BTB: Bo Jena on long lining, part 2

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Bo Jena on long lining, part 2 Posted: 17 Feb 2011 12:20 PM PST So now, if you had Bo Jena coaching you at this clinic,  your horse should be on the outside rein on a circle, and pretty forward. You walk trot and canter. You halt. you do a lot of transitions. Then you come to a walk, and then you start using the whole ring. To get to the rail, Bo followed the same procedure... Keeping outside rein contact, flip the whip to send the horse forward and sideways, into the outside rein.  The point is to get the horse to the rail, preferably by leg yielding. If you're Bo, you might have an assistant point a whip at the horse's shoulder to reinforce this idea. Walk the horse forward on the rail while you walk well behind the horse and at a 45 degree angle. The horse should be straight and handlers were encouraged to make use of the wall. What could go wrong, right? Ha! We saw balky horses, jumpy/reactive horses, placid horses, and pissed off horses. Horses kicking out with double-barrels, horses leaping forward with such exuberance I wondered if they would break free. Bo was unflappable. He had empathy for the horse, but not too much. He acted as a strong, authoritative, persistent, but tactful presence. When he got the big reaction (e.g., double barrel), he never backed off but he didn't press further, and as soon as he had the horse's attention again he went to something the horse was comfortable with for a bit. Then he tried again. Three's not a crowd Bo often, often, often required a third person to assist. Not a bad idea if you are starting out, and especially if your horse is a bit reactive or tense. Still more to come!

T-Shirt Contest winners! Posted: 17 Feb 2011 09:09 AM PST New design at behindthebit.spreadshirt.com T-shirt logos are really hard. The shirt winner is Scarlett for her recounting of great shirt logos that I had not seen or heard of before. Runner-up is Mikey for Carpe Manure Fork or Carpe Pitchfork. Scarlett wins a t-shirt from behindthebit.spreadshirt.com (any shirt $16 or under). Scarlett, take a look at the site, tell me the style, size, color, etc you want and your mailing address -- I'll get it out to you! Mikey, you win a bag with your choice of designs, just let me know your design choice and your address. The contest continues! Keep your thinking cap on. If you think of a great design, quote, or logo, add it to the comments of any blog post and note that it is a t-shirt idea. You could win a shirt like Scarlett and Mikey. Thanks for playing guys!

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