Books with Spirit - Horse Riding

First of all, you do not put a piece of rope around your horse’s neck and ride around - not even in the really confined space of a round yard! Not unless either you or your horse or both want to end up in your “oh shit I’m dead zones”!!! 

Do I need to repeat that again? 

The “oh shit I’m dead zone” is explained in great detail in the electronic book Bobby’s Diaries - Straight from the Horse’s Mouth to You” Click here to read more about it  

Or click here to buy Bobby’s Diaries right now and understand the details of the comfort zone and the secrets of how great horsemen teach/communicate with their horses (whether they know it or not!).  It’s a simple, practical book, written in an earthy conversational style that will blow your socks off!

So, back to riding bridle-less…

Preparation is the key. There are a bunch of things that have to be VERY solid before you throw your bridle or halter or whatever over the fence for the first time:

• back up first, then stop and back up from just a gentle lift of one rein(no pulling!!), preferably in a halter, while you are on the ground - and have that absolutely reliable .
• back up first, then stop and back up from just a gentle lift of one rein at a time, while you are riding and have that absolutely reliable.
• stop and back up from your seat alone and have that absolutely reliable, using the rein if it doesn’t happen from seat alone.
• stop and back up from a string around the neck while you are on the ground, simulating how you will do it when you are in the saddle and have that absolutely reliable. A string is usually a thin piece of rope looped around your horse’s neck where it meets the shoulders, where you can reach it and use it like short reins to stop and turn if all else hasn’t worked!
• back up and then stop and back up, from just the string around the neck, using the bridle or halter if you can’t get it with the string.
• Once you have the stop button set in cement, you can start playing with left and right turns without using any reins.
• Imagine that you have “eyes” on the front of your shoulders, on the front of your hips, on the front of your knees, on the tips of your toes and turn all your eyes in the direction that you want to go at the same time - no forcing it, just turn them all gently where you want them to go. Go and sit on a kitchen chair now and play with that. See what happens to those lovely flat, sliding sitting bones when you “strain” and try to force the turn further than your horse will go. If your horse doesn’t turn with you easily, give him/her a little encouragement/explanation of reaching forwards and kind of waving at him/her rhythmically to “drive” him / her into that direction, then you can pick up the rein and “explain” what it was that you were looking for. Same as all the the other stuff in Bobby’s Diaries, there are many ways of doing that “rhythm” that explains what is that you want.
• When you can walk, trot and canter, stop, back-up and turn left and right without touching the reins (that you have have just sitting there) and when you can stop, back up, turn left and turn right with just using the string around the neck if your horse doesn’t get it, then you are ready to have a go at chucking the head gear away and just
  riding in a string around the neck.
• Some people with large comfort zones with their horse, might try a confined space like a round yard before everything is abolutely reliable, but this solid progression is a safer way to go about it.
• And if each step is in your AND your horse’s comfort zone before moving on to the next step, you can progress quite fast to throwing the head gear away.And safety is what is in MY comfort zone!Don’t worry that we’ll turn you all into cowboys riding woth nothing on their heads by exploring this. If your horse is in his comfort zone, with his back elevated, and in self carriage, you will be in a great place to move on with your advanced dressage teacher, cos the best of dressage is done with mostly body and very little rein!Have fun with this!

But have even more fun with “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight From the Horse’s Mouth to You”.  You could be reading the secrets of the great horsemen that even some of them don’t know that they know!  If you haven’t read this book, you’re missing something incredibly special.  “Love this book or get your money back” - my personal guarantee.  Click here to get it now and make up your own mind.