Events

Mondays
Jumping Fun Classes at Canterbrooke, (Ames)

Tuesdays
Riding Communication Classes at The Paddock (Truro) .

May 8-9
Clinic at Catalpa Corner

April 10 and 11
Clinic at Catalpa Corner.

June 4-6
Clinic and Schooling Show Catalpa Corner
(Iowa City)

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Waiver form

"Only way that horses will win is to sit there and spend time with them. Show 'em that you're trying to help 'em. Love 'em. Talk to 'em. Get to know 'em. Now that's what you gotta do. You love 'em and they'll love you, too. People might call me crazy, but that's the way it is."

-Eddie Sweat, groom for Riva Ridge and Secretariat

Training Log Dictionary

Lesson of the Four Connections. Short story, quote from a very good instructor: "There are Four Channels of Connection in riding: inside leg to outside rein, outside leg to inside rein, outside leg to outside rein, inside leg to inside rein, and you have exactly none of them with this horse" Said to me, and very accurately, before a dressage test. Ouch, but it helped me to really focus on what was happening in rein weights while riding.

Miz Scarlet Effect An obscure reference to a politically incorrect skit on an episode of The Carol Burnet Show that aired in the 1970s. Carol played Scarlet O'hara, who was about to deliver her child. She had a handmaiden that would become hysterical over the slightest detail, and exclaim, "Miz Scarlet, whad we gwan do? Whad we gwan do?", at which point Carol would slap her, and the handmaiden would calmly say, "We think of somethin'". The same thing happens with horses, especially those new to training, who look for things to over-react to, whether that be a bird 200 yards away or a non-existent friend horse. Luckily, we don't have to slap horses, one can just poke them in the neck with a finger or shake a lead shank at them and they refocus on their handler. The act of poking a horse when said horse chooses to be a drama Queen/King is invoking the Miss Scarlet Effect.

NQR Not Quite Right

Newton's Third Law For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is a good thing when you are talking about understanding physics. It is not a good thing when a horse is applying this general principle to every request made from his handler.

Train Derailment Effect The act of a horse moving sideways when asked to go forward toward something they are unsure of. The front end of the horse stops, but the horse is concerned that he needs to be doing something in order to avoid punishment. So the horse keeps moving the legs, but won't go forward, thus goes sideways. It feels like a train derailment looks--the front end stops, but the inertia behind must go somewhere, so it is forced sideways. In the case of a train, the cars behind the locomotive are forced sideways off the track, horses just move or run sideways. Train Derailment in horses is caused by lack of confidence, which can stem from general personality or reactive handling. The rider response to a Train Derailment in a horse should be to show the horse how to relax in his poll, and then send forward in a reassuring manner. The derailment effect eventually goes away when the horse gains more confidence in himself and his rider so that when faced with something new or surprising, he simply remains straight and perhaps slows to examine it, and then goes forward when asked.

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