By Tommy Brannon
A demonstration clinic by Natural Horsemanship trainer Dudley Mandy was held May 15 in the indoor arena at Mandy’s Springbuck Horsemanship training center near Rossville, TN. A full house of 45 to 50 people attended the clinic. Food was available from the entrepreneurial children of hosts McCall and Elizabeth Wilson.
Trainer Dudley Manley was born in South Africa and has honed his Natural Horsemanship skills over the years both in Africa and the U.S. He has studied the nature of the horse, especially being a prey animal and how the horse has survived over the millennia by being very wary. It is absolutely essential that one gain the confidence and trust of horses to teach them to do one’s bidding.
Dudley used several horses in various stages of training, with the help of assistants, to demonstrate his techniques. Almost all the horses were quite green and some had previously had bad experiences. He taught a horse’s first lessons on the ground, and then his lesson first under saddle. He showed how to teach a foal to lead from the ground and how to teach a foal to lead while riding his dam. The two foals he used had completely different personalities. Shiny and Spotty are both Palomino get from Dudley’s stallion Wizard, but one, a filly, was very protective of her “space” guarding the exit gate and the other, a colt, ran and bucked, kicking up his heals. Both eventually settled town to business as they listened to Dudley.
Dudley advised, “Do everything new in threes. When the horse does a good move, go on to something else. Reward the slightest try. Touch and rub the foal a lot. Ask him to lie down.”
Dudley uses a cloverleaf pattern to encourage a fast horse to go slower. He set up a diagram of the pattern on an easel to show the spectators how it works. Every turn is as deep as possible into the corners.
When the results are achieved, reverse direction, first at the trot and then at the canter using two hands on the reins and then one hand on the reins. He described the mare he used for the demonstration as one who could not be caught.” It took two years to find the small shank bit that she likes.
Elizabeth Wilson rode Miss Muffett to demonstrate riding without a bridle. Elizabeth carried a long crop, holding it in the vertical position over the withers. She pointed her finger the direction she wanted to turn and used the crop on the opposite shoulder to guide the mare. Elizabeth also rode Miss Muffett bareback so that Dudley could show the importance of an independent seat.
Wizard was brought out to show a warm up routine utilizing independent lounging, jumping and maneuvering through obstacles. Then Dudley tacked him up to demonstrate under saddle techniques.
Finally Dudley brought a trailer into the arena and taught two very green yearlings how to load. Both horses were very afraid of the trailer at first, but with his techniques such as sitting down in the trailer, or in a chair in front of the horse and banging on the trailer, and making noise to get the horses used to the scary sounds. Afterwards, both horses loaded easily in about 15 minutes each. Dudley finished with some advice about trailers: purchase the best that you can afford and ride in the trailer yourself to see how noisy it is.
A demonstration clinic by Natural Horsemanship trainer Dudley Mandy was held May 15 in the indoor arena at Mandy’s Springbuck Horsemanship training center near Rossville, TN. A full house of 45 to 50 people attended the clinic. Food was available from the entrepreneurial children of hosts McCall and Elizabeth Wilson.
Trainer Dudley Manley was born in South Africa and has honed his Natural Horsemanship skills over the years both in Africa and the U.S. He has studied the nature of the horse, especially being a prey animal and how the horse has survived over the millennia by being very wary. It is absolutely essential that one gain the confidence and trust of horses to teach them to do one’s bidding.
Dudley used several horses in various stages of training, with the help of assistants, to demonstrate his techniques. Almost all the horses were quite green and some had previously had bad experiences. He taught a horse’s first lessons on the ground, and then his lesson first under saddle. He showed how to teach a foal to lead from the ground and how to teach a foal to lead while riding his dam. The two foals he used had completely different personalities. Shiny and Spotty are both Palomino get from Dudley’s stallion Wizard, but one, a filly, was very protective of her “space” guarding the exit gate and the other, a colt, ran and bucked, kicking up his heals. Both eventually settled town to business as they listened to Dudley.
Dudley advised, “Do everything new in threes. When the horse does a good move, go on to something else. Reward the slightest try. Touch and rub the foal a lot. Ask him to lie down.”
Dudley uses a cloverleaf pattern to encourage a fast horse to go slower. He set up a diagram of the pattern on an easel to show the spectators how it works. Every turn is as deep as possible into the corners.
When the results are achieved, reverse direction, first at the trot and then at the canter using two hands on the reins and then one hand on the reins. He described the mare he used for the demonstration as one who could not be caught.” It took two years to find the small shank bit that she likes.
Elizabeth Wilson rode Miss Muffett to demonstrate riding without a bridle. Elizabeth carried a long crop, holding it in the vertical position over the withers. She pointed her finger the direction she wanted to turn and used the crop on the opposite shoulder to guide the mare. Elizabeth also rode Miss Muffett bareback so that Dudley could show the importance of an independent seat.
Wizard was brought out to show a warm up routine utilizing independent lounging, jumping and maneuvering through obstacles. Then Dudley tacked him up to demonstrate under saddle techniques.
Finally Dudley brought a trailer into the arena and taught two very green yearlings how to load. Both horses were very afraid of the trailer at first, but with his techniques such as sitting down in the trailer, or in a chair in front of the horse and banging on the trailer, and making noise to get the horses used to the scary sounds. Afterwards, both horses loaded easily in about 15 minutes each. Dudley finished with some advice about trailers: purchase the best that you can afford and ride in the trailer yourself to see how noisy it is.
