Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

In the early episodes of Ride Every Stride we’re working on laying a foundation for what comes later. As I’ve said many times over the years, when it comes to horsemanship (and maybe life?), there’s nothing beyond the basics. For horsemanship, those basics are what I call the Absolute Basic Criteria. Picking up where we left off last time, in this episode of Ride Every Stride we’re talking about the second of those ABCs.

As we said last week, even the most complex, sophisticated maneuvers on horseback are refinements of the basics. Understanding those basics–the ABCs of horsemanship–will equip us to work with our horses to accomplish whatever our horsemanship goals might be.

Once we’ve achieved the first of the ABCs–forward movement–we want to be able to control that forward movement, both its direction and its speed. In this episode we talk about what cues we use, when, and why.

One component of controlling forward movement is controlling its direction. We want to be able to turn our horses and get them to go where we want them to go. In learning the techniques for doing this, remember:

There’s no magic spot where your hands should be–you need to pay attention to your horse and make small adjustments as needed to get the response you want.

Both by instinct and, hopefully, by good training, the horse will be inclined to move away from pressure, so think: what do I need to do to create an opening for my horse to go where I want him to go?

We use the image of a river flowing from the horse’s hindquarters (where all the power comes from), through your legs (“big rocks on the banks of the river”) forward to the bit. You can control the horse’s movement–the flow of the river–by moving the rock out of the way on the side you want the horse to go. In other words, if you want the horse to go right, it’s not that you push from the left, but that you take the pressure away from the right, opening a pathway for the horse to go where you want it to go.

Although beginning riders are concerned about a horse running off with them, I’m more concerned about a horse that won’t move, in part because of safety issues (like the story I tell about a confrontation between a well behaved, but a bit lazy, horse I was riding and a cow). I want my horses to be calm and well behaved, but when I signal that it’s time to go, they need to respond immediately. To train that habit, I use the approach I call “squeeze, bump, kick, and kill.”

For your safety’s sake, you need to understand the concepts of speed (and directional) control we talk about in this episode.

 

We want to hear your questions, comments, and suggestions. Share them in the comments section below, reach out to us on the Van Hargis Horsemanship Facebook page, or email me! We want your suggestions for topics we can address in future episodes, so if there’s a particular area where you’re struggling, let us know!

If you enjoy this podcast and think others would like it too, please consider rating and reviewing Ride Every Stride in iTunes. It helps make the show more visible, so more people can find it, and the feedback lets us know if we’re on the right track. Thank you–your support is so appreciated.

We’ll talk about the next component of the Absolute Basic Criteria of Horsemanship: stopping of forward movement. If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe in iTunes or on Stitcher.

Thank you for listening. Until next time . . . remember to Ride Every Stride!

Van

Van Hargis Horsemanship

 

 

 

As I’ve said many times over the years, when it comes to horsemanship (and maybe life?), there’s nothing beyond the basics. For horsemanship, those basics are what I call the Absolute Basic Criteria. In this episode of Ride Every Stride we’re talking about the first of those ABCs.

Even the most complex, sophisticated maneuvers on horseback are refinements of the basics. Understanding those basics–the ABCs of horsemanship–will equip us to work with our horses to accomplish whatever our horsemanship goals might be.

Although most beginning riders are especially concerned about the last of those ABCs–stopping–we actually want our horses to move. Forward movement generally constitutes one of the three basic gaits: the walk, the trot, or the lope (or canter). If we understand the mechanics of each gait, we can cooperate with our horse to make it easier for her to move forward easily at the gait we want.

In this episode Van shares a simple tip for knowing where your horse’s feet are without leaning over to look. Using this method keeps you centered on your horse’s back, which is safer for you and more comfortable for your horse, and helps you use a simple technique to encourage that forward movement that’s the starting point to accomplishing our horsemanship goals.

Ride Every Stride is about empowering you with knowledge. Understanding the mechanics of how your horse moves is key to letting you work with your horse instead of against him. 

Knowledge of how your horse works (and thinks) leads to greater confidence, which leads to greater enjoyment.

We want to hear your questions, comments, and suggestions. Share them in the comments section below, reach out to us on the Van Hargis Horsemanship Facebook page, or email me!

If you enjoy this podcast and think others would like it too, please consider rating and reviewing Ride Every Stride in iTunes. It helps make the show more visible, so more people can find it. Thank you–your support is so appreciated.

We’ll talk about the next component of the Absolute Basic Criteria of Horsemanship: control of forward movement. If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe in iTunes. 

Thank you for listening. Until next time . . . remember to Ride Every Stride!

Van

Van Hargis Horsemanship

It’s been months in the planning, but we are excited to finally launch Ride Every Stride, a podcast about horsemanship . . . and more. In episode 1 we share a little bit about who I am, what my horsemanship background is, and what you can expect from me and this podcast. In this and future episodes, you’ll get lots of practical horsemanship tips–tools you can take with you to the barn and put to use to improve your working relationship with your horse. But I hope you’ll also be inspired as we talk about the many ways the concepts and principles we use to improve our horsemanship also apply to our journey as humans. As I’ve said many times, horsemanship is an opportunity to practice humanship every day.

My purpose in creating this podcast is simple: to serve you. I can do that best if you let me know how. What questions do you have? What challenges are you facing in your growth as a horseman or horsewoman? What topics would you like to hear me cover in future episodes? I want to hear from you, so please share your questions, comments, and suggestions either in the comments below, on the Van Hargis Horsemanship Facebook page, or by emailing me.

And to make sure you don’t miss a single episode of Ride Every Stride–subscribe in iTunes.

I’m excited to start this new phase of my journey, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride. Until next time, remember: it’s your life, it’s your journey, it’s your trail . . . so Ride Every Stride.

Van