2013-2014 Horsemanship Journey

Kathleen Glielmi to Dan Thompson Dan, I wanted to ask you about my trying to have Elizabeth ride on the bosal to take the bit out of the equation. I had thought of a side pull as being a bit more direct to bend the horse rather than the bosal, but Parelli doesn't use side pulls. Cindy Sydnor had some pics of a newish horse she is training and she uses the Mickelen (sp) bitless bridle. The pics have her riding with a snaffle, but I know she has posted about riding bitless. I can think of some folks who would freak at the thought of doing that...like the bit gives you complete control of the horse...wrong!!! EP rides in halter & bridleless, so riding in the bosal was no big thing. But she found she really had to apply pressure to get her to bend at first. I think it was new to Try as she began to get a bit softer towards the end. We did get longtitudenal flexion for the first time which was a plus and using a lift on the downhill slopes of her field, Try lifted her shoulders and maintained self carriage & the quieter canter tempo.. I was hoping for this and that Try would be softer and more stretchy in the canter, because EP still guards her back in sitting the canter so Try feels mostly hand. I watched a DVD by Karen Roelf, who was connected with Parelli before Walter Z came into the picture, and liked what I saw of her horses in the bosal. It was what I'd like to see in any horse.
So, any advice on pursueing this approach? Try might have been a bit sore from the knots in the halter when a more physical bending was used at first. I did rein isolations laterally & longatudinally before and during the session to show Try what we were doing.

Mon 24 Jun 2013 at 10:17AM - Comment - Report - Like

Griffin Griffiniv likes this

Dan Thompson Hi Kathy, big picture wise, the soft hackamore (rope), and the snaffle, are more about lateral flexion and shaping. The hard hackamore (rawhide), and leverage bits, are more about direct flexion and engagement. If the horse is not willingly turning loose and allowing us to direct them laterally, we haven't earned the right to ask them for engagement. This is a big part of how we choose, what we choose to use for tools- it depends on our purpose in the moment. As far as side pulls, etc, if it fits our purpose and is not contradictory in itself, ex: a mechanical hackamore, I'm fine with it as long as clear, fair communication can occur. Any new tool that we introduce will have a learning curve for the horse.

Mon 24 Jun 2013 at 11:53AM - Report

Kathleen Glielmi I get the soft halter = lateral flexion, which we have on the snaffle. It was interesting when she began to give longtitudinal flexion at the trot while engaged; it was a soft release of her jaw and poll with alot of lick & chew. i didn't know if she was resistent to the lateral flex because this approach was new to her and because EP's leg was not as effectiveas it is other times as this was also a new approach for her and it takes time for the rider to process. I wanted to see if taking the bit out of the canter work would help them communicate better as her tension would not be transmitted through the bit. Try has been giving her better places to sit but she needs to be able to deepen her hips to talk about the quality of the trot, the engagement and self carriage. We have been getting some nice sections of the canter where the stride, swing of shoulders and stretch into the bridle are there. I'd like to see these go for longer periods on both their parts. My not being able to get on and school Try sure puts a crink in things. We have talked about having Lisa come work some canter with Try and then put Ep on to feel the difference. So am I working in the right direction or shoul I rop it for now? The time before, with bit, when we had good results, Try was pleased with herself and came in licking & chewing with wonderful expression on her face.

Mon 24 Jun 2013 at 02:44PM - Report