Do You Feel Stuck?

  If you feel stuck then go back to the basics but in a different way.  

How Appropriate for January.    Credit: Pixabay

Here are some tips I found on the internet. You'll notice that they are from different industries.

Back To Basics:

1. Focus on simplifying, consistency, and focusing on foundational health rather then complex, trendy solutions (from Coach Shawn on Coffee Talk).

2.  Choose 1 simple skill and let the subject be whatever is in front of you. Skills build quietly over time.  (Ian Fennelly, Urban Sketch Course).

3.  AI Overview of Shawn Florida's (NRHA Hall of Famer) going back to the basics of reining emphasizes creating a willing, independent partner through consistent, quiet, and repetitive, yet not excessive, training. Flarida's approach focuses on the horse's mind, body and heart, ensuring they understand the maneuvers rather then being forced into them..  

AI further summarizes:

  1. Focus on the Mindset and Willingness:

     - Prevent Boredom and Resentment -> Don't drill a horse to death. Train to the point of understanding and then give the horse a break.

     - Let them work-> Allow the horse to perform maneuvers independently rather then micromanaging every step. The goal is a horse that does the job on its own, making the rider smoother and more impressive.

   2. Return to Fundamental Maneuvers (ie. Back to the Basics).

    - Too Fast or Anxious on the Rollback -> return to basic walk-throughs or simple repetitions until they wait on you. 

    - Circles are Too Rushed-> focus on control and balance, keeping them relaxed and not pushing on the inside.

   3. Refine Your Aids:

    - Lighten Your Cues -> If the horse is doing the maneuver correctly, let them do it.

    - Consistency is Key -> Use the same, subtle cues for every maneuver to avoid confusing the horse.

    - Positioning -> Keep your shoulders over your hips and your weight in your heels to maintain balance and avoid becoming crooked which hinders the horse's performance. 

   4. Proper Groundwork and Foundation: Whoa!

      My Take on Proper Groundwork and Foundation: 

Well this is a big one for me! My training business was called Foundation Reining Training. It was all about proper groundwork and foundation. I believe it's applicable to all disciplines. I put a basic reining foundation using a lot of groundwork for many different breeds of horses.

Credit: pixabay

  If interested in more back to basics articles and information, I still maintain my website: www.reinersuehorsemanship.com.

 Nothing compares to going back to the basics!  

Putting My Spin on the Basics

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners 2026

A Box of Miscellaneous Screws

   I was reminded the other day from someone I follow on youtube about the multitude of instructional youtube videos out there about every subject.   I call youtube my youtube library.

 I've watched videos from fixing my garage door opener to fixing my riding lawn mower to art and current events. It's amazing really if you think about it.

 Too Many Choices:

    I also found that one of the negatives with all these videos as it can be confusing when there are so many videos of the same subject and especially conflicting information.  I'm finding the AI algorithm doesn't help. Could be just me. 

    One instructor I have talked about the fact that it would be easy to grab a bit of information from 1 video, another bit from another instructor and so on. In other words - piece meal.  Like a box of miscellaneous screws.  I have a box of misc. screws that I use for various things and that reminded me of what my instructor said.

Random Box of Screws photo credit Pixabay

 It lacks harmony and coherence.  There isn't an easy understanding of how it all fits together. 

  Training Advice Long Ago:

      I got the same advice literally decades ago.  I was watching some training tapes on reining and a famous trainer said something similar.  To learn a program completely from start to finish first and then if you want to incorporate other things then that's fine. 

    Made perfect sense to me and that piece of advice worked well for me in my reining. Of course, it applies to life as well. My art instructor was making a pitch for his training program but Hay! Why Not!

credit: pixabay

  Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Everyone!

  All the best in your horse endeavours for next year.

  Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Pumpkin Spice Coffee While Examining the Cold Hard Truth

 I love this time of year for many things - the fall leaves, the cooler weather, pumpkin spice coffee or tea, yadda yadda yadda.  The show season is done for a lot of people. The fall fairs are wrapping up and well - you didn't do as well with your horse as you thought.  The pumpkin spice coffee needs to have a dual purpose....

Photo Credit: Pixabay

  It Happens In Other Areas as Well:

    I wanted to give an example. A couple of years ago I mentioned in this column how I was embarking on a big, new non-horse related project that I was hoping was going to make it big.  I made a big investment like we do when we decide to make the commitment to get a show horse or buy a horse and set big goals. It's a big deal.  Well it didn't go as I expected. It was devastating.  This can happen in the horse world as well. 

   I remember many years ago I bought my first reining show horse named Tex. My beginner year didn't go so well and I was very discouraged so you see it can happen in many aspects of our lives. Pumpkin spice coffee comes in handy when we need to take a look at the cold hard truth of why some projects don't go as expected and more importantly how to fix them.

  After the Pumpkin Spice:

    The experience in my beginner year of showing Tex and how I dealt with it afterward was good experience for how I deal with my big non-horse related disappointment recently.  Tex got sold and I bought a better show horse. And I took responsibility for myself and doubled down on learning, attending clinics, lessons and learning the politics.  I can't believe I'm mentioning politics! :/

  What Do You Mean Politics?: 

   I learned that politics plays a big part in things. I'm doing much of the same things I did to correct my horse showing problems many years ago.  I'm continuing to learn, practice, taking lessons, switched art instructors, and learning the politics. I'm also taking responsibility for my part in what happened. I believe in my supportive friends and their encouragement a lot but I also needed an objective point of view for a more accurate assessment of talent.

  It's important to be street wise and know when to go elsewhere. It's also important to know what we ourselves contributed to the problem and fix that too. 

    

  Putting My Spin on Pumpkin Spice Coffee & Introspection

  Reinersue

 @KISS Reiners

Bit Me Series: Q? Does Changing Bits Help The End of Summer Showing Slump?

 Time for some Problem Solving: 

We are on the back half of the show season, everything is slowing down. Your show results aren't what they were at the beginning of the season. What to do? I remember when I was showing, I was getting a bit burnt out from showing and there were still shows in September (and beyond if I wanted to). I needed a pick me up. The horse wasn't responding as well as they did at the beginning of the show season. Time for a change. (Pictured below: an artistic frustrated horse, IMO).

  

Photo Credit: pixabay SrigleyArts

 A Much Needed Rest:

   Of course the common course of action was the give the horse more down time. Always a good idea. But it didn't always get you back to the beginning of the show freshness.

 Do You Change Bits? - Yes and No

  Some regulations won't let you change the bit much - perhaps the mouthpiece. Just to refresh, the mouthpiece is for the horse and the shanks (or lack of) are for the rider. One of the many things I learned while studying under Dale Myler of Myler Bits in Marshfield, Missouri.

 Our first thoughts are to get a tougher bit. I've seen that many times at shows.  This is a case of short term gain. Might not get you to the end of the show season in good shape.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

  What I Would Do: Getting Back to Basics

    My suggestion is to use a different bit at home - not at the show. In other words, I would do more 'getting back to basics' while training or practicing at home. Freshen up the horse's response to the bit you normally use in the show pen. This could entail some groundwork exercises (I'm thinking of trainers like Clinton Anderson's groundwork program which I did for years). More focus - less time. Gives you a perhaps a much needed break as well.

   Most if not all of the famous reining trainers I studied from will tell you to use a different bit at home to tune the horse back up again so they're quite responsive in the show pen - just like at the start of the season.  And giving the horse more time off is a good combo, IMO.

 Best of luck to those still showing this year!

 Putting My Spin on Helping The Latter Part of the Show Season

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners,

Bad Paper Teaches Bad Habits

 

  It's interesting how life in one area helps with other aspects in our life. Can the same be said for AI?  Some lessons I'm learning in fine art remind me of the lessons I learned with horses. Direct hands on experience - not through AI. 

Photo Credit: Pixabay by Get2gether

 

 Bad Tools Create Bad Habits

   I recently joined a fine art school from a nice lady in Germany.  She teaches the type of fine art that I like to do.  It reminds me of the time back in the '80s when I first started in reining. There wasn't much here in Ontario. It was just starting to grow as a sport, IMO. My first reining horse was a 'dud' named Tex and I traded him for a better horse after the first season. Tex went on to be a great barrel horse, from what I understand.

   It makes sense for us to get as best of a horse in our desired sport that we can afford. I know we've heard this before. Some of us learned the hard way.   I couldn't believe when I first started out in reining how much it was going to cost. I had no idea.  My new German art instructor gives the same adage to get the best art paper that we can afford even if it's just a sketchbook. Did you know that 1 artist grade coloured pencil costs over $6.00! Sounds like the horse industry! lol

AI

Photo Credit: Pixabay by pencil parker

   A big controversy right now is the infiltration of AI in the art world. I won't get into detail here but it's causing some problems with illegal stealing of people's art work.  And those who use AI for online painting are pushing to get recognized.  I'm watching closely.

   I have no interest in online painting. I prefer my tactile art - the physical holding of a pencil or paint brush. Thank goodness horses and the horse industry will not get that way.

But wait! I decided to check Google AI and sure enough there's AI in the horse industry! Well look at that! A quick look will show you that the University of  Arizona is looking at "Transformative Applications in Advancing Horse Racing". Horseproperties.net talks about AI enhancing the way we do many aspects of horse management etc. Every time I hear anything about AI, I think the Terminators movies. Yikes.

Am I Old Fashioned?

  I guess you can call me old fashioned when I still prefer to be hands on with my horses. Nothing beats the smell and a hug from our horses. I'm going through the difficult time of looking after my old mare whom the vet has said won't last till Christmas so I'm spending as much time with her as I can.  I will get as many hugs in as I can, while I can.

Putting my spin on a paper zebra.

Have a great summer!

Reinersue

KISS Reiners

Getting Over the Fear of Failure

 

Getting over the Fear of Failure

Q? What Does that Even Mean? Isn't failure bad enough - never mind the fear of failure. I was looking for an emoji to place here and on Pixabay  there was such scary options that I was about to give up until I found this little guy in orange. 

We hear this statement often enough. Sounds important and yet I dismiss it because it doesn't make sense to me - at least initially. Unless I look into it to understand.  Are we afraid of failing or afraid of criticism by others or both? If you were unfortunate enough for example to grow up in a family where criticism was over used as a parenting strategy for control (as an obvious bad parenting skill), then criticism can definitely be something to only have in small doses or avoid.  And what do we do about it? 

An Unlikely Source

  

I was reading one of my art instructor's newsletters and there it was! She was dealing with a broken foot and how she described the challenges with life on one foot and the "striking parallels" with struggles she has seen her art students saying "particularly the tendency to convince ourselves that something is too difficult before even trying." And we know that happens in the horse world as well. It seems universal.

?Are you hindered by your fear?

She goes on to say that her responsibilities hadn't changed and even though she dreaded how she was going to get her chores done of feeding her animals, "But when I finally pushed past my doubts and just did it, I realized it was manageable." 

The Key to Getting Over the Fear of Failure

 Pushing past your doubts. Now she knows that she is quite capable of feeding her animals with her broken foot. She explains: "The key was getting out of my own head, trusting I'd figure it out, and taking action."

Trusting I'd Figure It Out

Horse goals are the same way. A big goal of competing in a big provincial show or even a national can be daunting for sure. In closing, my art instructors says: "That mental block holds us back. Instead, we need to step up and try. Then try again, refine our approach, learn from mistakes, and keep going. The belief that something is 'too hard' is the real obstacle. Don’t waste time stressing over daunting tasks... Dive in, do your best, and you’ll go further than fear ever allows."  Couldn't have said it better myself. Great words to live by. Thanks Lisa.

My you have great success in your horse endeavors and non-horse endeavors.  And tell the critics where to go. ;)

Putting my Spin on Overcoming Fear of Anything

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Spring Forward - Please

 

Where is Spring?!  

 As I'm writing this in early April/25, the forecast is for snow for 2 days. WTH? I'm so tired of all the snow we got this past winter (the highway people had to bring in a special machine that ate the snow on the shoulder of the road and spit it out onto our lawns) that I changed all my towels to spring towels and put up my spring horse shower curtain. Have you seen all the different horse shower curtains available on amazon? Wow :)

Spring Horse Curtain (see Amazon)

Spring Forward
If you are fortunate enough to have access to an indoor arena then I'm sure you are getting your horse(s) ready for the current show or riding season.

The general gist of my article today is the principle of starting early to achieve your goal by the due date (so to speak). It just takes developing a new little habit if you're not familiar with the strategy. And of course, it can be applied anywhere.

I'd like to give a couple of examples.

Springtime Schooling - Colt Starting a Yearling

One of the things that I wrote about several years ago (2019) was the ground training and colt starting a filly by the name of SusieQ. (SusieQ Tinseltown). That's a great thing to do in between snow showers. :/

SusieQ 2019 - a yearling

Using the same principle of doing a little bit every day on this filly had given this horse many skills in her yearling year. Plenty of skills before colt starting - another springtime venture.

Fencing - A Big Job

    I've been here 8 years and this is the first time I've had to really repair my pasture fence. I had to restring several lines and I had 6 fence posts down. Crazy winter.

     

Damage from Winter 2025

  There is certainly no end of things to do in early spring. It's nice to see the crocuses in the spring grass and the lack of mounds of snow.  Best of luck to this year's projects to everyone.

Putting My Spin on Spring
Reinersue
@KISS Reiners

Benefitting from an Unavoidable Pause

 This is going to be a very straight up, honest from the heart article. I gave myself permission to take a pause on a big project I started almost 2 years ago and that wasn't easy to do.

A Big Project - Now Paused

  I mentioned in this column about an exciting new project in 2023. I didn't want to mention it in case it didn't work out. It involved my fine art work. What does it have to do with horses you ask? Well, I like to paint horses and landscapes. And this pause I'm doing has happened to me in my horse showing years as well so I thought it was a good idea to mention here to horse people in case someone else is going through this - having to make the difficult decision to pause something that they didn't really want to pause.

 

Sable Island Horses. Oil over Acrylic. 20x37" 2024

 Why I Had to Pause

  Briefly, I made the commitment to join an art school here in Ontario and I worked tirelessly towards getting really saleable realistic art. Things were going great until I ran into a snag a year ago. Doesn't that sound familiar? You're going along fine with your goal of getting a horse ready to show in time for the start of the show season and you run into a snag. Darn! :(

   I requested a critique from my art instructor a year ago and wisely he gave an honest - though hard to take analysis of my work. It's really hard to take as an artist. You're really quite vulnerable. Just like a riding student who puts themselves out there for a critique from a riding instructor. They provide very valuable information but it can be hard on the self.

  So I wasn't the same after the critique - I can tell you. I stopped painting for a while. I won't go into any more detail as you get the point. In my defense, I didn't have any problems with the technical information, just the way he delivered it. He did apologize more than once. So I paused my goal and kept learning and practicing.

And That's the Point - To Pause and Practice

  And that's my point - to do yourself a big favor and pause. It takes guts and strength to pause. It would only be worse to just ignore the signs, plow forward, only to find out the same thing later. Time to step back, pause, reevaluate, keep learning and practicing and redo the plan.

"Gavin", Colored Pencil over Ink, 11x16", 2021

  I've had to do pauses in my learning with regards to riding horses too. It made this pause a little easier knowing the experience I had with horse plans.  I'm sure others have also. It's hard. It takes guts. But it's worth it.

P.S. My sable island horse painting hangs proudly in my home.

 

Putting My Spin on Unavoidable Pauses

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Knock The Rust Off

 Coming in February

Start at the Top - Tips in the Tip Jar

 If you're like me, I've received  1,000s of tips over the years.  I thought I would start the year off by providing some oldies but goodies.

Let's Get This Party Started! This could become a thing. L😏L

Photo Credit: Pixabay WitchFiction

One of my equine studies instructors (now in heaven), world champion trainer Don Blazer reveals his top 49 training tips from his website archives http://www.horsecoursesonline.com/archives .  You may have seen his widow Eleanor in TheRider.com magazine with her featured columns on nutrition. She maintains the website and the online program now.

Here are some memorable ones:

First Rule of Horse Training - No Pain: self explanatory

“Over the years I’ve interviewed some great horse trainers, and they generously offered insights, techniques and secrets for training success,” Blazer said. “While I’ve used the tips and tricks told to me, I’ve also developed some helpful hints of my own that I hope will help others and benefit their horses.”

It Maybe You - Not The Horse: Back to Basics for the rider

Photo Credit: Pixabay Rebecca Scholz

  "Well trained horses most of the time know more than those trying to ride them." ~ Don Blazer.   Time to go back to the basics I say.

  I actually had a hard time at this point where to go next. The internet is so vast and so is the horse industry. It all depends on ones interest, ones sport. etc. etc. And it's not always a good idea to see the latest and greatest. A lot of the old masters had much better wisdom to impart.

 Nostalgic For Me - How To Make Money With Horses:

  One of the most important lessons I learned from my equine studies degree was a course I took called Making Money with Horses. What? You can make money with horses?  I know, I was intrigued myself. I had to take the course and I did.

   The main take away was that the best time to sell a horse is when it has potential. You're selling the horse's potential at something.

 This has always stuck with me and I took that course over 20 years ago. It was a valuable lesson and I thank Don for that.  You can see the course on Eleanor's website.

 And of course, please feel free to browse this website for my contribution to the tip jar! 

Putting My Spin on Learning from the Best - 1 tip at a time!
Reinersue
@KISS Reiners

Time Will Tell - My Long Awaited Time to Ride Again!

 I want to share a really heart warming story that happened to me recently after stressing for a year and a half. I believe it's important to share these stories. Its what makes us human. Together, we the people, can fight off all evils. I truly believe that.

Let's Start At the Top of This Story

   My old retired reining mare Jackie had an injury June 2023. I saw her having a good roll in her favorite dirt spot and when she stood up, she favored her hind right leg. She still slightly favors that leg today. 

   Unfortunately she was quite lame and had difficulty moving after that. I could tell that she hadn't broken anything - only badly sprained. Since she was an old mare I figured it would take her the summer (of 2023) to heal. Fast foreword to the fall, she wasn't getting much better that I could see and in September 2023, I considered having her put down.  I didn't want her to suffer. That would've been devastating to me since I've had her for 21 years and she's family to me for sure. I decided she needed more time to heal due to her age and the winter would give her rest.

 Moving forward now to Feb/24, I had a vet come and check Jackie to find out what had happened and whether there was a chance that she would heal ok or have her put down.  As you can imagine, it was very emotional and stressful to me.  I was also dealing with an old geriatric family dog's declining health (who ended up passing away 6 months later in Aug/24).  

Physiotherapy

 The vet told me that the mare had no injuries in her hip and may recover in time. That was some comfort anyway.  There was no other viable solution suggested and she was prescribed a pain med and time.

 Jumping ahead now to spring of 2024, I wanted to do more for my mare. I did notice that she was slowly getting better. I did research on the internet on solutions. I also thought that since walking was beneficial to me and my geriatric dogs I thought hay! why not start walking my mare. 

  So I did. Walk. Walk. Walk. At least twice a day, in and out of the stall. Up and down the driveway. Around and around the barn. She started getting better. The more I walked her, the better she walked.

Things are Looking Up

   That worked! Jackie was making significant progress. I was hopeful. Up to this point I was having to pick her feet and trimmed her hooves when I could catch her lying down. :/  Now I could pick her feet standing up.  I also thought I could possibly start riding her after 1.5yrs. Dare I try?

My First Rides After 1.5 Years

  So here we are now summer of 2024.  I've been able to hop on my mare bareback and ride her to the back field and back at a walk. She's still only at a walk today - but that's fine by me. :)

 I saddled my mare 2 weeks ago (Sep/24) and I managed to ride her just inside the entrance to my back bush.  I didn't want to push it. She was sore after that and I let her rest.

Back To Work in The Bush

   What a beautiful time to be in the bush to enjoy the fall leaves! September 2024, 1 year after the first time I thought to have my mare put down. We saddled up. Chain saw, trail ribbon and marker paint in the back pack, and we headed to the bush to work. I hadn't done anything to maintain the trails since Jackie's injury.

 Marking Trails

  As you can see by this photo, I use Jackie to position myself to a branch where I can tie the marker ribbon to strategic trees along the trail.  I was thrilled!  To enjoy the fall leaves, work in my bush again, riding my mare. 

Jackie Helping Me to Mark Trails

 Jackie Can Help Removing Cut Branches

 I was able to ride and trim and mark trails along 1 side of my bush. That was fantastic. I didn't think that she could go that far.  I have over 5 miles of trails in the bush but we have plenty of time before the snow flys. More time to enjoy the fall colors!

        

Jackie Helping Me to Remove Cut Branches

  I can't tell you how thrilled and happy and relieved I am to have spent that day with Jackie. And there will be many more!

  May you enjoy those special times with your horse!

 Putting My Spin on Time Will Cure

 Reinersue

 @KISS Reiners

Tips to Put The Bridle On

Under Construction  

I was going for a trail ride the other day and I was reminded of a tip to put the bridle on that I used to give to me students.

Are You Right Handed?

Are We Prepared Enough?

 When we have a multi-year project such as training a horse, we normally plan out month-to-month and know what the goal is at the end. We know when the project completes.  At first it seems like a long way away but it's amazing how quickly time does fly by.

When You Don't Want the Project To Complete

 I've been looking after my beloved old border collie rescue Oddie for 15 years. I've had to give him geriatric care for the last year or so - gladly with love.  All year I kept saying out loud that I knew the time would come when I wouldn't need to look after him anymore and I wasn't looking forward to his passing. I thought I was ready for it. I had planned for it. I knew that this year would be his last. He passed away Aug. 23/24.

Oddie at 18yrs. old Aug/24

 Are We Prepared for WWIII?

   Here's another project that we need to take seriously and prepare for. With all the talks going on by both sides of the current 2 wars are talking nukes.

   Is your local TV news telling you to prepare?  I am. 

We can't manage this project but we can be informed and use discernment.

  Everyone is in my thoughts and prayers and I hope wise leaders can stop this and create peace.

 Puttin my Spin on PEACE.

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Are You Riding a Tiger?

 According to The Free Dictionary of Idioms: To Ride a Tiger is "to become or find oneself responsible for something risky, precarious, or unsafe to abandon; to do something that is safer to continue than it is to quit."

Old Chinese proverb: "He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount".

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Wow! I didn't know there was such a saying. What I was thinking about for this article wasn't exactly like the saying though the words Riding A Tiger came to mind.  I was thinking about life's lessons and how having an abundance of them - many not good experiences can be a good thing. 

An Interesting Thing Happened The Other Day

   I had an unexpected visitor the other day.  I've known this person for decades.  I wasn't sure why he stopped by - I still don't.  I listened to him talk about the good ole days for a while, trying to figure out why he was here.  He said he wanted to see if I was still alive. OK.

  I isolated myself during Covid and pretty much keep to myself these days. Anyway, after he left, I was thinking about the experiences I've had and I've heard about this person over the decades. I was thinking of that saying "consider the uses of adversity". I believe we all go through them.

  I was also thinking about the various horses I've had and trained over the years.  Even though the 'problem' horses are not good horses to keep (the tiger?) and some people may argue that point (and that's ok to have differing points of view) , they still give us good life's lessons. What is that other old saying: "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger." - something like that.

So Are You Riding a Tiger?

    Are you holding onto a horse that just doesn't fit your personality or your goals at the moment? It's sometimes hard to let go since you have so much invested into the horse and not just money. I'm talking emotional investment.

   The good thing is that after it's all over, the horse is gone and there's now a space for the new horse to enter your life. Then it's a comfort to know that the memories will be with you forever and so is the learning experience.  And that goes for people too.  Something to look forward to as we get older.

   It makes us wiser and cautious the next time.

Putting My Spin on Learning from Those Experience Tigers!

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Discernment Time

  I was sitting with a bunch of my friends one afternoon enjoying the summer sun and someone recalled how crazy things are getting these days.  WWIII??  I remember agreeing and of course being in Canada, we all commented on how the price of things keep going up- even watermelon! :) Speaking of money for value...

1 month old belt

 When Things Go Rip

  I was cutting my lawn the other day, just getting my riding lawn mower back from a spring tune up. You know, change the oil and the mower deck belt.  The mower deck belt starting falling off after the 2nd use. Fortunately, I was used to putting the belt back on. It didn't look good for the belt 's longevity however. Yesterday, I was cutting grass. I heard a disturbing noise and found out the belt was ripped to shreds. Only a month old! Luckily, I have a spare belt and with the help of youtube, I will put a new belt on. I'm not going back to the mechanic!

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Discernment Everywhere

   This incident made me remember a horse story about trust and discernment that I heard about, oh say 15+ years ago. Though I was not there, I do know all parties involved. It's your typical 'horse deal'.  You'll feel bad for the 'new people' just like I did.

  So these new people (we'll call them the Smith's) wanted to get into the horse showing world and found someone high up in Ontario to get them started.  (As a side note, the Smith's are still actively involved today despite this terrible experience). They got hooked up with 'respected' people and ended up buying 3 'dud' horses for an exorbitant amount of money with their hopes of being the top owners in Ontario. Of course the 2 middlemen walked away with big, fat wallets though short lived. (They always do. I call it retribution).

   To recap, the Smith's got duds. These horses couldn't do well in the show pen even when the best trainers money could buy rode these horses. They were eventually sold as trail horses.  Fortunately the Smith's were very smart people and did find trainers whom they could trust and buy horses with.

  As for the 2 middlemen, well of course, they weren't trusted again. The story got out rather quickly. We all know how gossip travels fast in the horse world! 

     It's really all about discernment isn't it. Today, more than ever.

Putting My Spin on the Necessity for Highly Skilled Discernment in Today's Climate

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

When you practice the right way

 ... You'll learn to see differently. ~ Ian Roberts, artist

Now Ian is talking about composing a painting perfectly but I thought it was appropriate for our horse skills as well.

   I remember the saying: "Perfect practice makes perfect" instead of the usual practice makes perfect.

Putting my spin on Perfect Practice

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Constructive Criticism Given Harshly Hurts Everyone

  We all need constructive feedback from an expert from time to time to really know if we're making progress in a particular subject - riding horses for example.  Showing at a horse show would serve the same purpose. Or a clinic perhaps.

Photo credit: Pixabay

 They Mean Well

   Hearing from someone who tells you what they think you want to hear is not really helpful but friends mean well. So we pay good money to get very helpful advice. I remember attending many a horse clinic in my horse showing years. Or sitting up in the wee hours of the morning watching the pros tune their horses up for the day's classes at the Congress. (All American Quarter Horse Congress) trying to absorb as much as I could.

 Putting Yourself Out There

 Everyone knows how nerve wracking it is to  'put yourself out there' to get constructive feedback.  I belong to several art schools at the moment learning how to paint well. I get feedback and art critiques from several of them. It's really not good when 1 art instructor delivers the 'what can you improve upon' criticism in an unkind and harsh way.

  It really can be hard to sit there and get told of 'severe compositional issues' & 'fatal flaw' several times in front of a bunch of fellow artists like myself. Ouch! I'm not going to lie, it took me back. I did get an apology afterward but still...

 I wonder how that would've effected my future horse showing life if I had had someone harshly deliver horse advice to me way back when. Would I have continued to show? Maybe not.  I remember one rider getting feedback was told so harshly that she not only stopped showing horses, she stopped riding all together! I kid you not. I just thought of that now as I'm writing this. I don't know if she ever went back to riding at all. I felt so bad for her.  

 What to Do When Harshly Delivered Criticism Strikes You?

   "Once bitten - Twice Shy" as they say!  I'm certainly forewarned now. I don't know why the criticism was delivered harshly. I may never know. But I do know that I can go to my other art instructors who do know how to deliver the all important criticism in a more acceptable way. It's all about being heard after all.

   If you get someone power tripping on you whom you've asked for criticism and their not considerate, there are plenty of other experts out there that can be more helpful.  I'm glad I didn't have any of those harsh horse coaches back in my horse showing years.

 May you have great, considerate feedback to improve your horse skills and any other non-horse endeavors. 

Putting my Spin on Proper Helpful Criticism

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners

Bit for Sale: Myler Lynn Mckensie Gag Combo. Medium Correctional. Like New. Tie Down. 5 1/2: med port

 

SALE: Bit for Sale - New Myler Lynn McKenzie Medium Correctional Combo Bit

Myler  Lynn McKenzie Combination Bit, medium correctional mouthpiece (MB43LP) with Tie Down

Sale: $150.00

Some Uses and Benefits: 

Rider:

• The 2 rings allow for 1 or 2 rein placement for training or riding.
• Good for many disciplines especially for speed events like barrel racing, polo, team penning.
• The noseband/tie down as 1 piece will give great nose pressure to keep horse's head down.

Horse:

• "The horse is offered a pressure-free reward whenever he is light and relaxed at the poll."~Myler bits.  So it's good for training and riding.
• Good for all types of horse's personalities.
• The curb action (with a curb chain) will use leverage and therefore will ask for more attention from the horse.
• The mouthpiece gives great room for the tongue, will not interfere with horse when there is slack in the reins. Will give a great head set when contact is made on the reins. Also will act as a great emergency brake!

Not Suitable for:

  Rider:

•  With rough or quick hands. Anyone who has no patience.
• Beginners who are learning to use reins for communication. Need some slight skill at using reins.
• Riders who like to use a lot of rein work in their riding. This bit is for softer, quieter signals. Make life easier.

 Horse:

•   Just started under saddle and learning their job. Need a horse who understands rein cues and nose pressure to some degree.
•  Horse wants rider to be really soft in their cues (ie. leave my mouth alone). This bit makes is easy to learn and use to stay quiet. The horse will thank you!

Features:

• Myler's Unique Combination bit technology. (info  here.) I really encourage you to read this! You'll be glad you did!
• "Dispersed pressure for a kinder, softer message. "
• "Utilizing various pressure points, Combination Bits offer simultaneous interaction of the mouthpiece, curb strap and noseband. When rein pressure is applied or released, the bit automatically disperses or releases pressure to the horse's mouth, chin, nose and poll. Because pressure is dispersed, the bits offer succint and effective, yet very humane communication, allowing the rider to use less pressure than needed with a traditional bit."
• "The curb strap sits high on the jaw, so to be closer to the rotational point of the second vertebrae or poll. Curb pressure encourages the horse to rotate his nose downward and backward until the pressure is released, hence he relaxes at the poll."
• "The sliding mouthpiece works lightly in the mouth, applying subtle pressure on the tongue and/or bars, until it hits the "ring stop" when it then applies downward pressure, asking the horse with more of a signal."
• "The noseband applies downward and backward pressure over points on the nose. In response to the pressure, the horse will drop his nose down and back towards his center."
• Independent side movement of shank. Great for lateral work.
• Copper inlay in mouthpiece. Great for salivation. Helps horse to relax.
• Swivel shank for more guided lateral movement or direct reining.
• Curved mouthpiece creates a bit of room for horse's tongue as opposed to a bit that goes across the mouth or jointed (nutcracker effect. Nasty). ie. Humane.
• Can have 1 or 2 rein attachment. The 1st ring acts like snaffle. The 2nd ring like a curb bit.

New or Used:  New
Size: 5 1/4"
Manufacturer: Myler by Toklat (production version)
Mouthpiece: Myler 5" MB43LP, medium port correctional sliding mouthpiece

Shank:  Combination bit with tie-down

Level: 2-3 or LTP/GTR (little tongue pressure, good tongue relief)

Total Price: $165Cdn (HST included)   Sale: $150.00
(was $166.95+HST=188.65 new)
 

 

 

Shipping is available. Based on your location. You will be invoiced through Paypal. Credit cards accepted.

For more information on bits, Myler Bitting System Philosophy, bitting levels, etc, please see the many articles on this website or contact me for help on the uses of this bit.

Please contact me if you're interested in purchasing.
thanks
Reinersue
@KISS Reiners