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Approach Articles Our Favorite Links Kirkwood Sierra Outfitters (Kirkwood Stables) |
Testimonial by Chris Tremaine
I
recently had the good fortune of attending a Feel, Timing, and Balance clinic at
the beautiful J bar K Ranch in Angels Camp, Ca. The FT&B Clinic is a new
addition to J-K Ranch’s Defining Horsemanship program.
Jim and
Karen Hagen own and operate the J-K and have been developing their Defining
Horsemanship program for many years. Jim and Karen are dedicated to preserving
California Style Ranch Living at the J-K. Aside from teaching horsemanship Jim
and Karen raise grass fed beef and sheep. They have been very involved in the
Calaveras County Cattlemen’s Association for several years. Jim is a past
President and Karen has served as secretary/treasurer.
The ranch
offers a wonderful experience in California Ranch Life that is reminiscent of
days too far gone by. It is fun, relaxing, and very educational. Jim and
Karen’s horsemanship is also rooted in California Ranch Life being founded in
traditional California Vaquero Horsemanship.
Jim is the
founder of Kirkwood Sierra Outfitters, Jim has been offering trail rides
and pack trips in the High Sierra for over twenty years. Jim has been packing in
the High Sierra for most all of his life.
He learned his mountain
riding, packing, and many horsemanship skills from horseman and cattleman, Benny
Brown. Jim is an exceptional horseman and mentor. Jim has been working on
building the J-K into a true California Ranch to share with horsemen and women.
It is a perfect place for people to come enjoy their horses and to learn Vaquero
Style Horsemanship from the best.
Karen Hagen has been a horsewoman for her whole life. Growing up in the
Livermore California, Karen learned from the greatest horsemen of our time.
Karen had the great fortune to work with Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Troy
Henry, and Joe Wolter, to name a few. Karen has achieved many, many goals within
the horse world. Karen has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science from
Fresno State and she has worked as an assistant for several veterinarians. Karen
has shown in 3 Day Eventing, Reining and Working cowhorse, and rodeo. She has
also innovated a program for judging, and judged, the colt starting competition
for the Rowell Ranch Cowboy Gathering for four years. Karen was founding
Secretary and instrumental in developing the American Mule Association,
various cutting clubs, team penning and as Pat Parelli’s first wife, was the
co-Founder of Parelli Natural Horsemanship. Her biggest accomplishment of all
was to become the expert horsewoman and friend that she is. These are just a few
of Jim and Karen’s accomplishments. Luckily, for us, Karen and Jim love to share
their passion for horsemanship and their ranch with us.
It would be amazing to take a clinic from either one of them, taking a clinic
from them both is an opportunity that, for me, is not to be missed.
The clinic
was held in a three part series. The first part being Feel,
the second Timing, and the
third being Balance. This format made each session like a mini clinic in its own
right. It allowed the participants the opportunity to gain a deeper
understanding of each element before progressing to the next. It also gave us
time to think over, as well as work on, what we had learned.
The clinic
was very personal and one on one. With the number of riders fluctuating between
six and nine and the luxury of two teachers, we were all able to receive all the
help we needed.
The clinic
was open to all levels of riders with any degree of horsemanship skill. The
clinic is designed to help all who are committed to improving their
horsemanship.
We all had
unique situations with our horses, our backgrounds, and our knowledge, but we
all came here as a group to follow our paths together. Yes, we were there to
learn, but we were also here to grow, to expand our horizons, and to venture out
of our comfort zones. Jim and Karen teach with an amazing outpouring of support
and enthusiasm. Not only with their expertise and knowledge but with a very deep
empathy for the horse, as well as, the rider.
The ranch
offers early arrivals, which I took full advantage of. The idea being that you
and your horse will be stress free at the start of the clinic. I brought my
horse on Friday afternoon which allowed me to have a nice relaxing
Saturday morning to prepare for the clinic. I arrived early and was greeted by a
flock of wild turkeys in the ranch yard. I could also hear the sounds of the
animals being fed and was very glad to see my horse settled in and eating his
hay. It wasn’t long before trailers began arriving and horses were being
unloaded and tied to the sides of their trailers. It felt good to be able to sit
and watch because of being prepared ahead of time.
Each
session began with a discussion. We all related what the topic meant to each of
us. Then Karen and Jim related what it meant to them. It was very eye-opening to
hear all of the different views and thoughts that each of us had. Our first
session was Feel.
One thing
that we all agreed on was that Feel is elusive. We learned that
feel isn’t something one can easily learn. One must find it within themselves.
What we can do is get help in learning to understand what feel is from horsemen
who know what Feel is. There were many principles that we learned to aid us in
learning how to find a better Feel for our horses. Also we found that knowing
the principles is easy, putting them into practice is where our journey really
begins. Because it is so elusive we are constantly searching. I spent a lot of
time
searching my mind. At the
clinic I learned that I have to leave all of that baggage in my mind behind. We
learned that we needed to clear our heads and just feel, don’t think so much. I
also learned that I need to search my heart for the answers. Feel comes right
out of your heart. We are so mind driven that it’s very hard to let go of all of
that emotion. I found that I needed to learn to just ride, believe in my horse,
Feel of my horse, and have fun.
We all
learned many principles on that first day. We learned the importance of riding
with intent, purpose, and focus. Our horses need our full attention so they can
feel that we are with them and taking care of them. They can feel safe in the
knowledge that we are leading them somewhere. They can learn to trust our
intent.
Likewise,
we learned that we must always have our emotions under control. We must leave
anger, doubt, fear, and worry behind. Jim and Karen instilled in us the
importance of always riding with positive thoughts so as not to upset and
undermine our horse’s try. This is essential. Our emotions play a very important
part in how the horse feels of us and responds, good or bad. We learned how
important it is to feel the horse’s smallest try so we can reward him
immediately and also to not always expect perfection. We learned the importance
of giving our horses time to respond and letting him try. We had to open up our
minds and our bodies.
Another
essential factor to feel that we learned was how our bodies affect our horses,
whether on the ground or in the saddle. On the ground we need to convey a
certain body language to our horse depending on what we are trying to convey to
the horse. Are we scaring him? Are we being the leader? Is he comfortable with
us? Does he understand? Feel was learning to recognize and consider how our
horses responded to our behavior and to determine if we needed to change.
Also in the
saddle, how is our body language being interpreted by our horse? Are we
tight? Clutching our horses with our legs, fists, and knees, thus making him
tight? Are we too loose, flopping all over the place so he can’t get any Feel of
what we are asking of him? We worked on relaxing, sitting down in our
saddles with our heels down and hands quiet.
Other
principles of Feel we worked on were learning to use the least amount or
pressure to get a response and then to use less next time. We worked on giving
our horses the chance to Feel of us, and then believing in our horses.
There is so much about Feel to learn. Learning to just be in the moment was
another very important component of Feel. To not put agendas or time limitations
on your horse time. Just ride him, just be in the moment and ‘Feel of him’. Find
something your horse enjoys so he can have fun too. If we want a
better relationship with our
horses through feel it is essential to practice and continue educating
ourselves. I learned that I wasn’t feeling of my horse very well at all. My idea
of Feel was so different from what it is now. I feel like I am on the
right road now and I have a lot to work on.
We had a
couple of weeks to work on our Feel and then it was time for our Timing session.
Timing was very fun. We began again with a discussion and we did some games
where we took turns playing the role of horses and riders. This was really a
great way to see what our horses are feeling from us. Through the games we could
feel the pressure, release of pressure, or lack of, and the clarity or lack of,
that our horses experience. Sometimes we were pretty confused! It enabled us to
take a good look at ourselves and our horsemanship.
Karen and
Jim then helped us to learn the importance of Timing in the aspect of ‘pressure
and release’. We found that since horses learn from the release of pressure, we
need to be right on Time with our release. As we practiced Karen and Jim
taught us to use different degrees of pressure and release. We worked on
obstacles on the ground so we could better see our horses feet and get in time
with them. This worked very well. We could really see our horses try and
therefore Time our release much better. We could also get a good Feel of how
much pressure we needed on all of the different obstacles.
We played
some fun games in the arena with getting in Time with the feet. We started with
counting our horse’s footfalls and feeling which foot was hitting the ground. We
practiced counting steps and asking our horse to stop on an X. We found there is
a fine line between Feel, Timing and Balance. If you do too much you lose it all
but if your Feel, Timing and Balance are perfect the horse understands. That's
where that perfect Feel, Timing and Balance is.
We also got
to work with some cattle. This was a great experience because we really had to
work on getting in Time with our horses and the cattle!. We really had to ride
with focus and purpose. It was also very fun and the horses enjoy it too.
When we
were practicing Timing and getting our bodies moving with our horses and
counting footfalls it felt like my horse and I were so together. Our Feel was so
good at one point I just thought of a transition and my horse did it. It was
really nice, it felt good and I could tell he felt real good too. To think that
you could have a relationship like that with your horse all the time is amazing.
I got a chance to Feel what Feel, Timing and Balance are, all together, and it
was great.
That was my
idea of Balance but during the Balance clinic I learned, as usual, there is a
lot more to it. Being in Balance also means riding in Balance so that
your horse can be in Balance. If we are riding out of Balance physically we are
in our horses way and our horse is uncomfortable. Therefore he is often unable
to perform what we are asking of him. This was so important to learn because we
so often blame our horse for our mistakes. We need to constantly remind
ourselves that our horses are not to blame and we need to work more on
ourselves. Putting all the things we learned into Feel and Timing and
riding with straightness, good posture, and focus will put us in Balance with
our horses and our horses will feel comfortable.
There are
many terms/principles that we hear in the horse world today, for example, fix it
up and wait, make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult, let your
idea become your horses idea, and so on. But it all starts with Feel, Timing,
Balance, and becoming the horseman we need to be.
Without Feel, Timing and Balance we cannot reach the level of success with our
horses for us to become confident, understanding, partners.
I am so thankful to have met
Jim and Karen and found a place that I know I will always be able to find
anything I could ever need in my horsemanship journey.
I encourage
anyone who is looking for a fun, educational, and friendly environment to study
Natural Horsemanship from traditional California Vaquero Style Ranching to visit
Jim and Karen at the J-K Ranch and attend a clinic.
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Defining HorseManShip.com Website by Niermeyer
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