> By Cynthia > > Mark Rashid Clinic, Duluth, MN John & Duke John and Duke were second up. I have some perspectives on this one as I am married to John. Duke was "fussing" with his head a lot. John doesn't ride real regularly. Mark went through his questions to find out what the horse had done and what John wanted to do. John wanted to work on the horse's lateral work. Mark said that the horse had to stand still to do that so that the first thing to accomplish was to get this horse to stand still. John also had to work with letting the horse's feet move. His main task was to get his hands consistent so that the horse could keep his head quiet. Mark had him walk until his horse was quiet, then trot. When the horse began to fuss with his head Mark had John turn his nose and take him in a circle. Mark said, "let him try to stay soft, turn him before he gets a full head of steam. When he speeds up at the trot, circle him to control his speed." On the good side, John was not pushing the horse with his leg. The horse was still moving his feet and worrying, his head going up. Mark pointed out that John would begin the correction and then not follow through on it. John had to be reminded to soften his hands AFTER we get the horse thinking about the rider. Duke's problem appeared to be about stopping and Johns timing. John got the head tossing stopped and then took the horse on the rail. He was looking for direction and John was giving him correction in a punishing way. John's past solution to Duke's energy was to lope him until he wanted to stop. Mark also indicated that he thought that part of Duke's problem may be too much grain. Duke is in a paddock with 8 other horses. They get grass hay free choice and each of them gets about 3.5 pounds of a corn/barley/oats mix once a day. John Day 2 Mark showed John how to use a fixed hand position in turning Duke to diffuse a fight before it happens. John is not fighting with Duke today and Duke is beginning to stand still. Mark talked about how we could spend all day waiting for Duke to become more quiet but that with this horse and this rider it is probably better to let him get quieter "on the job". We talked about what a horse's attention span is. People were guessing 20 minutes, 40 minutes maybe an hour. Mark said to think about a horse that is separated and worrying about his buddy, now how long do you think the attention span is. John's first request had been to work on side passing. Mark said that he likes to begin with the turn on the forehand, go to the turn on the hindquarters and finish with the side pass all on the same side. John had to pick up contact for this and as he attempted the turn on the forehand, Mark observed that John was not releasing his cue when the horse responded. After a good attempt on Duke's part John would walk or trot him out along the rail. Duke needed the rein cue and a light leg cue and John needed to shift his hip down to get the lateral movement. They also worked on the turn on the haunches. John has a tendency to turn his horse's head too far. Mark pointed out that it is important to let the horse have some success, stop and release after a good effort. They also worked on the back and Mark showed us how Dukey is backing off the front end and pushing himself back with his front legs. This is not the correct way to back (continued)
