Mark Rashid Seminars

Rancho Doblado, San Diego CA

For the third year in a row, Mark Rashid returned to our Rancho in the

mountains of San Diego, to offer us two back-to-back 4-day horsemanship

clinics. Mark is traveling with two new horses this year, Quincy and Red.

Quincy had a rough start in life, neglected and living in very poor

conditions. Red had been used a team roping horse, taking his rider to State

Champ Level despite his bracey habits. Mark purposely chose these horses as

projects to take on the road so that he could share with his students how he

works through problems. Each day of the clinics, while Mark taught his

students, he was often mounted on his own horses quietly going over the same

important lessons of straightness and softness, impulsion, stops, turns,

lateral work, back ups, etc.

If you haven't had the chance to see Mark in person, it might be worth

mentioning how he structures his clinics. First, he offers individual

sessions with each horse and rider for at least the first two days of the

4-day clinic. This is to be sure that he can answer each student's questions

and he can give them his undivided attention. Next, he has no set format.

Because he works individually with everyone, you can be at any level in your

horsemanship for this clinic. Mark has a real talent for finding out how to

best help students learn, and then tailoring their lessons to fit them. He

asks lots of questions at the start and he is really good at understanding

what matters to his students.

Some of the themes Mark presented during our clinics were:

*Start Soft, End Soft: Start Straight, End Straight

There is never a time when you do not do this. A horse will always find it

easiest to do any task when he is soft and straight. Teach him to look for

softness and straightness in everything you do so he will be able to better

perform with you and he will have a good chance at a lifetime of soundness.

*It is all in the attitude we bring to the task. Your attitude is the most

important part of anything you do. We can choose from many different

techniques, but your attitude during the process is what will help build

trust in to your relationship with your horse. Think of supporting your

horse in everything you do.  If you are your horse's teacher, how can you

best show him what you are asking of him? Encourage your horse to search for

the soft spot in you: always offer that soft spot in to everything you do.

*We always have options, in everything. We never have to do something one

way. Think outside the box. If something isn't working, change it.

*Teaching by cues. Teach your horse how to respond to a specific cue. If

your horse doesn't respond don't punish your horse with the cue by adding

more of the same cue. Instead add something else, a cluck, a flap of your

rein, whatever is easiest for you. The moment your horse tries in the

direction of what you are looking for, release your cues immediately. When

you ask again, begin with the cue you are teaching.  A few riders learned

how they were rushing their horses through tasks instead of teaching the

horse how to do it for them by teaching the horse a cue. The cue you use is

not important, how you use it is what counts. Be consistent until your horse

learns what that cue means.

*Be Consistent and be Persistent in everything you present to your horse.

When teaching you must be persistent and stay with the task, presenting the

cues in order, consistently, until you get a try in the direction you are

teaching. When you are teaching something new, your horse may not like you

or the work while they are sorting it all out. They may not see the purpose

in the task. Just go about your business. If you are persistent and

consistent and fair, your horse will come to understand that you have a job

to do. Stick to the task and be clear about the goal in your release.

Sometimes in order to grasp something, it takes a night to sleep on it.

Always end on a good note and believe that both you and your horse will

better understand the task on the next day. It was amazing how everyone

progressed from day to day, after they had a chance to sleep what they had

done.

When you teach a horse a task, they don't forget how to do it. Trust that it

will be there when you need it.

We learned that we must teach each task on both the left and the right side

of the horse BECAUSE (I never knew the reason why) the horse has an under

developed corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that

connects the right hemisphere of the brain to the left. Humans have a highly

developed corpus callosum so we can pretty easily switch most tasks from

left to right (some humans better than others, of course). But horses don't

learn this way and often something you taught on the right side will be

brand new when you switch to the left side. Therefore, it is really

important to get it solid on one side before switching to the other. The

horse may be able to retain some knowledge from left to right, if it is

solid.

In the midst of any struggle, in order to help you not get lost in the

struggle, you might learn ask yourself:

What?

So what?

Now what?

*Each struggle is an opportunity. Try to stay on task and be there for your

horse in everything you do. If you get lost in the midst of an exercise, and

your horse is already lost, then whose mind is in the pen taking care of the

business at hand? Try to be there at all times for your horse. If you can't,

there is no harm in stopping to regroup or taking a break.

Shawn built us a 14 foot teeter-totter bridge right before the clinic and it

ended up a part of almost every lesson in the arena. Mark, riding his own

horses, showed folks how to approach this task and teach their horse to go

over the bridge with confidence. Some people were inclined to ride their

horses in over their heads, because if the horse was good at one step, why

not take 3 or 4? Mark encouraged people to take small confident steps, start

straight and end straight, and start soft and end soft. This bridge has

endless possibilities for learning balance, straightness, courage, and

softness. How little can you do to encourage your horse? How much to do you

need to help them when they start to get lost, but how quick can you come

back to softness?

Most nights, after the horses were fed and the day was done, we retired to

the house where Mark played guitar with his friend and fellow Elktone, Brad

Fitch. We had a pot luck dinner during each clinic, where folks could stay

for the evening and get to know each other better. Once again, we were

blessed with enthusiastic, helpful, friendly people at our clinics. The

riders were remarkable, getting up in front of everyone to learn with

honesty and integrity. The auditors were a great cheering section, even on

the rainy days when we needed you most. Thanks to all. We hope to see you

again very soon.

Beth Anne Doblado

www.ranchodoblado.com