Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Passing it on :)

I reached into my mailbox and there was a package from Lora at the Rocking Dog Ranch Blog!!


I just started reading it, but so far I am LOVING the book--you can not only apply this to horse training, but to dogs as well...here is the Introduction:

"The secrets of perfect horsemanship are not new; in fact they are ancient wisdom, know,if not always expressed, by the world's true horsemen. Knowing the secrets focuses the mind on the connections between horse and rider and brings their energies into harmony.When the secrets are revealed to the superior horseman, he opens his mind and uses the secrets. Lesser horsemen close their minds, and ignore or laugh at the secrets. They are afraid to take responsibility for their actions.When gimmicks or tricks are offered as a shortcut to horsemanship, lesser horsemen are quick to embrace them. The promise of fast cures or equipment miracles are dismissed with good humor by superior horsemen.When information is offered to improve horsemanship, its value can only be validated in practice. So it is with the secrets. They must be studied, accepted and applied. Then their truth can be know. Then perfection in horsemanship is attained."

What a great introduction...I am excited to read the rest of the book!!! Thank you Rocking Dog Ranch!!!

Now for the "Passing it on" part :) All of you who are interested. I will be drawing a name of someone to get this book. How do you enter? Simply by commenting on this blog entry what your training goals are for you and your dog. I will put the names in a hat and draw a winner and send you this book! Can't wait to hear what everyone's goals are!

9 comments:

Hillcrest Border Collies said...

Me, me, meeeeee! You know my training goals as we talk almost everyday.

Diana said...

My goals.
To figure out and get my dog to get on the table at a trial.
To get out of Open standard by the end of the year. ( yes thats a long time).
To do ball work with my dog 3 days a week. Increase strenght training with hill walking 2-3 times a week.
To add stretching to my warm up routine.
Improve my handling. Better cues and earlier. Video tape handling sessions each time and look closely to figure out how soon I need to give the cue so my dog doesnt go off course. My goal is to become smooth, without having to say, "here, here, here".
In the next 2 months figure out how to improve my dogs decent on the a-frame.
Work weakly on distance skills.
Improve my onside weave entry -practice twice a week.
Finally, learn to enjoy a trial. To not worry about what might happen, just run like you would at home or class. Diana

Kathy said...

I have this book and it is a good one. Another good book that I have is: "Think Harmony with Horses" by Ray Hunt.

Two other books that you might enjoy reading that I just finished are, "Far Away Horses" by Buck Brannaman and "Believe" by Buck Brannaman. Buck is the Horse Whisperer that the book and movie were based on. Two very good books to read and I did check them out at the local library.

Taryn said...

My first agility dog was the slow and steady type, very velcro, and accurate. With him I never needed a rear cross.

I now have a speed demon and we desperately need a good, consistant rear cross. Not a very lofty goal, but essential to getting the job done. We are just in Novice, so he's a green little guy.

Debra Kay said...

ME please please. Oh, that was so needy.

My goal is to be able to trial both Moon and Molly when Molly is old enough. A successful trial experience would be to go to the trial, run each one in a class without being kicked out of trial for bad dog behavior. My dogs have more issues with what goes on around them than the equipment.

For Solo man-being able to focus consistently for more than 3 minutes-he's a puppy-we are learning.

For Casper (my horse) walk up to the mounting block and stand while I wallow aboard. Maybe the goal for me would be to not wallow so much.

Sare said...

My goal is to continue to improve the working relationship I have built with my dog in the past year. I want to get rid of the "equipment" we rely on so we can go for walks with a leash and regular buckle collar. I also want to learn to communicate to my dog more clearly "say what you mean and mean what you say". I also want to increase my confidence training my dog. I can do it. I have done it. Now I need to act like it. Most of all I want a really solid recall on my dog so we can play anywhere around distractions; around stock, other running dogs etc. For agility all of the above will help us build a solid team and I'd love to trial by the end of 2010 even if it is just a jumpers/tunnlers course. Lots of work ahead and looking forward to it.

Sarah said...

cool idea, sounds like a neat book!! i think i have a similar book or 2 from when i was a horse girl - i should try and dig those up!!!!

my goals, keep pushing myself and trust my dogs training pretty much, keep on tightening up lines and go for it... this of course when i can actually run again :) right now we are working on gamble skills since I can do that with out a lot of movement!

Loretta Mueller said...

Great goals!!!! Keep 'em coming!

Dawn said...

My goal is to learn to be a better handler so that Magic gets consistent instruction from me that he can understand. I suck at agility and he could be a superstar, poor handler challenged boy.