10 things to do in 10 Minutes or less
Time is such an issue for so many of us with horses. Often we are looking after our horses 'in between' jobs - on the way to work, on the way home, dropping kids here and there.
I have often said that 10 minutes a day makes a difference, and I often get asked what can be done in 10 minutes. So here is a list of 10 things, that you can do in 10 minutes or less that will improve your relationship with your horse, improve your horses flexibility, strength or confidence. 10 Minutes a day can also improve your knowledge and skills.
1. Improve on your ground exercises. In my TKH curriculum there is 10 exercises. You could choose to focus on just 1 of these for an entire week to improve the quality and response time - building to a 'world champion level lateral bend' for example.
2. Grooming time. Spending time simply grooming your horse will improve your bond. Instead of grooming while he is eating, take the time to tie him up, so you both can fully be present in the experience. Doing this each day for a week will improve your bond, and will also improve your horses respect and patience.
3. Online walking. Don't underestimate the benefits of taking your horse for a walk around the paddock, or the local area.
4. Patience. Teaching your horse patience by simply tying him up (safely tying, and only if he has been taught to tie up) for a few minutes a day.
5. Picking up his feet, and cleaning them out. Not only will this bring to your attention any hoof issues he may have, and help in the general care of your horse, the act of picking up each foot and holding it, is a respect exercise within itself.
6. Spend time with him. Simply sitting the paddock or arena, with him loose allows you to spend time together with no agenda. Focus on your breathing, and just take the time to relax.
7. Liberty time. Having some fun at liberty, or doing some training exercises adds some cross training to your routine.
8. Observe. Spending time observing your horse in the paddock, or within the herd, without interference from you, can give you a greater understanding of your horse and how he reacts to stimulus and body language.
9. Stretching. Going through a set of stretching exercises with your horse, when done correctly will improve his flexibility, and in turn, his strength.
10. Exploration. Horses love to investigate new areas! If the option is available to you - turn him loose in an area that he doesn't usually get to go in and help him explore - walk around and see the space through his eyes, when the 10 minutes is up, he gets put back in his 'usual' paddock. This 10 minutes of stimulus can go a long way to your horses mental well being.
As I mentioned at the start of the article, the ground exercises are 10 individual exercises, each one that can be done multiple ways, and with multiple variations. So you should have 30 or 40 things you can do with your horse in 10 minutes or less, if you are familiar with my curriculum. If you did each one of these each day for a full week, you would have 30 - 40 weeks worth of content - and thats not even with riding!
Hope this gives you some ideas on how to still be 'doing' things with your horse, when you have less than 10 minutes.
Make it a great week!
Tanja
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