We had seen Silke give demos several times at various Parelli meets and had always been very impressed. When the opportunity arose for Ritchie to take Bonitao on a clinic we jumped at it. Even better was that it was not that far away, just a couple of hours.
It was a two day clinic, though Silke was in the UK for longer travelling around. It started with a get together in the tea room to find out what everyone wanted to get out of the weekend. Always a good place to start I feel, rather than the instructor having a predetermined plan.
There was a general theme though which was to drum home the importance of the mantra "Mind, Flexion, Weight, Feet". I know we all know this mantra but using it effectively is a different matter.
For example to get the mind we were taught to use the friendly game. The version chosen was swinging the stick and string around until we got both the horses eyes looking at us, then quit. So the horse got relief from the annoyance by giving us their mind. The idea is to build this up so we are always aware of where the horses mind is and to get it back by asking for it. Not by asking the horse to move, or yield, but just to think about us. When riding I do this by picking up my attention and asking the horse to do the same with maybe a lift of the rein if needed. Until we have their mind it's not fair to ask them to do anything. In fact the cue for action will come as a bolt from the blue with a consequent unwelcome reaction if we don't have their mind to start with.
Having got their mind we then ask for the flexion that is needed in order to achieve the desired motion. We worked with forequarter yields to start with. So after the mind we asked for a little flexion of the neck in the desired direction. Not too much as that would dump weight on the inside hind leg pinning it to the ground. Just enough to get the mind thinking in the direction we wished to go.
The flexion helped set the weight in the right place to enable the horse to easily perform the action we were asking.
Once the weight was correct the horse could then move the feet as desired with ease. In fact having got the mind, weight and flexion right it was almost easier to move the feet as we desired rather than stand still.
Once we had the mantra well and truly embedded with various exercises we then looked at the idea of massaging the horse whilst it is in motion in order to get a nice long and low gait.
Again we needed to get the correct flexion so Silke showed us a reflex point at the base of the horses neck just in front of the shoulder which will cause the horse to flex it's neck towards the side pressed on. This was practised at standstill to start with. This then allowed the neck to be flexed without having to use the lead rope which would just pull the horse on top of the handler.
Once achieved the handlers then started circling their horses whilst moving with them by walking at their shoulder. On a left circle handler is on left side and lead rope is in left hand. This leaves the right hand free to ask for flexion by gently pressing on the reflex point, releasing as the horse flexes. Once the correct flexion was achieved then the handler massaged the horses neck whilst they moved and also stooped as they walked to mimic the long and low position we were looking for in the horse.
Some horses clearly found even gentle massage of the neck quite painful showing how much tension they were holding. Anyone who has had a trigger point massage on a tense muscle will now what I mean. If the horse showed any sign of relaxing then the massage was stopped briefly in a micro release of the pressure. This helped show the horse that relaxing the neck muscles would take the pressure away.
It was remarkable how quickly all the horses relaxed into long and low and how much snorting was going on in the group as they released the tension.
Once achieved at walk it was repeated at trot. This was quite hard work for the handlers. Maintaining the horses trot whilst running themselves in a stooped position, pressing on the bend reflex spot and massaging the neck with micro releases as they got it right was tough. But again the results were quick and spectacular.
The stooped posture of the handler was introduced so that in future it could be used as a cue to the horse to go long and low when the handler was not in a position to touch the horse physically.
I could give a detailed version of the rest of the clinic, but in fact it was then all about putting these skills into practise to achieve a huge variety of manoeuvres. Back up with flexion for example, or travers, roll backs .... all done on line with a concentration on the relaxation of muscle groups and of course
It was a two day clinic, though Silke was in the UK for longer travelling around. It started with a get together in the tea room to find out what everyone wanted to get out of the weekend. Always a good place to start I feel, rather than the instructor having a predetermined plan.
There was a general theme though which was to drum home the importance of the mantra "Mind, Flexion, Weight, Feet". I know we all know this mantra but using it effectively is a different matter.
For example to get the mind we were taught to use the friendly game. The version chosen was swinging the stick and string around until we got both the horses eyes looking at us, then quit. So the horse got relief from the annoyance by giving us their mind. The idea is to build this up so we are always aware of where the horses mind is and to get it back by asking for it. Not by asking the horse to move, or yield, but just to think about us. When riding I do this by picking up my attention and asking the horse to do the same with maybe a lift of the rein if needed. Until we have their mind it's not fair to ask them to do anything. In fact the cue for action will come as a bolt from the blue with a consequent unwelcome reaction if we don't have their mind to start with.
Having got their mind we then ask for the flexion that is needed in order to achieve the desired motion. We worked with forequarter yields to start with. So after the mind we asked for a little flexion of the neck in the desired direction. Not too much as that would dump weight on the inside hind leg pinning it to the ground. Just enough to get the mind thinking in the direction we wished to go.
The flexion helped set the weight in the right place to enable the horse to easily perform the action we were asking.
Once the weight was correct the horse could then move the feet as desired with ease. In fact having got the mind, weight and flexion right it was almost easier to move the feet as we desired rather than stand still.
Once we had the mantra well and truly embedded with various exercises we then looked at the idea of massaging the horse whilst it is in motion in order to get a nice long and low gait.
Again we needed to get the correct flexion so Silke showed us a reflex point at the base of the horses neck just in front of the shoulder which will cause the horse to flex it's neck towards the side pressed on. This was practised at standstill to start with. This then allowed the neck to be flexed without having to use the lead rope which would just pull the horse on top of the handler.
Once achieved the handlers then started circling their horses whilst moving with them by walking at their shoulder. On a left circle handler is on left side and lead rope is in left hand. This leaves the right hand free to ask for flexion by gently pressing on the reflex point, releasing as the horse flexes. Once the correct flexion was achieved then the handler massaged the horses neck whilst they moved and also stooped as they walked to mimic the long and low position we were looking for in the horse.
Some horses clearly found even gentle massage of the neck quite painful showing how much tension they were holding. Anyone who has had a trigger point massage on a tense muscle will now what I mean. If the horse showed any sign of relaxing then the massage was stopped briefly in a micro release of the pressure. This helped show the horse that relaxing the neck muscles would take the pressure away.
It was remarkable how quickly all the horses relaxed into long and low and how much snorting was going on in the group as they released the tension.
Once achieved at walk it was repeated at trot. This was quite hard work for the handlers. Maintaining the horses trot whilst running themselves in a stooped position, pressing on the bend reflex spot and massaging the neck with micro releases as they got it right was tough. But again the results were quick and spectacular.
The stooped posture of the handler was introduced so that in future it could be used as a cue to the horse to go long and low when the handler was not in a position to touch the horse physically.
I could give a detailed version of the rest of the clinic, but in fact it was then all about putting these skills into practise to achieve a huge variety of manoeuvres. Back up with flexion for example, or travers, roll backs .... all done on line with a concentration on the relaxation of muscle groups and of course
MIND, FLEXION, WEIGHT, FEET
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