Horse Riding Training

WHY GROUND SCHOOL?

At Najorka Performance Horses we help people to think like a horse. www.centralflareiner.com We use ground work for every style horse we work with, reiners, Ranch horse work, gaited horses, mules, minies, no end to the list.

Ground school is the foundation for everything your horse does with his feet, whether you are riding or not. In a perfect world you could ride your horse equally well standing on the ground or mounted. Whether you know it or not, while sending the horse forward in the round pen, you began to ride from the ground. You will begin to notice the horse placing his feet more precisely. You will be riding from the ground.

The ground school will help you refine your ability to move your horses feet with your energy, making you a better leader. In addition, further awareness of safety, preparation for every transition, and clear ascalation of aids.

The primary purpose of ground school exercises, like round penning, is to create a safe body bubble. Once there is a safe bubble, the horse will begin to focus his attention on you because you will be using body language, the only language your horse naturally understands.  Over time ground school exercises will increase your horses attention span.

You will produce forward motion, as well as lateral flexion, vertical flexion, back up, and leg yield. Once you learn to watch the feet, you will be able to “feel the feet” and “ride the feet” much more accurately while mounted.

WHY GROUND SCHOOL?

At Najorka Performance Horses we help people to think like a horse. www.centralflareiner.com We use ground work for every style horse we work with, reiners, Ranch horse work, gaited horses, mules, minies, no end to the list.

Ground school is the foundation for everything your horse does with his feet, whether you are riding or not. In a perfect world you could ride your horse equally well standing on the ground or mounted. Whether you know it or not, while sending the horse forward in the round pen, you began to ride from the ground. You will begin to notice the horse placing his feet more precisely. You will be riding from the ground.

The ground school will help you refine your ability to move your horses feet with your energy, making you a better leader. In addition, further awareness of safety, preparation for every transition, and clear ascalation of aids.

The primary purpose of ground school exercises, like round penning, is to create a safe body bubble. Once there is a safe bubble, the horse will begin to focus his attention on you because you will be using body language, the only language your horse naturally understands.  Over time ground school exercises will increase your horses attention span.

You will produce forward motion, as well as lateral flexion, vertical flexion, back up, and leg yield. Once you learn to watch the feet, you will be able to “feel the feet” and “ride the feet” much more accurately while mounted.

THE WALK

The walk has four beats. Your horse picks up each foot and puts it down separately. If your horse took his first step at a walk with his right front leg, the footfall sequesce would be right front, left hind, left front, and then right hind. If the first step he took was with the right hind, the next foot to move would be his right front, left hind, and left front. If the hind foot moves first it moves the front foot on the same side. If a front foot moves first it will pull the diagonal hind foot.

Next time you are walking take your time and watch the footfall of your horses feet.

THE TROT

A trot is a two beat gait, with the horse’s feet moving in diagonal pairs. The right front and left hind strike the ground at the same time; then the left front and right hind will strike the ground at the same time.

When you talk about a horse’s” Diagonal,” you are speaking about which diagonal front and hind foot pair is moving at the same time.

CANTER

There are three beats to a canter: two of your horses feet move together in a diagonal pair and strike the ground at the same time, and the other two feet hit independently. When you are cantering around an arena on the “CORRECT” lead, the first footfall in each stride’s sequence would be your horses outside hind. The next beat is the diagonal pair of inside hind and outside front feet moving and hitting the ground simultaneously. Finally, the inside front foot will strike the ground to complete the sequence. For a moment before the next sequence starts – all four feet are in the air.

BACKING UP – TWO BEAT

There are two beats in a back up. The footfall sequence in a back up is the same as in a trot.   Follow the trop patteern.

The gaits I have described are the gaits most horses should be able to do. However, there are horses – the “gaited” breeds like Tennessee Walkeers, Missouri Fos Trotters, Paso Finos, Peeruvian Paso, and Saddlebreds that will do variations of these gaits. There are also times due to a horse’s physical problem, rider error, or rider choice that the footfall and beats of therse gaits may also be altered.

At Najorka Performance Horses  http://centralflareiner.com we work with horses to understand human error.  Or help the human think like a horse.

Josie and Rover cantering

At Najorka Performance horses.  http://www.centralflareiner.com We work on just good horsemanship.  http://horse-riding-training.com

St. Cloud FL - Narcoossee FL

Horses are non verbal creatures. They do not understand English or any other verbal language. They communicate threw body language. We communicate with our horses in two ways. The first is an “Aid.” An Aid addresses your horse’s physical makeup,so that if you touch your horse and stimulate a muscle, he cannot help but give you a certain response.

a “Cue,” on the other hand, addresses your horse’s memory. If you give a verbal command, accompanied by your body aid, every time you ask your horse to canter, he will associate the sound of the verbal cue with cantering. Soon he will canter each time he hears the verbal command. Both Aid and Cue are helpful in your horses development, but they both need to be given clearly, and used in a contistent manner so they will continue to be meaningful to your horse.

Use one cluck for a trot and two clucks for a canter. The horse rapidly learns this and responds immediatly. Any verbal cue has to be concise and used consistently. Continuous mindless clucking will just result in a numb horse that tunes out all verbal cues.

To understand the proper timing of your aids and cues, you must first understand how your horse moves in each gate. When you ride your horse you want him to “give you” his feet: if you don’t know where his feet are and how they should be moving, your horse will never fully give you the responsibility to place them anywhere.

You should never just get on your horse and indiscriminately ask him for lateral work, lead changes, or even simple transitions with out first thinking about how his body is positioned.

Introduction of the Leg for Lateral Movement

Here at Najorka Performance Horses, www.centralflareiner.com, www.horse-riding-training.com, Najorka Horsemanship.  This a great place to learn about Natural Horsemanship, Reining, and Just Good Horsemanship, Ken is the coach of University of Central Florida Western Equestrian Team, Najorka Performance Horse High School Team, Reis Ranch Universal Horsemanship Instructor as seen on RFDTV and we now have the American Ranch Horse Association of Florida

Lateral movements are those maneuvers designed to supple the horse, bend him, teach him to move sideways from the rider’s leg, and eventually, straighten him. Lateral movement contains varying degrees of sideways movement. If you think of the most forward way of traveling as walking in a straight line, then the most lateral way of moving is moving directly sideways, as in a side pass or full pass. In between, there are variations such as western two – track, leg – yielding, and a half passes. Lateral movements also include exercises such as the shoulder – in where the horse holds his body in a bent position while moving forward, which causes him to cross one hind leg over the other and one front leg over the other as he moves forward. The turn on the forehand and the turn on the hindquarters can be thought of as variations of lateral movements.

Although every lateral maneuver has different standards for the angle and bend of the horse’s body, neck, and through latch, and the degree of collection and engagement, they do have one major characteristic in common.  To make yielding to the leg clearest, teach the horse the turn on the forehand sequence first. As the horse gains confidence and balance, you can move forward in your training. Practice and side of the horse several times before changing directions and working on the other side.

The horse will essentially walk around his relatively stationary left front leg.  This means you will no longer allow him to step to the right with his right front leg. He must step slightly forward with it; you will regulate this with a more strongly supporting right rein which will prevent the horse from over bending to the left and popping out his right shoulder.  In essence, you will be holding the horse straight. You need to maintain a forward energy at all times. (Even a mild form of energy)