Lots to talk about today! I had a great session with Moose 2 days ago I didn't get to talk about yet, and have been reading a great book! So, here goes!
The Book: I've been re-reading Ray Hunt's book Think Harmony with Horses and I don't know why, but I've gotten sooooooo much out of that book by reading it this time. I bought it maybe a year ago, read it, thought it was good, but now I just seem to really grasp what he's talking about. I understand it and can apply it. That's why Moose did so well!
So, my session with Moose: Well, there's quite a few topics that fit under this, but I'll try to sum it up for ya. Since Moose's got Scratches, I decided to take it easy today. Just walking and trotting. No cantering for now, since that's hard for him to do relaxed even on a good day.
Well, I decided to try out some principles from Ray's book. Mostly going back to the foundation. And I was really thinking about one quote from his book: "Horses get to where they'll do anything they can for you, but they know that you will for them too." It really got me thinking. Well, then I wonder how sure Moose is about what I'm asking him to do! I was also thinking about the Phase 1 before Phase 1. How I don't have a "get ready" cue. It's just a "go" and then "you should've gone." By not having a "get ready" cue I wasn't setting him up for success. This was further emphasized by another of Ray's points which was that in general people ask for the horse's attention way too much. I can relate to this, just by watching how some people are with their horses. And I realized that not having a "get ready" cue meant I expected his attention all the time, and that isn't fair.
With these things in mind, I went out to play with Moose. I took everything back to foundation level. I focused a lot on FH yields today, since his HQ moves noticably easier than his FH. And I was astonished! My horse is way smarter than I give him credit for. After 3 repetitions of bringing my energy up (get ready), focusing, phase 1 with stick, followed by 2, 3, 4, he moved off my focus. I was really proud of him. And now I'm making my own program of saying "get ready" before I ask anything, until it becomes an ingrained habit.
I also experimented with non-chalance. I really tried not to move my feet, and having an attitude like that of Dave Ellis. I talked about attitude a lot when I audited a clinic of his, so if you want to know about that check out August's posts. It worked out really well. If I did phase 4, I did it with justice and without raising my energy.
And I fixed one of our super-long-time issues! On accident! One of the things I see Linda do during Circling Game is to stop Remmer and have him back up. Now, logically, this would be smart to develop in a round pen. Well, before this summer, I didn't have a round pen. So, whenever I tried to get him to stop at the Circling Game, he'd face me. And if I tried to get him to back, he'd always back facing me. At first I encouraged it, because he's trying after all. But I didn't know how to get him to realize that when I ask him to back up, I want him to back from where he is, not turn and face me, then back. Well, using our newfound FH moving abilities, I asked him to move his FH without me moving my feet. He did, but then he turned and faced me. I had to move my feet, but then I asked him to move his FH again, since the last thing he did was move his HQ, and that wasn't what I asked for. We kept this up for a little while until he finally stopped perpendicular to me. I about jumped for joy when I realized what I had just done! My horse stopped perpendicular to me!
I realized that I have inadvertently taught him to turn and face me, and then act. So, it was my problem not his. But I'm so excited that I figured it out. This book really is doing wonders to my awareness.
And based on impulse I went to Barnes & Noble the other day and bought a book by Buck Brannaman and one by Bill Dorrance. I'm reading the one by Buck right now, and it's interesting. It's more about his life story than horses, so far, but I'm finding a lot of parallels between his life and Monty Roberts'. It's still interesting to hear, but I think the one by Bill Dorrance is more designed to teach you about the horse. After all, it's like 370 pages! Now, there's a natural horsemanship textbook if I ever saw one! I'll let you know what I think about it once I start reading it.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Pastern Dermatitis
Umbrella term for: Scratches, Dew Poisoning, Greasy Heel, Mud Foot, Mud Fever, Foot Rot, Cracked Heels
Basically, it's what Moose's got. Let me know if you know of anything I can do to help him out. I've looked it up online, and it seems that he has Cracked Heels, specifically. I heard that I have to remove the lumps, crusts, whatever you want to call them, but carefully as they hurt. And I have to keep his foot dry. So, we're going to have to section off part of the pasture, because it's really muddy in one place where they always stand.
Yeah, well I'm getting my emotional fitness developed. Here's some pictures of Moose's foot. They're not that good. Sorry, don't know why they're different sizes, but Photobucket's not letting me re-size them. Just click to look at them.
Basically, it's what Moose's got. Let me know if you know of anything I can do to help him out. I've looked it up online, and it seems that he has Cracked Heels, specifically. I heard that I have to remove the lumps, crusts, whatever you want to call them, but carefully as they hurt. And I have to keep his foot dry. So, we're going to have to section off part of the pasture, because it's really muddy in one place where they always stand.
Yeah, well I'm getting my emotional fitness developed. Here's some pictures of Moose's foot. They're not that good. Sorry, don't know why they're different sizes, but Photobucket's not letting me re-size them. Just click to look at them.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Busy Day
Bad News: Moose has some kind of funny looking thing on his foot. I don't even know what to call it. It's right below his fetlock on his right hind foot, and it's like a bunch of lumps that looks like mud but they stand apart from his skin. They're attached to his skin, though. I tried removing one and he moved his foot, so he didn't like that idea. My mom's going to look at it tomorrow and see whether we need to call the vet or not. So, I just rented a DVD on Tai Chi and I think I might try that in a few minutes to calm down. I hate unknowns like this, so I'm overreacting a little. Sorry.
I was very proud of myself today, though. I spoke up for a horse! I was putting a horse out in his pasture when I heard someone yell. After the horse was in, I saw Bandero eating grass with a blanket half-on and put the pieces together. :) I haltered him up, and the guy who had tried to put the blanket on him came over. He held him while I disentangled the blanket. Once its off, he tells me to stand back. I move away. He slaps Bandero on the butt with the end of the lead rope. I was astonished, for this guy does Parelli, too. I actually defended the horse, because that wasn't fair. I'm proud of myself for sticking up for him, because normally I wouldn't have the confidence to speak up in front of someone I don't know very well. So, a step in the right direction.
Based on the last post I wrote, I went outside today and got Moose all tacked up. I think he's crooked in his body, because I only have 1 shim and I put it in the same place on each side and his right side was perfect, but his left side was tight near his shoulders no matter where I put the pad. I don't know if I'm being too picky or if I'm blind, because it was tight no matter where I put it. I admit that it frustrated me. Just another reason I can't ride yet. Ah well, great time to use "oh boy!"
The cool thing was that I realized Moose is being dominant. Know his unconfidence in Zone 3? That's still an issue, but I realized to compensate for it I've been letting him boss me around a little bit. I thought he was unconfident with the saddle, so I let him sniff it and whatever, and I think he was a little bit unconfident. But then, he gave me this face today: his ears weren't really back, but it was kind of like a warning face. I ignored it at first. But, then he did it again. I backed him up hard. He licked his lips. Ding! Point for Erica. So I felt cool I found out that the threshold has moved and I noticed.
Then, this translated into our Circling Game. Moose was doing pretty well, until he started coming in when I didn't ask him to. He came in 3 times on one lap. First 2 I let him, it's about the relationship after all, you know? But by the third, I was like "Okay, dude, that's enough." And I Phase 4ed him twice with the stick. He was surprised, but it was definitely a dominant thing, because he tossed his head and ran off. He did 4 laps trotting and then I brought him in. Then, we did a little bit with our downward transitions, because I always focus on upwards instead of downwards, so they're practically non-existent. Funnily enough, Moose performed perfectly, even though he shouldn't've even known what I was asking. Hmm, "how interesting!" So, we ended the session when he was able to canter without pulling on the rope. Oh, forgot to mention: cantering was WAY easier for him today. Don't know why but it was.
And he even offered to do some close-range Circling Game! He was trotting, and I asked him to canter, but instead he circled around me. It wasn't super close, but it was way closer than normal. Very cool. He had his head nicely tucked and his body was curved, too, it seems, so sweet!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sit on him today (I was hoping to) because he got nervous about the saddle. I don't know what set him off, but he got a little jumpy and didn't seem happy. I didn't think the saddle changed at all, but the pad has a tendency to slip back, so I decided to just take it off. He did good for one day. Besides, it's not about the saddle.
And also, Bella is terrorizing our round pen! Since it's in their pasture, she's learned she can push on the wire and spread it out. Well, she keeps knocking the wire down, and tried to walk through it today. What a sassy! I'm thinking I might need to switch to boards, because if she no longer respects the fence, it isn't going to last long.
Oh, oh! Personal best time: I carried a saddle with girth falling off, pad, shim, 22' line, carrot stick, and 12' line into our barn through the mud at 1 time without getting anything dirty. Sorry, had to brag! I should've got a picture. I could barely see where I was going.
Also, I thought about my personality around the horses, and I think I'm LBE. This is a theory in development, so not going to go into lots of details. But I thought about how when I'm outside by the horses I'm direct-line a lot, and pretty goal-oriented. Well, those aren't exactly LBI characteristics! So, we'll see. . .
I was very proud of myself today, though. I spoke up for a horse! I was putting a horse out in his pasture when I heard someone yell. After the horse was in, I saw Bandero eating grass with a blanket half-on and put the pieces together. :) I haltered him up, and the guy who had tried to put the blanket on him came over. He held him while I disentangled the blanket. Once its off, he tells me to stand back. I move away. He slaps Bandero on the butt with the end of the lead rope. I was astonished, for this guy does Parelli, too. I actually defended the horse, because that wasn't fair. I'm proud of myself for sticking up for him, because normally I wouldn't have the confidence to speak up in front of someone I don't know very well. So, a step in the right direction.
Based on the last post I wrote, I went outside today and got Moose all tacked up. I think he's crooked in his body, because I only have 1 shim and I put it in the same place on each side and his right side was perfect, but his left side was tight near his shoulders no matter where I put the pad. I don't know if I'm being too picky or if I'm blind, because it was tight no matter where I put it. I admit that it frustrated me. Just another reason I can't ride yet. Ah well, great time to use "oh boy!"
The cool thing was that I realized Moose is being dominant. Know his unconfidence in Zone 3? That's still an issue, but I realized to compensate for it I've been letting him boss me around a little bit. I thought he was unconfident with the saddle, so I let him sniff it and whatever, and I think he was a little bit unconfident. But then, he gave me this face today: his ears weren't really back, but it was kind of like a warning face. I ignored it at first. But, then he did it again. I backed him up hard. He licked his lips. Ding! Point for Erica. So I felt cool I found out that the threshold has moved and I noticed.
Then, this translated into our Circling Game. Moose was doing pretty well, until he started coming in when I didn't ask him to. He came in 3 times on one lap. First 2 I let him, it's about the relationship after all, you know? But by the third, I was like "Okay, dude, that's enough." And I Phase 4ed him twice with the stick. He was surprised, but it was definitely a dominant thing, because he tossed his head and ran off. He did 4 laps trotting and then I brought him in. Then, we did a little bit with our downward transitions, because I always focus on upwards instead of downwards, so they're practically non-existent. Funnily enough, Moose performed perfectly, even though he shouldn't've even known what I was asking. Hmm, "how interesting!" So, we ended the session when he was able to canter without pulling on the rope. Oh, forgot to mention: cantering was WAY easier for him today. Don't know why but it was.
And he even offered to do some close-range Circling Game! He was trotting, and I asked him to canter, but instead he circled around me. It wasn't super close, but it was way closer than normal. Very cool. He had his head nicely tucked and his body was curved, too, it seems, so sweet!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sit on him today (I was hoping to) because he got nervous about the saddle. I don't know what set him off, but he got a little jumpy and didn't seem happy. I didn't think the saddle changed at all, but the pad has a tendency to slip back, so I decided to just take it off. He did good for one day. Besides, it's not about the saddle.
And also, Bella is terrorizing our round pen! Since it's in their pasture, she's learned she can push on the wire and spread it out. Well, she keeps knocking the wire down, and tried to walk through it today. What a sassy! I'm thinking I might need to switch to boards, because if she no longer respects the fence, it isn't going to last long.
Oh, oh! Personal best time: I carried a saddle with girth falling off, pad, shim, 22' line, carrot stick, and 12' line into our barn through the mud at 1 time without getting anything dirty. Sorry, had to brag! I should've got a picture. I could barely see where I was going.
Also, I thought about my personality around the horses, and I think I'm LBE. This is a theory in development, so not going to go into lots of details. But I thought about how when I'm outside by the horses I'm direct-line a lot, and pretty goal-oriented. Well, those aren't exactly LBI characteristics! So, we'll see. . .
Friday, October 23, 2009
Scattered Like the Weather
Well, since the weather's getting chillier and chillier every day, I'm finding my motivation to go out and play is waning: specifically, yesterday and the day before. I had a chance to play for a few hours yesterday, but I walked outside, picked up a halter, and just couldn't do it. My heart wasn't into it. Naturally, I want to justify my action by saying that "it's just the stupid weather's fault. If it wasn't so cold out, I'd play with my horse a lot more!"
But, in all honesty, I might as well suck it up and play now while I can, because there isn't snow on the ground yet, and no negative temperatures, so it can't be that bad.
Another thing I'm finding is that I still wish I was further along with Moose. I've inquired about a few apprenticeships recently, to further my horsey education, and have come short on both checklists for future applicants by a "Time in the Saddle" requirement. So, I thought about how how long I've been riding, and I figured out that I have somewhere between 60-80 hours of riding experience. Okay, so do you think that's enough for me to ride/start young horses? Sorry, but no. 60-80 hours, by my standards, isn't even intermediate level.
Also, apprenticeships seem so easy, but it's so hard to go out and play with Moose recently. I feel like I need someone watching me to tell me if I'm doing things right, because I over-analyze him so much. Apprenticing with someone would be easier to find out if I'm doing things right, because they'd let me know. So, when they say "oh, just ride more and we'll talk some other time" I'm like "yes, ma'am" in theory, but actually going outside and applying that is like "*sigh* here we go again" because I never never really know if I'm right or not. But heck, there's a 50-50 chance, right?
So, I've come up with 4 solutions to get me back in the saddle. New Goals to add to my sidebar.
The first thing is to make sure the saddle I have will work for Moose. It's a saddle just to get the job done, not to get it done prettily, so I'm not expecting it to be the most perfect saddle for him, but I want to make sure it will suffice. I've thought about sitting on him with the saddle on before, but I'm nervous he's going to buck or something if the saddle doesn't fit right (been there, done that). I admit this is somewhat of a good fear, because it'll help Moose be comfortable, but the sooner I get the fit checked out, the better, so then we can move on. I just hope it gets a thumbs up, though, because I don't like saddle-shopping.
And then, once my saddle gets the okay (being optimistic here), I need a pad. The Western Theraflex Pad has gotten good reviews by quite a few people, so I think that's the way to go. So, selling my old saddle will help with buying this one. . . . Anyone interested in a 16" black Abetta saddle, weighs about 20 lbs, 8" gullet, excellent conditions? Comment with your e-mail and I'll tell you more about it. I haven't bought the pad yet is because I don't have the money for it, so the sooner I sell my saddle the better!
Thirldy, get better balance. This is another thing I've been playing around with and noticed a pattern with myself. (Talk about the pattern first, then what balance)I found out that I learn tasks by individual details, not just by doing the task.
I found this out by atempting to ride a unicycle and shooting a bow and arrow today. I do archery every once and a while. Although I'm still a beginner, I can consistently get the arrow on the target. I am left-eye dominant, so I shoot lefty. Storytime: well, today there were no lefty bows available to use for 1 round, so my choices were to skip or shoot righty. I never tried righty before, so I decided to give it a shot. Um, yeah, I didn't even get NEAR the target! It was pathetic, really. But when I analyzed why I shot so bad, I realized I had forgot all about my stance. I guess the sensation of shooting right-handed was so overwhelming to me that I forgot about my position. If you really want to know how you're supposed to stand, that's what Google's for. I'm not an expert, as I said, but suffice it to say that your supposed to stand with your feet perpendicular to the target, shoulder-width apart. Well, in my confusion, I was standing almost facing the target, which is clearly going to affect my shooting ability.
I thought about this today, and realized that this is a pattern of mine, through Guitar Hero and riding a unicycle. I've experienced the same overwhelmed/confused feeling here as I did when trying to ride a unicycle yesterday. Like I said, my goal is to improve balance. That's one of the ways I'm trying to do that is by riding the unicycle. Well, yesterday was my 3rd day on it, and I noticed my balance was a lot better. It was easier to sit on it without practically tipping the thing. My set-up is in my garage. There's a table on my right for support, and I get up by putting the weight in the right pedal first (which is the same way I pedal a bike and hop on a pogo-stick, "how interesting") and then getting on. For some reason, I tried to get on it by putting my weight on the left pedal. Couldn't do it. I almost fell over: it was hard.
Useless Side Info: The same pattern is in Guitar Hero for PS2. I'm pretty good at it on Hard, but on Expert I'm not so great. I use the controller instead of the guitar (can't switch between the green and orange keys fast enough), so in Expert I can't tap the buttons that fast. My solution to pass a song is to cheat, and whenever scales come up use the controller, and whenever they play the same note over and over, I pause it and switch to guitar. Cheating I know, but hey, whatever works! So, since my preferred way to play is on controller, I use that one most often and am best with it.
Well, my friend has Guitar Hero, but for Wii. On first glance, they look pretty much the same, but if you compared them side-by-side, you'd find a difference between the two. I know so, or I'm going crazy, because I fail at GH on Wii for almost the first 10 songs until I can finally get my act together. So, the difference between the two? Wii uses a remote system, so there is maybe a half-a-second delay between the time you press a button on the guitar and the time that Wii recognizes that. PS2 is instant. You press a button, bam, it's there. So, my timing is completely screwed up just because of that half-second.
So, from this all, I've realized that I think in terms of processes and details instead of concepts. I already knew this, but now it has re-affirmed its place in my mind. In order for me to learn to play Guitar Hero on Wii, I have to almost start all over again, because I learned it differently on PS2. To shoot righty, I have to learn it all over again. I guess what I'm saying is that when I learn things like kinesthetic/body type stuff, it doesn't apply from situation to situation like other things might. It's like a horse and right side, left side stuff. You have to teach both sides, so they both understand it. I guess I'm the same way. "How interesting!"
Wow, that was a long side-trail. But back to balance. I'm trying to pratice every day for like 10 minutes to improve it. Balance helps riding, and I realized I have bad balance. More about that later.
Lastly, taking lessons. I have a few instructors in mind, but haven't picked out quite who I want to use yet. But my tentative plan is to start up soon with someone to learn to ride naturally, and go from there.
But, in all honesty, I might as well suck it up and play now while I can, because there isn't snow on the ground yet, and no negative temperatures, so it can't be that bad.
Another thing I'm finding is that I still wish I was further along with Moose. I've inquired about a few apprenticeships recently, to further my horsey education, and have come short on both checklists for future applicants by a "Time in the Saddle" requirement. So, I thought about how how long I've been riding, and I figured out that I have somewhere between 60-80 hours of riding experience. Okay, so do you think that's enough for me to ride/start young horses? Sorry, but no. 60-80 hours, by my standards, isn't even intermediate level.
Also, apprenticeships seem so easy, but it's so hard to go out and play with Moose recently. I feel like I need someone watching me to tell me if I'm doing things right, because I over-analyze him so much. Apprenticing with someone would be easier to find out if I'm doing things right, because they'd let me know. So, when they say "oh, just ride more and we'll talk some other time" I'm like "yes, ma'am" in theory, but actually going outside and applying that is like "*sigh* here we go again" because I never never really know if I'm right or not. But heck, there's a 50-50 chance, right?
So, I've come up with 4 solutions to get me back in the saddle. New Goals to add to my sidebar.
- Get my saddle looked over
- Buy a Western Theraflex Pad
- Get Moose comfortable with wearing the saddle
- Get better balance
- Take lessons
The first thing is to make sure the saddle I have will work for Moose. It's a saddle just to get the job done, not to get it done prettily, so I'm not expecting it to be the most perfect saddle for him, but I want to make sure it will suffice. I've thought about sitting on him with the saddle on before, but I'm nervous he's going to buck or something if the saddle doesn't fit right (been there, done that). I admit this is somewhat of a good fear, because it'll help Moose be comfortable, but the sooner I get the fit checked out, the better, so then we can move on. I just hope it gets a thumbs up, though, because I don't like saddle-shopping.
And then, once my saddle gets the okay (being optimistic here), I need a pad. The Western Theraflex Pad has gotten good reviews by quite a few people, so I think that's the way to go. So, selling my old saddle will help with buying this one. . . . Anyone interested in a 16" black Abetta saddle, weighs about 20 lbs, 8" gullet, excellent conditions? Comment with your e-mail and I'll tell you more about it. I haven't bought the pad yet is because I don't have the money for it, so the sooner I sell my saddle the better!
Thirldy, get better balance. This is another thing I've been playing around with and noticed a pattern with myself. (Talk about the pattern first, then what balance)I found out that I learn tasks by individual details, not just by doing the task.
I found this out by atempting to ride a unicycle and shooting a bow and arrow today. I do archery every once and a while. Although I'm still a beginner, I can consistently get the arrow on the target. I am left-eye dominant, so I shoot lefty. Storytime: well, today there were no lefty bows available to use for 1 round, so my choices were to skip or shoot righty. I never tried righty before, so I decided to give it a shot. Um, yeah, I didn't even get NEAR the target! It was pathetic, really. But when I analyzed why I shot so bad, I realized I had forgot all about my stance. I guess the sensation of shooting right-handed was so overwhelming to me that I forgot about my position. If you really want to know how you're supposed to stand, that's what Google's for. I'm not an expert, as I said, but suffice it to say that your supposed to stand with your feet perpendicular to the target, shoulder-width apart. Well, in my confusion, I was standing almost facing the target, which is clearly going to affect my shooting ability.
I thought about this today, and realized that this is a pattern of mine, through Guitar Hero and riding a unicycle. I've experienced the same overwhelmed/confused feeling here as I did when trying to ride a unicycle yesterday. Like I said, my goal is to improve balance. That's one of the ways I'm trying to do that is by riding the unicycle. Well, yesterday was my 3rd day on it, and I noticed my balance was a lot better. It was easier to sit on it without practically tipping the thing. My set-up is in my garage. There's a table on my right for support, and I get up by putting the weight in the right pedal first (which is the same way I pedal a bike and hop on a pogo-stick, "how interesting") and then getting on. For some reason, I tried to get on it by putting my weight on the left pedal. Couldn't do it. I almost fell over: it was hard.
Useless Side Info: The same pattern is in Guitar Hero for PS2. I'm pretty good at it on Hard, but on Expert I'm not so great. I use the controller instead of the guitar (can't switch between the green and orange keys fast enough), so in Expert I can't tap the buttons that fast. My solution to pass a song is to cheat, and whenever scales come up use the controller, and whenever they play the same note over and over, I pause it and switch to guitar. Cheating I know, but hey, whatever works! So, since my preferred way to play is on controller, I use that one most often and am best with it.
Well, my friend has Guitar Hero, but for Wii. On first glance, they look pretty much the same, but if you compared them side-by-side, you'd find a difference between the two. I know so, or I'm going crazy, because I fail at GH on Wii for almost the first 10 songs until I can finally get my act together. So, the difference between the two? Wii uses a remote system, so there is maybe a half-a-second delay between the time you press a button on the guitar and the time that Wii recognizes that. PS2 is instant. You press a button, bam, it's there. So, my timing is completely screwed up just because of that half-second.
So, from this all, I've realized that I think in terms of processes and details instead of concepts. I already knew this, but now it has re-affirmed its place in my mind. In order for me to learn to play Guitar Hero on Wii, I have to almost start all over again, because I learned it differently on PS2. To shoot righty, I have to learn it all over again. I guess what I'm saying is that when I learn things like kinesthetic/body type stuff, it doesn't apply from situation to situation like other things might. It's like a horse and right side, left side stuff. You have to teach both sides, so they both understand it. I guess I'm the same way. "How interesting!"
Wow, that was a long side-trail. But back to balance. I'm trying to pratice every day for like 10 minutes to improve it. Balance helps riding, and I realized I have bad balance. More about that later.
Lastly, taking lessons. I have a few instructors in mind, but haven't picked out quite who I want to use yet. But my tentative plan is to start up soon with someone to learn to ride naturally, and go from there.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
More About Liberty
Did you like my little teaser about our Liberty session? It was way cool! I wasn't even in the round pen. We did Stick To Me at walk and trot, and back. He did excellent. He backed 3 steps by the tail. I porcupined and drove him a few steps. Wanted to see if he could do Z3 Driving, and that didn't work super well, but when I was in Zone 2 he understood. I didn't try any of the purpose games, since I didn't think he'd respond as well to those, since they aren't as well ingrained as our games 1-4. But it was a great start for our first ever Liberty session! And funnily enough, it was all on accident! I had no intentions of doing Liberty with him whatsoever. I just was having some problems haltering, because he kept throwing his head up every time I tried, and I didn't know what to do. So, I just moved his hindquarters. Then his forequarters. Then had him back up. . . etc, etc. It developed into the start of a new era! How exciting!
Thinking To Myself - Literally
I wanted to mention the dialogue in my head today. I was thinking about being sure, and the scenario I created was a college professor talking to his students. P for professor, S for student(s). It's a little repetitive in some parts, and I came up with it myself, so it's not going to be super incredible: only positive comments please!
P: Pat Parelli says that the only way to know you're sure is that you're sure. So how do you know you're sure?
S: When you're sure, like you just said.
P: Okay, but how do you know you're sure? What's the difference between being sure and unsure?
S: Your confidence in your beliefs. If you're sure, you'll be confident in what you believe.
P: Okay, so what would make you sure that 2+2=4?
S: You just know. It's always been that way.
P: For you.
S: Yes, for me.
P: So, would a Kindergartener know that 2+2=4?
S: Well, maybe not.
P: Okay, so what about a 6th grader: would they know?
S: Certainly.
P: You're sure?
S: Positive.
P: Why?
S: That's a higher level of education.
P: Meaning?
S: They should already know 2+2 and 2-2 and 2x2 and even 2/2. 2+2 is only the foundation, and they're way past that.
P: Okay, then. So, why would you expect a 6th grader to know 2+2, but not a Kindergartener?
S: They're farther along in their learning. A Kindergartener doesn't know that much yet.
P: Okay, so relating this back to horses. Would you expect a baby horse to know 2+2, figuratively?
S: No.
P: Why?
S: He's not ready for that yet.
P: But you would expect a '6th grade' horse to know 2+2?
S: Yep.
P: So, how could he be sure that 2+2=4?
S: By what we taught him.
P: So, your actions influence what he learns?
S: Yep.
P: Okay, so if a Kindergartener went to a different school, would you expect them to know that 2+2=4?
S: No, because they haven't learned that in the first place.
P: Okay, what about the 6th grader?
S: Yeah, he should know that, but maybe he'd be a little bit confused about the higher up concepts. Maybe he'd learn another way to do 2x2=4, but the basic 2+2 wouldn't change at all.
P: Okay, then, back to the horse scenario again. We've established that we cause horses to be sure based on the feedback we give them. So, what would happen if the '6th grade' horse got sold and went to another owner? Would 2+2 still equal 4?
S: Maybe, but probably not. Every new owner would have different ways of communicating and different cues for things. So, they might learn that 2+2=5.
P: So, then how would the horse be sure?
S: Based on what the human tells them.
P: But do you see how easy it would be for a horse to be unsure, then, if every time he changed homes, the rules of reality changed?
S: Yeah.
P: So, now what about the 12th grade horse? Here's the guy who's graduating in a year and is all set to work the rest of his life. He knows his job, does it well, and can teach new riders by this point. What happens to him?
S: You'd have to re-teach him starting from the basics.
P: Is that fair?
S: Not necessarily, but it can be better if it's better for the horse.
P: Would that ever happen to a human (unless they moved ouside their country)?
S: No.
So, what should you have gotten from all this? For one thing, like Pat said, the only way to know you're sure is that you're sure. And the only way for your horse to be sure is that you're sure and you get him sure, too.
But you can clearly see the benefits of being all on the same page. This doesn't have to be with a different owner. Sometimes it can be the same owner on different days. One day 2+2=4, the next day 2+2=5. So, maybe we can all learn some empathy when our horses aren't sure around us. Maybe we just need to look inward, before we point the finger. Just something to ponder.
P: Pat Parelli says that the only way to know you're sure is that you're sure. So how do you know you're sure?
S: When you're sure, like you just said.
P: Okay, but how do you know you're sure? What's the difference between being sure and unsure?
S: Your confidence in your beliefs. If you're sure, you'll be confident in what you believe.
P: Okay, so what would make you sure that 2+2=4?
S: You just know. It's always been that way.
P: For you.
S: Yes, for me.
P: So, would a Kindergartener know that 2+2=4?
S: Well, maybe not.
P: Okay, so what about a 6th grader: would they know?
S: Certainly.
P: You're sure?
S: Positive.
P: Why?
S: That's a higher level of education.
P: Meaning?
S: They should already know 2+2 and 2-2 and 2x2 and even 2/2. 2+2 is only the foundation, and they're way past that.
P: Okay, then. So, why would you expect a 6th grader to know 2+2, but not a Kindergartener?
S: They're farther along in their learning. A Kindergartener doesn't know that much yet.
P: Okay, so relating this back to horses. Would you expect a baby horse to know 2+2, figuratively?
S: No.
P: Why?
S: He's not ready for that yet.
P: But you would expect a '6th grade' horse to know 2+2?
S: Yep.
P: So, how could he be sure that 2+2=4?
S: By what we taught him.
P: So, your actions influence what he learns?
S: Yep.
P: Okay, so if a Kindergartener went to a different school, would you expect them to know that 2+2=4?
S: No, because they haven't learned that in the first place.
P: Okay, what about the 6th grader?
S: Yeah, he should know that, but maybe he'd be a little bit confused about the higher up concepts. Maybe he'd learn another way to do 2x2=4, but the basic 2+2 wouldn't change at all.
P: Okay, then, back to the horse scenario again. We've established that we cause horses to be sure based on the feedback we give them. So, what would happen if the '6th grade' horse got sold and went to another owner? Would 2+2 still equal 4?
S: Maybe, but probably not. Every new owner would have different ways of communicating and different cues for things. So, they might learn that 2+2=5.
P: So, then how would the horse be sure?
S: Based on what the human tells them.
P: But do you see how easy it would be for a horse to be unsure, then, if every time he changed homes, the rules of reality changed?
S: Yeah.
P: So, now what about the 12th grade horse? Here's the guy who's graduating in a year and is all set to work the rest of his life. He knows his job, does it well, and can teach new riders by this point. What happens to him?
S: You'd have to re-teach him starting from the basics.
P: Is that fair?
S: Not necessarily, but it can be better if it's better for the horse.
P: Would that ever happen to a human (unless they moved ouside their country)?
S: No.
So, what should you have gotten from all this? For one thing, like Pat said, the only way to know you're sure is that you're sure. And the only way for your horse to be sure is that you're sure and you get him sure, too.
But you can clearly see the benefits of being all on the same page. This doesn't have to be with a different owner. Sometimes it can be the same owner on different days. One day 2+2=4, the next day 2+2=5. So, maybe we can all learn some empathy when our horses aren't sure around us. Maybe we just need to look inward, before we point the finger. Just something to ponder.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dancing Time
Well, doing a little cha-cha dance inside my skin right now. Moose and I did Liberty today!!!! It was incredible. Our first time ever. I'm so excited for it. We weren't even in the round pen. Go Parelli for teaching me to communicate with my horse!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Knowing The Unknown
Note: Sorry, this post is a little jumbled, but I don't feel like editing it right now. Just try to follow along as best you can.
Starting from the beginning: I went outside to play today after watching the July SC DVD called Riding with Balance (I think). It's an excellent DVD, I have lots to say about it, but that's another post. Anyways, I had riding on the brain, or more specifically, the Pushing Passenger Lesson (PPL). So, I wandered outside to play with the pony thinking about saddling him up and possibly riding with the saddle (which would be my 1st time ever riding him a saddle - not counting when I tried him out).
So, I'm direct-line. . got the saddle out. . . and blanket and grooming kit and shim . . . and a pad. So, I'm missing a horse. I grab the halter and 12'. Moose was in the stall, but wandered out once I let him sniff me. Nothing unusual there, very typical Moose. I walked over to him and Bella and let them sniff me. I pet Moose for a second, then put my arm over his neck to grab the halter. His head flung up. I tried again, same response. Note: I should add that this is a very typical response to haltering, but today he also had a very UNtypical Erica (although untypical is so not a word :) ). Being UNtypical, like I just said, I decided to actually try to fix this. It's been going on for maybe 3 months now, at a guess. I've always just said "Oh, I'll fix it next time. . . " Yeah, right! Moral of the story: I was direct-line about putting the halter on.
And today, I finally consciously acknowledged it. So, I tried backing him up when he threw his head up. No response, so I thought maybe he was out in La-La Land. I waited for him. Funnily enough, Bella came off adrenaline, while Moose just kept looking around. I started to mirror him. Maybe 5 minutes later, he licked his lips. I just kept mirroring him. Eventually, he licked his lips another 2 times and blew once. I was really happy with that, so now to progress to the next step. Touching him. I pretended to rub him, so just rubbed the air around him. Guess what happened? Head flung up. Woah! "How interesting!" I just learned something about Moose. He's really bracey! He flung his head up there because he thought I was playing Driving Game. Well, I wasn't, but that still tells me that his first response to pressure is to fling his head up. Huge BFO!! Whenever you ask him to do something, he braces. Now I have another puzzle piece to add to the puzzle. When backing, Moose always flings his head up before he backs. And when you get more particular about his responses on things, his confidence leaves and he turns RBI (he's usually a RBI learner anyways). Well, if he's bracing to begin with, no wonder! I blew through a threshold.
Back to our Moose scene, I decided to test my theory by purposely going past a boundary, (although Moose was Left Brain at this point because I waited for him). I put my hand on the crest of his withers, and kept it there for all activities following, to keep a connection with him and just to see if I could. His first reaction? Throw his head up, followed by: backing 2 steps, and swishing his tail. I waited for him: more tail swishing, backing, he stomped his foot 5x, and kind of half wrung his head. Then, he licked a few times. And this whole time, I'm keeping in mind that this is still his mostly left-brain response. I haltered up and went this whole few months with a RBI because I didn't take the time it takes for him to lick his lips, meaning I've been blowing through this threshold for a long time!
It was a huge realization for me, because if I was direct-line the whole time, that means that my horse never 'wanted' to be with me. I didn't care about his opinion. It was always "you're going to" instead of "hey, would you like to?" So, now I am creating a haltering program for the next few days until we get it solved.
Starting from the beginning: I went outside to play today after watching the July SC DVD called Riding with Balance (I think). It's an excellent DVD, I have lots to say about it, but that's another post. Anyways, I had riding on the brain, or more specifically, the Pushing Passenger Lesson (PPL). So, I wandered outside to play with the pony thinking about saddling him up and possibly riding with the saddle (which would be my 1st time ever riding him a saddle - not counting when I tried him out).
So, I'm direct-line. . got the saddle out. . . and blanket and grooming kit and shim . . . and a pad. So, I'm missing a horse. I grab the halter and 12'. Moose was in the stall, but wandered out once I let him sniff me. Nothing unusual there, very typical Moose. I walked over to him and Bella and let them sniff me. I pet Moose for a second, then put my arm over his neck to grab the halter. His head flung up. I tried again, same response. Note: I should add that this is a very typical response to haltering, but today he also had a very UNtypical Erica (although untypical is so not a word :) ). Being UNtypical, like I just said, I decided to actually try to fix this. It's been going on for maybe 3 months now, at a guess. I've always just said "Oh, I'll fix it next time. . . " Yeah, right! Moral of the story: I was direct-line about putting the halter on.
And today, I finally consciously acknowledged it. So, I tried backing him up when he threw his head up. No response, so I thought maybe he was out in La-La Land. I waited for him. Funnily enough, Bella came off adrenaline, while Moose just kept looking around. I started to mirror him. Maybe 5 minutes later, he licked his lips. I just kept mirroring him. Eventually, he licked his lips another 2 times and blew once. I was really happy with that, so now to progress to the next step. Touching him. I pretended to rub him, so just rubbed the air around him. Guess what happened? Head flung up. Woah! "How interesting!" I just learned something about Moose. He's really bracey! He flung his head up there because he thought I was playing Driving Game. Well, I wasn't, but that still tells me that his first response to pressure is to fling his head up. Huge BFO!! Whenever you ask him to do something, he braces. Now I have another puzzle piece to add to the puzzle. When backing, Moose always flings his head up before he backs. And when you get more particular about his responses on things, his confidence leaves and he turns RBI (he's usually a RBI learner anyways). Well, if he's bracing to begin with, no wonder! I blew through a threshold.
Back to our Moose scene, I decided to test my theory by purposely going past a boundary, (although Moose was Left Brain at this point because I waited for him). I put my hand on the crest of his withers, and kept it there for all activities following, to keep a connection with him and just to see if I could. His first reaction? Throw his head up, followed by: backing 2 steps, and swishing his tail. I waited for him: more tail swishing, backing, he stomped his foot 5x, and kind of half wrung his head. Then, he licked a few times. And this whole time, I'm keeping in mind that this is still his mostly left-brain response. I haltered up and went this whole few months with a RBI because I didn't take the time it takes for him to lick his lips, meaning I've been blowing through this threshold for a long time!
It was a huge realization for me, because if I was direct-line the whole time, that means that my horse never 'wanted' to be with me. I didn't care about his opinion. It was always "you're going to" instead of "hey, would you like to?" So, now I am creating a haltering program for the next few days until we get it solved.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Must-Watch Videos!
I'm in the process of making a videos page, since I found quite a few cool ones. But there were 2 that stood out that I want to share early, since one's just plain incredible, and the other one has a message to it.
I know, it's about dogs, but WATCH!!!
I know, it's about dogs, but WATCH!!!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Power of Persistence/ Phase 3 X 3 Vs. Phase 4
Moosey and I had an incredible day a few days ago, along with my mom and Bella, too.
I experimented a lot with Phase 3 with rhythm instead of Phase 4. I don't really know what to call it, but it's the difference between Phase 4 and just a hard (in this case) Phase 3.
Because I realized today that when I do Phase 4 with Moose, he usually gets unconfident. So, that means my timing is off and that he was unsure when I got firm on him, not goofing around. So, what I did today was just do a Phase with rhythm, instead of the next phase. For example, Moose has a pretty good Yo-yo game. I do Phase 1 and he backs, but not with a lot of speed or a "Yes, sir!" attitude. So, I got a little more particular and upped to Phase 3 and asked told him to back, and then just kept repeating Phase 3 (which in this case was lightly doing that big move that's taught for yo-yo game in the Levels packs). This way I knew he was being dominant, but didn't take a chance with making him be unconfident either. I just matched his unwillingness to move, and didn't go into Phase 4 "Ka-pow", I just kept doing Phase 3 like I was until he made a change. Basically, I'm still looking for that middle ground of confident, but responsive. It seems to me like he's either unconfident or confident and unresponsive. So, I'm looking for a confident responsive horse! But I need to remember that in Moose's case, confidence comes before responsiveness.
And I've mentioned Bella's issue with trotting before. Yeah, I've been through some really bad days with her before, and came to the conclusion that we're just going to need to take one step at a time, and out-persist her. (That's going to be our biggest arrow here. I say 'our' because I'm trying to help my mom out with Bella.) So, we were first getting established in the walk. Our goal was to get 2 laps at the walk without her stopping. It took maybe 15 minutes, at a guess, but eventually she did it. So, that's great progress for Bella! I was so happy, because normally I can only get her to do 1 lap.
And I had another interesting thought (which I'll elaborate on in the next post): Moose has a Z3 issue. Remember that whole bareback pad incident? If not, it's here. Well, it turns out he doesn't have an issue only with the girth, he doesn't like things in Z3 touching him period.
I got creative today and tried to play with Moose using a broken hula-hoop -so it's like a hula-line now- and I set up a test for him. Once I had rubbed it all over him and done some Porcupine and Driving with it, I set it on his back and jogged off to play Stick To Me. He didn't go until I had used the whole 22' line, so I knew he was unconfident, but then he trotted off and kind of jolted forward and made a wierd sound and looked like he was going to kick. I stopped right away and took the hula-hoop off. Well, test failed, so I've found out a little bit more about him. Now I just have to figure out how to solve that. . . hmm. . .
The only downer about that day was that I pulled a nail back! Oops! My whole life I've had short nails, with an objection to long ones, so this summer I decided to grow them long just to see if I could. Well, I can, and now cutting them back to normal length (on the fingernail that got bent back) feels very awkward. Strange how my comfort zone has changed. But it was my fault anyways that the nail got pulled back: Moose and I were playing Stick To Me with the 22' and we turned, so he stepped on the excess 22' behind me, and I must've been holding it funny, because it bent my middle finger's nail back.
I experimented a lot with Phase 3 with rhythm instead of Phase 4. I don't really know what to call it, but it's the difference between Phase 4 and just a hard (in this case) Phase 3.
Because I realized today that when I do Phase 4 with Moose, he usually gets unconfident. So, that means my timing is off and that he was unsure when I got firm on him, not goofing around. So, what I did today was just do a Phase with rhythm, instead of the next phase. For example, Moose has a pretty good Yo-yo game. I do Phase 1 and he backs, but not with a lot of speed or a "Yes, sir!" attitude. So, I got a little more particular and upped to Phase 3 and asked told him to back, and then just kept repeating Phase 3 (which in this case was lightly doing that big move that's taught for yo-yo game in the Levels packs). This way I knew he was being dominant, but didn't take a chance with making him be unconfident either. I just matched his unwillingness to move, and didn't go into Phase 4 "Ka-pow", I just kept doing Phase 3 like I was until he made a change. Basically, I'm still looking for that middle ground of confident, but responsive. It seems to me like he's either unconfident or confident and unresponsive. So, I'm looking for a confident responsive horse! But I need to remember that in Moose's case, confidence comes before responsiveness.
And I've mentioned Bella's issue with trotting before. Yeah, I've been through some really bad days with her before, and came to the conclusion that we're just going to need to take one step at a time, and out-persist her. (That's going to be our biggest arrow here. I say 'our' because I'm trying to help my mom out with Bella.) So, we were first getting established in the walk. Our goal was to get 2 laps at the walk without her stopping. It took maybe 15 minutes, at a guess, but eventually she did it. So, that's great progress for Bella! I was so happy, because normally I can only get her to do 1 lap.
And I had another interesting thought (which I'll elaborate on in the next post): Moose has a Z3 issue. Remember that whole bareback pad incident? If not, it's here. Well, it turns out he doesn't have an issue only with the girth, he doesn't like things in Z3 touching him period.
I got creative today and tried to play with Moose using a broken hula-hoop -so it's like a hula-line now- and I set up a test for him. Once I had rubbed it all over him and done some Porcupine and Driving with it, I set it on his back and jogged off to play Stick To Me. He didn't go until I had used the whole 22' line, so I knew he was unconfident, but then he trotted off and kind of jolted forward and made a wierd sound and looked like he was going to kick. I stopped right away and took the hula-hoop off. Well, test failed, so I've found out a little bit more about him. Now I just have to figure out how to solve that. . . hmm. . .
The only downer about that day was that I pulled a nail back! Oops! My whole life I've had short nails, with an objection to long ones, so this summer I decided to grow them long just to see if I could. Well, I can, and now cutting them back to normal length (on the fingernail that got bent back) feels very awkward. Strange how my comfort zone has changed. But it was my fault anyways that the nail got pulled back: Moose and I were playing Stick To Me with the 22' and we turned, so he stepped on the excess 22' behind me, and I must've been holding it funny, because it bent my middle finger's nail back.
Friday, October 9, 2009
It's Raining Cats and Donkeys
Okay, so. . . The place I clean stalls at has cats that run around the place. 2 of those cats are kittens named Blanket and Pillow. They're adorable, but they've developed a nasty habit of climbing up people's pants legs.
So, the cats have really taught me a lot about focus. I've figured out that the cats tell you what happens before what happens happens. They stare at your knee, and crouch down, before they actually jump on your leg. Soooo. . . as soon as they jump, if I time it correctly, I can push my knee forward and they'll just run into it and fall off (they ran into my knee, I didn't try to hit them). But, that's only if I'm focusing on them. I've learned that in order for it to work, I need to catch it at that split second they're in the air. And . . . what's that saying again. . . something like: "Focus brings feel. Feel brings balance and timing. Feel, balance and timing are the tools of teaching." I realized that when I just tried to ignore the cats and clean the stalls, I'd miss every single time when they'd jump on me, so I now have scratch marks all over my legs to prove it. :) So, there is no focus without feel. But just goes to show you, "if you want to learn as bad as you want air, you'll be easy to teach" so then even cats can teach horsemanship lessons :)
Now, the donkey: Also located at where I clean stalls. There was a horse this past week who colicked severely, and so he's been on stall rest the past few days. To get him a little more comfortable with being stalled all day when his friends get to go outside, they brought donkey inside as a stallmate. Well, this was my first time ever interacting with a donkey, and wow is it different! They have a whole different mentality about them. It's almost like they're selfish, in a strange way. They don't have the willingness that horses have. I feel like I have to convince him to do everything, and even then his attitude is "so what?" It's very different. I'm now curious about how you would teach them, if there are donkey trainers out there. I really don't know much about them, so please excuse my ignorance.
Lastly, I had another revelation, this one not mentioned in the title. I was thinking about a lady's blog I read, and this post, in particular. I'll take you through my thought process. First, I was just thinking about how the way she writes is so foreign to me. To me it feels like she's playing 20 questions, because it's like I kind of know what she's talking about but she never really goes out and says it. But I also got to thinking about a post she wrote a long time ago (that I can no longer find or else I'd link to it) where she described her horse. The description was magnificent, but her horse (Cricket) sounded like a force to be reckoned with. I wish I could find the post, like I said just incredible word choice. So, I was thinking about these two things, and I thought about acceptance into all of that: Acceptance of where everyone's at in their journey. And I don't remember how, but I came to a conclusion. When you don't accept where you are at with your horse, that puts pressure on your relationship. Because if things don't go perfect when you step into the pasture, you're going to be unsatisfied. Because you'll wish you had it all yesterday. It's basically an endless cycle of dissatisfaction and direct-lineness. I've been there, done that, and am praying that I've got out of that house, locked the door and threw away the key. It's not a fun place to be. But heck, it took me a year and a half to realize this (though a friend or two knew all along).
I follow Edie Brogan's blog (an incredible read, just packed to the brim with information, I recommend it to anyone on a rainy day, but start with the oldest post first), and in one post she quoted an instructor and stated it perfectly: "He also talked a little more about how our horsemanship is a never-ending journey - and that if we’re not happy with NOW, we’ll never be happy, because it will never be 'perfect enough'."
I'll leave you with that statement in closing.
--Erica
So, the cats have really taught me a lot about focus. I've figured out that the cats tell you what happens before what happens happens. They stare at your knee, and crouch down, before they actually jump on your leg. Soooo. . . as soon as they jump, if I time it correctly, I can push my knee forward and they'll just run into it and fall off (they ran into my knee, I didn't try to hit them). But, that's only if I'm focusing on them. I've learned that in order for it to work, I need to catch it at that split second they're in the air. And . . . what's that saying again. . . something like: "Focus brings feel. Feel brings balance and timing. Feel, balance and timing are the tools of teaching." I realized that when I just tried to ignore the cats and clean the stalls, I'd miss every single time when they'd jump on me, so I now have scratch marks all over my legs to prove it. :) So, there is no focus without feel. But just goes to show you, "if you want to learn as bad as you want air, you'll be easy to teach" so then even cats can teach horsemanship lessons :)
Now, the donkey: Also located at where I clean stalls. There was a horse this past week who colicked severely, and so he's been on stall rest the past few days. To get him a little more comfortable with being stalled all day when his friends get to go outside, they brought donkey inside as a stallmate. Well, this was my first time ever interacting with a donkey, and wow is it different! They have a whole different mentality about them. It's almost like they're selfish, in a strange way. They don't have the willingness that horses have. I feel like I have to convince him to do everything, and even then his attitude is "so what?" It's very different. I'm now curious about how you would teach them, if there are donkey trainers out there. I really don't know much about them, so please excuse my ignorance.
Lastly, I had another revelation, this one not mentioned in the title. I was thinking about a lady's blog I read, and this post, in particular. I'll take you through my thought process. First, I was just thinking about how the way she writes is so foreign to me. To me it feels like she's playing 20 questions, because it's like I kind of know what she's talking about but she never really goes out and says it. But I also got to thinking about a post she wrote a long time ago (that I can no longer find or else I'd link to it) where she described her horse. The description was magnificent, but her horse (Cricket) sounded like a force to be reckoned with. I wish I could find the post, like I said just incredible word choice. So, I was thinking about these two things, and I thought about acceptance into all of that: Acceptance of where everyone's at in their journey. And I don't remember how, but I came to a conclusion. When you don't accept where you are at with your horse, that puts pressure on your relationship. Because if things don't go perfect when you step into the pasture, you're going to be unsatisfied. Because you'll wish you had it all yesterday. It's basically an endless cycle of dissatisfaction and direct-lineness. I've been there, done that, and am praying that I've got out of that house, locked the door and threw away the key. It's not a fun place to be. But heck, it took me a year and a half to realize this (though a friend or two knew all along).
I follow Edie Brogan's blog (an incredible read, just packed to the brim with information, I recommend it to anyone on a rainy day, but start with the oldest post first), and in one post she quoted an instructor and stated it perfectly: "He also talked a little more about how our horsemanship is a never-ending journey - and that if we’re not happy with NOW, we’ll never be happy, because it will never be 'perfect enough'."
I'll leave you with that statement in closing.
--Erica
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Feet
Oh, yeah, I forgot to post about Bella's feet picking-up issue. Turns out it was all dominance-related. The farrier came last week Tuesday, and so Bella said "No, I don't want to hold my foot up" like she normally does and my mom just backed her up hard and fast (the farrier was out of the way of course), and Bella did pretty well after that. It wasn't that she quit being sassy: She took her foot away from the farrier around 7 times total, but she licked her lips every time my mom backed her up, and then quit being sassy for a little bit. That's a LOT better than normal, because normally it's always a constant fight to get her feet done. So, two thumbs up for savvy and prior and proper preparation!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Applying the Principles: and a NEW Guideline
Refer back to my last post if you forgot what it was about, because I have had the most amazing past few days applying the things I wrote about! I've really had fun with Moose and enjoyed playing "Don't Make Me Pick-Up The Stick" and really just had a blast. :) Now, THAT'S the Parelli I've been looking for since May!
And I talked with a friend 2 days ago, and she really opened my eyes. Moose and I aren't in level 1, we're in level 2!!! I'm very excited about it. The conversation started because I felt stuck like I've been normally feeling lately, and she asked why I felt stuck. I said because I don't feel like I'm going anywhere. Well, through three or four questions (the compulsories for Level 2 On Line) she determined that I should go film my level 2 On Line! I was really blown away, but now I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my chest. Being labeled "In Level 1" was just killing me, because I know how to say "see dick run" and so does my horse, but yet just because a few things weren't perfect we were still stuck there. So, "Hi everyone, my name is Erica and I'm a Level 2 Parelli Student on my way to becoming a Parelli Professional." :) How cool!!!
A New Guideline
I have another thing I'm going to play with and that is not being so goal-oriented. So, my new guideline number 4 is going to be to make my primary goal to have fun/enjoy our relationship, because it dawned on me today that if my goal is to canter 1 lap, that doesn't mean I can't do trot/canter transitions and walk/trot transitions. Basically, I don't have to drill him to get what I'm looking for. I'll just set it up and wait for a response. Basically, I just realized that it's not about the goal.
And I talked with a friend 2 days ago, and she really opened my eyes. Moose and I aren't in level 1, we're in level 2!!! I'm very excited about it. The conversation started because I felt stuck like I've been normally feeling lately, and she asked why I felt stuck. I said because I don't feel like I'm going anywhere. Well, through three or four questions (the compulsories for Level 2 On Line) she determined that I should go film my level 2 On Line! I was really blown away, but now I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my chest. Being labeled "In Level 1" was just killing me, because I know how to say "see dick run" and so does my horse, but yet just because a few things weren't perfect we were still stuck there. So, "Hi everyone, my name is Erica and I'm a Level 2 Parelli Student on my way to becoming a Parelli Professional." :) How cool!!!
A New Guideline
I have another thing I'm going to play with and that is not being so goal-oriented. So, my new guideline number 4 is going to be to make my primary goal to have fun/enjoy our relationship, because it dawned on me today that if my goal is to canter 1 lap, that doesn't mean I can't do trot/canter transitions and walk/trot transitions. Basically, I don't have to drill him to get what I'm looking for. I'll just set it up and wait for a response. Basically, I just realized that it's not about the goal.
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