Questions and Answers

Today went well. We got a huge storm the other day, so our ground is sadly covered with snow again. I've been struggling with interpreting some horsemanship advice I got from a friend regarding picking up Moose's feet, so I haven't played with that since early last week.

Here is a snippet of the e-mail I received:

When I look at your situation, there are a few Parelli-isms that come to mind that I think would be useful for you to ponder.

#1) "If your horse says 'no', you either asked the wrong question, or you asked the question wrong."

#2) "Do your thinking at night, and your feeling during the day."

#3) "It's not about the_______"

#4) Pat's definition of Respect: The Appropriate response to the appropriate application of pressure.

#5) Isolate, Separate, and Recombine

What I'd be looking to is what am I doing to cause this? What is it in ME that is causing my horse to react the way he is? Remember that the horse is perfect, it's up to us to help him understand what we want.

That being said, I think you're right on, in that it's a respect thing. But looking through that filter, what is it that you're doing to cause the disrespectful response?

Another filter to look through is that of the 8 Principles.  Have you ever actually sat down and read them and taken into account what they mean? Massively deep stuff. And usually, if there's something amiss in the partnership, it's rooted in one of the 8 Principles. That's why this program is so genius. It's categorically put into a system (Pat's an LBI, can ya tell? Ha!) that you can use to filter your results (or lack thereof).

Yet another way to look at it is through the 7 games. Which game is broken? How can I help that game become better while remaining in a leadership position and putting the relationship first?
So I've had this congregating in the back of my mind for about a week now, with not a lot of luck.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with Moose today.We ended up playing a lot of touch it. It went really well. I revved up my leadership skills a little bit, and got some nice ears forward from Moose and a very lovely responsive horse as well. But then it got wierd, because as things were really nice, ALL OF A SUDDEN FOR NO REASON AT ALL he decided to canter around like a mad man. Now I had had a thought in my head to have him circle at a trot, and see if he would canter right before he started doing this. So, I am not sure if he s reading my mind or this was a form of freak out. Because my options are either A) RB panic attack or B) LB temper tantrum. He didn't look RB, so that's not it. So, either he was reading my mind, or it was a temper tantrum. But, it's funny, because I broke down for a minute there. "My poor horse, what have I done to you? Now you probably hate me!" So I started to get all sad and was thinking I would probably have to stop playing with him, because I was becoming helpless. But, Parelli came to my rescue. I remembered a quote I had been reminded to think about in the e-mail above: "Do you feeling during the day, your thinking at night." Oops. I was thinking. (Haha bad Erica bad). I then just chalked his behavior up to "how interesting!" and moved on.

Anyways, it was the reminder I needed. I perked right back up and realized I was making a big fuss out of nothing. I backed him up, and he was the lightest he's EVER been with his ears forward. I have got to be doing something right. So we did sideways along the fence and I had a realization. One of the things that might help our freestyle is getting our sideways better. If he can maintain the bend in his body where I ask, it's much more likely I'll be able to direct him where I want him to go. So I figure I should start being more particular about that and see where that takes us.

And then the farrier came and did Moose's feet. I found out it wouldn't be a good idea to get Moose shod, instead it'd be best just to buy him boots. And I asked her about a crack in his foot that had made him lame before (it was a cut growing out) and she said not to worry about it. So I'm happy to hear that. Also, I asked her about a lump he has on his throat that's concerned me for some time, and she said not to worry about it as well. Probably just ask the vet. And I looked up some information about it and it doesn't seem very serious. Which is definitely good news.

Change for the better

So I've been having some super huge revelations recently, in regards to my whole life, and I can tell a major change is happening around me right now. I'm going through that time where I'm finally starting to really GET it. It's taken 4 years, and I'm finally turning loose to the program.

I don't feel like blogging right now or I'd tell you more. Hopefully sometime I'll fill you in. But know that's what's going on at the moment.

A True Partnership

I can't believe I played with Moose for 2 hours today! But the clock doesn't lie. . . Just amazing. It seriously felt like 45 mins :) time flies when you're having fun.

But anyways, today was terrific. I was originally very direct line (what a nice day! we should go riding!) but then as soon as I saw what effect it was having on Moose I quit, and decided to instead focus on getting him to participate in what I would like him to do. So I waited until he could follow me at liberty to where I wanted to play. And once he could do that, I brushed him and haltered him up. Then I trimmed his back hoof a tad, but he got impatient and my back was hurting so not for long. Since I brought the bareback pad out, I decided to play with that a little. And I also learned an important lesson: don't let your horse chew on the leather straps that tie up your girth on the bareback pad. Mine now have chew marks on them. Haha so much for keeping it in good condition.

But yes, the bareback pad. I put it on and then Moose got really 'sleepy,' and I'm going to guess he got introverted. I asked him to come to me and he was stuck, he couldn't move his feet, it was like he was dazed. So, I took it off and had him move 2 laps at the trot.

Then, we repeated this for the rest of the time. I'd put the bareback pad on, have him move a little with it, see how comfortable he was, and then ask him to trot 2 laps so he'd get any introvertedness out of his system. He started asking questions, too, which was awesome. The last time I had him do his 2 laps, he blew out and followed me back to the bareback pad with all 22' of the line on the ground, and I sent him to the bareback pad and he touched it. It was a very harmonious feeling. I felt the beginnings of a true partnership right there. Terrific day.

No Thanks

Moose and I were in for a nice day. Sun was shining, birds chirping. Just that lovely kind of weather that screams "horses!!!" at us horse lunatics. So, it was no wonder I had Moose on a lead rope, 'chomping at the bit' to get something done with him.

And that thing just so happened to be on our plan, picking up his feet! Yesterday went absolutely fantastic, so I hoped today would be just as good. And it would have been, if not for a reluctance on Moose's part to pick up said foot. We ended up doing circles and changes of direction like crazy. He kicked out twice in an attempt to show his defiant side. But it was very interesting for 2 reasons.

1. I was more of a leader today than normal. And Moose responded by, when Circling, always hitting a spot (not every time) where he'd immediately stop and start pawing frantically or rubbing his head on his leg. He has rubbed his head on his leg a lot, I always assumed him itchy. But it normally does cause him to lick his lips, and in this case, it did as well. He also blew out, too, when he was done with it. So what I want to know is, is this behavior RBI at a threshold? Or what do I do with it?
2. My leadership wanes. Today I was more of a leader, but I still start to crumble with time. I don't like conflict, I highly dislike people being mad at me. So I rarely push Moose, else he'll 'get mad' at me. But I realized after our playing today that horses don't think like people. It's only in my head that I'm being 'nice.' And only in our heads that I need to be 'bossy' as well. Just an observation.
3. Is there anything I can do to better prepare Moose to pick his feet up? Am I skipping steps?

I sent an e-mail to a friend regarding this, so we'll see what she says. Kinda confuzzled.

The Mood is Catching

I find when I'm in a good mood, my horse is too. So, since I was absolutely thrilled today, Moose felt about the same. :) I found out today there's a very good possibility I'll be staying at HL for the entire summer!!! Super exciting :D

And, so, my session with Moose was terrific. I FINALLY got his 'bad foot' picked up off phase 1, which was a dream come true. He was able to Touch It from 22' away for the first time, actually seeking the item to touch and understanding my communication from that distance. Also, we got 1 good 360 degree FH yield off driving game each way. And Moose was pretty chill throughout the whole thing. Then, we rode and did some PPL for about 15 mins and he was nice and relaxed. I stopped when I asked for a HQ yield and he gave it to me. Just a very pleasant play day on one of the first of many nice days to come this year. Savvy on!

Up in the Air

At the moment, everything is in a state of flux. My answer to just about every question regarding my future has been "I don't know."

So, I made a plan to take care of things.

1. Call Heartland to see if I can even come this summer. Biggest decider of my future.
2. Wait and see if I like my new job or not. If I like it, I might rather stay here than leave, as it pays well.
3. Ask around and see if someone would let me play with their horses. Then, I get the experience I'm looking for, but without the extra price of owning the horse.
4. If I can't/ don't go to Heartland this summer, that opens up other possibilities. I could get another horse, and really focus on their development. I could also start taking lessons, and maybe participate in a clinic with Moose.

So, tomorrow I'm going to cross off number 1 on the list, hopefully, to at least see if that is a possibility. And then I might post an ad to see if anyone would be interested in having their horse "parelli-ized." And all the while I shall make progress with Moose. Sounds good to me.

Hum De Dum De Dum

Another awesome day today. I'm finding I'm having huge BFO's all over the place this week. One today, one yesterday, and one on Monday. Man, a thinking week! I already feel like a changed person, just because I'm more self-aware.

So, today I went out and did the same plan as I was doing all this week. I don't believe I shared that plan with you in the last post in my excitement, so here is what I've been working towards every day, in this order so far this week.

My goal: Be able to trot Moose bareback and steer without resistance

1. Pick up all 4 feet off Phase 1
2. Get 360 degrees of FH yields off phase 1 driving game
3. Yield to lateral flexion on the ground (may be skipped, monotonous)
4. Yield to lateral flexion on Moose's back (may be skipped, monotonous)
5. Then, a) Do a PPL, or b) Play Touch It from 22' away

 Well, today I got stuck at Step 1! It was incredible! Moose had been doing pretty well with picking up his feet, but today he was just not having it. Even for his back feet, which are usually easier than pie, it took me at least 3-4 times of asking before he would shift his weight. And his usual hard foot to pick up, his right front, was impossible today. I got to where I was going through all 4 phases and he was ignoring me. So, here's what I did. I went through all 4 phases + tap with my boot and if I got a response, good, I rubbed him and asked for his foot again. If he did this 3 times, I'd back him up. Then, if I got no answer when I went through my phases, he also got backed up. But if I had to back him up twice in a row, he got to do circles :D and boy did we have fun today!! I was on the 22', and he every time he had to circle, that was 6 laps of trotting for him! So he ended up doing at least 18 laps, possibly 24. And he was breathing pretty hard too :) what an out of shape pony. He started cantering a few times, too, and was bucking and kicking, and that was good to see. I really think he was just being playful, which is quite an eye opener to me, as before I would've read that as "no I don't WANT to!" But anyways, he finally allowed me to pick up his foot, after what I'm guessing was around 20 mins of this.

Then, we did our FH yields. As before, he was better to the left than to the right. Then we skipped lateral flexion and went right to Touch It. I was having trouble directing Moose for this, as I tended to want to send myself to the obstacle, but when Moose is (eventually) 22' away, that clearly won't work. But I got one time, that we ended on, where it worked out. He was at a tree, and there was another tree I saw, and I had him do a big half circle to go touch it and that worked wonderfully, because this time I wouldn't let him invade my space. He tried coming closer to me but I flicked him to say get out there and he did maintain his space and touch the tree. It was excellent.

Then, we did some Zone 3/4 driving over to our bridge, so I could mount. Only reason I bring this up is because I noticed a) Moose doesn't walk straight, he arcs his body to the left and ends up actually walking to the left, instead of straight, and I was on his left side. "How interesting!" and b) There was a point where he diverged off our path for a second and went to turn left when I asked him straight, and I went and bopped him right in the nose, and he licked his lips. I really am stepping up in my leadership.

Of course, from here I mounted up. I also came to the conclusion that I should try to mount him faster, because it gives him too much time to think when I'm slow. Not that I need to rush, but he can't be bothered by me when I'm giving him something else to think about. I think beforehand I took too long, so no wonder he disliked me getting on him. And my theory must've had some truth to  it, because even when I had to kind of flop over him he didn't mind. What a nice change.

And so off we were doing a PPL. My goal was to do this for about 20 mins. I had prepared us this time, too, by shutting the stall doors so I didn't have to argue with him. And my goodness, it was so harmonious! He just walked all over, exploring and staring at things, doing 'stuff' I guess. But at one point, he got too close to a tree branch, so I had to stop and ask him to back up. He backed, and then I turned him to the left, and he responded very nicely. Then I directed him over to an area, and he actually went, and stopped right inside it. I was amazed, but then decided to see if I could get a HQ yield, something which many times he had just plain ignored in the past, and he tried to do it! No unhappy face or anything, just him trying, and he finally did give me a step. I thought that was excellent, and dismounted right there.

He was still perfectly LBE, even on the ground, and I think it was awesome. I did get a little irritated at one point with him not picking up his foot, but then I went, "wait, what am I taking about it? This is an opportunity of a lifetime to gain respect! And so it'll be interesting to see how it goes tomorrow, if it'll take less time or even more. And also, when I was doing the PPL on Moose, there was a point where I felt unsafe. My neighbor was riding a snowmobile very loudly around our neighborhood, so there was a little commotion, and 2 people were walking down the road, and Moose got very fixated on them. And it was at this point I didn't feel safe, because his attention had wandered. I considered getting off, but stayed on instead, and I wonder what I should've done in this situation. I think next time, I should've gotten his attention back instead, but ah well. Lovely day :)

I'm getting it :)

 I have some amazing news: After 2.5 YEARS of being with Moose, I think we're finally starting to get it!!

Absolutely awesome day today with Moose!! Just outstanding. Went out and haltered him, and started playing with picking up his feet. We've been doing this recently, so this'll be about our 3-5th time doing it, not quite sure which, but anyways it was a lot better. Yesterday I just did undemanding time, but the day before I had to get really firm about Moose picking up his left front foot. Well, today he responded to almost all of his feet off phase 1 with my hand, and then just I might've had to tap him with my boot, but there was no other hand pressure. Phase 2 on one foot, but that was his left front, and even with that said he did exceptionally better than before. It took persistence, but not nearly as high of phases and he picked that foot up. His back feet he's always been pretty good about.

So, after that I was just getting ready to start playing with his FH yield when I was interrupted. A family member ran the phone out to me. Good news! I have a job!! :) So that was awesome news!

Then, I continued playing with Moose and started our FH yields. My goal is to get it to where we can do a 360 off phase 1 with the CS in the Driving Game. To the right I was getting some awesome yields, about 180 degrees with him keeping his feet still which were terrific, so I tried to the left. It was still not bad, but I need to get better timing for next time so he can actually do what I wanted. He ended up just walking forward at one point, but we ended with a nice 2 steps, and I could get 2 steps regularly by the end of it.

From there, we went to the next step in the plan which was to get him yielding to lateral flexion nice on the ground. He does it perfectly!! Surprise surprise! He's terrible at it under saddle but on the ground he's perfect, albeit a little mouthy.

Then, I decided to start some Touch It. My goal is to get it so we can play Touch It from 22' away as that will definitely show respect, and it is another option instead of just doing mindless circles!

I've come to realize through the Parelli website that the circling game shows respect, and that I wasn't giving Moose his fair share of responsibility in the Circling Game. Today there was a point when I wanted Moose to go touch a tree, so I sent him, but he got too far ahead of me. So, I had him around instead. He kind of paused after I sent him though, like "you're sure?" and I was like oh yeah, I said circle bud, and pointed and flicked him with the CS. That really got him licking and chewing, because I was actually serious with my plan.

Anyways, it went pretty well. He's got quite the Stick to me game ingrained in his head, so he thinks he can't be further than 5-7 feet away from me unless he's circling, so we have some playing to go.

Overall, absolutely spectacular day! Will post with my 'official' plan soon.

Being a Leader

Well, I've been playing with Moose for the past few days, as I am determined to make some progress with him. Realized I need to be more of a leader, and we've still got work to do for Freestyle. Think we're gonna have to set up a pen and do some PPL!

P.S. Have you seen Parelli Connect? It's awesome. :)