Salisbury Farms

When things get quiet... When the horse's mind is quiet... when they are not worried about you and they aren't arguing with or ignoring you (or worse)... when t...hey are quiet, listening and studying your moves, you get the opportunity to "place" your signals. I like to think about placing my signals, versus just plain ole signalling or cueing. I think it makes me more accurate, and I think it gives me more feel and detail when giving direction. In this image I am just about to bring in my neck rein to tell this horse to go right with the flag. You can see he's feeling for me by his ear expression, and you can see how careful that ALLOWS me to be with my rein signal. I am constantly seeking this quiet mind. I am constantly teaching the horse to feel for me, so I can feel back. I am constantly teaching the horse to be careful with me, so I can be careful back None of this is easy. Keep seeking, and keep EXPECTING better and better feel from your horse. And then it's your responsibility to develop better and better hands, seat and legs to deliver, or to "place" your signals with feel when he gets quiet and opens up. #horsetraining #getquiet #feel #triplecrownfeed

The 3 Types of Horses: 1) Broke... Educated, Smart, Sensitive, Willing, Confident, knows how to give to pressure everywhere, at all gaits (can move all body p...arts, in any direction, with only as much pressure as it takes to roll a ball). Doesn't lose control when something completely new happens. 2) Half Broke... knows how to give to pressure partially, but also partially to completely pushes on pressure (or even worse has LEARNED to push back on pressure/signals). 3) Not Broke... does not know how to give to pressure Show me a horse that has a problem, and I will show you a horse that is confused as to what to do with pressure. The longer a horse goes in the Half Broke category, the more it's like trying to shape steel with your bare hands... it sometimes just won't happen. The Half Broke horse can sometimes fit into a subcategory called a "Widow Maker" or "False Broke" as well, because the person gets a false sense of security because the horse will respond well in some places or well enough, that the person thinks they are safe... that is until the one time they run up against a spot the horse is not Broke, and then it's all over but the cryin' as they say. People "Steal Rides" on these types of horses. If you can't tell the difference between these 3 types of horses, find a professional that can and then, most importantly, don't let your ego get in the way and ignore what they say. #horsetraining #dontletyouregogetintheway #knowledgeispower #whatareyouriding

A horse will learn about 25% of the time you ride him. Some have to be trained at the first of the ride and some at the end. Outside is as important as inside and vice versa. Knowing when not to train is as important as knowing when to train.

Couldn’t say it better.

#salisburyfarms #goforit #horsefun

Love the dismount

We used to sweep the whole barn, fold blankets, hang halters, clean tack just for fun when I had my childhood horse. When I was taking lessons, we had to clean our tack after lessons, and then I would clean stalls for basically pennies just to get to stay at the barn after my lesson. It was fun! Try it! Ingrid L. Brown (I know you were down!).

We want to congratulate Wade Sundell for winning first place here at Veater Ranch. We’re all proud and happy to have Wade be our first Zero Gravity Champion. To...day’s fundraising event will help support @fresnostaterodeo. @makelineproductions . . #america #buckingcowboy #bucking #buck #buckthat #horsesofinstagram #saddlebronc #rein #sinch #californiatoddy #nfr #ccfr #badass #spur #coarsegold #californiacowboys #broncrider #broncriding #buckinghorses #veaterranch #georgeveater #fresnostaterodeoteam #boomerang #godisgreat #highschoolrodeo #subscribe #rodeoachool #wadesundell

#keepcalmandcarryon #salisburyfarms #horsesareagirlsbestfriend #barnlife #equestrianstyle

Having fun with Sugar Pie. It’s important for new riders to learn to connect and influence the horse’s feet. #salisburyfarms #horsesandhumans #horses #equestrians

Haha! He is 75!

I love my Stubben too!

One place where a rider or a driver is at maximum vulnerability of getting in trouble is while mounting or dismounting, with or without any sort of mounting bl...ock, or getting into or out of a carriage' Some horses have been trained to stand like a rock, some dance, some move off in the middle of things. Some won't move to the spot next to the mounting block from which it's easiest to get on, and swing away before the rider is securely on. Horses need to get bomb proof about this---How have YOU trained YOUR horse to be safe? Carriage or ridden?

A thought-provoking read. By Jane Smiley Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and... demanding, others are cruel, others are ignorant. Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk, trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet, all with sense and good manners. Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump over strange obstacles without touching them, or do complicated dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate severely handicapped children and adults in therapy work. Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime. Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social systems of other horses they meet along the way. A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster care, or in and out of prison, while at the same time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the other students already have their own social groups, but that what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one. We do not require as much of any other species, including humans. That horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as abandoned orphans - distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they usually don't. No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one. Mammal minds develop through social interaction and stimulation. A horse that seems "stupid", "slow", "stubborn", etc. might just have not gotten the chance to learn! Take care of your horses and treasure them.

So, sure, it is so much easier if you start riding when you are young, flexible and relatively fearless. But what if you did not have that chance? What if you a...re NOT young, not flexible, and not relatively fearless? But you want to ride---What can you learn from the career of Walter Gervais, the man who was a division boxing champion in the US Navy in World War 2, placed 25th in the Boston Marathon in 1946, but never rode a horse until he was in his mid fifties, won his first novice event at the age of 69, moved up to preliminary at age 72, and rode in his first long format preliminary 3-day event at 75? Well, I am not going to say anything as heart warming and Walt Disney-ish as some inanity like, "Well. if Walt could do it, there's still hope for me." But I am going to deliver some truth, if you can handle it--- Number one---Walt made himself into a hard, tough athlete by doing hard, tough daily work. He walked and, when his injured knee let him, he jogged. He lifted hay bales. He hustled. He knew that while there is no such thing as an ultimate Fountain of Youth, staying physically fit and active comes as close as we have. Number two---Walt made sure that the horses he rode were appropriate for his level, and had the ability to help him reach his goals. He would NOT get side tracked by the wrong horses---he did not have time for that. Number three---Walt sought good help, and when he got advice, he tried to heed it, even if it wasn't advice that he particularly liked. Number four---Walt had a support network who believed in him, wife, kids, grandkids, coaches, friends, who created a web of encouragement. Number five---Maybe it should be number one---Walt Gervais exemplified that archaic phrase "True Grit." He kept trying against many odds. So there are some morning thoughts, take them or ignore them----

"Horses are intelligent and they can make decisions. This is the reason that they can sense what a person wants them to do and will try to understand a person’s... intent. Through his natural instinct of self-preservation, a horse will respond to two kinds of feel that a person can present. He will respond to a person’s indirect feel, which means that he will either react to or ignore a person’s presence and how a horse responds depends entirely on the person. This indirect feel is what you have out in the pasture or corral, when you don’t have any physical contact with the horse, like a halter or snaffle bit. A horse will also respond to direct feel, which is when you have a physical connection with the horse through some part of your body, the halter or the snaffle, or a rope any place on his body, even if it’s connected to the saddle horn." - Bill Dorrance Support Good Horsemanship! #horses #horsemanship #neverstoplearning #eclectichorseman #naturalhorsemanship #rayhunt #tomdorrance #buckbrannaman #martinblack #billdorrance #tomcurtin #joewolter #bryanneubert #wendymurdoch #petercampbell #bustermclaury

Most people don't realize the Discipline it takes to train horses (and dogs). Discipline does not mean spankings and punishment by the way... it means structur...e. You've got to be able to show them the structure, coach them to it, and then hold them accountable. If they're right, meaning they are within the structures parameters or trying, you leave them alone or praise them. And then if they are up against the boundaries, or crossing them in all the degrees they can cross the boundaries, you hold them accountable accordingly. This makes life black-and-white for the horse, no confusing grey areas. And when you do this for the horse, YOU have the structure, you can give the animal Peace...because they can Understand. Have a good Wednesday, Kalley #keepitpeaceful #beagoodcoach #horsetraining #disciplineisfreedom

This is the commercial spot Budweiser produced after 9/11. They only aired it once so as to not benefit financially from it - they just wanted to acknowledge the tragic event. I never saw this commercial when it aired.... Tears every time. Worth a thousand words. #WeRemember

There's an absolute link between good hands and a good seat, but it is not a guaranteed link, because while having a good seat is largely a physical skill, havi...ng good hands is both physical and emotional. My former USET coach, Jack LeGoff, often spoke about the possession of a good seat as the one skill that all other skills were dependent upon. He did not say that having a good seat, independent seat, meshing with the motion seat, whatever you wish to call it seat, was what MADE someone a good rider. He said having that seat made it possible to BECOME a good rider, big difference. A rider whose seat meshes seamlessly with the movements of the horse, whose body absorbs and nullifies the shock waves of motion, can now have steady, quiet, independent feeling hands. But some riders who are capable of having good hands, as a by product of the good seat, have bad tempers, and snatch and get rough with the mouth of the horse. So, three things needed---A good seat, good hands, emotional control. Plus education, to know what to DO with those skills---- (Here's one who has it all---Klaus Balkenhol.)

Great commentary and visual to go with :)

Of course, our school horses aren’t old and dumpy, just awesome :)

Nature Beautiful

George Leonard, a martial arts expert, wrote a book called "Mastery." A point he made, akin to the saying that you can't see the grass grow, is that on the long... journey to mastery, or anything approaching mastery, it is normal to find yourself seemingly stuck on "endless plateaus of non improvement." Which is not true, because improvement is so minute, day to day, that it feels like it isn't happening at all, just as stare as we may at grass, no growing is seen, but in a week or two or three, it is time to mow the lawn again. Sometimes we are plugging along, going nowhere, and suddenly we will realize, "Hey---My horse didn't used to be able to do this. When did THAT happen? It was happening all along, but so slowly as to be imperceptible day by day. In these photos of Tense from today, there's a lifting power that did not used to be there---Where did THAT come from? But in order to reap these moments, you have to not despair, and quit, and you have to not try to force it by getting in fights with the horse. Should I repeat that? Nope, because the impatient ones will do what they will do, no sense wasting time on them. And the riders in it for the long haul don't need advice, because they are already committed to the long road. https://www.pedigreequery.com/tense