Hunting For Arrows

    I'm a big fan of cross training no matter what discipline the horse I am working with is intended for. I find it incredibly beneficial to teach them different skills and disciplines and to expose them to new things. I did everything under the sun with the little mare I had before Joe. I bought her to show Western Pleasure, and in the 17 years I had her with her we barrel raced, sorted cows, did cowboy mounted shooting, countless parades, trail class, western riding, hunt seat, and spent 5 years on a rodeo grand entry team. I was once told that by doing that I was a "jack of all trades but a master of none". What I ended up with was a very confident all-around horse that has gone on to make a great kid’s horse. Joe was bred for Western Pleasure, turns out he's a kick ass archery horse and confident trail horse who loves to work cows and go for gallops at the ocean. I'm always looking for new things to engage his brain and keep him from shutting down, which h...

  I hauled my targets and archery equipment out to the barn on Sunday to get some practice time in on Joe. Since I had the targets set and had my bow and arrows handy, I decided to introduce Holly to them. Holly continues to improve each day I work with her. She had two bad days in a row where everything seemed to set her off. I could barely get her blanket off while she was in the cross ties while she snorted and pawed.   Even on those two days, she worked well and was focused on the lunge line. It seemed that something back in the barn had set her off, she kept looking at the entrance to the barn where her stall is and would react anytime someone would walk through that space. There have been reports of a cougar sighting in the area, but I have a hard time believing she would be the only horse reacting if it had cruised through the barn. None of the other horses were acting like her. On the second day of Holly’s panic attacks someone let me know they had been giving her gr...

 90% of the practice shots I take are on the ground, not on my horse. I ride my horse 6 days a week, and I only shoot off him maybe twice a month. I'm sure I'll shoot off him more during competition season, but at this time I don't want to drill on him. Joe still looks forward to that moment in the arena when I pick up my bow and I don't want to do anything to change that. My riding sessions focus on everything in between the shots, another blog post for another day. I want to be fully confident in the shots I do take from my horse's back, so I put in my hours of ground practice each week in order to become a better archer, and worthy partner to my war horse. What should the idea archery practice session on the ground look like? I've been practicing 3-5 times a week for the past year and I really have no clue. I know what I'm doing is working for me at this point in my progression, most days I'm making it up as I go. I have a goal of shooting 500 arr...