Author: Charles Wilhelm

Partnership conjures up a notion that there is harmony between you and your horse. We certainly want to accomplish this but we as humans live by words and communicate by words but horses live by actions. If you look up the word partnership is the dictionary it says, “a state of having a partner, participation involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.”  The translation is that when you are in a partnership with someone, that individual has an opinion and input.

Last month we covered the need for a solid forward cue, a responsive stop, a smooth back up, follow through and consistency. These are basic training principles needed for any discipline. The following principles relate to cowboy/western dressage and are also beneficial for all riding disciplines.

The horse must be relaxed and fluid.

I have often discussed the need for de-spooking and dealing with the
distracted horse. I have described how to work with a variety of tools
including a tarp, a large ball and the birdie. These objects help a horse to
accept new, different thigs that pop up without warning. They teach a
horse to be quiet and emotionally sound. The change of direction
exercise is used in teaching a horse to go over a tarp. I am going to
review this exercise because this is a basic skill you will need your horse
to have before you teach him to go over a variety of other objects
including water, bridges and things that rattle under foot. There are
many objects that we can teach our horses to go over that will make
them more safe and solid on the trail.