The Art of Natural Dressage

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:29 pm 

Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:12 am
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Hi, my name is Kahra and I live on a farm near Portland Oregon. We bought the farm 2 years ago and went from 2 animals to 13 pretty quickly. We have 3 horses, 3 cats, 5 alpacas, a ferret, and a dutch shepherd. I've grown up with large dogs, so when I got my first horse about 5 years ago, I started training Areyto (my horse) similarly to how I would a dog. He was nearly wild when I got him, but after we learned lots of tricks together we had a very close bond. I grew up riding horses with my grandmom, but had never taken lessons, so I did a lot of reading and watching videos to learn how to work with Aretyo. He is naturally a very hot paso fino, although he us usually pretty mellow now. I am working on riding him out of his stall w/o a bridle. I can get him out the the middle of the paddock and have him turn on the haunches, turn on the forehand, leg-yield, and back-up, but I can't ride him to where I would like to go (he just wants to go back to the barn or to other horses close-by). You can see an old video of Areyto and some of his tricks on youtube if you look up Areyto, paso fino tricks. It's an old video--don't critique me too hard, I already know!

I am working with my 9 yr old daughter in 4-H with her 2 yr old icelandic horse. He was a rescue but was healthy, just not wanted, and is a beautiful silver dapple. He couldn't be prettier or have a better temperament. He is naturally very calm and confident, but still remains responsive.

We also have a classic silver champagne rock mountain filly who is 2 as well. She is incredibly calm and sweet, but she is not naturally responsive at all--she likes to stand there and be petted. She does not like to move when asked. She looks at me like she is a boulder and it's bizarre that I would ask her to budge. She even walks in slow motion. I have seen her run around, kick and play, so I know she has it in her!

I have been opposed to bits since I was a child (though at that time, I didn't realize there were options). I'm sad that I haven't found any like-minded people yet to go riding with in Oregon. 4-H requires bits for the children to show at fair. I'm a bit disgusted and am trying to change that rule. No one seems to care.

One of my favorite trainers is Marijke de Jong with her 'straightness training.' I've watched a ton of her videos and am using some of her techniques on Areyto. I hope to find more training ideas on this forum!


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:03 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:20 am
Posts: 6281
Location: Dresden, Germany
Welcome, Kahra (and what a beautiful name, I have never heard it before)! :)

I am looking forward to reading more about you and your horses, and I hope that you will find some inspiration here. Especially helping not so motivated horses to find their joy in playing is a topic on which I think you might find some ideas here. Oh, and don't worry - hard critique is not really what this forum is about. ;)

Best wishes,
Romy


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 6:39 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:00 am
Posts: 567
Location: Scotland
Nice to have you here Kahra :)
You may find the the links to threads topic helpful , as it is a collection of , some , of the links to the relevant topic .

I look forwards to reading more about you and your animal/human family !
Best wishes
Ali :f:


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:13 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:42 am
Posts: 2147
Location: Vienna, Austria
Welcome Kahra! :f:

I'm looking forward to your experiences with your rock mountain filly. It took me a long time too to motivate my horse to get energetic around me, so take your time - it sure will be worth it!

I also found Marijke de Jong to be inspiring. I'm sure you will find topics here that will pique your interest :).

_________________
Volker

The horse owes us nothing.


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