My Mostly-Parelli Log

Update...it's been awhile

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:38:39 GMT

Well I've been to a few clinics, lost a horse (R.I.P. G...) and made a few discoveries since I've been on here. Z is supporting all of my weight pretty consistently, though I haven't actually sat on him yet, and Splash and I are making the usual sort of progress. :) I was just thinking tonight about my first Parelli Tour Stop in Harrisburg...how incredible it was even then, seeing Pat ride Magic (in heat!) while he played with Casper at liberty and on his long, thing black lines. I'm glad to be around during the heat of things.

Our L2 Audition, During an especially LBI Day...haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4xdnxEifHI

Yay! Good session!!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:00:05 GMT

Jen came over today, and when she got here we went out to play.

She seemed to think that while Z's horsenality can change from moment to moment, he had a lot of RB-I characteristics. She calls him mini-Cal, haha.

Splash was really unenthusiastic at first. I think he might have been partly unhappy because i was distracted by Jenny. Jealous LB-I! Lol. I started out really slow, but after some time of him looking grumpy and not thinking, I got a tad irritated and sent him out in a circle- in a you had BETTER move well kind of way. Haha...turns out that was the right response! He woke up, blew, and got much perkier from there. Without getting into details, I tried to be creative sans obstacles without asking for too much speed, or making him grumpy. I must have done pretty well, because we ended with stick2me canter in the field at liberty. :-) Yay!

ho hum

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:42:29 GMT

haven't played too much, but when i do i play with pressures (really interesting) and thresholds a lot. i still have trouble seeing splash zone out, and i really need to get some LBI phsycology learned, but things are good. Z got a bath yesterday, he has horrible skin...

First 'Real' Session With Splash After Clinic....Wow!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:29:30 GMT

I went out with the intent to play with Splash today, and guess what?! I did! Lol. I payed lots of attention to his thresholds when I approached, and we greeted eachother at the gate before I itched him and he followed me around while I collected cones. These went in the RP, since my original plan was to play OL and then go to the RP for liberty. (I've been watching the segment with Linda and Rem in the L+HB)

Before I put the halter on, I pulled out the wormer, which I decided to give in and use because Z is looking so skinny. Z, as always, was wonderful. He voluntarily grabs the tube! Haha. Grimble saw the tube and started smacing his mouth even before I had it in...he knew what was coming, but was fine and blew a lot once it was over with. Splash was a stinker, so I put the wormer in my back pocket before I got the 45'. I told him that he wasn't allowed to crib, because he gets that vacant look whenever he does.

Then we practiced yo-yoing respectfully. I'm not sure that I did the right thing here, because his face sort of went....icky, I guess. But he started getting lighter, and he did lick and chew a decent amount. Then we practiced with the wormer. He threw a giant hissy fit, but after teh clinic I could clearly see that it was all LB "No!!" and not fear. So I played with doing like Tina when he wouldn't let her near his mouth. We ran into some porccy problems (suprise suprise) which we also worked with, and once I won that battle playing with teh worming tube was no problem at all. It could go in his mouth, around his mouth, etc. Interesting, hmm?

We played a lot with making pressure, especially the driving game, have a more definate meaning for him. I felt like I was being really hard, but he never looked less than LB...so maybe it's all in my head, or maybe I need to have a lightr P1 on top of a more effective, knowlegable P4. I still can't really identify vacancy, but I'm working on it. All in all, I think that the pressure games taught us both a lot.

We went outside and played a little bit, then went to the pond. It was so hot that Splash was downright eager to be in it, so we ended up playing with that for awhile. I tried to get more creative with it, while identifying those subtle dominance behaviors in my horse. I ended when he came to me with ears forward, and I guess what we'll find out today is whether I got into his head at all, the way I need to with my LB-I!

I wanted to play with Z too, but got distracted by my book lol.

Z-monkey...good learning after clinics!

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:04:56 GMT

I wanted to play with Splash at first...or rather, I wanted to make myself play with Splash so that I could start getting a feel for what he needs instead of being an avoid-aholic about it. He came up to me when I first went out, and I made an effort to follow through better with my driving games. I didn't realize how much I let that slide!! O_O When I brought out the halter with the intention to play, Splash left. Not suprising, given the buzzy energy I probably had. I shooed him off at a trot, figuring that that would help him think of leaving as more work that it's worth without me trying to trap him. I ended up just playing some games with his attention, giving him cookies when he came over. When he came over a third time, I gave him a treat and then just turned and walked away, back to the little pasture. he followed until we got into the trees, where he passed me.

I went over to Z, who walked over and I gave him a cookie and itchies. As I was haltering, Mr. Splashcame up behind me and started itching rather impolitely on my back. I informed him that he was NOT allowed to be impolite, nor steal me from his brother. He walked away licking and chewing, and when I got Z haltered I went over to him and he still lifted his head and ears quite happily. Then Z came over and I gave them both itches before starting off with Z.

I kept my circling goal in mind and started with yo-yo. The back was crooked, so I used a lighter P1 and was a little bit more particular to make to back up important. He licked and chewed quickly- he gets his thinking done much faster than Splash does (LB-E) and gave me two ears. For the next few minutes we worked on backing well just past the 22' mark on the 45' line, then WAITING until I asked him in. I think that that waiting was very important for him, because it helped him to lick and chew, get his head organized, and think.

Then we moved on to driving game. I wasn't exactly sure when he was trying/not understanding and when he was just ignoring, but I tried to watch out for tight lips and keep everything very distict. I got some licking and chewing, and he got lighter and lighter. We also worked on extreme friendly games, and of course there was some itching and down time in between all of this.

Then we moved on to circling game! Now that I know that Z's issues are from lack of confidence, I asked for less and had him wait before he came in. It went really well! Even if RRC was only 1/1000 of what it should be, he still offered elements of all three, and waiting before he came in helped him relax and lick and chew and give me two ears...a lot! It was great! There was definately more progress in 6 laps today than in 60 laps last session. :)

Post-Clinic

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:52:58 GMT

The clinic, while awesome and informative, left me doubting my relationship with Splash...so it's nice to know that even after what could have been a very uncomfortable experience, Splash and Z still want to see me. ^_^

Happyhappyhappyhappy!

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:57:09 GMT

Splash trotted to me today!! We played in the arena, with the trailer, and then bonded outside with some UT and friendly. ^_^ I love my horse.

Oh baby don't it feel like heaven right now
Don't it feel like something from a dream
Yeah I've never known nothing quite like this
Don't it feel like tonight might never be again
We know better than to try and pretend
Baby no one could'a ever told me 'bout this
I said yeah yeah

(Chorus)
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Well yeah i might have chased a couple women around
All it ever got me was down
Then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I'm feeling right now
Baby you're the only one that's ever known how
To make me wanna live like I wanna live now
I said yeah yeah

(Chorus)
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Oh don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you
Don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you
I'll be your bleedin' heart, I'll be your cryin' fool
Don't let this go too far
Don't let it get to you

Post-clinic sessions

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:19:55 GMT

Splash is at Jen's for the week, because I had that clinic up at her place last weekend in addition to a clinic in Ellicotville that she and I are both taking horses to next weekend. My brain's gonna be fulllllll for awhile!

I got to Jen's after pilates class on Monday night (I also walked my dog for 45 minutes or so that day, and got really close to a feeding turkey vulture and a snapping turtle!) around 8:30. I forgot to mention trailer loading in my notes, but Mollie helped Theresa, who trailered her lovely morgan from Pen Yan, with that and we all watched. I think that Jen and I both discovered that we weren't being nearly particular enough with loading. She's taken to everything she learned fantastically, but I'm taking a little bit more time to get my head wrapped around it all. Anyways, when I got to Jen's Splash and I played with the trailer. We got to a really great point, where he stood in there for quite awhile with all but Z5 inside, but then I expected too much and caused some unconfidence. We played until he was feeling better about it, and went to the arena of death!

The generator ran out of gas before he was totally LB, which was unfortunate, but I DID discover that his figure 8 has improved a lot! So, Monday night was a night of learning, if not total success and confidence.

Today I woke up, and Jen and I went out after breakfast and hunting down extension cords for the music. Splash wasn't thrilled to see me, by any stretch. I expected it though, and he didn't LEAVE...he just didn't come, or give me any sort of positive expression either. Remembering what Mollie said about my LB-I thinking I was going to make him do things, I sat on a bucket and waited.

I spent around 10 minutes catching. At one point he was walking along with me on one side and Bunny behind him, and ended up with a fence on his other side. He started to trot, but I took the pressure off and he turned and took a few steps towards me. Then he yawned, and yawned, and YAWNED! Woah. Then we walked sort of to me, then past me to hang out by the trailer. I walked over and itched on him, then we went to the RP.

I ended up playing OL in the RP, hanging out a lot with the trailer, and riding BB in the RP and around the fields. It all went [i]really[/i] well, although I wasn't able to recreate the enthusiasm from the clinic.

Laps, laps, laps....and counting.

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:07:41 GMT

At the clinic Mollie talked a lot about rhythm, relaxation, and contact during the circling game. I don't need to practice circles with Splash, because he sends and within half a lap we have all three- and then he goes straight to "Circles SUCK" if I'm not careful. I thought that it might help Z though, because when I have him circle he lacks all three. he braces on the halter, he has a bad banana, he doesn't maintain gait, and he doesn't blow.

Z came over really happily since I've been doing the scratch-for-questions game, and after itchies we played stick2me. he had trouble finding the comfy place at first, but I think he got it after a bit. Then we started circling game...

At 15 laps, he licked and chewed for the first time. Still braced, not maintaining gait, bad banana.

30 laps: blew for the first time, and gave a tiny bit of contact...then went back to brace, bad banana, breaking gait.

45 laps: urgh.

60 laps: I came out of my bubble to give P4 because nothing was working, he licked and chewed and gave me a really bracy lap and a half of trot, and I brought him in. He did lots of licking and chewing, and we did friendly. Maybe I should try again?

10 laps: no improvement. Transitions? Slightly more licking and chewing, nothing great in terms of brace and banana. But his send and backup were lovely!

I decided that I had really run out of arrows, so I brought him in and taught him lead by the tail instead. That went really well, and he seemed happy with me after, following me around everywhere. *shrugs* Maybe I'll talk to Mollie about it.

Mollie Robins Clinic

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:24:44 GMT

Stick2me
-The inside track is the DOMINANT place!
-Horse needs to find that "comfy spot" with you by his withers, and it needs to be important to him that he keeps you there; horse adjusts to you, you don't adjust to horse.
-transitions engage the mind and helps to cause horse to use his hindquarters better
-have a friend help you so that you don't have to be the bad guy: instead of me 'making' Splash canter, I would canter and then Mollie or Jenny would use a string from the other side of the fence to get him moving
-Watch out, those LB horses are sneaky!! If you find yourself facing a new direction, working hard, or with a horse inching closer, keep in mind...it's probably on purpose!

Circling Game
-Splash was expecting me to make him- even if the make was only P1. Wait, wait, WAIT for lick and chew or a question. Slow down, we're in a hurry.
-Use obstacles and transitions (especially transitions within a gait) to cause horse to need to think about you, instead of checking out when he begins circling.
-NEVER allow a nasty expression
-Looking for: Rhythm, relaxation, connection (though not so much with my LB-I!). Once this is achieved, ask for 4 more laps or so, so that RRC can become habitual/so they learn how to maintain it.
-There is no Rhythm in one! Swing softly 3 times when sending, even if you don't need to go to P4.
-how little can you do?

Backup
-How can you make the game IMPORTANT to him?? Look for "Yes ma'am!" expression and backups. If his expression is icky, or if he gives a "whatever" sort of backup, use rapid succession of P4s. Ignore obstacles, it's HIS job to figure it out.
-What's the plot??

DRAW WITH HINDQUARTERS!!!

Are you acting like a predator? Sometimes your opposite instict is the right one.

Harrisburg Savvy Spotlight 2009

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:45:44 GMT

Thursday 4/17

2:39
Well, we're here. I love trailer LOADING, but I'm not such a fan of the ride! Splash loaded without too many issues, though his face went from "Happyhappyfoodhappy" to "WTF?!" when we started shutting him into the trailer. After the initial figuring things out he was fine- I think he gets better with each trip! :) But like I said, I never like the ride. So it was a relief to check in (Trever signed us in) and get Splash into his stall. He handled everything with his usual and comendable aplomb; he wasn't completly calm, but after going in and out of the stall a few times and working out some kinks he seemed pretty happy to eat. It's always fun to take him to new places, because I suddenly become much more important than I am at home. :roll:

9:50
Phew...tired.
Orientation was interesting. It was nice to have a more intimate look into Pat and Linda's plans and opinions- they're REALLY honing into the SC now. I realized after orientation that I didn't know what any of my songs or props were, but because mom is wonderful and dedicated and perfect (I kinda hope she reads this post ;-) ) we've got that figured out. Splash is still behaving beautifully and drinking/eating very well, but his right eye is swollen and weepy. :( It doesn't look serious, but I feel for the fella.

We played in the warm-up ring instead of the main arena because Pat and the zamboni-like ring groomer were out there. I let Splash exploritate at first, and he very sweetly checked in every so often. Then I just messed around out there, getting a feel for footing, what Splash's tendencies might be, what my tendencies will be, and what I'll need to watch out for tomorrow. At one point we were sharing the arena with Linda, Remmer, Allure, Lauren, and Lauren's gorgeous horse. I was distracted to the point that I was making mistakes that I wouldn't normally, but I got to thinking about how all of this looks to Splash and I realized how silly my butterflies are. He has no reason to be excited because a bunch of famous horsepeople are watching, he'll be nervous because a thousand+ PREDATORS are watching and cheering and he'll be looking at the other horses not in awe, but as a source of guidance and safety. It was a humbling realization, and it's one that I hope to remember tomorrow and always.

I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings! I'm last of six people in the OL division, which is a huge relief; I was afraid that I'd be first because of that darned last name of mine! :lol:

Friday 4/18:

10:06
(it's not black, it just looks it in this light! haha)

So now for details!

The alarm on my phone went off at 5:45 because I forgot to turn it off from yesterday and I was too excited to go back to sleep. So I played around in the hotel room while dad went to the gym and we left here around 7:00. We got lost on the way to the complex and didn't get there until eight, at which point we did the usual pre-show brushing, feeding, and stall cleaning. (Splash was still giving off clouds of dust after a total of two hours of grooming today and yesterday...SOMEBODY had fun this winter! ) Somewhere in there Splash and I went out to explore the hallway leading to the arena, though not the arena itself, and then it was time to meet up.

I didn't get a chance to warm up in a ring, but that ended up working out beautifully. Pat talked for awhile and 5 people went before me so I got to do some small warm ups (including a cool sideways trot!) in the hall in between standing around and friendlies over the course of 2 hours or so. I'm glad that it took that long; Splash was yawning loads the whole time and I was able to get a feel for how things were operating.

When we went out I felt ready. We walked in and I let Splash check things out at a walk, asking him to circle when he started to get uppy- and then we just took it from there! I hardly noticed the crowd, or anything but Splash really. I got a lot of comments about how relaxed we looked and Jen said that I looked like I was playing in my pasture rather than the Celebration! I got a 9 for relationship and I think an 83 overall. Splash was amazing! What a fabulous little horse.

The lady from the Humane Society gave me a brief interview. Pat didn't give me any critique at the end, so I'm gonna check with him tomorrow or Sunday. I got to see and talk to Netter! Along with Tina Giordano, Lori Northrup, my Anat+Phis teacher Mrs. Deneka, Gale, and plenty of others!

So, fun day!! I reeeeeeeeeeeeeally hope to do it again next year with Jen!

...

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:57:02 GMT

I've been playing, just not posting....

The Good Horse Chronicles V

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:46:04 GMT

Z was such a good boy today!!!! I went out late- around 5:00- and decided to play with him instead of Splash because I haven't really done anything OL with him in awhile. He was very good for haltering, though helicopter stick+SS gave him some trouble. He wasn't really RB though, he just kept trying to avoid it by moving or ducking his head. I let him feel his way out of the gate, and while he was pretty skeptical at first he worked through it himself and ate hay out of the wheelbarrow while I closed everything back up.

I've only played Touch-it with him once, but this horse must be one fast learner!! Even at the beginning of the session all I had to do was focus my body in the right place and he knew right away where to put his nose/what game we were playing. After touching the object he would come back to me and ask for friendly. ^_^ I also tried a little bit of traveling circles with him, which was fine except that he couldn't quite maintain gait, and taught him more about the differences between friendly CS and better-move CS and flapping things (garage in a box door). He wasn't entirely LB I don't think (he was just a tad high-headed, tight, and unblinking), but even when I asked him to trot on a circle he stayed well away from the hopping panics that he sometimes falls into. I really think that touch-it is a great bravery builder, because it gave Z a purpose in going a little bit outside his comfort zone.

When we went inside we did some pedastal things, then stick2me transitions at liberty. Good good horse!!! He's really maturing! He'll let me pick up and hold his front feet very consistantly now, but his back feet are still giving some problems. =/

Splash and Z, Pattern Fun!!

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:36:02 GMT

I HAGHD!

I re-watched the Touch It+Figure 8 OL tasks, watched the first chapter in the Freestyle, and watched a few Liberty chapters over the past few days. When I went out I brought my saddle, pad, and hackamore to the arena along with some cones so that I could ride if things went well.

I visited with Splash on my way back to the shed, and when I came back with the 22' he walked over to me from a few yards away with a nice expression. We went to the big pasture and I had him "touch" the different hay piles- he kept looking at me going "Are you kidding? I know that you have something way better in those pockets!". That was going well, so I took him to the gate. Splash looked really unconfident when I opened the gate, so I just let it drop and waited for him. He went through on his own when he was ready, but I could tell pretty quickly that he was still feeling unconfident. I had to send him in and out of the gate a lot, because he kept trying to leave and was basically on his way to RB-E panic. When I did close the gate he was still fizzy, so I sent him off in a hurry to burn off some steam. He did blow a little bit, and we circle-traveled back down near the lower pasture.

When we got there I brought him in a waited, starting back the other way when he was happy enough to nibble at some grass- but his eyes were large and tight, and his ears were tense, so I could see that a blow up was sort of imminent. I sent him out again, and this time he really went with a bang! Or, a bang for Splash. We moved back again, but this time I had him back part of the way. He was having a lot of trouble facing me. When we got to the lower pasture I sent him out to do c/t transitions, and when that improved, c/t/w transitions, a COD, and transitions to the other side before bringing him in. Then we nothinged for awhile while he did lots of licking and chewing.

We played some games with a tree, then moseyed to the other gate at the end of the little pasture. We went in, and after Splash guzzled water we went over to the pedastal and squeezed with some jumps- just easy things to get his confidence up. I sat with him for a long time afterwards, and he yawned like CRAZY! It was great. The Oggeris stopped over around the time that he finished, so I played with the pedastal some more while I chatted with them, took the halter off, and let Splash hang out with us for awhile.

Zodiac learned the very beginnings of Touch It today! At first he was obedienly going along with things, but wasn't really curious. After the first obstacle I could kind of see the wheels turning, and by the third he was really licking and chewing. He seemed to enjoy the game, and touched down very quickly once he understood.

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:14:19 GMT

My Goals for Today:
-try something new
-balance energy and nothing time
-remain soft
-read my horse
-do what is best for the horse no matter what
-advance some of the things that we can already do
-start out with something familiar and easy and build to something challenging

I watched the L3 DVD1 last night, and I'm really inspired to make some progress! So today I'm going to do my best to find a balance between new and old, and energy and quiet. I've found in the past that this is where I run into problems with moving on, because I get excited and move on too quickly for my horse- the results being nearly 3 years in Level Two. Balance, balance, balance!

The 22' was in the house today so that it wouldn't freeze into crazy loops, so when I finished feeding (around 9) I came in for awhile to let them eat and came back out with the 22' around 10:00. Z and Lucky bombarded me instantly, of course, but Splash and G hung back. I approached Splash with the 22' and CS after getting cookies, and he still didn't come right over. How interesting! I stood and waited about two yards away from his Z2 as he gave me sidelong glances and ear flicks. He came over with ears forward before too long, but I think that he was looking forward to his cookie more than playing with me.

Anyhoo, I started off with some CS friendly, and I think that that was suprisingly necessary. Maybe he was expecting me to instantly send him off. Whatever the reason, I earned some licking and chewing from that. I drove him in Z3 to the pedastal, where I had him get all of the way on again. He was so much faster today, and I definately think that he knew what I wanted. =) He got his cookie and some stew time, then I had him back off of the pedastal, then yo-yo over it before coming to rest with me. He licked a chewed a lot after that, and his expression was very nice on the bring back. I played some more friendlies, paying special attention to his confidence in Z5.

I sent him out on a circle then, just walking, and had him step onto and stop on the pedastal with his front legs. He gave me licks, chews, and question ears. Then I sent him forward and had him do the same from the trot before going over and giving him a cookie. I stood on the pedastal with him, giving him some friendlies and soak time.

He seemed calm and attentive, so I moved on to something a little bit stickier: driving from Z5. We had our moments of difficulty, but I think that the prior+proper preparation paid off because he didn't swing his butt around more than once or twice- which made it a heck of a lot easier to actually stay in Z5!! He did have some problems with direction, so I gave us a focus and had him put his nose on a piece of log.

I left the driving for awhile, moving on to some weave patterns and circling. Those were going nicely so I tried some cantering stick2me, but Splash wasn't very inclined to try it in the snow and I decided not to push it today. After some more friendlies I tied my 22' into flnk ropes and drove him that way! We went into the woods (his idea) and backed out beautifully after convincing Splash not to try to turn around and walk out forwards. Any moving forward vs. backwards/directional issues we were having disapeared after that, and we were able to follow the trails down the pasture, stop, back up, move on again, turn, and have Splashy step onto the pedastal! I stopped and stood/sat with him there for awhile, where he did lots of licking and yawning. When we stepped down I did some easy porccies before removing the halter.

He followed me for awhile, but I dunno if that was out of habit/obedience or because he wanted to. When I sat down to do UT he sniffed me a little bit and moved to a different hay pile...maybe he wanted cookies? I have no idea if it was "as good for him as it was for me"...I guess I'll find out tomorrow!
_____________________

Zodiac just happened to be standing right next to Splash and was being friendly/nosy as usual (how convenient!) so I haltered him next. He had a few issues with the halter, but they were quickly resolved. I started by asking him onto the pedastal too- but I only asked for his front feet, because he was convinced that I must want more of him up there! Silly boy. He licked some, but he wasn't dimpling or ducking (lol) so I backed him off with a veeeery light P1 porccy using the halter. He didn't try to eat my hand at all!

Then I tried some extreme friendly. That obviously needs work...BUT, he didn't freak out too majorly, which I think is because I've gotten better at interrupting/releasing more effectively as needed and not being intimidated by his RB-E behavior. I experimented for some time, thinking all the time about Pat saying that it's not really the CS that the horse is afraid of...and what do you know, when I turned away he stopped freaking out!!! How very interesting! I built him up to being able to have me face him while swinging the CS, and moved on. I had him go over a jump, then pick up all four feet. He was much, much better! I didn't try to hold the back feet at all, just had him pick them softly up. Then we did some quick circling before walking over to the shed for a cookie and unhaltering.
_____________________

I played with Grimble last, mostly just getting him accostumed to the swinging CS+SS, but also asking for some simple driving games and pedastal things. I think that he'll be fun to play with, he's more sensitive than he seems at first!!

Quick Update...Wonderful Splashy!

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:08:16 GMT

Z has gained a whopping 70 lbs since this summer. Well, maybe that's not whopping given his age, but still! I dunno how much taller he's gotten, but he's now AROUND 14.1hh and is uber-leggy. Darling boy.

I had a really nice session with Splash today! We played with some quiet things first to build communication, confidence, and attentiveness- putting one foot on a bucket and all four feet on a pedastal. He just learned that one a few days ago! He was licking and chewing a lot during and afterwards.

After that, I sent him out of the pasture and after visiting with the neighbors we played in the field and my backyard. He was excellent, very attentive and not RB at all! He was lifting his feet really high because of the snow, and did some leaping around just for fun. If I ask him to canter first, we can do stick2me w/t/c transitions OL! I feel like I was able to balance energy and nothing much better today, and I also think that starting off with something slow and familiar was helpful for us.

Here You Go, Holly!

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:01:29 GMT

Pictures:

The Good Horse Chroniclas IIV and What a Wonderful Splashy!

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:04:15 GMT

Today's sessions were quite lovely!
Splash and Z both came over to hang out with me when I got to the pasture, but because I haven't done much with him this past week I haltered Z first. Gosh, he's a cookie monster. I need to learn to be much more conservative with that one!

Z made a lot of progress today! I feel like I learned a lot about his behavior. For instance, while we were playing with the pedastal I found that his distracted/evasive behavior, even trying to come to me and eat my pockets, was because of confusion and/or unconfidence. If I kept at it and made my intentions clear, he would quickly follow through and start yawning and chewing. He picked up all four feet (his front feet for extended periods of time), let me drape myself over his back, and stood with all four feet on the pedastal for the first time!

Splash knew that I had cookies- I swear that the monsters just have a sixth sense for them! So he was putting extra effort into figuring out what I wanted. By doing very little myself nad leaving him alone as much as possible, I found that his expression perked right up and he started giving a lot in terms of try. He put his forequarters on the pedastal at liberty with only a slight suggestion. I put the rope over his head to start with (and he very politely lowered his head when he saw what I wanted!) but between Z bugging us and Splash's slight unconfidence we found that that wasn't working.

I tied the halter around his neck instead, and this was much more effective. After some give and take we weren't quite able to get all four feet on the pedastal, but Splash did get to where he could climb up with four feet and just step his forequarters down instead of scrambling all of the way off. What wonderful boys I have!

Nighty Night for now!

Fooling Around with BL

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:00:45 GMT

Meh, later. horses are hungry.

Carpeisms- Larry and Kathy

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:32:45 GMT

Larry:
Your work with Splash sounds rather challenging, like maybe he is interpreting your body language as too intense for him to handle. I sort of had the same problem with Doc at the DE clinic at times.

Kathy:
Larry and Jessie, I think that with our body language is very easy to overwhelm certain horses. Esperanza is that way; she is helping me understand how nuance is better than bullhorn. Jessie, I'm sure you are not a bullhorn (neither am I most of the time), but to the horse we are so intense. Mustangs will remind you of that every time while in the gentling process. As Waz says, "softly, softly". One of the things about Parelli is that we exaggerate to teach, so we have to keep that in mind when we are with highly sensitive horses. How much exaggeration do we need? Can be a bit challenging, eh?

Splashy on Crack! =0)

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:48:17 GMT

We went outside the pasture on the 22', 'cause the mud was horrendous. He was behaving very oddly- like a LB-I on crack or something. Maybe the "on crack" part was me being hyped after watching the working equitation video, I dunno. But he was diving for grass a lot, and was pretty pushy/defiant/buck-ish. The bucking is pretty unusual for him, but he was seriously kicking up, up up! He seemed to have more energy than he should have to be LB-I though. (We ended up getting some pretty spectacular falling leaf!) Maybe it was a facade of LB-I covering up for something else? A fit of schizophrenia? I'm open to ideas. The behavior was really interesting, and I feel like I learned from it, but at the time it was very hard for me to know what to to. I would either do something slow and lose his attention, or do something fast and make him crazy. I decided after awhile that I had run out of arrows.

We went back to the pasture, where we played with the pedastal for a time. I ended up talking to Boarder Steph for awhile while I was playing, and I noted some differences in Splash's expression from the past few sessions. I suspect that having my attention drawn elsewhere and the pressure 100% off was very refreshing, so I'll be watching for that in the future! He still hasn't put 4 feet up, but we ended in a good spot before calling it quits.

Next time I think that I need to get his attention and focus from the very beginning, and I need to spend more time around the gate getting him grounded before asking him to move forawrd and onward.

Oh, and I noticed that Splash is even more sensitive to my body than I had guessed! If my life went to neutral as he was coming in from a yoyo or circle, he would stop- he took nuetral to mean that he was free to do as he wished. But if I kept just a very tiny bit of energy- probably not even noticable from the outside- he came all of the way in before stopping. I used this discovery to try having him circle in close, and we actually had some interesting- though mixed-results!

The Good Horse Chronicles VI

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:05:55 GMT

Z was in the big pasture when I went out today, with G, Olivia, and Nick. After chatting for awhile, Z came over to hang out with me- well, more like search me for cookies- and after some friendlying I haltered him easily. I could tell very shortly that he was on a buzz. Things like being too nippy, tension, and reacting with some mild explosiveness when Nick banged the RP door sut gave him away. I'm glad that I've learned to recognize and respect the signs, even if I can't figure out how to make things better all of the time.

I decided to take Z to the lower pasture, since trying to do even simple things with him in those moods can cause a blow-up, in the hopes that he would be more secure there. Plus the logs are there, and having him do easy squeezes over them has frequently helped in the past. He got wrapped around a tree on the way there, so we spent some time dealing with that, and it obviously affected him- he started looking less relaxed, rather than more so, when we emerged. The difference wasn't huge, but he started sucking in his upper lip more and flaring his nostrils. When he licked and chewed and looked a bit better, I started with him towards the logs. I thought that trotting might help- go faster, do a transition or two, and burn off some adreniline. Yeah, bad idea. That works with Splash, teh innately introvert, but it just got Z on more of an adreniline high. So while squeezes may have helped him without the other mistakes, by now it was too much.

Having him squeeze over the logs resulted in some real explosions. He even fell down once- but rather than getting back up right away to continue panicking, Z started to roll. I think that even though he was practically having a heart attack, he wasn't in full-blown RB mode. That's the nice thing about Z- he usually tries to be LB, given half a reason. He ended up doing lots and lots of backing up, and when he was licking and chewing a LOT and looking sane again- though not totally LB- we went to the pedastal. After some persuasion, which mostly consisted of "NO you may NOT push through my bubble" he climbed right up and started licking a chewing. I stood with him for awhile, letting him chew on the pedastal and sniff me and think everything over. I realize that I've got some definate leadership issues to fix still- but I've also realized that they've improved. And Z can back up now! Amazing.

I backed him off of the pedastal, and after having him do a final bow, I unhaltered him. He followed me to a log, where I sat to do UT. He stayed very near to me, and when I did get up to leave he watched me go with a very nice expression. ^_^

Fabulous Horses!! (The Good Horse Chronicles V)

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:05:34 GMT

I put Lucky and G in the arena to graze, leaving Splash and Z in the pastures. When I came back, the three of us moved the obsticles around some- or at least, I moved, Z trotted behind, and Splash walked behind him. At the shed I pulled the halter and 22' out, and was about to play with Splash when he went in the shed to crib. Deciding not to risk his mood, I approached Zodiac instead.

He came over enthusiastically, and after the initial hello cookie he put his nose in the halter! SO as I was haltering up I ran through what I did yesterday, which was basically just a very short session with the pedastal, vet stuff, and lots of grazing time when I was finished with him. I think that right now focusing on one task and spending a very short time on it is what I will have to do with Z- and a long reward/release time at the end probably helped a lot.

Edit/completion, 11/28/08:

I think that I ended up doing a bit too much with Z, which I kept in mind today, but he was still very good and we ended nicely. The most thought-provoking thing happened with Splash. We were experimenting with having him put more feet on the pedastal. He put his third foot up quite easily, so I guess the previous session was as good as I had hoped, so I started to ask for more. He got to the point that he was able to give me a really huge try, putting much more weight on the third pedastaled foot, but a moment into his try he got flustered and had to get off of the pedastal alltogether. I think that I have too much credit to his try and discredited his worries too much, resulting in a too-long release. While he was able to get off of adreniline, which was a good thing, he also had trouble reaching the point that he had been in the beginning again, because I had given release to a fearful reaction. We played through it though, and ended on a very positive note!

Time for work again.

The Good Horse Chronicles IV and a Short, but Lovely Splashy Time!

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:53:14 GMT

Well this morning started out with me having a heart attack because the horses had gotten into the shed and eaten 3/4 of a bag of grain and half a bag of horse cookies- and spilled BOSS everywhere, and pulled the saddles off of the racks, and basically tore the place up. Z was down when I found him and Splash, but not in a colicky way. He wasn't rolling or thrashing, just napping. I breathed a sigh of relief, and cleaned up the shed.

When I went back out later, all of the horses were lazing around- I guess because of the sudden warm shift in the weather. I spent some UT with them before going in again to put on jeans and my Carpe shirt. When I came back out, I had Z catch me and put the halter and 12' on him. I thought it prudent to play with him some before I started doing the less-than-pleasent vet work on him, so we moved to the pedastal- and he stood on it for the first time ever! =D What a good boy! I played with Z and the pedastal for a few minutes last night, so I guess that things went well.

During the vet stuff (hosing off his leg uber-well, spraying it with disinfectant, wrapping with gauze and vet wrap) Z was impeccably behaved.

I left Z outside of the pasture on the 12' while I played with Splash in the hacky. He will already put 2 feet on the pedastal like a champ, so we worked on getting four feet up there. I ended the ground session when he would put 3 feet on the pedastal. ^_^ After I hopped on, I rode around for a little bit to test out the steering and breaks. He was fabulous! We went out to get Z, and Splash and I ponied him to the arena. Both horses behaved exceptionally for that too!

Danger Prone Zodiac

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:16:25 GMT

Lovely, huh? =(

Haven't been able to post much, but everything's good, cept for with the leg. Z walked to the house all by himself today. ^_^