Most things in nature have rhythm and flow, broken only by injury or attack.Any animal that can blend smoothly with its surroundings has a natural advantage, either forsneaking up on its prey or remaining inconspicuously hidden from its hunter.

Horses have survived for millennia on this planet, arguably longer than any other preyanimal. As a species it has evolved and honed its survival skills and its ability to be apart of its environment to an art form. The instincts and hierarchy of the herd have becomea part of the rhythm and flow of nature itself.

Throughout the Foundation Programme so far, we have learnt many new tasks, skills andstrategies. We have isolated all the skills we need to learn in order to achieve successwith horses. Now its time to combine them together to create a whole; like notes tomusic.

At the end of each Level, we have set a series of assignments in the Levels Challenge Cards,for you to put your horsemanship to the test with and hone your skills. The assignments arenot compulsory. You can move on through the levels without an official assessment. However,we recommend that you try these assignments, either officially or self assess, for your ownbenefit. This will give you an accurate idea of how you are progressing, plus give youvaluable feedback if you do them with your coach.

Each card has a series of tasks that must be completed in flowing succession, without pauseand within a certain time frame. You’ll notice that when you get a rhythm going with ahorse, everything starts to flow more smoothly and softness will be carried over from onetask to the next. If you stop and start, the rhythm is lost, the task will become awkwardand erratic and you’ll find you have to work harder to keep things moving.

If you find that one part of a card is difficult and needs more practice, weask you to resubmit the entire card. Working on one task will not fix the problem. Workingon your principles and communication will. Practicing the whole card will help you developrhythm, flow and impulsion and help you not become over focused and predatory about onetask. Your horse will see the pattern emerge and begin to look for the comfort offered. Eachtime you practice the card, the two of you will improve until the whole card is easy.

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