Soldier is a new boy at the house. He belongs to the Johnston's and I am helping them to get his full potential for their needs. Don't really know how old he is, but I do know a couple of the kids that rode him and since they were little guys...Soldier is pretty desensitized to pressure.
I worked him on the ground today for about an hour. We worked on three things, since he is older and the point is to ride him. We started with just some desensitization of the stick and string. A lot of people want to call it a whip, but I believe that leads to a mental picture that can cause problems. Call it a stick and string or and extension of your arm. The purpose of it is to make your arms longer. He needs to understand that that stick/string flying around his body only means something if my body language says it means something. If I am standing relaxed and flicking it around, he should relax. IF I have my energy up, then my body language is different and he should be moving somewhere. Next we worked with him yielding his hind end away from me. It took him a little while to get the idea, but he eventually did it. At the end was what Parelli calls the yo-yo. He had a little trouble with this, as he did not want to back away. He still needs work on this because he doesn't really understand about being in my space. He thinks it is ok to be all over the top of me.
Stay tuned for more as Soldier advances....
I worked him on the ground today for about an hour. We worked on three things, since he is older and the point is to ride him. We started with just some desensitization of the stick and string. A lot of people want to call it a whip, but I believe that leads to a mental picture that can cause problems. Call it a stick and string or and extension of your arm. The purpose of it is to make your arms longer. He needs to understand that that stick/string flying around his body only means something if my body language says it means something. If I am standing relaxed and flicking it around, he should relax. IF I have my energy up, then my body language is different and he should be moving somewhere. Next we worked with him yielding his hind end away from me. It took him a little while to get the idea, but he eventually did it. At the end was what Parelli calls the yo-yo. He had a little trouble with this, as he did not want to back away. He still needs work on this because he doesn't really understand about being in my space. He thinks it is ok to be all over the top of me.
Stay tuned for more as Soldier advances....
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