David Lichman Course - Holland July 2010

Three days of study with 5* Parelli Professional David Lichman was an absolute treat.  He was inspirational and educational.  I will be trying very hard to see David next time he visits Europe and would encourage others to do the same - you will not be disappointed!

Friday

Lots of talk about training methods and which work better for horses in different situations.  This is an area that has recently become of interest to me, so I was very interested to hear David's opinions and experiences.

Group 1 (mainly L3S) played with 'Sharpening the Tools'; zone 1 control from zone 1 and 4/5; circling at liberty in open spaces and 'Preparation for Riding'.

Group 2 (mainly L4S) played with circling - change of direction, egg shaped to circles and 20 laps at canter; shoulder in online and haunches in online.

For me, the most interesting point from Group 1 was the 'Sharpening the Tools' game - how overuse, underuse or misuse can dull our tools (Games 1-7) and how keeping them sharp gives you a more responsive and interested horse.  From Group 2, it was probably the psychological game of 20 laps of canter on a circle; how to create an environment where horse is looking for the speed up before coming in, rather than lap counting.  It seemed so obvious when David explained the strategy, I guess more lateral thinking using the horse's psyche is needed when I plan my strategies in future!

Saturday

After yesterday's ground work focus, things shifted to riding today.  David explained how CS riding is closest to playing with your horse on the ground and how to warm up hard to ride soft.

Group 1 began with straight lines using point-to-point and then tit-for-tat when the horses started making assumptions; bend to a stop with CS in WT&C was the prerequisite for bridleless riding and mastering the figure8 with 1 and 2 CS.

Group 2 covered figure8 riding with folded arms; isolations without reins (FQ yield full circle, HQ yield full circle, stop and backup); then the 'Really Complicated Set of Exercises!' (which I will describe below.....); topline stretches at the trot; shoulders in; haunches in and half pass.

The 'Really Complicated Set of Exercises!'

1. R indirect rein turn on the forehand into

2. turn on the haunches into

3. change the bend into

4. turn on the forehand into

5. Repeat 1-4 with L indirect rein!  Phew!

The most interesting points for me from Group 1 today was how mastering the basics is so important to prepare yourself and your horse for an easier life later on - obvious and I have heard this many times, but a timely reminder is always welcome!  From Group 2, the importance of isolations in a relaxed, light and clear manner were the lesson of the day.  Again, the clearer and better these are, the more successful the fancy stuff will be!

Sunday

The last day!  And although it felt like I had already learned so much and had enough to keep my mind occupied for the coming year, it is always sad to start the last day.

Rather than being in groups today, everyone was together to play with anything they wanted to - either tasks they were having trouble with or tasks they were interested in starting.  The usual suspects, flying lead changes, spins and lying down came up; but also more interesting problems such as sideways over barrels, scary zone 5, straightening the backup and jumping online.  It was great to watch problems dissolve with some lateral thinking providing solutions to make the tasks easier for horse and human partnerships.  This session gave more insight into David's training methodology and has left me with an attitude to give more thought to how I try to teach new tasks and how I resolve problems - remember Einstein's definition of madness 'to repeat the same process and expect a different result'!

The afternoon session was Riding to Music; how to use music to keep a tempo and find relaxation in your horse's natural gait tempos; how to use this knowledge to gauge whether you are shortening/lengthening the stride or simply changing the tempo.  An eye opener to not simply make riding more fun, but how to use that music in your training.

So, the course comes to a close and there were new friends to say à bientôt to and an 8 hour journey home to our herd who we had missed very much!  Next year I hope David comes back to teach in Europe and I have the opportunity to take a horse and enjoy his unique style of teaching and philosophy to equine training.

And last, but not least, thank you Irene and Aniek for organising the whole weekend - their effort, never ending energy and warm welcome went a long way to making this a successful and fun learning experience!