Juliana Zunde Lessons and Clinics

09/28/2020

“Oh, dear. Looking at this photo, I hardly know where to start. There is no harmony here, no grace, no partnership between horse and rider, only compulsion, domination and abuse. The draw reins have obviously been used to pull this poor creature’s neck into his chest and the figure-eight noseband is so tight that the horse could not relax his jaw, even if he wanted to. German dressage legend, the late Reiner Klimke, famously remarked, “My horse is not my slave, he is my friend.” I hope riders who see this photo will take his advice to heart.”

“Horses are made by nature to be free-roaming herd animals. When we enter into a partnership with them, they surrender freedom and the company of other horses, two of their strongest characteristics, for the doubtful benefits of a life in a 12-by-12 stall with regulated grazing and occasional structured, controlled and solitary exercise. Many horses in such circumstances dedicate themselves to their human partners and find dignity in their work. Their generous and kind acceptance of this one-sided bargain makes it even more essential that we speak out against abuse and prevent it wherever possible. In this era of mass communication, there is talk of expanding our sport to an ever-widening circle of spectators to gain interest and respect for our two- and four-legged athletes. However, if we would gain the world’s respect, we must first make ourselves respectable.”

In this column, Jim Wofford examines different kinds of abuse, none of which have any place in horse sports, and how to confront it. More on Jim's thoughts >>https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/abuse-several-faces-all-ugly

Photo: Amy K. Dragoo/AIMMEDIA

08/18/2020

Just like a plumber or carpenter, as riders we need a tool box to help us on the job. Do you have enough tools in your tool box? Do you know exactly what they do and can you find them blind?

Any instructor’s job is it to teach you the art of the trade, which includes knowing what tools to use. Similarly, in learning an instrument, you need to practice endless scales so that you can find each note without having to think about it. When you are putting the notes together to play a piece of music, you do not have time to look the proper note.

It is exactly the same with riding horses. You have to learn all the tools (aids), their names, and what they do. That is your instructor’s job. How you place them in your tool box is your job. If you take a few different people and give them a set of tools (hammer, nails, screwdriver, wrench, etc.) and have them arrange them in a tool box, each one would be organized a little differently to suit the person’s needs.

It is the same in riding; you need to place the tools into your mental tool box to suit your needs and the way your mind works. When you are learning the tools, you probably need an inventory and description of what each one of one does, to make sure that you understand and go to the correct tool for the job at hand. For instance, if you want to screw in a straight screw with a Phillips screw driver, you will have a hard time making it work. In riding, the same thing applies. If you are trying to bend your horse around your inside leg, but it accidentally and unbeknownst to you has slipped too far back, you are now addressing a totally different body part of the horse and he will not be able to give you the right answer.

Follow the link below to read the full article:

Just like a plumber or carpenter, as riders we need a tool box to help us on the job. Do you have enough tools in your tool box? Do you know exactly what they do and can you find them blind?  …

06/16/2020

05/03/2020

This is so well said and so true.... a lot of PTSD horses we retrain have come from training situations that have always asked the wrong question in the wrong setting at the wrong time🐴

There's a question that comes up a lot about the "creating connection through a change in focus" exercise. It's been coming up more and more lately with the release of the "reconnecting with your horse during coronavirus" videos for my sponsor Weaver Leather, and also with the videos I did with Bella on using it to help with separation anxiety.

The question has to do with grass.

"What if my horse won't stop eating the grass when I'm trying to facilitate his focus shifting to me" is basically the content of the question.

My answer differs depending on the situation. If your horse has been locked up for 12 hours in a stall, and the only large area you have to try this exercise in has a lot of grass, then you may have to make a judgement call.

You may have to decide that the "creating connection through a change in focus" exercise is not the best decision to make then, and you might decide to try to get more connection some other way, such as matching steps, or even just standing or sitting and being present.

One of the principles of training is "They need to know the answer before you ask the question".

But ensuring they know how to do something before you ask them to do it, is not enough. You also need to have the judgement to decide "in this situation, do I know I can get a yes answer". If the answer is no, then that situation is not a good place to ask that question, regardless of whether they could do it the day before.

I love Elsa Sinclair's quote "good leaders only ask yes questions". Asking only yes questions proves to your horse a lot about you as a person. It shows your empathy, it shows you are present and reading each situation, and strengthens your connection to them.

Every time you ask a no question, asking a horse to do something that, at that moment, he is unable to do, you wear away at his confidence in you. It's the same as if a man proposes to a woman waaaay too early in the relationship, and she says no. Not only is it a no, but it also tells her that the man is not good at reading social cues. Men are pretty good at this part, usually we can read the situation well enough to know we are going to get a yes, before buying a ring, and getting down on one knee. We still have a lot of work to do, but that's one thing we get right.

I see many horses that are spooky, not because they are a spooky horse by nature, but lack confidence in the rider because of many interactions where the rider over faced the horse."Over facing" is a term commonly used in the jumping world to describe what happens when you ask a horse to jump too high a jump. They quit. They lose confidence in their ability to make it over the jump, and they lose confidence in the rider's judgement.

But over facing is not about just jumps. You can do it at any time during your interaction with your horse during the day. And the more times you do it, the less confidence they have in you.

I have a lot of people say "oh you are so talented", but I don't think it's about talent. Talent to me sounds like a physical thing, like catching a ball or riding a unicycle. What I believe I do is just make good decisions, that only result in yes answers. That's not to say I won't push a horses boundaries, and ask for new things, but I always set it up so the objective is within reach, and never setting myself up for failure.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. It's not a method, it's a mindset.

04/24/2020

Dr. Peters is a human neuropsychologist. He has been studying the horse's brain and helping horse people understand what's important to horses (safety) and h...

04/19/2020

04/10/2020