Watching the red sorrel demo in the round pen Friday night, I
learned to look for more clues that indicate a horse’s readiness
to come in or need to stay on the rail (e.g., kinked tail, head
too high). During practice round penning, I learned my horse has a
lot of fear and my intensity for the stop cue was too high. I also
learned he is lazier than I thought and sometimes it’s OK for me
to use the whip more (as an aide) to generate more of the correct
response. I now know my 3-D Rider approach has been more one
dimensional than three because of my riding background. I started
in the equitation phase and stayed there until I came to this
program. Now I can take the necessary steps to learn the other two
dimensions and become a more complete horseman.
- Sue McMurrayI realized that when round penning, after
using the whip, my body moves backwards. Ah ha! Body language!
– Suzy Epler
I found out the color of my horse—chestnut!
– David King
When I could use the words to explain to my partner how to do
something and it worked! Listen–do–teach.
– Bobbi Smith
We got out of the trailer before lunch without getting excited.
– Sharon Moore
I realized that, when doing an outside turn in the round pen, I
was over cueing with my whip, even when I thought I was being
subtle.
– Barbie Miller
Round Pen of Life
Our lives in the hands of our heavenly Father as the trainer can
closely parallel that of the horse in the hands of his trainer. In
the round pen, a trainer is looking for his horse to pay attention
to him – to have his ear tuned in, his eyes attentive and tuned
into the cues of his handler. The handler wants submission and
respect. At times, the stress level (adversity) is raised with the
end result becoming trust, loyalty, respect, submission, and even
humbling as the head is bowed. As my heavenly Father takes me
through the round pen of life, may my eyes be attentive to Him, my
ears in tune, my heart trusting and my head bowed in reverence.
– Jeannie Sapp Curly is blue roan, I'm yellow palomino -
we have a problem with consistency.
- Suzanne Lamon Lena has gone from an ugly duckling to a
beautiful swan.
- Marcie King Poor Rosie. I took her to marriage
counseling; she didn't even know we had a problem!
- Carolyn Just because the horse seems reliable and easy
to ride does not mean that he will easily "connect" with you in
the round pen.
- Charlotte VandeKamp When "sorrel" and "roan" just
aren't "getting it," it's OK to go be "palomino" for a while!
- Terry Maple In the eight years that Hunter and I have
been together, we had never connected. The two clinics we have
been to here did more for us as a team than the eight years
before.
– Sue Wyatt |
