>>> To further complicate this, Hunter is NEVER allowed to jump anything. >>> Although he >>> seems to have turned into a sedate grown up trail horse, he has such a >>> history of >>> anxiety that I feel he needs to step carefully through everything. I use >>> the cue >>> "step", taught at the mounting block They both have learned that "step" >>> means to take >>> a look and a step forward, one step at a time. And it never means "leap".
More good points. That's what is important to me - making judgement calls based on the needs of the particular horse, not trying to make one-size fits all generalities. Some horses are just inherently more anxious, and sometimes we run into horses who have become anxious because of bad experiences. Part of the reason I pay attention to the Parelli program is that I'm always trying to think of ways of expressing what I see in words that others might understand, and if Pat Parelli can do anything well, it's think of meaningful phrases that people can remember. It's in the impulsion DVD that he explains the difference between "impulsive" and "impulsion" - most people want a horse with some impulsion, but virtually no one wants an impulsive (unthinking, reactive) horse. He goes on to explain that some horses naturally have a high energy level you might describe as a "10", while others may be a "1" or a "2"... and most people like horses somewhere closer to the "5" range. That would be a horse that stops as easily as he goes, isn't in danger of running away with you, but one that you don't have to continually nag to move forward either. In this case, maybe what you're trying to do with Tosca and Hunter is to keep them both near that ideal "5" range...and since (I'm guessing?) Tosca is probably a little lower energy, you can afford to splurge and let her jump, where jumping might rev Hunter up closer to the "10" side of the scale...? I know this 1-10 scale is somewhat simplistic, but I think it gets the point across that what's right for one horse can be totally wrong for another. Karen Thomas, NC
