Hi Cristina
.
I have never done this kind of work myself, but I have a friend who is right into it and its incredible what her and her horse can achieve together. This is something I would really like to learn more about in the future.
.
Kind regards,
.
Gen

Cristina
That is so great! I took agility classes for my dog and it is a lot of work to get the dog excited on one hand and in complete control by hand signal and body movements. With a horse it is absolutly remarkable. Thanks for the video link

Cheers

Fascinating. I would like to try it.

Hi Cristina,

I took also agility classes for my dogs, like Dennis.
When I saw the video I thought this is a great idea.
My dogs loves to do the agility and you can see that the horse loves it as well. I think it is very good for the horse to do this, thinking of the fear horses can have for new things or being afraid for objects. Don't you think?
Or do I miss the point in this?
I am a teacher and I tought the children in a playfull way new things. They loved it and they took it in much faster and there was no time for them to think; I can't do it!!
I can imagine if you do this with a horse it will go faster as well. Correct me if I am wrong.
I will look up if we do this in Holland as well.
Kind regards, May.

That is fantastic! Thanks for posting Cristina

Hi all,

agility gives the horse a lot of selfconfidence. Their is so much interaction between human and horse, but the relationship must be totally clear, this is very important. All this alternative activities with the are not in contrast with any type riding, you can do it to change work sometimes. Ones the horse has learned to follow the indication of a target, it won't forget.

Hi cristina,
I just watched your video's on youtube and they are great.
Well done.
What kind of horse is this? How old is it? And how long has it taken you to be able to get it to do this work?
I do liberty work with my horse, Star.
She is very black and a good girl for being so young.
I have been with her for two years now and she has come a long way.
Thank you for sharing this with us,
Ronda

Hi Ronda,
first of all thanks for watching.
Degas is a thoroughbred of almost 6 years old, I got him when he was 3 ½ ,with 2 ½ he had a tendon injury and was destined to be slaughtered. He is very gentile and cooperative when asked kindly, he doesn't stand be obliged to do what he doesn't like. So I always have to find the right way to motivate him. At the beginning it was very difficult. But now we know each other very well and he trusts me. Very often we do long walks in the countryside (about 3 hours). I only tie him where there could be danger for other people (crossing roads ecc.) or where he could do some damage (going in cultivated fields for example). For the moment I can't ride, because I broke my back 3 month ago. But I am happy just watching him “naked” and free, just being a horse.
Do you have somebody to film you during the work or play with your horse. It would be nice to see others while training the horses.

Hi Cristina,
Yes I have my husband who will do this.
I haven't been well lately and when the bugs are not so bad Paul said he would do this for me. My liitle girl is very sensitive to the bugs.
I look forward to the day when My Star Majestic will do as Degas does.
I love it and for me it is a dream for us to have a big enough property for Star to have complete freedom to roam as she pleases.
One thing I loved to see was when you were calling to Degas and he came running to you and you said, shhhhh, and he slowed right down when he got to you, it was lovely.
I'm very sorry to hear about your back and I pray all heals well.
Espero que se mejore,
Ronda
(did i spell it correctly?)

Hi,
I´d like to share some new videos with you. We we having a long walk in the country side and as usual they are free to follow and play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TomHq05ziy4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3l7NzZIv_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUpTzFaHYZY

For me the graetest success is when the horse follws me on his own will without fences.
I hope you understand and share my passion for liberty in horsemanship.

Cristina

Hi Christina,

That is so good to see.
You can see that they are both so playfull and are buddies.
I love to see how you are working with your horse, sorry I forgot the name of your horse.
Hope we will see more. This is realy fun.
Cheers, May

Hi cristina,
I just watched these new videos. They are beautiful. Good job.
The terrain is so rough compared to ours here in the east coast of Canada. We have a lot of grasses and fields.
I look forward to taking MY STAR on long walks like this.
Thank you for sharing,
Ronda

I'm happy to see so many doing liberty work with their horses. After all, you take the first steps of liberty work when you do your first J-U and Follow Up :). I have a 30 year old Standardbred mare who is arthritic and can't be ridden anymore, but I am starting to teach her some liberty work as a way to keep her moving and active without the necessity of her carrying a load. Who says you can't teach an old horse new tricks? :) There's a Canadian trainer named Jonathan Field who does great liberty work with his horses, and while the groundwork he lays involves what is essentially longeing, I am inspired to see if I can figure a way to do what he does without the longeing. I figure it'll keep me busy this winter! Good luck to you!

@julie m.
Yes, play or work at liberty is about keeping the connection between horse and human alive. It needs a lot of respect of both sides and the right feeling how far you can go. The horse studies your movements continiously and maybe a wrong gesture could change the play into a fight. It always dipends on the character of the horse.
I had many situations when I stood infront of Degas (my horse, after he came galopping towards me, I stopped him and he tried to understand my mood, ready to rear. In this case one has to get down all the adrenaline (sounds easier than it is) control the own movements not to create a misunderstanding between human and horse. Also the horse needs time to understand, after a few times playing he will get to know you better in this new situation.