Keep me away from the carrot sticks...

dwi

dwi

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Has anyone got any tips for groundwork exercises that can be done to help bond with a new horse that don't turn into Parelli? I've been tempted by the carrot stick brigade!

Assuming Lil's back and teeth checks are clear then we're back to the most likely situation, that she has been really traumatised by moving yards. She was lovely and quiet in her last home, i bought her as a project that needed to be sharpened off the leg, not the mad rearing bronker that I seem to have at the moment. I'm hoping that some time spent building a bond will calm her down but I'm not sure what to do other than the obvious.
 
You can do groundwork inspired by Parelli without turning into a Parelli-nutter.

I have one of the really old Parelli books (*ducks*) which came out before it turned into a multinational corporation! The exercises in there are pretty much common sense bonding and horse body language and I have a few friends who play with it from time to time. I'm not into Parelli with a capital P at all, but the way it started off is all quite sensible!

Honest!
 
Can you describe any of the exercises so i can try them? I don't think I want to be doing anything that involves a beach ball!
 
Ooooh milliepops please share
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Well it's difficult taken out of the context of the whole book. But the basic starting point is to start by not appearing like a preditor to the horse. So he starts with 'approach and retreat' if the horse is nervous of the handler - have the horse basically on a lunge line and headcollar, or in a round pen, and approach & retreat until the horse relaxes in your company.

(actually, this book is so old, it tells you what rope you need to tie your own parelli halter, rather than spend £££ on buying one!)

Easy? then it's the 'gentle test'. Can you touch the horse everywhere, or are there some 'can't', 'won't' , 'don't' or 'yeah but' areas on it's body. So, head, muzzle, quarters, legs, under tail etc etc. If there are difficult areas, you back off and try again until the horse allows you to lift tail etc - using the advance & retreat idea. (actually, this is where the carrot stick would be useful, if you couldn't get near hind legs, say)

Not so fluffy, really... and useful for all horse handling, I'd say!

Next come the Yields. Basically getting the horse to move from pressure of different kinds. Starting with fingertip yielding -

1. backing up: put palm on bridge of nose and push - horse should move backwards. If not, apply pressure to bridge of nose - if still no response, pressure becomes greater until the horse backs. When he does, release pressure and give him a scratch. The aim is to be able to apply as little pressure as possible to get the horse to move. Can do the same thing pressing the chest instead.

2. lateral flexion and moving hindquarters
start by trying to get the horse to 'smell his tail' - bending the head and neck around towards the rear and pulling the tail gently to meet. The horse should be able to flex this way without moving. When he does, apply gentle pressure to the hind quarters without letting go of the head, until the quarters move away from you. give him a scratch/reward. Can do this in both directions.

3. moving the forehand
hold the headcollar at the jaw and rub in the girth area on the same side. then apply pressure at both the jaw and girth area (gently at first). Do this while walking towards the horse - to encourage him to move his forehand away from you. Again, you are trying to do this with the minimum of pressure.

4. forwards
try to get the horse to move forwards either pulling the mane or with your hand under the jaw. Or turn your back on him and see if he will follow (works well if the horse trusts you).

That's a start - I'd say this is all useful stuff for ridden work as well as a nice relaxing thing to play with on the school. Can also be useful to address other problems - maybe loading in the trailer etc. The next steps are similar but on the end of a lungeline, building up to working with obstacles etc)

Not a beach ball in sight
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Absolutely agree, this book is now 17 years old. I can't believe what it has turned into. Shame - this is all common sense really that can be applied to all aspects of horsemanship, natural or otherwise! Seems you can't access it any more without succumbing to the marketing machine.
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Oh, I think the updated version of this is the beginning of the 7 games. Had a quick google - there is a wordy description of all of them, and some vids here. http://iceryder.net/7games.html

The squeeze game looks like it would be a good finale for a horse that rushes through small spaces. Again, it's not 'Parelli', even though it is a P game - it's just horses, trust and body language. Phew. Survived without me tin hat. Back to normal service now
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If you read Henry Blake's books, written in the mid 1970's, he was doing the same touching and gentling exercises back in the 1950's.

It's not the techniques that are new, just the marketing.
 
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