California: Patron - A very strong and high ranking horse 

California: Patron - A very strong and high ranking horse 

Patron is a lucky, secure horse, he has never met any harm. No one ever treated him harshly or bad. He was super relaxed and fully comfortable lying on the ground and letting me be close to him. Even letting me touch his ears right away. I always like to be able to touch a horses ears before riding them the first time. A horse that don't feel safe around you, will always protect the ears.

I was very happy to meet Patron in California. He was a very strong horse. A naturally very high ranking horse and at the same time he was a very nice horse to work with. High ranking horses can sometimes be a little harder to work with initially, because high ranking horses don't follow other lead horses (or me, at first) - their job is to lead and protect their herd.

 I would never use a whip as a punishment tool or even as riding equipment. Always completely unnecessary! I do, however, sometimes use a whip in my initial training from the ground. Not to whip the horse, but only using it as a marker of 'my territory', my part of the training area. I am always taking the stand as the 'lead horse' and this will often begin with talks about who rules the territory, we are working on in the training.

A high ranking lead horse will never back up for anyone, but all other lower ranking horses will back up for the lead horse. This is my only reaction in my training, if the horse is not following my lead. Backing it up two steps. And this communication any horse will understand naturally, first time.

The Buck Mountain Ranch is working on the idea to offer combined riding and yoga retreats in the future. They already have lots of nice horses and very beautiful landscapes to ride in.

 We discussed doing a week-long riding retreat combined with learning about the WHC method and riding in the great nature in the area.

Maybe we will some day!