June 29, 2012

When I got my first horse off the Los Alamitos racetrack, she was hyper and loved to run. When I started training her, I looked for advice from professionals who had trained many horses already. That is how I found John Lyons. I happened to get on a mailing list for his books and I found them filled with insightful information about how to train the horse as well as how to think while working with the horses.

Though John is really good at explaining, there are some things that just don’t completely make sense until you get into a specific situation. When I’m training on the trailer, or anything else I find myself thinking WWJLS (What Would John Lyons Say). He is always calm. “It might take 5 times or 500 times.”

June 27, 2012

Whenever you are with your horse you are teaching him/her something. Every minute. You are asking your horse to do something even if it is just to stand there while you talk to the other rider who stopped to say ‘hi’. Oh, and did you turn your back? You are still teaching your horse.

I see riders who saddle up, mount up, and then text on their phones while they ride. What are they teaching the horse? If a rider is preoccupied with anything (texting, talking, etc) he/she might not see the tossing of the head, or the cutting away from the rail while they ride around in the arena. The horse might be getting lazy, but if the rider doesn’t correct the horse it will be like the rider is telling the horse they are doing the right thing. Next time the rider just gets on to ride and the horse strays from the railing, the rider will correct the horse. The rider might even get a little frustrated because the horse keeps cutting away from the railing. Can you imagine what the horse is thinking? ‘I’ve done it this way lots of times. Why is this time any different?’

June 24, 2012

Seyvilla Dawn Proof was born Seyvilladawnproof on January 28, 1998. The bay colored, full blood Arabian was sired by NF Proof, her dam was Seyvilla Dawn. I found her last race posted online! She ran last on August 31, 2001. As a matter of public record, the last jockey to ride her in that race was Gladney D.
Three months after her final race, my uncle who was her farrier, introduced my family and I to the idea of owning her.

On September 28th, I caught my first sight of Seyvilladawnproof as she was backed out of the horse trailer that had brought her from Los Alamitos racetrack. I was totally stoked! She was my first horse and I could hardly wait to get started! That was the start of 12+ years of exciting, hardworking, but always rewarding ownership.

My sister, Sheena, and I started with lots of groundwork and lunging, getting to know Seyvilla and letting her get to know us. We went out and worked with Seyvilla as many days after school as possible, training her to accept the western saddle that is more than twice what a racing saddle weighs.

With faithful training and riding, Seyvilladawnproof went from a racehorse who basically only knew how to run, to a horse who is good with riders of all ages and all experience levels.

June 23, 2012

I was able to spend lots of time out with my horses this morning. It makes me see why it was that I wanted horses. The weather has been beautiful today, with mostly blue skies and an occasional cloud or two. Air temperature now is about 80 degrees.
Training horses is like working with someone who doesn't speak your language. The way to work together is to first find a common language then build your relationship from there. Developing the relationship around a language barrier can cause some misunderstanding at the beginning, but if both sides keep with it long enough, there is great reward. Each side learns some of the other's language and they both become better. So it is with horses. To begin with the horses know one language, 'run when a terrifying thing comes', the person is an unknown and 'what is that huge thing on top?' As a horse and rider continue working together the rider realizes that the horse is just staying safe. If something is terrifying, they run away from it. The horse realizes the person is trying to help and be a friend and in the end the horse realizes that the huge thing on top is just a harmless cowboy hat. The human's way to try to look as cool as a horse already does.

June 22, 2012

Welcome to my new blog! I have a love for horses and God has given me and want to share that love with others. My true goal is to research and find information about an organization that has influence with disabled and handicapped people. I have felt a calling for quite sometime.

I love training my horses. I have been training for about 12 years now and continue to love it!