Just Awesome

I was playing with Moose yesterday, just decided to pop out by him to have a little fun. Didn't have a halter or anything, so we just did some liberty stuff. There was either a tiny stick or a thick piece of hay on the ground, so I picked it up to use as my carrot stick. Oh goodness, did this make me realize how sensitive he is!!! I used it to Porcupine him around, using the 'stick' as the pressure, and it was spectacular how well he moved to it. I never knew he was that sensitive to Porcupine before!

And our communication just flowed as well. . . I asked him to squeeze between the fence and sideways a step (because he couldn't do much with the snow we just got), and he did just as I asked which was awesome! Even when he was at a funny angle, I just tried to to think what I'd do if he was on line and did it, and he responded perfectly!

T'was very very nice for a quick 10-20 mins. Just next time I think I'd be much better off not wearing soccer cleats in the snow :D

Day 9 - Moment

What is one moment you have had with your horse that would not have been possible if not for Parelli?

Well, besides our whole relationship. . . honestly I remember one day that I decided I didn't want to ride. The whole last sessions had focused on riding and I just felt it wasn't fair to him to keep pushing him, so I decided to do a day of ground play. Man it was FANTASTIC. We just flew over the ground, he listened and tried his heart out for me. It was just amazing to think he listens that well. And I am so thankful that Parelli has given me the keys to communicate with him on the ground like this. If not for Parelli, I would probably be dead frustrated with riding, but instead you learn to think positively. It's amazing.

Day 8 - Horsenality

What is your horsenality, your partner's horsenality, and how do you make them work together?

Well, to be honest I'm not sure what personality I am. I think I am a LBI/RBI but I have also been accused of being a LBE and I can see that too at times. (I say accused very lightly). But around Moose, I could say I'm probably more of a LBE because I have high expectations, and Moose himself will switch like me. Honestly, we're probably quite similar. He'll have days where he's completely RBI and I will myself. I'd be willing to be that we mirror each other pretty well, it's just I can never see it at the time.

Day 7 - "How interesting"

When have you turned a time of frustration into a "how interesting" moment?

Well, honestly I tend to have trouble with this strategy, because I never remember to use it when I'm out by my horse. But I do try to step back from the situation when I'm getting frustrated. And I've done that a lot. Probably about every session, I'll have to step back, say "hmmm what isn't working here?" but I'm not always frustrated. Sorry I can't think of a specific time recently.

Day 4 - BFO

What is one BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) moment you've had?

 Sorry it's out of order, turns out I forgot to post this one. Funny enough I just had a realization about myself and my expectations the other day. I found out that I'm a perfectionist, when I really never thought about that before. But throughout my Parelli career, I have had many BFO's and sometime they end up on this blog, so you can scourge through the blog for the answer to this question. :)

Day 6 - My Dream

What is your dream with your horse?

My dream with my horse is to get as far as we possibly can get. I want to understand him, and then use that understanding to develop a partnership. I would love it if I could get Moose to want to be with me, play with me, and have fun when we play. Right now, I am amusing to him, but I am not his alpha. I hope to change this, and get to where I can apply what I have learned from him to any horse I meet. Something I think would be absolutely amazing is if I could get to where I could ride him to help me with other horses. I think that would be absolutely awesome. It is my definition of a partnership, that he would choose to stick with me and understand my communication instead of yielding to another horse. 

On the same plane, my goal for myself is to become a better person. I could never leave Parelli if I tried, because it really is a people-training program. I don't know any other program that actively encourages such self-development. Ok, well maybe I know of some, but that use horses and that anyone could understand, no. It's absolutely amazing.  

Day 5 - Favorite DVD, Celebration, Tour Stop, etc

What is your favorite DVD, celebration, tour stop, etc?

Honestly, I think the celebrations/tour stops I have attended are my favorite as they always leave me very inspired. Although the DVDs are certainly amazing, too. I think there was one like "The Secret to success with horses" or something of the like that was absolutely amazing I thought. 

Day 3 - Favorite Game

 What is your partner's favorite game?

Haha ok well, Moose's favorite game is probably Friendly because he doesn't have to do anything. And that's a plus for him because he likes to chill. Especially on pedestals, when he trusts them, he likes standing on those. But I think he enjoys Stick To Me, too, because he really understands what he's supposed to do for that.

If I really had to pick, I don't think he has a favorite game. I haven't found it yet, because I still have to be a better leader. He is playful, so I'm sure one of the driving games will eventually be a favorite, but for now he just seems to tolerate those.

Day 2 - Favorite Savvy

What is your favorite savvy and why?

My favorite savvy would probably have to be Freestyle. I really like riding, and since I haven't gotten to any Finesse yet I can't really say that's my favorite. I think Liberty is amazing, too, it's just in my head I guess nothing compares to being on horseback, that's the creme-de-la-creme. Moose and I usually play on line though.

PNH 30 Day Blogger Challenge

And As of today, I will be starting the PNH Blog challenge. It's an attempt to to keep us blogging every day. Now, this week is going to be exceptionally busy for me, but I will do my best to keep up with it. Yay for motivation!

Day 1 - How did you find PNH? 
 I found PNH through a boarder at our house. She actually introduced my family to it, and I just gobbled it up. The DVDs made so much sense to me. To be honest, it's really hard for me to remember what it was like to learn how to do it. It was just like I saw the DVDs and pamphlets and then I was doing PNH. So there wasn't really much of a before and after for me lol.

Yup. . . I'm not dead

Yes, I would like to apologize. I royally broke my own rule. Haha sorry. I always tried to keep up with blogging at least once a month, that was my goal. But I missed December man. . . Darn it!

But I assure you I am here, and I did not forget about the blog. I just felt like I had nothing to say. Things have been pretty chill with Moose recently I didn't feel like I had anything to talk about.

I've been thinking about my future a lot recently, and trying to decide what to do. I'm getting involved in some other activities that are going to take away sometime with the horses to see if that ups my motivation. Because I have been very unmotivated recently. And surely, if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, I can muster up the motivation to go play with my horsey. . . surely. . . right?

But ah, well I guess only time will tell there. I'm afraid my answer to that question will be no. But then, I don't think I can ever leave Parelli. It confuses me. So I think my answer has to be to give myself permission to figure things out. I don't want to get out of Parelli, but I don't think I would succeed as an instructor. Well, I haven't even given a lesson yet! That's no way to compare. So, for now, I just need to remember if I don't want to be a PP I don't have to. I can just have horses as a hobby and go from there. Because that's perfectly ok too.

I found this website online that gave me a personality profile and it was incredibly accurate:

How You Approach Life and How You Appear To Others

    Modest, unobtrusive, and often rather quiet or shy, you are a person who is content to be in the background or to serve as an assistant, in the supporting role rather than in the lead. You are quite humble in your own assessment of yourself and you have a very strong perfectionistic attitude, with a tendency to be overly self-critical. No matter how well you do something, you always see the flaws in it and how it could be improved. Often you will simply refuse to attempt something because you feel you cannot meet your own high standards.

That's pretty much all my negative traits wrapped up in a bundle. But it describes me like right on, that being said.  

It's something Farrah said to me that rings completely true. When I was doing an exercise with Moose, she told me I was extremely particular, like level 4 particular. It's not like I do it on purpose, but I have very high standard of what I accept. I mean, really, take a look at my little brother for instance. I can hardly stand him sometimes because everything he does is wrong. Now, if he were a horse, how successful do you think he would feel right about now? I do nothing but nag him. . . Oops. 

For instance. . . he walks too loud. And no I am not making this up. He pounds his feet. Like really hard. And it bugs me, not like a pet peeve, but just because it's not that hard to walk lighter. But I tell him to walk lighter, and he doesn't. He doesn't know how. So it bugs me. So in my brain, he's walking "wrong." That's the "wrong" way to walk, he's doing it "wrong." So I cannot accept that. It's like he doesn't fit in my world. Not until he walks right. 

And I never thought I was a perfectionist?? :O

My point is that I get so stuck up on little things I can't see anything else. So if I don't want to be a PP, it doesn't mean I have to get out of horses altogether. It doesn't mean I "failed." It just means I can have horses as a hobby and go from there. 

Oftentimes, I don't give things enough of a chance. I'm not giving my little brother the chance to be right, because I'm not accepting him where he is at. It's the exact same with Moose. And ironically, it's the exact same with me. I can do whatever I'd like, whether that involves horses or not. 

Wow that was amazing to get off my chest. I've struggled with that since I got Moose. It was like I signed a contract when I bought him that said "You have to be a PP. You are not allowed to change your mind." And it's funny, because by being so direct-line on my path, I actually got turned off by it. 

It's perfectly ok to go slow. And to decide as I go. I still love horses, that's not a question, but if I'm not a 5* instructor by tomorrow, that's more than ok, that's great! It means I'm on the journey, I'm learning.

And isn't that what Parelli is all about? It's not about the _______, it's about the relationship. It's about the journey. The end result doesn't matter. Because the journey's all there is.

Oh many things to ponder. . . isn't life funny?