Everyday Riding Tip

Practicing TIMING of “pressure and release” in horsemanship…with your dogs on a leash

These guys have been walked on leashes their whole lives – because well, living in less rural neighborhoods, or taking them camping with us, or taking them to the in-laws’ place in a lovely lakeside civilized golf course community – well, we gotta have good dogs. With three large dogs, over the years, you kind of learn by default, the way to get the best responses from them on-leash.

And strangely enough – or not – its a LOT like the pressure-and-release mindset in horsemanship, that surmises “a horse learns best not from pressure, but release of pressure” when riding. Those who ride are probably familiar with the idea that the timing with which you can release the “pressure” of a seat/leg/rein cue is extremely meaningful to the horse you’re riding and can do a lot to build “lightness” into your horse (ease that it takes cues and direction from the rider).

So, over the years walking these monsters in various settings has given me LOTS of experience with pressure and release and since picking horseback riding back up as an adult, I’m finding it pretty interesting that there is such a parallel there. So, thought I’d share a couple of vids I made today featuring my youngest dog, Sunny – a Pyrenees mix who is obsessed with stopping and sniffing at random stuff the ENTIRE walk. Offleash she’s a sketchy listener – she pretty much does what she wants most of the time, argh! Sister, our pit-mix middle ager, can be a stubborn toot when it comes to doing what she wants too, stopping to eat deer poop or whathaveyou, coming when called only when she’s ready, etc. But she really wants to please everybody – as long as it doesn’t interfere with her agenda, hah. So, really, they’re perfect subjects for this “experiment.”

So, today, I give you “Practicing Timing of pressure and release in horsemanship…with dogs on leashes” parts one and two, starring Sunny and Sis. If you’re a rider, maybe you’ll see some parallels too…