Post by Calaminty Jane on Aug 10, 2013 15:19:18 GMT -5
Bringing Up Your Life
-by Linda Parelli
Bringing up your life — what a nice way to talk about urging a horse to use more energy. It’s certainly different from kicking to go! Here are some tips on how to do it naturally:
1. Imagine how much energy you want from your horse to get a walk, a trot or a canter… or even a gallop. Then, bring that much energy into your body. Try this simulation by yourself: Relax your body completely at the stand still. Now prepare to break into a run. Just before you take off, notice from where your energy came up. It’s usually somewhere from your core, like your diaphragm. There’s a kind of tingly energy that can be felt the faster you want to go. Now do less: See how much energy you need to just walk off casually, or to walk fast, or very, very slowly. This is exactly what you’ll need to do when communicating as a rider because whatever you want your horse to do in his body, you need to do in yours.
2. Use your phases:
Phase 1: Focus on where you want to go and bring up your life according to the gait/speed you want. At the same time, tense the muscles in your buttocks. (Pat has a great way of getting you to do the right thing: imagine you’re holding a quarter between your cheeks!) If your horse doesn’t respond, maintain this feel and progress to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Begin to squeeze with your legs, and turn your toes out and down to be able to squeeze all the way to your heels. If your horse still does not respond, maintain the squeeze and progress to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Flap the end of your lead rope or savvy string from side to side across the back of your own shoulders. This is a Driving Game which affects your horse behind the Drive Line, which brings up his life and makes him want to go forward.
Phase 4: If he still doesn’t go, speed up the rhythm of flapping on your shoulders and then allow the savvy string or lead rope to grow longer until it touches your horse on the back of Zone 4 on both sides. The moment your horse makes an effort to move forward, immediately release your legs and cheeks and stop the motion with the savvy string, but maintain the life in your body. If your horse stops, then rub him and begin your phases again.
3. Think about your horse leaving out in front of you. A lot of riders lean forward when asking their horse to go, which puts the weight on the front end and disengages the hind end. By disengaging in this context I mean that the horse can’t get much traction and his hind legs tend to get strung out behind. Imagine that you always want “more horse out in front of you” than behind you, so drop your shoulders behind you and invite your horse to move off that way. It’s kind of like squeezing a tube of toothpaste — the angle of your squeeze changes according to where you want the contents to go!
4. What NOT to do:
a) Don’t smack your horse. This will most likely cause him to buck. The Driving Game is the most important part of Phases 3 and 4 and you’ll get better response by speeding it up rather than spanking harder. One big slap is rather rude.
b) Don’t push with your seat. As soon as your horse moves forward he needs to feel comfortable; he needs to feel the harmony of the rider. If you drive and push with your seat to make the horse keep going forward, you’ll make him want to do less and even to stop because he’s uncomfortable.
c) Don’t try to prevent your horse from breaking gait. Like pushing with your seat, the more you try to prevent your horse from doing something, the less responsible he becomes and the less he uses his brain. Allow him to make the change, then come up through your phases as necessary. You’ll find that he offers more if you nag him less! Plus, he’ll realize that you leave him alone when he’s doing what you want and you only cause him to be uncomfortable when he stops doing it. This can be a very challenging thing for you because humans are good at anticipating what might happen and want to prevent it. When it comes to horses, however, it works against you. They don’t learn anything and it affects their attitude.
d) Don’t pull on the reins just when he starts to go. It’s important that you harmonize with your horse and he doesn’t get jerked in the mouth if you lose your balance. He’ll start to get anxious about being asked to go. High-spirited horses especially can become more impulsive. A good way to keep your balance in transitions is to push your fist or hand into your horse’s mane — the Pushing Position — which keeps you totally connected with your horse.
-by Linda Parelli
Bringing up your life — what a nice way to talk about urging a horse to use more energy. It’s certainly different from kicking to go! Here are some tips on how to do it naturally:
1. Imagine how much energy you want from your horse to get a walk, a trot or a canter… or even a gallop. Then, bring that much energy into your body. Try this simulation by yourself: Relax your body completely at the stand still. Now prepare to break into a run. Just before you take off, notice from where your energy came up. It’s usually somewhere from your core, like your diaphragm. There’s a kind of tingly energy that can be felt the faster you want to go. Now do less: See how much energy you need to just walk off casually, or to walk fast, or very, very slowly. This is exactly what you’ll need to do when communicating as a rider because whatever you want your horse to do in his body, you need to do in yours.
2. Use your phases:
Phase 1: Focus on where you want to go and bring up your life according to the gait/speed you want. At the same time, tense the muscles in your buttocks. (Pat has a great way of getting you to do the right thing: imagine you’re holding a quarter between your cheeks!) If your horse doesn’t respond, maintain this feel and progress to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Begin to squeeze with your legs, and turn your toes out and down to be able to squeeze all the way to your heels. If your horse still does not respond, maintain the squeeze and progress to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Flap the end of your lead rope or savvy string from side to side across the back of your own shoulders. This is a Driving Game which affects your horse behind the Drive Line, which brings up his life and makes him want to go forward.
Phase 4: If he still doesn’t go, speed up the rhythm of flapping on your shoulders and then allow the savvy string or lead rope to grow longer until it touches your horse on the back of Zone 4 on both sides. The moment your horse makes an effort to move forward, immediately release your legs and cheeks and stop the motion with the savvy string, but maintain the life in your body. If your horse stops, then rub him and begin your phases again.
3. Think about your horse leaving out in front of you. A lot of riders lean forward when asking their horse to go, which puts the weight on the front end and disengages the hind end. By disengaging in this context I mean that the horse can’t get much traction and his hind legs tend to get strung out behind. Imagine that you always want “more horse out in front of you” than behind you, so drop your shoulders behind you and invite your horse to move off that way. It’s kind of like squeezing a tube of toothpaste — the angle of your squeeze changes according to where you want the contents to go!
4. What NOT to do:
a) Don’t smack your horse. This will most likely cause him to buck. The Driving Game is the most important part of Phases 3 and 4 and you’ll get better response by speeding it up rather than spanking harder. One big slap is rather rude.
b) Don’t push with your seat. As soon as your horse moves forward he needs to feel comfortable; he needs to feel the harmony of the rider. If you drive and push with your seat to make the horse keep going forward, you’ll make him want to do less and even to stop because he’s uncomfortable.
c) Don’t try to prevent your horse from breaking gait. Like pushing with your seat, the more you try to prevent your horse from doing something, the less responsible he becomes and the less he uses his brain. Allow him to make the change, then come up through your phases as necessary. You’ll find that he offers more if you nag him less! Plus, he’ll realize that you leave him alone when he’s doing what you want and you only cause him to be uncomfortable when he stops doing it. This can be a very challenging thing for you because humans are good at anticipating what might happen and want to prevent it. When it comes to horses, however, it works against you. They don’t learn anything and it affects their attitude.
d) Don’t pull on the reins just when he starts to go. It’s important that you harmonize with your horse and he doesn’t get jerked in the mouth if you lose your balance. He’ll start to get anxious about being asked to go. High-spirited horses especially can become more impulsive. A good way to keep your balance in transitions is to push your fist or hand into your horse’s mane — the Pushing Position — which keeps you totally connected with your horse.