Transitioning the Benefits of Groundwork to the Saddle
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
I have developed a process that is effective at teaching people how to train horses to be calm, willing and confident. This course - How to Build a Riding Foundation on a Horse, progresses on from my Master Class courses in round penning and groundwork, and presents the groundwork & riding exercises that allow you to develop skills and insights that sets you up to "re-boot" or re-train/re-start your horse's riding responses.
When people start struggling with a horse they will typically try and fix things. However, most people never go back far enough into the horse’s training where the horse NEEDS to start. For example, off the track thoroughbreds have a terrible reputation for being difficult horses. However, they are not and the sheer majority of problems people have with off the track thoroughbreds is that they do not respect the fact they have to “un-train” them from being race horses and “re-train” them to be pleasure horses. Therefore, they need to be re-started and people fall into problems with them because they are ignorant of what these horse’s need to be able to adjust to their new role.
The process I have developed is simple in comparison to other trainers and clinicians.
This course teaches you that a few exercises and responses done very well is superior to many exercises performed in an average way.
This course consists of five steps to progress through, Groundwork revision and bridling preparation, lateral flexion mounting and hind quarter yields, bend to a stop and introducing the bit, vertical flexion, halt, backup and downward transitions, milling and figures of 8.
The course is recommended for any horse that is struggling to be calm, willing and confident. It might be a young horse, an older horse that you have recently acquired that you are struggling with, an off the track thoroughbred or standardbred or just a horse that you wish to improve your relationship and riding performance with.
This course is recommended as a progression on from my Master Class How to Round Pen and Groundwork a Horse courses. These ground preparation courses set the horse up best to progress into the riding foundation exercises.
And Why does it need to be Build?
A horse’s foundation has mental, emotional and physical aspects. The mental aspects of a horse’s foundation is its training so that it understands the basic aids required to be understood to be ridden. Therefore, it understands basic leg and rein aids so the horse will respond to being guided left or right, perform upward and downward transitions and how to halt. The emotional aspect relates to the horse’s acceptance and confidence with being ridden in all gaits. The physical aspect is that the horse has developed the level of strength and fitness to be able to perform the basic riding responses.
The horse’s foundation is very important because it is the foundation that allows discipline specific training to be successfully introduced. If the foundation is flawed or weak then any attempt to train more difficult things for the horse to perform will run into difficulty. For instance, if the horse is not balanced and confident with a rider in canter then attempting to teach the horse to jump or collect its canter is going to overwhelm and trigger anxiety in the horse which will hamper its ability to learn and make the horse worried about being ridden.
Also, when a horse develops training issues or problem behaviour, the root cause of the majority of problems stems of issues with a foundation response. For example a horse that is difficult to motivate to go forward that might be labelled “lazy”, is actually horse that is not understanding or motivated to respond to the basic forward aids.
This course outlines 5 Steps. These steps start out with specific groundwork preparation exercises then progress to mounting, lateral flexion and yielding under saddle. Then progressing to ridden exercise that promote and train relaxation whilst progressing the horse in walk, trot and canter.
The steps detail the each exercise, when to introduce it, how to train it and success tips as well as common problems and how to solve them.
Each Step has optional homework to perform and a place to post reports and video links to receive my feedback (which is all included in the price!)
You will need the following:
Snap Shot Video of What You Will Find in the Course
You will find explanations, instructions, success tips, common problems and lots of video so you can see what you need to do and what to expect!
Kara
"We’ve had such a big breakthrough I couldn’t help but share! Yesterday morning, for the first time since bringing Ludo back from being started (over 2 years ago) we cantered! It’s only brief, because baby steps (for both of us - maybe more me than him, I was pretty emotional!), but he went into the canter so easily which I was over the moon with. There’s still plenty of room for improvement but getting over the mental hurdle for me, and having him feel relaxed enough to go into a relaxed canter were huge steps. We also cantered again this morning on the other lead, he didn’t go into it as easily (he was also more lethargic on the ground which makes sense), but he did maintain it longer so I actually transitioned him down.
Thank you so much Shelley Appleton for setting up a program that’s allowed us to get to that point in just two months"
Rebecca
"Thought I would share this video, I love it so much as before I started the course I would find it hard to catch my horse (even with food) as he would want to be far away from me (and even hid behind trees thinking he could avoid me!) This morning I went to work on saddling but I got the feeling I could just saddle straight up - I got the saddle pad and saddle on with NO negative reactions ✅✅ . Things have changed so much."
Fiona
"Thankyou Shelley for the feedback and support . This course really has helped me more than you could realise🥰 It has shown me consistency and not going further until you understand and the horse understands the question you are asking. Thank you."
Debra
"I have just had a beautiful day and a really nice session riding in the round yard. Started with our lateral flexion he had been very sticky to the left but that has softened over the last few sessions. We finished on a nice Canter on the loose rein. The trust between us has grown so much. Im not a brave rider but my confidence in my horse I have got through doing this course has allowed me to progress. The Anchor strap is a great tool it really gives me added confidence and balance . Its all a process and I feel we are working together now. I am so happy."
You have course life time access which gives you plenty of time to watch and learn from the resources available in the course.
Yes you do. Each course chapter has an optional assessment that you can submit for feedback. However, you can email Dr Shelley Appleton at any time and ask for help if you have any queries.
If you have any questions that are not answered here please email Dr Shelley Appleton via [email protected]
