Finding Confidence, Max's Journey

The Parelli program continues to amaze me. At times when I'm struggling and don't know what to do, I ponder of what can be done, try new things, and use my imagination. Max has been one of my greatest challenges, yet so has Savannah.. so both my horses are quite the challenge. ;-) I remember before I even owned Max and Kelly first mentioned him while I was in a clinic with her. She was telling me about her extremely sensitive and difficult Selle Francais. I would have never thought that day he would be mine one day. And once he was, I realized how sensitive he actually was. On the ground, Max is amazing.. always teaching me so much and with so much exuberance. He just loves to play, learn new things, and do anything involving some cookies. Riding Max is a whole different story. If you've ever been near a freight train, you'll understand what he can resemble. When I first got him, he would just go. A halt to walk transition was a nightmare. He would go from a relaxed halt to running with no brakes. I had never ridden a horse that felt like this before. His enormous stride would lengthen with power, his mouth braced on the bit, all his emotions were up, and his brain turned onto the "GO with NO stopping" mode. We slowly progressed over the next 6 months, but one of our turning points was my externship. I decided to use him as my main horse, I needed the help with him and was excited to see what I could do with him. The consistent time I had with him during my externship improved him dramatically. We were riding patterns all the time, and went from having to use a shorter rein with a california roll in the beginning to using the entire rein. We could trot patterns Freestyle without his emotions coming up. Our Freestyle riding made some huge improvements! Since then he's constantly improving, but still gets emotional about cantering and riding with contact. There has been a lot of trial and error, repetition, and perspiration put into Max. Lately he's been really making me think.. why is he still so emotional about cantering and riding Finesse? There must be an answer, and I know I can help him. Something I have not done much with him is the Game of Contact. I had done a few sessions with him during my Externship, and while he was improving, I started to feel like he was taking the contact too much and reins meaning go on him scared me a bit. So the Game of Contact was put on the back burner with him. It was probably for the best, as we both needed some more time to find a stronger trust with each other. Linda Parelli has made HUGE breakthroughs with her concept, the "Game of Contact". I had been feeling like it would be years before I could even start to play with the concept, as I thought our freestyle riding should be more advanced. What was I thinking!?! This concept is absolutely amazing! I just can't get over the results I am getting with Max. I have realized that part of why our freestyle isn't advancing is because of how emotional he still feels about the bit. And not just about the bit, but how he will be ridden with it.. I'm sure it was tough on him being a grand prix jumper. Yesterday was our first day with using the concept. I just did some simple exercises with him. At the walk and trot I asked him to push into the bit and stretch down, allowing him to find confidence with what I would allow him to do. He often would stretch down with confidence, then tuck his chin and chomp on the bit. I would just continue to keep pressure on the reins, just waiting with him to find the answer. Suddenly I could easily go from trotting around with him confidently pushing down into the bit, to a casual rein and ride around freestyle with a steady tempo and tons of RELAXATION!! Yep, this first ride was a bit mind blowing for me. Day two: Today I pushed him a bit more, wanting to start getting him to a better place with his emotions. He was WAY more confident today. Instantly stretching down, all while staying relaxed. While in the canter, I supported him with some contact, asking for bits of stretching here and there. After the canter is when he is the most emotional.. he just RUNS! The left lead was easy for him today. He went from a relaxed, rhythmic canter to a smooth and flowing trot. He didn't get emotional, he wasn't worried at all. I had him go right into stretching into the bit after the canter. The right lead was another story. It's always been his "hard" side. He can be tighter in this direction causing him to get off balanced, but when he uses his mind and body correctly he moves flawlessly. So when I have his mind, we have no troubles. Today, just cantering on the right lead was difficult, he was very worried. I asked him to find confidence in stretching into the bit right as we came down to a trot. OH MY GOSH.. his trot felt enormous! He was stretching down and trotting with his emotions high.. wow! But I just stuck with him, kept on the contact, asking for him to keep stretching. We must have trotted around 50 laps before he slowed down, found relaxation, and blew out. Suddenly it was the most amazing trot I have ever ridden on any horse! He was stretching, flowing with energy yet balanced and controlled, moving freely all while thinking about what we were doing. We stopped there and walked around for him to cool off. While cooling him out, I noticed another new breakthrough. Usually when I ask for a walk from a stand still, he rushes into it, gets worried, and has a quick movement to his stride. After having this session with him, he would calmly walk off completely relaxed, and not just once but multiple times. I am so thankful for this program and how it is constantly being developed. Also for my amazing horses, who are always teaching me so much! I will continue to update you on how Max develops. I'm super excited about it and where Max will go from here. :-) You can learn more about Linda's Game of Contact here. http://shop.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/product.jsf?catId=186&productId=1617 Naturally, Sarah