LESLIE HAMMEL-TURK

and

TURK ARABIANS

March 21, 2001: For the Most Current Information Visit Our Official Website:

www.lesliehammelturk.com or www.turkarabians.com !!

Leslie Hammel-Turk's holistic teaching and training methods enable riders to attain and maintain higher levels of horsemanship with any horse. Leslie offers private riding instruction, clinics, and training of all breeds of outside horses. For more information on Leslie, click here.

Turk Arabians is Leslie Hammel-Turk's at-home breeding, training, and instructional facility. Located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Turk Arabians is dedicated to producing high quality performance Arabians. With that objective, Turk Arabians promotes Leslie's philosophies of breeding, training, and riding that are important in creating excellent, athletic horses. For more information on Turk Arabians' breeding program and horses, click here.

LESLIE HAMMEL-TURK

Leslie Hammel-Turk has been working professionally with horses for over 20 years. Leslie earned Riding Instructor and Riding Master Certificates from Meredith Manor in 1977. Since then, she has dedicated herself to mastering the traditions of the true horsemen of the world by using the horse as teacher to strive for a centaur-like union. While respecting tradition, Leslie is forging a unique style of horsemanship, that integrates contributions from her human teachers, including Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Mary Wanless, and Dr. Deb Bennett (for excellent information on conformational analysis by Dr. Bennett, click here).

The highest levels of riding require a partnership of both an advanced horse and rider. This horse will have training to enhance its natural physical strength and suppleness; willingness and energy to perform; and thoughtful instruction to promote the attention, confidence, and skill necessary to execute the requested tasks. The human partner must understand how a horse thinks, learns, communicates, and interacts within its herd environment; how nature intended the horse to function; and how to use their own body as an instrument of communication with the horse. When all aspects meld, they form a communion between horse and rider that is the basis for achieving the highest performance, and having a safe and enjoyable riding experience. Leslie Hammel-Turk's riding instruction stresses control of the rider's body and sensitivity to the horse's body language. Because every time you ride it is another piece of the developing relationship between you and your horse, we feel that "Every time you ride, you are training the horse - good or bad".

The education of a horse begins at birth. From the moment a foal hits the ground it enters a period of intense education. The foal immediately begins learning to stand, walk, find the udder, nurse, lay down, follow mom, to name but a few of the tasks he will need to learn in order to survive his first day. In fact, within the first week of life, he has learned the rudiments of every maneuver needed throughout life including those desired by a rider. This period is a beautiful illustration of how the horse is a creature that mindfully adapts and adjusts to changing situations.

This is the basis of our work with horses, being careful to recognize that horses are thinking creatures, that only become reacting creatures when they feel threatened. We strive to present the training horse with non-threatening situations that are the most productive learning environments. As in relationships with people, we find it important not to force our demands on the horse, but instead to communicate our wishes so that they become the horses' idea. To accomplish this, we use the horses' own sophisticated means of communication, involving body language, facial expressions, and eye contact, and the natural hierarchical structure of the herd that all horses understand. We are seeking to become the most important and dominant member of the horse's herd, so our work begins when our foals are only 30 minutes old. In this way they are introduced to humans at a time when the new becomes the familiar. When done with sensitivity and tactful persuasion, even with older and mature horses, the horse understands and feels comfortable with his position in the horse/human relationship and becomes a willing partner rather than a reactive problem.

Are you are a rider who has watched the clinician work your horse, only to return home without the necessary tools to be able to replicate the results? Give yourself the opportunity to work with an instructor who uses a holistic approach to reveal the specific feel that remove the blocks to higher horsemanship. Leslie Hammel-Turk has developed an instructional program that addresses the three areas of knowledge that are integral to higher horsemanship. (See Drawing)

PURPOSEFUL AND DYNAMIC USE OF THE RIDER'S BODY. Use your body in a very specific way to eliminate your need to brace against the horse's power. The best riders have the body awareness not only to enable profound communication with the horse, but also to avoid interference with the horse. The feel and the balance of riding are integral to higher horsemanship.

FUNCTION OF THE HORSE. Learn how nature intends the horse to function. This allows the rider to achieve high levels of control while avoiding harm to the horse. A horse that is in pain is an unwilling partner, whereas a horse that works in a balanced fashion will happily unlock its inherent natural abilities.

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HORSE. Approach the horse from its own perspective, and you will be astonished by how much can be accomplished from the horse's own ideas. Everything that you want from your horse is already there. Our profound lack of understanding of these wonderful creatures is the basis of all of our problems with our horses. The timing and balance of our communication with the horse is what creates the understanding of what we expect from our partners.

As the rider gains knowledge in each of the areas they begin to be able to operate in the areas represented by the intersecting areas of the circles. True horsemanship may begin when all three areas of expertise begin to blend and the rider operates at the intersection of all three circles. At that point the rider has the necessary tools to make successes out of "problems" and find the true simplicity of horsemanship.

For information on private instruction and Leslie's clinic schedule, see the Calendar of Events.

TURK ARABIANS

Our approach is to rely on an in-house breeding program that furnishes individuals with characteristics suitable for advanced training and riding. These horses are then introduced into Leslie Hammel-Turk's sophisticated programs of schooling and fitness with an emphasis on high-level training for reining.

Over many centuries man has been selectively breeding horses for a variety of activities, such as riding, racing, driving, and pulling. The human breeders should carefully select for specific conformation characteristics, so that the horse can optimally perform each task. The preferred differences can be large or small, but all working horse activities require a "powerful motor" or rear-end that must have a correctly placed sacro-lumbar joint (the last functioning joint of the back in front of the pelvis). Among riding horses, various riding styles may emphasize slight differences in conformation, but all riding horses will benefit from being 'built uphill', where the withers are taller than the highest point of the croup.

Breeding Goals The goal of our breeding program is to produce riding horses that are sensible, responsive, nimble and powerful - at home, on the trail, as well as in the arena. The conformation type for these horses is exemplified by the high level reining horse that has a long powerful pelvis, a short strong back and a laid back shoulder. In addition, correct legs where the knee and hock are placed low serves to increase the power generated in the body. Fine examples of horses with these characteristics are seen in these photographs. Not only are these high level reining horses developed for sale, many of these horses have the genotypic and phenotypic strength to go on to be outstanding producers of future winners.

Evaluating Our Program To measure the success of our breeding program, we feel that it is important to provide difficult tests for the breeding stock and offspring. At Turk Arabians, the horses are exhibited in reining and used as riding and pack horses in the mountains. In competitive reining, the maneuvers are physically and mentally demanding, thereby stressing the structure of the animals and their durability under prolonged training and showing. Packing and trail riding challenge the horses' endurance and tractability for tolerating the variety of different situations that can always be expected around the next bend.

For information on demonstrations, showings, or other activities, see the Calendar of Events.

Following are some of the horses that represent our breeding program. Click each picture to see more photos at a higher resolution (these pages can be up to 300K, so please be patient).

Stallions

Arsenal (*Arpan x Navitra)

Palo Flechado (*Nariadni x *Provodka)

Mares

*Vienna MBF (*Menes x *Pustinia). Other mares can also be found here.

Offspring

Peralta Carly (Arsenal x *Provodka). Other offspring can also be found here.

For more information, we can be reached at:

Leslie Hammel-Turk

Turk Arabians

260-B Tano Road

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

505-982-5840 (voice)

505-984-0091 (fax)

turkarabians@aol.com

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