Somebody, please explain...

... why in the heck you need would ever need to put this on a horse's head?!

This device is called a Horsewyse Hackamore. The patent for this contraption is held by Patrick Wyse. Although, it is not mentioned or pictured anywhere on his website. It's actually pretty difficult to find anything further about. I wonder if they maybe.. I dunno... caused horses to flip over and kill people? The combination of extreme leverage from the hackamore and a tie down spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Tack Addict Shopping Guide v. 2

It's time for another installment for all you tack addicts like me. For today's post, I'd like to show you one of my favorite bits. It's the Professional's Choice Bob Avila signature snaffle.

This bit's appealing in several ways. First off, it won't break the bank at right around $50. It's got copper inlay in the mouthpiece and it's little wide, so it doesn't have the pinching problem I've seen with a lot of loose rings; I still use bit guards just in case though. I ride just about every horse in this bit, and I love the feel. It's got heavier rings... although not the super heavy weighted kind. It's just heavy enough to give it a nice substantial feel that helps the horses pick it up and hold it, which gives you a connected feel even on a loose rein.

Pet Peeve: Mouthy Horses

It's time for another installment of pet peeves! On the agenda to discuss today is mouthy horses. Horses are curious critters, and, lacking hands, they use their prehensile lips for checking things out. Youngsters usually learn not to put their mouth on things during "work time" in the course of their early trianing, as it can lead to a lot of trouble in the future. Horses who grow accustomed to putting their mouth on things (including chewing, lipping, touching, etc) can grab the shank of a bit and flip themself over, pull down something and spook themself, damage other people's equipment and the list goes on and on.

So, what's the deal with owners who let their horses put their mouth on anything and everything they encounter? Often times, when asked about their horse's behavior, the owner will make excuses like, "Oh, fluffy just has to check everything out to make sure it's ok." or "I just want to let him be a horse." Listen here folks, your horse has all day and night when you're not working him to check things out and be a horse. When I have my horse out, I want him paying attention to me. Not searching for things he can "check out". In my opinion, there's a big difference between letting your horse check out something and letting them look for things to play with. When I expect my horse to interact with something, they are allowed to touch it with their nose as part of their safety check, but they are never ever under any circumstances to put any object in their mouth. It's a safety hazard, and, in my opinion, shows an overall lack of discipline. When I have my horses out, they should be paying attention to what I am doing so that they don't miss a cue. If their attention is split between me and their search for entertainment, we are not going to have very good communication with one another.

Ultimately, like most of my pet peeves, it comes down to a safety issue. A horse who is constantly putting items in his mouth is eventually going to cause trouble. Should the unthinkable happen and Fluffy ends up for sale, how will prospective buyers feel about a horse with an oral fixation? Are you setting your horse up for long term success? Or avoiding a training issue?

Writer's Block

So, I have a bunch of half finished posts... that just refuse to let me finish them all the way. So while I fight off this writer's block junk... here are some links to some of my favorite reads...

Sustainable Dressage has both great explanations and illustrations of collection and the horse's balance in general. If you like what you see, I also recommend checking out the tack section.

Mugwump Chronicles Sonita stories are both true and riveting. Mugs also writes about training and other general horsey topics from a western trainer's point of view.

Dressage Curmudgeon (pg 14 language on occasion) writes about buying a baby and turning her into a dressage horse.

These should keep you entertained for a while until I get my act together ;) If you have any favorites for me to check out link to them in the comments!

Trail Rides

This time of year, as the weather starts to improve (she states optimistically), I start getting pestered to take people out on some trail rides. Those of you readers who know me in person know that I would rather clean sheaths all day than go on a trail ride. I have a stock answer that generally gets me off the hook with people. It goes something like this:
Trail riding presents a lot of uncontrolled risk, and it's not relaxing for me to feel responsible for everyone and their horses' lives.

But... that's not entirely the truth. The other reason I don't want to go on trail rides is more along these lines:
Riding through the woods looking at trees is BORING!!!

Boring

Fun!

Boring....

Fun!!

I would so much rather putter around in an arena than meander in the wilderness. Trail riding has no challenge, and therefore I think it's awful. There, I said it. Anyone agree with me?

Trusting and Letting Go

As a riding instructor, part of my job is having faith in my students and letting them step out and do things independantly. I have always found this pretty easy to do,as I tend to have a large amount of faith in my students ability to rise to the occasion. I have seen pairs succeed that I was told would be a total disaster. I have seen these students continue on with those same horses and succeed in areas I would not have imagined possible. But for some reason, it's been a struggle to let my horses do the same.

A large part of my teenage years was spent riding the unstarted horse I recieved for my 15th birthday. I learned tons about training, and I really enjoyed watching my silly 2 year old transform into a steady eddy school horse and 4H State Fair Competitor. Sadly, though, I had a hole in my riding education. I went from a pretty uneducated backyard rider to training. I learned how to hold my horse together, how to manage the direction of his feet, and keep him supple and forward. But I didn't learn to let him go. I found security in my reins, which at times I really needed! So now, a few years down the road, I'm working on filling in that gap. For a while, my training philosophy was based on a lot of input, I wanted every step to be planned and executed the way I wanted it. Now, I'm working on treating my horses like partners. I want to help them perform the movements I ask for but allow them to start taking more responsibility for their actions. This means sometimes I go faster than I want, or in a less than perfect bend, and sometimes not even the direction I was planning; but these are all learning opportunities. I'm able to encourage my horses to be more willing and independant by not being afraid of their mistakes. I'm raising my expectations of my horses,  and it's cool the way they rise to the occasion. It's my challenge to be clear in what I want and to stay out of their way. It's their responsibility to try to the best of their ability.

It's definitely been a challenge, and I know this isn't the last hole I'll have to fill. The rewards are worth it. I'm having fun letting my horses do their thing, and I'm learning a lot from them.

Tack Addict Shopping Guide

Those of you who know me in real life know I have an *ahem cough cough* affection for tack. I am indeed a tack addict. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem, but they never said you have to go beyond that! Good old "they" ;) So, I'm going to be sharing with you guys some of my favorite tack items... there will even be helpful links if you'd like to pick some up for yourself!

For this first feature, I'm going to share what I think may be the best tack invention ever. The simplicity and usefullness makes me wonder why these do not come standard on every set of western reins.

You can purchase these from Buckaroo Leather for around $12!
If you're like me, you like the option of easily removing your reins without having to untie the waterloops. I tried snaps for a while, but eventually I decided I wasn't crazy about the way they jingled and rattled while I was riding (not to mention the risk of breaking or coming undone). I've also tried quite a few of the quick change style ends, but these puppies are by far my favorite!