Stopping my horse at all gaits, easily and smoothly, is what I have to have confidence in, before I can gallop down the beach like in the black stallion movie. You can translate that to your dream! 🙂
This Lesson is about getting a beautiful softness with the rein first, so that we can use that as an explanation when we are teaching back up from the body. To get that softness, I need to release any resistance or old stresses to the action of the rein when this horse is being ridden.
So you see, you will still have the three stages:
1. RELEASE any old resistance or stresses that have been there to the action of the rein in the past by following the feel good feelings, listening to Not Quite Right and backing off (in this case releasing the rein) – and you might even have to jump off and wait for The Chew if the Not Quite Right is a big deal.
Keep your eye out for more ways that you might be experiencing Not Quite Right this time – notice if you’re clenching your jaw (which may well be your horse clenching their jaw) melt off the rein, smile at the tension in your jaw and open up to understand what you need to know or do differently.
Oh mannn can you see how far reaching this stuff is and the wonderful possibilities? I’m shivering with delight at the thought!
2. RE-LEARN in baby steps a new soft responsiveness to the rein – following the good feeling feelings and using ALL FIVE FEELS of Not Quite Right to know when to release and the absence of Not Quite Right to know when to keep the feel of the rein happening.
3. And RE-PROGRAM – anchor this new way of responding to the rein on AUTO-PILOT by stopping and taking the time to notice everything about how good it feels for your horse to be that soft and responsive, soak up those yummy feelings and appreciate them.
You are RE-PROGRAMMING and anchoring into AUTO-PILOT for both you AND your horse by soaking up and appreciating the heck out of that good feeling stuff. Notice that when you do this Lesson yourself.
In your next Lesson you will see where we are going with this softness. We will talk about the body position that you will ultimately use to get a brilliant back up from body alone, which will lead to bridle-less riding if you wish to go in that direction. Also in that next Lesson, you will see an alternative combination rein and body for something like dressage or reining – that you can make so subtle that it can’t be seen.
Keys to Success
1. Follow your “good” feelings and listen to Not Quite Right to know when to keep going and when to stop and wait for The Chew – no matter how long it takes. Some of you may even need to jump off while you wait for your horse to release some old resistance or trauma.
2. Do not add even the slightest pressure to any resistance because that will make the resistance bigger, that will make any confusion or fear bigger AND will cost you leadership.
3. Take great pleasure and the time for lots of appreciation on the first give, specially when it has taken a bit of processing and releasing to get it!