#7 Filling the holes

Welcome at article #7 from the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman.’ In the last article you have been able to read about what it can mean to you and your horse when you learn to ask him for things in a polite way and correct him politely. In this article I would like to talk to you about the importance of having a good foundation for your training and how you can continually improve those basics.

Urion ready for sideways

It is interesting to see how the best Horsemen and instructors always come back to the basics. This was also true for the NH Experience 2015 edition where Berni Zambail continually had students fall back to their basic exercises and principles.
A simple example; someone was busy trying to ask her horse to go sideways along the wall, from the ground. Whenever the horse gave her a good step, she would stop to reward him but… the horse didn’t stop with her. She was then asked which one of the three basic exercises this problem probably related to. The answer? ‘Trust me...’ her horse was showing her that he was a little bit nervous about the exercise and whenever she stopped to let him know that he was doing alright and could relax, he didn’t believe her, not enough. That was the moment to get back to that basic exercise and only proceed when the hole was filled.

Another example; a more advanced student was busy preparing for simple leadchanges but was getting stuck. The solution? Back to the basics; first get your transitions van walk to trot better and sideways from the seat.
Are you getting the picture? Is your horse having problems with the sideways? Then first ask yourself how easy you can turn his front quarters. Are downwards transitions from the canter hard for the two of you? Then honestly check your transitions van walk to halt or backwards.

Cindy Deman & Jack

‘In short, use reversed training; if you want to advance, go back to the basics.’

I still remember the very first time I instructed a course for several days in a row and I was trying to find a good theme for the course. I quickly realized that you could theoretically call every course the same; ‘Back to Basics’.
Usually when we notice that there is a hole in an exercise that we’re trying to do, this hole actually already started in one of the three basic exercises. This is why it’s so important to become aware of these holes in your foundation, and consistently keep working on filling them up. When you don’t do this on time, then later in your training you’ll stumble upon a problem that will seem so big it must be impossible to tackle.
Just like when building a house; when you’re not specific about the foundation, in the beginning, it might seem that everything is still going alright. But the more you try to build on that foundation the more obvious it will become that, in the end, the house will be crooked. It would have been easier to get your foundation fixed straight away than trying to fix it when the roof is already attached 😉

So remember this; if you get into trouble with any kind of exercise with your horse, the problem is probably in your foundation. (This is also why we recommend you have someone with experience give your young horse a good foundation; it’s the basics for everything and easiest to fix right at the start.)

So make sure you have the discipline to go back to working on this foundation and filling the holes so that you can advance from there.

Lees je het artikel liever in het Nederlands? Hieronder vind je het origineel—>