Pessoa Training Aid - Engagement & Carriage

[pennyh]

just looking for some help from anyone who uses a pessoa , i would look to my instructor for help in use but am looking for opinions from people who use the aid

we are competing novice & doing well but our main comment for area's to improve on is almost invariably 'engagement & greater degree of self carriage' which i feel we need to achieve before moving up to elementary

so , have people used the pessoa to help achieve this? does it work? is it more effective than ridden schooling?

as a guide of where we are at our novice scores this weekend were 66.8 & 64.07% under a list 3 judge , so we are not horribly on the forehand or anything! we sometimes also get coments of needing to develop greater suppleness in the back , i currently use lateral work to help with suppleness

thankyou in advance!

 

[dianchi]

Its a good tool and i prob use mine once or twice a week, however horses react differently to them and is not always ideal.

To get an idea if they willa ccept it a good idea is to lunge with two reins, long rein on a circle basically so that they are used to the idea of something on their back legs. Some horse really tense up and wont move on, so id try that before splashing out.

Tho there are cheaper ones on ebay!

 

[pennyh]

good tip re lunging with 2 reins , will give it a whirl , though he's a fairly ameenable chap , have heard of horses that just buck & buck &.......

 

[Thistle]

Echo above

 

[ColouredFan]

Mine accepted it fine straight away but our 4 yr old always has a little buck when it first goes on it takes two people to do her, I can do My eventer (frankie) on my own and he will stand in the middle of the field with no one holding him while i adjust it. The 4 yr old was lunged in 2 lines alot while she was being broken, she settles fairly quickly after a buck tho! I really rate it and use it about once a week

Frankie in pessoa

 

[wizoz]

I have used the Pessoa a lot, it definately helps to strengthen the muscles along the back and encourages the hind legs to travel through more, it was actually reccommended by our vet for rehabilitation to our youngster. It has had different reactions on all 3 horses, my eventer didn't really mind it at all but had a buck just because it made him work harder than normal, the younster doesn't mind it at all and the other horse kept lashing out at it with his hind legs but would work in it. It is a good training aid in my opinion.

 

[Partoow]

The Pessoa is exelllent as a tool but needs to be used , like everything to encourage the horse to work correctly not forced as muscles need to be relaxed before they are available for development.
The picture of the Pessoa in use is obvously ok for this horse but i dont often use it between the front legs as this is just draw reins with a push up the bum. I like it in young horses and for better self carriage and engagement by having the two clips going to either side at the same height of the top of the muscle of the fore leg. thus being like running reins. I find this better for developing the back and self carriage.
I really look at the horses conformation and that tells me how to use it.
Also remember that when you are lunging dont pull the head round with too much neck bend stay slightly behind the hind leg pushing him with your body forward in to the hand. This push refers to connection not speed, try not to let him race around on the lunge to develope his self carriage he needs to find the hindleg so speed is not going to help.
Hope that makes sense.