Hi folks,
More blogs coming soon, I PROMISE. I've started two that I need to finish. But for now, I wanted to give you a little treat. Or...well..I think it's a treat, I'll let you make the final judgment ;)
Below is a video of me playing with Sunny on the day that I took her home. She taught me lots while she was here. Some of the big things were being in the moment, as well as an acute sensitivity to personal space, and understanding comfort/discomfort motivation to a new level. I'm very proud of what the two of us were able to accomplish in our time together, and I hope that her owner finds as much joy in playing with her as I did :)
Please let me know what you think!
Photo by Margaret Chant and edited by Jessica Metropulos
Showing posts with label LBE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LBE. Show all posts
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Ohio Recap Pt 1: Processing, etc
This week has been a far cry from break-through week. I've learned since being at the Parelli Center, that more often than not, "seeds" of knowledge are planted in your head, and you've just got to trust that they'll come about and grow when the time is right. I knew this lesson wouldn't be an exception to that, so instead of going out and immediately trying everything that Linda had us playing with, I've opted to take a slower approach, and allow the information to sink in as I go S-L-O-W-L-Y with Cresty.
The main things we HAVE played with have been finding responsibility and asking questions with the Patterns. That's something that I was confident enough in to begin with that I feel like I can support him through it. For those that weren't in OH, basically Linda commented that Crest wasn't asking many questions online, and that I was greatly over-using my stick to micromanage him though the motions, but he wasn't really thinking about the pattern. Using the figure 8 pattern, Linda had me interrupting Crest's pattern of continuing to circle, and then send him through the cones, and tag the center of the pattern...that way if he didn't put effort into it, he'd get tagged. 
That's going well, today will be magic session #4, and I'm sure, just like with everything else, that we will begin seeing some understanding. Our previous 3 sessions have provided some small changes (the first session being the one some of you saw in OH), I'm having to interrupt him coming around the cones a lot lighter and less often, and he knows what he's supposed to do when I do, so I HARDLY have to bring my energy up and he goes through the cones. I call it success :)
So for now, keep it natural. Stay tuned for a Part 2, and who knows how many more! Stay savvy!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Oh, My Extroverts!
Today's play was an interesting wake-up call to me with regard to two of my little herd. I am innately a Left-Brain Extrovert, and though I'm pretty adequate at handling all the horsenalities, I've always been partial to my left-brain horses, particularly the extroverts, recently (though it used to be LBIs, hands down! Thanks Prin!). Today's events revolved around two fascinating (and perplexing, in some cases) sessions with two of my horses--and involved my digging deep into my savvy quiver at points.
I started my afternoon out with a half an hour long session with little LB. It's been a long time since I've put any effort into LB's development, simply for time's sake. LB is QUITE the little extrovert, and what little time I've put on her has been centered around developing obedience--something, she taught me right off the bat, that doesn't last unless she's played with consistently. Note to self...
LB's version of disobedience--she was supposed to be trotting a circle!
We played with developing obedience and smoothness on the 22' line. LB's circling game particularly has lots to improve upon, the little rascal likes to circle with her nose IN THE AIR, tilted away from me. My usual strategy for dealing with this is actually to just hold my hand closed and firm with as little rope as possible, and then release on the slightest try, but LB wanted none of it. I have NEVER had that strategy not work, most horses get tired of carrying themselves incorrectly within a couple laps and start to relax--not her! I isolated it as a broken porcupine, and inspected some other areas--broken draw in yo-yo, broken bring-back on the circle, and decided I needed to focus on porcupining the front end.
We started with basic L1 porcupine games, and moved on to other things while in motion--I used the figure-8 pattern to my advantage, looking to continue the pattern until she showed signs of obedience. I was very impressed with her persistence, I must say--she came up with about 28 ways NOT to do the figure 8 pattern, but all of a sudden, she just fell into a rhythm. I got several repetitions of very soft, pretty, obedient pattern, and brought her in. I unhaltered her, and she started offering to do some things at liberty on her own, which I thought was pretty darn neat! We played for another couple of minutes before I put her back and went for my next playmate.
I played with Crest, next. Crest was VERY emotional today--whether it was the weather, the fact that I was still a bit mentally bound up over my session with LB, or just because that's how he was meant to be today, I don't know. But he started out by telling me quite plainly that he NEEDED to move his feet. I obliged, and let him move about at the end of my 45' line. That was not probably the best move on my part--had I been more on my game, I might have put him on a pattern or something, so as to keep his mind occupied. Anyway, it ended fine, he just took a little longer to focus.
We played a lot online, focusing on walk/canter/walk transitions (hoping this'll transfer to our riding), and then moving to long-line driving--which he is now the champion of. I'm still a bit clumsy when it comes to changing bend/flow from side to side on circles, and it bothers him a little, I think. I'm pretty sure it just breaks down to a communication slip--my timing isn't perfect yet, and Crest is so sensitive that we're just missing something by a hair. I'll keep playing with it and let you know how it goes--I think I'll probably use the figure 8 pattern here, too. It's a pattern he knows well (he's playing in L4) so that buys me some opportunity to work on myself without worrying about him. We shall see how it goes.
I got on his back for a few minutes and just focused on isolations again--my GOODNESS he's getting light! I got several GORGEOUS 180 degree rollbacks using practically nothing, and he's getting this super speedy, but super controlled backup going, too. What a neato horse!
So, that's pretty much it for today. I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open right now. Again, I'm very wordy, but I hope I gave you at least a little insight into my day--again, feedback is welcome if you wish :)
Savvy on, I'm off for BED!
I started my afternoon out with a half an hour long session with little LB. It's been a long time since I've put any effort into LB's development, simply for time's sake. LB is QUITE the little extrovert, and what little time I've put on her has been centered around developing obedience--something, she taught me right off the bat, that doesn't last unless she's played with consistently. Note to self...
LB's version of disobedience--she was supposed to be trotting a circle!
We played with developing obedience and smoothness on the 22' line. LB's circling game particularly has lots to improve upon, the little rascal likes to circle with her nose IN THE AIR, tilted away from me. My usual strategy for dealing with this is actually to just hold my hand closed and firm with as little rope as possible, and then release on the slightest try, but LB wanted none of it. I have NEVER had that strategy not work, most horses get tired of carrying themselves incorrectly within a couple laps and start to relax--not her! I isolated it as a broken porcupine, and inspected some other areas--broken draw in yo-yo, broken bring-back on the circle, and decided I needed to focus on porcupining the front end.
We started with basic L1 porcupine games, and moved on to other things while in motion--I used the figure-8 pattern to my advantage, looking to continue the pattern until she showed signs of obedience. I was very impressed with her persistence, I must say--she came up with about 28 ways NOT to do the figure 8 pattern, but all of a sudden, she just fell into a rhythm. I got several repetitions of very soft, pretty, obedient pattern, and brought her in. I unhaltered her, and she started offering to do some things at liberty on her own, which I thought was pretty darn neat! We played for another couple of minutes before I put her back and went for my next playmate.
I played with Crest, next. Crest was VERY emotional today--whether it was the weather, the fact that I was still a bit mentally bound up over my session with LB, or just because that's how he was meant to be today, I don't know. But he started out by telling me quite plainly that he NEEDED to move his feet. I obliged, and let him move about at the end of my 45' line. That was not probably the best move on my part--had I been more on my game, I might have put him on a pattern or something, so as to keep his mind occupied. Anyway, it ended fine, he just took a little longer to focus.
We played a lot online, focusing on walk/canter/walk transitions (hoping this'll transfer to our riding), and then moving to long-line driving--which he is now the champion of. I'm still a bit clumsy when it comes to changing bend/flow from side to side on circles, and it bothers him a little, I think. I'm pretty sure it just breaks down to a communication slip--my timing isn't perfect yet, and Crest is so sensitive that we're just missing something by a hair. I'll keep playing with it and let you know how it goes--I think I'll probably use the figure 8 pattern here, too. It's a pattern he knows well (he's playing in L4) so that buys me some opportunity to work on myself without worrying about him. We shall see how it goes.
I got on his back for a few minutes and just focused on isolations again--my GOODNESS he's getting light! I got several GORGEOUS 180 degree rollbacks using practically nothing, and he's getting this super speedy, but super controlled backup going, too. What a neato horse!
So, that's pretty much it for today. I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open right now. Again, I'm very wordy, but I hope I gave you at least a little insight into my day--again, feedback is welcome if you wish :)
Savvy on, I'm off for BED!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Principle #7...In So Many Ways!
Here it is, as promised, the beginnings of what I hope can actually be an account of my sessions again. Bear with me, awkwardness may ensue, I've really taken up the life of an introvert in the world of my ponies--really focusing on learning for me.
Today, my friend Jessy, a very driven and enthusiastic L2 student, came down to spend a day learning and playing with me. She was partnered with Prin, and I chose to play with Crest, since he's had almost 3 weeks off.
Jessy has a LBI of her own, and so her focus in playing with Prin is to learn to motivate an LBI that already knows her responsibilities (Principle #7: Horses teach people and people teach horses), as well as to just plain ol' advance her horsemanship. Prin proved to be an excellent teacher today. Jessy learned immediately that being slow and particular (and slower, and slower and slower) is a valuable tool in motivating Prin. We showed her some things, too, the difference between Prin's just doing the task, and putting effort into it. Jessy hopped on later, and discovered, much to her dismay, that she and Prin had a communication breakdown.
I've got to segue here for a moment: Even though Prin is playing late into L4, she's still my horse--she doesn't ride the way she does for me with anyone else, and for that, I'm extremely grateful. She's by no means dangerous, but she will expose holes in communication effectively. I'm so grateful to have her as my partner in teaching, as well as my personal horsemanship journey! Anyway!
Jessy was a little upset, I think at having my horse test her. She felt there was a BIG roadblock in front of her. Something to prevent her from progressing. At this point, I introduced her to the concept of Isolate, Separate, and Recombine. Through this, Jessy figured out that she and Prin had not established a strong enough driving or porcupine game on the ground. This gave Jessy the ideas she needed, and she got off, and set to establishing that communication with more refinement. I'll be interested to see how their relationship develops from this knowledge and new set of tools.
Meanwhile, I had one HECK of a session with Crest. He's had about 3 weeks off now, 3 weeks in which he must have sat and come up with a zillion ways to make me laugh. I put him on the 45' line today, and though he was wild and crazy, he just wanted to play with ME! We spent the better part of 20 minutes just running around being sassy. Crest was jumping, kicking, rearing, bucking, striking at the air, tossing his head, and overall just showing off and feelin' fine. Throughout this magnificent display of athleticism, however, Crest maintained contact with me, and eventually, I was able to take his energy and "Shwung" and put it to something productive--using two lines in driving reins, we were able to achieve several strides of passage (which were STUNNING...I wouldn't have believed it, except that two other people saw it as well), as well as a couple of lovely flying changes (complete with head toss and body flail), as well as just some beautiful round, Andalusian-looking movement, transitions, etc.
I also got on his back briefly, and we played with HQ/FQ isolations (He's learning to SPIN, too cool!) and also being particular with all things walk. He's getting his pleasure-horse walk down so nicely, even with the time off. Hooray for emotional fitness development in the world's most emotional horse!
So...That's it for today's session. Fun was had by all, I think everyone learned a ton. In reading back on this, I think my personal homework I'm going to take from all this is that I should how to express what I learned in half the text--jeepers, I'm wordy!
Anyway, stay savvy, play often, have fun, and let me know what you think! I'm off for bed!
Today, my friend Jessy, a very driven and enthusiastic L2 student, came down to spend a day learning and playing with me. She was partnered with Prin, and I chose to play with Crest, since he's had almost 3 weeks off.
Jessy has a LBI of her own, and so her focus in playing with Prin is to learn to motivate an LBI that already knows her responsibilities (Principle #7: Horses teach people and people teach horses), as well as to just plain ol' advance her horsemanship. Prin proved to be an excellent teacher today. Jessy learned immediately that being slow and particular (and slower, and slower and slower) is a valuable tool in motivating Prin. We showed her some things, too, the difference between Prin's just doing the task, and putting effort into it. Jessy hopped on later, and discovered, much to her dismay, that she and Prin had a communication breakdown.
I've got to segue here for a moment: Even though Prin is playing late into L4, she's still my horse--she doesn't ride the way she does for me with anyone else, and for that, I'm extremely grateful. She's by no means dangerous, but she will expose holes in communication effectively. I'm so grateful to have her as my partner in teaching, as well as my personal horsemanship journey! Anyway!
Jessy was a little upset, I think at having my horse test her. She felt there was a BIG roadblock in front of her. Something to prevent her from progressing. At this point, I introduced her to the concept of Isolate, Separate, and Recombine. Through this, Jessy figured out that she and Prin had not established a strong enough driving or porcupine game on the ground. This gave Jessy the ideas she needed, and she got off, and set to establishing that communication with more refinement. I'll be interested to see how their relationship develops from this knowledge and new set of tools.
Meanwhile, I had one HECK of a session with Crest. He's had about 3 weeks off now, 3 weeks in which he must have sat and come up with a zillion ways to make me laugh. I put him on the 45' line today, and though he was wild and crazy, he just wanted to play with ME! We spent the better part of 20 minutes just running around being sassy. Crest was jumping, kicking, rearing, bucking, striking at the air, tossing his head, and overall just showing off and feelin' fine. Throughout this magnificent display of athleticism, however, Crest maintained contact with me, and eventually, I was able to take his energy and "Shwung" and put it to something productive--using two lines in driving reins, we were able to achieve several strides of passage (which were STUNNING...I wouldn't have believed it, except that two other people saw it as well), as well as a couple of lovely flying changes (complete with head toss and body flail), as well as just some beautiful round, Andalusian-looking movement, transitions, etc.
I also got on his back briefly, and we played with HQ/FQ isolations (He's learning to SPIN, too cool!) and also being particular with all things walk. He's getting his pleasure-horse walk down so nicely, even with the time off. Hooray for emotional fitness development in the world's most emotional horse!
So...That's it for today's session. Fun was had by all, I think everyone learned a ton. In reading back on this, I think my personal homework I'm going to take from all this is that I should how to express what I learned in half the text--jeepers, I'm wordy!
Anyway, stay savvy, play often, have fun, and let me know what you think! I'm off for bed!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
While I've Been Gone...
Hi all,
Okay, so it's been approximately forever since I last blogged. My apologies, but if it makes you feel any better, my parents have heard about the same amount from me as you have. Life is insane!
So what have I been doing? Playing with horses, teaching lessons, trimming feet, going to playdays, giving first rides. All kinds of crazy stuff.
So, I guess the last time I thought about blogging, but didn't, was last weekend. My darling friend Jessica came down from Mosinee to spend the weekend horsin' around with the Pepin crowd. We played ponies, trimmed feet, and all around had a great time.
Next I went out to her place for a day, where we did her horse's feet, and then I went over to Anne's, trimmed Blixen, who proceeded to prance around like the little stud muffin he is. Anne says she's never seen him trot or canter after a trim before...we got an entire rodeo show! Amazing what can happen when heels are level and bars kept in check ;)
Last week was the week of insaneness. I had lessons every day except for Thursday, with Tuesday being my craziest, with 4 in one day. I'm really enjoying teaching these days, it's getting more and more fun as my ability to see things, especially tiny little subtleties (that make all the difference) improves.
Yesterday, I went to a demo/playday with one of my students. Since my student lives a distance from me (over an hour), I didn't bring Prin, but I took her little AraAppaloosa gelding, Elvis, to play with. Elvis is s a trip, because he's basically a Mini-Crest. At any rate, everyone played, and enjoyed connecting and hanging out with other savvy folks. Pics:
Me with Elvis
Matador/Mirror games-Me on Elvis, Jenifer on Mamma
So...how good is YOUR squeeze game?
Jenifer and Mamma
About to backflip off. I landed on my knees, because El is so small, (14.2ish) it doesn't allow for much time for my feet to unfold--I'm used to Prin, who's 16.1-lol
This guy gave a Reining Demo and talk
And he wonders why his horse is on the forehand?
Spinning--I had to chuckle, he was struggling to get a good plant in the hind, but kept leaning forward as the horse spun.
My personal favorite.
Standing.
Other than that, I've been at home, improving myself and my horses. I'm in the process of doing some intensive fluidity/saddle fit study, that I'll report on when I finish up.
Last night I had an...erm...interesting...session with both my girls. I took them out to start playing with some double stuff with them (the entire reason I got LB in the first place), only to find that number one, Prin is not thrilled about playing side by side with something 1/4 her size, number 2, Prin can sense "tired and cranky" a mile away, number 3, so can LB, and number 4, that DOES NOT END WELL! Hehehe. But, I did get some pictures, none-the-less.
First with Prin, Liberty in the big field (My mom's timing was about as awake as I was-lol):
Playing the Cutting game
About to do a spin, actually.
Not entirely sure...by the looks of what my legs are doing, sideways?
Both of us on our HQ...cute.
And Now LB, in the Round pen, showing off her stuff-hehe
If it were any other horse, there'd be panic...
Lying down :)
Sit! Farrah has seen this now, too, so I am officially a member of the Sitting Horse Tribe--yay!
She's learned to roll over and do this on command...SO FUNNY
And...a kiss?
This week is shaping up to be about as crazy as last week, too. I have a lesson today, a couple tomorrow, at least 3, maybe 4 or 5 on Tuesday (schedule pending), one on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, Prin and I leave with Farrah again. We'll be with Farrah for about 5 weeks, and we'll be "touring the upper mid-west" so to speak. She's got clinics in IA, MN, and WI, as well as the Madison celebration and The Horse First grand opening, and I'll be tagging along in the role of assistant, which is always a grand time, a fantastic learning experience, and overall lotsa fun!
So, that's all for now, I'm not sure when I'll update again. Could be this week, or it could be into June. I'll be in touch, though!
Okay, so it's been approximately forever since I last blogged. My apologies, but if it makes you feel any better, my parents have heard about the same amount from me as you have. Life is insane!
So what have I been doing? Playing with horses, teaching lessons, trimming feet, going to playdays, giving first rides. All kinds of crazy stuff.
So, I guess the last time I thought about blogging, but didn't, was last weekend. My darling friend Jessica came down from Mosinee to spend the weekend horsin' around with the Pepin crowd. We played ponies, trimmed feet, and all around had a great time.
Next I went out to her place for a day, where we did her horse's feet, and then I went over to Anne's, trimmed Blixen, who proceeded to prance around like the little stud muffin he is. Anne says she's never seen him trot or canter after a trim before...we got an entire rodeo show! Amazing what can happen when heels are level and bars kept in check ;)
Last week was the week of insaneness. I had lessons every day except for Thursday, with Tuesday being my craziest, with 4 in one day. I'm really enjoying teaching these days, it's getting more and more fun as my ability to see things, especially tiny little subtleties (that make all the difference) improves.
Yesterday, I went to a demo/playday with one of my students. Since my student lives a distance from me (over an hour), I didn't bring Prin, but I took her little AraAppaloosa gelding, Elvis, to play with. Elvis is s a trip, because he's basically a Mini-Crest. At any rate, everyone played, and enjoyed connecting and hanging out with other savvy folks. Pics:
Me with Elvis
Matador/Mirror games-Me on Elvis, Jenifer on Mamma
So...how good is YOUR squeeze game?
Jenifer and Mamma
About to backflip off. I landed on my knees, because El is so small, (14.2ish) it doesn't allow for much time for my feet to unfold--I'm used to Prin, who's 16.1-lol
This guy gave a Reining Demo and talk
And he wonders why his horse is on the forehand?
Spinning--I had to chuckle, he was struggling to get a good plant in the hind, but kept leaning forward as the horse spun.
My personal favorite.
Standing.
Other than that, I've been at home, improving myself and my horses. I'm in the process of doing some intensive fluidity/saddle fit study, that I'll report on when I finish up.
Last night I had an...erm...interesting...session with both my girls. I took them out to start playing with some double stuff with them (the entire reason I got LB in the first place), only to find that number one, Prin is not thrilled about playing side by side with something 1/4 her size, number 2, Prin can sense "tired and cranky" a mile away, number 3, so can LB, and number 4, that DOES NOT END WELL! Hehehe. But, I did get some pictures, none-the-less.
First with Prin, Liberty in the big field (My mom's timing was about as awake as I was-lol):
Playing the Cutting game
About to do a spin, actually.
Not entirely sure...by the looks of what my legs are doing, sideways?
Both of us on our HQ...cute.
And Now LB, in the Round pen, showing off her stuff-hehe
If it were any other horse, there'd be panic...
Lying down :)
Sit! Farrah has seen this now, too, so I am officially a member of the Sitting Horse Tribe--yay!
She's learned to roll over and do this on command...SO FUNNY
And...a kiss?
This week is shaping up to be about as crazy as last week, too. I have a lesson today, a couple tomorrow, at least 3, maybe 4 or 5 on Tuesday (schedule pending), one on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, Prin and I leave with Farrah again. We'll be with Farrah for about 5 weeks, and we'll be "touring the upper mid-west" so to speak. She's got clinics in IA, MN, and WI, as well as the Madison celebration and The Horse First grand opening, and I'll be tagging along in the role of assistant, which is always a grand time, a fantastic learning experience, and overall lotsa fun!
So, that's all for now, I'm not sure when I'll update again. Could be this week, or it could be into June. I'll be in touch, though!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Spotty Girls!
Had a lovely lesson with Phoebe and the mini today. They started playing with some patterns, as well as using the 7 games for obstacles. It was truly a treat to watch, and I was fortunate enough to have my camera with me. Here's some of the best pix I got. Enjoy!
They're both thinking the same thing..."Can I keep her?"
LB is a quick study, and with Phoebe's help, learned to operate your standard jacket zipper--here she takes a break after zipping up :)
In action!
My "Coco-esque" shot of the day--and the actual picture doesn't cut off the poor horse's eyes. Click on it to view full size.
One foot?
Two foot?
Ta-da!
Itchy-itchy!
Cute as buttons-lol
MINI JUMPER! Part of my new logo...Coming soon ;)
Let me know whatcha think :D
They're both thinking the same thing..."Can I keep her?"
LB is a quick study, and with Phoebe's help, learned to operate your standard jacket zipper--here she takes a break after zipping up :)
In action!
My "Coco-esque" shot of the day--and the actual picture doesn't cut off the poor horse's eyes. Click on it to view full size.
One foot?
Two foot?
Ta-da!
Itchy-itchy!
Cute as buttons-lol
MINI JUMPER! Part of my new logo...Coming soon ;)
Let me know whatcha think :D
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Life's a Dance...
Especially when you're riding Crest out for the first time all year :)
I had a VERY successful horsey afternoon with my kids. First of all, I did a practice-film of my L3/4 online audition. It was really good quality as far as play went, but the footing was so terrible that I could hardly ask her to canter, and thus could not submit it for L3/4 had I wanted to. But that's okay with me for now. The intention was not to ace it, but to get a feel for what needed doing, and how I might go about it when the footing was good. And honestly, I LOVED it. I was disappointed when my camera-person called the 8 minute warning ("I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO SHOW!" was my thought)and I feel really confident in filming when the ground hardens (a week or two, yay) So I'm really glad I got that taken care of :)
After that, I went out on a really lovely ride with Micky and our mutual friend Sarah. Sarah took Prin, who was a gem, Micky rode Amigo (she's decided to do this more often, we could tell he missed being out), and I took Crest, which brings me to my title line. Today was our first "real" ride out this year, and Crest was...well...a total LBE-on-adrenaline dancing queen. I had saddled him up in the fluidity (MAN I MISSED MY SADDLE!) and had a new bit I wanted to try with him. He was fantastic, behavior wise, but totally high on life and thus very hard to ride because of his perpetual bounce tendencies, that were magnified by 10. The result? A passaging, dressaging, haunches-inning Warmblood-wanna-be who had ALL the moves.
I kept track, and Crest performed like 4 grand-prix level dressage maneuvers when asked, simply because it involved being fancy. I got like 150 yards of lovely passage, a hilarious set of VERY collected tempi-changes, and about 3/4 of a canter pirouette. How funny *eye roll*
So all in all, a very nice ride. Fun was had by all, and I'm really looking forward to progressing with Crest, now that his TRUE athletic ability has been revealed-LOL.
Savvy on, I'm off to bed EARLY tonight :D
I had a VERY successful horsey afternoon with my kids. First of all, I did a practice-film of my L3/4 online audition. It was really good quality as far as play went, but the footing was so terrible that I could hardly ask her to canter, and thus could not submit it for L3/4 had I wanted to. But that's okay with me for now. The intention was not to ace it, but to get a feel for what needed doing, and how I might go about it when the footing was good. And honestly, I LOVED it. I was disappointed when my camera-person called the 8 minute warning ("I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO SHOW!" was my thought)and I feel really confident in filming when the ground hardens (a week or two, yay) So I'm really glad I got that taken care of :)
After that, I went out on a really lovely ride with Micky and our mutual friend Sarah. Sarah took Prin, who was a gem, Micky rode Amigo (she's decided to do this more often, we could tell he missed being out), and I took Crest, which brings me to my title line. Today was our first "real" ride out this year, and Crest was...well...a total LBE-on-adrenaline dancing queen. I had saddled him up in the fluidity (MAN I MISSED MY SADDLE!) and had a new bit I wanted to try with him. He was fantastic, behavior wise, but totally high on life and thus very hard to ride because of his perpetual bounce tendencies, that were magnified by 10. The result? A passaging, dressaging, haunches-inning Warmblood-wanna-be who had ALL the moves.
I kept track, and Crest performed like 4 grand-prix level dressage maneuvers when asked, simply because it involved being fancy. I got like 150 yards of lovely passage, a hilarious set of VERY collected tempi-changes, and about 3/4 of a canter pirouette. How funny *eye roll*
So all in all, a very nice ride. Fun was had by all, and I'm really looking forward to progressing with Crest, now that his TRUE athletic ability has been revealed-LOL.
Savvy on, I'm off to bed EARLY tonight :D
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
"These Are MY Carrots!"
I had the most hilarious session with LB and one of my young students today. This won't be a real long post simply because you really HAD to be there to truly grasp the adorable hilarity, but it's well worth sharing.
Phoebe (my student) is a very precocious little individual, and extremely talented young rider, and also blossoming as a horse-woman, too. She's a quick learner, very LBE, and is really quite fun to teach. She has Mini/Shetland pony crosses at home, and so has taken quite a liking to little LB. Watching the two of them interact is really hilarious because it's stubborn snotty kid vs stubborn snotty kid. Occasionally, one of them needs a slight correction, but for the most part, they duke it out in sibling-rivalry fashion, and they're both smiling and laughing at the end.
So. Today, Phoebe brought several large bags of baby carrots to the farm to share with the herd. Instead of getting caught up in the middle of the herd of 13, she just dumped piles here and there along the fence-line. Saaaavvyyy. Anyway, she made a separate pile off to the side for LB, but then haltered her up after not much time at it, so there were a few left.
We proceeded to start our lesson, a review of the 7 games etc, and mostly focus on games 5, 6, and 7, since both Phoebe and LB need help there. Things were going extremely well. LB is a VERY smart little LBE, and she picks up on things super quickly. But, she's also got a naughty streak, so I decided in order to set the situation up for success in the circling game, I'd plant myself near enough the pile o' carrots that she could stop and eat them when the time was right.
Boy, did that backfire on me. I always forget, food motivation only truly works with LBIs. Sure, she likes her carrots, but her main source of incentive is play (and naughty thoughts!)So...I send LB out in a circle--Buck,squeal, buck, squeal, buck--and then she comes to the pile of carrots, screeches to a halt, lies down, and starts rolling on them, then leaps up and takes off bucking and squealing again. She repeats this cycle 5 times, each time, stopping at the carrots, dropping, and rolling on them. So I pass her off to Phoebe, and the same thing happens.
By this time, all 3 of us (Phoebe, her mom, and I) are gaping in disbelief, and Phoebe's mom says in a baby-talk voice (personifying LB): "You guys, these are MY carrots! MINE! And I like how they smell!"...indeed. My little snot was being possessive of her carrots!
Anyway, the rest of the lesson went well. At the end, I sent Phoebe and LB into the playground and told them "use your 7 games, and go play with the obstacles."...that was a treat to watch, the imagination of a 10 yr old at work partnered with a young mischievous Miniature horse. They did some really fantastic stuff, and they both appeared to just be having a ball. I have to bring my camera sometime. They're just fantastic.
So anyway, I just wanted to share that little story. That little partnership is coming along so nicely, and it's truly a treat to guide it :)
Savvy on!
Phoebe (my student) is a very precocious little individual, and extremely talented young rider, and also blossoming as a horse-woman, too. She's a quick learner, very LBE, and is really quite fun to teach. She has Mini/Shetland pony crosses at home, and so has taken quite a liking to little LB. Watching the two of them interact is really hilarious because it's stubborn snotty kid vs stubborn snotty kid. Occasionally, one of them needs a slight correction, but for the most part, they duke it out in sibling-rivalry fashion, and they're both smiling and laughing at the end.
So. Today, Phoebe brought several large bags of baby carrots to the farm to share with the herd. Instead of getting caught up in the middle of the herd of 13, she just dumped piles here and there along the fence-line. Saaaavvyyy. Anyway, she made a separate pile off to the side for LB, but then haltered her up after not much time at it, so there were a few left.
We proceeded to start our lesson, a review of the 7 games etc, and mostly focus on games 5, 6, and 7, since both Phoebe and LB need help there. Things were going extremely well. LB is a VERY smart little LBE, and she picks up on things super quickly. But, she's also got a naughty streak, so I decided in order to set the situation up for success in the circling game, I'd plant myself near enough the pile o' carrots that she could stop and eat them when the time was right.
Boy, did that backfire on me. I always forget, food motivation only truly works with LBIs. Sure, she likes her carrots, but her main source of incentive is play (and naughty thoughts!)So...I send LB out in a circle--Buck,squeal, buck, squeal, buck--and then she comes to the pile of carrots, screeches to a halt, lies down, and starts rolling on them, then leaps up and takes off bucking and squealing again. She repeats this cycle 5 times, each time, stopping at the carrots, dropping, and rolling on them. So I pass her off to Phoebe, and the same thing happens.
By this time, all 3 of us (Phoebe, her mom, and I) are gaping in disbelief, and Phoebe's mom says in a baby-talk voice (personifying LB): "You guys, these are MY carrots! MINE! And I like how they smell!"...indeed. My little snot was being possessive of her carrots!
Anyway, the rest of the lesson went well. At the end, I sent Phoebe and LB into the playground and told them "use your 7 games, and go play with the obstacles."...that was a treat to watch, the imagination of a 10 yr old at work partnered with a young mischievous Miniature horse. They did some really fantastic stuff, and they both appeared to just be having a ball. I have to bring my camera sometime. They're just fantastic.
So anyway, I just wanted to share that little story. That little partnership is coming along so nicely, and it's truly a treat to guide it :)
Savvy on!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mirror, Mirror...
"Mirror, mirror, tell me true. I see me when I see you. Am I patient? Am I kind? You'll tell me, 'cause you don't lie...Horses don't lie!"
~Mary Ann Kennedy in "Mirror, Mirror"
In Parelli, we are all taught early on that our horse is our mirror. Most of the time (at least in a lot of cases) we hear it, we say we understand, and we probably do, to a point. But usually we really realize it when some experience comes and slaps us in the face, and we go "Oh my GOD, reflection of myself much?". I've had several big experiences like that, and a lot of little ones, and they're sometimes exciting, and other times a little bitter to swallow. Today, I had a really blinding one. A "how-the-hell-could-I-have-missed-it?!" type of experience. But before I explain, I need to give some background information.
My mom and I do not get along. It's not something I'm going to whine about, I've accepted it. But it's important to know that, and also to know why for this story. I am a very strong-willed person. I don't take no for an answer, I'm stubborn as a mule, I am overly-sensitive and easily offended, and am often viewed as arrogant, defiant and self-centered. My mom is very structured and has a very clear image of what she wants in life. She's quieter, and a lot of times, is motivated to do things out of the fear of losing that structure. She comes off a lot of times as judgmental, and especially around me, has extremely high standards and sometimes overlooks everything that is well done, because she gets tunnel vision toward a goal (gee, she doesn't sound human, does she?). I don't blame her for it at all, but I end up very frustrated, unmotivated and asking "Why should I?" around her a lot of the time, particularly recently, for reasons that I won't get into.
Anyway, today I set out to play with Prin. I pulled out my 45' line, and we went off into the slop (yay for 50 and sunny!) to play with some things. The session started out okay, but not nearly what I had hoped for. She was a bit unresponsive, but ever more so, she lacked draw entirely. Now, being that I've totally adjusted my focus to the relationship, I stopped as soon as the backward S pattern wasn't effective, and went "Why isn't she wanting to draw?"...the obvious answer is "I'm doing something that makes her not want to be around me." But WHAT?! Hmmm...
So I decided to play a bit more, and examine my behavior while I did it. I sent her out on a circle, with my goal to just have her trot loosely toward the end of the 45' line. Now, by all standards, my horse did it. But she wasn't trotting with biomechanical correctness, so I asked her ribs over. She swished her tail and leaned into the halter. "How RUDE!" I thought...so I asked her to go sideways "Fine, go sideways then!" More tail swishing, and then she SHOT sideways away from me, and about pulled me off my feet. My exact thought process was laughable: "MY GOD, Prin, don't take that so PERSONALLY, I merely suggested that you might be more comfortable if...OH MY GOD...PRIN IS REACTING LIKE ME AND I AM ACTING JUST LIKE MY MOTHER!" How about THAT for a self-imposed knife in the gut?! Could I get any more nit-picky?! I mean, Prin and I are at a point where it's okay for me to focus on the physical, but to not even acknowledge the try first and let her settle in? That couldn't be more like my mother's relationship with me!
I stopped, brought my horse in, and proceeded to burst out laughing. I couldn't be mad at that! It was so simple! My horse is my mirror. Of course. How could I have missed it? Even the defiant looks she was giving ME were ones I was familiar with from doing them myself! (Talk about an interesting attitude shift on the thought "WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE!") I had been nit-picking the ENTIRE session, not allowing and recognizing a try, and certainly not thinking about what would make her feel good and excited about performing for me. And the more I thought, the more I realized why prior sessions had gone well or not. All my good sessions in recent times have been when I've sacrificed my leadership and given Prin "The 51%" so to speak, and let her choose what she wanted to do, and then I had just slipped in and molded it a little. All the ones that had gone poorly were like this one; my critic persona and I had taken over the session. No wonder Prin's feedback had gotten more outspoken. You should hear the things I've said to my mother recently! OH BOY!
I had been talking to one of my instructors last night, and she suggested (since my mom and I have been fighting) that I stick close to my horse, because her feedback could be trusted to be honest and unbiased. Honest and unbiased indeed (and slice of humble pie too, while you're at it!). While it was alarming, and a bit amusing, I know it was the key I needed, because of course, it worked! Immediately that I realized what I was doing, and consciously went "Wow, I'm not fond of that image, how do I change?", Prin said "THANK YOU!" and let all the tension and brace out of her mind and body. We proceeded to finish up with some of the best long-line driving we've ever had, both with smiles on our faces.
Now, what's interesting to me about this discovery is that I've always called myself an LBE. Prin is an LBI with Extroverted traits, and now that I read back on this, I'm realizing I've got a lot more Introverted traits than I had originally charted. "Defiant, stubborn, unmotivated"? That's not LBE! And the more I study this realization, the more I realize we're more alike than I thought, my horse and I. It's almost comforting, and that's why I've taken this feedback so well, because I now realize just how easy it'll be for me to communicate. All I have to do is think about how I'd want my mother to motivate me, and then translate it into equine terms! Maybe easier said than done, but it's a skeleton for progress at least!
So. I'd like to firstly thank Kristi Smith for reminding me that my horse will give me the feedback I need and can trust. Secondly, I'd like to thank Linda, who's little voice in my head totally motivated me to see the humor in this experience. (Not to mention, inspired me to write about it!) and thirdly, I'd like to thank my large, spotted mirror. How I managed to miss it for so long, I do not know. This will be an interesting transformation to go through. I'll keep posting as we go along here.
Savvy on!
~Mary Ann Kennedy in "Mirror, Mirror"
In Parelli, we are all taught early on that our horse is our mirror. Most of the time (at least in a lot of cases) we hear it, we say we understand, and we probably do, to a point. But usually we really realize it when some experience comes and slaps us in the face, and we go "Oh my GOD, reflection of myself much?". I've had several big experiences like that, and a lot of little ones, and they're sometimes exciting, and other times a little bitter to swallow. Today, I had a really blinding one. A "how-the-hell-could-I-have-missed-it?!" type of experience. But before I explain, I need to give some background information.
My mom and I do not get along. It's not something I'm going to whine about, I've accepted it. But it's important to know that, and also to know why for this story. I am a very strong-willed person. I don't take no for an answer, I'm stubborn as a mule, I am overly-sensitive and easily offended, and am often viewed as arrogant, defiant and self-centered. My mom is very structured and has a very clear image of what she wants in life. She's quieter, and a lot of times, is motivated to do things out of the fear of losing that structure. She comes off a lot of times as judgmental, and especially around me, has extremely high standards and sometimes overlooks everything that is well done, because she gets tunnel vision toward a goal (gee, she doesn't sound human, does she?). I don't blame her for it at all, but I end up very frustrated, unmotivated and asking "Why should I?" around her a lot of the time, particularly recently, for reasons that I won't get into.
Anyway, today I set out to play with Prin. I pulled out my 45' line, and we went off into the slop (yay for 50 and sunny!) to play with some things. The session started out okay, but not nearly what I had hoped for. She was a bit unresponsive, but ever more so, she lacked draw entirely. Now, being that I've totally adjusted my focus to the relationship, I stopped as soon as the backward S pattern wasn't effective, and went "Why isn't she wanting to draw?"...the obvious answer is "I'm doing something that makes her not want to be around me." But WHAT?! Hmmm...
So I decided to play a bit more, and examine my behavior while I did it. I sent her out on a circle, with my goal to just have her trot loosely toward the end of the 45' line. Now, by all standards, my horse did it. But she wasn't trotting with biomechanical correctness, so I asked her ribs over. She swished her tail and leaned into the halter. "How RUDE!" I thought...so I asked her to go sideways "Fine, go sideways then!" More tail swishing, and then she SHOT sideways away from me, and about pulled me off my feet. My exact thought process was laughable: "MY GOD, Prin, don't take that so PERSONALLY, I merely suggested that you might be more comfortable if...OH MY GOD...PRIN IS REACTING LIKE ME AND I AM ACTING JUST LIKE MY MOTHER!" How about THAT for a self-imposed knife in the gut?! Could I get any more nit-picky?! I mean, Prin and I are at a point where it's okay for me to focus on the physical, but to not even acknowledge the try first and let her settle in? That couldn't be more like my mother's relationship with me!
I stopped, brought my horse in, and proceeded to burst out laughing. I couldn't be mad at that! It was so simple! My horse is my mirror. Of course. How could I have missed it? Even the defiant looks she was giving ME were ones I was familiar with from doing them myself! (Talk about an interesting attitude shift on the thought "WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE!") I had been nit-picking the ENTIRE session, not allowing and recognizing a try, and certainly not thinking about what would make her feel good and excited about performing for me. And the more I thought, the more I realized why prior sessions had gone well or not. All my good sessions in recent times have been when I've sacrificed my leadership and given Prin "The 51%" so to speak, and let her choose what she wanted to do, and then I had just slipped in and molded it a little. All the ones that had gone poorly were like this one; my critic persona and I had taken over the session. No wonder Prin's feedback had gotten more outspoken. You should hear the things I've said to my mother recently! OH BOY!
I had been talking to one of my instructors last night, and she suggested (since my mom and I have been fighting) that I stick close to my horse, because her feedback could be trusted to be honest and unbiased. Honest and unbiased indeed (and slice of humble pie too, while you're at it!). While it was alarming, and a bit amusing, I know it was the key I needed, because of course, it worked! Immediately that I realized what I was doing, and consciously went "Wow, I'm not fond of that image, how do I change?", Prin said "THANK YOU!" and let all the tension and brace out of her mind and body. We proceeded to finish up with some of the best long-line driving we've ever had, both with smiles on our faces.
Now, what's interesting to me about this discovery is that I've always called myself an LBE. Prin is an LBI with Extroverted traits, and now that I read back on this, I'm realizing I've got a lot more Introverted traits than I had originally charted. "Defiant, stubborn, unmotivated"? That's not LBE! And the more I study this realization, the more I realize we're more alike than I thought, my horse and I. It's almost comforting, and that's why I've taken this feedback so well, because I now realize just how easy it'll be for me to communicate. All I have to do is think about how I'd want my mother to motivate me, and then translate it into equine terms! Maybe easier said than done, but it's a skeleton for progress at least!
So. I'd like to firstly thank Kristi Smith for reminding me that my horse will give me the feedback I need and can trust. Secondly, I'd like to thank Linda, who's little voice in my head totally motivated me to see the humor in this experience. (Not to mention, inspired me to write about it!) and thirdly, I'd like to thank my large, spotted mirror. How I managed to miss it for so long, I do not know. This will be an interesting transformation to go through. I'll keep posting as we go along here.
Savvy on!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Updates and Such
BRRRR!!! Sorry I've dropped off the face of the planet, my life got crazy! I've had a really interesting week, and while I'd love to write about all of it, my fingers are freezing, (WHO ORDERED THIS WEATHER?!)so I'm going to try to keep kind of general.
Thursday through Sunday last, I took a road trip across the state. First stop was Green Bay to visit my friend and fellow PNHer, Heidi, then back to Mosinee to teach at Anne's for 3 days.
The visit to Heidi's was a blast, we ate a lovely dinner on Thursday night, then stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching Best of Show. Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed and made our way to Algoma to go visit Heidi's horse Charmer. To begin with, Heidi got out Charm and I was partnered with a horse named Dutch, who belonged to the barn owner. He was a bay ball of fun, reminded me a lot of Crest, very playful and devoted to pleasing. We had a good time. Next, we put my fluidity saddle on Charmer, and BOY was there a change! This horse is not one prone to stretching or round/correct self carriage. Check out this video!
Pretty neat huh?
We finished my visit with lunch at a lovely little cafe in Algoma and then I hit the road back to Mosinee.
Saturday was a fun day. It was just warm enough to give the snow a nice crunch, so Anne and I got out the snowmobile and broke some trails around her property both to walk the wiener dogs on (the snow is so deep it swallows them) and also for us to ride on. That was an adventure in itself because this girl here hasn't driven a snowmobile in a couple years, and this one happened to have a sticky throttle. You can imagine where that went... Anyway, we also played with Clearwater, both basic 7 games and also trail riding, some trail riding stuff, and we ended the day on a good note. Sunday, the weather was nasty, but even so, we braved the sleet and went out to play with all things blanket-y. We started with Clear, who couldn't have cared less, then we moved to Blix, who I KNEW would be scary if we just went straight to the blanket. First, I decided we should get him confident with rhythm in general before even TRYING to desensitize him to a big flopping blanket. We played with friendly game with the carrot stick and string, and also discovered that Blixen is a closet LBI...yes. You read correctly. He's a cookie monster. Everything suddenly became easy when we realized this. Anyway, a long story short, carrot stick/string, then saddle blanket, then blanket, with not a single flinch. Very cool stuff.
I got home Sunday night, and have pretty much been home-bound since, it's been a brutal mostly subzero week so far, today was the warmest at 10 above and sunny with little or no windchill. Today I had a nice session with Prin and Nugget though. Prin's been spoiled and not been played with much, so today was an interesting battle of leadership, which I ended up winning by pulling out some exercises from the old Levels. She wasn't quite sure what to think, but it all worked out. Also I played with standing to the trot, an exercise suggested to aid in my apparent inability to properly sit the trot--not caused by a lack of fluidity entirely, but also a lack of properly developed muscle. This has made the person that suggested this exercise public enemy number 1 to my legs, which currently ache so much I can't straighten them entirely. But it definitely aided my sitting trot! I could feel that right away.
Nugget was fantastic, she was very LBE today, her motto was "Look at meeee, I'm WIIIILLLD!!!" We played with some W/G/T/C (G as in GAIT!) stuff, and that little horse just likes to GOOOOOOO. Very fun, she's gonna be a helluva trail horse :)
Anyway, I need to go play with some paperwork, YAY. Course in 19 days :)
Thursday through Sunday last, I took a road trip across the state. First stop was Green Bay to visit my friend and fellow PNHer, Heidi, then back to Mosinee to teach at Anne's for 3 days.
The visit to Heidi's was a blast, we ate a lovely dinner on Thursday night, then stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching Best of Show. Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed and made our way to Algoma to go visit Heidi's horse Charmer. To begin with, Heidi got out Charm and I was partnered with a horse named Dutch, who belonged to the barn owner. He was a bay ball of fun, reminded me a lot of Crest, very playful and devoted to pleasing. We had a good time. Next, we put my fluidity saddle on Charmer, and BOY was there a change! This horse is not one prone to stretching or round/correct self carriage. Check out this video!
Pretty neat huh?
We finished my visit with lunch at a lovely little cafe in Algoma and then I hit the road back to Mosinee.
Saturday was a fun day. It was just warm enough to give the snow a nice crunch, so Anne and I got out the snowmobile and broke some trails around her property both to walk the wiener dogs on (the snow is so deep it swallows them) and also for us to ride on. That was an adventure in itself because this girl here hasn't driven a snowmobile in a couple years, and this one happened to have a sticky throttle. You can imagine where that went... Anyway, we also played with Clearwater, both basic 7 games and also trail riding, some trail riding stuff, and we ended the day on a good note. Sunday, the weather was nasty, but even so, we braved the sleet and went out to play with all things blanket-y. We started with Clear, who couldn't have cared less, then we moved to Blix, who I KNEW would be scary if we just went straight to the blanket. First, I decided we should get him confident with rhythm in general before even TRYING to desensitize him to a big flopping blanket. We played with friendly game with the carrot stick and string, and also discovered that Blixen is a closet LBI...yes. You read correctly. He's a cookie monster. Everything suddenly became easy when we realized this. Anyway, a long story short, carrot stick/string, then saddle blanket, then blanket, with not a single flinch. Very cool stuff.
I got home Sunday night, and have pretty much been home-bound since, it's been a brutal mostly subzero week so far, today was the warmest at 10 above and sunny with little or no windchill. Today I had a nice session with Prin and Nugget though. Prin's been spoiled and not been played with much, so today was an interesting battle of leadership, which I ended up winning by pulling out some exercises from the old Levels. She wasn't quite sure what to think, but it all worked out. Also I played with standing to the trot, an exercise suggested to aid in my apparent inability to properly sit the trot--not caused by a lack of fluidity entirely, but also a lack of properly developed muscle. This has made the person that suggested this exercise public enemy number 1 to my legs, which currently ache so much I can't straighten them entirely. But it definitely aided my sitting trot! I could feel that right away.
Nugget was fantastic, she was very LBE today, her motto was "Look at meeee, I'm WIIIILLLD!!!" We played with some W/G/T/C (G as in GAIT!) stuff, and that little horse just likes to GOOOOOOO. Very fun, she's gonna be a helluva trail horse :)
Anyway, I need to go play with some paperwork, YAY. Course in 19 days :)
Monday, December 8, 2008
A Horse in the HOUSE?!
We have a town holiday festival every year the first weekend in December. This year, my mom asked me if I'd bring my miniature horse (Now affectionately known as L.B. for those who helped me name her some time ago) into town and parade her around for the little kids to pet, etc. I thought it sounded like fun, and what a great way for L.B. to get exposed to "stuff". So, instead of being all traditional and hitching up the trailer, Micky and I loaded L.B. in the back of the car, and drove her into town. Here's where the pictures begin:
On the way to town, driving. She rode just like my dog does.
Posing with Santa :)
After meeting and greeting for over two hours, all 3 of us got COLD! We walked back to my house, and were going to put L.B. on the porch to eat, drink, etc while we warmed up. No such luck! L.B. drank some water, then marched up to the door of the house, and started pawing on the door...she wanted IN. I was honestly afraid she might do some damage to the door, so I grabbed a towel and a hoof pick, cleaned her up, and let her come in.
In the kitchen "Hey...what's this?"
Hanging out with mom
KISSES!
Checking out the kitchen table
Makes a good head rest!
Long story short, my mother wasn't thrilled, but we didn't make a mess, my father thought it was hilarious and now has a new best friend, and she's expected to make more trips to town in the future :)
On the way to town, driving. She rode just like my dog does.
Posing with Santa :)
After meeting and greeting for over two hours, all 3 of us got COLD! We walked back to my house, and were going to put L.B. on the porch to eat, drink, etc while we warmed up. No such luck! L.B. drank some water, then marched up to the door of the house, and started pawing on the door...she wanted IN. I was honestly afraid she might do some damage to the door, so I grabbed a towel and a hoof pick, cleaned her up, and let her come in.
In the kitchen "Hey...what's this?"
Hanging out with mom
KISSES!
Checking out the kitchen table
Makes a good head rest!
Long story short, my mother wasn't thrilled, but we didn't make a mess, my father thought it was hilarious and now has a new best friend, and she's expected to make more trips to town in the future :)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Breathing? SERIOUSLY?!
Let me just open with this statement: Oh what a great student I would be if I TOOK MY OWN ADVICE ONCE IN A WHILE!!! I am, in short, a VERY confident rider, trainer, and instructor. I don't sit around and worry about what COULD happen very often, but rather, I choose to see things in every situation. I consider myself a good reader, both in horses and humans, and can usually change situations without getting worried. That is, until, something happens TO worry me.
Last week, I believe it was the second day Nugget was here, she pulled an RBI whip-and-kick manuver on me. It startled the hell out of me, and though I wasn't hurt (She didnt' actually connect) I've got a healthy respect for that horse's reflexes now. Looking back, it was totally my fault, damn my predatorial direct-line thinking ANYWAY, but it left this slightly cautious side to me. Now, forget that for now. It has very little to do with the story.
I started playing with the Figure-8 Pattern with Nugget today, and starting out she was REALLY pushy. Nugget, has this tendency (because she's gaited) to be able to bend and "snap" really well physically. This makes the driving game a PAIN, because she's so flexible, she can bend nearly in half before yeilding. So anyway, I started out playing with just zone 3 driving the figure 8 so she could get the VERY basic concept down. To make a long story short, she had a coniption about driving away from me, around the barrel. She'd get really pushy and use her shoulder like a linebacker and try to smush me out of the way. Then, when I'd correct her, she'd whip really fast away from me, bringing up my tension level, for fear of being kicked at again.
Now at that point, I was kind of faced with an interesting problem. I get mad at myself for being unreasonably afraid. It's definitely a part of my personality that I'm trying to improve. Anyway, I had to stop and think for a moment because I could feel my frustration coming up. My first thought was "How's your breathing, Fran?", because when people get tense, they have a tendency to hold their breath, which causes horses to hold their breath too, and make everything even more unbearably tense, not to mention VERY physically trying.
Of course, I wasn't breathing. But the problem wasn't that I wasn't breathing, it was that I COULD NOT get myself TO BREATH. Now, I have like 3 students who have this problem to a MUCH deeper level than I will ever hope to understand, BUT, I do know how to help THEM through it.
Frequently, if I've got a student who's holding their breath, and won't take to advice well, I just start talking to them as they play, and insist they answer me. It is physically impossible to talk and hold your breath at the same time. As quoted by my friend Katie in her situation:
"Fran finally got me to turn and talk to her while circling Lady and within a few minutes my mind was open and guess what happened next? Lady started blowing out. She began releasing adrenaline and tension like crazy and Fran turned to me, smiled and said "You're coming off of adrenaline. Know how I know? Because your horse is coming off of adrenaline."
This is a perfect example of what I'll do. OR, if a student is too focused to talk, I'll ask them to sing a little tune to themselves as they play--another thing that's literally impossible to do while holding your breath. And frequently, the results are instantaneous and quite obvious, horses relax and smiles appear. YES, you all who have had me do this during your lessons, NOW YOU KNOW why I did it!
Anyway, back to ME...I started to sing under my breath. I chose the most rediculous song I could, just so I could have a laugh get my mind positive again, too. (Thank you Richard Bandler!) So...picture this: I'm walking a figure-8 pattern from zone 3 of a tall, beautiful dark horse around barrels, singing The ABC's audibly enough that anyone within a 20 foot radius could hear it. Of course. Rediculously silly, and effective. Such is the Parelli program.
The session changed DRAMATICALLY after I started to sing. Nugget immediately relaxed, and turned into just an absolute DOLL. I directed her through the figure 8, and then moved to the weave, and she followed my lead and did the patterns like she'd been doing them her whole life. By the end of the session, we were both so relaxed and focused that I made a big decision, and decided that she was ready for me to back her for the first time. She handled it like a champ (details later, I'll probably do it tomorrow as well) and we ended on a REALLY great note.
So...this breathing thing...important? You BET it's important!! Savvy on, and PLEASE, I'd LOVE to hear feedback on this entry!
Last week, I believe it was the second day Nugget was here, she pulled an RBI whip-and-kick manuver on me. It startled the hell out of me, and though I wasn't hurt (She didnt' actually connect) I've got a healthy respect for that horse's reflexes now. Looking back, it was totally my fault, damn my predatorial direct-line thinking ANYWAY, but it left this slightly cautious side to me. Now, forget that for now. It has very little to do with the story.
I started playing with the Figure-8 Pattern with Nugget today, and starting out she was REALLY pushy. Nugget, has this tendency (because she's gaited) to be able to bend and "snap" really well physically. This makes the driving game a PAIN, because she's so flexible, she can bend nearly in half before yeilding. So anyway, I started out playing with just zone 3 driving the figure 8 so she could get the VERY basic concept down. To make a long story short, she had a coniption about driving away from me, around the barrel. She'd get really pushy and use her shoulder like a linebacker and try to smush me out of the way. Then, when I'd correct her, she'd whip really fast away from me, bringing up my tension level, for fear of being kicked at again.
Now at that point, I was kind of faced with an interesting problem. I get mad at myself for being unreasonably afraid. It's definitely a part of my personality that I'm trying to improve. Anyway, I had to stop and think for a moment because I could feel my frustration coming up. My first thought was "How's your breathing, Fran?", because when people get tense, they have a tendency to hold their breath, which causes horses to hold their breath too, and make everything even more unbearably tense, not to mention VERY physically trying.
Of course, I wasn't breathing. But the problem wasn't that I wasn't breathing, it was that I COULD NOT get myself TO BREATH. Now, I have like 3 students who have this problem to a MUCH deeper level than I will ever hope to understand, BUT, I do know how to help THEM through it.
Frequently, if I've got a student who's holding their breath, and won't take to advice well, I just start talking to them as they play, and insist they answer me. It is physically impossible to talk and hold your breath at the same time. As quoted by my friend Katie in her situation:
"Fran finally got me to turn and talk to her while circling Lady and within a few minutes my mind was open and guess what happened next? Lady started blowing out. She began releasing adrenaline and tension like crazy and Fran turned to me, smiled and said "You're coming off of adrenaline. Know how I know? Because your horse is coming off of adrenaline."
This is a perfect example of what I'll do. OR, if a student is too focused to talk, I'll ask them to sing a little tune to themselves as they play--another thing that's literally impossible to do while holding your breath. And frequently, the results are instantaneous and quite obvious, horses relax and smiles appear. YES, you all who have had me do this during your lessons, NOW YOU KNOW why I did it!
Anyway, back to ME...I started to sing under my breath. I chose the most rediculous song I could, just so I could have a laugh get my mind positive again, too. (Thank you Richard Bandler!) So...picture this: I'm walking a figure-8 pattern from zone 3 of a tall, beautiful dark horse around barrels, singing The ABC's audibly enough that anyone within a 20 foot radius could hear it. Of course. Rediculously silly, and effective. Such is the Parelli program.
The session changed DRAMATICALLY after I started to sing. Nugget immediately relaxed, and turned into just an absolute DOLL. I directed her through the figure 8, and then moved to the weave, and she followed my lead and did the patterns like she'd been doing them her whole life. By the end of the session, we were both so relaxed and focused that I made a big decision, and decided that she was ready for me to back her for the first time. She handled it like a champ (details later, I'll probably do it tomorrow as well) and we ended on a REALLY great note.
So...this breathing thing...important? You BET it's important!! Savvy on, and PLEASE, I'd LOVE to hear feedback on this entry!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Lady Bug!!!
My Bug is home! :D
She couldn't have been any cooler about everything, she unloaded, sniffed about, then settled into her munching.
Introductions were interesting, she met Crest, Prin, Amigo, and Silver. All but Prin went well. Prin seriously seemed like she would love to kill the little thing if she had the chance. Photo:
Crest and Silver were both totally smitten, they both carried the air of "Oh my GOD...she's so FREAKING CUTE!" and Amigo was mildly amused, I think. Picture of meeting Crest:
Other than that, um...she's hell on four hooves, VERY LBE, snotty, and is the most adorable thing to play with. Unfortunately (PLEASE try to understand why-lol!) it's *almost* impossible to dish out discipline to something that cute, so I have a bad feeling that she's going to get away with murder.
I taught her to lie down this evening, and believe it or not, there was no force involved, I used her offering once to my advantage, and now it's a consistant thing, I sit down, she lies down, and then she gets a cookie...muahaha! I have a picture on my friend's phone that will come as soon as it decides it can send to me. SO CUTE.
Off to FL tomorrow. Excited, but will miss my fuzzies mucho! Toodles!
F
She couldn't have been any cooler about everything, she unloaded, sniffed about, then settled into her munching.
Introductions were interesting, she met Crest, Prin, Amigo, and Silver. All but Prin went well. Prin seriously seemed like she would love to kill the little thing if she had the chance. Photo:
Crest and Silver were both totally smitten, they both carried the air of "Oh my GOD...she's so FREAKING CUTE!" and Amigo was mildly amused, I think. Picture of meeting Crest:
Other than that, um...she's hell on four hooves, VERY LBE, snotty, and is the most adorable thing to play with. Unfortunately (PLEASE try to understand why-lol!) it's *almost* impossible to dish out discipline to something that cute, so I have a bad feeling that she's going to get away with murder.
I taught her to lie down this evening, and believe it or not, there was no force involved, I used her offering once to my advantage, and now it's a consistant thing, I sit down, she lies down, and then she gets a cookie...muahaha! I have a picture on my friend's phone that will come as soon as it decides it can send to me. SO CUTE.
Off to FL tomorrow. Excited, but will miss my fuzzies mucho! Toodles!
F
Saturday, September 27, 2008
New Arrivals
BUSY BUSY BUSY!! EEK! It's been an insane couple of days for me. Katie arrived here on Thursday (YAY!) and we've been going almost non stop ever since. So, a quick update.
Friday morning we went to Chatfield and gave a lesson to Sandy, one of my students. I was introduced to her lovely mare Jazzy, who I had never met before. She's a hoot, very LBE innately I think, but due to a poor barefoot trim (Gotta have those bars!) she's hesitant to move for pain. We had a great all-morning lesson, then drove home, and Katie met my ponies. I did a little double demo (riding Prin, playing with Crest) and then I got to be fascinated as Katie played with Crest on the ground. Crest has never really been played with in a lesson format before, so I was REALLY proud when he taught her, and she was able to communicate with him! Proud mommy :)
Next, with some coaxing, Katie rode Prinny! Oh GOODNESS you should have seen the grin on both our faces! This was HUGE for her, the confidence boost must have felt incredible. I'm so proud that Prin was able to do that for her!
And, in other HUGE NEWS, two items, firstly, my BLUE STRING arrived yesterday. YAY! It's shiney and pretty.
Next, Franny's got a new addition to her herd! There's a really LONG backstory to this, horses have been exchanging hands a bit around here. For those curious, please email me, I'm too tired to write it all out tonight, but it is my great pleasure to introduce "LadyBug" (Name is DEFINITELY PENDING, IDEAS APPRECIATED) 2007 AMHR Miniature mare. She currently stands 29" tall, and will probably mature at about 32" or 33". She sits at a dead split between LBI and LBE on the chart, and I have yet to see an unconfident step out of her. She introduced herself to me by sniffing me, pawing my leg, then lying down next to me with her head in my lap. I mean c'mon, what's NOT to love? Any before anyone asks, I have financial stuff, etc, figured out, so this is not nearly as spur of the moment as readers of this blog may feel. I just didn't tell you ;)
Pix:
Oh nom nom :) She's VERY mouthy, she'll pick ANYTHING up with her mouth if you let her
Yoyo...or at least an attempt
LOVE IT...she's SO tolerant...and hilarious.
Whatcha think guys?
Friday morning we went to Chatfield and gave a lesson to Sandy, one of my students. I was introduced to her lovely mare Jazzy, who I had never met before. She's a hoot, very LBE innately I think, but due to a poor barefoot trim (Gotta have those bars!) she's hesitant to move for pain. We had a great all-morning lesson, then drove home, and Katie met my ponies. I did a little double demo (riding Prin, playing with Crest) and then I got to be fascinated as Katie played with Crest on the ground. Crest has never really been played with in a lesson format before, so I was REALLY proud when he taught her, and she was able to communicate with him! Proud mommy :)
Next, with some coaxing, Katie rode Prinny! Oh GOODNESS you should have seen the grin on both our faces! This was HUGE for her, the confidence boost must have felt incredible. I'm so proud that Prin was able to do that for her!
And, in other HUGE NEWS, two items, firstly, my BLUE STRING arrived yesterday. YAY! It's shiney and pretty.
Next, Franny's got a new addition to her herd! There's a really LONG backstory to this, horses have been exchanging hands a bit around here. For those curious, please email me, I'm too tired to write it all out tonight, but it is my great pleasure to introduce "LadyBug" (Name is DEFINITELY PENDING, IDEAS APPRECIATED) 2007 AMHR Miniature mare. She currently stands 29" tall, and will probably mature at about 32" or 33". She sits at a dead split between LBI and LBE on the chart, and I have yet to see an unconfident step out of her. She introduced herself to me by sniffing me, pawing my leg, then lying down next to me with her head in my lap. I mean c'mon, what's NOT to love? Any before anyone asks, I have financial stuff, etc, figured out, so this is not nearly as spur of the moment as readers of this blog may feel. I just didn't tell you ;)
Pix:
Oh nom nom :) She's VERY mouthy, she'll pick ANYTHING up with her mouth if you let her
Yoyo...or at least an attempt
LOVE IT...she's SO tolerant...and hilarious.
Whatcha think guys?
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