Wersja polska: Ćwiczenie pierwsze, czyli zaczynamy!

We have recently started publishing a series of articles written by Carolyn Resnick. She developed ten exericises, which are helping to establish a better understanding of a horse, to sensitize her to our cues, and to have more precise communication. Link to the first article from this series: Uberstreichen Exercises from Carolyn Resnick. The only tack that you will need is a halter (not rope halter) and a short rope.

The Uberstreichen Half-Halt Exercises school the horse from the ground to respond more effectively to your half-halts when you ride. Half-halt is when you ask the horse to stop and he responds immediately and in the moment you know that the horse will stop you ask him to go forward and he does this whole-heartedly. The purpose of the half-halt is to prepare the horse to listen for your next request. It prepares the mind and body of the horse to be able to respond easily and promptly.

There are about 10 different reasons one asks a horse to half-halt. Keep in mind that a half-halt is a message to a horse that you will be asking him to perform something different that what he is doing in the moment. From your half-halt you may be making a request to halt or go forward or change pace or gait become more active, lengthening or collect or soften or change direction or to bring a horse to straighten. I am not going to go into the minutia of the benefits of all the exercises because it will not really help to create better result. If you need more explanation you can ask me to explain in the comments section. I might be able to answer your question. But to get the result all you need to do is practice.

First start standing in front of your horse. You will need a halter (not a rope one) and short rope. Wait until the horse will stand still without your influence. Once he can do this then teach him to stand in one place while you are able to walk around him. How you train him to do this is if that if he moves off his spot when you begin to walk around him return him to his spot and hold him their until he is willing to stand without being held. Tell him “whoa”. Begin again walking around him once more. For the horse to catch on take only a few steps and then return to his head. Walk further and further around him until you can make a complete circle while he is willing to stand still. Repeat until it is natural to you both. He will already know this if he as been trained with the Waterhole Rituals.

For a horse to be in self-carriage under saddle he needs plenty of practice in self-control. When your horse learns to stay put without your support you have started developing the horses ability to stay in your charge when he is in self-carriage when you are riding him. The horse is learning to be self-directed under your charge. An example of this would be a cutting horse that cuts cows on his own without direction however he is always prepared to take direction in a moments notice.

Self-carriage is when your horse can carry himself for a period of time without your support or direct influence. When you ask the horse to turn, stop, speed-up, supple, collect or lengthen and at the moment the horse starts to perform what you ask you stop the aids so he can carry out the request on his own. In those moments when the horse can perform freely self-carriage is achieved. Without this freedom we diminish the horse’s full ability and expression. When the horse looses energy and pace you can then take control of the horse and re-establish the energy and put the horse back on course and when the energy becomes active again you then again stop your communication and allow the horse to perform on this own. The horse should perform more in self-carriage than having to receive instruction from his rider. The less the rider has to direct the better the quality of the dance. The reason this is so important to look at is so you do not trap the horse in the bridle or think you need a contact rein as it is used or nose bands or bits or that awful rollkur training. These exercises also are a way for you to learn another way to but a horse into self-carriage, speed control and frame. Just think you may gain the “hands” of more than a master these days with practice.

Links:
• The original article on Carolyn’s blog: How to Begin the First Uberstreichen Half-Halt Exercise
• Our forum about reward-based training methods: Animal Minds

To learn more about Carolyn, her lifelong relationship with the horses and her quest to find the ideal communication method between man and horse, visit her site www.carolynresnickblog.com and read her book Naked Liberty published in English and German (Tochter Der Mustangs – Daughter of the Mustangs).