Operations Manual

Note about this file: its from an old one Walter had. There are three word doc uploaded that may be more recent. — I’ll link them and they should show up at the end.

A Simple Partnering up Check-list

1. Why Partner Up?
2. Group Rules
3. Horse Psychology
4. How this Assists with the Ride
5. Introduce Riders to their Horses and Teach them to Lead
6. One Ground Game
7. Mounting, and how to Sit Correctly on a Horse
8. Riding
9. Question time and rounding up
10. Confidence score read out
11. Rules, communication and order of horses on ride

Introduction

The “Partnering up” Session is unique to KTHT. It allows time for more resources to be made available (in the form of information, experiential learning, feel, and connection) to the horses, riders, and guides to set the ride up to offer connection between horse and rider more than riders expect.

It takes place in a safe enclosed area, and marks the beginning of the ride. It takes 5 minutes to as long as it takes. The rest of the ride makes up the riding time.

So a two hour ride takes 30 minutes Partnering Up and one and a half hours riding or 5 minutes Partnering Up and 1 hour 55 minutes riding.

The purpose of the Partnering up Session is to:

• Orientate the riders to what will happen and how it will happen (you must then follow your own plan or renegotiate a change in order to maintain your credibility)
• Give the trek guide an opportunity to give information to their riders
• To gather information about their riders and horses
• To fix something that needs fixing before the ride goes out
• Form a relationship with their riders, so that the riders respect the guide as their leader
• Assess their horse and rider relationships
• Assess the group dynamics,
• Create their own positive group culture for the ride with rules and objectives for connection, fun, safety, and confidence building
• To teach every rider to be able to bend their horse using phase one
• To ensure each rider has enough of a partnership with their horse to inspire their horse into following them as a leader
• Every horse and rider must have forwards, backwards, stop, turn left and right and bend to a stop.
• Every rider must be 5 or above on the confidence score before the ride goes out.
• Establish a useful order for the riders and horses to trek in.

What Happens in a Partnering up Session

Begin with an overall plan for the ride and explain your choices eg chose your route to suit the wind, etc

1. Why Partner Up?

Riders are focused into the theme of partnering up

“We have a theme of partnering up here where we take some time to teach you how horses think, and to take you through some simple steps with your horse to build rapport and establish leadership before we ride out on our trail. This provides safety, and enhances the quality of your ride and the relationship with your horse”

For experienced riders who are appearing as if they know it all say:

“Those of you who are experienced with horses will know better than anyone the value of getting to know your horse first”

2. Group Rules

This can be a good opportunity to put in your first group rule:

“From this point we act as a team, going at the pace of the most vulnerable horse or rider. This can change from moment to moment, and no one is to feel a drag because they need attention. It is essential for safety that the concern of the individual is the concern of the group. Is everyone happy to go along with that?”

3. Horse Psychology

Take your group through the following on how horses think:

• Prey animal instincts to self preservation right brain functioning
• Left brain functioning thinking, listening, learning
• desensitisation process and how we can help the horse with this with low even body energy, rhythmical round movements, breath, focus. Add: no squealing to girls and Japanese riders.
• Leadership instincts for the horse. Horses are natural followers
• and they will look for a leader. If it is not you they will find something else
• Four phases of firmness
• motivation by comfort following a try or doing the right thing

4. How this Assists with the Ride

Generalising this knowledge to the demands on the trail.

• What to do if your horse shies, is worried, is not listening.
• What to do in traffic
• How to go up and down hill
• Keeping distance between horses and why
• Leading your horse

5. Introduce Riders to their Horses and Teach them to Lead

• Give the horses name and character, and why you think they will be good for this rider
• Teach them how to hold the rope ie nothing between fingers and the ground, and 2-3 feet from the horses halter
• teach about the significance of personal space in recognition of leadership for the horse

6. One Ground Game

A useful ground game to start with is the yo yo game. This:

• Builds the horses respect for their rider
• Gets the horse listening without eating grass
• Gives the rider the chance to experience their life up life down, focus, and phases

7. Mounting, and how to Sit Correctly on a Horse

Do with assistance from the Trek Support person

• check girth
• tie reins
• You can demonstrate the easy way to mount
• or get everyone on at the mounting block
• check stirrup size and length Change if necessary

8. Riding

Build a solid riding position

• teach the group how to hold reins and sit solidly in the saddle, ankles under hip under shoulder
• heels down and why this is important and why they will probably forget it, i.e. human predatory tendency to cling and curl.

The bend or lateral flexion.

• Show by example on your own horse how to bend i.e. lift rein, run one hand down to the end of your reach with little finger closest to the horse’s head, grip, relax whole body, breathe out, and guide the horse’s head around to sniff not bite your foot. When the horse is soft in the feel and their eye, release and rub. Do not let your horse take the rope off you. Repeat if this happens

Turning on hind quarter

• Take one rein take your arm out straight from your body, so it is still in front of your midline. At the same time turn your belly button in the direction you want to turn and focus your sight on the direction you want to go. You can encourage your horse to move their shoulders if they only move their head into your turn by tapping your toe on the shoulder that needs to move across. This will be the opposite toe to the extended hand

• Do this to both sides

Move forward

• Life up, focus squeeze lower leg
• Up through phases smack thigh then rump

Halt

• Rock back onto tail bone lower heels, breath out, lower life, lift rein with elbows in at your sides
• If horse does not stop then turn to stop using the bend.

Back up

• push belly button into the small of your back as if poked by a sword
• Lift one rein in a rhythmic lift straight up from the horses shoulder holding the other rein as a support. Do not pull either rein
• If horse does not move off to the lift just before your rope reaches the top give the rope a tug then drop it. Repeat until the horse moves off to the lift.

9. Question time and rounding up

10. Confidence score read out

• Do a confidence read out 0 to 10. Zero being no confidence at all and 10 being all the confidence in the world. Take more time with anyone on a 4 or below. Again reiterate the importance of the group operating as a cohesive supportive group. You can say here that riders have the opportunity to return and have a ride on their own if they want to have a more adventurous ride.
• Ask for any questions
• Normalise again that this is a no fail exercise, that it is impossible to get it wrong only to learn how, that the guides are here to help, and make your ride all you want it to be and more. Please pipe up if there is anything you want to know or check out and guides will do the same.

11. Rules, communication and order of horses on ride

• Trekkers can yell stop or guides name to get their attention
• Guide’s signal for stop is raised arm, signal for go is waving arm forwards
• Everyone keeps together, behind the guide or in front of the hind guide if there is one.
• Name a sensible order for people to ride out on based on horses pecking order, who you want handy to a guide, pace of horse, chuminess of riders, anything that will maximise safety, and comfort for the horse rider and guide

General rules for the ride

• beginners, those on a first ride or nervous riders do not trot or canter on a ride. A safe way to experiment with trotting if a rider is keen is to do it up hill or away from the tie up in the partnering up area when they get back. To make this even safer it can be done on a lead from your horse. This is offered as a bonus at the end of the ride, as the trek support person can begin dismounting and securing the horses.

• No trotting or cantering home.
• Keep to the side of the road.

Enjoy your ride!