Freework

Freework is how I start my relationship with a new horse, it is a simple set of exercises, done at liberty, that any person and any horse can do. It helps the horse to realise that people are purposefully communicating, and that he can understand what we are asking. At this stage, I am not teaching the horse anything. I am not concerned about the outcome of the exercises; rather, the exercises are simply tools, to help the horse stop and think about the situation, and not just rely on habit and instinct. When working with a horse, what I want to see is the horse thinking. Thinking about me and what I’m asking, and then trying to respond, not just react. Asking for a response, not a reaction is very important. I am looking for the moment where the horse stops and considers the situation, this is the beginning of two-way communication.

Freework quick explanation

A very quick run-through of freework with Bukka. This video is an oldie but a goodie.

Asking a horse to come with you

I wanted to talk to you all about how it is important to ask the horse to come with you first rather than driving, or anything else, when doing freework. I had just had a “fun” time catching him in his massive paddock! You can watch that here. Link please. Very amusing for my camera woman Annie, but does go to show it is possible to do freework almost anywhere!

Don't need a fancy round pen

Freework with a young Clydesdale cross mare getting ready for her first in hand show. I came over to help my friend Amber with some trailer loading, but we decided she needed a little background work first. I'll go back later in the week to help with more stuff. This video is pretty long even though I cut quite a bit out. She was pretty fun to work with... Loads of attitude

Clinic with Parahaki ponyclub

I had an amazing time with all the lovely ponies and kids on this clinic. I always love watching how happy horses and ponies are to try out freework with their own people. Thank you again to Parahaki pony club.

Clinic in Auckland

Here are some clips from a clinic I taught in Auckland. These were all lovely horses and owners to work with. We use Freework as a platform to build our future relationship on. It is not the end goal, just a place to start to help horses on the way to being happier. It is a perfect way to help them to choose to have you as their leaders.

Boys and horses

Got a few horses in to do some animal handling with a bunch of too cool boys! These horses have either been out grazing in the herd for a while, or have had fairly minimal handling. I like to get the horses relaxed around people and in a good frame of mind before making them pretty, so they look disgusting. Actually they come in fairly rain clean, but there is a very appealing mud patch in the home paddock!

Tricky session with Zac.

This is the first freework session with a nice green broke Holstein gelding. Zac starts out following me pretty quickly, but he wasn’t really engaged. He had a bit of trouble understanding what I was really asking, and tried a lot of options before he got it right. By the end, he had a different understanding of what it meant to be with me and not just next to me.