Horse and Horsemanship Video Channel

Life in a Day with Horses

June 5, 2013 by John Leave a Comment

Life in a Day

June 2013 – A couple of years ago there was a “Life in a Day” project, where you filmed a part of your day, edited and it might be part of a movie. Ranae and I put one together, but we never submitted it. I just found it and we are making it public. I doubt it will generate much “watch time”. Some of the footage is quite raw. Still, it was fun going back and seeing some of the older projects. It was one of the first times we tried to make an artistic video. It was also the first time I had an extended monologue looking right into the camera. That’s a tough deal. But, that what the Life in a Day project was about.

I find projects like this educational and fascinating. It forces me to be aware of sound. It forces me to be aware of camera position. It forces me to see the story I’m trying to tell. There are just so many things to keep track of. It really makes you appreciate those people who are really good at this process. While I don’t pretend to be adept at movie making, these are the challenges I enjoy. I also enjoy spending time with my horse. And, showing her off. She is a good friend. She’s a good horse. She tolerates my indulgences.

I also enjoy spending time with my wife. She doesn’t much enjoy the video stuff. She is also a good friend. She is a great wife. She also tolerates my indulgences. Who could ask for more.

We do not have a particularly exciting life. Maybe not good enough for a movie. It is pretty good though. We hope you enjoy this little glimpse of our life in a day.

Working Cows ~ Jessie’s First Time

December 18, 2012 by John Leave a Comment

Working Cows

From October 2007

For my birthday Ranae bought me a session with a trainer working cows on horseback. I had bought Jessie in March of 2007 and spent a couple of months teaching her the Downunder Horsemanship Method. We had been out on a number of trail rides. She proved herself to be a level headed little mare. She has some cow horse in her lineage. She is a great granddaughter of Jessie James, so it was time to put her to the test.

This is the first time working cows with Jessie. It’s also the first time I had had her around other horses. The dogs give us a run for our money and there is a point in the video you see her jump at a cow behind the fence. The biggest problem was I didn’t know what I was doing. The trainer kept asking me if she was “hooking up” to the cows. I not only did not know what that felt like, I didn’t even know what it meant. But we kept trying. When she did, what I thought was, a “hookup” she would run to catch up with the cow. Great fun for both me and Jessie. Unfortunately, we got a stern tongue lashing from the trainer for “using up” the cattle.

After hopelessly bumbling around for half an hour, the trainer took us to a back pen and we worked on rollbacks. He said Jessie was lazy about them. He was right. Although I’m not sure lazy was the right word. She had never been asked to do a rollback. She did not know she had to learn one if she were going to be good at working cows.

Music for this video is Lenny Kravitz, Deuce, from Kiss My Ass, Classic Kiss Regrooved

Saddle-Less ~ Bareback On Jessie

December 18, 2012 by John Leave a Comment

Going Saddle-less

From December 2012

Going Saddle-less ~ Bareback on Jessie. I’m not sure why I chose to try riding Jessie saddle-less. I had never done it before. I don’t even remember riding any horse bareback as an adult. Oh yeah, I had don the Jeffrey Method on her and she remained calm. I think there is something about the winter months. This day it threaten rain off and on. We did not want to get caught out in it. Yes, we are wimps. We decided instead to just screw around in our little riding area. We had done all the groundwork and were probably getting a little bored. The saddle was all the way over in the tack room. So was the bridle. Why not just go saddle-less?

Guys have a distinct anatomical disadvantage riding bareback. I don’t know how those Indians galloped along in all those westerns I watched as a kid. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate hearing them. The equipment just gets in the way. There is a distraction though. It’s falling off. There really isn’t anything to hold on to. Your balance is really tested.

I was very pleased with the way Jessie took to the cues. Looking back on this after a couple of years I can see my riding style was very good back then. I had my feet a little forward. I remember wondering how much pressure to use with my legs. My wife was telling me to grip with my upper legs, but I could not separate that pressure from my lower legs. Pressure with my lower legs just made her want to go forward.

The other thing I remember about this “going saddle-less” day was want to lope but not quite being confident enough to break into a canter. There is that little moment in the transition from trot to canter where Jessie’s gait gets a little extra bouncy. I knew if I could get through that I would be okay. I just could not get there. I would start bouncing all over her back, get a little worried and ask for a whoa. The good thing about Jessie is she loves the word whoa.

I put this video to one of my favorite artists, Jeff Healy. “I Think I Love You Too Much” is from is from his Hell To Pay album. Jeff Healy was a great blues and Jazz guitarist who died way to soon. Check out his music at JeffHealy.com

A Little Groundwork with Jessie

December 17, 2012 by John Leave a Comment

Jessie and I do a little groundwork. A fun little session we video tape many years ago. It will help you see how we moved through our horsemanship program. Looks like we need a lot more work on yielding the forequarters…

Jessie At Liberty – March 2008

December 17, 2012 by John Leave a Comment

Sorry. This video is kind of long. We wanted an “At Liberty” starting point so we have something to grow on. This is only the third time I tried working with Jessie at liberty and, as you can see, we need a little more refinement. Jessie could tell I really had no control over her and she took advantage of the situation. Working at liberty is one of the big tests to determine how much your horse wants to be around you and how safe and secure they fell being next to you. Like I said, we have a long way to go.