The Adventures of Mr. And Mrs. Brain

To say the least, the horses and I have had some interesting experiences this week.

For starters, on either Monday or Tuesday Moosey cut himself on his face. So, I haven't been playing with him on line due to the cut being close to where the halter would sit. I probably could play with him if I wanted, but I'd prefer to take the safe route and let it heal for a little while. Because of this, I am trying to play with either Dancer or Bella instead.

Yesterday, I picked Dancer. Suprisingly enough, she actually let me halter her without walking away. Though, she had her ears back the whole time. Since I didn't want to push my luck ( she hasn't let me halter her in FOREVER) once I had the halter on I just let her sit there and think about it. I brushed Moosey while I let her think. He was being extremely LB, which was just my luck, right? The day I can't/won't play with him is the day when he's the most confident. :) How ironic! Anyways, Dancer licked her lips twice so I took the halter off and called it a day.

Today, Moosey was the same: very very LB. He was in an even better mood, though. He was actually interested in me today, and followed me around a little bit. I admit I had a few bad feelings toward that cut, lol. But I decided to leave him and took out Mrs. Bella instead.

Now, here's the plot of the adventure: Bella was RB today!! And I'm positive she was this time. It was really windy out today and on windy days, Bella is usually on adrenaline. At first, I was just behind the barn with the horses, so I didn't know it was so windy. But after I haltered her up and walked over to our little obstacle area, she started staring at somewhere out of the pasture. And staring. And staring. And staring. . . and then I had a lightbulb moment: "Hey, she's not paying any attention to me . . . Omg, she's RB!" And as soon as I realized that her staring and not looking away was RB, I started interrupting the pattern. It went alright, I had to really pump up the volume a few times, but each time she would lick her lips afterwards and stare at me, so I took that as a good sign. (Besides, normally she takes forever to lick her lips. How interesting!) After she seemed reasonably left-brain again, I took her back behind the barn to take her halter off. She FINALLY started releasing adrenaline. It seemed like she must have been really keyed up.

On a considerably random ending note, I can't WAIT for Spring!!

Round-about/How things worked out

So, to conclude my interview I have exciting news. It went well, for starters, but actually I'm not working there. As a matter of fact, I was offered another job at my trainer's facility!! It's similar to an internship, but there is some paid aspects of it. For instance, I'm going to be helping with lessons, especially the younger kids.

But what's cool is that I'm also going to be helping train the training horses. I'm nowhere near qualified to actually train them, but if Vicky (my trainer) has them going pretty well on something, then I am allowed to help out. Also, there is the option of going to a few shows over the summer just to gain experience on that aspect of the horse world. Overall, I am VERY pleased with the way things worked out. The other internship/job would've been nice, but this one's WAY nicer.

For those that know, I'm currently trying to find a saddle to fit Moose, and we've discovered it's not as easy as it could be. He's got HUUUUGE withers, so we might have to buy a gaited saddle for him. Well, I decided I want a Theraflex, because I might as well make things as comfortable as can be for him. He does have sensitive skin, after all, and I'd like riding/saddling to be a positive experience for him.

So, for a little bragging moment here, you won't BELIEVE what I came across! Vicki knows someone who is selling their Western TheraFlex for $150!!!! So, I'm a bit excited there. That's exactly 50% of the asking price new, so I'd say that's a bargain alright. Done deal!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Anyone remember Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story? It seems like such a long time since I watched that movie. Ha, that was even on VHS!! Oh the horror!

But I have exciting news for you. I have an interview for a possible first 'job' this weekend. I might be working at a horse stable!! But it's not technically working, because this is actually an internship!! So, it's not paid, yet I'd be learning lots. I don't know a whole lot of details about it yet, because the ad was pretty general, but I know a few things.

For one, it's not a natural facility, but I'm not going to let that deter me until I see the actual facility and the treatment of the horses. Secondly, the facility is a show barn that shows in the AQHA circuit. They said they have quite a variety of horses there, from beginner-friendly to world champions. Going along with that, I'd get to go to shows! II don't usually go to many shows, because my family doesn't show. Maybe someday, but at the moment we're not NEAR ready, lol. If I get this 'job', then I'm going to gain lots of experience indeed!

My interview is on Sunday at 3, so I'll let you know more details on Monday or Tuesday sometime. Wish me good luck!!

Pictures

I went out and took a few pictures of the horses today, so I thought I'd post a few of them here.

[caption id="attachment_433" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="I <3 this photo!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_434" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Just a pic of Dancer"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_435" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Nothing to do with horses, but my mom took a cute picture of a flower we're growing."][/caption]

I would have a picture of Bella, too, but she wasn't being very photogenic today.

The Day After Yesterday

After rewriting this like 3 times, I finally figured it'd be easier on anyone who reads this if I just started out with some background things going on in the past few days.

For starters,  I've had a horrible time with Moose's draw recently - he'll just stand there and lean on the pressure. Sometimes he'll be great, but other days he'll be awful. It doesn't seem like unconfidence, so I wasn't really sure what to do about it. Then, I thought about make vs. want, and realized he should LOVE to come to me. Well, it's not exactly fixed yet, because it's a new invention of his, so to speak, but in the past 3 days he's came to me 3 times at liberty, so a GREAT start!!

Also, I've been thinking about Bella and Moose's confidence levels a LOT lately. Bella is an attention hound and is very curious about things, so I think she loves to learn and has no issues with people. And I had a sort of light bulb moment when I thought about Moose. I don't think he likes to learn. I am still developing this theory, but I think to him learning is stressful (kind of like how Allure used to be a very unconfident learner, just that Moose is not nearly as extreme). For example, the other day I had plans to play with a saddle we've got laying around here. I brought it up to Moose and let him sniff it. He sniffed it, but immediately after walked away quickly. On the other hand, Bella comes up and just says "OMG!! You have an English saddle! What's that taste like?" So then, I put it on the ground near Moose and walked away. He was really curious about it then. Situations like this one lead me to conclude (Ha, I sound like I'm writing a science paper) that Moose has confidence issues with humans. I will definitely have to lick and chew on that for a while!

Now onto my ACTUAL post. Starting off with yesterday: the day didn't go so well. I was trying to stop Moose  from throwing his head away from me every time I go to halter him. Basically, he had other ideas. And I started getting frustrated and emotional, and eventually just quit. I knew if I kept going things were just going to go even further downhill. Although, Dancer did roll near me, so I can't call the day a complete failure.

Now on to TODAY!!  Objective of the day was to help Moose gain confidence with the tarp. So, I grabbed one and went to work. We ended up playing at liberty, because I never haltered him. It seemed unnecessary, because he was responding alright without it. So, I started out with him sniffing the tarp. Once he sniffed it, I'd walk away. Eventually, he'd lick his lips, so I'd let him think for a little while once he did that. Once he was alright sniffing it, I tried to pet him with it, but there was a threshold about touching him anywhere else but his nose. A saying popped into mind here: "If he's scared of blackbirds, get him used to eagles." So, I wagged the tarp around and retreated until he looked at me. The first time he looked at me was about 20 feet away, at a guess. Well, I continued approaching and retreating, until I was about 6 feet away. Then, he came to me and sniffed the tarp, and blew a few times! Now THAT is a sign for session over!

In comparison of the 2 days, it's interesting how things work out: I can play with the horses for a whole 3 hours some days and have everything go wrong that will. But other days, like today,  I can have 30 minutes, have a GREAT time, and get more done than in that 3 hours. "How interesting!"

And I almost forgot. . . (as if I could forget). . . I got my braces off today!! YAY!! So, after 2.5 years of scrubbing and yanking and grinding and pushing and pulling and all those other things us teens go through to have nice teeth, I finally have them. Can't say they're perfect as of yet, though, because they hurt like the devil at the moment. But in a day or two, I should be pain-free and acting in Orbit gum commercials.

Greetings and Answers

Sorry for not blogging a lot. I'm still outside with the horses about 45 minutes + daily, but there's not much to blog about. So, until things start moving again, updates will still be far and few between. Of course, it would be nice if we actually had decent weather, lol.

Also, I'd like to say Happy Holidays! I am late, yes, but better late than never! Hope everyone had a great end to 2008, and is looking foward to the future.

And I received these answers a while ago, but I kept neglecting to post them.

So, the questions I have for you are: can itching be a form of releasing adrenaline,

Yes. . .and it can be a form of displaced behavior (an expression of emotion).

or is he just suddenly realizing he's itchy because he's now calm? What do you think is going on with the halter: should I buy a new one, or is he just testing my leadership?

Yes. :)  Buy a Parelli halter b/c it is softer and therefore more comfortable when he's with you (not putting tension on it) than the stiff one you have--and it gives more of a release (back to being comfortable) when he quits putting pressure on it.  And, yes, he's testing your leadership. Put another way, he's just being an excellent horse! It's up to you to help him learn to be a partner. And you're going a good job so far. :)

Don't be afraid to go ahead and play with him more once he's on-line. Do as you did here, releasing right when he responds and give that first try. But as you progress the "first try" will be farther down the line, so to speak, so that you're not just boring him with asking for the same thing over and over. Go ahead and play all 7 games.

And lastly, what happened on line: why does he suddenly release adrenaline and what is causing it?  Also, what horsenality do you think he's being on line (and how should I react)?

He sounds RBI/LBI on-line--both, back and forth. The release of adrenaline shows he's been RBI and has changed to left-brained (meaning, he can relax). He releases adrenaline when he feels safe and feels right rather than wrong (comfort). It's a sign you're on the right track. Just wait for him to lick and chew, or at least sigh, blink, etc. Then, go on and do more.

He's "storing" adrenaline (holding tension) b/c being in the hands of a human makes him uncomfortable. Why? because he's a prey animal and you're not, and probably b/c of past experiences. Some horses are made to be introverted. From your description, he may have been. . .and will blossom as you progress with him, giving him fun, challenging things to do as well as opportunities to express his curiosity. You want him to be more extroverted, so do things which help him engage with the world: think, play, explore.

Good luck and let me know how it goes, Erica.

Nita Jo

I am very happy with her response. I didn't know itching was a form of displaced behavior, and that explains a lot, because Dancer itched a lot when she was emotional. BFO!! And I didn't know that horses release adrenaline specifically when they feel safe and comfortable.

Though, I'm getting better at recognizing when Moose goes RBI. He doesn't do it so much on line anymore, which is great! He still has his moments, especially when moving the FH, but with passive persistence all is well.

On other topics, I'm looking forward to the auditions coming out. Only a few more days and the wait is over!! It's very exciting!

Parelli World and Questions

I was searching around for natural horsemanship articles on line, and I happened to notice a link to a site called Parelli World. "Oh. . . What's that?!?" Naturally, I had to click on it. And it turns out that a Parelli Professional called Jerry Williams has a blog! I read one of his articles and I thought it was very interesting. It's called Degrees. So, check it out!

About Moose, I had an interesting session the other day. He has now started head tossing and shaking whenever I try to put his halter on. I've realized that he's either over-confident, or the halter I have is irritating him (it's not a Parelli halter after all, so maybe he feels a difference?). Also, we had another moment where once the halter was on, his horsenality flipped. Actually, I wrote a post a few months ago about one time when Moose had a MAJOR lick and chew moment. My session was quite similar to that, except that this time I was singing the whole time, so I KNOW he wasn't mirroring me. So, I sent a PP an e-mail about a few questions that it brought up.  The real e-mail is a bit long, and here's most of it.

My name is Erica. I own a LBE named Moose and we're working on Level 1.  For the past month (or 2), I have been spending undemanding time with him for at least 45 minutes daily, because whenever I went to halter him, he'd walk away and seemed to be unconfident.


But I have 2 questions regarding Moose's behavior. I put the halter on him yesterday -the first time in maybe a month - and he kept tossing his head and trying to avoid it. Well, the head tossing was left brain, because he was chewing on the halter and blinking and such. It looked to me like he didn't want the halter on. Though, I'll mention that I do not own a Parelli halter, but I have one that is very similar. The only difference is that the material used is not as flexible as Parelli's.

Once the halter is on, Moose becomes very obedient, and just not himself. For one thing, he never itches. And I'm not sure if it's past baggage, or anything, but he just shuts up on line. I'm sure he's not being RBI, because he still looks at things, blinks, his tail is fine, etc. It just seems that he gets in this mode where he's very compliant, but not because he wants to be (and I'm not making him, I tend to be passive).

Well, I was getting a feeling that Moose had the Druthers already (even though we hadn't moved anywhere yet). So, I moved him closer to the others horses (Moose, I, and all his buddies were all in the same pasture at the time). We didn't move very far, maybe 5 or 10 feet (and the horses were close to begin with). Then, I decided to try moving his HQ to see what kind of response I get. He walked off, so I tightened up the rope to get him to move his HQ over. Once he took a step, I immediately released the pressure. And he started releasing TONS of adrenaline! I noticed when he was releasing the adrenaline that he mostly blew and itched his head on his legs. Total, I'd guess it took him 7ish minutes to be completely off adrenaline. Afterwards, he cocked his leg (the first time he's ever done that on line)!!

Then, I went to take the halter off, to reward him for being calm. And as soon as I started taking the halter off, he started throwing his head again. I waited until he stopped throwing his head for a second, and then took it off.

So, the questions I have for you are: can itching be a form of releasing adrenaline, or is he just suddenly realizing he's itchy because he's now calm? What do you think is going on with the halter: should I buy a new one, or is he just testing my leadership? And lastly, what happened on line: why does he suddenly release adrenaline and what is causing it? Also, what horsenality do you think he's being on line (and how should I react)?

Oh, and I was singing this whole time, so anything that happened did not happen because I wasn't breathing.

Thanks for your help,

Erica