7/11/2015- Happy Slurpee Day!! Aka 7/11 day! We are more than half way through the year and we have passed my favorite and least favorite day of the year, the Summer Solstice. The beginning of the end (the days get shorter) and the longest day of the year. A positive and a negative on the same day for the same reason. Sometimes the same thing that is a positive can bring on a negative with our horses. Sometimes the thing that brought on a negative for a horse is the same thing they have to go through to get back in the positive.
A thing that I see this happen a lot with is cantering. It can be done where it causes a horse anxiety and worry. It can also be done where it causes the same fear and anxiety in a human too. I understand how and why this happens. But it still blows my mind as to why?!?!?! It is not a necessary thing anyone wants to or needs to go through. And there are SO many people and horses that show up to spend time with us that have been hurried into cantering and therefore have this big worry about the subject.
So now how do we fix or heal this fear and worry in a human? How do we take away this brace from a horse? Well there are a lot of techniques to increase human confidence and emotional fitness. There are some wonderful videos available on Parelli Connect on the subjects. The way I have had the most success with is simple old approach and retreat, that wonderful technique we use for the Friendly Game aka the Confidence game. And breaking it down to simple increments like thinking about cantering until it isn’t scary any more. Then maybe try and speed up a bit, and when I say a bit I mean a stride maybe. Then maybe two. Until maybe you accidentally canter a stride and stop. Then maybe two or more. Then more and more. Do this some where safe! Like a round pen. You don’t have to steer you just have to ride! This is the short and sweet version and here is another great idea, do this with your local Parelli Professional backing you up.
Guess what?! The round pen, where you don’t have to steer just ride, is a great place to spend with a horse that has worry about the canter. that way if they get fast and impulsive you can just ride and rub them, or bend them into the rail. I want to focus on ridding and rubbing the horse that is too fast and impulsive at the canter. Why are they going so fast? What are they running away from? Oh wait…… you’re on their back. This is something that the human needs to be very confident as a rider before playing with this technique. You are going to stand in your stirrups and have one hand in your pushing passenger position or on the saddle horn. The other is going to rub in rhythm up and down their neck. You get to practice riding like a jockey and your horse just gets to go until they settle. Friendly game at a canter!! What a novel idea! Maybe you’re smarter than me, but I have ridden horses that I thought were confident and this was the missing piece. I thought is was more a brace the horse needed to yield their way to relaxation. Man oh man did I feel silly. All it took was rubbing them. for a few minutes at the canter while they just got to go.
We have been doing lots of cantering with confident horses and confident riders and lots of cantering with un-confident riders and horses lately at The Ranch. So now you are updated on all the fun we have been having and some of the horsemanship and development techniques we have been using! I hope you get out there now and get yourself or your horse more confident at higher speeds!
And maybe we will get to see you sooner rather than later,
Jake