Soul to Soul or Eye to Eye

I was watching a video done by Pat Parelli in 1987 the other day. For Savvy Club Members, you can find it on line. It's called California Expo 1987 Mar 06. It's a little hard to hear what Pat's saying, as a forewarning, but it's an incredible show of just how talented Pat is, and this is even 23 years ago!

But, the bad hearing turned out to be a blessing. It really made me pay attention to what Pat was doing more than what he was saying. So, I was absolutely astounded when the end result of what looked to be a few needless things turned out to be him riding the horse around bridleless. And what happens when things go bad (no spoilers here, watch it yourself). And the video's only about a half hour long, too. I was astounded.

So, while walking my dog I really thought with how in the world Pat was able to bring that change in that horse around so quickly. It looked like he was barely doing anything except yielding the horse's HQ. And I came across an interesting scenario.

While I was walking my dog Morrie there are some cows who just got brought in at a neighbor's house. I didn't know at the time, but my dog seems to just love them. I think he thinks they're just huge dogs or something, because he gets really excited whenever he sees them. And so I follow some of Cesar Millan's dog psychology, and like what he does, so I got to act as him for a little bit to keep Morrie under control. It didn't work. Well, I had an epiphany. The reason things didn't work with Morrie was because I was relying on my eyes. I couldn't feel his energy. So, I'd only discipline him whenever he looked excited, but I couldn't actually feel his energy. I still can't.

And I realized that I think that's a part of what I'm lacking with the horses. Now, I'm sure it takes a long time to develop this, and I also believe that this a part of what Tom Dorrance calls feel. I likened it to being on a soul to soul level, instead of just eye to eye. Because with horses, and with Morrie, I look at what they're doing, but I can't really feel it like Pat or Cesar can. Not that I expect to, but it was a very interesting realization. Partially, because it really gave me a deeper respect for people who are good with horses (and Cesar, too), but also because I can really see how this would transmit to horses.

If you could just feel their energy, and what state they're in at that time, you would do the right thing. It's exactly like one of my favorite quotes from Linda Parelli: "If you can read the horse, you'd know what to do." And so I realized one of the reasons I can't read horses very well yet is because I can't feel of them yet, and if I can't do that there's no way we can feel together, and eventually get them to feel for me.

The Day I got my dream horse!!

Yeah, you would never believe it. Woke up this morning and bam, we get a phone call. Three horses were running around town and one of them was a Friesian!! And if no one claims her she's mine!! Yes!!!

Oh, how sweet dreams are! If only, if only. . .

The Actual Story:

Ok, well I was SUPER tired. I got back from Noah's Ark last night at about 11:30. Slept like a rock, no problems there. So, it's about 11am, and I'm still 'sleeping'. My mom gets this phone call, and I have no idea what it's about. I only caught " A Friesian!!" and "I'll be right there!" So, I get up and my mom tells me that there's 3 horses loose about around the block and one's a Friesian. Oh, boy were we excited!! I grab some halters and lead ropes and my mom, Jake (my little brother), and I pile into the car.

So, we stop at this house and see 3 strange horses inside the pasture. I was wondering how in the world they got in there, but whatever. Then, Jeanie (the lady who called us about the horses) arrives. She tells me that she let the horses inside, because she didn't want them wandering the streets. I take a closer look at the horses. One is definitely a Friesian, she was gorgeous!

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Friesian being cute"][/caption]

One was a gray Arabian cross, and another looked like part Thoroughbred. The Arab and Friesian had halters on, so we thought that they must've belonged to someone. The Friesian's feet were really bad though, so I was thinking maybe we would end up keeping her! We put different halters on them, and then started leading them towards our house (we had an extra pasture we could put them in). I took the Friesian, mom took the Thoroughbred, and Jeanie took the Arab. We were already discussing who was going to take the Friesian, lol!

Well, we had just turned onto my road when a car drives by and then stops. Two people get out, and they tell us that these are their neighbors horses. So, we start walking them back the way we had just taken them. Some other boys come up and start leading the horses back to their homes. We drove home to get a quick drink and then headed to the horses' home.

[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Lippy!"][/caption]

The Arab was walking really fast, so it got home first and started freaking out, since her buddies weren't there. She actually kicked my mom, but SO LUCKILY the kick hit her phone instead of her. Well, her buddies arrived momentarily and she obviously calmed down.

The owners were away on vacation and they came home about 10 minutes later. I got a lot of information and learned more about the horses. For one thing, we were wrong! The Thoroughbred was actually a rare breed called Ahkal-teke. I forget her name, though. And the Arab cross was actually a purebred Lipizzaner named Lippy (unfortunately fitting, lol). Basically, we had just walked about $50,000 dollars down the street. Wow, was that one a shocker!!

And also, I found a nice exercise to do with Arruba that the lady who owned them suggested. I don't really feel like explaining, but basically it's supposed to help with the circling game. Lastly, I got another shocker that this lady was part owner of Ots Sunrise Farms.

Oh, and here's 2 more pictures. :)

[caption id="attachment_106" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Here's the Akhal-teke! I can't remember her name, argh!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_107" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Indiana eating. My is she drafty!"][/caption]

SMART smart smart . . .

I had another session with Arruba yesterday. I'm very excited. Things went really well this time!! At the beginning she was a tad RB, but I backed her up a bit and she got loads better! She never got away from me either!!! Actually, I just prevented it in the first place. I never did circling game, I only worked on games 1-4. Also, I realized that in order for her to run away, she had to take her head way over to the other side and then start going. So, I never allowed her to turn her head where she needed it to be!!!

And I never realized just how smart that horse is!!! Holy cow!! Friendly game she aced, it's kind of funny actually, because I can slap the ground with the rope while she just stands harder than I can with Dancer! I also worked on porcupine game a lot. She usually gets around phase 2/3 still, but she's getting better!! Driving game was nice on the hindquarters, I actually had to up the pressure on phase 4, because I realized that my pressure was more like phase 3. Once I did that, she learned very quickly what I wanted. Her yo-yo game is fantastic (in my opinion) from just 2 sessions. Like the title says, she learns amazingly quick! It'll be interesting to keep her entertained.