Parelli's Newest 3* Professional

Hey all,

I just wanted to share some super exciting news. I talked to Farrah Green today, and she shared with me that she received her 3* PARELLI PROFESSIONAL RANKING yesterday!

If there's anyone I know who deserves that promotion, it's Farrah. She's been working hard to achieve that for 3 years, and it's so time for this. She's 3* and more in my book, and I'm SO PROUD AND HAPPY for her. She is amazing. I cannot wait to see what she continues to offer the horse world with this. Congrats, Girl!


Farrah and her two super horses, Caesar and Wesley.

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!

Awesome times THREE!

I had a busy busy day today, and of the three real sessions I had (I played with a 4th, but only to keep him occupied while the others ate their grain) were absolutely FANTASTIC. I haven't felt that productive with my herd in a VERY long time. I played with Crest, Cricket, and Prin, and I think the easiest way to summarize will be to just go down the list.


Crest:
I've been trying really hard to get into a consistent schedule with Crest, since he thrives best when he's played with often. So, since the last time I blogged, we've actually played twice, not including today. Anyway, we've been playing with really progressing in the patterns. The ground was too hard by the time I got them last fall, so I only got to introduce them to him.

All I can really say is HOLY CRAP, this horse is a speed-demon learner. I knew that about him from the start, but he's now blowing my mind more and more. I started playing with these patterns at L2 two days ago, and today, he was consistently offering me L4 with everything. He kept pulling flying changes out of NOWHERE, he was cantering like I've never seen before, and his circles were GORGEOUS, and amazingly rhythmic!

After being thoroughly mind-boggled by Crest's ground play, I decided to hop on and do some stuff. We started out just walking around and playing with walk-halt transitions, which he did flawlessly. We toddled around the playground a bit, w/t/c and playing with obstacles, and then I somehow got the idea that we should play with turns on the haunches. It started out a little bit rocky, being that it's physically challenging for him, but we played through it slowly and persistently, and by the end, I was getting some LOVELY pivots, and twice got what I think were pretty high-quality spins. He's truly a very athletic horse, he just needs proper guidance, etc.

Cricket:
Poor Cricket is going through some difficult things right now. I'm just starting to get her back into riding, something that hasn't been kind on her in the past. She's basically been taught nothing but to resist, and unfortunately, has been punished for a lack of understanding. The result is a very skeptical, very unsure, very unconfident horse in all aspects of riding. I've spent the past couple weeks getting her friendly to the concept of being saddled. I pulled out Prin's original saddle for the job. It's a cute little general purpose Trainer's brand saddle, pretty narrow, but has decent weight distribution throughout the panels, which is why I chose it. Coupled with the Theraflex, it does fairly well.

Anyway, today, for the 3rd day in a row, we've played with bridling. Cricket must have evaded bridling really well in her days prior to my riding, because she knows practically every trick in the book to get away from it now. Today went fairly well though, we only had to "discuss" yielding to poll pressure for about 3 minutes, as opposed to the 15 and 5 we spent the past two days.

Once we got bridled, I hopped on, and proceeded to play with fluid rein. I've got her in the confidence snaffle because of the rough handling she's had in her mouth previously. Three days ago, When I'd get on, she'd turn her neck inside-out to get away from any sort of pressure on her mouth. Today, we made HUGE strides with fluid rein. Though a bit skeptical (and astounded!) that I really wanted her to stretch into the bit, Cricket finally got the idea, and we spend a half an hour walking and trotting around with Cricket's nose barely above the grass, exhaling and blowing almost every stride. Talk about a pressure release! It's going to be a long road, but she's going to make a LOVELY riding horse. I'll be continuing this journey, so keep checking back :)


Prin:
Today's session with Prin will be dubbed successful simply because it was short, sweet, and I totally blew my horse's mind. I had originally planned to tack up and take her out for a long trot up the road, but after I heard gunshots coming from Dusek's, our neighbors up the road (the 3 brothers shooting pigeons, no doubt), I decided that we'd better not. So, I hopped on bareback, and took her for literally a 5 minute ride. We cantered up the driveway, to the top of the hill, stopped, backed up, did a roll back, and cantered home. Once I got back, I took her to the tackroom and I groomed her from head to tail, gave her a cookie, and put her back. The look of astonishment on my horse's face was fantastic, and I know I left her wanting more because she followed me along the fence line as I walked out.


So. All in all, a VERY productive day. I love spring, I love my horses, and my life is going very well. I'll hopefully get the camera out this week sometime if it's not too nasty (they're predicting freezing rain/snow on Tuesday), and will keep progressing along.

Keep it natural, and I'll post again soon :)

Free Advertising

Not that she'll ever see this, but I just thought I'd throw out some free advertising for Farrah Green in here. If anyone wants to have a genuinely FANTASTIC learning experience, whether it be in clinic format or a private lesson, seriously, check her out! www.sittinghorse.us

Reason I throw the above message out there before starting my blog is because I had a wonderful, VERY effective session with my horse today, utilizing the information Farrah provided me in our lesson yesterday. To go into detail would basically be regurgitating what I wrote yesterday, but the result is what prompted the free advertising. Prin cantered 6 laps on the 22' line today without my being at all persistant, and I hardly had to up my phase much. I sent her out on phase 1, and asked her into the canter in like moderate 2 or so, and other than following her with my eyes with disbelief, she held in place with no reminders. Guess she realized that I can be and am bossy. The difference between this and what I had before (even when Prin WAS cantering more online) is like night and day, she's cantering A LOT, cantering WILLINGLY, and honestly putting effort into it. I'd rather have 4 laps of this than 18 laps of LBI "Ba...da...dum..." ANY day! Video/pix soon, I hope.

In other news, Nugget's owners came out to see her today, and were ASTOUNDED when I met them at the gate on her bareback with one rein. She's catching on so quickly, I think tomorrow I may start some L1 freestyle patterns with her.

Time to go eat some spaghetti, soak in a hot bath, and read a good book. Here's to comfort evenings! Savvy OUT!

Praise and Material Things...

This post may be a bit more philosophical than some of you care to read, and that's fine, but I need to express some thoughts that have been floating around in my mind for the past few days.

Humans are motivated by praise, recognition and material things, and this has become PAINFULLY obvious to me in the past month or so. I am not by any means a wealthy person. I am however a good saver for things which I want, or deem "necessary" in my life. I saved for 2 weeks shy of a year to be able to afford the saddle of my dreams. I have it now, and LOVE it. The changes in my horses are phenominal. And yet today, I couldn't get the shimming right, and I'm frustrated as hell about it. Granted, I'll take 15 minutes tomorrow, and probably get it right, but that's not the point right now.

I just spent $300 on a Parelli Cradle Bridle, promising myself that "You think Prin's light right now in the bit she's got, wait until you get the cradle" Wow...I've grossly overestimated my ability to do finesse, as well as my horse's readiness for a piece of tack of that magnitude. And why? Because I'm human...I'm materialistic...I always have to have the BEST of something. And the thing is, my horse couldn't care less! Of course she couldn't, it's really no surprise, she's a horse, they have no use for material goods, they're motivated by their safety, and comfort level! YARRRGHH! And that's what makes horses and humans so incompatible, and why it's so amazing when the two species CAN interact on a high level, it's when the middle ground is found. (Yes, I am a poet, and I DO know it!)

I am, in short, very frustrated with the Cradle bridle. Mainly because I don't know WHAT is wrong. I know that with correct use, it'll be a brilliant tool for both my horse and for me. And I know the reason I'm not getting a firework display from Prin when I use it is for several reasons, some being lack of good footing, lack of motivation (who wants to move forward with a poorly shimmed saddle and grass all around anyway?) and of course, improper preparation and settings. Now that's all fine and dandy, except that I dont' know how to correct 1/2 of that.

I wear a rubber band around my wrist, and it reads "WWLD"..."What would Linda do?" It's there for me in times like this, to provide me with a much needed smack in the face and the ability to step back and examine the situation with savvy, not with frustration. Well, "WWLD" is screaming at me "You're a student, you (AND YOUR HORSE!) are on a learning curve, and when you don't know the answer, instead of getting frustrated, either with your horse or yourself, you need to take a step back and start researching." But the question remains in my head..."WHERE?! HOW?! WHAT?! What do I research?!" Some of the answers are becoming apparent to me as I write this.

Anyway, my concerns lie in the reason the Cradle is not an instant success. And now that I've gotten that off my chest, I might be able to actually do some research. If you couldn't tell, my entire attitude just did a flip...I'm going to go sleep on it now.

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!

Trail riding and Fluid Reins

Had one very long, busy horsey day today. Got up to the farm around 2 O'clock with every intention of reading for most of the afternoon (BLOODY HOT! DANG!!)and then riding in the evening. Well, I got out there, and Cricket, my poor poor Cricket, was solidly REFUSING to use her lame leg. So, slowly and carefully, I put her, Princess, and Knight in the north paddock, and let them graze, and then called Virge, who, thank GOODNESS is home now. From what I described, Virge said it sounded like Cricket might have a deep absess in her foot. So, this afternoon involved lots of running around looking for epsom salt and hot water to soak feet in. Hopefully she gets better after this treatment.

But now for something completely different, related to the headline of this blog. I rode Cresty tonight on a trail ride. This new saddle has given me OODLES of new reasons to ride him, and I'm not regretting a second of it! The past few rides I've put a bridle and confidence snaffle on him so we can start actually erm, PROGRESSING into our riding. And I'm finding, go figure, that part of our riding issue is caused by Crest's complete and total BOREDOM with what we've been doing. He gets out on trail and he's completely different...he goes "OOH! This is INTERESTING! New places! New things! SPOOKY MAIL BOXES! New sights!" Once he settles into a rhythm though, I've found that I'm able to start some fluid rein concept, and that he GETS IT. Gets it so well, in fact, that I had Mikaela hop on and ride him tonight...she rode him about 3/4 of the distance home, and she did fluid rein, as well as some sideways and back, and she DID NOT stop marvelling about how well he's doing once. And this is coming from MICKEY...Who isn't the most confident rider on an energetic horse. So YAY!

Pix and updates to come soon! Sorry, I'm bad, but hey, I'm BUSY!