The Horseman’s Gazette – Issue No.05 – Winter 2010

Product Description

The Horseman’s Gazette is a quarterly video-series and complement to our print magazine, The Eclectic Horseman. Watch the familiar faces from its pages, listen to their voices, and witness their expertise with your own eyes and ears. We’ll also introduce you to new horsemen and -women who are out in the world working for the horse, educating riders to a deeper understanding and respect for ways of working with horses that work with their nature, not in spite of it.

In this fifth issue you will learn how to help your horse learn to cross water, develop a strong stop, and how you might adjust to fit your horse when he has more energy than you might want. Chock-full of information for all students of horsemanship, it is your seat on the fence to how the best trainers in the business work with their horses and their students.

Table of Contents:
• Foundation Exercises Part 3: Developing a Stop with Martin Black
In part 3 of a series of foundation exercises Martin Black builds on his previous two exercises and demonstrates how he would begin to build a solid stop in a horse. Naturally, Martin addresses not only the physical aspects of preparing to stop, but the importance of considering a horse’s mental state when teaching him to stop with effort.

• Adjusting to Fit the Situation with Joe Wolter
When we arrived to film with Joe Wolter this past summer, he had a young horse that had spent some time in a stall, rather than her regular routine of being turned out. This created an opportunity to visit about what a rider might do when they find themselves in the same situation. In this segment Joe discusses and demonstrates ways that he would adjust to fit a horse that has more energy that you might want or expect. He shows ways that you can put that energy to good use instead of being upset or frustrated by it.

• Some Roping Basics with Bryan Neubert
Building on his last segment of swinging a rope on a young horse for the first time, Bryan Neubert demonstrates some basics that will help a horse continue to have good roping experiences. Bryan explains the importance of having a horse be able to track cattle before you rope. He also demonstrates how to use a knot rope to give your horse experience feeling the pull of something alive on the end of the rope.

• Preparing to Cross Water with Jon Ensign
When you are out riding in the real world you will encounter obstacles that you have not in the arena. Having some strategies on how to approach obstacles can make the difference between enjoying the rest of your ride or not. Montana horseman Jon Ensign demonstrates how he would prepare a horse to cross water.

• Finding and Understanding Your Shoulder Joints with Wendy Murdoch
Most riders agree that having hands that can be used independently of other aids are a necessary component to clear and effective riding. Understanding how your shoulder joints works, is a necessary pice to understanding the puzzle of independent hands. In this segment, Wendy Murdoch helps a student rider find her shoulder joints, and explores the changes that come about in her riding and her horse when she can move those joints more freely.

• In Their Own Words – The Traditional Cowboy Arts Association
The Traditional Cowboy Arts Association is dedicated to preserving and promoting the skills of saddlemaking, bit and spur making, silversmithing and rawhide braiding and the role of these traditional crafts in the cowboy culture of the American West.

In September 2010 we attended their annual Sale and Exhibition at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City to archive on video discussions with the members, on various topics ranging from how the association got it’s start to where they see the organization in the future.

It’s worth noting that the conditions were not exactly ideal, and we were cramped for space behind a stage in a dressing room where the sound was disturbed by wheel carts and the catering company preparing food. So the ambient noise you will hear is, well, just part of the deal.

What follows is an edited compilation of the interviews for the Horseman’s Gazette, and an attempt to tell the story of the Traditional Cowboy Arts in the words of the members themselves.

Please enjoy a sneak preview of this DVD: