JOHN LYONS Symposium
by Sandy Judy
Everyone has heard of John Lyons. But have you ever been to one of his symposiums or clinics? I have been to some in the past, but the one I went to last weekend was the most impressive and I thought I would share with my friends some of the things I learned and my thoughts on his methods. Be aware that unless I was to attend many, many of his sessions and read all of his books and listened to all of his tapes, I don't think even then I would fully comprehend everything he has to teach. But certainly, I can share with you what I saw in the clinics and maybe you'll find something that may help you with your horse.
I do have to admit to having read his book, subscribed to his Perfect Horse magazine, read many magazine articles and have seen some of his video tapes, so I'm sure that his ideas have percolated through my jumbled mind. They most certainly have influenced my work wth horses over the last 7 or 8 years. But the following are just a compilation of notes from his clinic in Fletcher, NC the weekend of Dec. 12 & 13 1998.
John had to keep pulling out the schedule that was printed in the NCSU short course news to see if he was covering everything he was supposed to cover. The reality is, his methods of training pretty much encompass any and all problems listed and then some. But for your info, here is the schedule:
Session 1: Teaching the horse a cue to calm down
-Controlling head elevation
-Stop rearing
-Teaching your horse to be more responsive to the bridle
Session 2: Solving riding problems
-Spooking on the trail
-Spooking in the show ring
-Solving buddy sour, ring sour and barn sour problems
-Horses that want to be first on the trail ride
Next day Session 3: Smooth transitions
-Better speed control
-Dealing w/the too fast too slow horse
-Working on Diagonals and teaching leads
-Developing shoulder control
Session 4: Teaching better stops
-Gaining control of your horse through the bridle
-How to teach a better stop
-Better canter departs
-Better lead changes
-Developing a better spin
-Neck reining
Just to be honest, I don't think ail of these things were covered specifically, but there was enough training to give you an idea how to do these on your own.
Here are my notes.
Intro (very long w/lots of analogies, little stones and jokes,)
Attitude is the most important. Always have a positive one when working with your horse. Never involve negative emotions. The horse mirrors our attitude.
Partnership. You are asking your horse when you ride to be your partner. As a business partner, your horse has all the money. He doesn't need you. You need him. You don't call your partner "a jerk" and expect him to want to give you his money for your ideas. So don't use negative names. Don't even let someone else use them about your horse.
You don't have to do it today. If you don't have time to train your horse to (for instance) load in the trailer, will you have time to call the vet (or ambulance) after he splits his (or your) head open?
1st horse (TB off track but 17 years old). My impression was that the rider knew some of what to do but her timing actually made the horse a little more anxious. And even though the horse knew the "calm down cue" the rider wasn't getting the horse to remain with it's head down. It kept speeding up and getting more excited.
John told a funny story and my note says to remember it so here it is:
If your husband was driving real fast and reckless and you were afraid for your life, could he just tell you, "Honey, just calm down. I've got it under control." And you would just calm down, right? No? Why? Because you have your own feelings. He can`[ tell you how to feel. Well, same with the horse. You can't just pet him and say every thing is going to be all right when he is afraid for his life. If your husband had a knife at your throat (like severe bit) or gave you some candy to eat to take your mind off it (that might actually work with some people) would that make you feel better? But if he gave you something to do, like some co-pilot controls, and at least acknowledged your feelings, would that help you to feel somewhat better? So if we give our horse something to do to keep busy, that he has to concentrate on, wouldn`t that be better? Keeping him in his comfort zone but continually working towards the scary thing.
If our horse's attention has time to wander it will find something to look at. We are just as bad if not worse about looking at the scary object ourselves or being afraid (remember the horse is a mirror of our emotions). Fear is a good thing. If we are afraid, we need to listen to that fear. That is your brain working. If we are afraid to ride beside the road, don't do it! But if it's just a wheelbarrow, not a bear, we can't just tell our horse not to be afraid of it. He has his feelings too. What we need to do is get him busy and not be distracted by it ourselves. John said that some people make their horses into 'pointers'. They take their horses over to the object that scares them, then pet them and let them just stand there. This rewards them for spooking and the rest from work will make them want to find more things to spook at! When you pet your horse because he's nervous and acting badly, you're telling him it's ok to be that way.
Never punish a horse. Unless, the horse is showing aggression, then use 3 second rule ( you have 3 seconds to "kill" him) Not so funny story - one man thought he said 30 minute rule
John's cue to get the horse to drop his head (or turn left or stop, or turn right or pretty much any thing) was the use of one rein. He explained that it is like a telephone, And each part of the horse is like a business. So like a phone, you don't have to use more than one, the same phone, to call a part of the horse. Then he showed us how be could get the horse to move its hindquarters with only the rein. Then the front quarters. Or to drop its head. The point being.the motivator, which is the bit on one side, is all he needed. Once the horse found the right action, he was rewarded by a release of the reins.
Motivator- creates or inspires physical change. Has to be something that focuses your horse's concentration or attention. He used an example. If he was to stick his dirty finger in your mouth, every part of your body would be focused on getting that finger out. The motivator has to be able to cause the horse to change - PAIN IS THE WORST MOTIVATOR! Don't use it. Just mild irritation is enough.
He really wasn't interested (he said) in getting the horse's attention(?) Pretty much he said, if you get the body part to go where you want with the motivetor, the attention will come.
The horse, when it had its rider on it, was throwing its head when she asked for a halt. When John rode it, he wasn't interested it letting it stop until it yielded through the neck and jaw (translation = poll joint) on one side with one rein. He later explained how this raises the shoulders. ( a shoulder-up) He also explained how the muscles would develop in the top line with consistent work like he was doing. He was taking the rein up short and holding his hand near the withers but not crossing over. And he was yielding his hand and dropping the contact when he got the poll to bend. To get the hindquarter to move over, he took the rein back towards his back pocket. Release when you get the response.
Halt and soften (release the poll), then stop the feet. Backing helps get the correct order.
Give cue and wait. Let him say "when" (don't say "now?) That gets you a surprise transition.
Definition of collection: when the rider collects his thoughts before he asks the horse to do something ( I love that!) Go through a checklist before transition. Is the head soft, are the shoulders square. Hind end tracking up straight? Then break your cue down into small stepslike lift the rein,.take the slack out etc.
1. Motivator 2. Body part - yours, be consistent. 3. Direction you want to go - horse consistent. 4 Yes answer cue - horse's concentration The horse's attention comes last.
Really only six directions you can move your horse's parts - up, down, left, right, backwards, forwards.
Do a lesson plan
Turning up the pressure does not help. If the stew in the pot is already cooking, you don`[ have to turn up the heat. But maybe just until it starts cooking. Mostly you just give the cue and wait. Start with softness.
Mild bit (he uses only a full cheek snaffle) is all you need. Helps the horse to concentrate if its not distracted by pain.
Second horse (fruitcake beautiful Arabian w/obvious psychological problems) very hyper, been to several head-setting show trainers. Rider was not the owner. She was a trainer & said she had the horse working fine several months ago but horse had gone back to owner and owner was afraid to ride it.
Utilize the movement, don't waste it! Then give it the "opportunity" to stand still. Don`t try to make it stand still If the horse needs to move, give it something to do.
He talked about fear in the human being healthy. Then asked how many people knew someone who had died while riding or working w/a horse. Almost all the people there stood up! Then he asked how many people were or knew people who were seriously hurt on a horse. Everyone stood up! Horses are, without a doubt, THE most dangerous animal besides man.
Ride your horse where you can, not where you can't. If you already know you'll have a problem with him out on the trail or at a show, why would you want to ride him there?
A straight line is perfected by left and right circles. A proper circle is a curved straight line. He showed this by continually doing serpentines with the Arabian. As soon as he quit, the horse was soooo glad to get to go straight. It's same principle as standing still. You can't make your horse stand still (or go straight) but if you keep asking it to do circles pretty soon it wants to go straight (or stand still).
He did a lot of bending the horse's head back and asking it to go away from the rein (he didn't use his leg he said) (opposite direction of bend) I think it looks like an exaggerated leg yield. The benefit is it elevates the shoulder. If the horse started to backup instead of going sideways, he would disengage the hindquarters on the opposite side w/the opposite rein while keeping the extreme bend in the neck until he got forward movement. He said he was only using the leg to get the horse to go if it got stuck. He also said he occasionally uses a dressage whip. John wasn't real confident about using the leg as his cue (my impression) to get forward movement. I think one day he might figure something else out (?) He later showed how he would like the horse just to follow his lead as in a dance.
Don't resent distractions. Use them as training opportunities. They are like a pop quiz to see how much you can keep your horse on his work.
3rd horse was a very sweet quarter horse mare. He ended up using her the rest of the day because the 4th horse was lame. Real shame to see the 4th horse. It was an incredibly built big 16H quarter horse stallion and you wouldn't have believed it was only two years old. It was not well mannered but did not act like a stud. This big redneck rode him and you could tell the horse had had a lot of hours under saddle. Probably why it was lame.
It did bother me that when John went to ride the mare, he didn't say hello or pet her. He just came up to her side while the owner held her, and tightened the girth and got on. But at least he told the big redneck he wouldn't work his horse because of it's lameness which he suggested was not in the foot but higher up.
He did a demo w/girl showing advantage of using rein only. He tried to dance with her by jabbing her in the side every time he wanted to go sideways. Then he showed how if he could just hold her hand lightly, like a rein, she would follow his steps much more easily and happily.
The more time you do nothing the less time your horse is being trained - keep doing something!
John's "it ain't natural" analogy - a River flows in its natural course like a horse runs away from something. That's natural. In training, you are like the farmer trying to dam up the river to get it to flow in to imigrate his fields - ie. you want your horse's energy channeled into doing trot, canter or whatever. You have to keep checking that dam for leaks even after you've built it. And who's to say a flood (big exciting event) might tear down your dam? Well it all depends on how strong you've made it and how well you can channel it into your imigration ditch.
Buddy sour, Barn sour etc. - keep leaving and coming back. Ride real close and work together, then start w/turning away into a tiny circle. Use obstacles to separate buddies. Mainly make them work when they are together and let them rest when they are headed apart.
Horses have a 90% retention rate over an 18 month period. Even the dumbest ones. ( I never heard this statistic, have you?)
Do not let the horse go or walk off on it's own until it wants to stop. YOU decide and stop or go before it gets to that point. Horse will then start waiting for you to tell it when to stop.
Transitions within the gait. You can't do enough of them. Try doing at least 500 every time you ride. (sounds like Dressage?)
Instead of going with the horse, he advocated leaning back behind the motion and kicking at the elbows??'~? (He didn't ride this way most of the time) He had a reason for this and I just can't remember it now.
Slow your aids down. On your mark, get set, go! Better than just GO!
On circles - when horse begins to lean, change directions·
John said he rode bridleless for years but decided it made the horse really mad (the tail was always wringing). I bought his newest audio-tape set on "Communicating with the Reins"· John really didn't do any ground work with any of the horses before he rode them. Maybe he did that in the Raleigh clinic which I didn't go to. I was glad to see that the majority of the general audience was made up of redneck cowboys who need to learn not to beat their horses and put tie downs on them· I was disappointed not to recognize many dressage, hunter or event riders but maybe they were camouflaged in cowboy boots and hats. I highly recommend his Symposiums or videos, but get the latest releases because he has changed some of the ways be does stuff. But don't be like me and think you know what he's doing if you haven't seen him. And I would be hard pressed to spend money taking a horse to him. You might not get your money's worth and then again you might get more than you bargained for.
