Order of 7 games!

[Drummers mum]

Did some Parelli with Drummer today but to start with he was really lethargic and very unresponsive. Then we did the circle game and after that he was superb, we went back and did the other games and he did everything perfectly, so why do we do them in order? Why did he behave this way?

[Crystal Fire]

You do the games in order to learn them. Each game is an element of what you will need to do next. This is why if you are having problems with a game the advice is often to go back and make your earlier games stronger.
Once you've got them sussed then you shouldn't be religiously "playing" them in order each session. Then it is time to start to use your imagination and set up tasks and just have fun using the games to actually acheive something. Not forgetting of course that the whole point of Parelli is to help you to ride your horse - so you shouldn't be using groundwork as a substitute for that.

[cvb]

DM - there is also a logical progression - like a warm up before any form of physical exertion.

With Fi I need to do Friendly first or she decides the carrot stick will bite her :rolleyes: But also by starting there and working up, I gradually do my pre-flight checks and get her stretched and ready to work (physically and mentally).

If I go straight for e.g. sideways from "cold", I might get stiff and tense movement and she might over-react and end up pulling something. If I "warm-up" with the other games, sideways is just a natural extension of what went before.

Then I can also use some of the games in between my 3 stages of tightening the girth. So that also means I warm up the saddle area before I get on. And then a bit more warm up once mounted.

I don't get so good a result if I "skip" stages. It also means I know "what side of bed she got out of" before I get on, which with Fi is quite useful :rolleyes:

[Jacquie]

Good post Crystal Fire and I agree with everything you've said except.....

Not forgetting of course that the whole point of Parelli is to help you to ride your horse - so you shouldn't be using groundwork as a substitute for that.

I don't think the whole point of PNH is to help you ride your horse, it involves much more than that. Both Pat and Linda Parelli tell students to only ride their horse if they want to - if they prefer to do just groundwork, that's fine.

The main aim of PNH is to form a partnership through love, language and leadership. It doesn't matter if this is achieved on the ground or ridden.

The more time you spend on groundwork skills with your horse, the better he will be under saddle (if and when a student decides they want to ride). :)

[Crystal Fire]

Yes, I know what you mean. However, my friend went to the ranch at Pagosa Springs for 10 weeks, and there the relationship between groundwork and ridden work is much closer and the students were riding pretty much every day. The instructors I've worked with would have run through whatever games and pre-flight checks they think they needed on the way up from the paddock, in a very relaxed way and almost so you wouldn't notice. Then they just saddle up and get on.
I think what I mean is, once you have learnt the 7 games they should be a tool that you use in your daily life, but not a set of exercises that you feel you need to run through constantly. They can be useful as a warm-up, and of course to help you check your horse is yielding before you ride. I see so many people "doing Parelli" when I visit yards, and it is a bit sad if that means that they are just running through the 7 games over and over again. I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself very well, but do you know the people I mean who seem to have their Parelli record stuck on the same track? I wish they'd move on, set up some obstacles, get out of the arena and into fields and woods and really PLAY with their horses using the tools they have learnt.

[Jacquie]

Hi Crystal Fire,

Yes, I know exactly what you mean about some NH (not only Parelli) enthusiasts sticking religiously to the seven games without expanding on them. This is as bad as a 'normal' rider constanlty going over the same schooling techniques day in and day out in the same arena.

The handler needs to be creative with their play sessions, imagination and stimulation are the key factors to making groundwork fun - without these 'playtime' soon becomes a chore for both horse and handler. :(

[cvb]

hi guys

just reflecting that I think a lot of this depends on your purpose and intent. If you are seeing the 7 games as an end in themselves...or if they are a preparation and warm up for what comes after (and in fact the basic principles you then use in everything else).

As an example, I had a long reining lesson on Saturday from a "traditional" (but very open minded) trainer. My wamr up before she got there was parelli based - and focused on checking that Fi was happy with both carrot stick and lines, and had a little physical warm up as well. Then I was really pleased to find that "sideways" translates nicely into "shoulder-in" on long reins ;) (after all, its just about which zone she yields !).

last night I had a few minutes to spare and decided to work on driving her from behind. This is on the L1 video, and also there has been some discussion on another thread on this board about trailer loading, and the need for the horse to accept you not always "leading from in front". So again my few minutes had a focus, but were based on the same principles from the games.

But if I hadn't checked out my basic controls - forward, back, left, right - before I started to do the actual "work", it would have been much harder to get the result I wanted. Instead, if Fi was confused I could break it right down to "put this foot here, that one there, and go that way". That way we both clarified what was going on ;)

[Crystal Fire]

Yep cvb - that is using your 7 games with a purpose. You needed to check that your horse was yielding, but I bet you didn't need to do it by going "Friendly, Porcupine, Driving, Yo Yo, Circling, Sideways and Squeeze in strict order" :)
When I was just studying Parelli I sometimes found that the horse settled better if you gave it something to think about before giving some Friendly Game. Maybe a bit of Driving Game round an obstacle for example, to get their attention.
When I want to ride, just for example. I'll go to the field to get the horse, move the hindquarters and front end a bit when going through the gate, maybe stop and backup on the way up the track, just generally check the horse is with me. Get on with grooming and tacking up, probably move the horse in a circle between tightening the girth (making sure the head is coming in towards me and the body is curved around me - no bracing to the outside). Then get on. Provided the horse stands for me mounting and gives a soft feel in the neck, I'll check the hindquarters will yield when mounted, get a soft bend in the neck, offer a feel out to one side, step a leg out in that direction and off we go.
I'm sure many of you do something similar.
What makes people wonder what's going on with Parelli is when they watch people religiously toddle off to a space, work through yields in all directions in all 7 games, all "pre-flight" checks... and eventually get on. After all, most "normal" riders can get on their horses and ride in safety, so they can't quite get their heads around why Parelli makes life so complicated. The answer is that it doesn't, does it?

[Drummers mum]

This has been sooooooo interesting! Thought I better reply at some point as I started the thread!

Keep going!

[cvb]

crystal fire

yes you're right :D

Fi has a lot of energy - so when you bring her into the arena she expects to work.

Previously I used to let her off for 5 mins at the start to roll and play. But I've found she likes to turn this into her very own "catching game" so am varying things a bit :rolleyes:

But she does also want to move a little when we start, so forcing her to stand still til I'd "gone through the motions" would not be a partnership thing to do on my part. (IMHO). I'm not saying she gets away with dictating what we do, but I take HER needs into account.