Horse Training at The RiverFarm

Natural Horsemanship Training at the RiverFarm in Whatcom County- Near Bellingham, WA.

Monday found me on the ferry from Orcas Island on my way to the River Farm in Deming,WA to resume  training and teaching with the horses. It was cold but dry in the am, but the weather was supposed to turn later in the day. It's about 90 minutes of 'petal to the metal' to Deming once you get to Anacortes. I had a good ride over on the ferry, studying my Jin Shin and doing some treatments on my feet, which tend to get tired when I train horses and teach most of the day.

River Farm is a suistainable community east of Bellingham on the Nooksack River. The two horses are Sally and Sadie, who are progressing very nicely in their Natural Horsemanship Training. 

These Halflinger/QH cross mares are very sweet- just loook at those eyes! Holly and Rosie had done a good job keeping them tuned up over the winter, but now it was time to start making some progress again.

We reviewed the Seven Games, and worked on Compainion walking to get the horses really tuned in to me. It's like a dance and very relaxing for both trainer and horse. The horse gets really responsive and soft and the trainer/leader gets into the right  mind set. While working on this we wandered down to the River, where an eagle sat perched in a tree. I reflected on how lucky I was to be working out doors in such a beautiful place, with eagles and horses and such great folks.

I was so absorbed in my engagement with Sally, I did not see Holly and Sadie come up behind me. Sally was so tuned in to me, she did not even fuss with her pal catching up with us! Holly and I worked the horses on the River for a while, reviewing what we had done last summer and fall.

It was hard to believe that one day last summer Rosie led Sadie (pictured here) into the River and they swam together!
From the river, we went on to ground driving, as our goal is to get the horses pulling this summer..It was a good thing we started early in the day, as by 4 pm, the rains and then snow started. Burr.. it was cold!
Turns out all that Jin Shin really worked and I went home tired, but my feet did not hurt at all!

Let Loose

Karen Rohlf who wrote Dressage Naturally talks about encouraging the horse to 'let loose'. She is a dressage rider who trained with Anne Gibbons and later went on to work with Pat and Linda Parelli. She says that dressage teaches a lot about the biomechanics of horses and some about the emotions of the horse. Parelli and Natural Horsemanship teaches a lot how horses feel, react and think. She combines the two, which is what I work towards as well.

In 'Letting Loose'  she is looking for is the horse stretching his top line, lifting his back and dropping his head. This is done in conjunction with the horse using his abdominal muscles. It relaxes and stretches and strengthens the horse. When a horse relaxes physically, he relaxes mentally and emotionally. Now you have a calm and thinking horse.

                       This is how he started out yesterday, slowly and somewhat relaxed.

I remember the first time I asked Rascal to do this. I couldn't believe how quickly he caught on to what I was asking. In no time at all he was all loosey-goosey and happy and calm. I bent over a bit while lunging him to give him an idea and that smart guy picked it up instantly by mimicking my body language.

Rascal loves moving in this relaxed frame and he will often stretch his nose all the way to the dirt. No pictures of that, as lunging and getting any photos at all was just about more than I could manage!

And a bit more forward.. and lifting his back...

After this warm up we had another fabulous ride. This time I asked him to just let loose while riding, collecting and letting loose.. each loop around the area was better and better. I got loose too!  My husband said he looked fabulous!  But alas, he did not have the camera. So the shot of Rascal cantering will have to do!