Mark Rashid Clinic

As expected the Mark Rashid clinic was worth every penny. My expectations were mainly to have Mark give us an assessment of G (his personality type) and what I can do to gain more of his trust on the trail. G is such a great horse on the ground, is soft 99.99% of time time, yet he changes to a different horse under saddle. Anyway, before I get into specifics, I'll post pics first New Hampshire was gorgeous. I'd forgotten how beautiful it is, especially in the fall.

Here's Captain Jack Sparrow (lol). I tried to find a treasure chest to go with The Black Pearl theme, but the skull was the best I could do for a pirate ship.

A view of Deer Creek Farm from one of their hay fields. This is a gorgeous place.

A view from the barn

G's outdoor home away from home


Our home away from home

Asking G to pick me up at the mounting block
Teaching G to let go of the bit

Mark working with a student on working with energy from your core. Fascinating stuff. BTW Joanna, this Haflinger is sporting an About the Horse ranch saddle. It's a #2 bar customized to fit. This gal tried just about everything including treeless. Mark said the difference in this horse from the last clinic they participated in was super. Nice saddle.

Mark is an extrodinary horseman and just amazing to watch work with both the rider and horse.

Mark's assessment of me & G ~ G is (as I've known) highly sensitive and fearful - especially noticeable under saddle. Mark starts off his session with you by asking you to tell your horses story. I gave the basic details. 6th owner in 5 years; first horse (probably not the best choice); issues on the trail when turning home; improvement over the years - going from a spinner bolter to simple shoulder drops, etc. Mark would ask questions as I talked to get clarification. I felt like I was with a therapist rather than a horse trainer, lol. He asked me to mount up so I took G over to the mounting block, asked him to move his haunches over (toward the block) as he generally doesn't want to line up straight to the block. I mounted got my right foot in the stirrup and walked off. As I was walking G around the arena and going by the auditors, G noticed Timo (the clinic organizer) laid out in a recliner chair wrapped up in a bright white and black blanket.

I felt G tense, then he started with the head tilt and giving it the hairy eyeball. He dropped his nose and I could tell he wanted to investigate, so I let him. So I continue on and Mark asks "do you always let your horse go where he wants?" and I'm like "what? - oh you mean the blanket?". Well, G is spooky by nature and I figured if he wanted to check it out now rather than when Timo decides to get up in the middle of the session, he'll know it's human and not something out to get him and spook half way across the arena". Mark chuckled. Now I should mention that Mark is sick with some kinda bug...coughing sniffling, you could tell he was not feeling good, but somehow he still had a sense of humor. "So do you always let him do that". I said no, it depends on the situation. He started asking me questions about G's behavior during ground work and I told him 99.99% of the time he's relaxed and compliant. He asked if I was pretty consistent in what we do and how I ask from the ground and I said yes, I believe so.....

So lesson #1. Sensitive fearful horses lack self confidence and they require strong leadership. Strong leadership comes from consistency in EVERYTHING and being in control of each and every situation. If a fearful horse is left to its own defenses it will worry, it'll spook, it'll stop listening to its rider. I talked a bit more about G's history and our beginnings - spinning bolting, me hitting the ground etc.

Lesson #2: He said, it's okay to understand a horse's past, and its okay to make mistakes along the way, the key is that you don't beat yourself or your horse up for past mistakes - you are where you are today, move forward from this place. Secondly, don't make excuses for a horse's bad behavior or non compliance. Don't use history to explain away training issues.
Mark said one of the best ways to begin teaching horses softness and compliance is through backing. A resistant or fearful horse doesn't want to back up easily as it is relinquishing control.

Lesson #3: In backing there is no pulling on the reins; no leg pressure. It is simply intent, combined with closed hands with contact to the bit, and release when the horse softens. In the beginning, Mark had to take the reins from the ground and ask as G didn't quite understand this "no leg aids" concept. Mark backed him in a circle and there were times you could see the fear in G's eyes and he would lock onto the bit and he would grunt (the same grunt he has when he gets frustrated), Mark worked past it until G unlocked, and then got soft. The movement in the saddle became smooth. It was amazing to feel what it is supposed to feel like. So first you connect your core; close your hands on the reins; and think back. It's as if you are linking up two nervous systems to where your thought becomes their thought. But if your body or your horse's bodies are "locked" then there is no connection. So you open up the line of communication through the reins. You don't "over think" connection, it is a feel. If you are stiff, your horse will be stiff. Also, when backing make sure your legs are off the horse. In order for a horse to back properly, they need to be able to move their barrel. Otherwise, they have trouble using their hind end properly. Oh, and he told me that he's found that many gaited horses back up in four beats rather than in diagonal pairs which is the norm in trotting horses. Both my equine massage therapist and instructors have thought G had a problem because he doesn't back in diagonal pairs. I'm so glad to hear its common.

Mark asked me to dismount and to grab G's halter and lead rope. Once he was fitted up, he said "here's where we start you're leadership role". A horse has to understand its job in order to perform it correctly. A horse can't guess, it can only learn. So teach your horse how to count. Huh? He gave a great analogy about a teacher asking a little boy in the classroom what 1+1 is. The little boy said 6, the teacher said no, what's 1+1, and the little boy says 9. On and on it goes until the little boy finally answers 1+1 = 2. The teacher didn't teach the little boy how to count, she taught him how to guess. The same applies to horses - you have to teach the horse what you want - what its job is, you don't leave it to them to guess.

So, lesson #4. If you want to mount up you ask your horse to pick you up at the block (see pictures above). Mark walked G straight to the front of the block and he walked around and up the steps. Standing at the top he now directed G to his right and then brought him over to the block. (Edited to revise the following) G first parked (I didn't know he could do that) and lined up straight to the block. Mark's comment was "he's a smart horse, he gets it". Then Mark reached down to the halter and asked G to give by turning his nose in toward Mark's left leg. You could see G brace, and Mark was like "whoa, this guy is locked up from the base of his neck down to his nose". So he maintained the pressure all the while G is starting to try and pull his head away. It took several minutes before he finally gave to Mark. Mark got down and repeated. I think he did this twice and asked for him to yield maybe 6 times. By the last time, Mark said "there, he finally softened". I said, what made that different, it looked like the last time to me. He said you can see it in their eyes.

Lesson #5: Lightness comes from the outside of the horse; softness comes from within; and this you can see in their eyes. A horse can be very light yet never be soft. For instance, if a horse is worried; a light horse will continue to act out; a soft horse will continue to listen to its rider. So although G can be very light to the aids; he is not soft inside. It was then my turn to ask G to pick me up, and we did this several times. It was so neat to have him line up for me. Prior to mounting, Mark had me put weight into the stirrups a few times to make sure G wouldn't move. He didn't. So he asked me to mount up and G stood perfectly still until I asked him to move out. Mark said these are the fundamentals that are the building blocks for leadership. If you allow your horse to move out at will, you've given up your role. In order for a horse to trust you, you have to be a strong leader 24/7. Consistency, and teaching softness. So Mark's recommendation to me is to simply work on getting G soft at the walk, everytime we walk. Work on him being soft when he's being led; when he's standing still at your side. If his poll rises above his neck line, ask him to lower the head. As G becomes softer, and I become more consistent in asking for softness, the leadership role will fall back to me. Mark thinks at this point I should simply continue to work on softness and not move up into the gaits until G will walk consistently in a soft frame of mind without me continually asking for him to soften.

After our hour I went and continued practicing backing up and asking for softness with his wife Crissi. When we were done, both G and I felt really good about our 2 hours of work. I'm going to stop here, and pick up either later or tomorrow on the following day and other "pearls" from Mark.

I used to think I was being pretty consistent, but after Mark's questions and his assessment after watching us, I guess I wasn't consistent enough for G's personality. The thing is G is now very compliant going out on the trail, and as long as we're moving away from the barn we're good. It's when we turn from home that he immediately tenses up and starts jigging. There have been days where I've been able to regain his composure, but most days he still stays "wired". Guess they named him correctly Gen n Wired, lol. Some days using half halts works; other days turning him back out away from the barn; or doing dressage movements. I start with the half halts and work through the bag of tricks. Mark's theory about leadership and trust makes sense to me, and its been something I've felt for awhile now.

One thing I forgot to mention above is that I borrowed the Rockin' S Raised Snaffle http://www.markrashid.com/forsale_bit.html from Timo to try out with G during our session with Crissi on Wednesday. As they described G did mouth it a bit when we first put it in, but within 10-15 minutes he got softer and stayed relaxed at the poll for longer periods of time. Unfortunately it was being used by another rider at the same time as our session with Mark on Thursday but he finished up about 15 minutes early so he was nice enough to bring it back to the arena for us to use again.

On Thursday we basically worked on the same things we did on Wednesday, but now it was more focus on keeping G soft; working on straightening out G's backing up; working on "intent" rather than leg/seat aids; finding the right feel; and stepping up his gait a little more. Early on in the session after working with G backing and he (meaning G) locked onto the bit, one of Mark's comments was that although the bit I was using may be the best of what I'd tried so far, he didn't think we'd found what G needed. G would take hold of it in between softening. I mentioned that we had tried the Raised Snaffle yesterday with good results, so when Rick brought it in and we switched over to the Rockin' S Raised Snaffle the difference was immediate, Not only could I feel him softening, Mark was observing G using his hind end more and reaching under himself. He felt better than ever before. When I began to step him up in gait and got him to soften Mark's comment was "once you have him soft consistently, this guy is going to be super smooth. I said "but he is smooth!" and he said "you ain't seen nothing yet". So that gives me hope!! Oh, and I've ordered a new Rockin'S Raised snaffle so stay tuned for some gently used Herm Sprenger bits for sale :)

One of the other things that got me was when G locked onto the bit and Mark was trying to get him to soften, G was really fighting the release to the point where I would've stopped as I would've thought I was frying his brain. But on the other side of the fight, came softness. Mark said that much of "the good stuff" is found on the other side of confusion and fight. He said that its obvious that G has other issues other than lacking foundation training (i.e. heavy training/possible abuse) so he really wants me to go back to baby steps and focus on him being soft, always releasing when I get the result I want, which will make him feel good about himself. Even when a horse is fighting or acting out due to confusion, if you stop before you get the desired result, you put yourself back to square one. In order for G to begin using his abdominal muscles and raising his back, he needs to be soft.

We continued using the raised snaffle while working with Crissi and she said that it was great to see so much improvement in both of us in just the one day. She noted that G was being softer longer, and that she could see I was working more with feel and intent than cues. The other thing that Mark pointed out is that I tend to look down at G's head. I thought I had gotten over that, but apparently not. He said if a rider looks at the horse's head, then the horse has no where to go. And the same can be said about breathing. When you work with intent and feel if you don't breathe then the horse stays still, lol. The first couple of times I asked him to back his feet were just planted. Crissi asked me if I was breathing, I let out a big breath and G started backing. We talked some more about his history and I told her about the barn owner from hell; and you could tell its a story she's heard before. As I was leaving the arena she told me that I have a really nice horse. Yep, G is a nice horse and I'm so glad we've found one another.

Other "pearls" from watching others are:

• If your horse is bracing, it's because something isn't working right, and that something is usually "pulling" the horse via the reins or the rider being stiff and locked.

• When taking your first step with your horse, the horse should step off at the speed you request. Ask for the walk you want from the first moment.

• If your horse tends to counterbend (meaning he's walking to the left but looking to the right) direct the horse to walk in the same direction that he's looking and then bend back in the direction you were traveling. Horses that do this are disconnected (head from the body) and in a sense "locked". By directing him to follow his head and then return to the correct bend helps unlock the horse and reconnect them.

• Don't overthink connection. It is all about "feel". Once you are centered, you think your intent, the end goal is to lose the aids down the road.

• As effortless a horse moves in the pasture on its own, is how effortless he should move with a rider on board.

• Always shoot for 100% - it doesn't mean you'll always get 100% but it is important to always strive toward it.

• Leg aids should only be used to operate/guide the hind end and the front guided by the hands.

• If you are locked, your body cannot connect with your horse; it simply creates a locked horse.

The martial art of Akido has opened up Mark to understand how important working from your center is in horse training and those same principles are what bring a horse and rider together to work as one unit. Watching him work with a couple of people on the ground truly fascinated me. When a person locks up you can pretty much knock them over with a feather. Once the person becomes centered and focuses on their core, you cannot move their feet. I really wish I'd had a video camera to tape these two sessions I watched as it was really eye opening. Once the video is processed I may hear some more words of wisdom or it may jingle up my memory, lol.

In any event, if you have an opportunity to work with Mark DO IT! It was worth every penny. He's coming back for Equine Affaire in November and then he'll return to NH in June next year for week long clinics. I sooo wish I could afford a full week with him, but unless something radical happens at work (like a bonus) I'm afraid I'll have to wait and see if I can do a 2 or 3 day in the fall.