# Falling into the Western World ~



## gigem88 (May 10, 2011)

Yea! Sometimes a change is all we need, looks like a wonderful place. The ponies look happy and sassy. Hope you have many more great rides.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I didn't know that Clinton Anderson was a "discipline" of riding.
I have always ridden English and have mainly done Dressage and some lower level Hunters and Eventing. Over the past few years I lost a lot of passion for riding and would stop. I love horses so I would always start up again only to stop because the passion isn't there. I recently switched to a new stable *(with dressage, hunter, Clinton Anderson, and other western discipline horses)* hoping the change would spark something but while I loved the horses and barn, I felt increasingly uncomfortable and out of place while riding. "

anyway, I hope you enjoy the change. new experiences are always good to make us better riders.

"


----------



## dressagedevil (Jul 31, 2014)

tinyliny said:


> I didn't know that Clinton Anderson was a "discipline" of riding.
> I have always ridden English and have mainly done Dressage and some lower level Hunters and Eventing. Over the past few years I lost a lot of passion for riding and would stop. I love horses so I would always start up again only to stop because the passion isn't there. I recently switched to a new stable *(with dressage, hunter, Clinton Anderson, and other western discipline horses)* hoping the change would spark something but while I loved the horses and barn, I felt increasingly uncomfortable and out of place while riding. "
> 
> anyway, I hope you enjoy the change. new experiences are always good to make us better riders.
> ...


Not necessarily a discipline but it is a totally different style of training and working with a horse. That is what his owner does with him, she does not do WP, Reining, Barrel Racing, Trail, etc. etc. with him, she bought him so she could continue to ride and train in Clinton Anderson's methods. He is branded by Clinton Anderson and is used to practice his methods, so in my mind that makes him a 'Clinton Anderson' horse.
There are other horses either trained by Clinton Anderson or practice it but primarily do another style of riding like reining for an example, these horses are reining horses to me.
But there is no better way for me to describe what the horse does than using 'Clinton Anderson' because that is primarily what the owner does with him.


----------



## dressagedevil (Jul 31, 2014)

*10/28/14*

I was out of town for the weekend so yesterday was the first day I came out for a few days. I didn't have much time because of a doctor's appointment I had to make. 
I bathed one of the ponies before taking Ameera out and lunging her (in the round pen for the first time!). She of course immediately broke into canter when I let her go, but she had walked in calmly and respected my space. I kept her on the lunge for maybe 5 minutes just using voice commands and body language to teach her different gaits and etc.. I think it helps her stay calm that I don't hold a whip or rope. She was still a bit nervous and racy but a thousand times better than before, and at the end she followed behind me freely while I walked her out.

After that I tacked her up; I used her western tack for the first time. I took her into the arena and just walked her, she was antsy and wanted to break into trot , but I just kept calm and walked her out. I added tons of bending, serpentines, circles, and poles to keep her brain at work, and by the end of the ride we had a nice free moving walk. I could feel the swing in her back and I loved it. If I have to only walk her under saddle everyday for a while, I will do it just to feel her be so comfortable and relaxed.
She is incredibly sensitive to the aids and I can tell Ameera is a very highly trained horse. 
Just a slight touch of the rein on her neck or a slight touch of the leg has her full attention, it's amazing. She knows her stuff, all we need is relaxation.


----------

