Karin Altoft Horsemanship

Sitting at a green light waiting for it to turn red.
And
There's no such thing as over-prepared.

Interesting thing in horse development, some of us want to have everything just right, just so, and all the guarantees. I love being well prepared. Just don't sit at a green light waiting for it to turn red.

Protecting vs preparing.

This meme is just silly with a bit of truth to it.
One of my mentors said, "there's no such thing as over- prepared" and another said "building confidence is like spreading peanut butter on cheap bread, go too fast and the bread will rip"

Sometimes we are careful to not ruffle our horses feathers so we avoid things that ruffle. Next thing you know, you can only ride when there's no wind, rain or weather... When the sun is right and definitely not on a full moon. Never mind sharing the arena with someone whose pulling out tarps, wiggling flags and cracking whips. When we avoid all that weird stuff to preserve our horses confidence, that confidence shrinks.
Preparing your horse doesn't mean flooding them but presenting achievable challenges, growing confidence by practicing smoothing their own ruffled feathers. Make sure you take bite size pieces when stretching you and your horse's confidence bubble or it'll pop. 🫧

But do advocate for your horse if you end up in a situation that isn't bite size and you or your horse might choke.

Sometimes helping, isn't helping.

It's hard watching someone in a messy learning situation. It's a hard balance to be found in saving someone from getting overfaced with a challenge and letting them struggle, gain valuable experience and grow. Often, doing something for someone robs them of the experience they need to start doing that thing for themselves.

In jujitsu, we don't help our partner off the ground because every time they pick themselves up, they get stronger. 🏋🏽‍♀️

It is not the critic who counts...
This is one of my favorite quotes. It's easy to watch from the sidelines and have an opinion.
Get in the arena, dare greatly.

Don't forget to play.
I was thinking about some of the successful trainers out there. Wondering, betting, they also ran like a horse as a kid 😆 if you know, you know.
I enjoy exuberance from my horses and try not to be so direct about my plans that I can't enjoy horses being horses. Remember what you fell in love with as a kid ❤️🐴

Having a plan.
In sports psychology, they say visualization is a key strategy to success. Not having a clear picture in your mind of what you're looking for from your horse can feel wishy washy and unclear, so your horse might give you some creativity that's mayybe not helpful 😅. Say you're going to go do a gate. I try to have a plan that's more than 'get to the gate' and more like... trot to there. Yield the hip. Stirrup to there...
Without a plan we'll almost certainly get there out of the position. We get into an obstacle disorganized or without a plan and then... we make it the horses problem as we rush to salvage a vague idea of a plan when we're in the thick of it. Sound familiar? Try to have a detailed plan not just of what you're doing, but how and where and then don't start till your organized mentally and physically. 🤓✅️

Anxiety in the saddle...
Something interesting happens when I have a nervous student start playing with, say the trot. They get pretty tense. Can't blame em, it's human nature. And then they get exhausted and that's usually when they want to be done but I think that's when the magic happens. If you're getting exhausted doing a couple laps of trot, you're using too much and many muscles. You eventually have to let go of the muscles you don't need. And there it is. Do less, go with.
Many horse folk in my parts haven't had the opportunity to long trot their horses long enough to let go of what they don't need. Find that eco mode.
Here's to the brave novice riders stretching their comfort zones 🍷

Sneak preview of 'Luna'
A papered quarter horse, mare, 6yrs and about 15h.
She's a looker for sure!