R Jay's Farm Horsemanship Communication

09/17/2025

https://youtu.be/MoxBenNzxIM?si=2N0JkqKNnq0Z5WWk

This may be informative to some of you. Hope you enjoy it.

Sam is a well trained horse. but his need for humans was kinda lacking. minimal engagement and a desire to his own thing is the reason for going back to basi...

08/17/2025

https://youtu.be/o4oXBcs8AEI?si=Uu_tCrquE8gM4Cl1

This is day 3 of our 3 day restart of an OTTB. In this video you will see a very calm and sensible horse working with a little resistance.

The horse in this video is very different from what he was when I came to see him for the evaluation prior to starting this 3 day program. There is no head twirling or over reacting in any way anymore. He doesnt throw his head at you and bump you or push you with his nose or face.

We owe all that to allowing him to be heard. Not only showing him he has choices, but proving we hear them and providing those needs.

This is the last day of our 3 day OTTB restart. And I have to say, I didn't think getting this calm was going to come so soon. He looked and felt very relaxe...

08/15/2025

https://youtu.be/DWUrHYzUppE?si=JPmSOLohFJa8BTOk

This is day 1 of 3 in our OTTB restart. Dust is coming along pretty well. I was asked to help with him because of his anxious energetic foolishness. He was not a horse that many would consider riding in that state.

I first met him a few weeks prior and did an evaluation. At that point, I wouldn't even have considered climbing on. It was a shared belief his last trainer had. In the evaluation i learned a lot about him. I believe what I learned about and what he learned about me that day made all the difference.

Stay tuned for days 2 and 3 to see just how much we can progress.

Dust is an off the track Thoroughbred who has been a bit anxious and untrustworthy. In this video, I am using a slow approach to minimize his nervousness. We...

07/13/2025

No magic potion can give you this. But both are attainable. It's not instant, it's not magic. What it is, is knowledge and understanding. Practice and determinination. Learning to read thought and energy will give you more truth and understanding in a moment, than to hear a full explanation in words or in writing.

Real communication doesn't need words. If you can communicate in this way, you will be appreciated. If you are appreciated, having significance and straying humble, they will want to do what ever you ask of them. They will want to be a part of everything you do.

You both become connected on a deep intimate level that can never be explained. It has to be experienced.

It is attainable, But there are no shortcuts. You've got to put the time in. And you have to stop relying on methods, technique, cues and signals. Also you have to let go of any thoughts that hold you to a certain point of view. Keep your thoughts open to multiple possibilities. Only then will the truth reveal itself. Only then can both these things be attained.

If you could only pick ONE, which magic potion would you drink? :)

07/06/2025

This popped up as a memory. So I thought it would be good to share it again. Thanks for watching.

05/16/2025

❤️

05/09/2025

This morning, I woke up compelled to write about the importance of Leveling Up.

Each and every day. We do our routines. Sometimes, it can be very mindlessly done. So habitually that we just go through the motions. For those who might be interested in improving or progressing in said activities. They will mindfully look for ways to make things better and naturally Level Up.

If we apply this to our horsemanship. It's easy to see when someone is just trying to apply a method or technique at its Basic Level. Many times we see people stay at that same Basic Beginner Level. Never realizing there is so much nuance to be applied.

If we work with our Horses and just think, "Well they're doing what I asked." And that is enough. We may never see the many ways to Level Up.

Such as. Is there any resistance present. If so, how do we help them remove it. This one thing alone is the master key to unlock almost everything you will ever achieve with your Horse.

I often see people lunging their horses. It's a common exercise pretty much everyone does. It is an important skill for us and our Horse for so many reasons. Sadly enough, so many think that Lunging is just a speed and direction exercise. But there is so much more to it than that. This exercise can create balance, supleness, cadence, distance, Draw, focus and many more things that don't have just one word definitions.

Watch someone lung their horse and look for weather the horses nose is in, out, up, down extended or over contracted. Then look at the shape of the body and see if the feet track, if the neck is bent in, out, up or down. Then the shoulder. Is it upright or leaning in. Then the hip. Is it closer to you than the shoulder or further away. Then look at the circle the horse travels. Is the horse drifting out, leaking in closer, or maybe both where they try to get away from something on one side and closer to something on the other. Causing the handler in the middle to slowly move their position. Next thing you know the location of the exercise isn't anywhere near where they started.

The above description is just some of the more noticeable ways to Level Up in a Lunging exercise. But it applies to all we might do with a Horse.

If you know me at all. You know I'm not a believer in a definitive Right and Wrong. Right an Wrong exists in all thing and situations simultaneously. It is never all of one and none of the other.

Anything we do. We are doing it wrong to a certain Level and we are doing right to a certain Level.

Ideally we would be looking at benefits and consequences. Again, like Right and Wrong. They both exist simultaneously together. It's important to recognize both so we can manage them. That will look different for each Person, Horse and Situation. And quite possibly from day to day, moment to moment.

The point of all this is. We Level Up by fixing or managing the parts that have consequences. And bringing the beneficial parts to fullness.

If you have an eye and a feel for resistance. You will know where the improvements will be needed. Then you will be able advance or Level Up.

11/11/2024

I've not felt motivated to write in quite some time. For a while, I was so busy I just couldn't. Now, i guess I'm just out of practice. I also get annoyed by Facebook always pushing me to boost my posts everytime I make one and never figured out a way to shut that off. If someone knows, please tell me.

But I will say, it's been nice just being able to hang out with my Horses (now 5) in between trips out to help others at their place.

My goal for the last almost 7 years, has been to bring you all some video on our YouTube channel. I put a new one up every now and then, but not the 2 or 3 per week that I had always hoped to achieve. There is only so much I can do with a camera on a tripod. I've purchased a few tracking mounts. They work well for watching yourself back. But they tend to wonder off to much for professional quality video. So if I can do the tripod or fence mount and stay in view, then I can do one.

Many times I wish someone was filming during one of my sessions with customer's. Or during an evaluation. So much important stuff gets discovered and talked about in those moments.

I have so much to share with those looking for it. I am hoping this post pushes me to some accountability to create more videos. I guess I just need a plan to execute.

About 10 years ago I would write daily. It was habit to so. Then I got so busy I just couldn't. Now the habit is broken. I guess I need to create a new habit.

05/20/2024

https://youtu.be/Zet7juf2teQ?si=uJOLWwPs5TGSrWaO

This is an example of how I like to start with a Horse. Respectfully introduce myself and build on a willingness and desire to be a part things.Many horses, ...

02/18/2024

Don' Resist

Are you getting resistance, or are you creating it?
If you're getting resistance from the horse , don't let him talk you out of removing it. It's a trap he's laying that will keep you from achieving whatever comes next. He's content being uneducated and will do his best to remain so.
But what if the resistance is coming from you? There are three main ways that you yourself are creating resistance through self sabotage.
One, realizing that you're definitely going to get him trained to the next level by removing the resistance, and you're going to start tomorrow. Two, it is by doing too much with unreasonable pressure given the stage of training, thereby creating a resistant, angry, and anxious horse. And three is by not doing enough to even find resistance.
You'll only find resistance when you attempt to change the future. If all you want is a pasture pet, resistance will give you a free pass. This is often the most common mistake we as riders cling to. It's so much easier to settle. It takes way less effort and education. However, it's been my experience that a horses heart is not on the surface. You have to go inside to find it.
Now, let's break it down a little more as it pertains to horses. Some would think removing resistance is taking away their spirit and heart. In reality, the horse is hiding its heart from you by not letting you in. Only when resistance is removed can you truly find the depth of your horse. For me, if I can still find resistance, there's still more horse to find.
Don't confuse removing resistance to desensitization. Sure, they need to become accepting of many things, but don't take out their try. I've seen this happen, and unfortunately done it, and there's nothing left to work with. In fact, overly desensitized horses have the highest form of resistance. They don't care anymore.
So what does resistance feel like? What does it act like? What does resistance look like in a horse? The answer is that it depends.
On a hot horse, resistance feels like they're basically running off. It acts like impatience and anxiousness. It looks like a bug headed to a windshield. It's not gonna be pretty if you're the bug. Conversely, on a lazy horse, it's quite different. It feels like you can't get them to go. It acts like it doesn't want to do basic, relatively simple things. It feels like being stuck in the mud. Also, it's not pretty when you're the one behind pushing.
Both require discipline. So pick one. Pick a discipline that is more suited to their tendency, then go to work, removing the resistance that will get them to become manageable, willing, and trained to do what their gifts provide for them. Follow the guidelines and goals of that discipline. Even if you're not into a discipline, your horse needs to be. Pretend There is no such thing as recreational riding if you hope to train your horse. You need to have a vision of where you're going.
Obviously, these two examples are the extremes. Most horses are somewhere else in a rather large pasture of diverse talents and ever changing attitudes. I've never ridden two horses that are exactly alike out of the hundreds I've been fortunate to learn from. Are there some that will fit you better than others? They do me! Yet all have a place in the pasture.
The goal is to find a place of partnership with you as the managing partner. A middle ground where you can work together to achieve the dream you have for your horse, and then develop the horses willingness to let you have that dream. And both willing to adjust as you go. Things change. Adjusting is positive, quitting is not.
The greatest service you can provide for your horse beyond food, water, and shelter is to train him well by removing the resistance that's getting in the way. A broke horse will always have a good home.

Watch for future articles here at our Facebook business page, Craig Johnson Reining, for how to remove resistance. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel, Ride With Craig Johnson, and watch as we go through the process periodically on various types of horses, discipline specific maneuvers, and transitions. We'll show you why and how to find resistance, then how to handle it in short, easy to follow clips and tips. Check out our website at craigjohnsonreining.com for complete training downloads that will help you build your dream horse from start to finish.

01/15/2024

What are your intentions

Your hands and feet are not the cues, they are the corrections or reinforcement. Your intention is the cue, your body language is the cue, your position, your focus, how you use your seat, shoulders or subtle movement is the cue. If the horse doesn't read your intention, that's what your hand, a leg, a foot, a cluck, your voice, or a spur are for. Train in the obvious cues as a backup system to the subtle.