Kicking Off 2017 With A Workshop!

FIRST WORKSHOP OF 2017!

The Workshop: We hosted the first Lucky Star Horsemanship Workshop of 2017 this weekend. We traveled to a local arena, set up a “temporary round pen” and made magic happen! Really good turnout. Lunch was very good! The Participants had a variety of “skill levels” as did the horses. This always makes the session illuminating (and challenging) for everyone!

We started off covering the concepts of SAFETY and then the Mental, Emotional and Physical aspects of being a “good student” of the horse as well and developing a “quiet” mind and level of energy. Then we started in the often overlooked but SO ESSENTIAL skills needed in the Round Pen to develop a solid foundation. This really could be its own workshop and people really do struggle with these foundation level skills. The goal was to be in the correct position and have the correct focus to encourage movement at a desired gait (consistent direction), then get the horse to stop, turn and face the human calmly (getting two eyes) and then change direction and maintain gate without a “screaming U-turn” happening (consistent changes of direction). This has to be done with clear communication, intent, body language and focus. SO MANY PEOPLE do not have these (in our opinion) essential skills in their toolbox and it shows in their horses and their horsemanship. We got everyone to try the exercises and got some improvement in the horses and humans. Some of the horses had not been work in well over thirty days and most had never really been round penned to the level of expectation the Workshop established. Lots of lightbulbs went off in the brains of the humans.

We then moved to Lead Line work and getting control of the hind end and front end. We worked on lateral flexion/softness, backing to steady and rhythmic pressure, yielding of the hind end with steady and rhythmic pressure and some other lead line/ground work skills. Again, these skills have to be performed with clear communication, intent, body language and focus. The humans did not have an easy time of it! There was A LOT of skills and parts of skills to learn. Folks and their horses began to pull it together and hopefully established their “new starting points” so when they are at home they know what to expect and where to set the performance bar.

Lunch happened. Conversation happened. Friendships formed. Good times.

Then it was time to RIDE! We divided folks up based on their skill set/level of experience and worked on control, confidence, “quiet conversation” cues and more using a variety of exercises and patterns. We had some low level obstacles in the arena as well which gave folks who were finding their confidence something to challenge themselves and their horses with. Novice got some schooling on simple cues, seat and hand work. The more advanced riders worked on transitions, focus, getting “bend” and more. In short we loaded up everyone’s hard drive and gave them lots to work on at home until the next workshop! The ten page handout was well received as well.

Looking forward to February when we’ll have a Focused Practice and another Workshop!

CERRA’S DAY: Well…it was not great, not bad but not great. We have always told the “good, the bad and the ugly” in this Journal. With more than 30 days off and NO SADDLE or TRAVEL time happening and only doing limited ground work at home, Cearra was a bit fresh. In the round pen she showed off her athletic side and her inner Arabian. Flagging her tail, kicking up her heels and not being as focused because “everyone was watching her.” For the purposes of the workshop it was great because we could demonstrate how the exercises help to regain respect and control in short order even with this length of time off. She performed all the groundwork exercises pretty well but had “itchy feet” and her “temporary human” was not the strongest leader so there was some mischief. We hustled her feet quite a bit and engaged her brain to help her focus. Lots of “new to her” horses around –some of them behaved in a less than optimal manner – which just fed into her “lack of focus throughout the day. In short she got her feet hustled and worked up a good sweat. Even though she was to be a “loaner horse” for the day we ended up “firing” her from the riding part of the workshop as a loaner horse because the novice rider was not confident enough as a leader to re-engage Cearra when her focus wandered (the two novices rode Ronan who was a rock star). On the good side of things Cearra helped to drive home how important it is to “set goals, have a pan and BE FLEXIBLE” when training with your horse. Today we was five…going on three. Annoying? A bit. We know the “fix” is more travel, more group rides, more miles and more training. She is a young horse and had had limited life experience. Beautiful, smart and eager…she is still a young horse.

The journey continues!

..and yes she gets DARKER in the winter!

 Cearra in the Summer (Aug. 2016).

 Cearra in the Winter (January 2017)

We didn't get too many pictures at the workshop (happens when you are running everything) but we got a couple of our gal doiing some ground work and hanging out.