Peace On Earth

There are a number of Christmas Carols that have the phrases “Good Will Toward Man” and “Peace On Earth” in their lyrics. I really believe those words  should be far more than just lyrics in a song that are just thought about during the Christmas holiday season, then forgotten the rest of the year.
   There wasn’t much good will toward man during the recent election. These days peace of earth feels more like an impossibility than ever before, yet every once and a while I have been lucky enough to see just a glimmer of good will toward man and peace on earth. Where, you may ask, did this happen? Well, it happened at a horse show while I was standing in the middle of the ring judging the show.  That’s right - a horse show is where I saw  peace on earth and felt good will toward man.
  This year I had the pleasure of judging a Fun Horse Show that was being held as a fund raiser for a charity and that’s where I saw the glimmer. I have seen it before at other fun horse shows in the past too. As in the past I was amazed by the, yes,  good will towards men, women and children at the show.
  Standing there in center ring I couldn’t help but notice, not only, all the different breeds of horses, but all the differences in the people there as well. Their differences were of little importance to anyone the day of horse shows.
There were people of all ages,  genders, races, religion and,  I image, political beliefs, but nobody cared. There were non-horse people there that day and, again, nobody cared. We were just a group of people sharing common interest in horses and sense of community. We were all their to help raise funds for a good cause which would help our fellow man.
  I think horses give people a different perspective, in a sense. As one young man, who was helping out commented,  “ horses don’t care about color or anything else,” and he had that right.  Horses just look at one another as horses not at the color, or breed or where they came from they just know they are all part of the greater herd. Wouldn’t it be great if humans had that great gift?
  It just feels, of late, that we are so divided. Even friends and family seem to be taking sides on issues and missing  what family and friends are all about. . That day of that show I didn’t feel that at all. What I felt was people putting aside differences and enjoying one another on and the passions for horse they all share.  There was friendship and camaraderie that day.
    I found Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Man in small corner of the world, a horse show are arena .  It gives me hope that maybe someday we will  see Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward man around the world.
    I wish you all a wonderful Holiday season with family and friends gathering near. For those of you like my family who may have lost a love one  or perhaps life has been diffcult this year I wish you strength this holiday season and some peace this coming year.

Good Will Toward Men and Peace On Earth .

 Today there seems to be some confusion about what collection is exactly. There seems to be some confusion these days about how to achieve collection , as well.
 There are a number of people giving clinics out there today who give people the impression that collection is just the horse putting his nose down and that it’s achieved by asking the horse to back up, tying his head down or reaching around and pulling the horses head around to the stirrup. This isn’t collection or achieving collection.
 Okay, for those who are about to stop reading and move on, because “I don’t need to know this I just trail ride” or who are saying “that’s for Dressage riding not Western”, not true. Every horse should be able to collect his/her gaits whether ridden at Prix St. George level dressage, reining or just going up the trail. So just keep reading.
 Collection is basically  the bringing together of both the front and rear of the horse for the purpose of lifting and lightening the forehand. Collection is when a horse carries more weight on his hind legs than his front legs - which is what is meant by lightening the forehand.  The horse has engagement from his hindquarters which means the energy to move the horse forward is coming from his hindquarters rather than just from his front legs or shoulders.
 When the horse has his hindquarter engaged he will have a slight bend at the poll, you will see that the high point of his hindquarters is slightly lower than the withers and you feel like you are riding “uphill”, so to speak, rather than “ downhill”.
 How do you achieve collection? Well, you want to start out asking  for a collection at the walk.That’s the easiest for both you and the horse. Once the horse understands what you are asking you can move on to the trot and even the canter/lope if you like, but lets just talk about the walk and trot for now.
 Ask your horse to walk and as he does take a slight contact with the bit , not enough to bring him to stop, but just a very light contact. At the same time apply slight pressure with your legs. When you do this your horse should bend slightly at the poll and you should be able to feel the impulsion coming from his hindquarters. It should feel as if he is driving himself “ uphill” with his hindquarters. You should feel the horse literally lighten up in your hands even though you have more contact with the bit.
 I always say I don’t care if you’re riding down the trail or in an arena, showing or just pleasure riding your horse should learn to collect his/her gaits because it makes for a more pleasurable ride for you and the horse. Collection should be part of any horse’s training, for your sake as well as the horse’s.