Advancing Liberty Workshop with Berin MacFarlane 09/25/10

Advancing Liberty Workshop with Berin MacFarlane 09/25/10
Berin started everyone out online, checking the 7 games and whether our horse was acting like a partner. It’s important to also check the quality of the games: is my horse light and responsive, is there slack in my rope, am I still getting opposition reflexes, does my horse want to be with me or leave at the first opportunity? Get the connection online before going off-line!!
Observe, Remember, Compare: observe what you are doing, remember what you get, compare results
Think in different lengths of rope vs. 12’, 22’, 45’…even a 45’ can be 38-3/4’ if need be
Building positive patterns online to establish communication and foundation that will transfer to liberty. Liberty is not to prove what we can do with our horses, it’s to show how well we’ve prepared online.
Allow vs. let = awareness: if we allow rather than let it implies an awareness of what we are doing in each moment, each action/interaction with our horse.
Positive reflexes vs. opposition reflex = yield (less that 4 oz., light, polite): positive reflexes are light, responsive, less than 4 oz. and yields are positive reflexes indicating confidence and acceptance. Opposition reflexes indicate horse has not accepted or doesn’t have confidence in what you are doing.
Really good hq yield = better everything else: the better your hq yields are the better everything else will be at liberty.
Pay attention to quality of everything while warming up online: softness, lightness, acceptance, confidence, positive reflexes, your phases, consistency. Remember, life up is first phase.
Do point to point to get consistency first before doing downward transitions (you will end up in zone 3-4). This is to establish impulsion (forward, controlled movement) because without impulsion you won’t get much else. You can tell when your getting good impulsion…you will start ending up in zones 3 or 4. Beware adding too much variety or downward transitions too soon or you’ll lose impulsion and cause confusion, get consistency at the point to point first.
Build at walk, get consistent, get good in all zones then can move to trot, get consistent, get good in all zones, then canter…once that’s going well then increase distances. When working in close, be safe especially if your horse gets exuberant…don’t get kicked if they “give you the hoof”!!! Safety first!!
Life up, Life down: be aware of phases, for starting or stopping it’s life up or life down as first phase!!
For a Smooth COD Online:
rope in outside hand
cs in inside hand
prepare for turn: swap hands passing cs UNDER rope (rope to inside hand, cs to outside hand)
slide stick back to hq
yield hq, draw fq around
be ready to direct on other side
Hang in there a little bit longer for consistency: sometimes we get bored and want to add or change things to keep it interesting but the horse needs us to stay with something a little longer to help them really “get” it. Look for signs of relaxation: stretching, blowing out, head down, softness, etc.
Positional Truth: always be aware of body position and what your asking for: disengage hq = game over and come in, partial disengage = bring your eyes to me, be ready for something else, shoulders perpendicular to rail = helps horse stay straight and I’m not pushing him into or pulling him off the rail.
KEYS:
Quality online
Observe, Remember, Compare
Think in different lengths of rope
Building positive patterns online
Allow vs. let
Positive reflexes vs. opposition
Confidence and acceptance
Really good hq yield
Life up, life down is first phase
Consistency first
Build
Safety first
A smooth COD online
Hang in there
Positional Truth