Lesson 3 Games 1,2 & 3 – Game 1 the Friendly Game.
Tools: Halter, 12 ft Line, Carrot Stick, Horseman’s String
You need to allow yourself around two hours to do this, and if you have longer that’s great. As long as you play a lot of the Friendly Game you can play with your horse for two or three hours.
If you don’t have this much time, play as much as you can and don’t worry if you’ve only gotten to Game#1 or half way to #2. Pick it up in the next session but begin with Game 1. Then 2. then 3. repeating what you’ve learned and taught the horse before teaching the next game.
The Seven Games are identified by Pat Parelli as the games horses play to establish friendship and pecking orders within the social herd of the horse. You need to get to know them by name and by number as you will use them continuously as you begin and advance with you horse. They are both a communication and a diagnostic system.
Horses play these games with each other to establish friendship and a pecking order. You will use them for the same purpose, but also to develop a communication and diagnostic system.
- Game #1 Friendly Game
- Game #2 Porcupine Game
- Game #3 Driving Game
Theses are the ‘principle’ games, much like the alphabet is to a language. Once theses are understood you will combine them to form the next four games which build more of a language and a base of skills in both you and the horse. (The next four games are ‘purpose’ games and will be covered in the next lesson)
Games 1.2 & 3 are ‘principle’ games. They are the alphabet.
Game # 1 – The Friendly Game
PURPOSE: Gain horse’s confidence, acceptance and understanding. Prove that we are not as bad as we smell (won’t act like a predator). Provide a base for positive reinforcement, to erase any negative connotations perceived by the horse when playing the other games.
The Friendly Game, breaks down the prey-predator barrier, gains a horse’s confidence, erases negativity.
Does your horse calmly accept your touch everywhere, in every zone: Are there any spots you know he is defensive about and won’t let you touch or he gets a bit aggressive about? Can you throw ropes over his back and head, and around his legs? Many horses are okay as long as you are sneaking around them but as soon as you make a sudden movement like trying to lightly toss a rope over his back.
Find the zones that your horse is not ‘Friendly’ about. A gentle horse is not defensive about being touched. Defensiveness indicates distrust and fear.
A horse that is “gentle” is one that trustingly allows itself to be touched all over, even under the tail, flanks and in the mouth. This is accepted without tail swishing, tensing or flattening of the ears, and is an indication of how well the horse accepts the human into his personal space.
Don’t punish a horse for protecting himself. Convince him that he doesn’t need to.
Any negative reactions indicate a degree of distrust, dislike, even fear as the horse becomes defensive. Knowing this, you would then realise that punishing the horse for it would be inappropriate. Punishment does not work for prey animals, they don’t understand it. Often it can cause them to retaliate. It is very much a predator thing so keep it out of the horse corral.
Don’t intrude, ask permission.
The key is developing the quality of the relationship with the horse. You have to be able to prove to the horse that you are not a predator, and any degree of force or intrusion without permission will defeat this. Prove to him that you are a friend and that you are gentle!
Important ingredients:
The 3 R’s, Rhythm, relaxation & retreat.
Use patience, lateral thinking and the approach and retreat technique to achieve this. Start by using the Carrot Stick and then progressing to your hands.
Use lateral thinking to access areas the horse is most defensive about. Work around it and up to it using approach and retreat.
Lateral thinking means you find other ways to get to what you want. Instead of doggedly trying to touch ‘that’ spot, get increasingly closer but before breaking the tolerance threshold, retreat without losing motion. It won’t take long before the horse allows you to rub him everywhere.
Pay attention to the quality of your touch. Do you think your horse would find it pleasant, to ticklish, to ‘grabby’, to jerky, too rough? Remember how sensitive a horse is. He will judge you by your approach and your touch. Try to touch a horse like a horse touches a horse.
Ask permission, gain acceptance.
One last key is “permission”. Any one can make a horse submit to being touched through punishment or by restricting his movement, How are you going to approach your horse and get his permission and consent to touch him all over? How acceptable are you?
Be conscious of how you enter a horse’s personal space.
Be conscious of how you first enter your horse’s personal space. If you stretch out your hand and let him sniff it before you get close, he’ll respect you for respecting him and asking permission first. This is the considerate part of the relationship.
Troubleshooting
The horse refuses to let you touch him.
Use your Carrot Stick: rub the rope with rhythm until the horse relaxes. Work your way up the rope until you can rub the neck. Allow the horse to move around, he needs to while you are rubbing. When he stops, you stop. Allow him to lick his lips and start from the beginning again. Then approach and retreat from there until you can rub him with confidence. Be prepared to take the time it takes because this will help everything else go quicker.
If a horse won’t let you touch him, use a Carrot Stick. be friendly, access zone by zone as you gain permission. Take the time it takes.
The horse kicks or tries to bite when you want to touch certain places.
Use your Carrot Stick as an extension of you and so you can stay safe. Don’t try to prevent the reaction and especially don’t make the horse feel wrong for defending himself. A horse is most concerned about places vulnerable to predators such as inside the month, under the tail, around the ears, below the knees, under the belly and flanks and behind the hamstrings and below the hocks.
Rub the horse with the Carrot Stick as an extension of your arm to help biting & kicking horses overcome their defensiveness.
Be passively persistent, use approach and retreat to build confidence and keep the motion and rhythm going to help desensitise the horse. The horse can kick and bite at the Carrot Stick as much as he likes, he won’t hurt it. You need to keep calm and keep smiling until the horse no longer feels threatened. As soon as he stops the behaviour, you stop. Allow him to lick his lips then start again from an accepted spot and work towards the defensive spot. You’ll be surprised at how quickly most horses will get past this if you can stay calm, friendly and non-blaming.
Use approach and retreat to build confidence. Remain calm & friendly no matter what.
Remember, you are touching his personal spots, most of which are the most vulnerable to a predator’s mortal wound. You have to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are not going to touch theses spots for that purpose!
If a horse is kicking out in self defence, keep his head turned toward you. Stay out of range from biting.
Safety note:
When working with a kicking reaction, keep the horses head tipped slightly toward you. When working with a biting reaction, keep your body out of range until the horse is confident and the behaviour is no longer evident. Also, remember the Carrot Stick extension!
The Friendly Game needs to be right before moving on to other games.
Important:
The Friendly Game is the most important game that’s why it is number one in the seven. You cannot start pushing or directing a horse around until you have proven that you are friendly and you have his confidence. Take the time it takes, even if that is all you have time for in this first session.
Once you can play the Friendly Game, you can progress to the Porcupine Game.
