CERTIFICATE III in HORSEMANSHIP

Pre-requisite - Certificate II

Certificate III is all about building the friendship between you and your horse, to a point where your horse actually enjoys being with you, sees you as a 'herd' member and so the harmony between you both is evident and exciting.

As you progress through Cert III you will find your horse begins to "put effort in" to doing the things you ask of him. We call this Positive Reflex, just like he would do for the Lead Mare of his herd. Your horse now sees you as the leader, you are able to do so much more with him with no rope attached, in fact now he will trot to you and stand quietly waiting with you until you signal a change of plan.

Just imagine, having a horse stand still, not being tied not being held, to have the saddle placed on his back and done up. How about a horse who will go into the float while you sit on the mudguard!!

How would like to be able to ride your horse with just a stick for direction and control and be able to do drop-to-trot canter lead changes?

Cert III will delve into the emotional issues faced by a large number of horse people around the idea of Impulsion. To be correct, most horses and a good many people are actually "impulsive". Just to clarify, Impulsion is "Controlled forward (or any direction) energy". Most times a horse walks, trots or runs away with people, ie. they go faster than a person wants them too, and in reality often times, the horse is actually scared too, but they just don't know how to get their emotions under control. Cert III will give you the strategies and tools to build both, your emotions and your horse's emotions, to where you are both fit and controlled in your manoeuvres - so gallop, canter or trot are not a "live or die" event.

Once you achieve Certificate III you will no longer be a person who 'owns' a horse, rather you and your horse will be a Partnership that thousands of people only dream of. You will "feel for" your horse and your horse will "feel for" you so that you are together at all gaits, on the ground or in the saddle. You will be in harmony and ready to go on and build a close contact that very soon only you and your horse will be able to perceive the subtle signals between you.

On completion of Certificate III – Friendship & Harmony, you and your horse will be able to:

• see your horse putting effort in – positive reflex, rather than zero reflex
• see you being more particular, without being critical, with the horse ‘hunting’ direction
• achieve results at further distances – full Ring Rope plus challenges,
• display Liberty in a round yard, like, stick to me, catch me, sideways on fence
• both have Impulsion together
• both have Emotional fitness
• understand gaits, footfalls and leads
• understand and achieve riding dynamics for gaits and leads
• have the horse that hunts the direction given by rider
• ride over longer distances and faster gaits
• hold with more feel with two reins - teaching the human
• transition from hackamore to snaffle
• ride with one stick, loose reins or handshake reins

Have a look at the Certificate III Task List

go to Certificate IV – Results & Refinement