Post by Rachel&Sully on May 17, 2011 20:33:56 GMT
Well, this afternoon me and Sully had our first parelli lesson and I absolutely loved it. I'm amazed that by the end of one lesson I could start to see results in the exercises we were doing.
We started off just walking and stopping.... every time I asked him to stand he would turn into me and try and stand as close as possible to me. Apparently this is him constantly looking for reassurance, previously I just thought ah how sweet he likes to turn to me! I now know he needs to learn to respect my space and that he can get the reassurance without standing on top of me! So, I was shown how to position my body and how to move the carrot stick, and after a few more attempts he was standing perfectly square and with plenty of space between the two of us! Next I was shown how to play the porcupine game.... again I was amazed at how little pressure I need to use when moving him around. Previously I'd always pushed him with more force to get him to move back etc. He was fairly quick to learn this and soon I had him moving where I wanted him with just a tiny amount of pressure. We also practised putting on the halter as Sully is nervous when it comes to having a headcollar or bridle on.... again, when I was shown correctly Sully lowered his head and even moved it towards me so that I could easily slip the halter over his nose.... I'm amazed that I will eventually be able to put on his bridle sitting on the floor!
So, they were the highlights of the groundwork but we spent lots of time talking things through and we just started to touch on horsenality... which totally blew my mind! I was so pleased with Sully, he was very chilled out and the instructor said he was displaying lots of signs of feeling relaxed and safe in his environment. I can't wait to build on this and become his leader, somebody that he can turn to for trust and reassurance.
I thought I would like parelli from what I've read about it, but as the title says after one lesson I can feel myself being totally hooked!
I've got lots of homework and another lesson booked. I've also bought the starter kit.
I do have some pictures that I will upload, I promise.
Thanks for reading!
We started off just walking and stopping.... every time I asked him to stand he would turn into me and try and stand as close as possible to me. Apparently this is him constantly looking for reassurance, previously I just thought ah how sweet he likes to turn to me! I now know he needs to learn to respect my space and that he can get the reassurance without standing on top of me! So, I was shown how to position my body and how to move the carrot stick, and after a few more attempts he was standing perfectly square and with plenty of space between the two of us! Next I was shown how to play the porcupine game.... again I was amazed at how little pressure I need to use when moving him around. Previously I'd always pushed him with more force to get him to move back etc. He was fairly quick to learn this and soon I had him moving where I wanted him with just a tiny amount of pressure. We also practised putting on the halter as Sully is nervous when it comes to having a headcollar or bridle on.... again, when I was shown correctly Sully lowered his head and even moved it towards me so that I could easily slip the halter over his nose.... I'm amazed that I will eventually be able to put on his bridle sitting on the floor!
So, they were the highlights of the groundwork but we spent lots of time talking things through and we just started to touch on horsenality... which totally blew my mind! I was so pleased with Sully, he was very chilled out and the instructor said he was displaying lots of signs of feeling relaxed and safe in his environment. I can't wait to build on this and become his leader, somebody that he can turn to for trust and reassurance.
I thought I would like parelli from what I've read about it, but as the title says after one lesson I can feel myself being totally hooked!
I've got lots of homework and another lesson booked. I've also bought the starter kit.
I do have some pictures that I will upload, I promise.
Thanks for reading!
I'm on a parelli course at the moment near birmingham and having a blast!