Game #2: Focus on the Porcupine Gameby Pat Parelli This is the second in a horse training series examining the Seven Games and their role in establishing leadership as well as building a language between you and a horse – any horse. Impress your horse with your press. Have you ever seen a person who just got stepped on try to push a horse off his foot… and the horse leans even more? Horses naturally push into steady pressure, moving against it or barging through it. It’s part of their programming for survival. Mother Nature tells them to break loose of a predator’s hold or crash through an obstacle that’s in the way of escape. In order to develop a partnership with your horse, you need to help him overcome his fearful, defensive reactions to pressure and learn how to yield and move away from it. I teach this through the Porcupine Game, Game #2 of the Seven Games. All Pressure is Not the SameThere are two types of pressure: 1. Steady, physical pressure A horse will move away from rhythmic pressure more easily than from steady pressure. His flighty nature makes him more inclined to move away from things like a swinging rope or waving hands. But he will tend to lean into your leg, your hands or the halter. That’s why the Porcupine Game can be somewhat difficult. In fact, many people avoid it or do very little of it when they are learning the Seven Games. Instead they do great Driving Games, Game #3 (rhythmic pressure), and think their horses are really yielding well. But they’re not touching their horses. When they do, they find their horses push back or barely respond. Real porcupines are very effective. They teach any animal to yield – in a hurry! They give some early, subtle warnings about what they intend to do, then if the warning isn’t heeded, the porcupine steadily and progressively increases the pressure until he fires out quills. Why Yielding is ImportantIn the process of developing communication with a horse, yielding from physical pressure is a major factor. Think of it. The halter, the bit, the leg, the rein and the seat all involve physical pressure. If a horse doesn’t understand how to yield from pressure he’ll most likely push on the bit, pull at the reins and be dull to leg and seat aides. You only have to move a horse around on the ground by your fingers to know what he might be like to ride. The better your horse yields from pressure, the easier he will be to handle on the ground and when ridden. Every time you make contact with the halter, lead rope, bit, your leg, seat or hand, your horse should respond respectfully and willingly. It should feel like pushing a toy boat around in the bathtub – no resistance. Principles of the Porcupine Game for Horse TrainingThere are four principles to Game #2: Principle 1 -Intention You’re not going to give your horse an almighty push, but I do want you to get this concept very clear. Your look, your life and your forward body language will help you clearly convey your intention: “Move away from my oncoming pressure.” In the Friendly Game, your look is very soft. You’re relaxed, you’re smiling and non-demanding. If you don’t differentiate your look from a “Friendly” look to a “Porcupine” look, you will confuse your horse and be giving him conflicting aids. Lots of people don’t differentiate and then wonder why their horse can’t understand them. You need to be clear. Principle 2 – Steady Pressure When asking a living, thinking, feeling being to move over using your hands, you wouldn’t do the sofa thing and give it a big shove. You’d start with a soft suggestion of pressure and then gradually build it until you got a response. But how soft is soft? And how strong is strong? Principle 3 – Four Phases of Friendly Firmness…and Instant Release This may help you understand what they feel like:
Each phase becomes progressively and smoothly more insistent, pushing a little harder and making it increasingly uncomfortable for the horse if he doesn’t move. The INSTANT the horse responds by moving away, or even tries to respond, immediately release all the pressure! It’s not the pressure that teaches. It’s the release from pressure that tells the horse he did the right thing. To sensitize a horse, you need to be ready to release at any phase as soon as he tries to move. If you keep pressing after the horse has responded, you will desensitize him and he’ll become dull. He will lose incentive to do what you want and it will take more pressure to get him to respond at all. Comfort is a major motivational factor for a horse, and you need to show him how he can attain comfort by yielding to pressure. Apart from releasing too slow, the most common mistake I see in the Porcupine Game is skipping phase 1 and never really getting to phase 4. People tend to stay at phase 2 and 3. By coming on too strong without enough feel for the horse or not following through and being effective, the horse can become dull and disrespectful. Try phase 1 on your own arm. Press just the hair. Can you feel how light that is? Watch horses flicking flies from their skin to see how incredibly sensitive they are. Once your horse understands what to do, he’ll be glad to respond to the lightest touch every time you offer it. On the other end of the scale, phase 4 has to be effective. If your horse can stand there while you are pushing for all you’re worth, you’ve not found Phase 4. A few years ago in Europe, there was a young girl who had a Swiss mountain horse. These horses are mostly used for packing and driving and are not the most sensitive creatures in the world. They’re pretty thick-skinned because they’ve learned to get along by pushing against the pressure of the bit and driving collar. This horse basically took the girl sand-skiing whenever he pleased. He also had a trick of yanking his head around and literally flinging the poor girl from one side to the other. You could see that the horse had made a game of it. He wasn’t being mean, but he’d play games to get his way. When it came to the Porcupine Game, this horse was not going to move. That little girl was pitched against his side, pushing her fingers into his skin and he just stood there and yawned. I came to help her and took out my pocketknife as I approached. I selected the screwdriver and concealed it in my hand. I rubbed his side, pressed the hair with my fingers, pressed the skin, then the muscle and then introduced the flat screwdriver and kept slowly increasing the pressure. That horse lifted his head, widened his eyes, grunted and stepped away. He couldn’t believe it! I released the pressure and rubbed him, then began again with phase 1. Again, I had to go to phase 4, but the third time that horse moved at phase 2 and continued to do so after that. All he needed was to know that phase 4 was coming for sure and was going to be effective. It was up to him to pay attention to the lighter requests. If you are not effective, you are just nagging. You will have to use too much pressure to get anything done and the horse will just wind up aggravated. Horses are effective with each other. They always use phases, but the untrained eye often misses them. That’s how people get bitten, kicked and struck all the time. One horse invades another horse’s space. The second horse lays back his ears (Phase 1), tosses his head (Phase 2), snakes his neck (Phase 3), then bites a chunk of flesh out of the other horse’s neck (Phase 4). The invading horse either did not notice or believe the other horse’s signals of intent, so he got bitten. Do you think the horse will respond a little sooner next time? Principle 4 – Rub-Press-Rub If you just go to prodding and pressing and never rub before or after, your horse is going to become pretty defensive. When you approach him or put your hand out toward him, he’ll start to move away. This is called escape. It demonstrates a lack of confidence, defensiveness and even some fear. This is especially common with sensitive horses. The same horse is apt to panic and lunge through the bit when he feels too much pressure, or stop you from using your legs because he takes off as soon as he feels them. Escape is not good. This horse does not understand how to respond to physical pressure. Rubbing is a form of the Friendly Game and is important in the horse-human relationship. If you rub first, then apply steady pressure in mounting increments, release the instant he moves and rub again, you’ll be well on your way to developing a good physical communication with your horse. A Step or More, Then More and More When first teaching a horse to understand how to move away from steady pressure, don’t be too demanding. Don’t ask for too much for too long. Ask for just a try, then a step or two, then two or more, then more and more. Don’t ask for five steps until two steps are easy for him. This will help a horse accept things and understand what you want. He’ll also become more confident. If, two months later, you are getting only two to five steps, then there’s something wrong. This means you have not been progressive enough and you probably have a horse that is getting dull again because he’s bored. Get to where you can do 10, 20 or 50 steps with ease. Keep challenging what you have. Let Me Count the WaysThere are many directions you can ask a horse to yield in the Porcupine Game:
You can ask him to yield in each direction from different areas of his body. You could also introduce a variety of obstacles and specific tasks to challenge you and your horse. Let your imagination run wild! Instead of starting with your fingertips, you can accelerate the Porcupine Game by using a Carrot Stick. Four feet long, stiff and sturdy, the Carrot Stick enables you to apply pressure to your horse’s chest, neck and hip while staying out of range of trouble. Because it is always steady and strong, it is far more effective than with your fingertips. Since I started teaching the Porcupine Game with a Carrot Stick, the results are much quicker. Use the Carrot Stick to teach, then fingertips to refine. Opposition ReflexMany of you know what this is, but perhaps didn’t know there was a term for it. Opposition Reflex is a defensive reaction where a horse opposes pressure and pushes into it instead of moving away from it. Like when you try to push your horse off your toe and he leans his shoulder into you and pushes down harder. It’s important to know that this is not disobedience. It’s a “right-brained” (non-analytical) instinct and a totally natural reaction for a horse. It’s not even a response. It’s a reaction. This is the prey animal coming out in the horse and sometimes that prey animal lives just below the surface. A horse that bites or kicks when you first play the Porcupine Game is reacting with Opposition Reflex to the pressure. The worst thing you could do at that moment is punish him. The next worst thing is to release the pressure. Unless you are in danger, keep up steady pressure until you get a positive response. Otherwise you will teach your horse to react dangerously to pressure. The key it to stay passively persistent in the proper position. Maintain your pressure, at whatever phase, until the horse has worked it out. As soon as the undesirable behavior stops, release the pressure and rub him until he licks his lips. A horse will lick his lips when he changes from reactive to thinking. Then begin again at phase 1, and keep up the repetitions until the horse is responding positively. Hands That Close SlowlyOne of the savvy secrets for developing great feel is having hands that close slowly and open quickly. This is what the Four Phases of Friendly Firmness teaches. Our nature makes us want to grab quickly with our hands, or to use sudden movements, even to poke and shove rather than push steadily and politely. Quick-closing hands produce ‘bracey’ horses and dull, negative reactions. Watch great horsemen. You’ll see a gracefulness about the way they use their hands. Their fingers close slowly, one by one and they open quickly when the horse is right. Hands like these are good communicators. They have feel, and horses really appreciate them. The Porcupine Game becomes even more important in Levels 2 and 3. By the end of Level 3, your horse is quickly and consistently responding at phase 1 or 2. Gone is the “Oh, okay…” attitude, and your horse becomes very light and responsive. He understands how to yield and does it willingly. Your leg aids, hands and communication become almost imperceptible. Learn more about the Porcupine Game with the Parelli Success Series DVD – The Seven Games, available in the Parelli web store, or join other natural horsemanship enthusiasts on Parelli Connect, Parelli’s online social learning site, where you can connect with Parelli members, ask questions and share your experiences. |
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About Parelli
Pat Parelli, coiner of the term “natural horsemanship”, founded his program based on a foundation of love, language and leadership. Parelli Natural Horsemanship allows horse owners at all levels of experience to achieve success with their at-home educational program. Together with his wife Linda, Pat has spread PNH across the globe with campuses in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Newly launched in 2011, parelliconnect.com provides an online social forum packed with training tools, step-by-step to do lists, video and more. Log on today for your FREE 30-day trial at ParelliConnect.com. |
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Game 1- Friendly Game
Game 2 – Porcupine Game
Game 3 – Driving Game
Game 4 – Yo-Yo Game
Game 5 – Circling Game
Game 6 – Sideways Game
Game 7 – Squeeze Game
