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Liberty Challenge 10

Liberty Challenges
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Beginners: start online in walk then trot
Intermediates: go to neck rope in walk or trot
Advanced: work at liberty in walk, trot or canter
Fun: try riding it (w/t/c)

Challenges Online/Liberty/Ridden:

  1. Front feet & back feet in hulahoops (or walk over)
  2. Trot over poles on tarp
  3. Trot/canter through scary corridor
  4. Jump
  5. Trot through weave pattern
  6. Transitions through narrow corridor (walk in/halt/backup/trot out)
  7. Walk/trot over bottle bank
  8. Walk/trot fig 8
  9. Walk/trot through curtain
  10. Trot through arch or jump hoop jump
  11. Sidepass over or near an obstacle
  12. Walk through water feature
  13. Ground tie (immobility/halt) and extreme familiarisation with objects around horse

 

Liberty with Solly

 

Ridden with Solly

 

Tips:
Try and test all the obstacles to make sure you and your horse know what to do at each one, make sure you reward for the slightest try and as you advance you do more with each obstacle, either stay longer, transitions or all at a higher gait throughout.

Once you know what to do with each obstacle then put them together as smoothly as possible as a course (if online then keeping a ‘smile’ in the rope as much as you can).

Set it up the best way for your area so it doesn’t need to be in this order or this shape.

Do not push your horse through or over things, accept what he gives you and teach him more as you go along. Repeat as often as you can for a horse that is a slow learner and make sure you mix it up often for a horse that gets bored quickly.

Remember it’s supposed to be fun….for you AND your horse 🙂

Training Tips: Practice makes progress

Training Tips
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The best tip I can give anyone doing anything is that ‘Practice makes Progress’, that the hard work of learning something you’ve been taught well is to go over and over and over it until you get the muscle memory of it in your body and your mind.

It’s like when you learned to drive, or use a computer. To start with you were unsure and unused to what to do to make things work, how to start, stop, turn in the car, how to download, upload, find search engines, keep files for photographs BUT you learned one thing and did that for a while, then another question came up and you learned how to do that and did that for a while. Soon you were doing those first few things without thinking about it but you kept on asking questions and learning more about your car or computer until the first things were easy, light and you didn’t think about it and the new things integrated easier and faster.

It’s the same with Horsemanship. Learn your ABC’s, practice until you don’t have to think about it and then as questions about where you stand, what the horses feet should be doing, what kind of energy you need keep cropping up find out what you need, listen to your horses feedback and practice the right thing when you figure it out.

It’s the muscle memories of the practice that make everything happen when you need it to in circumstances such as in a lesson or in an emergency.  When you need to do something new in a lesson all the homework you’ve practiced doesn’t need your mind to think about it so practice opens up the door to progress. Progress for learning, for lightness, for relaxation, for ease of cues, for your thoughts being in tune with your horse, for everything you do with your horse.

SO, practice, practice, practice and if you are not sure you’re doing something right or you need more information to progress then have a lesson or watch the dvd and upload more data to your biggest muscle, your brain.

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy

Picture Quote 3 – ‘Always end on a good note’

Picture Quotes
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Not only end on a good note but start on a good note and take that all the way through each training session.

Always work towards having relaxation in mind, body and emotions for you and your horse and if something gets a bit too much or worrying for either of you then find that relaxation spot again, do something you are both good at doing  to relax together, even if that thing is just hanging out or grooming, and  that might be a good place to stop.

Relaxation is the KEY to calm, happy training as an unrelaxed, inattentive horse  can not learn what you’re trying to teach, they will only learn that learning is worrying and they’ll be less inclined to try the next time. SO…for teaching new things take it all really SLOWLY to allow the good stuff to sink in.

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy