Buck Brannaman Clinic

Hey all! Sorry I haven't posted this week, I have been so darn busy! As you already know, Mom and I went down to Asheville, North Carolina over the past weekend to audit a Buck Brannaman clinic. The format was different than the formats I am used to (one on one sessions throughout the day) in that there were two classes, Horsemanship 1 in the morning, and Horsemanship 2/Cow Work in the afternoon. In both of these classes the riders would warm their horses up on the ground and in the saddle, and in the midst of this Buck would do the same with one of his two horses. He would then do some sort of demo of what he is working with his horses (part of it was haunches in, half passing, lead changes, and one handed collected gaits). He was a really superb rider, and he genuinly LOVED to ride horses. Period. You could just tell from his face, and, he mentioned it a few times.

We were there Saturday all day, and Sunday in the morning and about half way through the afternoon class. I took alot of notes of reminders of things and also some new things I was exposed to...
*leads matter and something to the horse. If a horse has a problem picking up a particular lead, it is probably an indicator of something. It could be that he is not balance either physically or mentally, or something else. This is another example of those little "spots" Harry always refer to and that they might not mean alot or anything to us, but to te horse, they are VERY important. NOTICE THEM.
*When you come across a problem (i.e. stickiness backing up), stop and fix the problem then and there. Don't tell yourself, "I'll fix it later" or "he's backing up, maybe not at a record speed, but its ok." Its another one of those spots in the horse that means something. Do something about it.
*it's not about the moment right now, it's about preparing your horse and yourself for the unthinkable (paraphrase of a Ray Hunt quote).
*An exercise that Buck said was important to be able to do is to ride on a loose rein, then take up the rein and get a "soft feel," then release the rein again. We should be able to ride every gait on a loose rein, however, and get a soft feel at anytime.
*Buck talked about how eventually a horse should be able to bend away from the leg (like he does when he leg yeilds), and also to bend into the leg (like when on a circle).
*DON'T FORGET TO RIDE AND GUIDE WITH YOUR LEGS. This was a big point I was reminded of, because somewhere in my journey of horsemanship I forgot this, and Woody now only recognizes my leg as a gas pedal and occasionally as disengaging his hindquarter. I need to work on this.
*If you are using your rein for containment, not collection, you will never achieve true collection.
*Whatever you release on is what you encourage in your horse.
*You have to know what feel you're looking for, otherwise, how will you know what to release on?
*Buck talked about the hindquarter and forehand movement during certain maneuvers. He talked about on a half circle, the forehand should reach over more and be more active than the hindquarter, while on a full circle, the movement of the hindquarter and forehand should equal.
*You cannot ride/work long term on the method of escape. It doesn't work. You can, however, on feel.
*You're trying to make you horse feel like and be a winner. This is the ultimate goal. Make him feel good with whats going on. SET IT UP FOR SUCCESS.

There was a lot more in the clinic that was touched on, but these were the points that really stood out to me. It was definitely a worthwhile trip, and man, Buck Brannaman is a VERY good horseman. He is also funny and polite, and he even signed my book, Faraway Horses.

This weekend's adventure is to Federalsburg, Maryland to see Kathleen Lindley. Last week the host of the clinic contacted my mom letting her know there was an open rider slot for Saturday afternoon. Mom signed me up to ride in the open slot, and the farm owner has given me permission to pick from four of her horses to ride in the clinic. This is a really great opportunity because A) I haven't ridden a horse that wasn't Woody or Charlotte in at least a year B) this might give me an opportunity to allow me to work on things Woody's not ready for (jumping or other aspects) and C) it will give Kathleen a chance to see me ride and what my talents are. Also, Kathleen contacted my mom and we are planning to go out to dinner with her one night we are there. This will give us the opportunity to talk more privately about possible training options, because I would love to work with her more. This weekend is sure to be fun, educational, and exciting!

Also, I have had a good session with all three horses this week. I started with Woody, saddled him, during which I noticed he had some girthing problems. He got slightly evil faced at first, but we worked on it and he relaxed and was fine. I took him out to the round pen and turned him loose. I got my flag and walked off, turned around and saw Woody trudging after me as if to say, "I know, I know, I HAVE to follow you." I got a "destination", and he stopped a little ways from me. I didn't touch him or anything, I just let him sit. I walked off another direction, and he followed again until we reached another "destination." I let him sit. We did this for a bit, and I made sure not to touch him (trying to break up the pattern of me rubbing on him everytime because he doesn't necessarily like that). Everytime we went and stopped, he would get a bit closer. He also began to walk off a bit more enthusiastically and with a happy face. I let him sit for the last trip we made, and he had a big release of yawning. Later in the session I asked him to send off, which he did slow and lazily, so I told him GO. He woke right up and WENT. Basically, we just worked on walking that fine line between soft and meaning what you say. He gave several REALLY nice canter transitions, and he had a much better feel to him, so I brought him back to the barn.

I got Teddy next and brought him to the round pen. We worked on some Yo-Yo type stuff, asking for a back up, and a bring forward. He is SUCH a fast learned and SO sensitive. I then wanted to see where we were with sending off. I asked him to leave, and started crowding him a bit with my body and the flag. He left and gave me a bnice walk and bring back. We did that both directions. The next time I asked him to send off, I asked him to trot once on the circle. He is still skeptical of the flag, so he had several spaz attacks when I used it. But he got over it and was able to accept it. By the end of the session he was going around nicely at a trot over a raised cavaletti. His main struggle is that he becomes afraid easily. He is very reactive, and he is begining to understand he doesn't need to be afraid, he just needs to do what I say. He is really improving, and he is so willing to learn and so easy to forgive, he's great. Once again, if only he were 3 or 4 hands taller...

I then saddled Charlotte using my saddle. I played a bit, she seemed fine, so I took her outside, mounted and off we went. She did well at first, but then she became OBSSESSED with the grass, to the point I've never seen her. I got her on the driveway and rode her down there a bit, then returned, just so we could have a successful ride, but man, she was NOT with me hardly at all. Next time we play I would really like to work with her at Liberty in the round pen to sort some stuff out.

So, all in all, the ponies are doing well. It is rainy and cold here, so I haven't had much opportunity to play, but they're huddled under the barn with massive piles of newly cut, green hay. We are leaving tomorrow EARLY in the morning in order to be there in time to watch a lady we know who is riding tomorrow afternoon. I will update when I get back, and I am trying to find a way to effeciently post alot of pictures from camp. Will do when I figure it out!
~Eden