A chilled Filly

Thursday 25 August 2016

Doing the best we can

I've often wondered and also been asked "but what if I'm doing it wrong ?". This can lead to paralysis of progress in you horsemanship. The fear of not getting the timing as good as a Parelli or Brannaman can lead to a fear of trying.

Recently I've given this conundrum a lot of thought. After all I've been on standby duty from work and so have been painting my garages' wooden framework which has allowed a lot of time :(.

Finally I had a flash of inspiration yesterday as to the answer to this problem. Many folks seem to get along just fine without the Parelli or Brannaman knowledge and timing so why does it not matter that much ?

My conclusion was that what matters ultimately is not the timing or knowledge, they just make progress faster. What actually matters is the attitude of mind. If I'm trying as hard as I can to be at my absolute best then the focus that gives me is transmitted to the horse and I'm seen as a leader. Maybe not as good a leader as Pat or Buck, but a leader nonetheless.

So when I'm around the horses, not just in the school or out riding but all the time I'm with them, I'm trying to be the best horseman I can be. That's not the best horseman possible as there is so much I don't know yet. I'm sure there are many things that even Pat and Buck don't know yet but if you watch them they are always striving to be the best they can be now.

So what sort of things am I trying to do well ?
Neutral
Haltering
Picking out hooves
Grooming

Poo picking (don't laugh. Mark Rashid has a section on striving for excellence in this on a DVD. The muscle memory of efficient balanced use of muscles then translates into riding)

Playing on line or ridden
Focus
Planning
Adapting

In fact anything that can count as an interaction with horses. Even watching a DVD or reading a book counts as that creates an exercise for the mind.

Some of my friends and family think that makes me a little obsessive, and it probable does. But it also gives me a pride in my horsemanship and a sense of satisfaction that I'm doing everything in my power to make my partnership with horses as good for them as it can possibly be.

It also gives me the confidence to try things with horses that I might otherwise be worried to attempt.

Monday 15 August 2016

Point to Point part 2

One of the things that Pat seems to say a lot is that people don't do the patterns for long enough. A session or two, then they get bored with the repetition and go on to other things. I'm determined not to fall into that category. I've been there and made that mistake in the past. As a result progress has been slower than it should have been.

So at the moment there are two patterns I use mostly. Point to point and the Stacey Westfall clover leaf pattern.

A session with Filly currently starts with a brief follow the rail at walk just to get her in rhythm, then we move onto the patterns. Follow the rail turns into point to point where we go through all the exercises I mentioned in my last post. The exercises ramp up in difficulty as we go along. So we might start with simple trotting between the points.
Then halt to canter transitions.
Then canter to backup (very keen on that one to get a soft canter stop).
Then backup, 180 degree turn, canter, stop, backup, 180 degree turn, canter etc. Pauses put in when required to get softness in body and mind for both of us.

As you can see the boring Point to Point pattern can be made really interesting and fun. In fact I make a point of having fun in my mind and body as this transmits itself to Filly and we get way more done.

Then for a quick change of gear we go to the Stacey Westfall pattern.
To do this place 5 markers on the ground with one central one and others arranged on a circle around it about 9 paces from the middle one. The pattern is NOT riding the circle though I do use the markers for that sometimes as well.
To start the pattern on the right rein. Middle marker to left side of outer marker then a hind quarter (indirect rein) turn towards the middle marker. Aim to left side of middle marker and make a direct rein turn through 90 degrees towards the left side of the next outer marker. Then an indirect rein turn back towards middle marker.
So if on the right rein all turns are 90 degrees around the middle marker, 180 degrees around the outer marker and all on the same rein.

Our favourite form of this is at trot with really sharp indirect turns around the outer marker, a surge of energy around the middle marker and keep going for the whole pattern. To make it really fun take the bridle off and do it bridleless. We miss the odd marker I must admit, but usually by the end we have it nailed.

These patterns seem to get Filly pretty motivated and also, because she knows what to expect, calm. I guess that's the power of patterns ! 

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Just an update : Using point to point

Its been too long since I last posted but things have been a little busy of late. I am just back from competing in the UK 15 meter Gliding National Championship in Lasham. I was overall 4th but that included two visiting Germans, so out of the British I was second. That puts me in a possible place to get back into the British National Gliding Team for next year in the European Championship. This is subject to how well the British Team do in the World Championship this winter in Australia. If one of them comes home with a medal then I don't get a place. As you can imagine preparing for such a competition, which is 9 days long, took up a fair bit of time with practise and logistics, hence why I've been a bit quiet.

All this does not mean I have not been out with the horses.

I had an interesting ride on my wife's horse Bonitao a couple of evenings ago for example.
We use point to point game a lot with our horses to get them motivated and forward thinking. Point to point involves going from one corner of the school to the next and then stopping and waiting a fair time. Then we go to the next corner and wait. The horses learn that the quicker they get to the next corner the longer the rest. Do this with either of our two and usually by the second point we are getting halt to canter transitions at the slightest ask.
Of course after a while you miss out corners and go around 2 , 3 or more before stopping. Then you can use other points in the school as rest spots like on the clover leaf pattern as you approach the fence at 90 degrees. Out on a hack you can have known points.... well you get the idea.

So, as I say, we can get halt to canter out of both of our two with ease. Bonitao is especially motivated by this game. I decided to up it a bit and see what else we could do with the pattern.

First up was back up to canter.
We started in a corner and then to Bonitao's surprise I asked him to back away from it along the fence. Once he was soft I then asked for trot to the next corner. After a few times he got the hang of this so then I asked for back up to canter. The corner helped with getting the correct lead. After just a couple of attempts where he seemed confused he was leaping forwards into the canter with a big push from his hind legs. It was a great feeling and once he was confident he seemed to really enjoy the task.

Next I thought about using the pattern to get a nice 180 degree turn to canter transition. This time we just cantered the rail, but on track 2 (i.e just away from the fence). As we approached the corner I then asked for a halt. Hind quarter yield for 90 degrees so we faced the fence, fore quarter yield for 90 degrees ( this rocks the weight onto his hind legs) and then canter back to the corner we started at. Again after a little confusion from him he got the hang of it and became really exuberant, for a Bonitao that is :). We were barely halting in the corner before the turn commenced and we were flying back whence we came.

Then we just wandered around the school doing some inside and outside leg isolations at walk as a cool down and to relax a little.

I think many folks see the patterns Parelli teach but then only use them as they are shown. But with a little thought they can be adapted for so much more.

Of course Parelli can't show all these adaptations. There is not enough time on a DVD, or even whole box of DVDs for that. This is when one of the most important Qualities of a Horseman comes in.

IMAGINATION !!