Yes, so I took a mini-vacation from horses. Maybe the past 2 weeks or so, I got really into soccer and started playing and thinking to myself that I wanted to be a soccer star. Well, after this amount of time practicing, my determination ebbed and I realized I have mostly abandoned my poor horse. :( So it's about time to get back to him. Found out I can't handle 2 passions at once. But that's ok, I was just kidding myself with the soccer thing, it's alright.
So, anyways, went out with Moose today, and things went pretty well. Haltered him up and tried to get him to go over the bridge with me sending him on, and he got really wired up and NOT on the bridge. So I had to convince him to get on, and then we left to go practice our sideways over an obstacle. He still doesn't quite know where his feet are here so this was useful. We mostly focused on these 2 obstacles. Eventually, he went right over the bridge like a champ and I rewarded him heavily when he stepped over the log. He was very extroverted today, but I think we really connected nicely.
The reason I wanted to mention this session is because, other than the fact it's our first play time in a while, I had a realization. When I play with Moose, I'm torn between taking what he tells me deeply and simply as behavior. It's like a stitch in my side, I never quite know what to do wiht it. One day, if he does something silly, I'll for sure say "oh, well my energy must be off" or something but then the next day, I would react with, I dunno, say shutting him down or something. My perspective changes too often, I never know what to think. My head is filled with ideas of horses as sensitive intelligent beings (thanks to Linda Kohanov's book mostly), so I try to remain very aware of that sort of thing. But then that clashes with my Parelli side, which says "if this behavior, then this is how I respond." Now, obviously not in that mechanical of terms, but do you get what I mean? Do I take everything at face value, or assume everything has some deeper meaning? I've been struggling with this question for some time now. It just dawned on me today how confusing that must be for Moose.
Also, I have to admit I feel a bit stuck. Like I'm not sure quite what the next thing I should be doing in our journey with him is. He knows his ABCs but I don't know what else to teach him, really. Not sure how to refine what we've got into something more. Think I've got me some DVDs to watch. :)
But other than that, all's well. I'm still trying to find a job. Only 6 months to save up for this summer! So hopefully I will find one soon.
