Timing Is Everything

My wife Natasha and her mare.

The twin mittens.

   Hey everybody, I’m excited about this blog. I pulled it up twice on my iphone today, and was disappointed to find nothing new. I forget , if I don’t post it, it won’t be there.

  We’ve all heard that,”timing is everything.” Well, it may not be everything, but it sure is important.

I’ve included a photo of a riding trip my wife, and I went on a few years ago with some really good friends. An absolute trip of a lifetime. The timing of this trip allowed us to see Monument Valley in snow. We were told, “this is the latest snow we’ve had in the last 50 years.” Snow in Monument Valley one day, the next day 60 degrees, unbelievably lucky timing.

In horse training timing is crucial. We all hear pressure and release, and its so true, but the timing of both are so important. That’s the key element that evolves as we train more horses. Donnie Faulk once brought it to my attention that every new horse I trained I thought was so much smarter and picked up faster. Well, Donnie was right, that’s exactly what I thought. It never occured to me at twenty that I was learning to communicate better, and why would I think that, I was twenty, and thought I was great.

  It’s a fact, the quicker you release pressure after the horse gives you the correct answer the softer he becomes, and the quicker you get it. Also, the timing you ask for the maneuver may bite you. Let’s think about mechanics of a crossover. If you ask for a step across and the inside leg is forward, if he obeys your hands, it would make him cross under or hit himself. The timing for a crossover must be when the inside leg is back, and on the ground, and the outside leg is leaving the ground.

Well folks, it’s the weekend finally. I hope y’all have a good one, and hope you make it to church all right Sunday, and if you don’t have a church, I hear True Grit Cowboy Church is a really good church where a person can go worship in a laid back atmosphere. Also I hear that their preacher is incredible. Oh I forgot, I also heard he was really handsome.(by the way, I’m the preacher for those that don’t know me, I don’t go around oogling other preachers)