Navigating-Piaffing-Passaging
I am quite convinced I you will soon be prompted to 'piaffe' and 'passage' Dré. But that you will also do navigating with me, no, I am not aware of that. Haha, it's nice that you don't get it, Lucy, but I've been 'navigating' with you for a long time. Navigating is a term that comes from shipping. During my only sailing trip, seasick, with my head hanging over the railing of my former boss's sailing boat, he explained to me that you can sail a boat straight into the wind by going left and right in succession. The result is that, on average, you sail straight ahead and, in the end, you end up at the place you set out to reach.
Fortunately, your horse does not see through you
Good thing Lucy, that you do not understand one iota about this way of working, because that is the intention. To go straight to our goal would create a lot of headwind. I want to fool you, yes in psychology they call it working below your level of consciousness, and I find nothing wrong with that.
Resistance of a higher order
Mijn sloftijdperk heb ik met jou nu reeds achter de rug gelaten. Ik dacht je kleine verzetjes tijdens de overgangen weg te werken door met de slof recht op het doel af te gaan, zoals dat ook met de meeste paarden succesvol kan gedaan worden. Maar van jou krijg ik toch de wind van voor, je laat je niet zomaar in het door mij gewenst patroon drukken en je laat dat ook duidelijk merken door verzet van een hogere orde. Je durft dreigen met plots blokkeren, zijdelings wegspringen of zelf steigeren.
Neen, pal ingaan tegen zo’n noorderstormen, daar moet ik niets van weten, dus zal ik je maar door deze turbulente periode heen laveren. Overgangen vragen vanuit een zeer uitgesproken buiging zullen je zeker afleiden van het geven van verzet tijdens de overgang. Vanuit een gebogen stelling heb je ook minder kracht om in te gaan tegen mijn teugelwerking en je bent voor de overgang afgeleid door wat anders.
Make as little effort as possible
Every time I ride, Lucy, I notice that you have a high intelligence and sensibility, which enables you to pick up new things very quickly. But of course, you also use this intelligence to try to evade the requests I ask of you. Annoying for me, but there is nothing abnormal about this, because every living being tries to survive with a minimum of effort. Fortunately, I know how that system works.
Allowing unwelcome behaviour?
But that 'Navigating' actually feels a bit like dancing on a tightrope. What undesirable behaviour will I tolerate and where do I set boundaries for this undesirable behaviour?
Perhaps a small example will clarify things here.
Standing still during mounting
Standing still during mounting is not your best point, Lucy. We have used plenty of pleasant reinforcements during the mounting and that is also the recommended way for most horses. Given your high temperament and reactivity, we have allowed you to go forward immediately after my right leg is swung over your back. Yes, letting you go forward? Here I am deliberately navigating. I know that staying still is the desired behaviour, but I am convinced that keeping you on the ground by all means could lead to undesirable behaviour like bucking and rearing, and I definitely want to avoid that. I know that this technique has worked very well with our stallion Tonio, who during his whole career never realised that rearing was in his dictionary.
For several months, mounting in this manner went very well, Lucy, until your great ingenuity told you that I could not get on your back if you stepped sideways away from the mounting stool that was so easy for me. And yes, a few repetitions of your behaviour, always with a higher intensity (more steps away from me), tells me that this is a deliberately undesirable behaviour, which cannot be tolerated by me. A few short annoying reinforcements (nicely said huh), clearly above your low reaction threshold, are therefore acceptable here. Yes Lucy, you are now rushing to the mounting point, as it were, where all is peace and quiet and rewards are plentiful again. Problem solved, point other line, and from now on we're all nice to each other again, right?
Enough is enough
So you see, 'Navigating' also has its limits.
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