Liberty Rein work: What and Why

In the past years several, I have been increasingly drawn to working with less and less equipment and more and more communication and natural outlines. I am studying where a horse tells me he wants to put himself when asked to collect as opposed to where I want to put him. It has answered several questions and debunked several things for me in my personal study of horsemanship. I find it fascinating.

I started playing with corderos and learning how to apply them to my play and horsemanship and was pleasantly surprised at how much the horses took to it and showed me there was no need for control of their head for even challenging movements. I observed with trust, connection, and clear communication that they would offer me beautiful round postures and collected movements and they seemed to enjoy it more when allowed to carry there necks and heads freely. There was clearly more pride and spirit in the movements. I was having more fun and so were they. It is very hard in advanced work to introduce challenging exercises while maintaining the fun and pushing just enough to encourage, but not too much to worry or stress the connection. It is a constantly changing conversation that is lively and fun as long as it stays balanced. 

I was taken enough with this tool to have Buckaroo Leather work with me on a design. I now use it in conjunction with my Bitless bridle for ALL Line to Mounted phase communication. I often warm up with my Liberty rein around my horses neck for In Hand and line work after my Liberty phase. I ride with it on with my bridle, not necessarily because I may ride bridless but because I can work on communicating more with my body and leg and less with my bridle. I can hold the Liberty rein and keep a long rein on my bridle and take the emphasis off the bridle. I have found there are many applications for this versatile tool and who knows, I will probably discover more, I'm always experimenting! Here is a sample video of what can be done with the Liberty rein. It should not be assumed that it is just for riding bridless. It has replaced my halter and sometimes my bridle! I will be introducing more exercises for In Hand and Line work with the Liberty rein soon so keep an eye out! If you are interested in purchasing a Liberty rein, you can get one here http://fdhorsetraining.com/Bridleshop.html

LLM: Lateral work and Leg Yield: Mounted phase

A series showing the progression through all the elements of lateral work and Leg Yielding in a fun, creative way. This 3rd video shows the Previous Liberty and line exercises practiced while mounted. If you are doing well with these you can progress to the trot or just try it for fun. You can always go back to the walk if it is to hard. Have fun!
http://fdhorsetraining.com

LLM: Lateral work and Leg Yield: Line phase

This is a series showing the progression through all the elements of lateral work and Leg Yielding in a fun, creative way. I am using the Liberty rein for ground play and Line work in this video to allow my horse to have the freedom to place experiment with his body positioning and arrange himself without too much interference. Purchase a Liberty Rein at this link http://fdhorsetraining.com/Bridleshop.html
http://fdhorsetraining.com/

LLM: Lateral work and Leg Yield: Liberty Phase continued

This next video shows a continued progression of my Liberty-Line-Mounted approach to Lateral work and Leg Yield. It is another Liberty exercise using "Touch training". The next series will be Line work continuing the series in a fun, creative way.
http://fdhorsetraining.com/

LLM: Lateral Leg Yielding: Liberty part 1

In case you are wondering what LLM is, It stands for Liberty, Line, Mounted. This next few post will be about using that progression to introduce Lateral work and Leg Yield from the Liberty exercises, to On Line (or In Hand) to Mounted. It's a really fun and flowing way to introduce any new communication to a horse and it make for an often lively conversation! The first video addresses Liberty warm up for this of movement.
http://fdhorsetraining.com/

Lots of stuff!

I wanted to let everyone know some of the current and upcoming events in the coming months. First off all, The St. Vincent's Caribbean Clinic is coming up February 28th. This is an amazing clinic with Stina Herberg and Myself is paradise with her horses! It is magical! We work with Carolyn Resnick's Waterhole Rituals, Yoga and Meditation for riding and transitioning to riding from Liberty work. This clinic is especially good for fearful or traumatized riders. I can't express what an amazing experience it is. We are offering an early bird sign up with a savings of 10% on this already great value. Go here to sign up and get detailed info http://fdhorsetraining.com/Showschedule.html check out a video from the last one http://youtu.be/UbRt-d23b4w

In other news, I am now able to offer playshop intensives at Back Acres Farm in MA. There is accomodation available for you and your horse on site or near by. You can come and work with me for 1-3 days in small groups. You do not need to have a horse. You can lease one if needed. These are arranged by request and demand so If you would like more info about this Contact me here.

Also keep and ear out for clinics in CT as it gets warmer. So far I will be tentively scheduled to do clinics in the UK, Washington, New Zealand and Australia for 2012. Contact me for more info or to find out about having a clinic in your area.

I have currenty available The New Zealand Clinic video and the Going Bitless class video for sale here http://fdhorsetraining.com/FDTIinstruction.html
It's a great way to experience the clinic or classes if you couldn't make them.

Last but not least keep an eye out for the new website launch and the on Demand Video Library coming soon! It will feature exercises in my Liberty-Line-Mounted progression with and emphasis on building Connection-Communication-Calm Leadership. Hope to see you soon in the virtual world or the real one!

http://fdhorsetraining.com/

Goal Setting and Visualization

FDTH in New Zealand...Cool!

Here is the first exercise of the New Year. Every year at this time I like to evaluate where I've been and where I'd like to go in the coming year.

It's been an amazing year for me with lots of travel and meeting incredible horses and their people.

Mercury and I have had our usual fun and adventures with a year of careful rehabbing and training us back to full fitness again. He had a year off previously due to injury. We did our first Demo together and he was the Star of the show as he likes to be always.

As I look to the year ahead, I see Mercury and I going back to the show ring and exploring deeper connection and partnership as always. Making up new fun games and my goal of Dancing with horses even more! Whether it be at Liberty or Riding.There is also more travel in the year ahead to new places, people, and horses. I have a deep sense of gratitude to be able to do all the things I do.

The exercise is to write down what you did in the last year with your horse or otherwise, how far you've come and what you are thankful for. Acknowledge your successes and write what you might carry on to the next year as a work in progress. Once you've done that, write any new goals that you would like to achieve with your riding, liberty or connection (or otherwise). Keep that paper or file so you can look at it next year in January and see what happens. That's it! Happy New year! You will reach your goals....

http://fdhorsetraining.com/