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 !!
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 !!
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