Buck Brannaman Clinic Notes (Teil 1)

• Pushyness starts with a tiny nudge
• Keep your horse’s politeness in order to get catching going well. Horses will catch you because they want to be around you, when you have firm guidelines to let them know where they are supposed to be at all times with you
• ALWAYS offer the good deal (lightness & politeness) first when asking the horse to do something. 

• Horses are supposed to be afraid of things to keep them safe and save their lives. They have very few defense mechanisms. This can give the human a problem when they choose to flee from perceived danger
• You want to get your horse to have no fear of the flag whatsoever but not lose the ability to move the horse’s feet or have it become dull to the flag when you use it with intent
• Enjoy each day’s journey with your horse as when you finally get done ‘training’ you'll be dead. 
• A horse will NEVER nibble or be playful with a horse it respects. The boss horse always initiates play or grooming 
• You can’t MAKE the right thing happen but you can ENCOURAGE and SUPPORT it. 
• It doesn’t take long to get things accomplished if you are competent and effective with your horse 
• If a horse is sensitive to things behind it, drive without driving reins (at liberty) changing eyes frequently 

• Relax your posture when the horse becomes united so he knows when he is travelling correctly 
• Ask for the hind quarters to yield and the forequarters to reach across well, to change directions 
• Make sure the hind quarter yield is soft and could continue yielding for as long as you would like before the fore quarter comes through. You may walk in and continue yielding the hind quarter around until relaxation comes before sending the forequarters across 
• If you are out of time with the inside hind with your lead / rein corrections, you are taking away your horse’s balance and will have relationship issues 
• Rope your horse while on line. Throw a loop around their rump and lead forward with some pressure, Rope each leg, rope the flank, rope all over 

• Always keep checking back with your horse, let him know you are there so as not to scare him. Move around and keep rubbing him 
• Once you gained control of the horse’s feet and YOU are directing them (not the horse), the horse will stop being cranky at other horses, just get there ahead of time before they get too close and feel the need to defend themselves. Keep them out of trouble and make small corrections early. 
• Be very aware of when a horse is ‘puchy’ (uneven, fast then slow, reactive). Work on smoothness. 
• When you do a one-rein-stop, think of it like cuddling your horse “you’re ok, I’m here” 

• DO NOT ‘jerk’ your horse’s head up. Block it until the horse finds its way off that pressure and brings it up himself. Jerking encourages the horse to escape the pressure instead of yielding to it 
• A soft feel is not just a ‘bob’ of the head when you ask for a feel. The body and feet have to engage 
• Practice asking your horse to move an individual foot 

• Proper flexion: Ears horizontal, face vertical and poll higher than the wither. Head no more than 90 degrees from straight forward to the side. 
• Most important element of proper flexion is poll height to open up the shoulders 

• Pawing under saddle. Lean on the leg pawing and see if you can get the other leg to paw. 
• Driving (long-reins)? You can’t get the kind of feel going on that you can from the saddle. 

• The best place to build in feel is from the saddle 
• You’d be surprised what you can get done at a walk – Ray Hunt 
• Think about getting to the feet, rather than fixing a busy mouth (chomping at the bit) 
• See how little it takes to push the hind quarters across with your leg and no reins 
• Move the hind quarters without causing the horse to lose balance. Keep proper lateral flexion 
• Lead changes come from the hind quarters and can be practiced from the walk and trot setting up the posture. eg Right lead – left leg back, touch the right rein, rock hind quarters towards the right 
• A horse needs to be on the right ‘lead’ at the trot to get the correct canter lead. Play around with seeing which lead your horse takes in a straight line at the extended trot on the trail when feeling the trot setup, what lead do you get. 
• Rising on the correct diagonal will help get the correct canter lead, not ensure it 
• Diagonals, rise and fall with the foot on the wall 
• Once the hind quarters are free and light, leads are a breeze 
• Slide inside passive leg forward while cantering 
• Loose rein canter leads MUST come before soft feel 
• Get balanced on both sides at the walk, trot and backup for even leads and changes 
• Flying lead changes are easier with some speed added 
• During the short serpentine exercise, focus connecting the rein to the inside fore. This exercise teaches the horse to stay balanced. It is not done holding a soft feel 

• Don’t ride through something good to end on something bad. Make a winner out of your horse by breaking things down into small steps 
• Position your leading hand out and back off your hip to lead the forequarters across. Think of the hoof following your hand 
• Make sure you are not riding on the break and gas at the same time 
• Get good at calling the lead the horse is going to take on a straight line. 
• Use the draw of the gate or another horse to help establish a lead 

• Whatever you don’t like about your horse’s behavior is your fault, take responsibility 
• Sometimes you feel like you are starting over every day, that is just part of the deal. Just keep starting over until soon things start to carry over. 
• If your horse is chewing a rein, leadrope etc, it is mostly about lack of your PRESENCE. 
• When your horse is responding with respect to you, it becomes drawn to being with you. 
• Your personal life will ease if you allow your horsemanship to help you. 

• Get the horse so soft you can back them anywhere you want 
• Balance rubbing with the flag and driving with it. The horse must learn the difference 
• Unless you are teaching your horse to yield in ALL ways that relate to under saddle on the ground, you aren't getting enough done 
• Expression is VERY important. Don't accept a poor expression, correct it 

• Once the horse can flex laterally and hind quarters can be untracked, you have a pretty good chance of surviving your ride