d.) Clinic #4: Rope Handling
This is a skill building course.
We put halters and leads on horses. We ride horses. We want them to respond to tactile cues. Learn how to turn the lead into a communication tool your horse trusts.
Clinic # 4: Rope Handling
The rope handling course represents a shift in focus. So far we’ve been looking at the WHY and WHAT of training. Now we’re going to look at HOW.
This is a skill building course.
We put halters and leads on horses. We ride horses. We want them to respond to tactile cues. So the question is not do we use these pressure-based cues but how do we teach them? I want the lead to be a communication tool my horse trusts. Escalating pressure doesn’t belong in the clicker training tool box. It creates avoidance and fear which generates tension. They work against everything I want for my horse - great balance, a great relationship, a sound body, a happy, confident learner.
The rope handling that I teach has been developed by the horses I have worked with over the past thirty years. It has been the horses who have shown me the details that matter to them. What feels safe? What feels inviting? What makes sense? Is this clear or is this better? The horses have shown us how to ask questions and let them provide the answers. So the details that I fuss are not arbitrary. They are there because the horses have shown me that they matter.
In the horse world, we’re told that having a good “feel” is important, but it’s also implied that it’s a gift. You know the phrase - he’s a gifted horseman. That implies it’s something you’re born with.
I know better. A “good feel” is very much something that can be taught. It’s something we can all learn.
That’s what this rope handling course is about. I’ve developed a series of Awareness Explorations and rope handling demos that will help you develop beautiful handling skills.
Good rope handling is something you can learn, but it isn’t something you will master all in one go. It is a study of a lifetime. This course contains lessons you will return to over and over again as you explore what it means to shape on a point of contact.
Everything is connected: liberty work, work in-hand, riding: they all grow out of the same core understanding of how to communicate back and forth between horse and handler. The result is a horse who floats with you in beautiful balance. With thanks to Michaela Hempen and her mare Graya