According to Pat Parelli, a horse is the ultimate prey animal; they are perceptive to changes in people, places and things.  This includes changes in people’s physical look, emotional state, & intentions.  How many of you have ever gone to the barn with an umbrella during a rain storm and your horse now believes that you have morphed into a mushroom?  How about when you have had an emotional day and your horse seems to be calmer than normal, feeling for your emotional state as you cry into their mane…or have gone to the barn after a stressful day of work and your horse won’t even meet you at the gate?  Coincidence, I think not!  Horses are unbelievably perceptive to subtle changes – way more than we can imagine!

A horses’ personal environment is his home.  They are acutely aware of the exact placement of all things,  anything outside of that norm is cause for skepticism; the tractor is parked in a different place, the jumps have blown over in the night, new snow has fallen and the ever present item that brings up a horse’s skepticism -movement of the horse trailer to a new location!

Dusty Practicing His Flight Line!

This perceptiveness is not a choice that they make; it is genetic makeup, DNA programmed for survival.   A horse is always ready to react in a blink of an eye.  Why are they so good at this?  They have bi-lateral vision which gives them “surround” vision as well as ears that rotate to give them “surround” sound, they have multi-layered lenses which give them instant focus at different ranges.   They are quick, athletic and have great endurance.  Even the ones that are labeled “klutzy” are way more athletic than us humans!  They are pre-programmed to have a flight line; a pre-determined distance they will run until they re-evaluate the situation at hand (or hoof).

Training is to teach, to develop, to concentrate, to focus, to learn, and even to acquire new skills as determined by someone else’s agenda.   Training comes in many forms; but the two main ones are positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement; regardless of what type of training you use, behavior modification is the end result, to create a desired response.  In the study of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, you learn how to modify behaviors to the point that your horses will even become puzzle solvers…not just a trained trick horse.

The conundrum is this:  horses are aware of everything and must be able to react at a moment’s notice for the sake of survival; then we put “training” into the equation.    We ask them to completely override their genetic makeup that is to be perceptive to everything, turn off their instinct, and focus solely on us and our request.  Regardless of what we ask them, no matter how basic or difficult.  it is an incredible phenomenon. Their keen sense to change is what makes them so trainable; and their ability to adapt and override their genetic makeup to me is fascinating.

So, next time your horse spooks or looses their attention on you, take a moment to realize that this is what they are supposed to do.  They will always be a prey animal regardless of how much training they have.  A horse is always a horse, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, every moment of their life.  Then revel in the conundrum that Mother Nature has given us in the horse; a prey animal that is able to be “trained”.  When you think about it this way, it brings new meaning to Pat’s phrase:  “inside every wild horse is a tame horse and inside every tame horse is a wild horse.  Never, ever forget that!  Happy Riding!

What did we learn? CONTACT – A simple word that means so much!

Definition of Contact: “A coming together or touching. Connection or interaction; communication.” (answers.com)

Game of Contact (GoC) is a game that horse and human play TOGETHER, to reach a new level of harmony and connection. The level of connection you obtain through learning GoC is surreal. Now, not everyone will want to go this far with their horsemanship journey and that is okay; but for those of you that are obsessed with advancing your horsemanship; this is a huge piece to your quest of having ultimate trust and connection. Linda said it best when she said “if you choose to undertake learning GoC, you are learning a highly advanced level of horsemanship.”

As expected from a 5 day course at the Parelli Ranch, it was chalk full of theory, simulations, and practical hands on with horses. The two key areas that were covered were the horse and rider learning the four stages to the Game of Contact and learning to ride with an engaged finesse posture.

A big piece of the puzzle is to realize that you must take to heart Parelli’s riddle of: You must be Part Rider, Part Psychologist, Part Trainer, & Part Behaviorist. At any point in time you may be jumping around in this riddle and you must be okay with that in order to make progress. So many people think about finesse riding as being in a certain position and the horse doing a certain maneuver, in a way, it is, when you and your horse are living up to your mutual responsibilities. If either one of you are not living up to your responsibilities then you must figure out which piece of the riddle needs to be addressed at that moment; then be ready to switch right back to what you were doing the minute things get back on track. You can not play with GoC if your horse is not in a learning frame of mind or for that matter, if you are not in a learning frame of mind!

During the GoC course there were all levels of horses and riders. There were a few Parelli Professionals riding in the course as well as a gal that has only owned horses a few years. In regard to the horses, there were some trail horses, some with former dressage training, some with former reining training, and even one filly in the class who had only had a bit 7 times before attending. The transformation of horses and riders over those 5 days was phenomenal. The interesting part was that more time was spent on simulation and theory than actually riding. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of sessions with the horses, but the biggest changes came when people understood what to do before they even touched their horse. Every day their understanding got better and every day they were able to offer their horse a better feel or a better release to the right answer. It was a very cool process to observe.

Linda coaching me in a posture simulation session

As part of the posture section that we played with every day; we were introduced to “Steady Eddy”; Linda’s new finesse posture barrel simulator. As we were all to soon find out, Steady Eddy easily reveals ALL of our weaknesses in finesse riding – tuck your rear, push down in the knees, open hip flexors, flatten lower back, knit ribs, keep your dots together, elbows, knuckles talking, chin back, and pull up through your wither, wither? I have a wither? And by the way, if you have any brain cells left…now post! Everyone in the class took advantage of Steady Eddy and with consistent practice and an obsessive need to get it right by day 5 Steady Eddy and I were good friends. I came to the conclusion that Steady Eddy is a LBI! He put up with a lot!

Linda expressed many times over that it is only fair to our horse to practice our posture in simulation and not subjugate them to our struggling uncoordinated bodies. There was a lot of grunting, contorted faces, and exclamations like: You want me to do what? You must be joking; you want my rear to go where? Can my hip flexors go that direction!? And just plain old bursts of laughing when instructed on what to do with their bodies. In the end, it is actually easier to get everything going on a real horse with movement but if you can perfect “Steady Eddy” your horse will thank you even more!

Lyndsey Fitch, Linda's 2 year long protege helping me on Steady Eddy

In closing, Linda had a question from one of the participants that I know each and every one of us has probably thought about before. We have heard Pat say it, we have heard Walter Zetyl say it, and most every book you pick up says it; that the mouth is the most sensitive part of the horse. The student asked Linda how the mouth could be the most sensitive part of the horse when they will eat a thistle plant or tumbleweed. Linda’s remark helped clear up so many things for everyone in the group; she said “their mouth is not physically sensitive; it is mentally and emotionally sensitive.” Ding, ding, ding!!! It makes so much sense! So, next time you pick up your reins, keep that in mind and ask yourself if you are preserving your horse’s mental and emotional state when entering their mouth and prove to them that Contact is a coming together, a connection, and trustworthy path to communication.

Last November, while I was in Florida, I attended Linda’s Game of Contact Course.  At one point during the 3 day course, she had one of the riders dismount and address some respect and leadership issues on the ground.  While the owner was being coached by Linda, the rope slid through the owners hand and her horse was now loose in the arena.  Despite being an LBI, her horse took off bucking and running.   After his 5 seconds of exertion he ran to the gate, stopped and stoically stared at the gate.  LBI’s are so funny, they just have a way of telling you what they want and this guy wanted OUT, he was done with class, he was quite content with himself and figured he was the best leader around!

Now put yourself in this situation…a 3 day clinic with  Linda Parelli, an audience, and  a camera crew! Most of us would have walked over picked up our rope and brought our horse back to us, slightly embarrassed at our lack of savvy rope handling skills.  Well, Linda had a different plan and knew exactly what that horse and owner needed.   As an audience member I watched for the next HOUR as Linda walked side by side with the owner, coaching her on how to ‘win’ the catching game.   It was fascinating to watch as the LBI barely moved a muscle for almost the entire hour!!  The whole time you could feel Linda’s determination and belief that it was going to work.  She knew that mentally engaging that horse would be way more powerful than any physical demand!  Then, finally, the LBI got so mentally intrigued the feet unglued from the earth and he started to follow Linda and the owner everywhere!

This is where it really hit me, that Linda Parelli during a clinic with  spectators & cameras still took the time it took for that horse and owner.  She took the time it took to build that relationship with that horse and owner in that particular moment.  Of all the things I learned that weekend this to me was a very powerful message.   If Linda could do it in those circumstances then I had no reason to not have ‘the time’ when I DO have the time.

So, on to how much this really made me think and put my principles to the test.  The following 3 days after the Game of Contact Course, Linda had invited all instructors  around to attend with their own personal horses for hands on instruction on the Game of Contact.  There was no way I was going to pass this opportunity up!  So, I decided that Faith, my Oldenburg mare and I were going to attend.

I have owned Faith for 5 years and she is a nice horse that greets people at the fence to see about cookies and if you do anything in the paddock she is around and inquisitive.  Though, since I have had Faith, she has only been okay to catch, she absolutely knows the difference between the wandering through the paddock walk and the entering the paddock to catch a horse walk.  She definitely is not hard to catch but she is not  the one always at the gate.  Sometimes, she walks up to see me, other times she stands where she is and watches me approach, sometimes she would passively walk away, stop 20 feet later, look at me and let me catch her.  I never liked how this felt when she did it.  I felt like she had an  air of resentment, unwillingness and/or distrust.

After seeing Linda’s demonstration at the Game of Contact Course, I thought what better opportunity do I have to play with my catching game than right now.  So, I decided that I wasn’t going to do anything with Faith until I had won my catching game each day.  Now, don’t forget that the next 3 days were Game of Contact lesson days with Linda…so, I was going to play my catching game, then load up and go to Linda’s class.   Hum, what was I thinking?  I was thinking about the relationship with Faith.  I was thinking about how to help Faith’s opinion change.  What did I have to do?  Who did I have to be?  What was it going to take?

So, Morning 1:  I have to be at the Parelli Center for 10am.

I went out “early” at 8, figuring it certainly wouldn’t take much more than an hour…well an hour and 45 minutes later Faith caught me.  She had some major emotional releases once she caught me.  I have never seen a horse yawn so many times in a row!  We were slightly late for the class but I wasn’t the last one to get there…so I wasn’t too distraught!

So, Morning 2:  I have to be at the Parelli Center for 10am.

I went out “a little bit earlier, 7 am this time, figured that I would play my catching game which should go better than the day before and I would get connected, load her in the trailer, let her eat breakfast in the trailer, and then haul over for the lessons.  Well, 2 1/2 hours later we were caught! We weren’t late this time but I drove up at 10am!   At this point I am questioning myself but I thought stick it out for 7 days and see what happens.

So, Morning 3:  I have to be at the Parelli Center for 10am.

I decided I better go out at 7 am again and be prepared for a marathon catching game!  By 7:45 I had her caught and loaded in the trailer!  Now, I am 2 hours and 15 minutes EARLY!

Morning 4:  I don’t have to go to the Parelli Center today but I am going to catch her and load her in the trailer as if I was going to go.  I walked out of the house up to the fence, climbed over the fence and Faith never left.  I thought to myself, this can’t be…can it be possible that she has already caught me?  So, to test my theory, I walked away from her…and she followed me!  So, day 4 was zero minutes to catch me!  Faith was there ready and waiting for what the day was going to bring.  I caught her walked her to the trailer, she loaded beautifully, and I let her have breakfast in there.

Ever since those 4 sessions Faith has caught me within minutes.   It really put in my mind the importance of living the principle of “taking the time it takes so it will take less time”.    It is so important to live those principles with our horses…all the time…regardless…even if Linda Parelli is waiting for you to show up for a class.  I mentioned all this to Linda on day 3…and she gave me a big smile and said  “well done, Susan, well done.”  She knows just how important it is to do what is right for your horse in the moment and that is what putting the relationship first is all about!

These are all lovely idealistic thoughts and they can all be true (except the getting you out of jail part…that is only in Hollywood!).  The difference is that in the movies it appears to just happen, with no work or effort whatsoever, they capture perfectly those magical moments; because that is what dreams are made of.    In the real world, there has to be a LOT of dedication and  long hours of work to get to where those dreams become a reality.  Even then, the horse is still the one that has the final say in the matter as their ideal life might not always match up to what you would like it to be.  It is up to us to accept them for who they are and adjust our dreams to a realistic level and then and only then can the simplest things be magical!

Have you ever thought: “It will be an amazing day when “that” happens.”  or “It will never be possible to do “blank” with this horse.” When all the years of hard work and dedication have started to roll along there seems to be a moment where you think, gee, maybe those things that I thought would be impossible might happen or the “amazing day” seems closer and closer.   I try not to think about things that I “will never be able to do” but there is a realistic side to it as well.  So, I try to pick things that might seem impossible with a particular horse right now but they are totally reasonable and able to happen…someday….and when they do happen…the magic starts to fly.

For example, I had a magical moment the other day, that prompted me to write this post.  It was probably only 30 seconds long…but it was something that I always thought, “it will be the day when…”.  My mare Faith is in a large hot pen inside a 13 acre field.  She has a water tub in her pen; but I discovered that she loves the metal livestock water trough at the top of the field where the cows live.  So, for several weeks I had been hand walking her up to it in the evenings or hopping on bareback and riding up there at the walk.  This was also a great opportunity to play friendly game with a herd of cows across the fence (more about the cows in another post)!   

Well, the other night I got home at dusk and I wanted to take her up to the water trough.  So, I pulled her out of her pen, walked to the log, hopped on bareback, and this is the part where all the stars aligned and the  moment felt right…I asked for a CANTER!  We cantered off up the hill across 13 acres bareback in a halter freshly pulled out of a pen, towards the cows!  The sun was setting, the canter was amazing, and Faith never missed a beat…even upon sight of the cows!  This is a horse that used to bolt and do acrobatics with riders and cows are definitely not in her vocabulary!

So, the moment was short…but it felt like an eternity because everything came together like a dream.  Have fun with your horses and remember those magical moments are in there waiting for you to stumble upon them and when you do it will feel like time stands still!

Have you had a magical moment with your horse?  Tell me about them!

I am just having a lot of artsy moments while I am here!  I think this photo is pretty cool too!  I looked up out of the kitchen window and this is what I saw!  Quick, get the camera…

Here is a close up of my Ellie-Belle!

Ellie, 11 year old Selle Francais

Until tomorrow…

I am so excited to have a blog that I can make some comments on every now and again.  Not sure what exactly I will be writing yet…but I am sure when the moment hits me it will come out okay!  I will be writing something soon!  Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Susan