Getting In and Getting Out

Many of you have heard the terminology, “getting in and getting out,” when describing the correction for our horses. The other day I was reminded of this concept when I ran across the following quote from Aristotle.“It is easy to fly into a passion—anybody can do that—but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time and with the right object and in the right way—that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it.”​

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The Art of Lunging

​Last summer, MM Training instructors focused a good portion of ground training lessons on teaching our students correct lunging techniques. Through the years, we have found that lunging can be such a great training tool for horse and handler. Handlers can learn some skills that will improve their overall horsemanship, and the horse can learn a number of maneuvers to add to its future training success under saddle. Lunging is not an easy exercise to perform, nor is it easy to teach. But, as instruc-tors, we felt that we needed to address lunging in more depth because we saw so many people lunging their horses incorrectly. If you don’t lunge correctly, you will never reap the rewards that proper lunging can bring to you and your horse.

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Finding Success Through Frustration

Our clinics may be different from other clinics that you have experienced. Because our focus is on developing your horsemanship on three different levels (3-D Rider™) – ground training, equitation, and training under saddle – you probably experience more stress at our clinics than you do at others. We believe that you need to stress yourself on all levels – physical, mental and emotional – in order to experience the deepest growth as a person or as a horseman. We hope the stress you experience at a clinic transfers to your growth in all realms.All horse trainers feel frustration at one time or another. When you are working with another mind, as we are when we’re working with a horse, we have to be aware that frustration will happen. The horse has its own agenda and also feels its own sense of frustration when it can’t understand us. We don’t want to prevent frustration because frustration handled properly promotes growth. So how do we positively handle our frustration and our horse’s frustration?

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3-D Clinic 1 Recap: On the Ground

Our team would like to congratulate the participants of the first clinic of our 3-D mini series, On the Ground, on their outstanding and engaged participation. We thought this clinic proved to be very fun and rewarding for all involved, including the instructors. As our second segment, Equitation, approaches, we hope you are looking forward to more of the same - fun, fellowship and the improvement of old skills and the discovery of new ones.

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Lessons Learned

“I bet you want me to saddle that horse for you,” Grandpa said with a sigh as he dusted off the bits of hay from his daily chores. Under the heavy lids of his eyes, I saw a twinkle of excitement. Oh, how I loved to ride my horse and even though Grandpa was exhausted from his labored day, his recliner would wait. Grandma would tell him, “Just tell her you are too tired,” but he would always take me back to the barn where he would place me in the manger as he went about saddling and grooming.

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