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| Discussion on Lee Smith Horsemanship Clinic | |
| Author | Message |
| Member: hollyw |
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| Member: lilo |
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| Member: ajudson1 |
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| Member: jjrichar |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 4, 2009 - 9:59 am: Hope you have fun, Holly! Good luck w Moxie. Looking forward to seeing pictures.
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| Member: mrose |
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| Member: hollyw |
Posted on Tuesday, Apr 7, 2009 - 9:00 am: Thank you.I know that this clinic was "meant to be," and it was well worth the time and money for both Moxie and me. Lee is very humble, very kind, and is there to help the horses and the people. She does it well . . . She has a gift. I hope some of you may be able to attend one of her clinics sometime. She also does working cow clinics at her ranch in AZ, and I'm leaning toward going down in November, if possible. We worked on lots of "softness" and finding the rhythm of our horses and working with the rhythm by learning where each foot is at a given time. (I need mirrors!) I found that I have been riding the front end, but haven't been riding the hind end on "forward." Have lots of work to do. Moxie did great with trailering and being in a strange environment. He seemed to "poop out" in the afternoons (heck, he hasn't been ridden regularly in a long time). Moxie is really improved at lateral moves, but I have trouble rating his speed . . . and during the final session today, he went suddenly lame. I am thinking that the saddle pressure might have been more than his back could handle for three days, even though I switched saddles during the three days, in hopes that his back wouldn't get sore. He's stalled for the night but I'll turn him out in pasture tomorrow and observe him. Some photos were taken by a couple of the spectators, but several were blurry. In every maneuver, we were focused on softness (no matter the length or rein . . . Ideally, the horse should soften on the lightest touch of the rein), being in cadence with our horses, giving them plenty of time to prepare for a transition, and refining response to leg cues. Holly talking with Lee while Moxie listens in:  Getting softness, first, and then asking for back-up:  One of the participants coming down the centerline as he prepares to get his horse soft, halt, and back:  The first day of the clinic: This picture is a bit blurry as most of them were, and you can't see Moxie's right front which is a vague blur and is moved at least a foot behind his left front as he is beginning to back up. I could have used more leg on him to get movement, but was waiting for him to figure it out just by taking slack out of the reins and settling my weight. He tends to overface, and has always been really flexible in his neck, so we have much to work on. 
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| Member: jjrichar |
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| Member: hollyw |
Posted on Tuesday, Apr 7, 2009 - 11:59 pm: Lee didn't really give exercises. She talked about "feeling" a softness and being in harmony with the horse's movements. There are no shortcuts to getting a horse soft. We take out slack ; put pressure on . . . they give . . . then: pressure, they give, we release, pressure, they give, we release . . . over and over and over and over . . . forever in the life of the horse . . . no matter if we are leading, tying, riding, grooming . . .The trick is to discover how much pressure is enough . . .with each individual horse . . . at each gait . . . So, we did lots of riding and moving shoulders, haunches, backing, forward . . . always checking for softness . . . Good handling is good training and good training takes focus and energy . . . just like parenting . . . . . . We can always work on softness . . . so . . . that's what I'll be doing from now until I leave this earth . . . I want to be better so my horses will be better. |
| Member: lilo |
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| Member: canter |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 8, 2009 - 10:22 am: Sounds like a great clinic, Holly. I love to participate in and/or audit all different types of clinics, whenever time permits. There's always something to take away from a good clinician.One of the boarders at the barn is wrapping up the last details to get a Centered Riding Clinic at our barn and another local barn on May 1. I'm really looking forward to that as it will be a first for me. Any help getting my individual body parts to cooperate while riding should really help me improve as it seems as if my hands, arms, core and expecially legs all seem to have a mind of their own once I'm in the saddle! 
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