Foundation OF Mounted TRAINING

 

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Also read   Foundation of Ground Training

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What is Foundation of Mounted Training

During the Foundation of Ground training, we connected our minds to the exercises and our horses mind to the exercises.  Now during the Foundation of Mounted Training using a proper training plan we mimic the ground exercises and we link our minds to the horse's mind!  We earned our leadership during the foundation of ground training; now we transfer what we establishing on the ground into the saddle.  Taking the trust, confidence, softness and leadership from the ground into the saddle is a most critical part of our horse having a solid Foundations and our relationship with our horse.  You may become quite efficient at controlling your horse on the ground, but if you have a sensitive, afraid, spooky or over-exuberant horse, you’ll need to understand some important principles in order to move forward successfully and preserve your confidence.  Horses need leadership both on the ground and in the saddle. Leadership is essential to them in the wild; if they don’t have a leader they will become one and make all the decisions as to when to go, when to stay and when to run.  So if you don’t lead, they will tend challenged in certain situations.  When everything is calm normally everything is fine!  But when a horse feels; anxious, not confident, scared, spooked, does not move of pressure or seeks to become the leader by doing what it wants to do or is allow to make most of the decisions there are some golden principles to observe. 

 

Transferring groundwork into the saddle

 ​Recruiting a Reliable ‘Helper’ - Another part of the first ride process, which I strongly suggest you incorporate into your first ride process, is a reliable person to help you when necessary.  This person will know and understand horses.  Keep in mind that your horse will look to the people around him to assess new situations.  Having confident, calm and ‘happy’ people there will help his transition across to working under a saddle. You don’t want someone who is nervous or anxious. Nor do you want someone who gets in the way due to not knowing or understanding what is going on.  This will only serve to frustrate you and, potentially, scare or intimidate your horse Your helper will be there to assist with the initial lunging of your horse, the initial introduction of the tack, particularly the bit and saddle.  They will also be there to dish-out smooth, coordinated leg ups when the time comes to actually mount your horse.  They play an important role in many aspects of your starting process.  Choose wisely 

Commit to helping your horse be more confident

In situations where your horse suddenly speeds up, overreacts, spooks; what do you think your horse is feeling?  What should you do? No problem; if your horse has a solid Foundation of Ground Training you simply would follow the Foundation of Mounted Training Plan!  If it does not; dismount and fill the gaps in the horses’ foundation of ground training because long term you will not fix the behavior mounted.   Sensitive and Reactive horses who have not been prepared Emotionally, Mentally and Physically for Mounted Training are the most likely types to exhibit these behaviors.  If horses are not trained properly for mounted training other personally types may also exhibit these behaviors, so pulling back on two reins actually worsens the problem because they feel trapped.  When a horse gets scared his number one reaction is flight – run away!  They are not thinking and plotting, they are reacting!  It’s all out of self-preservation; the instinct to survive.  When horses get scared, they are going to react; bolt, run or buck.  The more you hold them back, back them up and try to stop them, the worse it gets because they need to move their feet.  The only way to try to understand what they must be going through is to put it into perspective for you.  Imagine you are walking through a graveyard with a friend and there’s a sudden noise or image that scares the life out of you!  Your instinct is to take off out of there as fast as you can, but just as you launch yourself your friend grabs you by the collar and holds you back.  At that moment you’d probably believe it was a ghost and your fear would escalate into sheer terror.  Panic is not a logical thing.  The adrenaline produced by fear kicks in well before you can rationalize what’s actually going on, because that takes a little time. This is what happens to your horse and given the horse’s hyper perceptiveness to the environment, changes, movements and sounds; he is probably reacting to things you didn’t even notice.  So, think about it from the horse’s point of view and don’t blame him for being fearful.  Commit to learning how to help your horse become more confident about himself and in your leadership and therefore less reactive.

 

If your horse is not Emotionally, Mentally and Physically prepared for work in the saddle your long-term success will be difficult and not safe for you and your horse.  Some of us may be very good at doing the Foundation of Ground Training but transferring and establishing leadership in the saddle is the key to us having a great partnership!  Anytime a horse is resistant while riding, I strongly recommend to fix the behavior long term do it the ground. In other words, get off the horse; practice groundwork exercises to refresh the horse's memory, fix the behavior and reestablish your position as herd leader. A number of today's training programs include simple and effective groundwork exercises. Although every trainer/clinician has her/his favorite methods, each is based on the same principle---to teach the horse to move away from both physical and emotional pressure and reward him when he complies. When you can control and regain your horse's respect on the ground, he will go forward willingly and with respect when you ride.

 

FEE:

I offer several services; I will train you to do it  or I will do it for you both fees are dependent on sessions per week and location!

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