I had a wonderful privilege of auditing a clinic yesterday featuring Ross Jacobs and his wife, Michelle http://www.goodhorsemanship.com.au/. Both are students of Harry Whitney's.
I asked Ross if I could post my observations online, and he was willing for me to do that.
Watching Ross and the students he worked with did a lot to fill in some gaps I had--questions that have come up recently between things Gail Ivey taught me for the year she worked with me (she moved 2 years ago) and the things Melissa is teaching me now and what I see with her with Harley. It connected the two perfectly and also helped me to understand the differences between what I aspire to do with my horsemanship and the riding I am doing at RH ranch to build confidence in the saddle right now. (This week will be the last week for that, I think.)
The primary thing that resonates with me right now is connecting the reins to the *thought* of the horse. This is something I learned to value the hard way when it *wasn't* happening. The mishaps I had in the past would likely not have happened had there been a connection between me, the reins, the horse's thought...to his feet. While I have liked learning how to ride with my seat and legs (and I know this has a place), J doesn't want me to use the reins at all except as a correction and when I mentioned the connection of the rein to the horse's thought and the feet (before the horse moves his feet), it wasn't something she had heard of before. For now, if I learn how to ride like she shows me, I fear I might add too much noise when I start riding Harley again after Melissa has been riding him. I want everything I do with Harley to be intentional. I know that I have been very noisy with him and this has kept me from being clear. Harley needs clarity. Melissa has confirmed this.
So, I do think it best that I wind down my riding time on J's horses.
Ross said several times that the only change worth getting is the change in thought. "The rest is window-dressing." He expressed that the reins, connected to the horse's thought, will translate to the feet which most people fixate on. A horse will go where his thoughts are. I know many here know this, but it was neat to not just hear it said, but to watch it happening in front of me with the 6 or 7 participants who he worked with throughout the day.
In the ground work he and the students did, I learned a lot of new ideas for working with Dodger here at home (my ground work project for now).
Ross often focused on softness and released a horse for that change. I understand that the thought of the horse may often be reflected in the brace/softening. Instead of the horse thinking "that that that" regarding something else over yonder and bracing to the human's request, he suddenly gives his attention to the "this" and melts into the human's request. It is a physical and emotional sigh that blends with the human, it seems. It is something to see the difference and I guess it takes a lot of experience to really have the timing to help a horse with this. The human has to sense it *and* release for it instantly. The horse may mechanically be going through the same motion...say backing up, but there is something that changes. Releasing before that change occurs seems to build the brace in. Releasing when it occurs or when there is a tiny try for it, seems to build the softness in. It was interesting to see that happen. It reminded me of when Gail got on Breezy for 20 minutes one day. He was all mechanical at first with built-in braces about just about everything. Gail found the most amazing softness. I don't mean in a "subjection" sort of way, but in an amazing partnership sort of way. I would love to be able to do that with Breezy myself.
In fact, I hope to be able to bring that more to my ground *and* ridden work. I know I have a feel for it when I watch others, but it is harder for me to think about everything when I work with a horse *and* to focus on softness and time the release just so.
One thing that I still struggle with and continue to welcome input on this...it came up in my observations yesterday as well...sometimes, in an effort to help the horse understand that the human's request matters to the horse, the handler was asked to increase her life quite a lot. Sometimes a WHOLE lot. A horse's response to this kind of change in the human seems to often be a BIG brace. There can be a movement of the feet all right, but it seems like it is a survival reaction. Like for instance in a circle around the human. If the horse begins to push inward on the human with his left shoulder going to the left, increasing the life in the human a LOT, the horse might throw his head up and the back becomes inverted, eyes get large. Mind you, the horse was *not* tapped even! The horse moves out away with the shoulder, but does it in a braced frame. The release is there because the sought after behavior happens (to keep out on the circle and to keep the shoulder from pushing in on the human), but in this case, the release is given while the horse is braced. I guess the horse is taught this even with a brace and when the horse has the behavior routinely, then the softening is taught, or so I wonder. I have always been unclear on this. I have always been concerned about building braces in. If wiggling the lead rope to ask for a back up resorted in a high head and a sunken back (and it often did if the rope was really swung hard back and forth) I didn't want that...I wanted a nice calm, softened body back up. The higher the energy of the human (in the really big "I mean what I am asking!" kind of way), the more the flight response seems to come out in the horse.
Anyhow, yesterday was another deposit in the learning bank for me.
Kathleen Lindley will be in the neighboring town next weekend. I am investigating auditing that clinic, too.
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I've missed you and haven't heard from you in awhile. I just wanted to pop in and say hi. 
. Have a good one! 
..was just blog hopping and came across yours..very nice journal you have...take care...have a nice day. 
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