Richard Boatwright hope you all are staying warm! I have a question. I've got about 30 rides on this horse, starting to work on the turnaround. Based on my understanding I should be starting with the step (even a single one) across and then building up from that a step or two at a time. Here's an example of how I'm working on that:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7xqggWsJiY . Am I heading in the correct direction with this approach?

I've been a member for a few weeks now and am really appreciating the videos. I'm starting with watching the 10 Commandments videos. 

I'm restarting my 7 year old quarter horse mare. I've had her since she was a long yearling. She has a history of serious illness and injuries (fractured vertebra, cut an artery in her hoof, salmonella) and by the grace of God is sound and healthy. The colt starter I sent her to when she was two was not great. While I'm a lifelong horse person and am a good rider, I am not a trainer (though I want to be). I have audited a lot of clinics and watched a lot of videos, but I wasn't paying attention to the responses I was getting when I tried to apply what I was learning. I have done a terrible job with this horse. Due to bad riding from the colt starter and myself, she has not had a good start. In the past six months I've started to really pay attention to my horse and her responses to what I'm doing. It's made a huge difference. She's letting go of a lot of her tension. She's getting more relaxed and balanced, less bracy. I'm taking my time riding and working on one thing at a time. She's well-bred (Playgun), has great confirmation and is good-minded. She's never offered to buck and she loves it when my seven year old son rides her. (He's not riding now while I'm restarting her to ensure she has a good foundation.) She comes right to me whether in her stall or turned out in a pasture and releases/licks and chews a lot. Despite my flaws, we have a good relationship that is getting better as my horsemanship gets better. 

One issue I'm still having is that when she's in the cross ties in the barn (I board at a large facility), I can't touch her without her snapping her teeth at me. When I scratch, rub or brush her, she snaps her teeth. Sometimes she'll pin her ears and snap at me as a warning to stop touching her. She lives in a good sized stall with a decent turnout. I've been riding her at night in the arena alone most nights. I turned her out in a big pasture for an hour and a half yesterday and that made her happy. I was able to rub and scratch her all over in the pasture. I turned her out again today and then took her to the cross ties. Once back in the cross ties she was snappy when I touched or tried to brush her. Sometimes I can rub and scratch her her "spots;" belly, around her ears, etc., and she likes it. Sometimes it doesn't matter where I touch her and she'll pin her ears and snap her teeth. Riding used to be very adversarial and it's not anymore. It's much more relaxed and collaborative. I find out where she's at each day and what she knows and go from there so there's no confusion. I focus on one thing at a time, take my time, and don't ask for something for too long. She's doing so well, I'm really proud of how far we've both come in the past few months. But trying to brush her is still something that makes her cranky. What can I do to teach her to stop snapping when I brush or touch her? Richard Boatwright

Is this the right place to ask a question? Just signed up this morning. Picking up a yearling Friday that's pretty much unhandled and I could use some real advice on a few things. 

Thanks! 

I am not sure if it is easily accomplished, but I would have like to look up videos by horse. Maggie and Rose were the ones that I would like to really to binge watch to see your responses and their development.

Thanks,

Team Mamaw and Marshall

Just wanted to give some feedback Richard Boatwright on your weekly emails, I like to call them “Richard’s Ramblings” and that’s meant in a complimentary way, really useful incites and quite often thought provoking texts, I for one do appreciate them and I know how busy you are on the ranch and how much time and effort and thought you put into your horses, thanks for taking the time to send out these emails 

How's your winter going?  We're supposed to get 6" of snow by the end of the week!  That will shut down everything around here! 🥶

My colt finally made that step backing circles today. He melted back and around for the first time like Richard talked about late in the ES sniffle bit basics video series. We didn't get to everything today, but It seemed like a good place to quit on the try.

Happy New Year from the Boatwrights!  

Well I started my 2 youngsters on the ES20 Colt starting yesterday, such a contrast between the Vanner cross and Friesian cross, the former is just a plodder and so compliant in everything asked, making him move faster than a walk is a trial in itself but he listens and moved on to bridle and snaffle and worked him well, missed so many cues it was laughable.

Now on to the mare, the opinionated acrobatic, leg kicking, turning on a sixpence speed merchant, so much fun to work around the round pen, naturally turns in but the attention span of a knat, everything is 100 miles an hour with her, a bit of work on the head collar/lead before it got dark.

let’s see what we all digested over night….. I may get my old mare out today to start plugging her gaps also! 

more revision watching videos overnight, thanks Richard Boatwright

Do you have a list of clinics, or a general travel schedule if we wanted to meet up with you somewhere?  Thank you!