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A Late October Blog

By Blog, Food for thought, Uncategorized

MapMarkerI have now made it back into the office at home in Australia. All horses from the recent young horse intake have now gone home. There are still a couple of places available on the February and May intakes. Please let me know if you are wanting to reserve a place as the intakes can fill up quickly.

Tomorrow I start travelling to Perth, not in Scotland, but Western Australia.  This will be a 5 day horsemanship course, more details are available on the website course listing page. Next week, it is back to the South Island of New Zealand for a horsemanship and  cow working course.  The middle of November is a 3 day horsemanship course in St Andrews Victoria. In December a 2 day course is scheduled for Armidale in N.S.W.

The UK course listings for 2016 is now available for viewing on the website. Please let me know if any changes need to be made with contact details etc.

Below the image I have written a horsemanship article that I trust that will be helpful.

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Horsemanship is non denominational and is applicable to all disciplines and equestrian sports. It takes time for both the horse and human to learn and be solid. With the horse it is easy for us to get frustrated when we don’t pick up straight away, where we left off yesterday or last week. Most times this is just a case of things not being solid and dependable. A recent example of this was a case where I rode a couple of horses that I started last year.  They were well bred and nice horses, but their self-preservation was pretty close to the surface and a lot of time was spent on getting things solid and dependable with the time that I had them for. This year I rode the same horses for a small amount of time and to my knowledge they had not been ridden or had much handling during the 12 months. It was like picking up where I left off 12 months ago,  saddling and riding was a non event.

Spending time on getting the foundation solid with your horses is really an investment that pays regular dividends in many forms. To understand the horsemanship takes time on the human side as well. When riders come along to courses I really try to emphasis the importance of doing your homework in between the courses and overtime you will progress.

Summertime in the U.K.

By Blog, Food for thought, Uncategorized

MapMarkerThis afternoon the U.K. weather has given me an afternoon off of riding horses in order to put words to this months blog. Since my last blog I have been in the U.K. busy with courses and young horses. I am now in the final couple of weeks before leaving to start travel back to Australia via Europe and Dubai. There are still a couple of  more courses here in England and then it is across to the Isle of Man and Ireland for courses over there as well.

My Australian course schedule starts in October with a course at home and then Perth, New Zealand and Victoria. More details are on the course schedule of the website.

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In a previous blog, the Q & A format drew positive feedback and have continued with that below.

Q: How do I get my horse to walk out?

A: An old saying is that the walk is the mother of all gaits. In a previous lifetime the paddocks / pastures that we gathered or mustered cattle from where significantly larger than they are now. So we always appreciated a horse that could walk. I was not always successful at getting my horses to walk out in those days, these days my young horses/ colts can out walk most older saddle horses after a few rides. While on the ground I am looking at how my horses walk out and how they track up and are balanced. Many horses that riders can not get to walk out are on the forehand and not tracking up from the ground. I find if I drive my horses forward from behind the wither then this helps to encourage the horse to track up more. When the horse is ridden and on the forehand and is asked to move out more in the walk often the horse breaks into a jog or a trot.  I liken this to having someone give you a slight push when you are walking down hill. If your weight is not back then you will have to break into a jog or a trot to regain your balance.  When riding I also try and get my legs and body in time with the rhythm of the walk. My legs follow the swing of the barrel of the horse and try to get the walk to where it will start to swing my reins. At times I will slightly increase the tempo of the swing of my reins to get the horse to get with me a little more. We have all ridden horses that walk well in the direction of home and can get the reins to start to swing. I like them to walk away from home the same way.

A Course Report Blog

By Blog, Uncategorized

MapMarkerI have now just arrived back into the U.K. stopping over in Dubai to catch up with good friends over there. Since my last blog all the young horses that were in for the May / June young horse intake have gone home.  All reports are that they are going well for owners.   The week before flying out for the U.K. I had the first horsemanship / cow working course at home in Qld. DSC_0863

This went really well and as I said to everyone on the course, what will help to make this course unique is the facilities.  With different sized round pens, a mechanical cow and access to cattle.

This course was only 2 days and next year I am planning to run a 4 day course. The dates for this will be up on the website schedule in the next week.

The image below and to the right is of a young horse that I own and who has now had a couple of starts on cattle. As I mentioned to the riders on the course he is a horse that does buck and does a few other things, but that side is getting less. I don’t get to ride my own horses as much as I would like due to travel and schedule commitments, that aside for me as the horse grows in confidence and the foundation gets solid and dependable the rest starts to fall into place. With this course being a horsemanship / cow working course you have the principle and purpose combination.

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For horses and riders I think that there is a real need to see a reason for doing things.  With the cow working side you are going to have transitions and need  to have your horse lengthen and shorten and learn to rate. So the horsemanship side was also about making smooth transitions up and down, straightness,  having  your horse be forward and off your leg.  As riders improved in their horsemanship they got better with the cow working. The cow working will always show up areas for improvement.  The mechanical cow was used in preparation for the cow working.  The good thing with the mechanical cow is that it stops when asked and goes at the speed that you tell it. Over the 2 days you could really see an improvement in all riders and their horses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Blog For May

By Blog, Uncategorized

MapMarkerMay began with Beef Week in Rockhampton, during which I was able to catch up with many friends that I had not seen for a long time. As well as have the opportunity to sit in on seminars and listen to speakers from  an aurae of fields.  After Beef Week it was back to the horses with a new bunch of young horses coming in for the month, all are making good progress and are now being ridden outside.

The image below is of some of the new intake of young horses.  The country side here at home in Qld is in stark contrast to that of the U.K. with many places in Western Queensland facing a long winter with little chance of rain until the end of the year. The horses below are mostly 3 year olds with an older gelding in the herd as well.

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Last weekend I was in Gatton in South East Qld doing a 2 day horsemanship course. It was good to have riders from the previous course in October last year and see the progress that they had made. Many thanks to Wendy Palmer and Ron Howland for their hospitality and all their efforts in organising the weekend. Everyone made good progress and I often believe riders make more progress when they go home and have the opportunity to put into practice the lessons of the weekend.

One of the topics of conversation that I spoke about during the course was the need for your horse to be off the leg. There are times when you will feel that your horse is moving forwards but when you put your leg on there is a resistance or a lack of forwards or your horse is escaping from the leg. This is something to be aware of as some horses will buck, or  hold the rider to “ransom” , with a, if you put your leg on, I am going to buck you off, or kick out, run off etc .  A quote from Baucher  ” I like the horse to be behind the hand and in front of the leg, so that the centre of gravity is placed between these two aids, as it only on this condition  that the horse is absolutely under the control of the rider.” I have heard other words and metaphors used to describe this and  help riders gain a better understanding and meaning.  Over time with experience and understanding the meaning of  these words will change and enlighten. Better yet, as riders we will get to feel this with our horses even if it is only briefly.

Towards the end of next month I travel back to the U.K., I will have the opportunity to catch up briefly with friends in Dubai on the way over.

 

A Late April Blog

By Blog, Uncategorized

MapMarkerApril has come and gone and May will be similar I am sure. Yesterday I returned home from DeGrey Station, in the Pilbera of Western Australia. While every year is always a great experience for all. This year everyone made great progress in both their  horsemanship, cattle work and overall stockmanship. The Bettini family who own DeGrey Station put a lot of effort into training their staff and this was showing through with individuals really trying hard throughout the course. The image below shows Mark Bettini riding a young 2 year old horse, we started last year and rode a couple of times and bought back in this year as a 3 year old.  All went well and we picked up from where we left off. When you take the time it takes and the horse gets confident you will often pick up where you left off, even if it was 12 months ago.

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During the course riders had 2 horses, in the morning they would ride one set of horses and in the afternoon the second set of horses. The morning horses were young horses that had been started. In the mornings we would work through some ground exercises and ride, with afternoon sessions then following on from the morning sessions with the older horses, that were already in the mustering string. We also would have cattle to work with in the afternoon sessions. The image below was of one of the morning sessions where we turned the young horses loose and moved them around to expose them to the saddle a little more at a walk, trot and canter. On the last day, riders were tracking cattle around on the young horses, I am sure that these horses will also soon move into the mustering string. When horses and riders have a purpose it gives a reason for the principle.

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This coming month I have a full young horse intake and a course in Gatton, Queensland, This course can be viewed on the course schedule page of my website. In June, I travel back into the U.K. for 2 months again, my UK schedule can be viewed on the website. For those interested in courses or young horse starting in the U.K. please contact Tina at:  infouk@davidstuart.com.au ,   Buck Brannaman will also be in the U.K. in June.

 

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