Tag Archives: Equines

Pessoa Rein~ Georgina Roberts

 

A WORD OF CAUTION!

As helpful as gadgets may be, there is no replacement for good schooling and conditioning. Both horses and riders ultimately need to learn how to balance themselves, develop correct muscles for sustained quality, with the rider developing accurate sensitive aids. Artificial aids can assist where there is a fundamental problem and the rider is less than experienced, helping to speed this process up by allowing both parties to get the correct feel for such work. Never assume that your groom knows how to use a specific gadget – always be educated and supervise their use.

HOW DOES IT WORK

The Pessoa Rein is the only full-body gadget, i.e. does not focus solely on the neck and head position. It cannot be used while riding, but is highly effective on the lunge. It works by teaching the horse body awareness, connection from back to front, suppleness, lightness, and to push and engage the hindleg. 

WHAT HORSE WOULD BENEFIT FROM IT

It is particularly effective for horses that struggle to work through and over the back, whilst staying light in the contact. Try imagine it as teaching the horse to be “contained” in a forward bubble of movement; the second the horse leans on the bit, it will literally pull its own hindquarter further under itself. If it pushes out instead of under with the hindleg, it will immediately feel the light pressure of the rope around the hindquarter; it will also pull slightly on the bit, which is why it is important to instill the forwardness from the ground, that they never learn to correct “backwards”. It one of the best aids to use for regular lunging, and once the handler knows how to fit it very little adjusting is needed in a session – all that the handler needs be responsible for is maintaining the ratio of balance and forward tempo, and knowing which rope goes where!

HOW TO FIT IT

There are several different fittings for the Pessoa, depending on the horse’s level of training. By far the most common way for attachment is pictured: above the hock, clipped midway on the surcingle, through the bit rings, ending between the front legs. This encourages the horse to work rounder and lower, stretching the topline to encourage the “rugby ball” shape. With a more experienced and balanced horse, they can warm up like this and then have the end clips moved up to the top of the surcingle to simulate the position of the riders hands, encouraging the horse to work in a slightly more uphill frame through the wither, while still in self-carriage and pushing from behind.

WHAT TO BE CAUTIOUS OF

The feeling of containment, whilst one that we encourage more and more throughout a horse’s life, is initially a very claustrophobic one for a flight animal. Too tight, and the horse may panic and throw itself over. Too loose, and the dangly ropes are not only ineffective but a tangling risk.

Horses can learn to lean quite comfortably on themselves and may need to be pushed forward more to lighten in front. On the other side, a horse that is particularly shy in the contact will tuck his nose in and suck away from the bit, not pushing forward, as he might not like the lack of steady pressure on the mouth.

The Pessoa, being on a pulley system, can also slide a little to the horse’s favourite side. It may need to be shifted back into the correct place when changing rein, and if the horse consistently shifts it due to severe one-sidedness, then long-reining (where the handler can control the straightness directly) will be a better option.

Horses also commonly kick out at the feeling of something toughing their hocks – try not to panic, but gently push them forward. If they are reluctant to go forward, make sure that it is not too tight to begin with that they feel they can “go somewhere”, and try maintain the rhythm until the horse relaxes into the frame. If the horse wants to shoot forward away from the back rope try keeping his head bent slightly in towards you and not letting the circle get too big. If the horse is particularly sensitive about his hindquarters you can desensitise him first by lunging with a crepe bandage tied from the girth, around the hindquarters, and back to the girth. This arrangement will not change pressure with the frame, thus allowing them to get comfortable and confident working like that before upgrading to the Pessoa.

 HANDY TIPS

Colour code the ropes in the beginning if you have trouble remembering which goes where! Also remember to only put it on once in the lunging arena in case the horse does panic. The ends of the ropes can tend to fray, so to ensure longevity tape them. Make sure the pulleys turn easily and don’t jam, and once you and your horse are confident, don’t be shy to experiment with other settings: it’s a great way to develop an eye for how small changes can alter the biomechanics of your horse.

Carol Hayward Fell

Born and living in Durban, Carol has a BA Fine Arts Degree in Ceramics and a Teaching Diploma from UKZN, Pmb. She was a lecturer for several years at the Durban University of Technology, where she taught Ceramics and Ceramic History. Now, in addition to producing ceramic sculptures for exhibitions and for sale in art galleries, she also teaches Painting and Drawing privately to adults from Carolart Studio, run from her home in Durban North.

 

 

For over 20 years, Carol was renowned for making her tall, coiled intricately patterned colourful porcelain vessels and sculptures, including her “Fish Wife” series of sculptures. For these, she received achieved numerous awards and many of these works found their way into the permanent collections of Public Art Museums in South Africa. Each work has always been fully signed and often dated. Carol has always been invited to participate in many art exhibitions on an annual basis. In addition to making ceramics, she has devoted time to drawing and has produced many oil painting

HORSES

In 2006, after doing a lot of drawing and oil painting, she started her first small sculptures of horses and became immediately entranced with this wonderful subject which has been represented throughout Art History. Since then, she has concentrated on exploring this vast subject and has aimed at achieving ways of interpreting the elegance and beauty and as well as increasing the size and complexity of my horses.

 

Hand built, in high–fired Stoneware and Porcelain clay, the horses reflect her life-long interest in the Art of Ancient Civilizations; Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese etc. These ancient cultures all represented the horse quite differently and their shapes and forms have inspired many of her horses, giving them their expressive qualities; long necks, elegant heads, arched tails and slender bodies.

 

For the unique style of the white horses, she developed own technique of surface treatment. Over the dull buff stoneware clay used to construct her horses, she paints several layers of pure white porcelain clay, then she slip-trails fine intricately detailed surface textures, patterns as well as creating the decorative patterned saddlecloths. Using sharp tools, she also sometimes incises patterns through the layer of white porcelain clay to reveal the beige stoneware clay underneath.

Much of work over the years has included a humorous element and this is also reflected in the horses, especially those with other animals sitting on their backs – birds, cats, dogs, monkeys, rabbits etc, in whimsical situations. Some horses have female reclining nudes painted across their bodies.

In 2014, her work “White Horse with Vervet Monkeys, was awarded the top award, chosen by an overseas judge, as Best on Show, at the Corobrik Ceramic Association of Southern Africa’s National Ceramic Exhibition, held in Cape Town.

 

She has participated in invited exhibitions and has supplied galleries widely throughout SA and abroad in a career spanning 37 years.

 

Currently self-employed as an Artist and private Art teacher, Carol feels that she has achieved an ideal balance between teaching and creating new works. Her love of photography has also helped her accumulate a detailed documentation of almost every work she has ever made. She and her art students continue to inspire each other and she derives enormous pleasure from introducing adult beginners to art – seeing them grow fast in ability and interest. Her passion for tackling new subjects and pushing boundaries is often infectious and she is rarely daunted by technology; rather seeing how it can be used as a tool to further expose her art and that of others in her art groups to the general public.