I had a bad day with Dancer again. Mom says I shouldn't be so hard on myself, but I can't help it. I'm shoulding myself again. I should be better. I should be farther into L2 by now, because I spend so much time with the horses. I should have more savvy. I should be a Pat Parelli by now . . . BLAH BLAH BLAH. Bottom line: I need to relax and accept where I am.
But I have found out that that is SOO hard for me! I actually thought about this a long time ago, but I have difficulty accepting some things. For instance, I play rec soccer every summer. It's fun, but only because I can kick really far. I don't have to work hard, and I play alright.
So, with the horses I am actually presented with a challenge, and while my RBI nature would shy from anything that whispers confrontation, I still have a LBI in me who says that I want to be a Pat/Linda Parelli. Which basically means that despite all the opposition from the horses, I still pursue my passion. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Sometimes I wonder and wish and cry and scream because it's not easy (though I'm not implying it's any easier for anyone else). But I would be a lot better off if I just realized that the journey is what it is and just accept that. That'd make a lot less wondering, wishing, crying and screaming.
But I guess I am very direct-line in the fact that I can't seem to give it up. I mean, in some ways my mom seems to make more progress with Bella by playing with her a couple times a month and not caring about results than I do playing almost everyday a week! I don't push Moose to go faster, so I'm not direct-line in that way. But I am in that even though I don't push him, I do care. I am very conscious of the fact that I've put around 350 hours into him thus far and am still barely finished with L1!
So there's one little rant of mine. Here's another realization I've found out about myself. I don't trust myself. Who'da thunk? The idea sounds absurd to me, I'll admit. But unfortunately, it's true.
I have come to realize this by thinking about some of my patterns. As a person, I don't like to ask for help, but when I do, I ask about either stupid things, or about everything! It's all or nothing, and if it's all it's for reassurance purposes usually. So, I usually ask questions I already know the answer to, solely because I don't think I have the right answer. It's kind of confusing, but I'm lying to myself almost.
For example, the other day I asked Vicky what do do about Moose getting stuck on the Figure-Eight. He just stands there sometimes when I'm trying to draw him to me. Vicky said "Well, just have your Mom pop him on the butt then." I said I didn't think it was dominance, but fear. So, what do you do for fear? Back off, or wait. I already know that!!
Sometimes it's the same thing with the ponies. I'll go outside and see that someone, let's say myself, is in a crappy mood. Or I get hints that things are going to happen, but I consciously disregard them. Before Bella got sick, I noticed she was less curious about people and that's saying something because she LOVES people (seriously, she's a Newf in horse form, she's even got the look :), but I just brush it off. I do it ALL the time with the horses. Dancer doesn't respond well to something. Well then heck, let's do more of it!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Bella-Ella-Ella-ay. . .
More updates on the pony. She's acting a lot better tonight. She tried to resist the paste again, and she is even walking around more! She has not laid down most of the day either. Plus, she's acting more like her usual sassy-pants self! So, we're hoping she's going to stay as well as she is now.
P.S. If you didn't get the title, that's because you've probably never heard Rihanna's "Umbrella."
P.S. If you didn't get the title, that's because you've probably never heard Rihanna's "Umbrella."
Slow Progression
Since most of you are probably wondering about Bella, I figured I'd start with her first. She's doing alright. We have some painkiller paste to give her and she tried to resist it today, which is actually a good sign! And she's standing up more often. So, she's making progress, slowly but surely. And by the way, I found more information about tying-up, so click here if you want to know more.
About Moosey, I had a GREAT play session on Tuesday. Sorry haven't written about it yet, but Bella took priority. Anyways, on one of my older posts, I talked about the April DVD. Well, on Tuesday I tried using my new found knowledge with Moose! And it was spectacular!
I tried playing the Catching Game, and it worked okay. He was not as interested in me as the LBI on the April DVD, but I wasn't expecting him to. Anyways, he followed me after a little while of moving the HQ, so then I haltered up. I decided to play the Circling Game. My focus the whole times was on keeping my energy/reactions really low/slow. Within a couple minutes, Moose licked his lips! He followed my directions flawlessly, too, and that's been something we've struggled with. Plus, he blew behind me, too. I was thrilled! So, he did half a circle, and then I quit.
About a week ago, we put in 2 tractor tires full of dirt to be pedestals. I wanted Moosey to take a look at them. So, I started walking towards the tires, still with low energy but an intention to go there. Moose passed me up, so I turned around 180 degrees and walked the other way. He passed me again, so I turned around again. And this kept up for a little while. But then, interestingly enough, Moose started following me perfectly when we went away from the tires. I couldn't get him to pass me, so I had to cheat and start throwing in stops. I was actually excited when he went in front of me, because then I can go back to my tires! But after a little while, the stops didn't catch him up, so I started jogging making him trot. Again, he passed me a few times, but he learned the game plan pretty quick. He was preventing me from going to the tires, how interesting!
So, I trotted him a little further away from the tires, and then he started coming off adrenaline. I immediately stopped and took the halter off. This was the fastest EVER he's came off adrenaline, because I'd guess I was only with him for about 20 minutes.
Then, I went to play with Bella, but Moose followed me. So, I haltered him again and took him outside to graze for a while. Outside the pasture, Moose was actually more confident and sensitive. He was being picky about where he ate, for instance, so he was thinking. And he cocked his hind leg, which is the 1st time he's ever done that outside.
But the next day was fabulous, I went outside and Moose started walking to me. He followed me around the whole pasture! I just ignored him, and went by the other horses, and just walked around and looked at stuff. He followed me all over with ears forward! I was elated! This is the first time he's been so attached to me. Even when he decided he'd had enough (because I just wanted to spend UD time that day) and went to go graze, I walked over by the water buckets and he changed his mind and came back to me.
It was so cool, and I really learned that energy has a huge impact on horses. I hope our relationship continues like this, and I hope Bella gets better.
Ta-ta for now!
About Moosey, I had a GREAT play session on Tuesday. Sorry haven't written about it yet, but Bella took priority. Anyways, on one of my older posts, I talked about the April DVD. Well, on Tuesday I tried using my new found knowledge with Moose! And it was spectacular!
I tried playing the Catching Game, and it worked okay. He was not as interested in me as the LBI on the April DVD, but I wasn't expecting him to. Anyways, he followed me after a little while of moving the HQ, so then I haltered up. I decided to play the Circling Game. My focus the whole times was on keeping my energy/reactions really low/slow. Within a couple minutes, Moose licked his lips! He followed my directions flawlessly, too, and that's been something we've struggled with. Plus, he blew behind me, too. I was thrilled! So, he did half a circle, and then I quit.
About a week ago, we put in 2 tractor tires full of dirt to be pedestals. I wanted Moosey to take a look at them. So, I started walking towards the tires, still with low energy but an intention to go there. Moose passed me up, so I turned around 180 degrees and walked the other way. He passed me again, so I turned around again. And this kept up for a little while. But then, interestingly enough, Moose started following me perfectly when we went away from the tires. I couldn't get him to pass me, so I had to cheat and start throwing in stops. I was actually excited when he went in front of me, because then I can go back to my tires! But after a little while, the stops didn't catch him up, so I started jogging making him trot. Again, he passed me a few times, but he learned the game plan pretty quick. He was preventing me from going to the tires, how interesting!
So, I trotted him a little further away from the tires, and then he started coming off adrenaline. I immediately stopped and took the halter off. This was the fastest EVER he's came off adrenaline, because I'd guess I was only with him for about 20 minutes.
Then, I went to play with Bella, but Moose followed me. So, I haltered him again and took him outside to graze for a while. Outside the pasture, Moose was actually more confident and sensitive. He was being picky about where he ate, for instance, so he was thinking. And he cocked his hind leg, which is the 1st time he's ever done that outside.
But the next day was fabulous, I went outside and Moose started walking to me. He followed me around the whole pasture! I just ignored him, and went by the other horses, and just walked around and looked at stuff. He followed me all over with ears forward! I was elated! This is the first time he's been so attached to me. Even when he decided he'd had enough (because I just wanted to spend UD time that day) and went to go graze, I walked over by the water buckets and he changed his mind and came back to me.
It was so cool, and I really learned that energy has a huge impact on horses. I hope our relationship continues like this, and I hope Bella gets better.
Ta-ta for now!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Uh-Oh Spaghetti-O!
Or, I was thinking of titling it "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!" or whatever that line from The Wizard of Oz was.
But since this is serious, I'd better stop messing around. I'll give more details later (for obvious reasons once you read), but at the moment Bella is down for the count. My mom came outside today early in the morning and found Bella lying on the ground next to the chicken coop (it's in the pasture) shaking. Bad sign. So, she calls over one of our neighbors who is interested in vet-type stuff, so she knows some basics. She says we should call a vet. My mom does, and I arrive home at 3:30 and the vet is there.
I went outside and the vet said she thinks Bella is tied up, meaning she has a muscle disease that makes her kill muscle cells. And these dead muscle cells need to go somewhere. So, her kidneys are going to try and filter them out, but there's a chance she could die. She recommends bringing her to her clinic to put her on an IV. She's not positive about it being this "tied-up" thing, because it could be a vitamin deficiency, but most likely it's the muscle disease. Well, I hope it's a vitamin deficiency, because it's easily treated! Also, the vet says she had a minor impaction, has worms, and has too much sand in her! Jeez!
Anyways, now Bella can barely move. She takes a few steps and that's it for an hour or two. She needs lots of fluids and we had to go out and buy extra food for her. She is usually laying down, but she gets up and stands there for a while, too. The good news is she still acts like Bella, just a more sedate version. It'd really freak me out if she acted all comatose, because then she must be really sick!
So, please keep her in your thoughts and I'll update soon as to how she's doing.
But since this is serious, I'd better stop messing around. I'll give more details later (for obvious reasons once you read), but at the moment Bella is down for the count. My mom came outside today early in the morning and found Bella lying on the ground next to the chicken coop (it's in the pasture) shaking. Bad sign. So, she calls over one of our neighbors who is interested in vet-type stuff, so she knows some basics. She says we should call a vet. My mom does, and I arrive home at 3:30 and the vet is there.
I went outside and the vet said she thinks Bella is tied up, meaning she has a muscle disease that makes her kill muscle cells. And these dead muscle cells need to go somewhere. So, her kidneys are going to try and filter them out, but there's a chance she could die. She recommends bringing her to her clinic to put her on an IV. She's not positive about it being this "tied-up" thing, because it could be a vitamin deficiency, but most likely it's the muscle disease. Well, I hope it's a vitamin deficiency, because it's easily treated! Also, the vet says she had a minor impaction, has worms, and has too much sand in her! Jeez!
Anyways, now Bella can barely move. She takes a few steps and that's it for an hour or two. She needs lots of fluids and we had to go out and buy extra food for her. She is usually laying down, but she gets up and stands there for a while, too. The good news is she still acts like Bella, just a more sedate version. It'd really freak me out if she acted all comatose, because then she must be really sick!
So, please keep her in your thoughts and I'll update soon as to how she's doing.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Quote and a Review
I saw on Shirley's website it says that she had ridden with Lee Smith in clinics before. Hmm, I don't know that person. Being curious, I searched for he/she on Google. For all wondering, Lee is a girl. :) And it turns out she uses Ray Hunt's methods. Hmm, "How interesting!" I checked her schedule and was excited to see that she is coming to Wisconsin a few times. So, I might have something else to add to my schedule.
I got off track a little bit. My point was the quote on the homepage of her website. "Don't simply focus on doing what I do, learn to see what I see. If you could see what I see, then you would know what to do." Now, isn't that a wise thing to say? And it makes so much sense, too. If you could read the horse, you would know where to be, why to be, and what do do when you get there. That's a very savvy thing to say!
And I went to a clinic by Smokie Brannaman. If that name sounds familiar to you, it's because you're thinking of his brother Buck. As a sidenote, I wonder how Smokie feels about his brother being so well-known and him not? Anyways, the clinic was about trailer-loading. It was 4 hours long, but we were only there for about the last 2. I have to say I am a bit disappointed in him. He basically told the auditors what they wanted to hear.
But still, I don't condemn him for life just because I don't like his trailer-loading methods. He has another clinic in August (I think 8th and 9th, but I'll check) about round pen work. Maybe he'll do better there.
I got off track a little bit. My point was the quote on the homepage of her website. "Don't simply focus on doing what I do, learn to see what I see. If you could see what I see, then you would know what to do." Now, isn't that a wise thing to say? And it makes so much sense, too. If you could read the horse, you would know where to be, why to be, and what do do when you get there. That's a very savvy thing to say!
And I went to a clinic by Smokie Brannaman. If that name sounds familiar to you, it's because you're thinking of his brother Buck. As a sidenote, I wonder how Smokie feels about his brother being so well-known and him not? Anyways, the clinic was about trailer-loading. It was 4 hours long, but we were only there for about the last 2. I have to say I am a bit disappointed in him. He basically told the auditors what they wanted to hear.
But still, I don't condemn him for life just because I don't like his trailer-loading methods. He has another clinic in August (I think 8th and 9th, but I'll check) about round pen work. Maybe he'll do better there.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Fighting Words
Based on my realizations I had with Dancer which I mentioned last post, I tried playing with her today. I have to say that I did do better than previous times playing with her, but she still doesn't like being around me.
But yeah, the positive part of our playtime yesterday was that I had more awareness of what I was doing than before. This time, if I fought with her, it was because I chose to, not because I thought that was the only option. But her behavior still has me confused! Whenever I put her online, she goes into this mode which could best be described as Nervous Dominance. That's the best way I can put it, because I'm not exactly sure. It's like she's half RB and half LB. She gets nervous, so she doesn't think. For instance, I'll ask her to put her nose on a cone and she will, but she then proceeds to paw the cone apart, and then tries to step on it and walk over it (it's a big cone, by the way). But she's not thinking: the whole time she doesn't think about it, she just does it. But after she destroys the cone, let's say I let her come in. She always pokes her nose at me 2+ times coming in, and then comes in VERY close with ears back a little. (I've tried having her stay away from me a little bit, but it just ends up in another fight, so I decided no to go there today.)
But another thing that is bad is leading. I would say that I hardly feel safe leading her at anything more than a slow walk. Reason being that she leads very close to me. Maybe she was taught this way, I'm not sure, but it makes me feel pretty unsafe. Say Dancer is on my right and I'm leading her. Well, her head would be by my right shoulder, but her body is behind me. Basically, she's in the position where if anything happens, I'm going to get ran over by her shoulder. Make sense? I remember Pat talking about it at the Madison Tour Stop last year with the demo horse.
Honestly, I feel more like a lion-tamer or snake handler than a Parelli student when I'm with her. Plus, she hates me and I don't feel safe around her. Not a good match.
Oh, and I noticed something about her attitude yesterday, too. She says "NO!" to everything! But at least this one doesn't apply for only me. She does this with the other horses, too. For example, Moose will pin his ears at her to move out of the way, and she swishes her tail and kind of saunters away. Then, he'll charge at her, and she moves out at a trot with an angry "Fine" attitude. She reminds me of a crabby old lady. :)
Lastly, I tried giving her treats when she got aggressive. Don't think I did it right. She stopped being aggressive, but then crowded me. So, I asked her to get out of my space, and she got mad again. Am I supposed to give her treats every time she gets mad? Because if so, I don't think I'm going to have enough treats. She gets mad at everything, like I said in last paragraph.
P.S. I'm not trying to criticize Dancer here. That is not my intention. I just want to document my issues with/feelings about her, because then I can see how things have changed when I gain more savvy and she likes me. Which is definitely something to look forward to!
But yeah, the positive part of our playtime yesterday was that I had more awareness of what I was doing than before. This time, if I fought with her, it was because I chose to, not because I thought that was the only option. But her behavior still has me confused! Whenever I put her online, she goes into this mode which could best be described as Nervous Dominance. That's the best way I can put it, because I'm not exactly sure. It's like she's half RB and half LB. She gets nervous, so she doesn't think. For instance, I'll ask her to put her nose on a cone and she will, but she then proceeds to paw the cone apart, and then tries to step on it and walk over it (it's a big cone, by the way). But she's not thinking: the whole time she doesn't think about it, she just does it. But after she destroys the cone, let's say I let her come in. She always pokes her nose at me 2+ times coming in, and then comes in VERY close with ears back a little. (I've tried having her stay away from me a little bit, but it just ends up in another fight, so I decided no to go there today.)
But another thing that is bad is leading. I would say that I hardly feel safe leading her at anything more than a slow walk. Reason being that she leads very close to me. Maybe she was taught this way, I'm not sure, but it makes me feel pretty unsafe. Say Dancer is on my right and I'm leading her. Well, her head would be by my right shoulder, but her body is behind me. Basically, she's in the position where if anything happens, I'm going to get ran over by her shoulder. Make sense? I remember Pat talking about it at the Madison Tour Stop last year with the demo horse.
Honestly, I feel more like a lion-tamer or snake handler than a Parelli student when I'm with her. Plus, she hates me and I don't feel safe around her. Not a good match.
Oh, and I noticed something about her attitude yesterday, too. She says "NO!" to everything! But at least this one doesn't apply for only me. She does this with the other horses, too. For example, Moose will pin his ears at her to move out of the way, and she swishes her tail and kind of saunters away. Then, he'll charge at her, and she moves out at a trot with an angry "Fine" attitude. She reminds me of a crabby old lady. :)
Lastly, I tried giving her treats when she got aggressive. Don't think I did it right. She stopped being aggressive, but then crowded me. So, I asked her to get out of my space, and she got mad again. Am I supposed to give her treats every time she gets mad? Because if so, I don't think I'm going to have enough treats. She gets mad at everything, like I said in last paragraph.
P.S. I'm not trying to criticize Dancer here. That is not my intention. I just want to document my issues with/feelings about her, because then I can see how things have changed when I gain more savvy and she likes me. Which is definitely something to look forward to!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
And I Almost Forgot . . .
Moosey turned 14 on April 18th. A little late, yes, I know. But hey, better late than never. Happy Belated B-day, Moosey!
Reality Check
Couple of things to talk about. First, I thought everyone should know that Horse.com is currently holding a contest for pictures of your horse and/or you to go on the cover of their magazine. The prize is a $2500 gift card, and pictures are due on May 31, 09. For more information, click here.
Okay, so secondly I wanted to talk about the past few days. Well, I think it was on Friday that I watched the newest Parelli DVD called Solving the Extrovert/Introvert Mismatch (or something similar). Well, I have to say I am VERY impressed. Personally, I think these are the kinds of DVDs that Parelli should have in the Success Series, because this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for/need help with. This really helped answer my questions about how to act around our horses, and how to manage my energy better. I had no idea how different your energy had to be for each horsenality. Slow reactions for Introverts, fast reactions for Extroverts. . . who knew? I was never told that energy changed that much. Also, I learned some more huge pieces of information.
For one thing, RBE's and LBE's have totally different strategies. I have been using some RBE strategies with Dancer, which is actually a very BAD idea. I'm just lucky Dancer isn't as agressive with me as she could have been. See, most Parelli people know that with RBE's you need to use "thanks, I needed that" type things once and while. But I was doing that to Dancer. I would say "Don't do this, don't do that." But with LBE's you dominate them through "You want to ____. Let me help you!" until they run out of ideas. So, it shouldn't be a fight at all! I wish I would've known this months ago!
Thirdly, the DVD showed a very interesting tip for aggressive horses. Linda said when you have an aggressive horse, give them a treat (while they're being dominant), because it'll blow their mind! I have to admit, though, that when I heard her say that it blew my mind too. I was thinking "But, wouldn't that teach them to be aggressive?" I actually had to pause the segment for a moment and think about it. I couldn't reach a conclusion. Well, on it went again. Linda answered my question about a minute later :). She said that horses don't think like that - they can't think that far into the future to plan out that 'being aggressive = treats'. Personally, I'm still a little confused as to how that could be, because horses are very quick to notice that when they ______(insert action), they receive a treat. Oh, well that's another topic.
Fourthly (if that is a word), I had a BFO about our relationship. Unfortunately, I had been being direct-line for the past couple of MONTHS (which is what was causing me to be frustrated and Moosey to be RBI, as I mentioned in previous posts). Poor Moose!! I didn't care about the relationship (albeit I thought I did), and had instead been focusing on making him do the task. Hey, I REALLY REALLY want to reach level 4, you know. :) Well, at least the good news is that I noticed what I was doing and I fixed it. See, I had broken my expectations and attitude. Now, my expectations are nada and my attitude is positively great. Moosey likes it a lot better, too. I took him out yesterday and he was really interested in me and left brain. He even walked to me!
It is still going to take a little while to fully change my timing and be positive, but I'm ready for the change. It's a LOT better than being frustrated. I still am tempted to make him pay attention to me and get after him for things I consider 'disrespectful', but I am determined not to be like that anymore. I should be his sanctuary, his safehouse! Plus, I just have to remember that the people in Level 3 + didn't get there by forcing their horse. They got their by putting the relationship first, and then everything else fell into place.
Okay, so secondly I wanted to talk about the past few days. Well, I think it was on Friday that I watched the newest Parelli DVD called Solving the Extrovert/Introvert Mismatch (or something similar). Well, I have to say I am VERY impressed. Personally, I think these are the kinds of DVDs that Parelli should have in the Success Series, because this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for/need help with. This really helped answer my questions about how to act around our horses, and how to manage my energy better. I had no idea how different your energy had to be for each horsenality. Slow reactions for Introverts, fast reactions for Extroverts. . . who knew? I was never told that energy changed that much. Also, I learned some more huge pieces of information.
For one thing, RBE's and LBE's have totally different strategies. I have been using some RBE strategies with Dancer, which is actually a very BAD idea. I'm just lucky Dancer isn't as agressive with me as she could have been. See, most Parelli people know that with RBE's you need to use "thanks, I needed that" type things once and while. But I was doing that to Dancer. I would say "Don't do this, don't do that." But with LBE's you dominate them through "You want to ____. Let me help you!" until they run out of ideas. So, it shouldn't be a fight at all! I wish I would've known this months ago!
Thirdly, the DVD showed a very interesting tip for aggressive horses. Linda said when you have an aggressive horse, give them a treat (while they're being dominant), because it'll blow their mind! I have to admit, though, that when I heard her say that it blew my mind too. I was thinking "But, wouldn't that teach them to be aggressive?" I actually had to pause the segment for a moment and think about it. I couldn't reach a conclusion. Well, on it went again. Linda answered my question about a minute later :). She said that horses don't think like that - they can't think that far into the future to plan out that 'being aggressive = treats'. Personally, I'm still a little confused as to how that could be, because horses are very quick to notice that when they ______(insert action), they receive a treat. Oh, well that's another topic.
Fourthly (if that is a word), I had a BFO about our relationship. Unfortunately, I had been being direct-line for the past couple of MONTHS (which is what was causing me to be frustrated and Moosey to be RBI, as I mentioned in previous posts). Poor Moose!! I didn't care about the relationship (albeit I thought I did), and had instead been focusing on making him do the task. Hey, I REALLY REALLY want to reach level 4, you know. :) Well, at least the good news is that I noticed what I was doing and I fixed it. See, I had broken my expectations and attitude. Now, my expectations are nada and my attitude is positively great. Moosey likes it a lot better, too. I took him out yesterday and he was really interested in me and left brain. He even walked to me!
It is still going to take a little while to fully change my timing and be positive, but I'm ready for the change. It's a LOT better than being frustrated. I still am tempted to make him pay attention to me and get after him for things I consider 'disrespectful', but I am determined not to be like that anymore. I should be his sanctuary, his safehouse! Plus, I just have to remember that the people in Level 3 + didn't get there by forcing their horse. They got their by putting the relationship first, and then everything else fell into place.
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