update

So I've kinda forgotten to update this, but I have been working a little more with Flash and been doing more research. I've also come to realize I need a carrot stick in order to enforce my boundaries a little easier and safer. It's bee VERY cold for SC here lately and pretty rainy, so working with him has been limited, but the last time I did was right after that time of the month and he was VERY pushy and I felt dangerous. I don't know if that was the reason or not, but all I was trying to do was go in and spend some time with him, instead he was pushy and pranced around me, WAY to close! I decided I won't go back in there unarmed...

 Since then I've been trying to find as many free resources as possible to learn from. There were a couple youtube videos of Clinton Anderson's practices by a guy who used them on his horse and while it doesn't describe things in detail it give you a good idea of what steps to follow- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEnACbsHHDM

I also found this one site that give's it's own step by step breakdown of groundwork and it actually makes sense- http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/groundRespect.shtml.

Overall what I've been hearing and reading is that whatever program you use you will be starting off with desensitizing and teaching them to give to pressure (physical and mental). What order you do this in tends to vary, but it seems to me that whatever order (though each trainer tells a different "MUST DO" order) you do decide to use, you don't move on till your horse has mastered the item you are working on. Now of course there are exceptions like when you don't know exactly what you're doing, like me, and realize that there are a few steps you might have skipped and need to back track on. That brings me to the second key note today in that it's ok to "get back to basics".

Just like kids; horses, and all animals, learn to behave based on how we train them, however they also have those moments were they can all of a sudden revert back to misbehavior or skittishness. In these cases it seems to be very important to get back to those all important basics.

Today I actually got to talk and watch another horse woman who's training her own horses as well and doesn't have any formal training either.  I met her through a job training we did a couple of months ago and we've  been trying to find a time that would work for both of us so that I could go riding with her. Well we were hoping for this past Saturday, but then the weather kinda made that impossible. So today I get this phone call asking me if I'd like to go riding, like I'd say no lol. So I met her at her place, followed her to her inlaws and after she readied 6 horses (2 adults and 4 kids lol) we took an hour and a half trail ride around the property going through fields, around a lake, down a gully or 2, and zig zagging through close trees. It was probably the best riding I've ever done, a lot more fun that riding in an arena! lol While we rode M. and I talked about how her and her boys got started in riding, why she makes the choices she makes in regards to tack and shoes vs no shoes and what trainers she prefers.

After we got back she even showed me the tack she prefers and some of the initial ground work exercises she uses. Best of all she doesn't use a round pen for these exercises, instead she uses a carrot stick and a 12 ft long lead rope attached to a rope halter. Evidently the knots in the rope halter allow the horse to more easily feel the pressure you're giving, and actually, after putting one on for the first time it's a lot easier to handle than a standard halter.

And finally she has given me some training magazine and has lent me her Parelli training dvds so I'm looking forward to really seeing one of these step by step videos and while this trainer wasn't my first choice she still falls under the natural horsemanship training I'm trying to use and well it's FREE lol. Hopefull I'll have more for you soon, but need to save up a little money to get this little set, I need about $60, maybe I'll get it as a late Christmas gift lol. Oh and hopefully I'll be able to go riding again on Thursday!