The Art of Natural Dressage

Hi everybody--

First off, thanks so much to all those responsible for this forum; what a brilliant concept!

I'd like to start off by introducing my friends--

Lexi is a 21 year old polish arabian mare, who has been with me since she was eight years old. She came from a very abusive situation, but has since come a very, very long way. In November, she unfortunatley lost her eye. Less than three months later she delivered a suprise foal (no one knew she was pregnant, including the team of surgeons who removed her eye!)




Nicholas is a four month old half-arabian colt (his dam is Lexi). After getting off to a very rough start (premature and failure of passive transfer cost him three weeks in the intensive care unit of our veterinary hospital) he is doing fine, and causing all sorts of trouble around the barn!



Laredo is a four year old quarter horse stallion (father of Nicholas). He was a PMU foal, destined for slaughter, and has lived with us since he was weaned at four months of age. He is quite a character, very curious about everything. He has a need to touch everything, and investigate it with his mouth and feet before he is satisfied.



Patrick is a 22 year old quarter horse gelding. He is a very quite, mellow old guy, who at this stage in his life just likes to hang out. He keeps the youngsters in line; he'll put them right in their place if they try to push him around.



Rio is a 18 year old Shetland/Hackney pony. He loves playing with the baby; they entertain each other quite nicely. Another abuse case, Rio now spends his time teaching my twelve year old sister about horses.



Jay-are is a 21 year old arabian gelding. He was a bottle baby and if he could, would live in my back-pocket! He's a bit of a nervous-nelly, but is getting better and better about it. He's good friends with Karen, our barn cat, who's pictured with him.



As for me, I am a college student in my last year (well, last year before vet school, that is). I've been riding since I was two years old, and bought my first horse, Lexi, when I was ten. She has taught me more than any other person has or probably ever will. When she came to me, she was a very green, terrified young mare. Even with all the abuse she had suffered, she still was a sweet loving horse, once she realized that I wasn't going to hurt her. It was because of this that I sought out other methods of training. The farm I work for is very "traditional" (read boarder-line abusive) in their methods. From this I learned what NOT to do.

I look forward to discussing horsemanship and better communication.

Lovely horses! Welcome to the forum

Hi!

Very spacial horses you've got!

uhm, I missed your name or did I not read it right?

Kind regards,

Bianca

Thanks for joining us! And I'd love to see more pictures of your horses, and as Shetland-owner, especially of your Shetland-Hackney cross of course!

What do you do with your horses at the moment? Are you training them in a certain way?

Hi and welcome,

you really did not have to say who Nicholas father is ha ha ! it was kind of obvious

Love you horses, especially Nicholas and I love your cat!

Warm regards,

Josepha

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www.equusuniversalis.com

Sorry about that! I get so wrapped up in introducing my horses that I forget myself! My name is Chelsea.

As I said, I've been riding since I was very young. When I started out, my options were hunt seat or saddle seat, so I've been riding hunt seat since I was two. Starting at a new farm, I also recived instruction in western riding. I showed horses for clients, both english and western, for a number of years. With my own horses, however, I would never even think of using the methods I was required to at work.

About five years ago, I spent some time working with a local gentleman, who had been driving horses since he was a youngster. He had a great way with working his horses; at nintey-five, he was still driving young colts and a lovely morgan stallion every single day. He was really impressive to watch; you could hardly see him cue the horses, and they always seemed happy in their work. This is mainly what I used to do with our shetland, although my younger sisters have now claimed him and turned him into their riding pony!

I've extensivley studied the methods of every trainer I can find information on, in an attempt to be as fair as possible as I can to my horses. I still ride hunt-seat, but now I also have added in driving, reining, and dressage to my repitoire.

I had posted this on the NHE board, which I think may have upset some, but truly feel that its not the sport that is harmful to the horse, but the rider. With every horse I work with, I try to get a feel of where they would be best suited; if they move like a hunter and enjoy it, we work that way. If they would prefer to be a reiner, or a dressage horse, or a western horse, they can go that way. If they dislike being ridden at all, we give driving a try.

For those of you interested, there is a trainer up in Canada that is working to develop an entirely bridleless olympic jumping team. I think he's on to a really interesting concept. http://www.progressiveriding.com/rein.html

I think I've adressed all the questions posed. Thanks again for the welcome!

Chelsea

what a great horses!
so beautiful and wonderful.
And so many. They have their own little hurd, great!

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