Developed by legendary Show Jumper Nelson Pessoa, the Pessoa Training Aid is considered by many to be an essential tool for every horseman. Working in harmony with the horse; it persuades and suggests, helping the horse to find its optimum balance and rhythm.
Typical schooling aids often create a rigid contact with the horse’s mouth. In contrast, the Pessoa Training Aid recognised that to work correctly a fluid contact is required to accommodate individual movements. This is created by a series of sympathetic ropes and pulleys that are used while lunging to encourage the horse to work in the perfect shape.
When developing the Training Aid, Nelson Pessoa acknowledged that a horse’s all important back muscles need to be free when working to achieve that all desired balance and impulsion. The Pessoa Training Aid promotes this philosophy and, therefore, supports the development of back muscles in all horses. Ideally, work with the Pessoa Training Aid should begin when the horse is young.
Regular use of the Pessoa Training Aid as part of a horse’s training routine will help develop the free forward flowing paces required to succeed in all competitive spheres. The Pessoa Training Aid should be gradually introduced into a work regime, starting in walk, then trot and finally when the horse is settled, canter. The Pessoa Training Aid works at its best when used regularly for short periods of time.
The Pessoa Training Aid offers a range of settings. The lower positions work the horse’s back muscles in isolation. Once the horse is relaxed and working freely at the lower positions, higher positions can be introduced, which work the back muscles and the muscles at the base of the neck in conjunction.
The system of ropes and pulleys used encourages the horse to take weight off the forehand and work through his back, bringing his hindquarters underneath him and consequently finding balance and flexibility.
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