I rode Moose for the first time with a saddle yesterday!!! I'm proud. He didn't do anything stupid at all. We just walked. I tried directing him and we did some HQ yields. It went over really well.
And I had a realization that the bucking isn't his fault. It's mine. It's his way of showing me he still doesn't trust me. So I had a very how interesting moment. Yay progress!
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Operation Horses
I've been getting Moosey prepped for riding recently. It's been going pretty well, but I'm a little finicky about saddle fit. I'm afraid to mess up because I think he'll buck. We had a day last week where he bucked all over the place. Good thing I've got a long rope. :) But I'm thinking I might try riding with a saddle on soon. Maybe within a week or two. We'll see though I don't want to push this.
Today was also quite the day. Bella kept getting attacked by giant (seriously giant) horse flies - one of them got me too - and so I got to watch her run and Moose run laps around the pasture today. Luckily, that was AFTER I snatched her halter and quick unbuckled the rope to let her run. And AFTER I decided she looked really tense and I decided I should probably do something. And that was AFTER Moose started bucking really bucking high because of either A) Fly or B) The fact that his girlfriend was outside the pasture. So, yeah. Lovely day. Needless to say I apologized to them both after that. Moose doesn't hate me though, so I think it might've been just a fly.
And speaking of Moose, he walked to me the other day. I was pretty happy with that. Quite a few steps too and he said hi. I was like sweet. Cool bud.
And I'm thinking of filming our level 1 in the next few days. We'll see how that goes. I still would rather just film our Level 2 but then that means we'd be working on Level 3 on the ground (YIKES) and we're not ready for that yet. Our patterns still need work. I think I need to get to be a better leader to show what I want. I have a feeling Moose's going to get a discussion from Farrah, so I think I should prepare him a little better. Just that feels hard to do with this friendship I have going on with him. And I don't want to ruin that.
Guess I got some more thinking to do then. As if that's hard for us intellectual people.
Today was also quite the day. Bella kept getting attacked by giant (seriously giant) horse flies - one of them got me too - and so I got to watch her run and Moose run laps around the pasture today. Luckily, that was AFTER I snatched her halter and quick unbuckled the rope to let her run. And AFTER I decided she looked really tense and I decided I should probably do something. And that was AFTER Moose started bucking really bucking high because of either A) Fly or B) The fact that his girlfriend was outside the pasture. So, yeah. Lovely day. Needless to say I apologized to them both after that. Moose doesn't hate me though, so I think it might've been just a fly.
And speaking of Moose, he walked to me the other day. I was pretty happy with that. Quite a few steps too and he said hi. I was like sweet. Cool bud.
And I'm thinking of filming our level 1 in the next few days. We'll see how that goes. I still would rather just film our Level 2 but then that means we'd be working on Level 3 on the ground (YIKES) and we're not ready for that yet. Our patterns still need work. I think I need to get to be a better leader to show what I want. I have a feeling Moose's going to get a discussion from Farrah, so I think I should prepare him a little better. Just that feels hard to do with this friendship I have going on with him. And I don't want to ruin that.
Guess I got some more thinking to do then. As if that's hard for us intellectual people.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Balance and Trust
I've discovered something about balance today. Moose and Bella have recently been put into another pasture to graze, since ours is bone-dry. The grass all died and went to heaven apparently, leaving our horses with hell on earth: no food. But, thankfully, with the use of this pasture they'll be fine.
So, anyways. I was ducking underneath the electric wire, and it hit me. Balance. How I was ducking under the fence, if I needed to stop suddenly because I was running over a horse's threshold, I couldn't! I needed to put my other foot down, I couldn't stay just as I was.
Another way of explaining: you know how we all want our horses to have go = woah? Well, humans need that too! I wasn't prepared in the proper position to help my horse, and I've come to the realization that this is a pattern in my life. With horses anyways. I feel like if someone was going to yell to me at sometime in our play session "STOP!" I couldn't do it, I'd probably trip over myself. It's finding the grace of movement, I guess that's how I'd explain it. You know when you see people who do Tai Chi or some kind of slow, but powerful martial arts every movement just feels very balanced and planned. I don't feel that way. My movements are clumsy and jerky. I'm the person who moves because they have to, as in the instance I talked about above. I get myself all tangled up so I have to move, so I couldn't be effective even if I wanted to. My timing and balance is off. So with is I was losing feel. Very good to know.
And I also discovered how Moose doesn't really trust me. Bella does, we are now on very good terms, but Moose has been holding back. I really thought about him today, and figured out he doesn't trust me. Not in the terms that he's an RBI and goes introverted within himself. No, like he's being stubborn about it. He's set in his ways. He's LBI about it, he's decided that people aren't something he wants to be involved with. I don't know what made him decide this, or if he was born that way, I have no idea. But I want him to trust me. And I now that in order for that to happen, he has to decide it himself.
With Bella, see, if you get in a tricky situation, she trusts me. If I were riding her (although I don't) and she got freaked out about something, I would be saying the equivalent of (or would WANT to anyways, because I doubt I could be so calm)"Bella, calm down. Trust me, you're going to live." Because that's what she needs to hear at that time: gentle, yet firm. But with Moose, If I got into a situation where he got scared, and I did the same thing, he wouldn't relax like Bella would, he'd go "No, I don't believe you." There is nothing I have that can make him trust me.
I remember reading in one of Mark Rashid's books once about a horse that was uncatchable. They turned it into a pasture for a few months. Huge pasture, lots of other horses. Everything was fine. Until one day they needed to halter all the horses to move them into another pasture. They caught every one of them just fine, except this horse. They walked out to catch it, the horse ran away. They said "alrighty then." And came out there every half hour or every hour afterwards to ask if it still didn't want to be caught. The horse was neighing and whinnying for its buddies like crazy. Eventually, since he realized he was getting nowhere, the horse let himself be caught. And he was never hard to catch anytime after that either.
See, he learned what he needed to learn. There was no opposition here. What, the fence for keeping him in? No, that's how humans think. We would blame the fence if we're trapped somewhere, but the horse was just fighting himself. He had a way out. And that's the kind of situation Moose needs to be in. He needs to learn that he's only inconveniencing himself by not trusting me. I can't force my hand, I can't change his mind. He has to change it. I could go out there with cookies or a whip and either bribe him or force him to trust me, but neither of those work. I want to offer myself up as a friend. I want to be his friend, and then once we can be friends and we trust each other, I can pursue more levels in Parelli. Because with him not trusting me, it's not fair of me to ask.
But yeah, so I don't get direct-lined about saying "trust me now!" to him, I thought of a quote. This also goes along with a story I just wrote which I may or may not post. The quote is: "You don't need to trust me completely: you got your whole lifetime for that. Right now I just need you to trust me enough to get in that trailer."
So, anyways. I was ducking underneath the electric wire, and it hit me. Balance. How I was ducking under the fence, if I needed to stop suddenly because I was running over a horse's threshold, I couldn't! I needed to put my other foot down, I couldn't stay just as I was.
Another way of explaining: you know how we all want our horses to have go = woah? Well, humans need that too! I wasn't prepared in the proper position to help my horse, and I've come to the realization that this is a pattern in my life. With horses anyways. I feel like if someone was going to yell to me at sometime in our play session "STOP!" I couldn't do it, I'd probably trip over myself. It's finding the grace of movement, I guess that's how I'd explain it. You know when you see people who do Tai Chi or some kind of slow, but powerful martial arts every movement just feels very balanced and planned. I don't feel that way. My movements are clumsy and jerky. I'm the person who moves because they have to, as in the instance I talked about above. I get myself all tangled up so I have to move, so I couldn't be effective even if I wanted to. My timing and balance is off. So with is I was losing feel. Very good to know.
And I also discovered how Moose doesn't really trust me. Bella does, we are now on very good terms, but Moose has been holding back. I really thought about him today, and figured out he doesn't trust me. Not in the terms that he's an RBI and goes introverted within himself. No, like he's being stubborn about it. He's set in his ways. He's LBI about it, he's decided that people aren't something he wants to be involved with. I don't know what made him decide this, or if he was born that way, I have no idea. But I want him to trust me. And I now that in order for that to happen, he has to decide it himself.
With Bella, see, if you get in a tricky situation, she trusts me. If I were riding her (although I don't) and she got freaked out about something, I would be saying the equivalent of (or would WANT to anyways, because I doubt I could be so calm)"Bella, calm down. Trust me, you're going to live." Because that's what she needs to hear at that time: gentle, yet firm. But with Moose, If I got into a situation where he got scared, and I did the same thing, he wouldn't relax like Bella would, he'd go "No, I don't believe you." There is nothing I have that can make him trust me.
I remember reading in one of Mark Rashid's books once about a horse that was uncatchable. They turned it into a pasture for a few months. Huge pasture, lots of other horses. Everything was fine. Until one day they needed to halter all the horses to move them into another pasture. They caught every one of them just fine, except this horse. They walked out to catch it, the horse ran away. They said "alrighty then." And came out there every half hour or every hour afterwards to ask if it still didn't want to be caught. The horse was neighing and whinnying for its buddies like crazy. Eventually, since he realized he was getting nowhere, the horse let himself be caught. And he was never hard to catch anytime after that either.
See, he learned what he needed to learn. There was no opposition here. What, the fence for keeping him in? No, that's how humans think. We would blame the fence if we're trapped somewhere, but the horse was just fighting himself. He had a way out. And that's the kind of situation Moose needs to be in. He needs to learn that he's only inconveniencing himself by not trusting me. I can't force my hand, I can't change his mind. He has to change it. I could go out there with cookies or a whip and either bribe him or force him to trust me, but neither of those work. I want to offer myself up as a friend. I want to be his friend, and then once we can be friends and we trust each other, I can pursue more levels in Parelli. Because with him not trusting me, it's not fair of me to ask.
But yeah, so I don't get direct-lined about saying "trust me now!" to him, I thought of a quote. This also goes along with a story I just wrote which I may or may not post. The quote is: "You don't need to trust me completely: you got your whole lifetime for that. Right now I just need you to trust me enough to get in that trailer."
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Lesson at Shirley's
I had another lesson today. It went really well. I was very pleased. I played with Ollie again again, and I really feel like he liked me too. Shirley even complimented me on how much improvement I made from our last lesson. I got firmer with him today when he needed it, despite him getting a little bit unsure, I persevered and then he came out fine and regarding me with respect. I was really happy. I really felt like a leader today, and that things worked out well.
I ended up riding him, too, at the end. I noticed when I rode him last time that he always wanted to go wherever he wanted when someone was riding him. Like I had to constantly remind him to go where I wanted. And he had an obvious draw to where his herd mates were. So, I asked Shirley when I should be reminding him to go where I want. She just reminded me that the phases, are eyes, belly button, leg, arm. I kept going to arm as phase 2ish, since he wouldn't go. She said that was most likely the result of him not being ridden very much. He is 14 years old, but doesn't have a ton of riding time on him. So, he isn't being sassy, he just doesn't understand since it's never been reinforced to him before. So, that was kind of cool, feeling like I actually got to do some kind of 'training' on Shirley's horses. :) Made me feel good anyways, that she said I was good for Ollie since I was more particular. He's a pretty cool guy.
And since Moose has been kind of a stinker about haltering recently, Shirley said that sometimes you have to make him and he doesn't just get to goof off. So, you might have to hook the halter around his neck, and just say 'deal!' for a little bit. But she also reminded me that I have a 50-50 chance. Good day, all in all!
I ended up riding him, too, at the end. I noticed when I rode him last time that he always wanted to go wherever he wanted when someone was riding him. Like I had to constantly remind him to go where I wanted. And he had an obvious draw to where his herd mates were. So, I asked Shirley when I should be reminding him to go where I want. She just reminded me that the phases, are eyes, belly button, leg, arm. I kept going to arm as phase 2ish, since he wouldn't go. She said that was most likely the result of him not being ridden very much. He is 14 years old, but doesn't have a ton of riding time on him. So, he isn't being sassy, he just doesn't understand since it's never been reinforced to him before. So, that was kind of cool, feeling like I actually got to do some kind of 'training' on Shirley's horses. :) Made me feel good anyways, that she said I was good for Ollie since I was more particular. He's a pretty cool guy.
And since Moose has been kind of a stinker about haltering recently, Shirley said that sometimes you have to make him and he doesn't just get to goof off. So, you might have to hook the halter around his neck, and just say 'deal!' for a little bit. But she also reminded me that I have a 50-50 chance. Good day, all in all!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Off to the Rodeos. . . Again?
Since I made it a goal to buy a Western Theraflex, I decided to actually discuss buying one. And the good news is, I might have found one. That's still a might, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
So, I was thinking about the Theraflex and riding: I've had a lot of good opportunities lately as far as riding goes due to that clinic last weekend, so I've had it on the brain recently. And Moose has done really good recently: we even accidentally did some more liberty stuff 2 days ago. So, our relationship is definitely improving!
Well, I decided to bite the bullet and maybe try to ride today. But the important thing here was I wasn't direct-line about it. I said I want to ride, yes, but I'm not going to be stupid and get myself hurt. So, I went and haltered him, and brought him inside the barn. I tried tacking him up with Bella's saddle this time to see if that one would fit him a little better. It seems like they're both pretty equal to me. But tacking up went smoothly, except for 3 times when I had to take him outside to show Bella that indeed he has not left, and is actually where he was 2 seconds ago when you were looking at him. Silly girl. And he was in a pretty LB mood today, so all was good. There didn't seem to be any cinch issues.
So, I got my helmet and put a 22' on him and back into the pasture we went. We did some Circles. I tightened the cinch. I had him trot, and walk. No cantering today, because he's still got the Scratches on his back leg, but I thought he seemed fit to trot. We changed directions a few times, and he wasn't doing it very well, so I put some pressure on him to change a little better. When I back up for the change, he likes to just pretend I haven't moved at all, so I have to stop him, and then send him the opposite way. He does this a lot. So, this time when I asked for the change, I backed up, and he still was trotting off, of course, so I stopped him and then immediately said "you should be gone!" because we've been doing this for long enough that he should understand there is a pattern. So, he jumped a little when I smacked the ground for him to leave, but I just took a mental note. If I remember quickly, he licked his lips farther on the circle. Next time I asked for the change, I had to stop him again, but when I started to increase my intensity like "you should be. . . GONE!!" he kind of jumped and trotted off, before I got to the "gone" part. It was a little wierd, but I let it go. So, then he was trotting around the circle doing just fine, I brought him in. Tightened up the girth a little more. Backed him up, sent him to the right. He did fine. Then, "all of a sudden for no reason at all" he threw a bucking fit. I interrupted the pattern hard throughout the whole thing. The saddle flew upwards, so the back of it was up in the air, and the pad flew out the back. I'm guessing that scared him even more. He was still bucking, but now he tried to run and buck. I was able to hold on, since he didn't pull hard like Bella does, and still keep Phase 4ing him with the rope. Then, the saddle flipped over and now was under his belly. :-0 Now, his brain kicked in, and he backed up, but there was obviously still a boatload of tension there. I had an extreme RBI at that point. So, I moseyed up to him, and tried to undo the saddle without scaring him more. Well, I couldn't do it alone, so with my mom's help we got the saddle off, and Moose didn't freak out. Needless to say, he was pretty listless after that.
We spent the whole rest of the session just chilling, since I wasn't sure if he was introverted, but I could definitely see that he wasn't the same Moose I had had before. Like I said, he was pretty listless. So, I wanted to see where he was at mentally, so I tried doing some stuff with spins. He looked fine. So, I got down on my knees to see if we could do a figure-8 with me down low and not moving. He did it fine. Seemed alright, but just kind of shocked, maybe. So, we just hung out some more. Bella was giving my mom some issues, being a sassy pants, and trying to swing her butt at mom, so she got a lesson in leadership today. Turns out little miss teddy bear actually does have a 'tude every now and then! But this was great for Moose, so he could just relax without my focus on him. It took him at least 15 minutes to come off adrenaline from the bucking incident.
I'm trying to think what in the world caused it this time. I mean, when he bucked from the bareback pad, that was entirely my fault for being direct-line, but I don't think I really was today. Yes, I wanted to ride, but I wasn't saying I have to ride right now. I wasn't pressuring him. And I know he has an issue with Zone 3 confidence/ the girth but I did approach and retreat with it during saddling and he was fine. After I circled him a little, I even took it off, because I had to move the saddle up further, so that was a big retreat for him. The only thing I can think of is maybe when he wears the saddle, he feels threatened by the pressure I put on him? Like when I got assertive about him doing the changes, he was being a little silly. Maybe he attributes Phase 4's when he's wearing the saddle to being the saddle's fault. So, maybe I'm firmer with him when he's wearing the saddle, because I'm actually thinking of this as preparation for riding instead of just playing. . . . that's a possibility. The other thing is maybe just the saddle noise scares him. This one did bounce a little when he was trotting, so it made some noise.
But I learned from this, there's a reason I'm not riding him (just confirms it, since I doubt myself even now and then). We might need a back-cinch for that saddle. Moose has a somewhat-extreme form of claustrophobia/fear with Zone 3. And I need some help :)
So, I was thinking about the Theraflex and riding: I've had a lot of good opportunities lately as far as riding goes due to that clinic last weekend, so I've had it on the brain recently. And Moose has done really good recently: we even accidentally did some more liberty stuff 2 days ago. So, our relationship is definitely improving!
Well, I decided to bite the bullet and maybe try to ride today. But the important thing here was I wasn't direct-line about it. I said I want to ride, yes, but I'm not going to be stupid and get myself hurt. So, I went and haltered him, and brought him inside the barn. I tried tacking him up with Bella's saddle this time to see if that one would fit him a little better. It seems like they're both pretty equal to me. But tacking up went smoothly, except for 3 times when I had to take him outside to show Bella that indeed he has not left, and is actually where he was 2 seconds ago when you were looking at him. Silly girl. And he was in a pretty LB mood today, so all was good. There didn't seem to be any cinch issues.
So, I got my helmet and put a 22' on him and back into the pasture we went. We did some Circles. I tightened the cinch. I had him trot, and walk. No cantering today, because he's still got the Scratches on his back leg, but I thought he seemed fit to trot. We changed directions a few times, and he wasn't doing it very well, so I put some pressure on him to change a little better. When I back up for the change, he likes to just pretend I haven't moved at all, so I have to stop him, and then send him the opposite way. He does this a lot. So, this time when I asked for the change, I backed up, and he still was trotting off, of course, so I stopped him and then immediately said "you should be gone!" because we've been doing this for long enough that he should understand there is a pattern. So, he jumped a little when I smacked the ground for him to leave, but I just took a mental note. If I remember quickly, he licked his lips farther on the circle. Next time I asked for the change, I had to stop him again, but when I started to increase my intensity like "you should be. . . GONE!!" he kind of jumped and trotted off, before I got to the "gone" part. It was a little wierd, but I let it go. So, then he was trotting around the circle doing just fine, I brought him in. Tightened up the girth a little more. Backed him up, sent him to the right. He did fine. Then, "all of a sudden for no reason at all" he threw a bucking fit. I interrupted the pattern hard throughout the whole thing. The saddle flew upwards, so the back of it was up in the air, and the pad flew out the back. I'm guessing that scared him even more. He was still bucking, but now he tried to run and buck. I was able to hold on, since he didn't pull hard like Bella does, and still keep Phase 4ing him with the rope. Then, the saddle flipped over and now was under his belly. :-0 Now, his brain kicked in, and he backed up, but there was obviously still a boatload of tension there. I had an extreme RBI at that point. So, I moseyed up to him, and tried to undo the saddle without scaring him more. Well, I couldn't do it alone, so with my mom's help we got the saddle off, and Moose didn't freak out. Needless to say, he was pretty listless after that.
We spent the whole rest of the session just chilling, since I wasn't sure if he was introverted, but I could definitely see that he wasn't the same Moose I had had before. Like I said, he was pretty listless. So, I wanted to see where he was at mentally, so I tried doing some stuff with spins. He looked fine. So, I got down on my knees to see if we could do a figure-8 with me down low and not moving. He did it fine. Seemed alright, but just kind of shocked, maybe. So, we just hung out some more. Bella was giving my mom some issues, being a sassy pants, and trying to swing her butt at mom, so she got a lesson in leadership today. Turns out little miss teddy bear actually does have a 'tude every now and then! But this was great for Moose, so he could just relax without my focus on him. It took him at least 15 minutes to come off adrenaline from the bucking incident.
I'm trying to think what in the world caused it this time. I mean, when he bucked from the bareback pad, that was entirely my fault for being direct-line, but I don't think I really was today. Yes, I wanted to ride, but I wasn't saying I have to ride right now. I wasn't pressuring him. And I know he has an issue with Zone 3 confidence/ the girth but I did approach and retreat with it during saddling and he was fine. After I circled him a little, I even took it off, because I had to move the saddle up further, so that was a big retreat for him. The only thing I can think of is maybe when he wears the saddle, he feels threatened by the pressure I put on him? Like when I got assertive about him doing the changes, he was being a little silly. Maybe he attributes Phase 4's when he's wearing the saddle to being the saddle's fault. So, maybe I'm firmer with him when he's wearing the saddle, because I'm actually thinking of this as preparation for riding instead of just playing. . . . that's a possibility. The other thing is maybe just the saddle noise scares him. This one did bounce a little when he was trotting, so it made some noise.
But I learned from this, there's a reason I'm not riding him (just confirms it, since I doubt myself even now and then). We might need a back-cinch for that saddle. Moose has a somewhat-extreme form of claustrophobia/fear with Zone 3. And I need some help :)
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