Cont. Lesson 3 Game 2 – The Porcupine Game
Game # 2 – The Porcupine Game
The Porcupine Game teaches the horse to yield from steady pressure. It prepares horses to understand the leg and the rein.
PURPOSE: Teaches the horse to yield away from steady pressure and prepares him to understand and respond to leg and rein aids. Teach the horse to yield toward the origin of the pressure (such as drawing him forward with the lead rope) as well as away from it (pushing with your Carrot Stick or finger tips).
This is a close contact game. Use steady pressure, never poke or jab.
This is a close contact game. Never use a poking motion. Make sure it is steady pressure only, applied gently at first and then steadily increased phase by phase until the horse responds. As soon as the horse responds the pressure should be released and the pressure point rubbed with the Friendly Game. Rub – press – rub is ideal. This will prevent the horse from becoming defensive.
Concentration, Steady pressure, Release.
Important ingredients: Concentration, steady pressure, Release.
The Four Phases of Friendly Firmness Concept.
Here is a great way to regulate the pressure:
- Phase 1 – press the hair
- Phase 2 – press the skin
- Phase 3 – press the muscle
- Phase 4 – press the bone
Phase 1 is the lightest pressure you can imagine. Phase 4 is when it is effective. Use the Carrot Stick and then progress to your fingers.
Rub – Press – Rub
Don’t underestimate how light phase 1 needs to be and how firm phase 4 can be. Most people make the mistake of starting too suddenly at Phase 2 or 3 and never getting to phase 4. That’s how you teach your horse to be dull!
Reward the slightest try when you are teaching.
Start with the Carrot Stick.
The chest, junction of zone 2 & 3:
Slowly press the leather end of the Carrot Stick into the centre of your horses chest. Increase it phase by phase until the horse shifts his weight backwards then stop and rub. Start again until you can get the horse to move a step or two, then two or more, then more and more. Look for understanding, reward the slightest try at first and always begin with phase 1. Important: keep your feet still for this.
The neck, zone 2:
Find a point at the top end of the neck near where the head adjoins and slightly into the jugular groove. See if you can teach your horse to yield his front end away from you little by little until you can get a full circle. (The hind feet need not pivot at this level)
The hips, junction of zone 3 & 4:
Place the end of your Carrot Stick just under the point of the hip above the flank. See if you can teach your horse to yield his hindquarters away from you little by little until you can get a full circle. (The front feet need not pivot at this level)
Make sure you do both sides of the horse equally and that you stick with it until both sides feel exactly the same to you. Over the next sessions you will review these and keep looking for the phases to get lighter as the horse gets more responsive.
Once the basics are good, try other spots:
See how many places you can ask your horse to yield from: all different zones, the shoulders, the ribs, neck then hip in alternation until you can get him going sideways. You may reserve this for later sessions if your horse has any trouble with the Porcupine Game.
The nose, zone 1:
Use the span of you hand speed across the bridge of your horse’s nose like a halter nose piece. As the phases need to increase, bring your fingers into play until you are squeezing with them. Once the horse moves, soften immediately and rub. If your horse resists you by pushing back and tossing his head, this will give you information about how he will respond to the bit!
TEACH YOUR HANDS TO CLOSE SLOWLY AND OPEN QUCKLY. HOW PROGRESSIVELY YOU CAN APPLY THE PHASES AND HOW QUCKLY YOU CAN RELEASE WHEN THE HORSE TRIES TO RESPOND?
Try other zones, get him going sideways. Back up from zone 1 and zone 2. Your hands need to close slowly and open quickly.
Try the Porcupine Game using your fingers:
Try it with your fingers tips once the horse is responsive to the Carrot Stick. Of course it is possible to start with only your hands, however we have found that using the Carrot Stick greatly accelerates results, keeps people safer and develops the horse’s confidence much quicker.
Bring the horse forward to you… and then away:
Use the halter and lead for this. Close you hand around the snap of the rope and using phases ask the horse to move towards you and you fade backwards. Release, reinforce, then ask him to move backwards until you can get forwards and backwards feeling reasonably even.
Use your fingertips and repeat all the zones. Bring the horse to you and back using the halter as an extension of your hand. Get forwards and backwards even.
Success Tips:
- Be as dependable as a fence post, ie: if a horse leans on a post or against a cactus or nail it gets harder the harder he leans. But when he backs off, the post doesn’t follow him, it doesn’t move. This helps your horse to learn the principle of moving off discomfort to find comfort through his own actions. He is also instantly rewarded. The moment you follow his movement and chase him with the pressure, this is lost. Once the principle is understood by the horse, then you can advance it to more and more steps.
Be as dependable as a fence post. This means allowing the horse to move off the pressure.
- Rub – press – rub. Rub before you start the pressure and rub when you finish the pressure.
- Use 4 Phases of discomfort: remember to press the hair – skin – muscle – bone. Horses love comfort, and as you get better at helping him to find it quickly, you’ll build a refined communication based on an in-tune horse that responds to the lightest suggestions.
Rub before you press. Rub after you press. This is the Friendly Game and makes sure your horse doesn’t feel offended.
Four Phases is the key to a responsive horse.
Pitfalls:
- Jabbing and using a poking stimulus instead of steady and increasing pressure.
- Too hard, too fast. Use the phases religiously, applying pressure slowly and fairly.
- Forgetting to rub the horse before and after the pressure.
- Not planning the move as in how, where and how far you want the horse to move. If you can have this kind of a focus your communication will become clearer to the horse.
- Position. Be in the right place to cause your horse to move in the right direction. Think of it like moving a dance partner.
- Your horse escapes your touch: this is actually Game # 3.
- Not releasing quickly enough. If you don’t you’ll cause the horse to become dull and unresponsive.
Plan where and how you want your horse to move. This will help you be in the right position and deliver an accurate communication. Release is what teaches the horse.
Troubleshooting:
What if the horse won’t let you use any pressure and hurries away form it?
Your horse should stay with (not escape from) your pressure and stop when you rub those same spots. If he escapes from it you need to slow things down, ask for a step at a time, and use more Friendly Game. By allowing him to escape and not getting the game right you will also develop a horse that is afraid of leg, bit and rein pressure.
If a horse escapes from pressure, play more Friendly Game to build confidence and slow it down to a step at a time.
What if the horse tries to kick or bite when the pressure gets stronger?
This is only natural! He is defending himself, he is also playing his version of the Porcupine Game! Be passively persistent in the proper position, use your phases judiciously and release as soon as the horse tries, and especially don’t ask too much when the horse is having opposition reflex. It won’t take long before he does start to respond given this approach. Also using the Carrot Stick means you are out of range and don’t have to get tense or defensive. Remember to keep the horse’s head tipped toward you if he’s inclined to kick. Keep reinforcing with he Friendly Game and teach the horse to find the answer.
Kicking or biting is the horse’s version of the Porcupine Game! Be passively persistent. Don’t punish the horse, out persist him. Allow him to bite and kick the Carrot Stick all he wants and keep smiling!
What if the horse just won’t move!
Hold your ground. When you have reached phase 4 it should be enough to cause some discomfort which may be evident by the horse twitching his skin or swishing his tail (even more extreme reactions such as trying to bite or kick). Do not increase your pressure beyond this, just set it up and wait. As soon as you feel any attempt at a response, even just a weight shift, release! Rub and start again.
Set it up and wait.
Sometimes this will feel like an eternity when in reality its only been thirty seconds. Horses know that people give up and they give up quickly. Take the perspective that it’s not going to take longer than two days. This will make two minutes feel very short, and guess what? The next time will take half as long, then half as long again.
Horses have learned that most people give up. They can usually out-persist them. All you have to do is out-persist the horse.
For a very dull horse, use something with more insistence than your fingers such as a stick, a hand-held spur, etc. As soon as your horse realises how he can gain his own comfort, he will start to respond to your fingers again.
Find something more porcupine-ish for a horse that is extremely dull, ex.. a stick, a hand-held spur. etc.
The Porcupine Game is typically the weakest game for most Parelli Natural Horsemanship students! Its the most difficult to teach the horse and the horse is usually an expert himself! Don’t over do it, but each time you play with your horse play a little of Game#2 to keep improving it.
The Porcupine Game is usually the human’s weak suit and the horse’s strong suit! Get good at this!
