That pretty much sums up the session Nugget and I had together this afternoon.
After being with me a week, miss Nugget has taken very well to the seven games. She's a bit sticky in her driving and yoyo, and likes to be CLOSE in her circling, (Extrovert much?) but she's got the concept to basically a L1 standard. We're constantly improving, of course, but she's where she needs to be for me right now anyway.
So today was all about introducing Nugget to my other "toys", saddle pads and blankets, and then the concept of the girth. I dont' want to push the saddling too hard on a horse that's not ready for it, but simulations are fun, and Nugget's so smart, I felt she was ready for me.
I started out by just randomly placing saddle pads around the paddock, over barrels, fences, rails, etc, so we could just "happen" upon them as we played. This was REALLY funny, because Nugget immediately caught onto the difference, and wasn't quite sure what to think. Her first response was to follow her LBE side, and go ATTACK THE PADS, but then she'd scare herself half to death, jolt backwards, then suspiciously walk foward, sniff, and then start pawing...such a funny pattern. I let her figure this out with the 4 pads I had laid out, and we repeated the cycle until she wasn't phased anymore, then I started to play with desensitizing her to them. I'd pick them up and throw them, drop them, wave them in the air, etc. None of this really seemed to bother her, but she was very perplexed...the look on her face said it all: "What the...? Um...weirdo?"
Finally, after much silly preparation, I got to the point, and started "contact" friendly game with the pads, putting them all over her body and having her move with them on her, too. She handled it all like a trooper, though I will say it was funny watching her try to "follow the feel" off the blanket on her neck. She kept putting her head DOWN, then flinging it up and throwing the pad in the air, then looking amused and confused as it landed on her back. Personally, I think it was a game entirely.
Next, I introduced her to the concept of the girth by playing with the 22' line. The goal was eventually to put a flank rope around her barrel and get her used to varying degrees of pressure, and also getting her to follow the feel off the rope. Started off by simply throwing different parts of the rope over her back, and letting her get used to it bouncing and dragging around her, etc. She did great with that, didn't even bat an eye as it was bouncing around and hitting her legs. So then I put it around her barrel as a flank rope, sort of expecting a rodeo, but not entirely, since her calm behavior was proving me wrong in all other aspects.
And of course, she was calm as could be. She got a little unconfident and walked around kind of quickly, but soon started blowing off adrenaline and settling in. We played on both sides, and she really got it. I'm VERY pleased with her. I'll try to get some photos tomorrow, and hopefully by next week, we may be playing consistantly in the bareback pad :)
That's all for now, folks. Gotta go finish some dishes and go to bed UBER EARLY!
Photo by Margaret Chant and edited by Jessica Metropulos
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A Strange Twist on a Romance Novel
Yes...that is what I intended the title of this blog entry to be, because it describes EXACTLY what my ride was like this afternoon.
I took Prin out, played for 20 minutes or so on the ground to get her moving and breathing. What's really neat is that she's finding that rhythm SO MUCH EASIER now, and her movement and body is reflecting it! I was watching her muscles today, thinking "Has she ALWAYS had that much definition in her back?", and listening to her breathing, she settled in and started to actually stretch down after only about 5 laps or so, which is great. Her flexibility is also slowly improving, and it almost seemed like her playdrive was up, too. YAY fitness! She'll be so much easier to develop in those higher levels when she can actually HANDLE what I'm asking for.
Next, I decided we were going to go on one of our long trots. So, we went trotting out, probably a mile or so, quite a distance from the farm out into the Dusek's chopped corn fields, and things were just going GREAT. Prin was round, powerful, and engaged, she felt light as a feather, and like she could do anything I threw at her (but I didn't, I just wanted a nice, rhythmic trot) Anyway, about a mile out, I realized that my girth wasn't tight enough (saddle started to slip a bit), so I hopped off, adjusted, and could not, for the LIFE of me, get myself back in the saddle. And of course at that instant, it starts to RAIN. I don't mean a little bit of rain--oh no, I mean, torrential, tempist-like, freezing cold DOWNPOUR.
I don't know how I did it, but I did manage to scramble back onto my horse(adrenaline makes a lot of things possible). I upped prin into a canter at first, realized we were getting nowhere, and so I just let her have her head. We ran FLAT OUT home, and really the only way to describe it is that it was exhilerating! The rain, the dramatic sky, the horse who, by the way, is moving CORRECTLY in gallop (this is NEW), and is therefore like riding a thoroughbred race horse, and of course the feeling of going fast. Everything sort of joined together, and we just ran. Prin's breathing was in time with her feet, we were both soaked, hair flying out behind us, and what was really neat was that I never felt out of control ONCE. We were just running.
Yes. It is a scene, right out of a romance novel, minus the attractive man that should have appeared somewhere in the scene. But that's okay. We both had fun, and my saddle got a good loving out of it, too. So everyone came out happy, and it was just a neat experience, to have everything just sort of synchronize. Perhaps this was a tiny taste into what we're all striving for in true unity.
I took Prin out, played for 20 minutes or so on the ground to get her moving and breathing. What's really neat is that she's finding that rhythm SO MUCH EASIER now, and her movement and body is reflecting it! I was watching her muscles today, thinking "Has she ALWAYS had that much definition in her back?", and listening to her breathing, she settled in and started to actually stretch down after only about 5 laps or so, which is great. Her flexibility is also slowly improving, and it almost seemed like her playdrive was up, too. YAY fitness! She'll be so much easier to develop in those higher levels when she can actually HANDLE what I'm asking for.
Next, I decided we were going to go on one of our long trots. So, we went trotting out, probably a mile or so, quite a distance from the farm out into the Dusek's chopped corn fields, and things were just going GREAT. Prin was round, powerful, and engaged, she felt light as a feather, and like she could do anything I threw at her (but I didn't, I just wanted a nice, rhythmic trot) Anyway, about a mile out, I realized that my girth wasn't tight enough (saddle started to slip a bit), so I hopped off, adjusted, and could not, for the LIFE of me, get myself back in the saddle. And of course at that instant, it starts to RAIN. I don't mean a little bit of rain--oh no, I mean, torrential, tempist-like, freezing cold DOWNPOUR.
I don't know how I did it, but I did manage to scramble back onto my horse(adrenaline makes a lot of things possible). I upped prin into a canter at first, realized we were getting nowhere, and so I just let her have her head. We ran FLAT OUT home, and really the only way to describe it is that it was exhilerating! The rain, the dramatic sky, the horse who, by the way, is moving CORRECTLY in gallop (this is NEW), and is therefore like riding a thoroughbred race horse, and of course the feeling of going fast. Everything sort of joined together, and we just ran. Prin's breathing was in time with her feet, we were both soaked, hair flying out behind us, and what was really neat was that I never felt out of control ONCE. We were just running.
Yes. It is a scene, right out of a romance novel, minus the attractive man that should have appeared somewhere in the scene. But that's okay. We both had fun, and my saddle got a good loving out of it, too. So everyone came out happy, and it was just a neat experience, to have everything just sort of synchronize. Perhaps this was a tiny taste into what we're all striving for in true unity.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Lessons in Teaching, and a CRAP Homecoming
"The real skill in teaching comes when you don't cause chaos... that goes for teaching horses or humans. So setting it up for success and knowing what to teach when and in what environment is the key."
~Linda Parelli, 10/25/08
It's quotes like these that make a profound difference in how I look at my actions and how I plan to better myself. Advice taken and VERY appreciated.
I recieved an email (actually two) back about the situation portrayed in my last post. While I won't go into great detail (they were long emails), lets just say that the big thing I was missing was the environment in which I needed to teach. Just because I *think* I may be setting a situation up for success doesn't mean I necessarily did. Success, at that point, would have been away from the horse, perhaps in a simualation or just sitting down and discussing. Time with the horse is reserved strictly for feel, experimentation, and play. I type that out now, and all I'd really love to say is "Of COURSE...I KNEW THAT!" And probably to some degree, I did, but you never know how much you know, or don't know, until it throws itself in your face as a dirty, ugly reminder. So. Duely noted, and I will be a better person because of it.
Anyway, with that update covered, lets talk a little bit about the beautiful letdown my home state of WI has given me since returning. First off. Snow. Let's discuss this form of precipitation. Common usually from mid-late November onward, and present in our lives until late March (or later!). Notice firstly that there was NO MENTION of snow in October in that statement. And yet, here I sit, on October 26th, 2008, watching gray, icy flakes fall out of the sky. While they aren't sticking, there will be no denying it, SNOW has officially fallen for the first time this year.
Secondly, let's discuss WIND. While I don't mind a little here and there, cutting up to 40 mph in nasty gusts is anything but what I'd call pleasant. I'm not pleased with it.
Other than that though, I'm THRILLED to be home. Got to see my fuzzies today, and they were, *shocker* FUZZY! Prin was a spanish walking MACHINE (SEE MOM?! I STILL CAN DO IT!! I PRACTICED WHILE YOU WERE AWAY!!) Crest just a love bug, and Lady was...um...clingy. She whinnied for me when I got there (AWWW!!) and then proceeded to chase me around, etc. I'll be going back out soon, after I change into my fuzz-butts (winter riding pants)...first ride in them this season! WOW!
Savvy on!
~Linda Parelli, 10/25/08
It's quotes like these that make a profound difference in how I look at my actions and how I plan to better myself. Advice taken and VERY appreciated.
I recieved an email (actually two) back about the situation portrayed in my last post. While I won't go into great detail (they were long emails), lets just say that the big thing I was missing was the environment in which I needed to teach. Just because I *think* I may be setting a situation up for success doesn't mean I necessarily did. Success, at that point, would have been away from the horse, perhaps in a simualation or just sitting down and discussing. Time with the horse is reserved strictly for feel, experimentation, and play. I type that out now, and all I'd really love to say is "Of COURSE...I KNEW THAT!" And probably to some degree, I did, but you never know how much you know, or don't know, until it throws itself in your face as a dirty, ugly reminder. So. Duely noted, and I will be a better person because of it.
Anyway, with that update covered, lets talk a little bit about the beautiful letdown my home state of WI has given me since returning. First off. Snow. Let's discuss this form of precipitation. Common usually from mid-late November onward, and present in our lives until late March (or later!). Notice firstly that there was NO MENTION of snow in October in that statement. And yet, here I sit, on October 26th, 2008, watching gray, icy flakes fall out of the sky. While they aren't sticking, there will be no denying it, SNOW has officially fallen for the first time this year.
Secondly, let's discuss WIND. While I don't mind a little here and there, cutting up to 40 mph in nasty gusts is anything but what I'd call pleasant. I'm not pleased with it.
Other than that though, I'm THRILLED to be home. Got to see my fuzzies today, and they were, *shocker* FUZZY! Prin was a spanish walking MACHINE (SEE MOM?! I STILL CAN DO IT!! I PRACTICED WHILE YOU WERE AWAY!!) Crest just a love bug, and Lady was...um...clingy. She whinnied for me when I got there (AWWW!!) and then proceeded to chase me around, etc. I'll be going back out soon, after I change into my fuzz-butts (winter riding pants)...first ride in them this season! WOW!
Savvy on!
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, October 11, 2008
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 :)
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 :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I'm Leaving You With This...
PRINNY TRICKS!
Katie and I will be gone the next 6 days at a clinic with Farrah. I'll be taking Prinny, and we'll have a blasty :D
Enjoy the video, and see ya'll on the 7th :)
Monday, September 22, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Advancing Porcupine, Bareback and Bridless
Tonight was a night for the Crest-myster, and a VERY interesting evening indeed! I decided to try a little more in the round pen, since it was a rocky thing the other night, and boy, things were different.
Started out a little RB again, very reactive and flighty to every little thing, but that got better as we kept playing. Started building up to some extreme friendly game again, since that seems to be his biggest issue at liberty (which is funny, because online, when mommy's holding his hand, he's FINE). Anyway, played some friendly and did some sideways, cutting and circling. Once he got moving around, Crest was feelin' fine, because he was tossing his head around, and kicking and playing. It's always fun to watch him be exuberant.
So then,(don't ask about my motivation) I decided that we needed to do some new things to advance our porcupine game. During the spring/early summer, Crest learned how to back by the tail, which was very cool, because he used to not let me even touch his zone 5. But anyway, back to this advancing porcupine. Tonight I decided to re-approach teaching Crest to follow a feel and back up by his hocks. This was kind of a gamble, and I knew it going into it, Crest is still unconfident with ropes and things around his back legs, but I figured that at least we'd get some good friendly in. In the past, when we've played with this, he's kicked, panicked and run off, started spinning, etc. So with that in mind, tonight I friendlied him up REALLY good, then, when I felt he was confident enough,I just asked him back really lightly, and much to my suprise (and satisfaction!) he was like..."mmmokay..." and just started walking backwards. Well, you can imagine how pleased I was!
After finishing up on the ground, I took a really HUGE leap of faith in my horse. Let me give you a bit of back story here. Some of you know this story already, but for those who don't, about 18 months ago, I had a pretty intense riding accident with Crest when we were riding bridless. There were some pretty raw emotions flowing through my mind, and Crest, being sensitive and 10x more RB than he is now, got scared, vaulted a 4.5 foot fence from a standstill with me on him, didn't quite clear it, got hung up, flipped, and landed on top of me. He crushed my knees physically, and mentally damaged my confidence hugely, not only in riding him, but riding in a round corral, in jumping any horse in general, and especially the idea of riding him bridless.
Tonight, for the first time successfully since that accident, I rode Crest bareback and bridless, and for the record, it was in a round corral! It wasn't like we just took off into the sunset, I assure you it was much lower key than that, but it was bareback and bridless. We were under control, LB (LBI to be exact...grass-diver!) and we did transitions! Walk-halt-back transitions, and we also turned, both yielding HQ and FQ. All this without even a rope around his neck! Of course, through the entire ride, I was trying not to start crying(mainly because, to be totally honest, I was scared shitless), but after I got off, I let out a big sigh, a laugh, and started crying and giggling into Crest's shoulder, while repeating (Dane Cook fans, see the Crying Sketch) "I survived, Cresty!!". That was HUGE for us! HUGE! AH! So excited!!
Started out a little RB again, very reactive and flighty to every little thing, but that got better as we kept playing. Started building up to some extreme friendly game again, since that seems to be his biggest issue at liberty (which is funny, because online, when mommy's holding his hand, he's FINE). Anyway, played some friendly and did some sideways, cutting and circling. Once he got moving around, Crest was feelin' fine, because he was tossing his head around, and kicking and playing. It's always fun to watch him be exuberant.
So then,(don't ask about my motivation) I decided that we needed to do some new things to advance our porcupine game. During the spring/early summer, Crest learned how to back by the tail, which was very cool, because he used to not let me even touch his zone 5. But anyway, back to this advancing porcupine. Tonight I decided to re-approach teaching Crest to follow a feel and back up by his hocks. This was kind of a gamble, and I knew it going into it, Crest is still unconfident with ropes and things around his back legs, but I figured that at least we'd get some good friendly in. In the past, when we've played with this, he's kicked, panicked and run off, started spinning, etc. So with that in mind, tonight I friendlied him up REALLY good, then, when I felt he was confident enough,I just asked him back really lightly, and much to my suprise (and satisfaction!) he was like..."mmmokay..." and just started walking backwards. Well, you can imagine how pleased I was!
After finishing up on the ground, I took a really HUGE leap of faith in my horse. Let me give you a bit of back story here. Some of you know this story already, but for those who don't, about 18 months ago, I had a pretty intense riding accident with Crest when we were riding bridless. There were some pretty raw emotions flowing through my mind, and Crest, being sensitive and 10x more RB than he is now, got scared, vaulted a 4.5 foot fence from a standstill with me on him, didn't quite clear it, got hung up, flipped, and landed on top of me. He crushed my knees physically, and mentally damaged my confidence hugely, not only in riding him, but riding in a round corral, in jumping any horse in general, and especially the idea of riding him bridless.
Tonight, for the first time successfully since that accident, I rode Crest bareback and bridless, and for the record, it was in a round corral! It wasn't like we just took off into the sunset, I assure you it was much lower key than that, but it was bareback and bridless. We were under control, LB (LBI to be exact...grass-diver!) and we did transitions! Walk-halt-back transitions, and we also turned, both yielding HQ and FQ. All this without even a rope around his neck! Of course, through the entire ride, I was trying not to start crying(mainly because, to be totally honest, I was scared shitless), but after I got off, I let out a big sigh, a laugh, and started crying and giggling into Crest's shoulder, while repeating (Dane Cook fans, see the Crying Sketch) "I survived, Cresty!!". That was HUGE for us! HUGE! AH! So excited!!
Friday, August 29, 2008
YAYYYYYY!!!!
Okay.
I seriously...love...LOVE my job. LOVE it. LOVE!
I had a lesson with a Ms. Anne Dyken today (she is the woman who made my Fluidity saddle a reality). She has owned her main horse, Blixen, for almost 3 years, and is quite timid around him. I've worked with her several times over the last four months. She's gained a lot of confidence, but is still too unconfident to ride this horse (she had a bad fall a while back, not on Blixen, but it still made her a little hesitant to ride anything, especially not her goofy Extroverted gelding).
Well, at the end of today's lesson with Blixen (they went over some basic ground stuff), she calmly asked me if I wanted her to do anything else. I answered what was she thinking of? She tried to look innocent and calmly said 'Well, I don't know, maybe you'd want me to throw my leg over a horse...'
She rode Blixen. Bareback. In a halter. OH MYLANTA! I was so proud, and we were both just bawling...it's such an amazing thing, seeing people get this sort of confidence and success with their horses, and getting to be a part of it. I am so lucky to get to do this with my life! And you know what? No Savvy Team performance could EVER bring me such a feeling.
Here's some pictures:
I seriously...love...LOVE my job. LOVE it. LOVE!
I had a lesson with a Ms. Anne Dyken today (she is the woman who made my Fluidity saddle a reality). She has owned her main horse, Blixen, for almost 3 years, and is quite timid around him. I've worked with her several times over the last four months. She's gained a lot of confidence, but is still too unconfident to ride this horse (she had a bad fall a while back, not on Blixen, but it still made her a little hesitant to ride anything, especially not her goofy Extroverted gelding).
Well, at the end of today's lesson with Blixen (they went over some basic ground stuff), she calmly asked me if I wanted her to do anything else. I answered what was she thinking of? She tried to look innocent and calmly said 'Well, I don't know, maybe you'd want me to throw my leg over a horse...'
She rode Blixen. Bareback. In a halter. OH MYLANTA! I was so proud, and we were both just bawling...it's such an amazing thing, seeing people get this sort of confidence and success with their horses, and getting to be a part of it. I am so lucky to get to do this with my life! And you know what? No Savvy Team performance could EVER bring me such a feeling.
Here's some pictures:
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Lessons in Shimming
Visited Sherri today out at her place, today. We took the girls (Cerra, 6 yr old QH cross mare, and Cheyenne, 4 yr old QH mare) out for a little spin, which was fun. The really interesting thing about playing with those two is that they're such polar opposites of eachother. Cerra's a deeply layered RBI mare, prone to spooking, bolting, and sudden panic attacks. Cheyenne is a happy-go-lucky (sometimes a bit TOO happy) LBE mare, who enjoys putting anything and everything in her mouth, and also takes pride and joy in eating so persistantly on rides that you'd like to rip your hair out.
Anyway, so Sherri started on Chy, I started on Cerra. Cheyenne was tacked up in a Circle Y Park and Trail saddle with Parelli Theraflex Pad, and had a Parelli halter and reins. Cerra was decked out in my Fluidity saddle (She really needs that Super Wide gullet!!) theraflex pad, and bridle with confidence snaffle and finesse reins. We rode out to the big field (66 acre alfalfa) and just played around for a bit. Cerra and I did some Canter/Halt transitions, which she's sickeningly good at.
Sherri and Cheyenne were butting heads a bit, however. Chy has this lovely tendency to sull up and get LBI food oriented when we come anywhere NEAR a field with edible foliage. And Sherri, of course, does not want to spend all afternoon waiting for the fatty to fill up so they can move on. So it ended up that I got on and did some "WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE!" from her back, but as I was doing this, I began kind of observing some patterns.
*Chy's attitude usually comes with upward transitions that require more topline, and with backing up.
*Her neck gets bracy, her head goes up before anything else
*Gaits seem rushed
All these things point to a shimming problem in my mind. Chy's having problems rounding/using her topline, and when she goes to put her head down (she's a pleasure bred QH) she would get snotty, like something was poking her (like a poorly shimmed/placed saddle)
So, we rode back to Sherri's, pulled out her marking stick (Sorry Sherri, I know that's just one more thing for L and D to give you crap about!) my extra sets of shims, and we untacked. I gave a full shim demo, all the way from marking Chy's scapula at rest and in motion, to explaining where the saddle needed to be placed, to how Chy needed to be shimmed. (Looking like 2 or 3 thick in the shoulder, and a wedge) That all went well, and the moment of truth came when Sherri hopped on. First thing she said I think was "Oh wow, I feel so much...farther back?"
She and Chy walked, trotted, and cantered around, and I can say from an observer's perspective that Cheyenne looked MUCH more comfortable, and the look on her face was that of mild interest, not complete and total resent (cranky). She stretched her neck down and blew several times, a good indication: Topline is coming up, ribcage is expanding, and therefore the horse wants to stretch and breath. So overall, I'm pleased to see this, and we'll see what we can do to keep it going next week!
Afterward, they gave me a little liberty demo, which was a pleasent surprise. They looked LOVELY, Chy's LBE enthusiasm is really really fun to play with, and Sherri's done a great job in developing it.
I really appreciated Sherri's comment in jest at the end of the session "Wow, that was the best $10 I've spent in a long time!" Glad you got your money's worth, Sherri :)
A photo of Chy and Sherri, taken in April 2007. Kinda fun, look how far you guys have come!!
Anyway, so Sherri started on Chy, I started on Cerra. Cheyenne was tacked up in a Circle Y Park and Trail saddle with Parelli Theraflex Pad, and had a Parelli halter and reins. Cerra was decked out in my Fluidity saddle (She really needs that Super Wide gullet!!) theraflex pad, and bridle with confidence snaffle and finesse reins. We rode out to the big field (66 acre alfalfa) and just played around for a bit. Cerra and I did some Canter/Halt transitions, which she's sickeningly good at.
Sherri and Cheyenne were butting heads a bit, however. Chy has this lovely tendency to sull up and get LBI food oriented when we come anywhere NEAR a field with edible foliage. And Sherri, of course, does not want to spend all afternoon waiting for the fatty to fill up so they can move on. So it ended up that I got on and did some "WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE!" from her back, but as I was doing this, I began kind of observing some patterns.
*Chy's attitude usually comes with upward transitions that require more topline, and with backing up.
*Her neck gets bracy, her head goes up before anything else
*Gaits seem rushed
All these things point to a shimming problem in my mind. Chy's having problems rounding/using her topline, and when she goes to put her head down (she's a pleasure bred QH) she would get snotty, like something was poking her (like a poorly shimmed/placed saddle)
So, we rode back to Sherri's, pulled out her marking stick (Sorry Sherri, I know that's just one more thing for L and D to give you crap about!) my extra sets of shims, and we untacked. I gave a full shim demo, all the way from marking Chy's scapula at rest and in motion, to explaining where the saddle needed to be placed, to how Chy needed to be shimmed. (Looking like 2 or 3 thick in the shoulder, and a wedge) That all went well, and the moment of truth came when Sherri hopped on. First thing she said I think was "Oh wow, I feel so much...farther back?"
She and Chy walked, trotted, and cantered around, and I can say from an observer's perspective that Cheyenne looked MUCH more comfortable, and the look on her face was that of mild interest, not complete and total resent (cranky). She stretched her neck down and blew several times, a good indication: Topline is coming up, ribcage is expanding, and therefore the horse wants to stretch and breath. So overall, I'm pleased to see this, and we'll see what we can do to keep it going next week!
Afterward, they gave me a little liberty demo, which was a pleasent surprise. They looked LOVELY, Chy's LBE enthusiasm is really really fun to play with, and Sherri's done a great job in developing it.
I really appreciated Sherri's comment in jest at the end of the session "Wow, that was the best $10 I've spent in a long time!" Glad you got your money's worth, Sherri :)
A photo of Chy and Sherri, taken in April 2007. Kinda fun, look how far you guys have come!!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
You want to______? LET ME HELP YOU!
Oh yeah...and breath while you do it!
I had an adventuresome session with a VERY RBE Scoot this morning, and I thought my readers might like to hear about my handling my least "savvy" horsenality.
The RBE has always been kind of a rough area for me. I come from owning one EXTREMELY LB mare, and then a gelding who was RBE for about 6 months and then turned mostly LBE (He still has his RBE moments, but they're mild). Handling extreme fear in a horse is not something I'm particularly good at. I know what to do only from hearing Pat and Linda and other people's experiences, and I probably handle it fairly well in retrospect, being a L3 student, but compared to my imagination and creativity for the LB side, RB isn't fantastic.
Today, my plan with Scoot was to build his confidence a bit. I've played with him about 4 times previous to this session, teaching him the principle games and getting some purpose, and have basically found that he's that he's a very smart, sensitive horse, who is easily offended and bothered by too much of anything. My phases have to be perfect, etc. I anticipated him to be a bit like Crest to start out with, but little did I realize, he's almost IDENTICAL.
One of my greatest...erm...(I don't want to say "regrets", Linda's been training that word out of my vocabulary) Okay, one of the things I feel the worst about (and have since learned from) is the arrogance I went into starting Crest with. I was a cocky, arrogant 14 year old who thought she could handle way more than she could, and I've learned through the amount of times that horse has hurt me in one way or another, that I need to rely on the knowledge and information that others willingly have shared, and not think I know everything in the process. So anyway, to my story.
I started out today, feeling like Scoot was just being a bit TOO offended. I mean, there's a good reason when my phases aren't right, but after 4 sessions of earning his trust (Which I do have, he trots to me when he sees me coming)acting like a baby when I THINK about throwing the savvy string over his back in a friendly way, is a bit much.
Those of you who follow the program religiously know that Pat and Linda say to interrupt the pattern when a horse goes RB. Well, let me put it this way. Scoot was LEAPING around on the end of the line...not just prancing a little, he was LEAPING, and I wasn't even trying to get the savvy string on him. I wanted to see him stand still before I even tried that. Well the little Australian voice in the back of my head (yes, I do have Linda in there!) was shouting "INTERRUPT THE PATTERN!!" and I tried...as hard as I could...multiple times...and then, all of a sudden, That little voice started to talk again "Fran...if you can't shut it down, then what? Make it your idea!" and I FLEW into action...My energy came up, my intention came up, and my attitude shifted to exactly what my blog title is..."You want to go CRAZY?! LET ME HELP YOU!!!"
Now I was in an area where I have several obstacles...a log, several fence lines, a round corral, a jump, a pedestal, and water tubs and buckets. Well, we went FLYING. I sent Scoot over the jumps, into the fence, through the water trough, between things, over the pedestal, into the round pen. We circled, squeezed, sidewaysed (is that a WORD?!) crazy fast. We changed directions more times than I think Scoot could comprehend. We were basically insane. About 3/4 way through this entire episode, I started to realize how TIRED I was getting, I was really winded. And then another voice came into my head, and she'll be flattered to know it. Farrah Green started saying to me "Breath, Fran...Breath while you do it!" and I couldn't help but laugh. Go figure. I'm running around like a lunatic with my breath held. As soon as I started to breath, so did Scoot, and then all of a sudden, he just stopped and LOOKED at me. He started licking his lips like mad, and I realized something.
I handled a pretty extreme RBE fit CORRECTLY! I scored BIGTIME points with myself, and I'm REALLY proud! All that, and following the little voices of my mentors in my head, which are slowly but surely becoming my own voice.
The rest of my session was uninteresting in comparision. We did some things, yes, but that was what i wanted to share. Hope someone found that interesting, and please tell me what you thought!
I had an adventuresome session with a VERY RBE Scoot this morning, and I thought my readers might like to hear about my handling my least "savvy" horsenality.
The RBE has always been kind of a rough area for me. I come from owning one EXTREMELY LB mare, and then a gelding who was RBE for about 6 months and then turned mostly LBE (He still has his RBE moments, but they're mild). Handling extreme fear in a horse is not something I'm particularly good at. I know what to do only from hearing Pat and Linda and other people's experiences, and I probably handle it fairly well in retrospect, being a L3 student, but compared to my imagination and creativity for the LB side, RB isn't fantastic.
Today, my plan with Scoot was to build his confidence a bit. I've played with him about 4 times previous to this session, teaching him the principle games and getting some purpose, and have basically found that he's that he's a very smart, sensitive horse, who is easily offended and bothered by too much of anything. My phases have to be perfect, etc. I anticipated him to be a bit like Crest to start out with, but little did I realize, he's almost IDENTICAL.
One of my greatest...erm...(I don't want to say "regrets", Linda's been training that word out of my vocabulary) Okay, one of the things I feel the worst about (and have since learned from) is the arrogance I went into starting Crest with. I was a cocky, arrogant 14 year old who thought she could handle way more than she could, and I've learned through the amount of times that horse has hurt me in one way or another, that I need to rely on the knowledge and information that others willingly have shared, and not think I know everything in the process. So anyway, to my story.
I started out today, feeling like Scoot was just being a bit TOO offended. I mean, there's a good reason when my phases aren't right, but after 4 sessions of earning his trust (Which I do have, he trots to me when he sees me coming)acting like a baby when I THINK about throwing the savvy string over his back in a friendly way, is a bit much.
Those of you who follow the program religiously know that Pat and Linda say to interrupt the pattern when a horse goes RB. Well, let me put it this way. Scoot was LEAPING around on the end of the line...not just prancing a little, he was LEAPING, and I wasn't even trying to get the savvy string on him. I wanted to see him stand still before I even tried that. Well the little Australian voice in the back of my head (yes, I do have Linda in there!) was shouting "INTERRUPT THE PATTERN!!" and I tried...as hard as I could...multiple times...and then, all of a sudden, That little voice started to talk again "Fran...if you can't shut it down, then what? Make it your idea!" and I FLEW into action...My energy came up, my intention came up, and my attitude shifted to exactly what my blog title is..."You want to go CRAZY?! LET ME HELP YOU!!!"
Now I was in an area where I have several obstacles...a log, several fence lines, a round corral, a jump, a pedestal, and water tubs and buckets. Well, we went FLYING. I sent Scoot over the jumps, into the fence, through the water trough, between things, over the pedestal, into the round pen. We circled, squeezed, sidewaysed (is that a WORD?!) crazy fast. We changed directions more times than I think Scoot could comprehend. We were basically insane. About 3/4 way through this entire episode, I started to realize how TIRED I was getting, I was really winded. And then another voice came into my head, and she'll be flattered to know it. Farrah Green started saying to me "Breath, Fran...Breath while you do it!" and I couldn't help but laugh. Go figure. I'm running around like a lunatic with my breath held. As soon as I started to breath, so did Scoot, and then all of a sudden, he just stopped and LOOKED at me. He started licking his lips like mad, and I realized something.
I handled a pretty extreme RBE fit CORRECTLY! I scored BIGTIME points with myself, and I'm REALLY proud! All that, and following the little voices of my mentors in my head, which are slowly but surely becoming my own voice.
The rest of my session was uninteresting in comparision. We did some things, yes, but that was what i wanted to share. Hope someone found that interesting, and please tell me what you thought!
Monday, June 23, 2008
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.
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.
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