Making things interesting for a parelli left brain introvert?

Question

I have a draft cross yearling, and have discovered through the guidance of the Parelli horsenality chart that he is a left brain introvert with extrovert tendencies. I have a Parelli level one kit coming my way, but until it does I need some tips. No problems have risen yet; I can see he looks up to me and likes me. In case he does lose interest, I would like to have some tricks up my sleeve. People have told me that since he needs motivation, using treats would be a good idea. But i find that with young horses it creates too much distraction. I'd like to find some different techniques.

Note: I am not looking for old-school horsemen to talk me out of something I enjoy. If parelli isn't your favorite training method, please don't bother posting your answers, as I will not take them into consideration.

Answer 1

I use natural horsemanship training methods, and have used Parelli as part of that. I have been to two Parelli clinics.

On the plus side I like the emphasis on groundwork from Parelli. That isn't to say don't ride your horse, I ride my horses every time I see them. But groundwork is an essential part of horse training, and in general I notice people don't put enough effort into it. Groundwork is essential to building effective communication with your horse.

What I would suggest is mix up your groundwork games to keep the interest of the horse. Don't repeat the same exercise over and over. And, add some spice to your exercises. If you are just starting out you're going to be doing the seven games. One of them is the "circle game" which is just Parelli-speak for longeing. Let's pick that as an example.

To keep your horse from losing interest, spend a few minutes just doing nothing but the circle game. That is a good start on training but he will get bored with that pretty quickly. To keep his interest then get two barrels (If you don't have any right now, I strongly advise you to get a couple). Place one against a fence and the other spaced from it just wide enough for him to pass through it. Now do the circle game with him having to pass through the space. What you've done now is really combined two of the games, circle game and squeeze game, and invented a new game that is more challenging and keeps your horse interested. You might find he doesn't want to go through the narrow space at first, so this might be a bit of a challenge.

When he gets it in one direction, don't keep asking him to do the same old thing, instead have him do it going the other way. Then, close the gap and take your circle game to another dimension by having him jump the barrels.

I hope this example shows you how you can take the basic 7 games and mix them up and expand on them to keep things interesting for your horse.

Now as far as treats, I am TOTALLY against using treats in training. That is going to s***w up your horse big time, because then he will only be motivated by treats. The thing I ask people to think about that use treats is suppose you've been training your horse to say flex using treats. Then one day you're out on the trail and your horse bolts. You want to flex him down for an emergency stop, but hey you don't have any treats! Or maybe you're trail riding in the middle of nowhere and you've been using treats to catch your horse. Suppose you have to get off your horse and then he takes off, and maybe your treats were in your saddle bag! Now maybe you can't catch him.

You might find yourself in some trouble in either of these situations. The point I am trying to make is train your horse with trust and respect as motivators, not treats.

Treats are a poor motivator for horses. They just teach horses to take advantage of you. Save the treats for relaxation time or when putting your horse up after riding.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 2

Make yourself a pleasure to be around. Don't smack him if he doesn't deserve it, say "hi" to him every time you walk by his stall, stop by and give him scratches frequently, hang out with him in his stall, go for walks, hand-graze him. When he figures out he really likes you, he'll follow you anywhere. By spending that extra time with him, you'll develop a bond. At my barn, there isn't one horse that I have to use a lead rope for (36 horses). They just follow me around, and I never have to give them treats to entice them. They don't follow anyone else around, since they just go in and out of stalls to tack and muck and fill water buckets. I hang out with every horse for at least a couple of minutes every day.

So... if he'll bond with you in that special way, he'll do anything you ask him to, and will want to please you. Your bond will be his motivation.