Balanced Connection Horsemanship with Devon Roffler

HUMANS CREATE PROBLEMS AND THEN CHASE THEM

If you'd like to understand one of the big things plaguing horses and riders come have a sit down.

In the photos below you'll see a compilation I created of a before she was mine. Then you will see another compilation of photos of when she came into my ownership.

This sweet little lady was bought by an older couple who were buying what they thought was a good solid horse.
She was not.

They had her for several months and they said she was a good and sweet girl and they did not want to part with her but she was much too fast and would not canter with a rider on her. Again, given that they were older, they did not want to deal with this nor was it what they were supposed to be purchasing to begin with.

So something that most people do not understand because most people are not trainers is that when a horse is started under saddle they must be left alone and allowed to use their whole and entire body to navigate their balance with now a rider on top of them. This means many things but greatly to stay out of their face and leave their neck and head and mouth alone.

Seems straightforward.
That makes sense right?
Most would agree.
Yet all too often you see people starting horses with tie downs and other such devices.
This will leave a horse in deficit and having a need to compensate in their body.
Deficit and compensation equal trauma to the body and undue stress and premature breakdown at some point. Not to mention the mental wear and tear it creates as well.

A unbroken and green horse MUST use its neck so that it can balance its body. Nor is a horse strong enough where their neck can be 'taken away'.

This only happens after a horse is strong and knows how to use its haunches and spine where it can then shift its weight to the haunch and get off the front end. Until that happens which is high level stuff, we have no business touching the front of them.
This is deep and methodical work that takes years to build.

This would be why Buck Brannaman has a quote on how we have no right taking two reins on a horse until that horse can go around at a walk, trot, canter on a loose rein and go in the direction and at the pace we are asking.

Until a horse can do that, we have NO BUSINESS taking two reins.

How many people do you see with two reins yet their horse has no peace, no softness at a walk, trot or canter?

This is not meant to condemn or judge because all of us are learning all the time. But it gives one a lot of insight to how a human feels and operates and how that translates to a horse and makes them feel terrible inside and outside.

I actually happen to see the original ad for this horse before the previous owners had bought her.
This is acceptable.
People are okay with this.
People buy horses like this.
People start horses like this and nobody bats an eye.

Perhaps with some understanding of how a horse functions you can see why then this sweet girl could physically NOT canter easily with a rider on her nor could she slow down.

With part of her body being taken away(tie down), she was forced to compensate and could never reach peace nor slow down mentally nor physically.

It has been a labor of love to say the least and it's not something I would have taken on had she not been free or such a sweet girl with not a mean bone in her body and she has a lot of try in her.

Because she was used to her head being tied down, one of the first things she would do when we would ride together is stick her head and neck straight up in the air and I'm not going to lie, it was super annoying but a tie down doesn't solve a problem. She needs understanding which requires experience, expertise, patience and timing.
But you see, when a person doesn't have any of those things, they slap some sort of gadget on.

Just like a green horse, she had to figure out where her head went and it took a lot of time and just tedious little things to help her think of moving out longer, not faster and then the neck and head will come. Addressing the head is never the issue. It's always from behind.

But when their neck is tied down they can never completely use their body. So this was a first for her and she's only recently starting to really use her whole body and she is so grateful for it. And still to this day gives lots of blowouts at the trot. A nice long trot where she finds peace and rhythm with me.

So I implore and maybe even beg you to please look at your hands and your gear or what your trainer or the people around you are doing. Just look at the horse- they will tell you. Will you listen?

Look at the photos of one of the collages and you will see a horse with a lot of white in its eye showing and in general the eye looks either completely shut down or worried with a tight, 'shortened' lip.

Whereas in the other collage of photos you will see a horse content and at peace.

Nothing is ever single faceted and it's the human's idea to bring the horses into all of this. So it's our job as the "smarter" species to take care of them and learn what's right for them.

Every horse is a good horse if you would let them be- peace by peace.✨

MY WHY

This is why I do what I do and love what I do.

"You can be a leader without being intimidating. The horse can be your partner without being your slave. I’m trying to keep the best part of the horse in there. I’m not trying to take anything away from him."
-Buck Brannaman

When I have the honor of working with someone and their horse, everyone always ends up feeling good about it.

Too many times horses interactions with humans are confusing, discouraging and just plain yucky.

This can leave a bad 'taste' of us for the horse that can look like not wanting to be caught, shut down, aggressiveness to name just a few.

We want a 'flow state' where the conversation between horse and human can flow with understanding and compassion.

A place where the horse can truly be asked questions and the horse can truly express how they feel.

We don't want to come in and try to just fix and reprimand and think we know more than the horse. The horse has reasons, VERY VALID reasons to feel the way they do and act the way they do.

We want to come in and offer something most horses have never had before...

A human that listens.
A human that is aware.
A human that doesn't operate out of emotions.

Confusion is anxiety.
Clarity is peace.
Truth is freeing.

Every horse is a good horse if you would let them be- peace by peace.✨

Pictured here are Karina and Midnight soaking on some very good feelings and deeply processing and enjoying all those good interactions their humans are bringing to them thanks to a balanced connection.

WHERE’S YOUR MIND?
PART 3 OF 5

A horse needs to understand there is an end to the rein/rope.

And that when they meet the end of it, they prepare for a hind end.

Before the hind end even starts, there is feel and intention in my thoughts and body.

During a hind end, the feel down the rope connects the inside nose to the inside hind foot and allows the horse to bend softly while keeping the inside shoulder free and ending with the horse's body completely under themselves and the rider- where two become one.

The hind end is a deeply healing thing for all creatures.

The hind end allows many things to happen, for now we will focus on how having a hind end allows me to have a loose rein and see how a horse really feels about things.

Because in the end I am riding the horse's brain and I want the shortest path to that goal and a loose rein reveals all.

It is more work this way but it is also the truth.

A split second after the horse disconnects his thoughts from mine, I can use a hind end to reconnect.

It is all a conversation and as soon as I feel the horse drifted away from the conversation I say, we were still talking and they come back and we start conversating again.

In these particular videos we were doing hind ends together but I can assure you before these nice ones there was lots of walking and trotting around where he got 'lost' and we used a hind end to be 'found' again.

Peace by peace.✨

WHERE'S YOUR MIND?
PART 2 OF 5

When we want to get along with a horse, it requires taking two minds and making them one.

Midnight has lots of questions and thinks he should move really at any moment.
I, on the other hand, have no questions and I am not moving in this moment.

How many times do you allow your horse to make a move you didn't ask for?

Anything the horse 'takes', I 'take' back.
I exchange their answer for something so much better.

In the end, he understands he truly can just stand calmly and wait for direction- how wonderful is that?

I take the movement and bring quiet.
I take the question and give an answer.
I take the confusion and bring clarity.
Peace by peace. ✨