On recent rides with Filly I've been trying to get her to move individual feet. In other words if I ask the front legs to move around in a circle then I actually want the front legs to move ! Same with the hind legs. Basically I'm building up to be able to do true roll backs and turn arounds not to mention spins. But one thing at a time, I need to get the legs responding.
So last night I set to work on the front legs. Lots of ground preparation to get the forequarter driving and porcupine good. The porcupine applied to the area just on or in front of the girth as that will be were my legs contacts her, not the traditional Parelli ground work neck porcupine. Also the driving game was energy directed at her shoulder, not her neck.
So when riding I asked for the front legs to step over by using a direct rein (hopefully timed with her feet) and my leg on or just in front of the girth (again timed with the feet). This resulted in a half hearted step over. I was being patient and hoped that in time she would put more effort in. Even using positive reinforcement (which I have over a period of weeks) did little to improve her impulsion.
I felt that my leg and the rein were just not communicating the energy with which I wished to step over so needed to add energy from somewhere but without getting aggressive. That energy came from the get down rope of the mecate.
So the sequence became ask with the leg, ask with the hand, pick up the mecate, swing the mecate, tap myself on the leg with the mecate, tap Filly on the shoulder with the mecate. In fact I never had to tap Filly but the planned sequence was there in case.
This added energy seemed to give Filly the message that more effort was required and the turns quickly became pretty good. She has trouble stepping one front leg in front of the other one at the moment, but that is a physical practise issue not a "I won't" issue. This is something we can practise more on the ground to get her confident in her doing it without my weight on top which could cause confidence issues to start with.
So the communication I learnt was that communication is not just about direction but about the energy I expected to go in that direction as well.
Of course I always have that in mind when it comes to changes of gait, but the turns have always had enough energy to get the job done in the past. How much turning energy do you actually need for a 10 meter circle. Not much !
But for a spin or roll back you need lots of turning energy and it was that idea that I was missing when in the saddle.
So last night I set to work on the front legs. Lots of ground preparation to get the forequarter driving and porcupine good. The porcupine applied to the area just on or in front of the girth as that will be were my legs contacts her, not the traditional Parelli ground work neck porcupine. Also the driving game was energy directed at her shoulder, not her neck.
So when riding I asked for the front legs to step over by using a direct rein (hopefully timed with her feet) and my leg on or just in front of the girth (again timed with the feet). This resulted in a half hearted step over. I was being patient and hoped that in time she would put more effort in. Even using positive reinforcement (which I have over a period of weeks) did little to improve her impulsion.
I felt that my leg and the rein were just not communicating the energy with which I wished to step over so needed to add energy from somewhere but without getting aggressive. That energy came from the get down rope of the mecate.
So the sequence became ask with the leg, ask with the hand, pick up the mecate, swing the mecate, tap myself on the leg with the mecate, tap Filly on the shoulder with the mecate. In fact I never had to tap Filly but the planned sequence was there in case.
This added energy seemed to give Filly the message that more effort was required and the turns quickly became pretty good. She has trouble stepping one front leg in front of the other one at the moment, but that is a physical practise issue not a "I won't" issue. This is something we can practise more on the ground to get her confident in her doing it without my weight on top which could cause confidence issues to start with.
So the communication I learnt was that communication is not just about direction but about the energy I expected to go in that direction as well.
Of course I always have that in mind when it comes to changes of gait, but the turns have always had enough energy to get the job done in the past. How much turning energy do you actually need for a 10 meter circle. Not much !
But for a spin or roll back you need lots of turning energy and it was that idea that I was missing when in the saddle.
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