Tuesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Seven

This morning we woke to a definite film of ice over everything including the car, for which we had no scraper! So we improvised with a dustpan and then we were off. It was mighty cold though and there was frost everywhere - I hope it doesn't snow for our journey home (starting to worry a little bit!).

I was in Remuda group 1 this morning with Kathy. Group 1 is usually at the fire pit, but we managed to encourage Kathy into the warmth of the lodge and therefore had a comfortable overview of yesterday's work and then some conga horse simulations of the suspension rein during gait and the quack-cha-ching techniques.

Next into the classroom with Tina covering today's topic of Latitudinal Flexion or bend. Once the shaping and balance suspension rein sequence of downward transitions, during gait and upward transitions are well underway in yours and your horse's education, then you can start Snakey Bends - the latitudinal flexion technique.

Snakey Bends is where your horse is 'straight' on a circle, where his body is bent to the same degree as the circle, i.e. inside hooves inside the circle and outside hooves, outside the circle. It is important to note that this is bending or flexing the inside of the horse, not pushing zone 1 from the outside (driving). And the aim of the game is equality. Equal flexion to left and right and the ability to swing between the two. The suspension rein talks to the inside of the horse's bend.

Snakey Bends will develop rhythm, relaxation, bend and fluidity with the goals being to shape the horse, set up lateral maneuvers and to raise the withers (off the forehand). Once Snakey Bends are established you can move onto Serpentines both deep and shallow. Online maneuvers would be falling leaf or zone 3 (ribs), while freestyle could be the bulls eye pattern (level 2 impulsion).

The next thing to cover was that if we went the horse to bend then so do we. How is this achieved? The Drag Queen walk sets this up! Basically move your opposite shoulder/arm over towards your leading hip whilst walking slowly. Very amusing! Other simulation to help the human achieve the necessary muscle memory included being the horse and human on a circle and conga horse simulations.

Today's demonstration was taken by Tina with student volunteer's Karme and US Stephanie. It helped to see these demonstrations to visualise what the Drag Queen walk looked like whilst riding! Both riders did a great job and I think we got to see some positive changes in both the horses and the humans. The most important piece of information I think came out of this demo was that Snakey Bends is a principle and therefore you should start by asking for only one step, then two and slowly building to full circles.

Lastly we all made our way back to the seat builders for a 'putting lots of things together' simulation. So whilst staying on your balance point and maintaining fluidity you had to follow the feel of two independent hands! Sound easy? Try it - this is difficult even whilst the rest of the body is stationary!

Monday Fluidity II Finesse Day Six

Well the weekend seemed to fly by and it was back to up at 6am to feed the horses! Remuda with Kristi was quite amusing this morning, everyone seemed to have a funny weekend story to tell so we spent most of the time laughing!y

Today's topic for the classroom with Kathy was Shaping and Balance aka Collection. First question: what does collection mean? Answers varied from balance, a light front end and not scattered. My favourite was 'like a hovercraft' ready to go forwards, backwards, left or right.

Now for the BIG question: how is collection achieved? The answer is to encourage the horse to change it's shape for you - cryptic eh? No really, if you cause the horse to make the desired changes to it's body shape as a response to your requests, then a psychological rather than a mechanical method of achieving collection is possible! Now you can ask it - how do cause the horse to give collection in this way? 1,000,000 transitions in a short space of time (every few strides) - this is basically the yo-yo game.

Now there are 2 key phases to your transitions:

1. Transition: Duck Landings (retarding seat) and
2. Shaping: the Suspension Rein (1 rein lift)
   

It is important that the suspension rein is introduced in the following order of type of transitions:

1. downward transitions (get haunches underneath - power)
   
2. during gait (to shorten a horse that has become long)
3. upward transitions (to create elevation and power)
   

After simulations, both with a partner and then on the seat builders, we had a demonstration in the Big Top with Kathy teaching fellow students Susanna and US Kim, who both did a cracking job of showing their horse's at different stages of collecting. It is always helpful to actually see the technique and the results when applied correctly.

This afternoon I decided that my back was feeling good enough to ride Roget, so I spent time on the ground (1.5 hours), firstly getting him to accept being groomed, then to accept the saddle and lastly to accept me - these left brain extroverts take a lot of energy! As you can imagine, I am shattered and I've only just got on! So we went for an amble, played some fluid rein and some downward transition suspension rein - after all the effort I had put in on the ground to have only 'yes' answers and no brace, it was frustrating that all he offered for about half an hour was brace. Eventually, after trying everything I could think of to avoid giving him something to brace against, we made a lovely soft fluid downward transition, so I got off and called it a day on that good note - hard work or what! Still love him to bits though!

Weekend Five

Saturday was lazy day again - batteries to recharge and back to heal! I spent most of the morning on the webcam to Gareth catching up with things back home; how family are, what the animals are up to and how he is coping with everything to do on his own! The afternoon was spent with Roget grazing in one of the honeycombs and dreaming of passing my level 3, bareback and bridless riding and liberty with Dillon - apparently visualisation is very helpful! Instead of eating at the ranch, 17 of us went to the local Chinese restaurant and then to the Buffalo Inn bar where we all had a blast. Beth and I booked a taxi so we could both have a drink and left the car at the house - it was great fun - you can see the pictures, which I think show it all!

Sunday was my lie in day - bliss not to wake at 6am and have to rouse myself to the ranch! Another lazy day ensued with very little being achieved bar resting my back and catching up on sleep. Roget and I shared our honeycomb grazing session with Ann and Beth today which was nice I think for both of us. Then a thunder storm rolled in off the mountains and we made a mad dash out of the rain and back to relaxing and chilling out ready for our last week of class!

Goodbye Pat and Linda! On our way down the ranch track Beth and I met Pat and Linda coming the other way in their rock-star style coach and horse trailer. Well we started waving like looneys again and Pat and Linda started waving back, which only encouraged us even more! Then Pat honked his horn, which was exactly what you expect an American truck horn to sound like! So we got our final farewell from them and that was a lovely unexpected extra to our trip!

Friday Fluidity II Finesse Day Five

This morning started with a Remuda for all the class, where we got to play with fluid rein simulations. We experimented with soft, hard and effective feels to the 'drag' which proved very interesting since effective was firmer than any of us imagined! Next, three fellow students, Filiz, Molly and Stephanie, were brave enough to ride for us demonstrating the fluid rein on horses at different stages of the steps. It was great to see the horses' reactions.

"Knowing I need to listen, and knowing how to listen is not enough. Unless I want to listen, unless I have the desire, it won't be a habit in my life." Stephen R. Covey.

Well, Covey's quote could not be more appropriate to today's topic taken by Kristi, Bit of Savvy, where the emphasis is on whether a tool is a communication device or a mechanical way to hide one's inadequacies (otherwise known as torture devices)! It is worth noting that tool progression is for the horse and should be at the horse's pace - imagine trying to complete you Degree Finals with a crayon and blank piece of paper - the tools we were given to learn to write with as 2-3 year olds! It is the same for the horse as it is for the child learning to write - we need to move from the crayon to the pencil, then the pen with the paper becoming smaller and the lines closer together.

The horseman will use a bit for communication only. As the horse is a large emotional animal, it is unsurprising that man used a mechanical approach (bigger and harsher bits) to deal with horses, but as Pat Parelli says, "We don't want a bigger bit, we want a bigger brain (in the horse)".

Another of Pat's sayings is that "If you can't walk, trot, canter, stop and backup without using the reins, maybe you shouldn't be outside an arena". Harsh perhaps, but true none the less! So the progression for Parelli is:

• Halter + 12ft rein
• Hackamore
• Single jointed snaffle
• Double jointed snaffle (fluid rein)
• Cradle bridle - elastic nose band, big rings
• Cradle bridle - non-elastic nose band, small rings
• Western performance - bosalito and spade bit
• English performance - double bridle

The cradle bridle should be used with the appropriate bit for the horse's horsenality:

• C1 for right brain extrovert where 'hand-holding' is required
• C2 for right brain introvert where a little 'hand-holding' is required, but no zone 1 block also
• C3 for left brainers where the extrovert is looking for a reason to brace and introverts to stop

Later in the afternoon we had a demonstration with Linda Parelli riding her extreme left brain extrovert Allure. It was very interesting to watch how she prepared to ride such an extreme horsenality and how much variety and playfulness she exerted. The riding did get hair-raising for a moment, when all 4 of Allure's feet seemed to leave the ground and make a height of at least 4 feet! Linda stayed on of course and by matching and mirroring his ideas first of all managed to get Allure to match and mirror her! Very cool! Linda was also kind enough to do the groupie thing and signed my course notes - so now I have the matching pair!

Again, with my back still tender I spent more undemanding time with Roget. He doesn't seem to be getting bored and as grazing is his favourite pastime I think I am accumulating lots of emotional credits for later on! Not counting those chickens though!

Thursday Fluidity II Finesse Day Four

Thursday's topic for the classroom with Tina was Longitudinal Flexion, otherwise known as topline or flexing from the tail all the way to the nose. This is the first step towards vertical flexion and collection.

Longitudinal flexion is fluidity throughout the whole of the horse's body (with stiffness there can be no fluidity and with no fluidity there can be no collection). L.F. helps to improve the horse's posture and therefore their fluidity. Saddles, bits, emotional blockages and stiff riders may cause tension that inhibits fluidity. The horse may exhibit tension responses such as high head, short gait, inability to maintain gait, stiffness and poor foot traction. The question is whether this tension is mental, emotional or physical?

There are 3 steps to achieving L.F.:

1. Confidence in zone 1 (no blocks or opposition reflexes)
   
2. Topline stretch (lift back)
   
3. Lengthen stride (tracking up or over-tracking)
   

The fluid rein technique helps to achieve the 3 steps - it should be taught at the walk and then the trot (do not teach at the canter as this will encourage horse to go on the forehand). This is a principle technique, not purpose, so it should be used only in short bursts. The correct tools to use for fluid rein is the confidence snaffle (2 joints for 2 reins) with the finesse reins. The halter, hackamore and single jointed snaffle (1 rein) are not suitable. After teaching steps 1-3 and the horse gives positive responses to the fluid rein, then the cradle bridle can be used.

How do you do fluid rein? As if you are swimming front crawl, reach down with one hand and comb both reins back towards yourself, then the other hand and so on. The combing 'drag' should be consistent and steady. When the smallest positive change occurs you should release the pressure for step 1 and for step 2 and 3 lessen the pressure.

Unfortunately I was unable to practice this with Roget today as I have been suffering with a little backache (everyone say 'Ahhhh!') and thought it best to rest so I can fully participate next week ;-( It is important to remember that I am doing the course so I can come home with knowledge to further my horsemanship journey with Dillon and that riding Roget is secondary to that!

Wednesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Three

This morning was beautiful again - chilly and still. Remuda with Kristi was a low energy affair, with lots of discussion regarding our use of fluidity the day before. It was helpful to hear other's successes and issues - it reminds us that we are all learning and experimenting.

Next, to the classroom, where Kathy took the lecture on the Parelli Formula and Leadership - this I was looking forward to, especially since Roget and I are still working on this area! So what is the Parelli Formula? Simply put it is a people training programme initially until the human has the foundation, then the human can begin training the horse. So what is the human's foundation? At the most basic level it is the first three levels on top of the philosophy of rapport. Read on for more detail.....

The Parelli philosophy is rapport - this means trust, understanding and empathy (walk in your horse's shoes). This is the most important building block as it underlies anything that comes after it. The philosophy is what makes Parelli horseman different - horses are not sports equipment, but life long partners.

So the first level of the human's foundation is the mental or respect building block. This is where safety, partnership, leadership, a positive attitude and 'Yes' versus 'No' responses are addressed. Next comes impulsion or the emotional where 'Go' equals 'Whoa', the human and horse start obtaining skills and relaxation is the emphasis. The last level in the foundation is flexion or the physical, the whole body is now addressed, including posture, collection and the human also starts obtaining tool savvy (bridle, saddle, stick, etc).

It is interesting to observe that if the human is fit in all this, as the leader in the relationship, any horse will start to look as if they are too! Remember the first step towards change is awareness and that your 'learning cup' is never full - there is always room for more knowledge.

The 10 qualities to obtaining the foundation and being the successful student of horsemanship are in the following progressive order:

1. 1/2 Heart and desire (1/2 horse 1/2 human)
2. Repsect
3. Impulsion
4. Flexion
5. Attitude - positive, progressive and natural
6. Feel
7. Timing - both for the release and asking at the right time
8. Balance - mentally, emotionally and physically
9. Savvy
10. Experience

Bruce Lee quote (just for Gareth!): "In learning to master yourself, you don't need to train your muscles, you need to train your mind. There is as much mental and emotional development to be learned as there is the physical".

This afternoon Roget and I worked on the leadership and respect aspects of our relationship! My plan was to allow undemanding time and then without any brace play one of the 7 games with an obstacle. This worked a treat - he really enjoys this type of format, and so do I - he gets to have lots of rest and chill out time and I get to progress my leadership and our relationship in a positive, brace and tension free way - perfect! Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm going to do some riding using this same format with an emphasis again on the leadership.

This evening was the last campfire of the season, so everyone turned up including Pat Parelli, Tim Sullivan and Katie Drake. Unfortunately it did rain, so we moved from the fire to the lodge porch where the sing song continued unabated. It was a great night and I took lots of photos to hopefully remind me at a later date.

Tuesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Two

Today the storm and all that rain had blown away and we were left with a beautiful cold morning. Remuda with Kathy where we played the 'Sticky Hands' simulation, where you had to follow your partner's light, heavy and ultra-light hand movements - really interesting that heavy and ultra-light were equally annoying!

Then it was straight into the classroom for Fluidity taken by Kristi. I was a little worried this was just to be an overview of course 2 Fluidity I, but it proved to be the best day so far!

Firstly we covered the 8 responsibilities (4 horse, 4 human) in a lot more depth, going into areas I had never even considered - this left me 'licking and chewing' for ages! In fact I think I still am! Next we discussed fluidity and how it only needs concentration (conscious competence) until the muscle memory is made (unconscious competence). An interesting quote by Henry David Thoreau was given to us to consider:

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life through conscious behaviour."

This led to the challenge that we take responsibility for our outcomes - take all actions and reactions by the horse as feedback and choose what opinion to have for that feedback! This is emotional fitness.

Remember the stages of change......... Anger..... Blame....... Denial......... Chaos (known as the darkest hour before the dawn).

We played with simulations both using and not using our balance point in different situations to find that it enables the whole body to move as one and creates an internal power that is hard to move. This was after watching a Russian martial arts film which basically describes exactly what Parelli have termed 'balance point' - very interesting.

We had an overview of riding the gaits and then discussed how only perfect practice makes perfect and that muscle memory is created by stopping when the feeling is good. Pat Parelli says that ' you should do your thinking at night and your feeling during the day' so try not to concentrate too hard, use the power of feel and then analyze later.

Next was the best part of the day; it may sound a little crazy, but it was great fun and really helpful - this I will be doing every night when I get home! What am I talking about? Well, we all sat on our balance point on top of a yoga ball and watched clips of master horsemen riding whilst copying what they were doing with their bodies! I know, it's crazy, but in this case crazy works!

The demonstration today, again given by Kristi, was about fluidity in the horse. It covered how to use hill therapy, cavalettis and jumps to improve their fluidity and what is good/bad fluidity. As always it is fundamental that the 8 responsibilities and the mental and emotional fitness of the horse is your foundation before attempting physical changes in the horse.

I spent the afternoon with Roget working on leadership - it seems yesterday's Me and My Shadow may have given him the impression that he has more of the leadership than I do! Hopefully we resolved that misunderstanding and having then spent undemanding time together will start tomorrow on a good footing! He really is a character - testing me every opportunity he gets! The best kind of teacher a student could have...........