VIDEOS

We ticked another goal the list at the ARCHA Toprail Equine Hackamore Classic 2021 by winning our first champion placing in a cow horse event! There may have only been two in it 😅 but it felt good to finally have the hard work pay off. And that I finally didn’t blow the rein work by over spinning!!!!! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️😂 We also competed for the first time fully one handed up against the big boys in the Open Bridle Spectacular class and surprisingly didn’t come last! Instead we came home with a 5th placing. We definitely have more work to do to be fully competitive in this class, but the fact that we got it done without cattle or an arena is a miracle! And lastly we took out 3rd in the Open Two Handed Boxing. Another good result in large class. 3 classes and 3 placings is our best result yet! As always we were far from perfect, but there were definite improvements in the areas we had been practicing. Lead changes was our main focus from last show to now. It has proved to be a very challenging maneuver for oakie to learn. We have literally been practicing them non stop. At the beach, at the showground on the trails. Just when I thought oakie had them, he’d somehow forgot what to do 😄. I feel like they are just going to take time. And while they still aren’t 100%, they were leaps and bounds from last shows squirrelly attempts. Even when I asked him to do them one handed just for a change 😂. Next stop is proper stops (if we can find a surface), faster spins, smoother lead changes and better neck reining. Oh and cattle if by some miracle we came across such a situation 🤣. #livingthedream

We may not have won any money, but I couldn’t be happier with what this little guy does for me. This was our first time one handed cutting for both Oakie and I. We managed to get a clean run (minus the rider errors 😅) out of what was unfortunately very little practice one handed on cattle leading up to the event. At the end of the day, it’s not all about the ribbon, always remember what it took for you to get to that moment and how amazing it is what these beautiful creatures do for us 😍

This show was Oakie's 3rd & 4th time going one handed in the cowhorse. Same as usual we came into the show without any cowhorse/cattle practice so I can't complain too much for our efforts! And yes, I do almost fall off on that fence turn in the last run.🤦‍♀️ Poor Oakie must just think what the heck is she doing here, If she would just get with the program, we might be able to get this cow 😂 Oakie went from Ranch Horse to Cow Horse to Western Dressage Horse over the 3 days. 😆 🤦‍♀️ We came away with some wins but overall I'm just happy with our progress. I love that with the right foundation it's possible to point your horse at any job and be able to get it done. It's a good feeling being able to see the hard work paying off.

This was Oakies first time competing in an EXCA race and we got lucky and won it! While oakie has seen a couple of obstacles in his travels, this definitely had some new ones for us to navigate. Our personal goal for this race was one, to get through all of the obstacles, two, to be able to do it all one handed and finally to be able to do it as smooth and soft as possible. While there are always things to work on, I can’t be happier with this versatile little pony ❤️

Having some fun at the beach with Oakie practicing bareback and bitless/bridleless riding. And we had our first gallop at the beach! More videos and content at https://m.facebook.com/lvhorseman/ Song credit: Cloud Dream by Ketsa

Whether you're riding with a bridle or without, your leg cues / aids should be doing 90% of the work. I like to see the reins as a training tool and/or a back up for when the leg cues/aids aren't getting across effectively. But it can totally confusing knowing which ones to use and how to use them. This video shows just a couple of the main cues/aids I use when training and riding my horses and how they can can be mixed around to be used for different manoeuvres. The video also shows how the reins and bridle aren't necessary to rely on for maintaining lateral flexion, and vertical collection, steering, stopping, backing up etc. Follow the LV Horsemanship Facebook page for more updates and info. Book & Training course coming soon! The awesome song in this video is Essence by Ketsa

In this video Oakie and I were having a go at a few different maneouvres that test body control and top soften his whole body. Even though some of these maneouvres aren’t in our regular agenda, we are still able to get them done because of the 6 foundation controls that we have already learnt. These 6 controls that are the foundation for pretty much any maneouvre are... Forward (walk, trot, canter etc) Reverse Park Flexion Hind Quarters Shoulders Master these and you’ll be able to do pretty much any exercise. More content available at www.facebook.com/lvhorseman

Oakie learning to be guided/steered, stopped, turned, change directions, and even work a dingo 😂 all while remaining soft and relaxed never stiff and resistant.

This is the unedited version so you can see all of our mistakes!

Afternoon shenanigans with this loose cannon. It’s all a bit sloppy, but it’s tricky making corrections bareback, bridleless, no hands and controlling the flag! 🤣 It is, however, a good (different) way of seeing where the holes are in our training!

When you’re trying to get work done but ‘the computer says no’. 🤣 3 points I’d like to make here... 1. Distractions are inevitable, use the opportunity to expose, desensitize and educate your pony. 2. Some days just won’t go to plan, let them be and come back tomorrow. 3. When riding bareback and bridleless on a 4 year old horse that has been spelling, maybe don’t let his best friend and your dingo loose in the arena. 🤣

Oakie's first time ridden bridleless. No whips, ropes, spurs, just legs! Cues explained. Subscribe to LV Horsemanship https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwbt0E3SXmDJjkQL5oNX3FA?sub_confirmation=1

In this training session we worked with a horse that has some issues with float loading.

Bareback Bridleless Riding - Spins, back up, stops, lead changes on Goody Blue Shoes.