kende jullie dit articel al als aanvulling op level 1 en 2 passenger levels??
Education
Introducing a Parelli breakthrough: the NEW "Pushing Passenger Lesson" Become One With Your Horse... by Linda Parelli
Becoming part of the horse is to me, our ultimate goal... to be so in time, so in tune, so in balance that the horse feels like you are part of him.
We've all watched horses in their freedom running and prancing, carrying themselves so magnificently, moving so powerfully, and then watched those same horses lose that movement when a rider gets on board... getting tense, stiff, emotional, or lazy!
What Goes Wrong? Or at Least, What Changes?
As soon as a rider gets a pair of reins in their hands they can't help but hold back, pull, and micromanage. As soon as the rider gets stirrups under their feet, they push on them setting up a brace through their entire body. Next thing you know, the horse gets more and more frustrated, pushes his weight against the rider, gets on the forehand, gets impulsive or lazy, defensive, disobedient... Oh boy, the rest is history and many of us have been there, especially me!
Passenger Lessons
I remember my first clinic with Pat in 1989. After preparing our horses well with the Seven Games, we rode in a halter and one rein with our hand stretched forward in front of the saddle (I was sure I was going to die!)... And my horse was totally calm. This was a horse that people said belonged in a dog food can, who was mentally unbalanced. He was uncontrollable despite all my gadgets, bits, tight nose bands, and martingales. Being a dressage rider, if I hadn't spent two years struggling with a dangerous problem of this magnitude I would never have gone to Pat (a cowboy!) for advice!
After two intensive sessions on the ground followed by riding with a loose rein I had the most phenomenal breakthrough... in one day!
I remember Pat saying how important Passenger Lessons are. Just being a passenger... going along for the ride, feeling the horse, learning how to get in time, in tune, and in balance... and that you can't do that while you are controlling the horse's movement and restricting him mentally, emotionally and physically. Passenger Lessons are a critical part of developing unity with your horse, not to mention a fantastic independent seat.
So I did those Passenger Lessons, to the max. I probably spent 500 hours doing them and it paid off big time. I learned how to duck and dive when my horse did; stop and start; slow and spurt when my horse did; not a moment too late or too early. But the biggest thing I had to learn was to give up control. For me that was huge.
Being somewhat educated in dressage it was very difficult to allow my horse to go where he wanted let alone how he wanted, and I found myself resisting every turn and every attempt to speed up or slow down, not to mention every time he wanted to hang around the gate!
Through all those hours of learning to turn loose to my horse, the physical part was easy, the emotional (fearful part) was not that easy, but the mental part was the hardest - the controlling part. Even though I thought I was doing it physically, I still had a lot of mental resistance. I got annoyed that my horse kept going to the gate. I became frustrated by how much my horse spurted forward and zigged and zagged. Why couldn't he just go around the round pen or the arena... in the gait I wanted... and stay that way?! It was scary, unbalancing and frustrating.
It's About Self Discovery
After doing it long enough, discussing it with Pat, I learned that THIS WAS THE WHOLE OBJECT OF THE EXERCISE! It's about self discovery... about how much we tune out of the horse's ideas because we think ours are more important!!
One of Pat's sayings is "Cause their idea to become our idea, but understand their idea first." The last part of that saying being the hardest to embody. Until I did this, I didn't realize how much I blanked out what the horse was thinking. I wasn't thinking about what he was thinking, I was only thinking about my thoughts!!!!!
So this article is about letting go of all the things you think are important about riding and finding out about how a horse really thinks, feels and acts when left to his own devices. Once you've discovered the art of being part of the horse, only then do you really have permission to discover the art of being his leader while riding.
When You Lose Your Balance, It's the Most Terrifying Thing
Before I get into the new Passenger Lesson information, I'd like to say something that may just help you... a lot! So many professional instructors tell you to ride more, so you'll get more confident and develop better balance. We actually believe (and have proven) it's the opposite: Get more balance first and you'll feel safer and ride more! This article therefore is all about how to get that great balance, naturally.
When Should You Get Off Your Horse?
The first moment it crosses your mind! We've all picked ourselves up off the ground thinking "I knew I should have got off!" and yet we went there, hurt ourselves and probably lost a lot of confidence because we're buying into that old pressure to stay on or "The horse will think he's won!" Don't go there.
When You Feel Afraid, Get Off!
If you don't, things won't get better. When the horse loses confidence and gets panicky, that's when he needs your leadership most, and if you're also afraid, that's nothing less than a recipe for disaster. Get off and ignore your "friends" instructions. Listen to your instincts, they'll keep you safe!
On to the Breakthrough Stuff... The Passenger Lesson "How To"
We start Passenger Lessons in Level 1, Partnership at the walk and then the trot. In Level 2, Harmony we start to do it at the canter. In talking to students around the world, it's obvious we have not been effective enough in getting you to do Passenger Lessons throughout the lessons in the Partnership and Harmony Programs. It's all there in the Pocket Guides, in each lesson! So re-focus on the importance of them. The following is a reminder on what to do with some new breakthrough techniques!
Step 1
Prepare your horse and yourself with the Seven Games. In fact, the first lessons in the Partnership Program are all about that. If you think you can just get on and do this, things might not go so well because going from normal to natural too quickly could be hazardous to your health!
Never forget that this is a PROGRAM which means that every step leads to the ultimate result - you can't start at the top! It's not a good idea to extract things here and there and expect to get the same safe results that only come from following each step in order.
Step 2
Make sure you are in a small enclosure, a round pen for example. (if you don't have a round pen, rope off an area or find a small fenced arena or turn out pasture (stay away from electric fences or turn them off!). When your horse is giving you permission to mount (which you'll know according to the guidelines in the Partnership Program), get on board and make sure you have established your control rein and can bend your horse to a stop using lateral flexion at the halt, walk and trot.
Having an enclosure is important when beginning Passenger Lessons because it gives you less concern about control. Equipment-wise, your best bet is a Parelli Horseman's Halter and 12-foot Line so you only have one rein... yes, ONE REIN! The reason for this is that the automatic emotional impulse to grab both reins when riding a horse is beyond our control! By having only one rein it accomplishes two things... you can't pull without your horse bending and turning and slowing down, and you actually have more control.
Remember Pat's ditty: "One rein for control, two reins for communication." When we pull on two reins for control, not only do we sacrifice the connection for future communication but we actually negatively engage the hindquarters and create more power, and when you empower negative emotions in a horse (fear, confusion, resistance) you are in real trouble. Trust me, I've been there!
Step 3
NEW INFORMATION! Double over the end of your rein and place it on the base of your horse's neck. Then put your hands over the top of it and PUSH on your horse's neck. Make sure you are pushing right where the NECK MEETS THE WITHERS and not further up the neck. If you go further up the neck than this, the technique doesn't work because you actually become less balanced. This pushing on the base of the neck is a HUGE clue! When you push on the base of your horse's neck it gives you a strong sense of balance and security.
Even if you think you're a good rider and don't need to do this, you must do it to experience the incredible balance and unity it gives you with your horse. The changes in your horse will be astounding: even the most tense, hollow-backed horse will start to round his back and move with more grace, softness and balance! The idea is to do this session each time you ride over some weeks until it becomes a habit for you and your horse to move this way, mentally, emotionally and physically.
Step 4
Ask your horse to walk. (No kicking! Go through the four phases of firmness and politeness - see Partnership Program. The idea is to get your horse to recognize and respond to phase 1.)
Now remember, this is a Passenger Lesson which means YOU RELINQUISH CONTROL to your horse. He can go wherever he likes, slow to a stop, hang at the gate, zig and zag, etc. It's your job to explore how you can be in tune with him as he does it. If he slows to a stop, slow and stop exactly with him. After a few seconds, ask your horse to walk again. And if he hangs around the gate hang with him and have NO OPINION about it! Oooh that can be hard!
The only thing you will act to control is when your horse breaks into a trot in which case gracefully pick up your rein and politely bend him until he walks. The moment he does, release the rein and allow him to walk. Make sure you don't stop pushing on the neck when you lift that rein, keep one hand pushing so you don't lose balance or connection.
Step 5
Set yourself a time goal to do a Passenger Lesson for at least 20 minutes. You need to be there long enough in order to let down all your defenses and for your horse to let down his. And if this feels a little long to you, start with just seven minutes and then build from there.
Step 6
When this is going well you can advance the Passenger Lesson to the trot (a rising trot) once again allowing transitions to the walk and stopping if your horse feels like it. After several steps at the walk, urge him into the trot again and be willing to do this many, many times if necessary... without judgement! Allowing the horse to slow down is so important because he learns that he can do this with a rider on board which is especially important for impulsive horses who tend to think they can't slow down! Think of it this way, the more it happens the more you learn to ride transitions smoothly.
Step 7
As you ride around pushing forward on the neck you'll start to notice some things...
- You'll learn about your horse's behavior, his confidence or insecurity; and his way of moving... tense or relaxed. After a while you'll probably notice that he gets calmer and his gaits get smoother.
- He moves his head, neck and body differently when he's tense as opposed to when he's relaxed. When tense the horse usually turns his head one way yet goes in the direction of another. His ribs stiffen and push to the inside of the turn. When he's relaxed, his body tends to follow his nose and everything feels smoother and easier to ride. Experiment with this and match your body to his body exactly... look where he looks, bend where he bends, stick your ribs out when he does, relax when he relaxes, speed up when he speeds up (fast walk, fast trot) etc. Mirror your horse exactly, do not resist him mentally, emotionally or physically (unless he goes too fast for comfort, in which case nicely bend him until he gets the gait you want again.) Important: Don't micromanage speed within the gait, go with it. Just correct it when the horse changes gait.
Pretty soon, your horse will get totally relaxed. He'll lower his neck, round his back and it will feel wonderful for you both! I've consistently seen this happen in as little as 60 seconds to an average of about 8 minutes. Hang in there!
- When you push on the base of the neck it takes the tension out of your legs and body. Instead of gripping with your legs you start to feel more moulded to your horse. If you get concerned about your horse getting faster, just push harder with your hands. This makes you feel more secure and will actually be calming to your horse because your body will feel more relaxed. You'll use the same technique once you graduate to Passenger Lessons in larger and even undulating areas.
Note: Speedy and sensitive horses have emotional trouble when their rider either loses their balance or stiffens against their movement in fear of getting run off with, so being successful at this will make a profound emotional change for you both.
- You'll start to feel more when you get less tense because your body will move with your horse instead of resisting the movement. In fact, start exploring things like where in your body you might still be holding stiffness or falling into old habits like bracing against your stirrups. What can you do about that? Experiment. What will it take to eliminate all resistance in you so that you can become totally fluid?
It's an interesting thought actually, the more stiffness you have in your body the more stiffness or tension you'll create in your horse's body. And if you get a sore back or neck or knees when riding you'll most likely find your horse gets a sore back or neck or knees/hocks too. It's hard to ride a horse and not pass on your imbalances and this is why Passenger Lessons are so valuable. They help you shed all that tension and become part of the horse. It's from this point on that you can really learn the art of riding naturally... where it's a thing of harmony and beauty and totally devoid of tension... all the way to the highest maneuvers if you want.
Step 8
After getting supremely confident* with your "Pushing" Passenger Lessons at the walk and trot, it will be time to graduate to Level 2, and do it at the canter. You should find this reasonably easy because by this time your horse will be feeling very comfortable with your riding, and you with his way of moving.
Rather than pushing with both hands, you might find it even better to have one hand pushing and the other moving in time with his cantering leading leg. At first it doesn't matter if you've got exactly the same lead as him but pretty soon you'll find it naturally because you're in harmony with your horse. It will feel right to use your right hand when on the right lead and your left when on the left lead. If you're not sure about what lead you're on, try first one hand and then the other and feel which one is better.
*By "confident" I mean you'll have done so many repetitions of the Passenger Lesson that you feel totally balanced, safe and confident on a consistent basis. You'll feel you could go to a larger area, or progress to the canter. If you don't feel like going to the canter or a larger area yet, it means you don't yet feel confident. It's got to be your idea to do it, don't let anyone else tell you when you are ready!
In the courses we've been running here at the Florida International Study Center, we've been having every level of class do the Pushing Passenger Lessons, starting at the walk and moving to the trot and canter when it all feels right for them. Even some Level 1 course students were cantering around, outside of an arena within five days! Awesome!
We did it in my Level 3 course and the transformations in the horses and riders were incredible to say the least. After telling everyone what to do, we just let them go play with it for 20 to 30 minutes and to only get as far as the trot on the first day. (Even the most difficult horses accomplished this!). By the third day, cantering became the desire and the change in the horses was phenomenal. Many horses who ran off or bucked or wouldn't canter suddenly started cantering with rhythm and grace, and one in particular that I remember was a horse that was so crazy in the canter it was dangerous to ride. In the end we had trouble convincing the rest of the class how difficult this horse really had been!
Remember, horses are fine until we get on them... so what is it that we are doing or not doing that upsets or inhibits them? The secret to success here is being totally, 100% in tune... hard to do unless you use this new breakthrough in Parelli Passenger Lessons: PUSHING on the base of the neck.
Step 9
Graduating from pushing on the neck, to where you don't need to do this anymore and can maintain perfect balance, is actually not that hard. Simply start pushing on the base of the neck to a lesser and lesser degree, until you are riding more upright (don't try to sit straight though, this is not balanced riding!) on a Casual Rein with your hand or fist just touching the base of your horse's neck.
By maintaining this touch you'll keep perfectly in tune with your horse because any backward movement of your mind or body when riding forward will upset the flow of energy in your horse, thus disturbing him and causing him to either break gait and go faster, or stop going forward. Which one he does has more to do with his impulsive or underimpulsive nature. This is actually how you will start riding transitions in the future, because when you relax to a walk or stop your horse will feel this and want to do the same.
So too with going faster, you'll bring your energy up and he'll bring his up. This is when the Passenger Lesson is over and you are now asking things from your horse instead of trying to be part of him. But remember, any time you lose your balance or feel a bit apprehensive, push on your horse's neck, it will center you immediately.
Conclusion
I hope you really take these Passenger Lessons to heart, it will transform you and your horse like you can't believe. You'll get so accustomed to being in balance with your horse that you will automatically seek that state as you ride, in every situation... even jumping! And people will notice the difference because you'll look like the most phenomenal rider, totally, totally part of your horse. To this day, I still do it... even if it's just for a few minutes to center myself and my horse.
Pushing Passenger Lesson "PPL" Guinea Pig, by Yvonne Wilcox
Linda had raved to me about the success she was having with the Pushing Passenger Lessons, but I had not yet experienced it for myself. One day while in Florida I had the opportunity to ride with Linda, and this provided the perfect circumstance to put this PPL to the test!
I was to ride Chinook, a grey QH mare, who is extremely sensitive and not very tolerant of anyone who isn't as good a rider as Pat! I played the Seven Games with her and felt quite confident I had established a connection with her on the ground. Then I mounted. Immediately I could feel she was as stiff as a board - add to this my nervousness about being on a strange horse and you could tell things weren't going to improve.
Linda, in her unique way, just glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, didn't say anything, knowing full well she was going to use me as an unsuspecting PPL guinea-pig!
So we rode down to the playground, and I felt like I was riding an ironing board. Not being on this horse before, I thought maybe this was just the way she is! I rode in a bareback pad, which helped me feel more confident in my seat, but I felt that at any moment Chinook was going to spin on her haunches, flick me to the ground, and head back to her pasture buddies.
When we got to the playground, Linda suggested riding in one of the small 50-foot round pens. "How about trying the pushing on the neck thing," she suggested casually. So I put my hands just above Chinook's withers, and began.
At first Chinook would just do this nervous little pattern of spinning around and backing up. It was as if she was trying to do what she thought she was supposed to do? It didn't feel comfortable, and it made me feel more nervous. So Linda instructed me to just go with her, especially to keep pushing on the neck and to do everything in my body that Chinook's body was doing.
After a few minutes of persisting with this, there was a change. Chinook began to slowly follow the rail of the round pen without stopping, spinning, or backing up. So I sat up, relaxed, and let her stop to have some think time. Then I asked her into a walk again. She walked on with her ears forward, her head down and relaxed, and her body was actually starting to flex! Linda said to try it at the trot, and it was lovely. This horse with the impulsive reputation was actually managing her emotions and her gait, it was a great feeling.
Just three minutes of "PPL" had totally transformed Chinook's attitude - and mine. Linda and I then went for a trail ride and this transformation lasted for the whole 40 minute ride...
BUT WAIT!
A few weeks later I had the chance to ride with Linda and Chinook again. But for some reason when we got to the round pen, this time it did not improve. In fact it got worse! This was frustrating for me (but fascinating for Linda...).
Linda had noticed I was tending to put my hands further up Chinook's neck. She kept telling me to bring my hands back to the withers, but for some reason I wasn't quite getting it. When I finally did get my hands in the correct position, the change between Chinook and I was instant. I found that by having my hands in the "correct" position, it put my body into a comfortable balance, plus I was able to feel Chinook's shoulders move. As I focused more and more on this, I noticed I could also feel her neck and head movements, and even her hindquarters! It was like knowing what move she was going to make before she made it. And this gave me so much confidence because I felt like I was a part of the horse, not a foreign object just perched on top of it.
I had never thought of myself as an "unconfident" rider before. I could stay on, but I now realize it was just through sheer strength and grip, rather than through balance and fluidity with the horse. I'm glad Linda raved to me about "PPL," and I'm going to use it every chance I get!
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