HorsemanshipHorsemanship is often used as the collective term for groundwork with the horse. Roughly speaking, horsemanship is probably everything we do with the horse - by its very nature, it refers to the quality of the interaction with the horse. Quality means that the work and training is on the horse's terms - at the horse's pace and within the horse's physical capabilities.Horsemanship and groundwork are closely related and are an important element in the training of all horses, both elite and hobby horses. The groundwork you do with the horse is the foundation of breaking in the horse. Through groundwork, all signals can be taught so that the horse is familiar with forward, backward and moving its front and hindquarters when it first gets a rider. This can make the whole process of getting the rider on easier because the basic steering signals are already in place, so there are fewer things for the horse to deal with. 67 |