The Art of Natural Dressage

Yeah....Love that one of Obhama with the hat on

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God created all equines equal,He just trimmed the ears on the Dumb ones :0)

Bling, Simon?

Heck, that boy needs a leather jacket and studs...

I wandered over to the site w/all the pix from this event and it completely cracked me up seeing all of the tough biker dudes and the little spotted one who has at LEAST as much attitude!

Dude!




Leigh

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"Ours is the portal of hope. Come as you are." -- Rumi
www.imaginalinstitute.com

Janene, my friend and trainer, makes them. Here is her website. http://www.equineperformingarts.yolasite.com/ If you contact her with measurements, I'm sure she'll make you a bridle with as much or as little bling as you like! I went to a bead shop and bought the ones I liked, which she attached!
I also could see him in one with studs and tassles, lol!
Adie

Today had Zalatoi (forum name) visited me. She was/ is realy nice and we have had a good time.
She wanna try to drive bitless and wanted to know how it feels and look like.
So we went on with my little one. Because he was not that good in shape i decided to take the hard roads and not the woods.
Were the ground is sandy. So I show her how he was and what he can do when i see someting spooky or what ever.
Then she took over the reins and yes she was bitless driving.

Her first reaction, it is the same as with a bit, there is no difference. Yes...thats correct i said, there is no difference.
Thats all. :-)
The starts was quiet and smooth, later on he was going faster. And even then she feels that it was allright. She was happy :-)
Back home in the field i let see her a little bit of ground work play with Leiknir. Some side way and turns.

When she left me i got flowers from her so sweet
yes they are standing on our table...
thank you!! i have had a nice time and my little pony too.

see is going bitless driving in the future

That's wonderful Inge!
A great day out and s at the end! So pleased you got to meet and show Zalatoi how much fun it is.
Adie
P.S I believe that it will become alot more popular, just look at how many people have converted to bitless riding!

Inge and Simon,

I'm so glad that you are both here! I have a ton of questions about driving Honey. I'm not worried so much about him, as about me - he knows what he is doing, I don't know at all... He was trained to harness as a youngster and definitely had a lot more experience at that than riding. He's labelled a 'square trotter' and had done some road races before I got him. That said, he is very quiet and laid back, nothing seems to bother him, he's very good in traffic - not phased by anything. He doesn't spook and even when surprised by something his first reaction is to freeze in place, not to bolt.

Me, I've been driving with my friend a number of times, and have driven his pony for brief periods while we were out, but I don't have very much experience at all. Some of my initial questions are:

Honey is doing very well barefoot, and from what I understand if I increase his road work gradually, his hooves will adapt and he should be fine driving without shoes. My friend has concerns about grip/traction and him slipping without shoes with road nails... can I safely say that without shoes he will have better traction than with shoes? Honey is due for a trim this Friday, so I will also discuss this with our trimmer and see what she says.

Inge, I am happy to hear about your friend's experience driving bitless. I hope that the same holds true for Honey. He was originally trained to race, so all I have been doing with him so far is putting him in harness and walking him around to get him accustomed to a much slower pace than he is used to. Hopefully, I can convince my friend that a bit is not necessary.

Also, why do people who ride in an open bridle believe that it is necessary to have blinkers when driving?

Thanks so much in advance for this discussion!

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The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. - Khalil Gibran

Hi

my pony walks also barefoot. there are no problems at all. Non slippery even better then with shoes.
You are doing it very well, to train each time more or longer on the hard surface. thats the best way.
You will notice when you are going to far, you will see it while he is walking.
For most people it seems that the feet are too short, but as long the horse is sound there is no problem.
it is normal that the hoofwall is at the same length as the sole.
but for people who always see shoes on horses it look very strange.

when you notice that the horse does not walking sound on barefoot you can always start to think about horseboots. Those from Renagate or easyboot or what ever.
Mine shetty walks time by time on boots cause he walks sometimes very carefull. Then i use the boots and after a few months he walks barefoot again. So you can switch it too.

I have moved this topic out of the tack section and into the research material... I think it fits better here, at least as long as we don´t have a separate driving section (which actually we might consider if there are more and more AND people interested in driving).

Looking forward to driving with Pia when she gets a bit older and if she likes it.

Thanks, Romy! For me, I though driving could be a good alternative to riding (without the problems of carry weight on the back...) as long as there aren't any other problems I'm not aware of. Here's hoping that more people give it a try.

Inge, Thanks again so much for your input. This information, together with what you wrote in my diary, would be a good reference for anyone who wanted to start out on the path to driving their horse. Makes a very good 'How to begin' introduction.

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The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. - Khalil Gibran

hmm maybe someting for a new topic? as Romy suggested.
Simon can explain a lot too about bitless driving and how to start

Yes Romy go driving it is funn, when Pia likes it too

Life is a touch chaotic at present but will respond in detail. Currently writing new training manual based on the carrot carrot as opposed to carrot stick. Latest theory is that I give Obama a carrot when he bites me gently, but if he bites me hard I'm really vicious and he doesn't get any carrot at all. Funnily enough it seems to work. He did his first wedding on Saturday with the bride driving her dad, never having driven a pony before. Will post the pics when I get them.
Simon

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Horsepower measures work, ponypower measures pleasure!

Sounds fantastic, Simon. Thank you! I love the carrot if he bites you gently... good one.

Looking forward to the pics! and that manual (sounds like just what I need!)

Hope things calm down for you a bit soon.

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The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. - Khalil Gibran

yes pics please Simon..always love pics from everyone. haha a bitless wedding