The Savvy Station
Horse lunging is simply the practice of moving your horse around you in a circle at a walk, trot, or canter. Typically, it is used to burn off excess energy before riding your horse or to do some structured exercise between riding sessions. Horse trainers will also use it to develop a horse’s balance at different gaits or to teach new riders who aren’t ready to go out on their own in the arena yet.
But there are so many more benefits, particularly if you don’t limit your horse to just running around in circles, but instead use the Circling Game. The Circling Game is one of the Seven Games used to build a partnership with your horse and is the best way to develop mutual responsibilities of the partnership. Contrary to the potentially mindless work of lunging, this game stimulates your horse mentally, emotionally, and physically and teaches him to stay connected to you. It keeps a softness in the line between you and your horse, and develops your horse’s lateral muscles while establishing your leadership dynamic.
Parelli Natural Horsemanship is celebrating 40 years of teaching the Parelli Method with a live, three-day event at the new state-of-the-art World Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL on March 4 – 6, 2022.
Most lifelong horse enthusiasts cannot remember a time when Natural Horsemanship didn’t exist. The simple systems of equine partnership helped shape the way that equestrians approach their relationship with their horse in every riding discipline imaginable. This year marks 40 years since the father of Natural Horsemanship, Pat Parelli, gave his very first clinic.
Pat Parelli developed a skeleton of communication that goes beyond the traditional yields and coupled them with love, language, and leadership principles. The Parelli Natural Horsemanship program works for any horse, any breed, any discipline. It works because it is NOT about the sport; it is about understanding and relating to the horse's point of view. Humans think very differently from horses, which seems obvious. Still, we try to rationalize the mistakes, bad behavior, and opposition with intellect when most of these issues are rooted in the simple emotion of fight or flight. This combination of human intelligence and rationalizing with the horse's instinctual and emotional nature can be like oil and water if you're not equipped with the right tools.
Waarom Natural Horsemanship?
Mijn verhaal…
Waarom eigenlijk…? Tja… Waarom?
Waarom heb ik intussen zo’n 17 jaar geleden gekozen om niet langer mee te lopen in de ‘normale’ manier van omgaan met paarden? Waarom besliste ik toen geleidelijk aan om niet langer het gangbaar uitgestippeld pad te volgen van:
- Ponylessen op de manege
- Paardenlessen op de manege
- Privélessen op een privéstal
- Dressuur- of springwedstrijden en trainen in LRV- of HROV-verband (of gelijkaardig)
- Wie weet waar ik ooit kon belanden op internationaal niveau (Olympische Spelen?)?
Waarom?
Waarom koos ik dit NIET?
Want dit leek mij op mijn 13 – toen de wijde paardenwereld me eindelijk wat duidelijker werd en mijn spaarboekje zicht kreeg op m’n eerste echte eigen paard – eigenlijk echt de enige weg om vooruit te komen, bekeken vanuit de manegeblik die ik toen had. Want ja, alle ruiters deden dat toch zo? Eens ze 13-14-15 jaar waren, gingen ze les volgen bij een bekende privélesgeefster in de buurt, met haar paarden, of met een eigen paard, en dan konden ze zelfs na een tijdje wedstrijden gaan rijden!
Dat leek dus ook mijn doel… tot… ik ontdekte dat er ook nog een andere weg was!
Walk a mile in your horses horseshoes is what Troy Henry and Tom Dorrance tried to get me to understand!
Showing a horse who is boss was an easy concept for me to grasp as a young man. I loved horses and I loved the notion of being a good enough cowboy to make horses do what I wanted whether it was halter breaking a young horse, riding them for the first time , getting them to stop or turn quickly, rope a cow, or any other ranch duties. I found out quickly that if I stayed focused and worked really hard I could out-fumble most any horse, this is what I now call ” Young Man’s Disease.” You may have heard me use that term a lot lately and my intention is to help other young men realize that they don’t have to go through that process like I did.
It is true, to be really good with young horses one should be as confident as a lion tamer, as good a rider as a rodeo hand, as strategic as a CEO of a corporation, as mentally aware as a psychoanalyst, but one should lead with compassion, skills and TRUE HORSEMANSHIP KNOWLEDGE!