...and Fun Was Had by All

Today has been an absolutely remarkable day. I had two awesome plays with Prin and Cricket, and they're soooo worth sharing about.

I started out this morning playing with Prin. Last night I got a round of inspiration to start playing with some Finesse again, for whatever the reason. I've been avoiding the savvy as much as possible because I tend to turn into a scary person when I ride with contact. I've been focusing my attention to the details and pieces of successful finesse since November, and it suddenly dawned on me that all of my primary pieces were in place at suggestion level. I also came up with some new ideas for ways to develop lateral maneuvers without a rail to follow (I felt brilliant!), and wanted to play a little with it, at the walk, just to see what we could get.

Prior to today, when I'd pick my reins up at the beginning of our session, Prin would be fairly heavy. I'd have to do a fair amount of suspension rein and duck-landing transitions before she would be light enough in her front end to even handle "coiling the spring" so to speak, and collecting up.

Today, I just lifted my reins and her head came in, when I picked up contact, I felt her ENTIRE FRONT END come up to meet my hands. Not that I didn't believe it was possible, but I've NEVER felt anything like that come out of Prin before. It was exhilarating and we hadn't even moved yet!

We rode some figure 8's, focusing on keeping zone 5 closest to the barrel (focusing on keeping weight back and HQs flexible), and she felt REALLY solid. Did several more figure 8's with leg yields through the middle, and then played with the weave pattern, doing haunches and shoulders in through the cones. This all went really well, the neatest thing I found was that she was actually a little TOO flexible in her lateral stuff--it used to be that she couldn't do haunches and shoulders because she was so braced and locked up. Though she's still not 100% correct, I consider over-flexibility to be a HUGE step in the right direction for her. And the best part was, neither one of us ever lost our patience or our confidence. HUGE HUGE HUGE. It was awesome, and a huge success!

Next, I played with Cricket. I'm in the process of developing her into my lesson horse troop for 2010, and so I've been playing on developing her knowledge for patterns in online/freestyle up to Level 3. She's doing really beautifully online, especially, but recently she's been getting a bit presumptuous about the circling game, and has lost a lot of her play drive. I'm sure I've just drilled her a bit, is all, so today, I set out to make it right and bring her curiosity back out.

I used the touch-it game as my motivator. Cricket is innately a very dominant LB horse, set into some very resentful, almost RB-esque patterns from poor previous handling. I chose touch it because it allows for a horse's dominance to come out through the nose, something Left-Brain extroverts especially have a tendency for.

At first, she wanted none of it. Though she would touch the cones, she would do it with a "Why would I WANT to do that?" expression on her face. But as the game progressed (cones, barrels, round corral panels, tree limbs, etc), her curiosity started to take over, until she was getting a bit playful. Below are a couple of photos I snapped as we played toward the end of our session. The photo with the barrel was taken right before we quit. She had knocked it over, and had pushed it about 10 feet, before settling in to bite it. The one with the cone was taken just before she knocked it over, and then picked it up. Isn't she just the cutest?


BITE!



"I'll knock it over, then bite it!"


As you can see, we had fun :)

Alright, off to bed. Savvy on, folks!

Um...WOW?

Yeah, I don't even know how to talk about my session with Prin today. I'm honestly at a loss for words for how INCREDIBLE it was. You ever have those days where everything you've been playing towards just suddenly drops into place? That was today.

I took Prin out, vowing that I wouldn't get hung up or obsessed with the big picture, the goal, the task, whatever, that I was going to focus on the pieces and reward the slightest try. Interesting how motivating that strategy is for an LBI...Isn't it fun? I can have the same BFO on a half a dozen times on different levels...all in one year!

Anyway, everything sort of just fell into place. I've been playing for the past week or so in isolating porcupine games and getting different parts of her body super light and responsive to a feel. Isolate, separate, and recombine, and all that. I'd been focusing particularly on zones one and 3/4, because this is pretty much where my Prin's biggest physical blocks are. I started using cookies as incentives in her zone 1, simply because I could, coupled with some lift and driving game in circles, really close in until she relaxed and REALLY flexed around me. I saw some big changes there, but the biggest surprises came when I decided to play with some zone 5 driving. After some small isolations in her hind end, she offered amazingness: QUALITY haunches in/half pass from zone 5 with ONE LINE! Um...COOL?! I'm really excited for this, because it's going to help our finesse SO MUCH. I'm really loving how my online is turning into my finesse!

When it comes to zone 1 with Prin, one scenario has always stayed true in my head--I feel like the ultimate zone 1 accomplishment with her (and maybe this is because of how..DULL Prin used to be!)is to achieve quality and correct vertical flexion in the halter, and be able to perform collected maneuvers as such. Farrah and Caesar are a great example, and I once asked her if it were as simple as a broken porcupine game, or if there was more to it than that. Farrah responded that yes, it was a broken porcupine game, but the reason probably wasn't disrespect so much as a lack of strength/flexibility, and that she's just telling me by resisting that she isn't strong enough to do it. That's been a journey in and of itself--helping her find that strength! But recently, I've felt that we're on the edge of a breakthrough.

Well...ladies and gentlemen. Today. I isolated, separated, and recombined. I showed Prin what it was I wanted, helped her find comfort in it, and she got it! Prin, for the first time in our partnership, was prancing around like a dressage pony with her head all in and down...in a HALTER! This is just...well...like I mentioned, can't really find words for it! It shows me that my horse has developed physically in a way I had truthfully seen as only wishful thinking, and is starting to offer it as her own ideas. It also shows me how much EASIER my finesse journey is going to be if I continue to develop this on the ground, then apply it to my riding.

So. That's what's going on here. Yeah, Prin is pretty much awesome. I'm SO proud of her!

And now I'm off for bed. The forecast is promising a blizzard tomorrow (6-12 inches of snow), so I may be home-bound tomorrow...or I may be riding in the snow. Either way, I'm tired now! Savvy on!

Learning How to Bend

I've been waiting forever to use that as my blog title! It's a great song by Gary Allen that I totally love, but the moment never seemed appropriate...anyway, today it seemed to be the theme! I had two awesome sessions with two awesome horses, both focused in some way on flexibility and bending.

First, I played with Prin. She's a bit out of shape from lack of attention, so a few times a week, I'm going to try to start taking her out for long trots, much like I did last fall, except this time she's in better condition to handle it, and will benefit from it more. Anyway, I digress.

Today, our focus was on finesse, specifically in bringing the shoulders up. Prin, being a stock horse, built essentially level and made for getting INTO the ground quickly, is not naturally made to come up in the front end and be flexible throughout her shoulders and rib-cage. Using an exaggerated suspension rein as my active rein, and a solid fixed rein, as well as the shoulder-in maneuver, Prin learned VERY quickly (I was actually very impressed at how much effort she put into learning this, today!) how to move in a much more tall, elevated posture. It felt lovely to ride, I'm impressed at how quickly she's picking up on it!

We also played with all manner of trot. I would bring it down to a slow little collected thing that was starting to get some elevation to it (baby-steps to passage perhaps?), and then we'd bust out of it into as big a working trot as she'd offer on a concentrated rein. Very cool stuff, she's really starting to USE herself through her transitions nicely.

To aid the process of developing finesse, I've been playing with my own riding posture, as well. In my last lesson with Kristi, she told me fluidity was beautiful, but in order to advance to where I want to go in Level 4/5 finesse stuff, I was going to need to do a few things:
A)Open my hip angle, engage my own HQ, and really stretch my legs DOWN (Prin, being an LBI, will use it as an excuse not to move out if I don't)
B)Lengthen my stirrups a hole or two to aid that
C) Develop a more side-to-side flow in my sitting trot.

I've been playing with all of that, but mostly really focusing on lengthening my leg and engaging my OWN body for finesse. Long legs are definitely NOT what I'm known for, so that's been an adventure, but it's REALLY come along nicely now, and the more flexibility I gain, the more I realize it affects my horse! Great journey, and definitely learning how to bend!!

After finishing up my session with Prin, I took Hart out to play. He's been pretty much put on the back burner since I've owned him, which I feel awful for, but fortunately now, (going into winter, ew) I've got the time to spend on him. As of right now, he's just thin, and horrifically out of shape. Everything will come at once with him I think--both being more proactively used (as opposed to lounging around the pasture), coupled with more...caloric...feeding (my poor holistic care friends would be horrified at the CRAP I'm pouring into this horse to get weight on him!), will help him get back on track.

So today, we started out just trying to work the kinks out. He's a very one-sided horse. Years of being ridden to the left has done a number on his right side, and he has a noticeable strength problem with his right side. He's very inflexible throughout his ribs, has trouble picking up his right lead, and carries and almost constant brace in his neck going to the right.

Rule #1 when playing with a horse as lopsided as this: Slow and right beats fast and wrong, and slow and right BUILDS fast and right. Hart needs a lot of focus on flexibility throughout his right side, and so I chose to use small, but slow walk circles to build this. Cue the bracy, upside-down movement. Ew! Is that the gorgeous English sport horse I bought? Really?

Rule #2: Never release on a brace. Though it's hard to watch and horrible to consider, the easiest way to discourage this kind of movement is to hold the rope firmly (his nose is tilted to the outside, zone 3 closest to me at this point) until the horse makes an offer at correct movement, and then to release, LIGHTNING fast. That way, he finds comfort in correctness. It didn't take me more than 3 repeats of this before Hart's head came down, he licked his lips, and he switched his bend on the circle, and maintained it.

Next, I pulled out some ground poles and set them up.

Horse's Responsibility #4: Watch where you're going! Oh my...this horse doesn't know where his feet are! I set the poles out in a cavalletti pattern, and sent him through at a walk. Clunk, clack, clunk, CRASH. Hmm...how interesting! I continued this pattern, and he did get progressively better--I stopped when he made it through without knocking any poles out of position.

Finally, I taught Hart the figure 8 pattern. Again with the whole "slow and right beats fast and wrong", except this time, I had created my own impulsive behavior. Often, once a horse finds comfort/a new way of moving, they'll beg for more--Hart had found it in walk and trot, and all he wanted to do was trot! I had to interrupt the pattern rather vigorously a couple of times, but he finally found himself. At that point, I guided him through the pattern, and he got this wise-ass look on his face. He totally understood it, and dang it, he was GOING to trot before we were done! We ended by trotting the pattern twice, and then circling 3 gorgeous circles to the right on the 22' line. I put him back, and he stood there rather regally for several minutes, regarding me with mild interest, licking and chewing, before heading back to his hay. He's such an interesting horse. Definitely a LBI at heart. Very great lessons for both of us!

Anyway, it's bedtime for me, I have lessons tomorrow at 9:30 am! Feedback on the post is always appreciated. Thanks folks!

Savvy on!

FANTASTIC Lessons

Hey All,

Quick update. My internet has been down, I'm typing on a library computer right now. I'll have more for you probably on Monday when my mother gets home and can wrangle the turkeys at CenturyTel into giving us information as to WHY our computer isn't working. (That's another story)

So, Kristi Smith was here Wednesday evening through Friday early morning. She taught lessons all day Thursday and we had a TON of fun. I shared a 3 hour semi-private with my good friend Anna and her horse Piper. We had a ton of fun, and by the end, I was literally riding a spotted hovercraft with hooves. Prin was SO LIGHT and responsive to everything Kristi had us playing with, it was truly a pleasure. I'm loving the progress that comes with these monthly lessons--be it Kristi or Farrah.

Richard took a lesson on Amigo which was REALLY nice to watch. Richard hasn't done a whole lot of riding recently--injury coupled with lack of time I think has really gotten his motivation levels. Anyway, they played with freestyle, and the patterns that go with it. Amigo went through one HELL of a transformation. Not that he's a difficult horse, but he hasn't really been ridden at all in the past 6 months. He went from cutting corners and neglecting responsibilities to following the rail and doing figure 8's like a L2 pony should. It was just beautiful to watch, and Richard, Kristi, and Amigo were all smiles throughout :)

We finished with my friend Jessica taking a lesson on Prin, which was just AWESOME. Kristi read my mind on subject matter, put a bareback pad on Prin, and proceeded to blow our minds with the most magnificent freestyle/fluidity lesson and transformation I've ever seen, personally. More on that later, I need to compose my thoughts and actually write this out. It might even be a seperate post, it was that amazing. So cool.

Kristi's demo, though slightly less-attended due to the rain, was wonderful. I was particularly pleased and impressed with her long-line driving, they've come so far even since I was in FL this winter. And of course their liberty, Maxi is such a hoot. Kristi did a great job engaging our group for the Q&A too, there were several...skeptics...in the audience, and she definitely got them thinking. To see members of my local saddle club leaving with horsenality charts was priceless. YAY!

Anyway, there's my short update. There will be pictures as soon as my internet is back up. I have pix of everyones' lessons, as well as some of the demo, courtesy of Raven Flores and Richard Knopf (when they arrive).


Savvy on!

A Nice Low-Key Day

Okay, so I'm really confused about this whole weather thing, here. It is March 12th, daylight savings has begun, and for the past week and a half, it has not been under 32 degrees, hardly, except apparently the past 2 days. The past two days, it's been 15ish degrees. Now, I don't know if you've ever experienced 15 degrees in March,but it's really bizarre. The ground wants to be warm. The sun wants to be warm. It feels warm coming from those two areas, and yet the air temperature is FRIGID, stubbornly holding onto the fact that it's still technically winter for another 9 days. Ah well, melt starts again tomorrow, and I'll be out playing in it!

Anyway, I didn't do a whole lot today because the footing is really bad (frozen manure and icy patches)but Prin and I toddled around and did some play with being particular in the walk. We both had a blast, surprisingly enough, (this whole attitude shift from negative nit-picky to positive particular is doing us wonders!) and even though I didn't ride for more than 20 minutes I bet, we had a ton of fun. Prin was SUPER light, and her shoulders were moving over SO fluidly!

It actually caused me to think back to my course, when we were first struggling with isolating and moving the shoulders over. I had spent the better part of all afternoon one day trying not to lose my patience, smack my horse with inappropriate phase 4's, or yell at Avery, who was trying to help me with it. That was not a pleasant afternoon at all, but I'm glad I persisted with it. Days like today remind me of how worth it it was. :) I can just feel our finesse developing in little sessions like that.

Oh, on a side-note about finesse, I recently recieved Walter Zettl's book "Dressage in Harmony" as a late Xmas gift from my friend Sarah. I've only just paged through it a little, but HOLY COW the man knows his stuff. It's a really thick book, probably about 300-400 pages, and every page is packed full of thorough, fantastic information, as well as drawings of maneuvers, exercises, theory, and troubleshooting. "From Basic to Grand Prix" is the subtitle, and it really doesn't do the amount of information justice. It really delves into the horsemanship and horsenality aspect (minus PNH references, of course) I can hardly wait to have good footing again, I'm thrilled to give the stuff a try :) I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

Anyway, time for dinner. Savvy on!

Clinic Break-Thrus

Okay, so I think instead of writing a full clinic recap (too much happens in a week to retell and give justice to in print), I'll just write about my BIG break-thrus that I personally had with Prin at the clinic Katie and I attended last week, and if I have time, I'll fill in with a broad recap.

I'm just going to start off by saying that this is just NOT my year for car care! Guess what happened today! My car broke down driving to Kris Fulwiler's place to audit a Karen Rohlf clinic! Not only did I miss the clinic, but my fuel pump may need replacing. YARGH! (more on that later) Anyway, with that out of my system...

I took Prin along with me to a week long clinic series with Farrah, and just had a fantastic time. The break thrus we had were mainly physical (okay, so the mental changed and the physical followed, but STILL!) and were HUGE.

Starting off, Farrah asked to use Prin early on to demonstrate a figure-8 pattern. Prin did great, but then did something mildly rude (don't remember what) and Farrah asked her to back up in response. Well, Prin completely flipped her the finger, figuratively speaking, and wouldn't back off, so Farrah REALLY got after her, and that's when she met Prin's swishing tail habit. After much energetic play and observation, Farrah turned to me and says "Does she do this a lot?" and I said "Um, yeah? I'm fairly sure I've mentioned it several times." and Farrah says "Hmm...It's interesting, it's almost like she's unaware that she's doing it! I'd say it was negative attitude, but 99.9% of the time, her ears are forward, and she's asking questions, but her tail is going." I responded with "I've noticed that! I have had trouble reading into it for exactly that reason. The tail isn't fitting the rest of the picture. It's almost like a nervous twitch that she's unaware of."

So, Farrah suggested that instead of playing friendly up front after I finished a game, I go straight back and love on her TAIL, to help her be more aware of it. So I did, and realized after one try that her tail was TIGHT! Which didnt' make any sense at all. I checked, and her lips were loose, ears floppy, head down, and yet, for some reason she bottled all this physical tension in her tail. So after every time I did something, I'd go back and massage her tail until it was loose and "Jello-y" as Farrah put it. Later on in the afternoon when everyone else was doing 2 rein driving, I did 1 rein on her head, one rein (savvy string braided in) on her tail. The observation I made was toward the end of the day, she was hardly moving it at all, and if she did, it was really at an appropriate time (if my phases were too high, etc) Very interesting.

Later on in the afternoon, Farrah put us riding a Figure-8 pattern, but instead of keeping zone 1 closest to the barrel, we were supposed to keep zone 4 closest. That was TOUGH, because I discovered that Prin was HARDLY using her hind end, and falling on her forhand...A LOT. Once she figured it out though, it was like someone flipped a switch. We also played with alternating engagement with flexibility on the figure 8, and just had a lot of fun playing with the body. OH! and we straightened out a very resistant, forhand-based back-up from atop Zone 3.

So anyway, fast forward to the next morning. I went down to Prin's pen to clean up, feed, water, etc, and the first thing I noticed was the way Prin was standing. Taller, straighter, HQ farther underneath her, and generally looking more comfortable. Very odd, but kind of neat, I thought. I went around, cleaning up and filling buckets, and then something else dawned on me. Prin has had a block in her ribs on the left, and tension in her left stifle, and has had mane flips (majority of her mane lies on right) to mirror that for as long as I've owned her. That morning, the flip that had been there for 5.5 years at the base of her neck was GONE. THAT freaked me out. I flipped it back, thinking "Oh someone must have smoothed it out this morning saying hi." Nope. Looked all wrong. Like it had never been there.

As the week went on, Prin just got more and more uphill, to the point I took out two shims from her pad! Her ability to collect, flex, bend, and engage went THROUGH THE ROOF, and the final night we were there, she offered me about an arena's length of true extended trot, which previously wasn't even in her ability to do in the PASTURE, let alone with a rider, and she also jumped a 3'6" or 4' tall cross-country fence bareback for me. And what's really neat is that since being home (tomorrow will be 4 days) the mane and posture has stayed, and the tail swishing is definitely going down! YAY!

So...HOW COOL?! Oh, and I also had the opportunity to test ride a Balance Zenith for a couple hours one day. Definitely like my fluidity better, but the Balance was VERY lovely too. Might think about selling my Wintec Wide and finding an inexpensive (haha, RIGHT) Balance.

So anyway, thats just some things we picked up. VERY helpful, even with Crest in some areas. And now...*poofs* I go to bed. Thank you all for being so patient and waiting for me to write something :)

Kansas City or Bust!!!

Oh GOODNESS...


I'm tired. End of story. That's really all I can say about it. This is going to be a relatively direct recap of my adventures in Kansas City, simply because I'm EXAUSTED. I'll tell what HAPPENED...if you want details, email me or post a comment and I'll be happy to elaborate after I've gotten some sleep.

First of all, Kansas City, MO is a little over 7 hours drive from me when traffic conditions are GOOD. However, driving into rush hour on a Friday afternoon could be considered stupid, and that's definitely what I'd call it at this point.

I like to drive with some music on most of the time. It keeps my mind busy when things are dull, and keeps me calm and cool when things are stressful. For those that know me well, you know how important my music is to my ability to drive sanely. Well..getting into Kansas City, I had to TURN MY MUSIC OFF. That's how intense it was. I was lost, and as Linda so correctly pantomimed/immitated for me 20 minutes after arriving, I slammed my music off, gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were white, and screamed "WHERE THE HELL AM I GOING?!" Multiple times.

Anyway, believe it or not, I made it safely and with minimal mental damage. We hung out and I chatted with Farrah, Michelle, Pat and Linda a little, then Farrah, Michelle, Carrie (another working student of Farrah's)and I went out to a yummy dinner.

Saturday was a pretty typical Parelli seminar day. Can't say I learned a whole lot new, of course I'm always reminded of little principles that get buried under other things in my brain. The savvy team did a GREAT performance, Farrah and Caesar stole the show in my opinion, with their one time tempis and rearing and leaping the air. Caesar's such a magnificent horse, and so pensive, he's just fascinating.

The most interesting session was the demo horse, a pretty classic RBI, came in literally shaking, but totally unable make himself move physically. Pat did a great job as usual, it was funny because he walked around and told stories for about an hour (stalling for the RBI's sake) It was hilarious, because there was a guy and his girlfriend sitting behind us. They were obviously new to PNH and this was probably their first seminar. Anyway, the guy kept leaning over and arrogantly telling the girlfriend what and why Pat was doing. At first I wanted to smack them (Dammit, I'm trying to LEARN HERE!) but then I realized I might actually be able to learn something from THEM. I know lots of strategies for RBI horses, lets learn what makes these newbies tick :)

So, listening to this conversation, what was hysterical was that 50% of the time, this guy was right about Pat's actions, and he'd get all cocky about it, and what was even MORE funny was then when he was wrong, he'd act genuinely shocked "I have NO IDEA why he just DID THAT!" And that's when I...miss share-a-holic, would turn around, smile, and tell him EXACTLY why Pat Parelli did what he just did. The befuddled looks that would earn were HILARIOUS. And it was helpful to me, too, to reinforce MY understanding of what Pat was trying to teach.

Saturday night ended with some horseplay (I actually played with the dogs, while the other 3 played with the horses) and then we went to bed.

SUNDAY...The day that Linda and I jokingly decided she set up and designed specifically for my learning pleasure :)

The Savvy Team opened, which was amazing, as usual. The highlight for me was definitely Emily Thompson on her little black arab Porsche, and Amy Book on Zeus the Friesian, playing carrot stick tag to "Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. You know Linda's running the sound booth when...

Anyway, Pat opened and did some chat-chitting, then he startled Linda, and sent her out to get Allure WAY before she was expecting it.

Allure charged in all adrenalized, and Linda talked very intently about extroverts need to move their feet in order to think (Vs the introvert, who has to think in order to move his/her feet) and how she prepares Allure for a play session before the play session even starts, and the signs she looks for that show he's ready to play/focus/learn. She also talked about the subtle difference between LB adrenalized and RBE behavior--all VERY useful information for a girl such as me, who own's Allure's twin in Crest. She then proceeded to talk about how she plays on the ground to prepare him for riding, and she talked about the little tests and signs she reads in order to tell if he's truly ridable or not. And again, I say, very useful to me with Cresty. She did eventually get on (I WAS ONE PROUD LONG LOST DAUGHTER/STUDENT!!!) and did a lovely riding demo, explaining, again, how she keeps his brain occupied and prevents him from coming up with evil thoughts (One particular thing in this that I took and used with Crest IMMEDIATELY, and WOW, talk about instant difference! More on that tomorrow)and then rode to a song, explaining that the song meant A LOT to her in her journey with Allure. I feel very connected to Linda's journey, ESPECIALLY with Allure, so as the beautiful song started, the flood gates opened, and I blubbered like a baby through the entire thing. I'm going to put the song on here as background music tomorrow, when I have the patience to deal with my computer's antics. SO PERFECT.

Next, Linda did a Q & A session with the audience about what we got out of the session with Allure. She came back to me 3 times. I was flattered, because it wasn't like there was a shortage of questions to be asked. I guess she recognized that the session was doing a lot for me, and she wanted to help me more.

The next session, she coached Amy Book through a Finesse lesson on Remmer. That was another session that I really connected to, mainly because Linda kept talking about how physically inflexible Remmer is, and also how finesse can kill an LBIs motivation and energy if it turns into a drill. Poor Prin. Another session to digest. Got some tips that really put me on a good track with things I can try with the Boo-Boo next finesse session :)

Pat ended the day with a fantastic session with and about young horses. I was given the math award (this involves nothing but Pat Parelli saying "You get the Math award", by the way) for knowing that 555 days is 18 months...But anyway that was a blast to watch.

And then I drove home this morning, and right this very second, I am going to BED. PLEASE feel free to ask for more details. This is BY FAR the best Savvy Club Sunday I've been to. FANTASTIC. Just RIGHT ON. Linda and I joked that she designed the day around what I needed, and that I owed her for it. Love that lady, she knows how to make me feel good about myself and my progress :)

Savvy on and out!

Confessions of a Finesse Addict

Haha, yep, you read right.

It's taken years for me to fall this head-over-heels in love with the fourth and most difficult savvy, but now, I'm addicted! Let me share some much needed humor about my new found addiction. There are many pros and cons, which I'm finding, much to my great amusement, and the slight irritation of my horse.

First of all, the difficulty in going back to the "old ways". No matter how much I want to, I can't help but think about finesse when I'm doing anything else. Tonight, for example, I was playing with Prin, very much at liberty in the North Paddock. And as we're running around and playing (OMG, my horse has gotten so LBE it's scary!) I'm watching her, thinking "Holy cow, she's REALLY USING HER TOPLINE WELL tonight!" ARGH! I'm sorry Prin! You're gorgeous, that's all!

Secondly, readjusting to new movement. I've been riding in a saddle mostly for the past week or so. There's been a large gap in the amount of bareback I've done (curse my fluidity saddle?) recently, and boy did I feel it tonight, not only in the sense that it's been a while, but also that my horse has built new muscles (YAY!) and her movement has changed...again! So, big, bouncy, HQ driven movement, combined with lack of bareback riding=BAD! So, I'm back to freestyle for a while...I've got to, for both my and my horse's sanity!

Thirdly, lack of response to turns with the Carrot Stick. There was a time earlier this summer when Prin was headed towards reining quality spins using just the CS. Yeah, not so much anymore! We spent about 10 minutes this evening just doing 180s on the fence, simply because we needed it. She did great though, I'll give her that.

Fourthly, Doesn't Parelli say somewhere, sometime (or, erm...A LOT, ALWAYS) to ride finesse like you don't have reins, and to ride freestyle like you've got them? Since WHEN has it been the other way around?! I've become somewhat overzealous with using my reins. *Slaps hands* BAD FRAN! And it's subtle too, it's not like I'm pulling her head around, I just found myself going to use reins, and not having them tonight. Must start using my body more in my finesse.

All in all though, really, I'm THRILLED with how the finesse is going. But there are 4 savvies for a reason, and despite my addiction, I'm losing focus on the other three. So I guess the point of this is, GET BACK ON TRACK FRANNIE! (But keep up with the Finesse)

So that's my little confession. I'm amused.

A Teaser Photo

I'll just throw this out there to tease you...Check out my gorgeous finesse pony :)

Hmmm...how INTERESTING

Wow...well, interesting is a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing my session with Prinny tonight.

Some people who will read this know that since getting home from my trip back east, Prin's been anything but what I left her as. She's been sullen, sour, unmotivated and unwilling, and physically, she's lost her topline and all collection we had at one point. It's unbelievable how she could have possibly back tracked that far in 11 days off, but she did, and I've been struggling to stay patient with it, since it's about 6 months of work completely shot.

So anyway, I brought out my tools tonight, and decided that I wanted to use my 45' line for some reason (I've been on the 22' line for the past 3 days) and that was the first weird observation, and big change. As SOON as I snapped up to the 45' line, Prin was well on her way back to being her old self, the playful, snotty, mild LBE that I left when I went back east. I KNEW there was a reason I used that previously, and now I realize that it's because that 22' line was too restrictive. And boy did Prin tell me that.

Starting out, Prin and I just played around a little bit with transitions at the full 45 feet, trying to refine to something close to quality. After 3 or 4 tries, she was doing canter/halt at about a phase 2, which I was pleased with, so I moved on to some zone 5 stuff, and she and I had a bit of a moment, in the negative sense of the word. Not going to lie, I was being a bit rude (asking for too much, too hard) and she fired a warning kick at me, which I totally deserved, but it startled me, none the less, being that Prin is not the type to deliver feedback that bluntly. But I guess that's good, I, in fact, CAN'T get away with murder anymore. But, boy did someone hide her hiney quickly when she realized how surprised I was!

Anyway, we played a bit more to get back on a good track, then I bridled up and hopped on, and here's the best way of putting it. Prin came TO the bridle today. She didn't wait for ME to get friendly with it, she came TO IT. Her longitudinal flexion was ASTOUNDING (I did 6 months of fluid rein/snakey bends with the confidence snaffle last year, and I didn't see results to come NEAR this) I don't think I could have taken her nose off the ground had I wanted to, and the power in her hind quarters, and the lifting in her back combined to make the most incredible ride I've ever had I think. My horse is now living up to her warmblood act, and I'm THRILLED! Pray that Kansas City goes through for me, will you? I really want to show not only Linda, but Farrah just how far she's come!

I put her on the small rings for a little while and cruised around with our power steering and vertical flexion, and I can't help but think that Parelli must have made the Cradle this complex on purpose, so that the result would be all the more satisfying. I'm thrilled, and to my mentors who have gotten on my case for not smiling while I ride, you should have seen me tonight. I had a grin from ear to ear, doing FINESSE! HA!

Life is GOOD!

The Cradle Bridle-Pt 1 of ??

Hello,

So my Cradle bridle arrived today. It's beautiful, the leather is actually much lighter a brown than I have seen previously, and it looks VERY nice against Prin's chestnut hair.

As far as settings go, I'm pleased with the fit. Prin's on the Middle hole of 5, and it fits perfectly there. So glad I got a a Large and not an XLarge headstall. The 5" C3 bit is great too, so all is right with the world. I had to experiment with chin straps and bit rings though, and here's what I noticed:

*Prin is NOT unusually light on the big rings

*Prin does her best finesse on the small rings

*Prin's mouth is quieter overall

*Prin's mouth is QUIETEST and LIGHTEST on the small rings, with the non-stretchy chinstrap. Must have done more finesse than I give myself credit for...

*Riding on the big rings is "typical" Prin, that I've had since November

*Riding small rings is like having power steering. UNBELIEVABLE

*Prin finds the "engaging your HQ" concept easier with the cradle? Odd because that has nothing to do with her head. Maybe its that I'm not having to ask for the bend as much? I really don't know.

*Prin does not drop her shoulder and lean into turns with the bridle on


As much as I know you all will hate me for this, I forgot my camera in all my excited rush. I WILL take photos of Prin in it tomorrow though, since its SO GREAT and all..love how soft and willing she is in it. She actually seems to LIKE IT a lot!

Oh and a side note...I need to reshim...again...YARGGHHHH!!!!

Clinic Exhaustion

Okay...Just got home from a 5 day L1/L2 clinic with Farrah Green, my dear friend and 2 star PNH instructor.

I'm wiped out, and have hardly any energy left to type. So, I'm writing this blog only as a reminder that I still exist. A complete recap of the clinic day-by-day, as well as some photos and revised list of goals will come tomorrow, as soon as I've regained the ability to think and comprehend complete sentences.

For now, all you get to know is that I learned a lot and have a new found motivation and ideas in lots of places in my horsemanship.

More tomorrow.

IT'S HERE!!!!

OMG OMG OMG!! MY SADDLE ARRIVED TODAY!!


It is SO EFFING PERFECT! It is beautiful, very erm...wide, wonderful craftsmanship, smells delicious (YUMMY NEW LEATHER!), and best of all, my ponies LOVE IT!

Prin was UNBELIEVABLE in it, unquestionably better than she was when I rode in Linda's last year. She was light, easy to get collected, and best of all, we were both comfortable doing it!

Crest, well...lets just say any issues I'm having with him are caused by me. I could see the physical change in him on the ground as I played with him, his movement was more relaxed, round, etc, which is not typical for him undersaddle, he's usually pretty bracy and nervous. However, I still cannot ride his trot to save my life, so we've got some fluidity work to do I think. That'll come in time though, and now with the saddle, I've got the means to at least post the trot and do a Pushing Passenger if necessary.

I'm having a hell of a time shimming it though, because Prin's muscling has changed so much since last year. Last year I had a fairly dramatic downhill configuration going on, and this year, I take it Prin's gotten much more uphill, because I felt pitched forward using that pattern. 2 thick and a thin shim up front was a bit too much, saddle ended up sliding backwards and I had some major rough, dry spots, so I think tomorrow I'll try just two thick in the front, and it should be good.

So, completely and totally thrilled with it 100%. I'm having a blast, even with frustrating shim patterns!


Delivery...the UPS man was a little scared of the crazy lady and her camera...


Ripping open the box...My mom was like "Frances...LOOK UP!"


It is beautimous...could my smile get any bigger?


Joggin' on a loose rein...all smiles from both of us


Some more trotting, for those who know Prin, she's not usually the ROUND self-carrying type...and yet, check 'er out!!

I'm absolutely in LOVE with this thing. More pictures to come as I ride in it more and get a better feel for it!

Leading by the Lip

Oooh my, did Prinny and I have a good laugh in our session tonight...I decided to attempt leading her by the lip, which is a L3 task, I admit, I haven't done a whole lot with. I made the disgusting assumption that my horse would probably just follow me, and I wouldn't really have to teach her anything once I got my fingers on her lips. Princess is a pretty easy-going horse, how hard could it be, right? Ah HA! There is a REASON Pat Parelli put that task in the level three criteria. It's NOT that simple. Because your horse may follow, but if he stops, you CANNOT LET GO to encourage him to keep moving. The horse must be capable of following a feel!

A long story short, Princess kept taking a step, (for which I'd stop, reward, etc) and then she'd THROW her head up and curl her lip. It would have been frustrating had the look on my poor horse's face not been so hysterical. I would take her lip in my fingers, and then ask for a step lightly, and Prin would just stand there, ears perked forward, a very befuddled look on her face, with the unmistakable expression of "You want me lead by my WHAT?! Why my LIP?! HUH?!" and then she'd do the above head toss. I actually ended up quitting without any progress because I was laughing too hard. She such a clown when she wants to be.

We did a little bit with leading by the ear too, which she got much quicker, and actually performed really well. Could use a little refining, but she did really well for the second or third time I'd done it, so yay!

It's time for bed for me. I'm zonked.

PS, I was looking at a couple of pictures of Princess from this time last year, and thinking about how she's changed looks-wise. Last year, she had a pretty flat, QHy topline, not a bad banana perse, but just not built or made for collection. Then I looked at some photos taken a couple weeks ago. HOLY CRAP...my horse has bulked. She's getting GOOD BANANA (like REMMER) qualities in her neck, back, and rump that she definitely didn't have last year, especially her nice convex shaped neck. I think my all winter regime of finesse in the 66 acre alfalfa field did my horsey some good! My saddle comes Wednesday, imagine what it'll become THEN! Pix that day for sure!!

Talk about torture

This is going to be the longest month of my life...seriously...lol.

I talked to the Parelli collection people today and they think they have my color and sizing of saddle in stock, and my it'll be shipped in 30-45 days. Talk about an awful month and a half, especially as we get well into June, I'll be checking to see if Fed Ex came EVERY SINGLE DAY...

CANNOT WAIT to get the thing! YEEEEEP! It'll be so beautiful.

I do have one critique/statement for the Parelli people though. They really should post pictures of each saddle width from the front so people can at least get an IDEA for how wide the things are. I saw a photo of a used Standard tree one on ebay tonight and had a horrible notion I ordered too wide, but then reminded myself that Linda's super wide fit Prin uber well.

Ah well...I digress. So begins the horrible "waiting" period. I think I'll sit here and twiddle my thumbs.

Here, have some photo fun whilst we wait here together. Taken with my new Canon Rebel XT:


Pretty Cricket!


Prinny being the wonderful teacher that she is for one of my students...she makes me seem better than I am...really.

My Dream Come True

ITS ORDERED!!!!




After 10 months of lessons, hard work, hardcore saving, and dreaming of how my horse would feel when I had it, I FINALLY ordered my fluidity saddle. Here's all you need to know about it:

Color: Dark Brown
Seat Size: 17.5
Tree/Gullet: Superwide

The picture above shows pretty much what it'll look like.

This whole crazy scheme started on June 30th, 2007, and it's all Linda Parelli's fault. We went riding after Saturday's presentation at the tour stop in Madison, and I was having some canter issues with Princess, with her not being pleased about cantering even after I adjusted my seat. Linda very discretely pulled me off to the side and asked if I would like to borrow her fluidity saddle for the evening. Without any hesitation and several expletives (I was SURPRISED..so sue me!) I accepted the offer.

That 30 minutes of riding was a life changer. Princess's gaits changed/got bigger, she became willing to collect, she maintained gait for as long as I asked, she stretched, her back rounded up and her back legs came under her, and her trot got so elevated and bouncy I had to hold my visor on. I knew I HAD to get that saddle. So...the rest is history.

I cannot wait to get it. YAY!

Let It All Hang Out

Had a really carefree session with my ponies today, which is nice to have when my head is as full as it is today. Too much emotion in my life, and it's been driving me absolutely insane. It was just nice to let rip and "let it all hang out".

Firstly, I got out there and Prin marched up to me, stuck her butt in my face, picked up her back leg, and turned her head as if to say "Scratch me...now...do it..." What a brat. Anyway, I rubbed on her a little, then offered her the halter, and she went "Oh that...I think not." and walked away. Ah well. So...I plopped down on the bathtub, and what thoroughly surprised by what happened next.

We've got a new mare at the barn now (I'll post more about her as she warms up), but anyway, she's a 15 yr old APHA mare, sorrel and white, looks like a mini-Prin. Anyway, she's been quiet and seemingly RBI, very shy, and unwilling to come anywhere near humans, as she was mishandled before her current owner got her. Anyway, tonight, Cricket, who's hardly even pointed her nose toward me in the past, whinnied, and came trotting over, and settled right in, stuck her nose in my lap, and went "Hi...whats up?". We loved up for a while, I think she'll be a really lovely mare when she realizes I'm not all about catch and work.

Proceeded to rip around the pasture on Prin for about 30 min or so. Started with one rein and did some fancy stuff even with that...LOVE my light horse! Tied two reins then, and did some dressagy type finesse stuff, which she did pretty well for having to dodge the trot poles I had out from my session with Knight on Sunday. Then we did what my title suggests...we just RIPPED AROUND the pasture and let it all hang out for about 15 min. Other than being a little bit out of shape (YEESH PRIN!!) she did really well, and we enjoyed ourselves!

All in all a very nice evening, can't WAIT for summer to set in!