horse documentary thoughts

Did any of you watch the free online "Listening to the Horse" docu-series? It's nothing short of a miracle that I watched ALL seven episodes!! I really enjoyed hearing many of the stories, especially from those in area's I am not familiar with. Featured trainers were from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and the US. Accents fascinate me. I enjoyed the different wording/pronunciations, but at times with thicker accents I had difficulty understanding what was being said.

The video footage itself was stunning during key moments. They showed wide views from very high above, in a minimalistic style, of a horse & rider with their dancing shadows. As a visual person, it was captivating! At least one of the riders was Steve Halfpenny, whom I would like to learn more from. He is known for Light Hands Equitation, and has a soft approach & calming way.

Below are a few snippets of my take away's from the episodes and trainers that resonated with me:

Episode 1 (Horsemanship) 
• Allow the horse the right to search, to find release.
• Many horse problems are rooted in anxiety.
• Warrick Schiller (Performance Horse) shared a trail story about horses spooking at rabbits, it spoke volumes.
• horses are "lightly started" way too young

Episode 2 (Groundwork)
• Stop pushing horses away, so they can chose to do the right thing.
• Kim Walnes (heart & science of riding) trail story about her young Arabian brought tears to my eyes. I found her very interesting to listen to.

Episode 3 (Riding) 
• The best video of the series IMO, had substance and was more then nice stories/peoples opinions. I value visual explanations of what is being done, and why. Pat Parelli was the trainer (for those anti-Parelli, I am well-aware of the excessive hype) he did an excellent job explaining & showing the importance of foot fall. 
• Riders use head-knowledge, instead of heart-felt choice.
• "It's about building relationship, it's about a dance with the horse"

Episode 4 (Health) • The obvious was covered

Episode 5 (Bodywork)
• Jim Masterson showed how to find the bladder meridian, and touched on the amount of pressure to apply. However, I was left wondering "then what should I do..." maybe that was the point lol.
• The featured animal communicator (aka educated observer) was interesting. I get it now.
• Jeff Sanders (Spanish Horsemanship) gave a thorough basic explanation of how bits apply pressure to horses tongues, using a towel. It was an eye opener. Another favorite episode, that I found educational. This guy knows his stuff.

Episode 6 (The Rider)
• Ride the horse you have that day vs riding the saddle (every trainer on the planet needs to heed this message)
• The impact of incorrectly sitting on your horse

Episode 7 (Home & Environment)
• The obvious was covered
• A reminder that some horses live in horrific situations.

I do not recall seeing many of the larger number of trainers listed. Here are a few more that shared and resonated with me: Lester Buckley (multi-disciplinary/gifted teacher), Karen Rohlf (Dressage Naturally) and Katharine Chrisley (Natural Equine Specialist).  

I loved the overall message of the Listening to the Horse series, everything featured was clearly in the best interest of the horse. There is incredible information being touched on. Key word, touched on. The world would be a much better place for horses if all owners did what was previewed. However, I am not sure how effective the messages are via sooo many snippets of people talking at you. Those featured messages shared in-depth, stuck with me. Sometimes less is more.

Those of you that watched it, what did you think about the documentary??