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. :)

Love of Learning

I have to say, one of the most amazing things in the world is the fact that you can never not learn something out by your horse. I'm serious! I think the only way that could ever happen for me would be if I patted Moose on the head and then left about 2 seconds later. Other than that I always learn something.

So, of course, today was no exception. And the marvelous part was I didn't even do anything! I gave the pony some food and just decided to stay outside with him for a while. So to him I was probably nothing more than a nuisance :) but a thinking nuisance nonetheless. And my thinking brain was busy having BFOs.

I just got outside after reading some very interesting articles on line about self-worth. So this was part of the BFO. Basically, I realized that I have conditional self-worth based on how I look. No wonder I have pretty low self-confidence.

But in being outside by Moose, I had a lot of situations running through my head: trailer-loading, riding, picking his feet up. They all have a lack of respect. So I'm missing the leadership.

BING BING BING! *Flashing lights going off*

There's a connection there. I'm still mulling it over, but basically what I've realized is that I am not the leader, because I am not sure of myself. And when I'm not sure, I lend Moose the leadership. Here's a better way to explain:  instead of being independent, I have made myself co-dependent on him. At least for riding. Because when I'm on his back, I don't feel sure (because I expect him to behave badly), so I tell him "Moose take care of me!" and he goes "Ha! Heck with that!" and takes me for a joy ride.

Hmmm. . . Like I said, still mulling it over, but I think I'm on to something here. There's definitely a connection between my self-confidence and his lack of respect, that's kind of a given, but I've never thought about it like this before, that I was basically handing him the leadership role. We'll see what the next session brings :)

Dear Thumberly

Last Sunday I hurt my thumb playing soccer, so I wasn't able to do much with Moose that week. Before that I was having a good time riding. Still trying to get that circle pattern Farrah so graciously put us on almost 6 months ago. And am job scouting as usual. Hopefully I find something soon! And I hope my thumb gets back to normal this week, although it's doing much better now.

"The Writing is on the Wall"

I'd like to give a super huge girly squeal of delight. *EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!* So why all the shouting?? Ha ha ha I have finally figured out this bugger called "Erica's Future." To be honest with you, it's probably been nagging at me since the day I was born. . . the eternal question "What to do when I get older?" Well, I've answered that question, but then it came again in another form. . ."Ok, so how do I get there?"

3 Options were nagging at me for some time now:

1. Go to college
2. Go to Parelli
3. Go back to Heartland

See, this college thing has been really really bugging me, because 'everyone' says "go to college, you make more money, you meet friends, you earn a living." Well, that's all fine and dandy, so I'll go look up colleges. But I don't know what I want to go for. I'd go for Spanish, but what am I going to do with that? I want to be with horses, and there aren't any horse colleges out there that are feasible/what I'm looking for.

So I thought about it. . . and came up with something. . . horses aren't exactly 'everyone'. That's not exactly a typical job. So maybe I need a not so typical career path? Maybe my life is different than yours and that's ok. Am I a little worried about it right now? Yeah. But I could always go back. If my goal is to keep learning, I could always go back. But right now, college would do nothing for me besides putting me in debt. Would I meet some cool people? Sure! But am I going to meet cool people in "Parelli-land" as well? Definitely :)

But then, as well, there's this issue called price. . . . And hey, a friend of mine just made me have a BFO. Like "hey you remember that thing called the working student program?!?!?! Um, well you could do that!!!!!" Oh my god, duh! :D

Sorry for all the childishness, but I'm pretty much ecstatic! I forgot all about this program, and it's basically going to save my life! Yay to the future!

But oh, the title! The title to this post is dedicated to my dear old mother for the advice she would always give me when I would bang my head against the table struggling with this. With this in mind, it is only fitting that I end with my response, which is

"Not helpful."

(except it helped)

30 Day Blog Challenge

Yeah, sorry I must have turned into a real LBE because I just find these questions fairly dull. They're not thought-provoking enough for me. I got bored haha. So I wanted to say I renounce this challenge, because yes, I have failed. But that is ok, because it still has gotten me somewhere. I am blogging, aren't I? :)