Extern Audition Video

Hey All,

Just wanted to share this--in addition to the compulsories, I put together some "Just for fun" clips with my horses to go with my Externship Audition film. I felt like even though our compulsories looked really good, I wanted to showcase some of the things I'd been playing with my herd beyond that.

Check it out, and I'd love to hear your feedback!

Well That Was Humbling...

So I did something different today.

I went out to the barn and had my mom film me just for the heck of it. I saddled Prin up, bridled her, and rode some patterns at a L2 standard--casual rein with Carrot Stick, like what's required as a compulsory for the extern audition. It's been about 3 months since I've had enough decent footing to play with anything other than isolations and follow-the-trail, so I wasn't expecting perfection by any means...

As the title implies, I was given a bit of a check to the ego. Not only does my riding look horrific (Tell me, Fran, have you ever ridden in a saddle before?), I seem to have forgotten how to be NEUTRAL!

I confess, I've neglected my fundamentals a little. I've done so much bridless riding on Prin that I forgot how to ride casually with reins and a bridle! I found myself lifting my reins before switching my focus, lifting my reins before asking her to turn with the stick, lifting my reins to stop, lifting my reins, lifting my reins!!! Arrrgh! Beautiful excuse for my LBI to lose impulsion, I'm so sorry, dear Prinny!

So, needless to say, I'll be teaching myself to ride again this week! I'll probably continue filming it, too. It's really good friendly game for me, because I tend to get kind of bracy in front of a camera, too. So, I shall keep you posted.

Lemons to Lemonade

Hi Folks,

Gonna get a series of short blogs here over the next couple of days. The weather for the most part, is beautiful, but I've been kind of caught up in my head, so writing is essential. Anyway, today's topic is going to revolve around a segment of the January Savvy Club DVD with Dr. Robert Miller, entitled "Lemons to Lemonade".

Dr. Miller is a world-renowned veterinarian, writer, public speaker, the developer of foal imprinting, promoter of natural horsemanship, and also a long-time friend of Pat Parelli. (Click HERE to visit his website) This segment was filmed at a 4-week Masterclass course this summer in Pagosa Springs, where Dr. Miller was invited to give a talk, and told some stories about Pat to the class. He centers his talk around Pat's ability to take difficult situations, and turn them around and work them to his advantage (Hence Lemons to Lemonade). Some of the examples he gives are just befuddling--I knew Pat was good at that, but I didn't realize he was such a master at it. It got me thinking, that is for SURE.

The past couple days here have been kind of chock full of disappointments. In addition to several financial explosions, and bad experiences, I was supposed to be at Kristi Smith's today through Monday at a weekend set of workshops. The weather is looking rather unpredictable, so Kristi had to make a very difficult decision, and cancel the event, and reschedule for April. Yesterday was a very emotional day for the both of us--she more-so than I, probably, though I certainly did my fair share of crying.

In all of my frustration last night, that segment of the DVD kept haunting the back corner of my mind. I finally gave in to temptation and pulled it up on the Savvy Club Vault and watched it again. If nothing else, the lesson to learn from it is exactly the title of the segment. In hearing some of the situations that Pat managed to make good (And from another person's perspective--not his own!), I was reminded and inspired to do just that.

So--even though I'm very disappointed not to spend the weekend with Kristi, you know what? It's 27 degrees, sunny, and not windy. Our driveway is plowed and I started teaching both my horses some neat things yesterday--what a shame it would be to not finish what I started! So this weekend, my goals are to help Crest find rhythm and relaxation for two laps of canter, both directions at liberty, and to teach him to find connection better doing stick-to-me to the right. With Prin, I'm going to finish my externship audition tape, and develop more connection and energy in our large-area liberty.

Savvy on, folks!

A New Year!

Hey, Folks!

Remember me? The girl who promised that she'd start blogging more consistently, did it for like two weeks, and then disappeared again? Yeah, hi. When I said that, I had forgotten that holiday season makes my family into a pack of crazy creatures that run around like chickens with our heads cut off. I'm back, I hope, for a while, now.

So, first things first. Happy New Year! I can't believe how fast 2009 flew by! A year ago tomorrow, I left for my course at the Parelli ISC. That's mind-boggling to me. Seriously, where has time gone?!

Regardless of that, 2010 is looking to be a big year. What are your goals? Do you have something you'd like to accomplish with or for your horse? With or for YOURSELF? I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to share!

Here, 2010 is looking to be the year of my dreams. I didn't blog about this earlier because I still had details to work out, but I feel pretty confident in sharing now. My parents and I have been talking, discussing, and making plans, and as of right now, I'm in the process of putting together my application and audition package for the Parelli Externship and Parelli Professional program! No idea when I'll be going yet, but there is positive motion in the right direction. I will definitely keep everyone posted. Besides this, I'm also going to try to begin the process to become a Certified Equine Podiatrist through KC La Pierre's school. That'll be another pretty hard-core commitment, so if I don't get through it this year, I won't be broken-hearted, but it's a focus point for me, anyway.

Besides all that, I have some personal goals, and goals to accomplish with my horses, as well. They are listed below:

Parelli/Equine:

*Graduate Level 4 with Prin
*Bring Crest into Level 4 in all 4 savvys
*Finish teaching LB to drive
*Buy a truck (I've got a trailer, but nothing to pull it with!)
*Earn my 1*, perhaps my 2*
*Build my business


Self:

*Grow first and foremost as a learner. 2009 was a challenging year for me as a learner. I'd like to improve my ability to handle feedback, as well as to learn and see the good in negative experiences.

*Grow as a teacher and inspiration.

*Share what has been shared with me

*Lose 10 lbs. My Wranglers should not be fitting as tightly as they are right now!

*Develop and grow as a trimmer and photographer. These are good trades and abilities to have. I'd like to continue to learn about them, and possibly add them to my list of services :)

So there is a list. I'm not going to put a timeline on myself or my horses this year, but I'm not going to forget or give up on these things, either. It's a balancing act, and I strive to be centered!

So, here's to a savvy new year, and I'll be better about blogging now that life is not so insane! Don't forget to tell me what your goals are for the year!

Savvy On!!

Back to It!

Hey there, all!

I'm home now, yay! I arrived home late on the afternoon of the 20th, and since, have pretty much hit the ground running in my own personal journey (not so much elsewhere, unfortunately, which I'm trying to change). Florida was definitely a learning experience in more ways than one, and so mentally, I've been wild and crazy since before returning home. I apologize to any of you who have been following me on Facebook/twitter, and have been worried, I promise it wasn't as bad as an experience as it apparently came across!

On the equine front, my ponies were actually thrilled for my homecoming, it's been one of the best in that pasture so far. The day after I got home, I went out and called like I usually do, and 3 heads popped up, and all 3 of my riding horses upped and left the feeders, two of the three nickering as they came. Love my little herd :D

Unfortunately, I haven't had a whole lot of time to play with my guys since being home. I've had one short session just with Prin, and then I had a double session on Prin, with Hart, which was day before yesterday. I'm not entirely sure why I hadn't thought of this before, but Hart likes to play the "I'm really tall, you can't reach me!" card, and I had been struggling with refining all things forehand with him--even with the Carrot Stick, he's just tall enough that my phases cannot be totally fair to him. So duh--put myself on my 16.1hh partner, and we most likely can communicate with the tall one! It was a really fun session, I LOVE having Prin as my assistant--she's very good at backing up my phases and being in the proper position even when I'm not, sometimes ;) We got quite a bit accomplished, too. Prin was successful in teaching Hart the sideways game to the right (something he and I have struggled with a bit because of his height), and we also got some really nice stick-to-me stuff going. Very cool!

Other than that, our herd has been reduced a bit--two of our horses left for new homes, which is sad, but also a Godsend, since our corrals were getting pretty crowded. We're down to 12 now, which is a pretty good number for the space we've got.

So that's the update--I think I'm going to try to get back to a regular schedule of blogging, even if the sessions are short. It benefits me to organize my thoughts after each session, and I've gotten a few "hey, would you start sharing about your sessions again?" types of inquiries. So there we have it.

I'll try to get back into it!

Off to go play with a wet horse.

Unstoppable!

Okay, so that title may be inspired by the mood I'm in now, by how I feel about my little horse in training, or it could just be inspired by the fact that I have Rascal Flatts blaring as loud as I (and my neighbors!) can stand it at nearly 1:00 am. I'll let you make the call.

Anyway, life has, in essence, been quite the roller-coaster. A bizarre schedule, coupled with burning the candle at both ends, a 19th birthday bash, and Laura Ingalls Wilder Days all were cause for what I can only describe as an off week that I did not plan for. I found myself floundering with organization a little, but fortunately, I've found my track again and things are back to positive, progressive, and natural in a big way :)


Today was a very full pony day--I played with Prin for almost 2 hours this morning. First we went on a LOVELY trail ride. I emphasize on the lovely, because I could not have asked for a more responsive, comfortable, biomechanically CORRECT horse on that ride with me. We did lots of trotting, trying to get back in shape (Prin's rockin' the beer gut a little these days!) and throughout the entire ride, she offered nothing but beautiful rhythm and awesome self-carriage. Too cool! Once we got home, Played with some 22' line stuff. Before her time off, Prin was able to canter between 10-20 laps on the thing without much by way of reminder of difficulty. She struggled to find rhythm in 2-3 today. It's amazing how body condition can degrade so quickly! We'll continue to develop it. We have a lesson with Kristi next week, so let's hope we'll have something to show her at least! I can say though that she was beautifully obedient, just not exactly fit ;)

Also had a lovely session with miss Sunny. I know I've said it in every single other post I've written about her, but this horse is brilliant. She's just BULLDOZING through her lessons, she's been her for 22 days now, and other than needing a bit of smoothing over in Carrot Stick riding, she could EASILY pass L2. We've even started to play with a little liberty. She's particularly talented at downward transitions--last night she gave me a canter/halt that left a cloud of dust hanging! Anyway, today I first rasped her a feet a little, then took her out for her first trail ride alone. She was HILARIOUS, it was by far the most backward trail ride I've had, I couldn't stop her leaving the farm, we trotted a quarter mile at least! We also cantered the first time, it was 3 strides, but it was great. Turning home was a different story, she zig-zagged at a tiny little walk, looking anywhere but up the road, and 3/4 of the way back, she just stopped and refused to go any farther. Her little horsenality reminds me of Micky's old horse Digger, truly a "barn-sour" horse, for once, what a hoot! I'm so proud of her, though. She's awesome! New pictures soon!

Other than that, I've got some big plans cookin' for the fall. Some wonderful opportunities have presented themselves in the teaching department, as well as horsemanship and horse development, and I look forward to seeing what happens. I'll keep ya posted!

Savvy on!

Spotlight Acceptance

Hey all,

Quick post, wanting to let you all know that I have been accepted to perform in the Savvy Spotlight at the Madison, WI, Celebration coming up here in a couple weeks. Prin and I will be performing a spotlight in Level 3/4 Freestyle, which is our best savvy, by far.

It's funny because I've run the gamut of emotions already. I was totally excited (very much like I was when I found out about the savvy team two years ago), and then of course I went through the "Oh shit...I'm not comfortable doing this in front of 1000 people...alone!", and now I've settled into the "It's okay, you'll have 2 weeks with Farrah before the event, she'll be able to cure you of any pre-show jitters!" Not to mention, think of how much fun this is going to be, spending 4 days in the equivalent of a Savvy Conference...WITH MY HORSE!

So yay! Just had to share my exciting news! There will be pix and video, of COURSE!



Flashback to the last time Prin and I were presented in Madison :)

CONGRATULATIONS FARRAH!

Okay, perhaps some of the more exciting news in recent times, I'd like to throw a big shout-out and congratulations to Ms Farrah Green, who totally passed her Level 4 yesterday!! She has been waiting for the result on her liberty, and jokingly been telling people for a week now that she has 4.5 feet of her black string. Well...now she's got all six! She passed her liberty L4++, which is AWESOME.

Congratulations, girl!

I'm off to go teach now.

F

PS--I'm through filming my L3 stuff, as well, I'll have those up soon!

A Horse in the HOUSE?!

We have a town holiday festival every year the first weekend in December. This year, my mom asked me if I'd bring my miniature horse (Now affectionately known as L.B. for those who helped me name her some time ago) into town and parade her around for the little kids to pet, etc. I thought it sounded like fun, and what a great way for L.B. to get exposed to "stuff". So, instead of being all traditional and hitching up the trailer, Micky and I loaded L.B. in the back of the car, and drove her into town. Here's where the pictures begin:


On the way to town, driving. She rode just like my dog does.


Posing with Santa :)

After meeting and greeting for over two hours, all 3 of us got COLD! We walked back to my house, and were going to put L.B. on the porch to eat, drink, etc while we warmed up. No such luck! L.B. drank some water, then marched up to the door of the house, and started pawing on the door...she wanted IN. I was honestly afraid she might do some damage to the door, so I grabbed a towel and a hoof pick, cleaned her up, and let her come in.


In the kitchen "Hey...what's this?"


Hanging out with mom


KISSES!


Checking out the kitchen table


Makes a good head rest!


Long story short, my mother wasn't thrilled, but we didn't make a mess, my father thought it was hilarious and now has a new best friend, and she's expected to make more trips to town in the future :)

Motivation!

You know, it's really interesting, studying horses, Parelli, etc, for years, knowing horsenality front to back, and having a seemingly excellent grasp on even the most obscure little pieces of information on how to play with different horses in different situations, and yet, the variations of strategies are so great that you don't realize you've missed something until...well...you find what you missed.

Now, if you were able to follow that obnoxiously long run-on, congrats. What I'm getting at is that there are SO MANY WAYS to motivate an LBI, and if you think you've tried them all, chances are, you really haven't. I had one such experience today with Prin. Now you would think, after having this horse for 6 years, KNOWING she's an LBI, KNOWING she likes food and scratches and slowness, you might get it, and get creative.

I've played a lot with incentives recently, especially now that we're getting more into things that require a greater level of athletecism, that Prin, little miss LBI that she is, doesn't necessarily WANT to do. I've found that there's REALLY nothing Prin won't do for a Winnies cookie, but often times, especially if she's farther out on the line, etc, the moment passes before I can reel her in to give her a cookie, and then we kind of lose all sense of goodness.

So, anyway, today, I happened upon something that actually worked really well, and I found it completely by accident. I had been playing on the 45' line a bit, which had gone okay. We were playing with relaxing and stretching down in the canter, which actually did come together, Prin was blowing and extending out a bit (as opposed to lifting her neck and getting "crunched up")and looked a bit more comfortable. But, as usual, there was a lack of try, and a big "Why am I DOING this? I'm BORED! I HATE circles!" and when she DID try, no way could I get her attention quick enough to get her to associate the reward with the behavior.

After finishing up on a fairly decent note, I left the line and halter on Prin and went and got her feed pan with her grain, and as I was climbing the fence, a thought struck me. I don't know WHY the synapses connected, but for some reason, I thought of how much Prin liked her grain, and just how tangible and OBVIOUS a feed pan was, and how if I placed it strategically enough in the center of the circle, let Prin know I had it, and then set the situation up, my horse would literally create her own motivation. The very best way I can put this is in one word: SUCCESS!

I sent Prin out on the circle, and INSTANTLY encountered a new thing: I actually had trouble getting her to TAKE the rope! usually, on the 45' she goes "Hey, rope, cool! Bye!" and goes to the end. Today, it was a consistant, comfortable 35-40 feet, with slack, belly of the rope dragging, and a WHOLE NEW HORSE out there. She was stretched and moving round, carrying her body arched with the circle, and with NO DRAG AT ALL on her halter. WOW. I couldn't BELIEVE it! She wasn't offering anything spectacularly athletic, but I wasn't expecting that, but the change in mental/physical alone was enough to boggle my mind. I did eventually GET her to canter a couple laps in each direction (using her shoulders correctly, btw) and also got a whole new level of close range circling (WOW let's talk flexibility!).


All in all, a very interesting experience. We'll have to see how this pans out, and whether or not there is a situational thing here, or I've really figured out WHY Farrah actually plays with her horses before they eat ;)

Pix to come tomorrow, lets hope!

Savvy on, and hey look, it's only 10:30! I might get some good sleep tonight!

Filming Filming, Filming, and KNEELING!

Short blog tonight, but I felt like I should probably update since I've been mystery woman all fall, and am in danger of keeping it up.

Yesterday and today (and part of tomorrow for that matter), I've spent the majority of my time filming one of my student's L1 assessment. It's gone almost flawlessly, save for a few humorous bobbles in the Squeeze game, and follow the rail, and a great "finger freezing" episode toward the end of the saddling.

I'm now in the process of rough-cutting the video together (fancy stuff comes tomorrow, after we finish the pushing passenger lesson) and I'm thoroughly enjoying something that I KNOW what should look like, as opposed to my "highlight" videos, which I really never have a plan for.

Anyway, the final part of this would have to do with Prin :) I've been playing with all sorts of fun stuff this summer/fall/ and now into winter, and one of them is the bow/lie down task. Farrah has always emphasized the importance of breaking everything down into tiny little bits and getting each component perfect, so that they all come together flawlessly into the task. I understand this, of course, but it is only human of me to go "C'mon, can't you just LIE DOWN?!" Which is EXACTLY why it's been an epic failure so far.

I noticed today, as I was playing with Prin's bow (she's getting REALLY good at that) that if she is left to her own devices with her legs, she'll actually put a knee down on her own without my asking. I played around with different degrees of weight and balance on her, and realized that she's actually far more confident if I just pick her foot up for her, then let it go. Two times trying this, and Prin swept low into a MAGNIFICENT bow, and then she turned, looked at me, and put her other knee down, and knelt, much like I've seen Farrah do with Caesar on multiple occasions. I gave her about a cookie, rubbed her a BUNCH, and then ASKED her to get up...I'm pretty sure she'dve gone all the way down for me, had I asked, but I wanted her to feel safe and confident around me so that she'd be confident in my asking her to do it again some time. So...YAY! Progress!

I'm learning every day just how important being particular about the little pieces is. I'm SO glad I spent time getting her shoulders loose, getting her to stretch her topline, getting her to Spanish walk and park out. It's starting to come together, and I'm REALLY excited for the progress.

And on that note, I'm off for bed. It's COLD tonight! I'm not ready for winter yet!!

Liberty in the Rain

Weeeeee!

It's literally been raining non-stop since Tuesday, and the clay soil in our pasture has turned to muck. In some places, my mud boots were wet well past my ankles, and it is truly hard to walk.

Anyway, today Jess and I (By the way, Jess is staying with me until Saturday) decided we HAD to get some filming done, since Jess wants to do a huge video of my horses and me. The ground is just too soppy for riding (in the pasture, anyway) and any ropes used were going to get soaked, so Jess and I decided liberty was the way to go. I got Prin, went to the round pen, and filme, and all in all, it went well. I think the highlights were definitely firstly, backing Prin across the pen with a phase 1 (She went back REALLY enthusiastically, too, which was NEAT) and having her put zone 5 on the panel behind her. She did it so easily, it was like she had been waiting for me to suggest it. Secondly, Prin came as close as she's EVER come to lying down for me, she actually knelt at liberty twice, and we got the best one on camera. She'll be lying down soon enough, and what'll be really neat is that she'll do it at liberty, I bet.

We also went for a little ride out with Jess and Amigo, too. That was fun, and tomorrow, we tackle Jess's dislike of the trot-muahaha.

Anyway, that's a short update of my life, I'll have more when there's more to tell. I'll be going to bed now. I'm sleepy!

Also, Anyone have a set of orange polos, and an orange saddle blanket that they'd be willing to part with? Deer season is coming, and I'm SO not missing my daily ride out because of idiots with guns that shoot at anything that moves around here. So. Anyone?

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.

A Lovely Fall Day

I started this post on the 1st, and promptly forgot about it...I'll write one for today after I finish this one :)
~Fran, 11/4/08

*Sigh* Such a lovely fall day. I got lots of horsey time, and it was just a NICE day...So anyway here's a quick recap :)

Morning--Went to Sherri's to help pull shoes. Poor Chy clipped a heel yesterday and yanked one shoe off in the process, so we decided to take the other off instead of having the farrier out on an emergency call on the weekend. That turned into an hour long drama, so to speak, because farriers have tools that us girls don't, and so Sherri and i took turns yanking and prying until we got the clip shoe off. We both successfully sliced our hands open though...gotta love those little surface slits that sting (a bit like having an inch-long paper cut on your palm)

Afternoon--FARMAGE! I had 3 lovely sessions with my horses, I started out with Knightly, who surprised me pleasantly with perhaps the most lovely session I've ever had with him. We started playing with patterns, which this clever little guy picked up on IMMEDIATELY. We even took a dive into some L3 stuff and did canter figure 8's. He just GETS it! Next, we went for a little jaunt around the chopped corn fields. He was just PERFECT in there, he settled into the most perfect easy lope I've EVER had out of him. His downhill body makes riding his gaits a bit difficult bareback, usually, but today, that was far from the case. He did simple changes even, and just had a grip and was using his hind quarters. I was SO PROUD of him.

Next, Lady and I ripped around for about an hour. That little horse is such a fun little partner to play with. We have about the same fitness level and attention span, so we really have fun inventing games together. We played a bit with the lie-down and sit task, which she's getting really good at...I'm enjoying this confident little thing so much. Pix to come soon :)

Last, did a little riding on Crest. He was buzzed and hyper, but we had a good time overall. Played a lot with snappy downward transitions, and he did really well, but I did realize I was using my reins too much. Must play with that a bit more.

Anyway, I finished the day out with a nice lesson with a new student, and we had a good time. It was a very nice day :)

QUICK!! I have a COOKIE!!

So today was one of those interesting reminders for what exactly WORKS for an LBI.

My dear darling friend Jessica is coming to visit in a couple weeks, and the main goal of her visit is to film the majority of my L3 assessment, because for the LOVE OF GOD, it's time for me to finish the dang thing! Anyway, in times past, I've had a hard time filming because I just tried to film without practicing first...well DUH, no wonder I'd get frustrated. I woke up at about 5:00 this morning thinking about it (you know you're obsessed with PNH when you actually DREAM the L3/L4 online patterns)and decided that from now until Jess gets here on the 11th, we're going to PRACTICE. Not in the task oriented sense of the phrase, like "We're going to work on these tasks until we can do them in our sleep." but more along the lines of we're just going to play around and do those tasks in with our playing every day.

Anyway, back to the interesting session. SO, we set out on the 45' line, I set up some barrels, a jump, and some cavalettis, and we started. And instantly, Prin started in with her old trick...she'd stick her nose to the outside of the circle and PULL. A constant, annoying contact, that said "You know, if I were at liberty, I'dve left already, you boring, stupid, rediculous person. You call yourself a leader?"

One of my faults as a person is that I have a huge dignity complex. I cannot STAND to have anyone be downright RUDE to me, human, OR equine, especially if it's unprovoked, so this behavior out of Prin just ANNOYED me. Score one for Spotty. I could only think of one solution/idea off the top of my head, so I tried it. Every time she'd pull off, I would send her off harder/sideways, until she'd turn and ask me a question, then I'd bring her in and give her a rub. This is a friendly warning to all of you. DON'T DO THAT! It makes the situation WORSE. After trying this for a couple minutes, Prin was literally WHIPPING away from me, and trying to escape pressure. ARGH...time to reassess the situation.

I knew I wasn't getting anywhere continuing at that point, so I unsnapped the line, wound it up, put Prin loose in the west paddock and walked back to my car to have a good think. I got back to the car, sat down in my back seat, and remembered back to June, when I was having a similar problem, but it was only at 10 and 2 oclock on the circle. I was trying to remember what I had done then, and remembered what Linda had suggested; to bring Prin in when she drifted off and give her a cookie and some scratches...My thought was "That worked to a mediocre level...obviously the problem is reoccuring now...so it wasn't solved" or I did something to spark it again. So I'm thinking "What is not clicking here? She comes in, she gets a cookie. I'm the comfort spot..."

And then it hit me. I'm not making it UNCOMFORTABLE to pull off. I went back to the pasture, all excited to try my new idea. Prin, surprisingly enough, came RIGHT up to me, and allowed me to put the line back on her (she had this look on her face of "you gonna get it right this time?")

I sent her back out, and got the same drill, except, this time every time she'd pull off, I'd disengage her *almost* rudely, and DEMAND that she at least trot, maybe canter to me...with an urgency...like "COME HERE! QUICK! I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!!!" and then, as soon as she got in to me, I'd drop my energy, give her a scratch, and pull out a cookie and give it to her.

I did this maybe a dozen or so times (I really should invest in Winnies Cookie stock...) and within 10 minutes, she was offering canter on a loose rope. So...ya think I might have done the right thing? Maybe? Score one for Franny. I'm VERY proud of myself, and I'm REALLY excited to see how this evolves and progresses...although I will need to get some more cookies...blah!

Savvy on!

Now You See Me...

*Poof* and now you don't. This has GOT to be how my family feels right now. Here it is, October 16th, and my family has seen me a grand total of 4 days this month! I'm gone for a week in a row, come home for several days, leave for another week, come home for a couple days, and tomorrow will be no different. I'm a-leavin' on a jet plane...destined for Jacksonville, FL, and then back up to NC.

Things I've learned in this crazy month:

*I love to travel, but I'd better be with my horses!

*The feeling of complete and total panic when your car dies and refuses to restart in a parking lot in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere is NOT one I care to relive.

*Fall is the WRONG TIME to have a working student from the south come to study with you. Who KNEW someone could be UNCOMFORTABLE the 55* temps and crisp, cool air that is WI in October. Ah well...middle of July it is.

*My horse was a biomechanical problem child...but thanks to some really insistant yo-yo game, a Figure-8 pattern, and the quote "Fran, you look like you're trying to push the Titanic around!", we've changed that, and someone has a whole new topline!

*I have my life together way more than I give myself credit for...

*I am far more LB about handling what I previously would have considered a "crisis"


Anyway, here's to gorgeous weather and lovely horses. Little Lady Bug comes home in an hour (YAY!) and I'm super pumped to get to play with her! Pics will come for sure! Savvy on, and oodles of poodles to the lot of you!

F

Finding a Rhythm

Okay, so this phrase "No rest for the weary." ? Yeah, definitely true and then some. I'm never going to give up on that conviction. I just cannot seem to get a good night's sleep in my life. Today, I played with horses for 3 hours, and went shopping for 3 hours, and since have done nothing, but yet, am TOTALLY exausted. So, I'm writing this post as the cream of mushroom soup simmers on the stove, and after I consume said delicacy, I'm effing GOING TO BED!

Anyway, to the horsey part of my day. Firstly, Anne and I went out on a trail ride. Which, on a normal day, wouldn't be a BIG thing, but first of all, it was a freaking GORGEOUS day, and secondly, it was Anne's FIRST TRAIL RIDE on her property! How EXCITING, right? It went GREAT, we rode all over the place, we both rode Clearwater and Bailey, and everyone was happy and enjoying themselves.

Later on in the afternoon, (well, evening actually) I went back out with Anne to do a low-key session with Blixen. I've been using Blix as a guinea pig of sorts this visit, since I'm so fascinated with his horsenality, and so I've been playing with every single possibility as to what he could be, plotting charts for every imaginable situation, trying to get a grasp for this horse's pattern.

Anyway, we got out there, and this session, I decided that I wanted to play with keeping my energy low, but requesting things, regardless, and seeing how Blixen would respond. Blix started out totally RBE reactive, just totally could NOT collect himself mentally. He'd over react at a tiny movement, and would seriously try to escape pressure so violently that it scared me a couple of times. I brought my energy up a little bit to take care of that, but more kept my intention up, and in director/leader mode. Eventually he came to the point that he was actually doing things with his brain, and then I passed him off to Anne, with the instruction to keep her energy low, but make firm requests, as well.

Things started out really well, I directed Anne through a series of little challenges, and then decided to up the ante in the sideways game, and introduce an element (PVC pole) under Zone 3. Blixen went almost instantly RB again, being a very claustrophobic horse, and I took him back to play with zone 3 confidence. We started out squeezing between the pole and me, then between the fence and the pole, then over a log, then over a log stopping straddling with it under zone 3 and friendly-ing, then finally putting it all together. Blixen actually OFFERED his zone 3 and went sideways both directions beautifully.

Next, I started to play with finding a rhythm over an obstacle. We played with an exercise from "Jumping with Confidence" where I sent Blix over a log in a circle 10 laps, switched direction, did 10 the other direction (or until he found the rhythm. At any point, if he lost his rhythm, or got RB, I would send him in a squeeze so that he would have to collect himself mentally. He did GREAT there, took two rounds of 10 each direction, and he was totally level, even, and relaxed. Even offered a trotting change of direction which, for the horse who had no draw whatsoever 2 days ago, is great. Then, we moved to the same concept but moving through a narrow space and not getting claustrophobic or bracy. That took a bit more, since Blixen would just tense and speed up a little within gait. But again, just a few repeats, and he got it.

We unhaltered on that note, and he just hung out with us, which is HUGE for Blix, who is usually straight back to his herd after a session. I realized just how important it is for a RB horse to find that rhythm. The change in Blixen, while subtle, was profound. Definitely a wonderful note to end on, can't wait to play with him more tomorrow!

Bedtime now.

My soup is long since gone, and I want some ZZZZZZZZZ's!

Savvy out!

Lessons in Emotional Fitness

ARGH...I hate being a girl sometimes. Go where you want with that, I just don't have very good self-control at some points. Ya'll get a cookie if you stick it out and read the whole thing :)

Anyway, had a FANTASTIC session with Crest today. This is the 3rd session in a row I've ended early, nearly in tears for how wonderful he is. This session was an interesting one, because it was absolutely NOTHING like what I was planning on doing. I was planning on bringing Crest down, tacking him up in saddle and bridle, and playing with some finesse with him.

Well, I got out there, and the entire herd was at the far end of the pasture. I decided I didn't want to walk him back (Lazy Franny!) so I haltered him up, gave him a cookie, and hopped on to ride back down. We didn't even quite get to the middle of the pasture, and I started just playing with some things, transitions, trotting circles, sideways, just some various little concepts. We started out doing some walk circles, trying to get him to loosen up and flex around my leg. That went really well, so I bumped it up to trot, and it was SO amazing. I remember watching Crest trot online earlier this year, (and you may find blog posts about it) and always though "Why can't he give me THAT trot undersaddle?" Well, he's been giving me that trot now! It is LOVELY, collected, and sane. After doing 6 circles in each direction with the reins on his neck, I softly asked him into the canter.

Crest has always LOVED to crow hop, buck, and play in the canter, and Linda gave me some thoughts and ideas for that, the main suggestion being to do a lot of "We're cantering...JUST KIDDING!" transitions, so he gets a taste of cantering, but not enough for him to even come up with any evil thoughts, and then gradually making the chunks of cantering bigger until he's reliable and doesn't crow hop. I've been playing with that the past few days, and today I REALLY felt the pay off. Crest cantered 12 circles for me on his bad (right) lead, with the reins loose on his neck, my hands at my sides. He then dropped from trot to walk off my energy. End of session. I got off, tears STREAMING down my cheeks, gave him a cookie and a huge hug and took his halter off. He is turning into the most WONDERFUL partner this girl could want. WONDERFUL.


Secondly, I got Prinny out, with the intent to practice a few patterns, and then do some finesse with her, since she's been out of comission for a couple weeks.

We had a really fantastic ground session, my LBI (remember that blog from a few days ago?) offered canter and stayed in it for 14 laps counter clockwise and 10 clockwise on the 22' line, which was awesome. She even did a gorgeous flying change of direction each way for me. In other words, the circles pattern, especially the traveling circling is going REALLY WELL.

So here's where the emotional fitness came in. Prin hasn't been ridden in over 2 weeks. She's out of shape and her topline looks like HELL (who knew those muscles went away so quickly?!) and she was in a completely resistant mood. We started out on the big rings of the cradle and did some fluid rein to get that longitudinal flexion going so she could round up. She picked up quickly, but was really dull about bending laterally "around" my leg, etc. We played with it a lot, and she finally got it, but she kept going slower and slower, and i didn't have my dressage whip, or even my savvy string, so she was IMPOSSIBLE to keep going. This is when my irritation started, I hate it when she sulls up, because she's SO beyond that phase, even in finesse. So I started to get a little un-savvy about it, instead of approaching the horse that showed up, I got too firm, then completely lost it when she refused to canter. Fortunately, I was savvy enough to GET OFF, and untack her, but then we had a very firm conversation on the 22' line (so much for 14 laps tomorrow). Fortunately for Prin, I reached a breaking point physically, so I had to quit, and that calmed me down quite a bit.

While she was a little taken aback, I think Prin kind of understood what I was going thru (she had a little tantrum of her own too) and she came over with this "WOW...can we start over?" look on her face. So I brought her over and we spanish walked to the gate,(She LOVES the Spanish walk, it's her new default trick when she isn't sure what I'm asking for. She goes "I'll spanish walk...see?) and I fed her cookies and then quit for the day. At least we ended on a good note and she felt smart.

So, lesson learned. I need to work on my emotional fitness and address the horse that shows up, even if we ARE into L3/L4. I'm not proud of my behavior, but I'm pleased that we were able to patch it up and end well. And I'm REALLY proud of Cresty, so my day is far from ruined.

Fresh start tomorrow.

Savvy out!

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:

Broke much?

Haha...

I made a really painful (BUT EXCITING!) withdrawal from my bank account today...The $350 needed for my savvy conference ticket! I can't believe it's actually happening! But, the painful thing is, the paying is killing my account, I've got literally $17 in my name at the moment, split between two accounts! Fortunately, I do have a lot of lessons, etc, scheduled for the week, and the boys go home on Friday, so that'll be another much needed $300, but still...I HATE being broke-lol

Other than that, didn't do too much of note today, it was really just very horsey. Tim came out and rode Buddy and played a little with Scoot (which went REALLY well), and then Micky and I rode Prin and Cricket down to Studebaker junction (A local trail down into the coulee, there's an old Studebaker pickup parked to rust down there) The spotty girls did wonderfully, including, *gasp* a nice long canter out of Cricket up the hill. She definitely enjoys being out, and a couple weeks of climbing that trail will get her all nice and muscled.

Also took Crest and Knighters out for a little hack-y thing. Crest, unfortunately, is out in his ribs again for whatever the reason (haven't ridden him since being home)but sitting on them to the side seemed to help quite a bit. Hopefully several rides and we'll have him straightened out.

Okay, time to go finish mowing the yard, ugh.