Level 2/3 Stage 5
On Line
Keep challenging yourself. Get more imaginative.
Introduce the “Flag”
Liberty
Driving and Circling Games using the “Flag”
FreeStyle Riding
Continue Impulsion Program
Rein Responsibilities
Carrot Stick Riding
When Stage 5 is Complete, progress to Stage 6
Stage 5
On Line Skills
-
Keep challenging yourself with imaginative tasks
-
Introduce the Flag
The “Flag” is simply your Carrot Stick with a plastic bag attached to the end. Believe it or not, our Parelli bags have been specially selected for their crackly texture! Any bag will work of course.
Attaching the Flag
- Open the end of the bag along its seam so it doesn’t fill up with air like a ballon.
- Push the handles through the leather popper loop on the end of your Carrot Stick and then thread the rest of the bag through the handles. This is much better than tying it on with a knot that gets so tight you can’t get it off without cutting it.
Play Games 1,3,4,5,6, & 7 with it
Use it as your supporting tool as well as your Driving tool in the Games.
Most important is the Friendly Game. if you cannot desensitise your horse to the Flag do not use it to play any of the other Games! It’s really important to realise that you cannot communicate to a horse with something he is scared of.
-
See if you can flap it around and have your horse finally settle down, get left brained and not be afraid. Use approach and retreat in motion, shaking it hard until the horse tries to make a change, then get softer but don’t stop it altogether until your horse can stand still. Repetition is important in the teaching process.
-
Once your horse can stand still, is not afraid of the flag moving around, then you can offer him a sniff. The opposite of fear is curiosity, hold it out and allow him to smell it, but don’t touch him with it. Allow him to be the first to touch it if you can.
- After that you can start rubbing his body with it. Remember to offer it and use it as though its a curry comb. If you have any reservation in your attitude because you are afraid he will react, this will convey to him. Ultimately you are teaching your horse to ready your body language not your toy.
- Make sure you can progressively get to rub every zone and have acceptance.
Summary
Make a “flag” by attaching a plastic bag to your Carrot Stick.
Be sure to open the end of the bag so it doesn’t fill up with air.
Push the handles through the popper and then the bag through the handles.
Use the flag as a supporting tool and a Driving tool int he 7 Games.
Most Important is the Friendly Game!
Use approach and retreat.
When fear goes, curiosity takes its place. Allow him to be the first to touch it if you can.
Your body language is ultimately the key, not the toy.
Get to rub every zone.
Liberty Skills
Introduce the Flag
Just like On Line, get to where you can drive your horse with the Flag and play the Circling Game with it as well.
If your horse starts playing “I’m not going to respond because you can’t touch me” distance games, go back to the Carrot Stick and Horseman’s String so you can touch your horse if necessary. Its a longer extension (10 feet, to 12 feet including your arm!) and you can reach him faster than with the flag. Once you get more respect and confidence in the round corral you can use the flag with more effectiveness.
Summary
Same as On Line, be able to play Friendly, Driving and Circling Games at Liberty with the flag.
If your horse out distances you, go back to the Stick and String.
FreeStyle Riding
-
Rein Responsibilities
-
Carrot Stick Riding
Respect & Warm up phase:
Ground Skills/Liberty
- Impulsion Program
Teaching Phase:
- Rein Responsibilities
- Carrot Stick Riding
Impulsion Program
By now you should only need to be doing your impulsion programs every third or fourth time you ride. Let this be the first thing you do when you get on, and after that, practice the new concepts introduced in Stage 5.
1. Rein Responsibilities & a little finesse
In Level 1 you learned about the Direct and Indirect Rein. Apart from ways to turn or disengage your horse they have specific responsibilities:
Direct Rein
- leads the front end
- right rein influences right front foot
- left rein influences left front foot
Position and weight
- hand is like a sideways karate chop position, straight out from the shoulder with a straight elbow.
- If you aim a little high, you’ll notice that your weight is on the opposite seat bone from the rein you are using. This unweights the horse’s front foot: the right if you are turning right, the left if you are turning left. Never lean into your turns, it makes it difficult for a horse to lift his turning leg and get his weight right when you do this!
Indirect Rein
- disengages and repositions the hindquarters
- right indirect rein influences the left hind
- left indirect rein influences the right hind
Position and weight
- Bring the rein toward your belly button (not all the way unless it is necessary).
- It has a lifting action so lift it with your fingernails turned upward
- Turn and look over your horse’s tail to position your pelvis naturally to allow the hindquarters to shift easily
- Push with your inside leg at the back of zone 3. This supports the movement of the hindquarter. Your outside leg just hangs loose and inactive like your out side arm.
Work on being able to push up your reins and isolate each foot movement, front and back. Get to where you are able to do it at the halt and the walk (but not the hind feet above the halt!), just move each foot one step.
2. Carrot Stick Riding
This is going to become one of the most valuable techniques you’ll learn and one you will return to again and again to keep developing your seat, riding with your whole body, getting your horse straighter and straighter, pushing your turns.
It teaches you about:
- Controlling your horse without using the reins
- Teaches you to “push” your turns
- To use your whole body when you ride
Note that Carrot Stick riding is being taught in Stage 5 after the Impulsion Program has been introduced and explored. It is dangerous to being this on an impulsive horse especially. Once you’ve warmed up using one of your impulsion programs, then you can start playing with this concept.
Techniques & Success Tips
Back up
- Use two Carrot Sticks
- Keep your Hackamore on and leave the reins on your horse’s neck or loop them over the saddle horn if you are in western saddle. You are going to try not to use them but they are there for you, like a safety net is for the tight rope walker.
- At the halt, rub your horse all over with both Carrot sticks, playing the Friendly Game in every zone you can reach.
- Back your horse up by stretching the Carrot Sticks forward in front of zone 1 and then waving them in small circles to drive your horse backwards (Each phase gets a little more vigorous and phase 4 taps the horse on zone 1).
- As soon as your horse backs up relax the Carrot Sticks. Then rub them on the sides of the horse’s neck.
- Begin again and keep at it until you can back your horse pretty easily.
Turn you horse
- See if you can isolate just zone 1 and experiment with trying to get your horse to bend his neck without moving his feet. This will be lateral flexion without reins. Simply stimulate zone 1 by Porcupine Game or Driving Game until he yields away. Reward the slightest tries, approach and retreat.
- Now walk along and see if you can turn your horse and spiral down to a stop. Your inside Carrot Stick will be like an open door while the outside Carrot stick is reaching forward and causing zone 1 to turn. Your seat is relaxed.
- Be able to do this confidently on both side. If you can turn your horse it means you have brakes. Make sure they work well without any fear in your horse.
- Once you can walk and spiral to a stop, try the trot. Ultimately you’ll be able to do it at the walk, tort and canter but don’t push yourself any more than you feel confident about. Allow the confidence to build.
Come down to backup while moving forward
- Now try coming down to a back up from a walk. When you get there, stop for a while giving your horse incentive to back up.
- When its good at the walk, try the trot…and eventually the canter.
- This progress may represent several sessions of Carrot Stick riding. Don’t rush it, allow it to build over time. By the end of stage 5 you should be able to walk, trot, canter, turn at all these gaits, stop from any gait and come down to a back up with ease.
Eyes, belly button, legs, Carrot Stick.
The idea of riding with the Carrot Sticks is to one day be able to ride without them! Start working on that now. Here’s how: when you’re riding with the Carrot Sticks pretend that you aren’t.
- Use your Carrot Stick as phase 4.
Phase 1 turn your eyes and focus strongly where you want to go
Phase 2 turn your belly button the same way
Phase 3 open your inside knee and close the whole of your outside leg to push your horse into the turn
Phase 4 bring the Carrot Stick into play
One day you’ll do the same thing with your reins.
If you can train yourself to be consistent with this, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you won’t have to use the Carrot Sticks at all and you’ll only need them for the occasional reinforcement. Don’t ride without them for a long time. When you are teaching a horse, the worst thing you can do is be unprepared to correct because he’ll start not responding as well. Be patient. Build, build, build.
Pitfalls
- trying to ride forward without testing the brakes first
- using only one Carrot Stick. You’ll have to keep changing hands, when two Carrot Sticks puts you in a position to be able to keep focusing and doing whatever is necessary to get your transitions and turns. The two Carrot Sticks also educates you for two rein work that’s coming up in future phases.
Troubleshooting
Your horse won’t back up
Check that you are communication the right thing with your seat. Keep your zone 4 in the saddle, don’t stand up or Lean forward. Be conscious of whether your seat really is communication back up or is it inadvertently squeezing as you work the Carrot Sticks?
Are you going to phase 4 if necessary?
If you are still having problems, go back to the ground and make sure your horse truly understands to back away from driving pressure in zone 1.
Your have difficulty turning
Again, check that your horse understands the Driving Game with the Carrot Stick in the front end and can move it away in isolation.
Next, check the you are opening the inside Carrot Stick like a door for your horse to go through.
Finally, are you going to phase 4 to convince the horse to yield?
Summary
Always warm up on the ground and get your horse’s respect before you get on.
Impulsion programs are a great warm up too.
The Direct Rein: Leads the front end, the right direct rein influences the right front and the left, the left front.
Your hand needs to be in a “sideways karate chop” position, straight elbow as high as your shoulder.
Aiming high lifts the horse’s front end and puts your seat bones in the right place.
The indirect Rein: disengages the hindquarter, right rein influences the left hind and left rein influences the right.
Bring the rein to your belly button, fingernails uppermost, lifting action.
Turn to look over your horses tail to position your pelvis naturally and push with your inside leg at the back of zone 3 (outside leg hands loose and inactive like your outside arm).
Learn to isolate the feet with your reins.
Carrot Stick riding will become most valuable to you to develop your seat, ride with your whole body, get your horse straighter and teach you to push your turns.
You learn to control your horse without using reins.
Note that you are learning this after you have explored the impulsion programs!
First learn to back up! This is your brakes.
Put your reins on the horse’s neck or over saddle horn.
Make sure you can be Friendly all over!
Back up by circling Sticks in front of one 1. Each phase builds, phase 4 = tap zone 1.
As soon as your horse responds, rub both Sticks on the side of neck.
Practice lateral flexion with the Carrot Stick in zone 1 both Porcupine and Driving.
Walk along and spiral to a stop, make sure your “inside Carrot Stick” is an open door.
Both sides need to be equal.
Then try trot, even canter but make sure the previous one is really solid first.
Come down to a back up from the walk, then trot, etc.
Build this over a few sessions if necessary.
There are 4 phases to turning:
Eyes, belly button, legs, Stick.
This is how you build to not using the Sticks at all!
One day you’ll do the same with your reins…you won’t even have to use them.
Caution: don’t get rid of the Sticks too soon!
Use 2 Carrot Sticks for best results, not one. It also gets you more coordinated.
If your horse won’t back up, check your seat! Is it communication back up?
Go back to the ground if your horse doesn’t understand.
To correct turning problems, go back to Driving Game on the ground.
