How 'bout some uplifting Western Dressage....for all those softies...

[Sabine]

see this and enjoy!

http://www.westfallhorsemanship.com/media/128do.wmv



I admit to being an unadulterated softie- but I loved this....less is definitely more...

[canyonoak]

Hilda Gurney used to do something similar with Chronos, her young stallion son of Chrysos.

She would do dressage movements, and then take off Chronos's bridle, and do everything again.

Chronos did a short stint as well with the Foxfield Drill Team

http://www.foxfield.com/drill-team/drill-team/drill-team.html

The Drill team performs a fairly intense routine--jumps, dressage,etc-- all without bridles or saddles.

Hilda taught Chronos to bow, and used to end the exhibition rides this way, but he started bowing at inopportune moments--like the end of a dressage test, so she stopped having him bow<g>.

[Sabine]

not having seen Hilda- I can't comment- but I loved how Tracy slowly worked her hand into that mane of the horse to get a good hold of a spot and then started to do some serious riding- bareback and in full gallop!!

I just loved the way the horse looked to her and seemed so totally happy to be in 'her herd'....

[canyonoak]

yup! gotta say-- there is nothing else exactly like bareback, grabbing mane, believing in The Black Stallion and miracles! Horses never smell as good as when your nose is one inch from their mane, coz it is wrapped around your hand like that.

I enjoyed the video.

[cheekyhorse]

I love that video. Very well done, love to see that kind of bond between horse and rider no matter what the discipline.

[lizathenag]

stunning. I forgot how much I miss those split reins.

[siegi b.]

Beautiful video!!! Thanks so much for putting it up.....
It's the kind of relationship most horse/rider combinations can only strive for.

[NoDQhere]

She is really good, no doubt about it. What I found most interesting is the beautiful way the horse carried it's head. It's poll was never below the withers and it sure didn't peanut roll or stick it's nose into the dirt when it stopped. I'd like to see the "big guns" do as nice a job and see their horses look so "comfortable and happy".

[Mukluk]

That was neat, thanks for posting it! Although nowhere near as accomplished, it reminded me of how much fun I had riding my horse around with no tack as a teenager. He would walk, trot, canter, turn both ways, and back up all in response to seat, voice command, and my hands on his neck. No sliding stops though, never learned those!

[NOMIOMI1]

Ive seen her she is amazing!

[see u at x]

I SO wish I could be good enough to learn how to ride like that and teach my mares those moves!!! :D Thanks for posting that!

[Lora]

Isn't this reining?

[rabicon]

yes, its freestyle reining. She does this with a lot of different horses which just shows that obviously she knows what she is doing and treats her horses with the upmost respect even though she is a NH trainer. She is one of the best.

[Puddin Pie]

And did you notice the chew? Obviously a happy horse. I wish I had that seat.

[adonaifarms]

Licking and chewing the entire time. Happy and reverent..... very good pony :) Makes me miss my QH :(

Susan

[FriesianX]

Sighhhhhhhhh, that was really refreshing and fun!

[canticle]

WOW that was absolutely amazing!!! :eek::eek::eek:

[Sabine]

glad you all liked it- I feel like doing a monthly reminder of what we are all about- because this is the part that is easily forgotten- the relationship- the kindness - the reward...while we chase scores and movements and throughness and submission...anyone know more about her kind of NH training...just wondering?

[Dressage Art]

I love this video!

[gallupgirl]

Sabine,

There is more info on her website www.westfallhorsemanship.com

I didn't get the impression she was a natural horsemanship trainer though......rather her mentors are very mainstream and traditional.

[Lambie Boat]

I think she was self taught? It's really wonderful to watch. I'd love to be able to ride and train like that.

[Lambie Boat]

I think she was self taught? It's really wonderful to watch. I'd love to be able to ride and train like that.

[Kimberlee]

Pretty darn cool!

[BayRoan]

She isn't self-taught. She's ridden with several of the top reining and cowhorse trainers (as have almost all other really good trainers).

She did, however, have to figure out how to develop a cue system for totally bridleless riding. Most good trainers can rein/ride with a neck rope, but she decided to go totally brideless with nothing to cue her horse except her seat and legs. Notice that she doesn't even pick up a lock of mane to cue the horse with, which is a trick that often works on a well trained horse because they feel a little bit of pressure and your body posture is identical to when you're using reins to guide the horse. Also notice how well her horse comes back to her when she goes from the large fast circles to the slow circles. The horse totally steps up and slows down within about a stride and a half, just because she sat up and shifted her weight back. Really cool.

[Reiter]

Man, you guys are killing me! ;)
I open the thread, find out it's a video which I can't view due to snails pace dial-up, then read everything anyway while the whole time only having my imagination to guide me! :(

[Elegante E]

The vid link is currently closed. But I've seen this rider and she is pretty amazing.

Read that the hardest part to being tackless is that you have to be sure of every move all the time. Any loss of balance on her part can give the horse the wrong cue. I do think that the patterns for competition help. When a horse learns the pattern, it'll react more easily to cues - most of mine do, at least.

[katarine]

By self taught perhaps they are referring to growing up in nowhereland and riding and learning pretty much on her own for a good long time. She's now married to a reining judge and definitely has had excellent learning opportunities.

I don't know what strictly makes one NH vs traditional but I'd say she's a blend in there somewhere- she has some alternative-trendy tricks I think are pretty neat, and I've seen her twice at Road to the Horse so I have some sense of her overall idea/philosophy, I think.

She's good, damn good. when I first saw her on that mare she hadn't yet nailed a bareback sliding stop...she said she KNEW she was going to fly off when she cued her,LOL seems she's sorted that out. She's a good girl.

[Sabine]

She must be real good and she must know how to get a horse to love her..and then train it- slowly and with trust. This same thing applies to all good riding- dressage - jumping - western. It's a quiet process with a lot of joy, solitude with the horse, humility and trying to bridge the gap of communication- or better create your own communication- everything in my mind that good riding is about- riding where you work within the boundaries of trust....
I bet we all hit that website too hard- hope the link works again!

[pintopiaffe]

Bumping because I just got a chance to see this finally... link was down last time I had high speed and could try to see it.

I am very moved. I loved it.

I want to change disciplines! :D

Or, more accurately, I think I want to have something like that as my goal. I wouldn't mind if we could throw in some threes and twos... a little p's... :lol:

Seriously. How cool is that. I loved how she kept patting him. Was very interested in his chewing and swallowing at certain points... Really impressed with his 'sit' in the down transitions from hand gallop to lope.

Very neat. Thanks so much for posting the link. I play with my pony in the winter, with a halter and one lead, and those are some of the best memories I have with my puffy pinto... this is so much more. A worthwhile thing to keep in mind methinks.

[baymare]

It is my turn to be the crank. Not really, because I completely recognize the talent and hard work involved in training a horse to perform like that -- not to mention stay ON it!!! But I have to do without the sentiment-- we are looking at a pro, and a professionally trained horse, perform what is essentially a trick ride. And it's great, and very well done. But if you watch that clip more than once, you can certainly see resistance, aids, signals, and moments of near oopsie-ness. Just like mere mortals. It is not mystic or magical or sentimental (except for the gaggingly saccharine soundtrack), it is just pure plain hard work and skill on exhibit in a carefully rehearsed program.

Personally, I prefer these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4YU2QY_Yw

[MEP]

Personally, I prefer these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4YU2QY_Yw

Well, someone sent me the reinless reining video and I found it very touching, but I LOVE that metropolitan police demo - when they take off their jackets, then stirrups then SADDLES all while galloping and jumping - just LOVED it!

[Sabine]

It's quite interesting to watch what makes horse people tick. The mounted police video left me cold. I found the whole process of eight horses galopping for 7.46 minutes over 2 ft fences in various forms rather boring- the horses didn't look that healthy or certainly were never on the bit- they weren't mostly even 'over the back'. They were admittedly fearless- jumping through flame lit arches and doing what a horse usually never would do. They didn't particularly strike me as trained to the human- rather than trained to the drill and the other mates that were doing the same thing and the position in the group they held etc.

The tackless reining video on the other hand made me feel like the horse and the rider had a special relationship- the horse did not seem stressed (where as the leadhorse of the mounted police- at the very beginning acted quite stressed...)
I loved the interaction- the act was of course also very trained- but it gave you the impression that the horse was at least participating in a more voluntary way. As a rider I have to say that the QH looked so much more healthy- over the back, balanced - never off or weird- just supple and solid. That's what I liked the most about it...!

[Vesper Sparrow]

She has a seat to die for and the pair is very sweet. I found it very interesting, having done a very little bit of Western riding--at one point, she makes the exact same gesture with her forearm (she brings her forearm out to the side from the elbow) as if she were using an opening rein to turn. The pony is obviously reacting to the movement. Having watched reining a little, I think it's actually not as big a stretch to go bridleless in reining as it would be in our dressage.

[baymare]

Yes, Sabine, we must certainly agree to disagree. :D: And I for one am happy to do it in a civilized way because it is what makes life interesting! God forbid if we all thought the same thing.

I do think it's a little funny, though, because the first impression I had of the horse in the brildleless reining clip was that he looked stiff all over and a little off behind, And that he displayed resistance to the aids just like a horse wearing tack. Although NOTHING like as bad as the horses on the "real" reining clips I have watched which are pretty painful to see.

And I hope you watched the Police clip through to the end for the grand finale-- sort of a mounted Full Monty-- I still think it's pretty amazing. And I thought those horses looked like they were having fun, and in a way that relates to the actual work that they do. The horse in the reining clip I didn't think looked like he was having any fun at all, especially when she stood on him in the end. But his tremendous good nature and training certainly prevailed.

Vive la difference!

[MEP]

Yes, I had to think a bit about what I enjoyed so much while watching each of the videos - I liked both of them, and I think it's the awe I feel about what great training can do and what the horses are capable of.

In both cases, the riders are taking their horses into a very electric atmosphere, and the horses maintain their concentration.

In the reining vid, her seat, balance and harmony with the horse was obvious and truly breathtaking. I have to admit I am a softy and was blubbering throughout.

But even though the police vid was mainly galloping through a series of grids, and yes, they weren't "through" or on the bit in the dressage sense, they performed complex maneuvers with exact timing, going through fire :eek:, and then ultimately horses maintained composure and riders maintained balance while removing and replacing jackets, then stirrups, then saddles :eek: while continuing through the grids! Now all this "full monty" did make me laugh.

Maybe I like laughing better than blubbering! :lol:

[jme]

OH MY GOODNESS they were jumping through rings of fire. That was neat. I bet they just read the book "Bombproof Your Horse". :lol:

Wow. Just wow.


Personally, I prefer these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4YU2QY_Yw

[ec412]

glad you all liked it- I feel like doing a monthly reminder of what we are all about- because this is the part that is easily forgotten- the relationship- the kindness - the reward...while we chase scores and movements and throughness and submission...anyone know more about her kind of NH training...just wondering?

Sabine,

Thanks for sharing this...just got this this am on my personal account...it is amazing!

[Romany]

Thanks for posting BOTH those wonderful videos - i'ts almost not fair to compare the two. But...

The Western girl, well, what a rapport she had with her horse, all with no bridle - impressive - I'd love to attain that level - and what sticability!

But the police, I thought, were at least as impressive - those aren't full time professional riders, they're full time professional police officers, many of whom only learned to ride after they joined the force, and those horses, well, they spend most of their lives doing crowd control at soccer matches, riots, etc, in full riot gear, not just prancing around demos at big horse shows! So the fact that they're not perfectly on the bit, round, etc (and the Western girl's horse was?), really doesn't matter that much to me!

So I guess I agree more with baymare than sabine (and sabine, have to say I heartily disagree with you about those horses' condition - they were FIT, that's all, but maybe I missed something?).