Because you learn how to truly ride and move with him – rather than just sitting up there – he can learn how to use his entire range of movement while being ridden.
• Your horse will also become more confident. If you’ve ridden your horse in a bridle and you sense some resistance, it may be that he feels claustrophobic having his head held in a certain position. In FreeStyle, using a halter allows him to feel more free. He’ll be able to scope out his environment and make his own decisions, which leads directly to improved confidence. Now, “making his own decisions” doesn’t mean that he can just wander off into a field and graze if he decides to. It simply means that he doesn’t need to constantly be told what to do. It’s his decision to maintain gait and direction; that responsibility is a confidence-builder.
At the same time our horses are gaining confidence and freedom of movement, we are also improving as riders.
For instance, FreeStyle allows us to develop an independent seat. So many riders rely on the reins, the stirrups and the saddle for balance. It’s important that we learn to move with the horse. The goal is for us to become a part of the horse and the horse become a part of us. It’s truly a two-way benefit; as our horse recalibrates his self-carriage, he moves more naturally and we can learn to move with him. As we move with him, he becomes more confident and relaxed.
• FreeStyle encourages us to rely on the power of focus, as opposed to using the reins to steer our horses around. After all, if you’re driving a car, you’re a lot safer when your eyes are on the road rather than on the steering wheel! By using our body and our eyes in subtle ways, we learn how to use focus and feel, and the results are incredible. A slight shoulder lean here, a squeeze of the legs there… we learn just as much about our own body as we do about riding!
• In addition to becoming more in tune with our horse physically, FreeStyle affords us the opportunity to become more mentally engaged as well. Rather than us simply leading our horses around, it becomes a real conversation. What is your horse confident about? What is he lacking confidence about? What is he seeing? What is he feeling?
FreeStyle riding is an essential component of any well-rounded horsemanship education. In fact, here at Parelli, we think it’s so important that we’ve based half of our entire in-saddle program on FreeStyle! As your riding skills improve and your horse gains confidence, you’ll have more fun together than you ever thought possible. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?
Pat
So, what are some of the benefits for your horse? Well…
• FreeStyle affords your horse the opportunity to recalibrate his self-carriage. A horse has good self-carriage when he’s out there in the pasture with nothing to carry but his mane and his tail. Where things get a little off-kilter, of course, is when you add the weight of a saddle and rider onto his back. Effective FreeStyle riding gives him the chance to straighten himself out. Because you learn how to truly ride and move with him – rather than just sitting up there – he can learn how to use his entire range of movement while being ridden.