Articles |Introduction: The Five Easy Pieces
by Suzanne Drnec as told by Les Vogt
Have you ever wished your horse had an instrument panel like a car, with
dials and gauges so you could monitor at a glance your progress down the
road?
I sure have, and after 40+ years as a professional horseman and teacher, I've
developed a system to teach, test, and correct common performance horse
problems. Whether you ride trail, rope, rein, jump or ride dressage, my Five
Easy Pieces warm-up exercises will help you communicate better with your horse,
let you make faster training progress with no resistance, and have a better
relationship with your horse. |
“A true horseman can see self-esteem in horses,
because he looks for it and nurtures it. Like a good school-teacher, a capable
horse trainer will enhance the self-esteem of each
student.”
|
Try my Five Easy Pieces and you'll find that setting out for a ride, or
entering an arena, can be as reliable and pleasant as getting in your well-tuned
car for a drive.
By teaching your horse in small, discreet units, you can avoid the confusion,
frustration, and even fear that results from training with a nonsequential
system of conflicting commands. You'll also detect developing physical problems
early: A horse who usually does Easy Piece four, the hip exercise, with no
resistance but suddenly gets sticky and agitated to the left is likely telling
you that something over there hurts. Check his back and left leg for soreness or
swelling, and you may avoid a crippling injury.
Five Easy Pieces will allow you to teach your horse to travel "in frame".
What's frame? It's a general term used by horsemen to indicate that a horse is
traveling efficiently, with his body positioned in such a way that he can easily
maintain his speed, pace, and position. A good way to think of frame is to
imagine it's your horse's posture.
If he looks like a crabby teenager - slouching, neck jutting forward,
shoulders haunched, and shambling along - not only is he unpleasant to watch,
he's not showing any grace or athletic potential either.
My system will work for a novice rider or a green horse as well as for
seasoned pros. Why? Because, by dividing the horse's body and physical mechanics
into easily trainable zones, we can pinpoint the exact source of a frame or
'posture' problem, and concentrate on fixing that problem before it compromises
our horse's performance. A horse's body and brain form a complex system, but if
we can guide that system by working with discrete zones of the horse in basic
exercises, we'll build the foundation of learning, conditioning and obedience
that is the basis for all advanced training and high performance. Plus, it's
cheap and easy: you and your horse can learn my Five Easy Pieces in an area as
small as a box stall, with simple equipment, at a walk, and see immediate
results.
on to page 2 of 3 pages »»
«« MORE
ARTICLES |
