Focus on the Sideways Game
by Pat ParelliNote: This is the sixth in a series examining
the Seven Games with Pat Parelli and their role in establishing leadership as well as
building a language between you and a horse... any horse.
I often tell people that the better a horse goes backwards and sideways, the better
he does everything else. Or, you could think of it as, the worse he goes back-wards
and sideways, the worse he does everything else.
Why do you think this is? Why on earth would smooth backwards
and sideways make your horse better at anything else? What do they even have to
do with everything else?Of course, to get good at this game you
first need to get good at the four PNH Games that come before it. The Seven Games are
cumulative, so without the Friendly, Porcupine, Driving, and Yo-Yo Games in place,
the Circling Game can turn into plain old longeing.
Why do you think this is? Why on earth would smooth backwards
and sideways make your horse better at anything else? What do they even have to
do with everything else? Backwards and sideways have
everything to do with your horse’s impulsion and emotional fitness – which influences almost
everything else your horse does. If you have a sticky, slow backup or a sideways with your
horse bent like a banana (if he goes sideways at all), then chances are you have a horse that
is impulsive (more go than whoa) or dull (more whoa than go). Either one is an
impulsion problem. I would bet that if you put pressure on your horse to go backwards or
straighten his sideways then he would become pretty upset, even to the point of exploding
with a rear, buck or champing his mouth.
Impulsion means controlled energy. Yes, this refers to physical energy, but it also refers
to mental and emotional energy. If a horse's speed is controlled physically with a bit or
various gadgets, but he is straining at the bit, champing his mouth, heavy on the forehand,
constantly wanting to stop or barely being held back from bolting, then he doesn't really
have impulsion. Impulsion means that your horse's go equals his whoa - with or without a
bit in his mouth. It means that pressing with one leg on your horse's side doesn't mean go
forward or go faster to him.
In the Yo-Yo Game (Part 4 of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship
Seven Games series
featured in the March 2004 Today’s Horse Trader) you learned how to teach your horse
to back up and then balanced his forward and backward movements until they were equal.
You probably noticed a big difference in his attitude, emotions and how much attention he
gave you too! In the Circling Game (Part 5 featured
in the April 2004 Today’s Horse Trader) you taught your horse how to maintain gait
and maintain direction.
Now in the Sideways Game (Part 6) you will learn how to straighten your horse and
have him yield laterally with softness and respect. All three of these games help develop
your horse's impulsion. Remember that you need the first five of the Seven Games under
your belt before doing this sixth one because each game is built on the one before it. And,
whenever you do run into problems, go back and review the earlier games until you get
better results.
Why Does the Sideways Game Calm Your Horse’s Emotions?Sideways is a movement not
readily used by horses. It is natural for them
but is not as important to their survival as moving forwards. This is mainly
because to move sideways the horse has to cross his legs over each other, which
is not a great escape technique! In the wild a horse will cross his legs over only
when turning around after fleeing danger to see if he is still being pursued; this
is called “crossing the flight line .” After running flat out for a little more than 440
yards, a horse will disengage his hindquarter and briefly turn around.
When he turns and crosses his hind legs, crossing the flight line, he goes from a
flight (right brain) mode to a thinking (left brain) mode just for a few seconds so he can
assess the situation and quickly decide if he needs to keep running.
When specifically asking your horse to disengage his hindquarter and cross his legs
over as you do in the Porcupine, Driving and Sideways Games, you are causing him to
switch into his thinking mode and use the left side of his brain. When you ask your horse to
go sideways for some distance, you are helping him stay in his left brain, thinking mode.
Disengaging the hindquarter is especially helpful in calming a flighty or upset horse. If
your horse is in his right brain, afraid and not listening to you, doing a long stretch of the
Sideways Game will help him switch into his left brain and tune back into you. This is true
whether you are in the saddle or on the ground. It could take 200 yards for him to
make the switch, but the Sideways Game will help him start thinking!
How Important is it to Teach Your Horse the Sideways Game?
Please notice that I call this the Sideways Game, not the side pass game. This game is
about teaching the horse to athletically go sideways both to the right and the left with
ease and a soft willingness. A side pass, on the other hand, is a specific maneuver with a very
definite body position mostly used in the higher levels of dressage and reining.
By developing the simple maneuvers learned in the Sideways Game, you are
building the foundation for teaching your horse to side pass. It is also the foundation skill used to
develop more suspension, flying lead changes, spins, pirouettes, half passes, counter arcs,
cow work and cutting. All of these advanced require that your horse goes side-ways
with ease! If your horse doesn't have a great sideways, you will probably have a lot of
trouble getting him to do any one of these movements, especially without a fair amount
of resistance.
On the more practical side, a great Sideways Game builds the foundation for
teaching your horse how to get close enough to a gate to open and close it or come close to
a rock or stump so you can mount, very useful when you are riding bareback. This game also
helps you and your horse get close to the mailbox, get under a tree branch that needs
trimming or make it easy to hand a water bottle to a friend while on the trail. Working cow-boys
know just how handy a great sideways maneuver can be when they need to get close
to livestock or traveling over dangerous trails.
Developing a Great Sideways.
The first step of the Sideways Game is to go back to the Driving Game and make sure
you can yield the horse's hindquarters and then the forehand independently of each other.
Once you have control over each end of the horse and from both sides, you are ready
to ask him to go sideways. Start “slow and right!” With just the halter and lead rope on
your horse, ask him to stand with his nose on a fence or rail to prevent him from going for-wards.
Position yourself facing his mid-section, and ask your horse to move one end or
the other for just a step or two at a time. Start with the Driving Game to first move the fore-hand
a little, then the hindquarter a little, then the forehand again, then the hindquarter. If
you are using a PNH Carrot Stick, move it like a windshield wiper, slowly going back and
forth, driving the forehand then the hindquarter until they are moving together and your
horse is going sideways.
Ask your horse for just a few steps at first and then build up to where you can send him
sideways for 20, 30 or even 50 feet at a time. See how little it takes to get your horse to go
sideways. Do you have to touch him or can you just touch the air to get him to
move? Is he responding with the lightest suggestion or do you have to move
around a lot? Once your horse is responding well to the Sideways Game
using the Driving Game technique, try asking him to go sideways using the
Porcupine Game technique.
If your horse pulls backwards while you are asking him to go sideways it is
usually due to fear and confusion. Make sure you play plenty of Friendly Game
and continue to improve your Driving and Porcupine Games until your horse
no longer feels threatened by them.
If, during the Sideways Game, you can see more of your horse’s butt than his head, it
means he is dragging his hindquarter. This actually means he is moving forwards with his
hind legs rather than crossing them over to go sideways. Don’t worry about it too much at
first. As your horse gains confidence and relaxes, you can ask him to yield a bit more
hindquarter each time. Build his straightness progressively until he is traveling along the
fence line perfectly straight from nose to tail.
If your horse kicks out when you drive one end or the other, he is still showing a lot of
Opposition Reflex. Go back and get all of the first five of the Seven Games better. Your
horse is trying to stop you from moving that part of his body because he’s trying to
dominate you, doesn't respect you as his leader, or it’s a reaction in self defense because he feels
threatened, trapped or afraid. Stay calm, don’t get tense, and don’t get aggressive! Your horse could interpret
aggressiveness,
frustration, or anger as predatory behavior and it will only
make him worse. Be passively persistent in the proper position. And,
use prior and proper preparation by getting better at the previous games.
How Light is Your Horse?
The softer and lighter you can be on the ground, the softer and
lighter you can be in the saddle. If your horse doesn’t learn to be light and
responsive on the ground, he won’t be light an responsive with you in the
saddle. Playing the Seven Games on the ground is the first step because
his response to you on the ground is connected to his response to you in
the saddle. It’s all about developing feel, in your horse and in yourself.
That’s why it makes so much sense to teach your horse how to move
forward, backward, right, left, up and down from on the ground. It
provides the opportunity to exaggerate while you are teaching and helps your
horse understand the concepts of what you want. Once your horse
understands, you can refine your skills to almost imperceptible suggestions.
You become infinitely more effective teaching things first on the
ground because you are able to put your hand or Carrot Stick in exactly
in the right place to get the response you are after. Once in the saddle,
you become far more limited as to where you can touch your horse. For
example, when first teaching your horse to move his hindquarter over in
the Porcupine Game, you started by pressing your fingers directly into
the side of your horse's hip using the Four Phases. This is really difficult
to do while in the saddle. Once your horse understands the concept of
moving his hindquarter away from the lightest pressure of your hand,
you are able to move your hand a little further forward each time. After
a short while your hand will be in the same location that your leg would
be if you asked him to move his hindquarter over from the saddle. This
is how you can progressively teach your horse to respond to lighter and
lighter leg aids.
The other key to success is to always use Four Phases. By asking
your horse to do something very slowly and releasing very quickly the
moment he does it, your horse learns to respond to softer suggestions.
The last, but very important reason to teach new skills or develop
light responsiveness in your horse on the ground first, is that you take
the rider's balance, confidence, or skill level issues right out of the
pic-ture. The horse becomes free to develop his attitude, knowledge, and
athletic ability without having to balance a rider on his back and in his
mouth. He develops self-carriage and finds his natural way of moving.
Then when you add a saddle and finally a rider, he has a strong
foundation to draw from.
The Sideways Game is a perfect example of this theory. Most
riders have all kinds of trouble teaching their horse to go sideways in the
saddle or perfecting their half passes, side passes and counter arcs. So
much so, that lateral movements are considered “difficult” and
relegated to higher levels of training. It does not need to be this way. The
Sideways Game is the simplest way I know to teach a horse how to move
laterally and with softness. From there, the high level maneuvers
become simple matters.
Want to know more? Find step-by-step instructions on the Yo-Yo Game in the
Partnership pack, Level 1 of Pat Parelli's Savvy System. Call Parelli Natural
HorseManShip
at 1-800-642-3335 or visit www.parelli.com for
a free brochure.
PAT PA R E L L I n a t u r a l h o r s e m a n s h i p
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