finding the try

One of the things I try to help people with most is to recognize "the try" in their work with horses. Sounds easy enough, but often people miss it. For example, after working really hard with softness and feel with their horse during a lesson, they grab hold of the lead rope and take their horse back to the barn without ever giving back or putting slack in the lead. For the horse, this feel like dragging and negates all that was done in the previous session. Or worse yet, once out the gate of the arena, the horse gets ahead of the owner taking the slack out of the rope and pulling them back to the barn. For the horse, this is really taking over and also negates all that was done in the previous session.
"Finding the try" is something that once learned, will really shift the horse/human relationship. Once you learn to see the try in a horse and offer up a release to reward the try, the horse will start trying in all areas to see if offers up the same results. A try can be as simple as the horse leaning in the direction you are asking him to yield, turning his head or cocking an ear in your direction when asked for attention, or moving off a weight shift under saddle when asked to follow a feel. To try this, simply look for what your horse does right before he does what you were asking for, then the next time, release when you see the first sign. If your horse does not follow through and finish by giving you what you asked for, simply ask again.
"Finding the try" should start as soon as you see your horse when you arrive at the barn and not end until you head away from the barn to go home. Play with this, give it a try and you will be amazed at the results of "finding the try."

working on bridle less

One of my favorite things to work on with my horses is getting to bridle-less. For me, it is the ultimate in communication when I can direct my horse without ever picking up the reins. Often, to really illustrate how far you can take your riding to an advanced communication level, I take off whatever is on my horse's head. As I do this, I always say to people "don't try this at home." Every so often, a student will admit to me that despite my warnings, they have taken off the bridle and tried it. Most of the time, the rest of the story is not so good and often ends with the rider having a fall of some sort. For me, I have a check list before I take the bridle off. I have a communication system with my horse that is very specific. I check things out before I just take off the head gear. If things are not working or my horse is not sharp and listening, I won't take off whatever is on his head. It is only setting us up for failure. So, in case you are thinking bridle-less looks fun, please, check things out before you pull off the bridle. It is about communication, make sure you have some!

working through frustration

My favorite saying in regards to horse work and frustration is Frustration begins where knowledge ends. In every case I can think of where I found myself frustrated, this has proven to be true, although at the time I might not have realized it. Many times, if I had known what to do or had a guess at what to try, I would have directed my energy into that instead of getting all bottled up in being frustrated.
Having been a student of the horse for quite sometime now and really understanding the need for knowledge, I rarely find myself frustrated. Instead, when I find myself at this place of getting stuck or not getting the results I am looking for, I feel perplexed and intrigued. I then allow myself to get really curious about what is going on in the situation at hand. This always opens up new avenues to information and I am happy to report, keeps the feeling of frustration far, far away.
So the next time you find yourself frustrated in a situation, take a deep breath and ask yourself if more knowledge would help you get unstuck. Then get creative and find ways to increase your knowledge and let frustration be on its way.