wrong path.
I think this happens to lots of riders and their horses. We buy a horse and something happens early in the relationship that causes us to loose confidence in the horse. We anticipate trouble and ride like that. We do more groundwork and that makes the problem worse instead of better. Many of us sell the horse or quit riding altogether.
What worked for me was to watch a Warwick Schiller video on YouTube titled, 10 Year Old Girl Training. In the video, Warwick describes riding a horse at an event called Equidays in New Zealand. The horse almost bucked him off during his demonstration. Later in the day, the same horse was ridden by his 10 year old owner in an obstacle class and the horse behaved perfectly. That experience caused Warwick to have an epiphany about the importance of connection in horsemanship. Watching Warwick’s video caused me to remember my experiences riding as a 10 year old and the importance of the connection I had with my horses at that time.
So I changed what I was doing. I stopped the groundwork drilling and I looked for ways to remove the tension I was seeing in my horse. It worked and it rebuilt the relationship I had with that horse and changed what I do with my other horses.
So I hope that you’re experimenting to find the right approach for the solution you’re looking for with your horse. I hope that you recognize that the solution you read about or see in a clinic might not be the best for you and your horse. I hope that you recognize tension in your horse and that you work to start and end your sessions with your horse without tension and with relaxation.
Here's a link to Descript, the audio and video editing tool that I use and recommend.
Here's a link to the Second Half Horsemanship website.
There is so much variation in the human individual that the approach has to be a little different in order to fit each person. They might come out with the same results as someone else, but if everyone tried to take the same approach, there wouldn't be too many of them coming out with the same solution. That's another thing I think is important to emphasize. This is an individual process. I tell people that over and over when they are trying to get something worked out. I say, All I can do is try to help. It has to come right out of the inside of the individual. There's no other way I know of that they can get it. It depends on what the situation may be. There might be many things, but there is a variation in how they are applied. People tend to say, That's a little deep. I know what you're saying, but I don't understand it. This is a quote from the book, True Unity, Willing Communication Between Horse and Human by Tom Dorrance. Welcome to the Second Half Horsemanship podcast, where we talk about using your mind more than your muscles on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life. I'm your host, Paul Sherland. In the quote Tom Dorrance emphasizes that humans are individuals and that our horsemanship approach should be individual too. Our horses are also individuals and the relationships that we have with our horses are unique. I read a post from someone on one of the Facebook horsemanship pages who was looking for advice on the best book to learn horseback riding. He said he had learned to ride a motorcycle from a book, and he figured he could learn how to ride a horse the same way. Of course, a motorcycle and a horse are not the same. A horse is a thinking individual with a unique personality, and a motorcycle is not. For years, I read books, watched videos, and attended clinics where various approaches were taught as if the same approach would yield the same solution. That was not the case. Maybe I needed a certain trainer's saddle or bridle, or maybe another video would help. I was taking the methods from these clinicians and applying them to my horse without taking his unique personality into account. When my horse didn't respond as the video or book or clinic indicated he should, I interpreted this as resistance or stubbornness. Our relationship was characterized by drilling and tension. Over years of clinics, books, and videos, we headed down the wrong path. I think this happens to lots of riders and their horses. We buy a horse and something happens early in the relationship that causes us to lose confidence in the horse. We anticipate trouble and ride like that. We do more groundwork and that makes the problem worse instead of better. Many of us sell a horse or quit riding altogether. What worked for me was to watch a Warwick Schiller video on YouTube titled 10 Year Old Girl Training. In the video Warwick describes riding a horse at an event called Equidays in New Zealand. The horse almost bucked him off during his demonstration. Later in the day, the same horse was ridden by his 10 year old owner in an obstacle class, and the horse behaved perfectly. That experience caused Warwick to have an epiphany about the importance of connection in horsemanship. Watching Warwick's video caused me to remember my experiences riding as a 10 year old, and the importance of the connection I had with my horses at that time. So I changed what I was doing. I stopped the groundwork drilling and I looked for ways to remove the tension I was seeing in my horse. It worked and it rebuilt the relationship I had with that horse and changed what I do with my other horses. So I hope that you're experimenting to find the right approach for the solution you're looking for with your horse. I hope that you recognize that the solution you read about or see in a clinic might not be the best for you and your horse. I hope that you recognize tension in your horse, and that you work to start and end your sessions with your horse without tension and with relaxation. Thanks for listening to the Second Half Horsemanship podcast. If you're also on the second half horsemanship journey, please leave a comment on our website, second half horsemanship.com. We're always looking for topic and interview ideas. When I use links to books, products, and services in the podcast, some of those links might be referral links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases, I earn a small commission when you purchase something through those links, but you will not be charged more by using the links. One more note, I use Descript for editing the podcast. If you do any video or audio editing, you should check out what Descript offers. It's an incredible tool for creatives. I'll also have a link to Descript in the show notes. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your reviews help the podcast reach a larger audience. Thank you very much.
