Post by Calaminty Jane on Jun 21, 2012 18:23:28 GMT -5
The Circling Game
-by Linda Parelli
Teaching your horse the Circling Game (Game #5) is very different from longeing – Pat Parelli does not advocate longeing horses because it doesn’t teach them anything. It’s a mindless exercise that can even develop problems in a horse.
The Circling Game exercises a horse mentally, emotionally and physically. It gives your horse responsibility – to maintain gait and direction, while you stand still in ‘neutral’. It also teaches you how to send your horse and bring him back. Put this all together and you’ll see that the Circling Game tests the quality of the first four of the Seven Games because they are all involved. So the message is, don’t start with Game #5, you should learn the other games first.
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR: Send Your Horse On The Circle
What to do
The Send:
Back your horse away from you and teach him to wait for further instructions. Be gentle about this, you don’t want to make him scared by overcorrecting him if he tries to take off. Just reel him back in, pet him and try again.
Next, ‘lead’ his nose in the direction you want him to go, extending your hand with the line in it out to the right or the left.
If your horse doesn’t know to follow this lead, gently gesture towards his neck with your Stick and String until he turns and heads out on the circle, tapping him if necessary, but don’t hit him. You’re trying to communicate what you want, not force him.
The moment he does, go to a neutral position. Drop your hand and let the rope feed out.
The Allow:
Stand still and pass the rope behind your back, from hand to hand. This is called neutral and is about giving your horse the responsibility to maintain gait. Rather than watching your horse go around, feel him go. And if he stops behind your back, turn, smile, bring him in and send him again.
You might be surprised at how hard it is to really be in neutral but this is important, it is how your horse will know he’s doing the right thing. When you move it will mean you want something.
The Bring Back:
When you want to bring him in, draw the rope in gently and motion towards his hindquarters to ‘disengage’ them. He will turn and face you, then invite him in.
At first you just want to be able to have your horse walk around. If he rushes around, don’t worry. Just leave him alone and bring him back after 2 laps. And if he keeps stopping, simply bring him in, pet him and send him again. Pretty soon he’ll understand what the game is, just don’t make him feel like he’s in trouble.
How often to repeat it
Only do this a few times until your horse understands what you want. Then you have to give him something to do, or just going in mindless circles becomes boring and you’ll find that your horse might start to give you trouble… get too exuberant or lazy (see the Horsenality note that follows).
The best thing is to begin doing Parelli Patterns with your horse and you’ll learn the different ways you can use the Circle Game and make it interesting and productive for your horse and his development… things like transitions, traveling circles, change of direction, flying changes, OnLine and eventually at Liberty!
A note about Horsenality:
Extroverted horses are relatively easy to send on a circle and keep going, but they are usually harder to bring back (at first).
Introverted horses can have a lot of trouble staying out on the circle. The Left Brain Introvert tends to get bored and lose motivation… it can make him lazy if you overdo it; and the Right Brain introvert tends to feel unsafe and have trouble going forwards, so you’ll need to bring him in and gently send him out again. This ‘approach & retreat’ will help him gain more confidence.
If you want to learn what your horse’s Horsenality is, download the Horsenality Profile from parelli.com
-by Linda Parelli
Teaching your horse the Circling Game (Game #5) is very different from longeing – Pat Parelli does not advocate longeing horses because it doesn’t teach them anything. It’s a mindless exercise that can even develop problems in a horse.
The Circling Game exercises a horse mentally, emotionally and physically. It gives your horse responsibility – to maintain gait and direction, while you stand still in ‘neutral’. It also teaches you how to send your horse and bring him back. Put this all together and you’ll see that the Circling Game tests the quality of the first four of the Seven Games because they are all involved. So the message is, don’t start with Game #5, you should learn the other games first.
_______________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS FOR: Send Your Horse On The Circle
What to do
The Send:
Back your horse away from you and teach him to wait for further instructions. Be gentle about this, you don’t want to make him scared by overcorrecting him if he tries to take off. Just reel him back in, pet him and try again.
Next, ‘lead’ his nose in the direction you want him to go, extending your hand with the line in it out to the right or the left.
If your horse doesn’t know to follow this lead, gently gesture towards his neck with your Stick and String until he turns and heads out on the circle, tapping him if necessary, but don’t hit him. You’re trying to communicate what you want, not force him.
The moment he does, go to a neutral position. Drop your hand and let the rope feed out.
The Allow:
Stand still and pass the rope behind your back, from hand to hand. This is called neutral and is about giving your horse the responsibility to maintain gait. Rather than watching your horse go around, feel him go. And if he stops behind your back, turn, smile, bring him in and send him again.
You might be surprised at how hard it is to really be in neutral but this is important, it is how your horse will know he’s doing the right thing. When you move it will mean you want something.
The Bring Back:
When you want to bring him in, draw the rope in gently and motion towards his hindquarters to ‘disengage’ them. He will turn and face you, then invite him in.
At first you just want to be able to have your horse walk around. If he rushes around, don’t worry. Just leave him alone and bring him back after 2 laps. And if he keeps stopping, simply bring him in, pet him and send him again. Pretty soon he’ll understand what the game is, just don’t make him feel like he’s in trouble.
How often to repeat it
Only do this a few times until your horse understands what you want. Then you have to give him something to do, or just going in mindless circles becomes boring and you’ll find that your horse might start to give you trouble… get too exuberant or lazy (see the Horsenality note that follows).
The best thing is to begin doing Parelli Patterns with your horse and you’ll learn the different ways you can use the Circle Game and make it interesting and productive for your horse and his development… things like transitions, traveling circles, change of direction, flying changes, OnLine and eventually at Liberty!
A note about Horsenality:
Extroverted horses are relatively easy to send on a circle and keep going, but they are usually harder to bring back (at first).
Introverted horses can have a lot of trouble staying out on the circle. The Left Brain Introvert tends to get bored and lose motivation… it can make him lazy if you overdo it; and the Right Brain introvert tends to feel unsafe and have trouble going forwards, so you’ll need to bring him in and gently send him out again. This ‘approach & retreat’ will help him gain more confidence.
If you want to learn what your horse’s Horsenality is, download the Horsenality Profile from parelli.com