In the news for this month: The Parelli Intensive Foundation Clinic now a 3 part series, a Pat Parelli clinic, and more learning opportunities! Check out our updated event schedule. Click here to read February's newsletter
Les nouvelles de février: Le Stage Intensif est maintenant une série de trois formations, un stage avec Pat Parelli et de nouveaux évènements! Voyez notre cendrier des évènements à venir.
Right at the beginning of his Natural Horsemanship book, Pat Parelli introduces his Level 1 theory by outlining the six keys to success. They are: Attitude, Knowledge, Tools, Techniques, Time and Imagination. Since the original publication of the book years ago, a seventh key has been added: Support. In my earlier posts, we focused on the first three keys: Attitude, Knowledge, ToolsandTechniques. In this post, I will introduce the fifth key to success, TIME.
Key 5: Time
When they are first learning about the Parelli program, some people might
comment that it seems to take a lot of time.
In our society of instant gratification, we tend to want to want to find
out what buttons to push to get an immediate result or ‘fix’ the horse. Unfortunately, this does not work with
relationships in general, and certainly not with equines. One of my favourite sayings is ‘Take
the time it takes so it will take less time’. How many people do you know won’t take the
time to do it right, but will continue doing the same thing over and over again
without improving their result?
You have to invest time to improve yourself and your horse, IN THAT
ORDER.Yes, you see, most often the
answers lie within us, and the horse is just a reflection of our level of
knowledge and horsemanship.Looking in
the mirror can be challenging, but once we commit to becoming better partners
for our horses, they will often turn around very quickly.Horses
learn 4 to 7 times faster than humans; that is a built-in genetic feature
that has allowed them to survive through the ice ages.We are the slow ones!
Learning is sometimes best
done without a horse! Simulations are a
great tool to improve human skills
The great news is that Parelli has a detailed and sequential program
that will help you learn what we learned much faster, because you won’t have to
spend time figuring out the lessons the hard way! Ask yourself, how much time
do you get to spend with your horse? Is it always enjoyable and stimulating?
Would you enjoy spending more time if it was more interesting and rewarding?
Would it help if the time really counted for something? Here is the other piece of good news.
With time well-spent playing
with your horse, even if you need to take a break in time, you and your partner
can pick up right where you left off – there will be no gap in learning. Why? Because
you are building a relationship… It would be like picking up a conversation
with an old friend you had not seen in a while. The foundation of love,
language and leadership in equal doses solidifies the relationship and it
sticks. You may also want to consider this question: are my horse’s basic needs being met when I
am away? Horses need more than food and
shelter to thrive mentally and physically.
They require constant movement, social interaction and play to avoid
stress, illness and mental disorders.
Keep in mind that even if you see you horse an hour a day, he has 23
more hours to think about things he could be doing either with you, without you
or to you… Most importantly, make that limited time you might have to spend with
him count, so that he starts looking forward to your visits! I love it when my horses head for the pasture
gate when they hear my truck in the driveway, and wait with anticipation as I
walk towards them with ears pricked forward and all eyes on me! Wouldn’t you?
If your horse is recreation for you, are you recreation for your horse?
We would
love to hear your comments or questions.
If you enjoyed this post, please don’t hesitate to share with your
friends. Until
next time, keep it natural!
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I recently came across this wonderful video of a talk by Dr. Andrew McLean at Equitana Australia 2011. It's a long one (over 50 minutes), but if you are passionate about horse training and understanding how they think, feel and learn, you will also be captivated by this clip.
Andrew McLean holds a PhD in equine cognition and learning, has been an accredited horse riding coach for over 30 years and has written 5 books (including an International Best Seller) and authored 35 peer-reviewed journal articles.
In this presentation, Dr. McLean shows us a glimpse of the scientific evidence which explains why Parelli and other natural horsemanship methods actually work and how they align with the way horses learn.
I could not help but jot down some key points and takeaways as I was viewing this talk. You might also find them quite interesting and be curious to watch the whole video, which provides several live examples with video clips and pictures.
The differences between the human and equine brain
Humans have a rather imprecise memories and are wired to extrapolate and revisit a memory without being in the context, and expand or modify the memory.
Horses have very specific, photographic memories, and they are context specific. Their recall span is 5 seconds or less, which explains while timing of the release or reward is critical to their learning process.
Herd dynamics and leadership is not set - the social hierarchy is very fluid and mobile, and changes according to the resources being contested and context. Very simply, one horse can be dominant for food, but not so in other areas. They can be dominant with other horses, not with humans, or vice-versa.
Negative Reinforcement is not negative, it simply means using the process of applying and releasing pressure to teach a response. Release of pressure is the most common way to teach all animals. Every horse has its own profile of NR, based on learned experiences!
First impressions will tend to stick with a horse for life. This is why the way you introduce a horse to a new context is critical. The example of the foal with the umbrella in the arena really demonstrates how easy it may to teach a young horse to be afraid of an object if the process is not done with understanding and control. Learning in new contexts must be done gradually to help the horse.
The horse is wired for fear. The amygdala (the fear organ) is largest in horses and it has strong projections to the jaw. This is why horses often express fear and pain through head and jaw movements and reactions. Salivating, teeth grinding, head tossing, tongue hanging out... you get the picture.
Operant conditioning is training through Negative Reinforcement (application and release of pressure). This would be the equivalent of the Porcupine and Driving Games in Parelli, using steady and rhythmic pressure to initiate a response. Dr McLean explains why RHYTHM, TIMING and phases are important.
Positive Reinforcement is where you add a positive to reinforce - treat, scratch, clicker - but works best once the behavior is trained with NR. It makes the response more likely to be repeated and accessed over time.
Classical conditioning is training the horse to respond to a very specific cue - voice, aid - it is identical to a Pavlovian response.
Backup cure biting! We have all heard Pat Parelli say this one. Dr. McLean explains why!
Habituation is the process of getting a horse confident to a stimulus (we call this the Friendly Game). Dr. McLean explains the 5 ways of doing this and how some may be more effective than others.
He also explains how a fear response in context, once learned, will never completely disappear. It can be suppressed, but it is likely to resurface spontaneously at any time. This would be why a horse that has learned to pull back may never be 100% rehabilitated. It can be improved, but that horse may never be completely safe when tied. He demonstrates why general habituation is not the best way to teach a horse confidence (again, like leaving a horse alone with an object so it gets 'used' to it - the opposite may result).
This is why educating a young horse is such a huge responsability and must be undertaken with a lot of savvy, knowledge and feel.
The importance of teaching a horse to stand still! This teaches a horse an alternate response to his natural instinct, which is flight. He shows a nice demonstration with police horses and an inflatable clown. Go and whoa should be equal, this is what the Yo-Yo Game is all about in Parelli.
The importance of being consistent and not changing the rules! If reins means stop, they cannot mean something else (like round)... That will only confuse the horse whose brain is very context specific.
Finally, the psychological effects on the horse of inescapable pain and the coping mechanisms:
Active coping - resisting, physical expression (rear, buck, run, etc.)
Passive coping - becoming dull, enduring, giving up - this can lead to....
Learned helplessness - usually a fatal condition, horses may never recover from this state. Unfortunately, we have all seen horses that got to this point :-(
Dr. Mclean pokes the dressage community a few times, or at least, a certain approach to dressage that he feels is not based on the welfare of the horse. He also makes a point of explaining why contact should never be heavy. In the presence of real communication between horse and rider, contact should never exceed the weight of the reins. In Parelli, we aim at 4 ounces or less :-)
Enjoy, and feel free to post your comments and highlights below!
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Après plusieurs mois de réflexion, de planification et de travail,
interrompus par mes déplacements et mes activités d'enseignement, c'est avec
fierté que je vous présente VifArgent.com 3.0! Il
s'agit de la troisième version de mon site Internet, remodelé et sur une toute
nouvelle plate-forme beaucoup plus flexible et performante!
Refaire un site, c'est un peu comme rénover une maison. On pense pouvoir
prévoir le temps et le travail que ça prendra, et une fois en route, on se rend
compte qu'il a encore beaucoup plus à faire et on découvre toutes sortes de
choses à réparer ou à améliorer! Surtout quand le site est très riche en
contenu, comme c'est le cas pour VifArgent.com.
Voici un sommaire des améliorations apportées:
Une nouvelle apparence, modernisée, aérée, plus élégante,
plus facile à lire! Je suis certaine que vous ne vous ennuierez pas du texte
jaune brillant et des bannières qui défilent! Ouf, il était grand temps de se
refaire une beauté!
Il sera beaucoup plus facile d'y naviguer et de trouver
exactement le renseignement que vous cherchez. Nous avons installé une nouvelle
hiérarchie de menus et complètement refait la structure. Il y a beaucoup de
contenu sur ce site et il était parfois difficile de s'y retrouver. Alors nous
avons mis les murs à terre et tout reconstruit!
Un nouveau bouton permettant de basculer entre le français et
l'anglais sur TOUTES les pages! Des boutons faciles à trouver vous permettant de partager
n'importe quel contenu sur vos réseaux sociaux ou par courriel en un seul
clic!
Des boutons évidents pour nous trouver et connecter sur les réseaux
sociaux!
Les photos ont été modifiées et actualisées, et vous y
trouverez de nouvelles images captées durant nos récentes activités.
Accessible et visible sur les appareils mobiles -
téléphones, tablettes, etc. Ça aussi, il était grand temps.
Une section Ressources mise à
jour et actualisée avec de nouveaux liens.
Une nouvelle plate-forme technologique qui nous permettra
d'évoluer le site beaucoup plus facilement et d'y ajouter de nouvelles
fonctionnalités comme la vidéo, un espace réservé aux membres, etc. Ce n'était
tout simplement pas possible dans l'ancienne version. Ce site sera beaucoup
plus flexible et dynamique!
Pour les francophones du Canada et de
partout ailleurs, le site de VifArgent est depuis déjà longtemps une ressource
appréciée pour tout ce qui touche à Parelli et nous continuerons à remplir ce
mandat au mieux de nos capacités.
Vous êtes invités à visiter notre nouvelle maison et à me soumettre vos
commentaires. Si vous décelez quelque chose qui cloche, n'hésitez pas à nous en
faire part; malgré toutes nos vérifications, il est toujours possible que
quelque chose nous ait échappé!
After many months of thought, planning and
effort, with some interruptions due to my travels and my teaching engagements, I
am proud to present VifArgent.com 3.0! This is the third iteration of my web site. It has
been redesigned on a brand new platform, which is much more flexible and
efficient than the previous one!
Relaunching a site is a bit like renovating a
house. You think you can plan how long it it going to take and how much work it
is going to be... but once you are in it, you realize that it will take a lot
more work and you find all the things behind the walls that need to be fixed or
redone! Especially when it is a high content web site like
VifArgent.com!
Here is a summary of the enhancements you will
find:
A new look, modern, airy, elegant, crisp and a lot easier
to read! I am sure no one will miss the bright yellow fonts and moving marquee
banners! We were long overdue for a makeover!
Much improved navigation. It will be much easier to find
exactly what you are looking for. We have put in place a new hierarchy of menus
et completely redone the structure. There is a lot of great content on this
site and it was sometimes hard to get to it. So we tore down the walls and
redid everything!
A brand new toggle button between French and English
pages, on EVERY page!
Easy to locate social media and email buttons so you can
share any content with your friends in one click!
Easy to find buttons to find us and connect on social
media!
Photos have been modified and improved, and you will find
new pictures taken at recent events.
Mobile! The site can now be viewed on smart phones, pads,
and other mobile devices. This was also long overdue.
The Resources section has been updated and new links have
been added.
A new technology foundation which will allow us to grow
the site much more readily and to add new functions such as video, a membership
only section, etc. This just could not be done in the old version. This site
will be much more flexible and dynamic!
VifArgent.com has long been a go-to place for French speaking Parelli
student in Quebec, Canada and other parts of the world, and we will continue to
fulfill this mandate as best we can. Anglophones also find it a great place to
access information otherwise hard to locate elsewhere.
You are invited to visit my new home and to send us your comments. If you
find something not working, please let us know; despite all our efforts to make
sure everything was ready to go live, there is always the possibility that we
might have missed something!
An elevated digital pulse is a sure sign of laminitis or impending founder! This is important to know especially as we start turning out horses on pasture after the winter. A process that must be done very gradually.
You enjoyed this article? Let us know by submitting your comments and feel free to share with your friends!
Un pouls digital élevé est un indicateur certain de laminite ou d'un cheval qui s'apprête à faire de la fourbure! Il est important de savoir prendre le pouls digital, en particulier au printemps lorsqu'on commence à remettre les chevaux à l'herbe après l'hiver. Processus qui devrait toujours être fait très progressivement.
Vous aimez le contenu de cet article? Faites-le nous savoir en nous transmettant vos commentaires et n'hésitez pas à le partager avec vos amis!
Vous souhaitez optimiser la santé de votre cheval? J'ai d'excellentes nouvelles à partager!
Il y a déjà plusieurs années, ayant à faire face au défi de prendre soin d'un cheval qui souffrait de sérieux problèmes métaboliques, j'en suis venue à la conclusion qu'il était temps de commencer à nourrir les chevaux comme des chevaux, c'est-à-dire, comme des herbivores! J'ai éliminé le grain et les concentrés, et j'ai alors entrepris des recherches pour m'assurer qu'ils recevaient tous les nutriments en doses adéquates pour leur permettre de rester en excellente santé. Depuis plusieurs années, je fais des recherches, j'améliore et je raffine la ration de mes chevaux. N'ayant pas trouvé sur le marché un seul produit complet et adéquat, j'en suis venue à mélanger moi-même les minéraux, oligo-éléments et suppléments pour équilibrer la diète de mes chevaux, qui consiste presque exclusivement de foin. Je voulais m'assurer qu'ils reçoivent le complément idéal pour rester en santé, pour optimiser leur système immunitaire malgré les rigueurs des déplacements et de l'entraînement, et pour favoriser un bon fonctionnement du système digestif.
On m'a très souvent demandé d'expliquer l'alimentation de mes chevaux. C'était un processus relativement complexe qui demandait beaucoup d'efforts afin de se procurer, d'équilibrer et de mélanger tous les ingrédients de leur complément minéral; un effort décourageant pour la majorité des propriétaires de chevaux, réservé aux plus dévoués et obsessifs comme moi!
Un bon nombre d'ingrédients étaient difficiles ou impossibles à obtenir au Canada, et devaient être importés à grands frais, ce qui compliquait encore les choses.
Bonne nouvelle! J'ai trouvé une compagnie canadienne qui est disposée à assembler ma recette de complément alimentaire en grande quantité, en utilisant les mêmes ingrédients de qualité, et sans ajouter des agents de remplissage inutiles, de sucre ou d'amidon. Cette compagnie fabrique déjà des suppléments pour chevaux et partage ma vision de l'alimentation du cheval au naturel - elle rejoint ma perception de ce qui constitue une saine alimentation des chevaux.
Je serai bientôt en mesure de distribuer des quantités limitées de ce mélange unique à mes amis et à mes élèves. C'est un complément quotidien équilibré pour les chevaux qui reçoivent un diète à base de foin de graminées et qui ne mangent pas de moulée transformée (concentrés). Il inclut des quantités équilibrées de selenium, des probiotiques, des anti-oxydants et des Oméga-3. De plus, il sera disponible à un prix très raisonnable!
C'est ce que je donne à mes chevaux!
Communiquez avec moi si vous êtes intéressés à vous procurer ce produit pour vos chevaux.
Les quantités seront limitées et seront offertes sur la base du premier arrivé, premier servi.
Vous voulez en savoir plus - Aimez notre nouvelle page Facebook Le Cheval au Naturel
