The Last Few Days

This is just a quick re-cap since I have to actually get some work done...

Friday was a good-ish day. On the ground. When I went to catch Mo, she was walking to the gate already, which was cool. She walked right up to me...and then kept walking. I walked with her a bit trying to mirror her enough to get her to stop but she took off at a canter and four strides away she methodically bucked in my direction. Nice.

So she cantered away, and I walked after her, playing the catchiing game by staying behind and to the side so she would have to turn to see me. It was pretty funny the way we squiggled across the feild. She didnt go far, just to where another horse and a pony were. She started harassing the horse, and sent her my way enough that I had to protect my space and ended up sending the horse back to her. Mo looked like she was having a ball.

I just stopped and looked at King and made as if to go over and pet him. Mo looked at me like " Oh no, wait, just kidding!" and walked over to me. Haltered like nothing was wrong and off we went. She was super energetic though so I played with her. We played super fast falling leaf and then stick to me - and a first EVER stick to me CANTER. How neat! So Mo and I bolted all across the pasture for a while before finally making it to the gate.

We played on the ground in the ring on a 22' and she was a complete angel. Amazing. I was so excited to see how this would translate to our ride - hoping to get a 'gold' ride compared to the sad stuff we have been slumped in lately. I was to be mistaken. Mo was just crazy.. for Mo, as crazy as she gets anyways. She was SO forwards, so fast, so go-y I couldnt do the carrot stick riding I had planned on practicing at all because every three steps I was bending her to a stop.

Recently Pat talked about a horse earning their reins, so I thought of that and decided to ditch the stick and work towards Mo earning her freestyle rein today. [Side laugh: read a book this weekend that pegged horse reins as reigns.. made me laugh that that got past an editor] So I picked up a not quite concentrated rein and focused on transitions, changes of direction and figure eights. That sort of worked. Enough that I could giver her a full rein. Then I got off.

Mo was all worked up though [seriously, winter coat already] so we walked down the laneway and road and back before letting her graze.

Saturday:

I went to Russell to pick up my now safetied trailer. The farrier was coming on Sunday and Dakota needed to get to Aunty's house to get his feet done. Since he had never seen the trailer before I had no idea how long it was giong to take. I let him out into the back yard to graze while I unloaded the trailer from my garage-y spoils! I got a GIANT Backhoe tire to be filled with sand and covered with plywood to make a pedestal, and six more normal tires, with two large truck tires for bonus. Whoo!

I lost control of the backhoe tire rolling it down the ramp so it rolled a bit and Dakota promplty went "OMG WTF!" And cantered a handy lap of the yard. Bless thy LBI nature because as soon as it stopped moving, so did he and he went back to grazing.

Overall, it took me about forty minutes to load him into a trailer he had never seen before with a ramp. Pretty good for Kota considering he never once freaked out, or did his rear pull back trick. Whoo! I was impressed when he volunteered to put feet on the ramp as I squeezed him between me and the trailer, so that was a plus.

He unloaded great, didnt try to bolt past the butt bar, which I am thrilled about because I wasnt sure he wouldnt try.

I put him out with Mo and Indy and all was well. Success!!

Sunday:

Sunday was farrier day, and that went well as always. Mo even took a nap flat out after she was done. Its become her trademark, the goober.

I left Kota and Mo inside while I played with Indy afterwards because it was kind of a dmmap scummy day. Indy seemed like she was in a good mood while I clipped the 22' on and brought her into the ring. However. *sigh* However, as soon as I asked her to move to inches out of my way she took off at a high headed canter. I tried to wiggle the rope to slow her down, so she changed directions. Ok.... ? When I finally got her stopped I yo-yoed her back and forth until she seemed calm again and then decided we needed serious help with transitions online.

I sent her back out as soft as I could and still got a canter. I will work on that. We proceded to play with w/t/c transitions online until she could do them all fairly reliably AND calmly. When we changed direction to go the other way and practice that way it sort of blew up minorly again and then settled down again.

I forgot to mention that I put the confidence style snaffle on her so that when I ride I will hopefully be able to use the fluid rein technique to help her bring her head down and stretch. So when I tacked her up I wound the reins around her neck and put the hackamore over the bridle. A few more girth tightening things and she seemed calm enough to ride so I mounted.

After a few walking laps doing fluid rein we moved up to her usual ground-eating-ongoing-forever trot. To me it felt like forever before she got that I was asking her to stretch. I am sure it wasnt, but it felt like it, I dont know why. She she did, she didnt stretch her nose to the ground, but she just lowered her head level to her withers, from its usual uppity place when she trots. So that was nice.

We trotted forever and a day playing with that, randomly doing changes of direction across the ring and such. My focus was the stretch, nothing more. She seemed content to trot, so we did.

When I felt that lesson had been done enough we walked out on the trails. Our gate opening skills are getting pretty good to :-) Our walk was uneventful, which was nice, and I let her graze in the yard while I put Dakota back in the feild and then put her out and fetched Mo.

I actually tacked up Mo and set out on foot onthe trails. I wanted to deliberatly do something different to hopefully get off of our bad streak. I found out on Friday via back by the tail that Mo was in heat, so that may be a reason for our butting heads. Not and excuse, but an inkling to why. As we went down the trails I alternated between falling leaf and stick to me until Mo was with me and calm and happy before mounting. This was about halway through the trail.

After mounting we trotted the trails a few times, cantered even, on a casual rein and it was great. I got my good ride. Mostly. On our walk out, walking back to the barn something scared the bejesus out of Mo, and for the first time in her riding career, she bolted. Oh boy....? I remember it like it was in slow motion. I was caught a little off balance, but managed to keep my stirrups AND my seat, for which I was proud. I also remembered to do a one rein stop. I am proud of that to. I was just in a halter and 12' line for reins, if I pulled on two reins, she would have just been able to brace and run to bloody Alaska. So, a one rein stop saved the day. We hadnt run to far so I we walked back to see what was wrong.

Mo was a little jittery so I pushed her sideways on the way to her spooky spot until we got to two trees she was convinced she wouldnt fit between going sideways. When we went through them she sort of jumped through so we played squeeze game with the trees until she was ok. I never found out what scared my unscareable horse.

We both lived through our escapade and made it back to the barn where I untacked her and took her for a walk up the laneway to cool, then let her graze in the yard while I cleaned and filled the water trough.

Interesting few days for sure....
:-)
S

ACK DAYS!

TWENTY SEVEN TO BE EXACT OH MY GOODNESS!!!

I cant believe I am leaving for Florida in 27 days. I feel like there is still so much I need to do! I feel terribly disorganized. I know I need to get a handle on that. It will cut into my horsey time, but I do need to get my self sorted out. I will have six straight weeks of horsey time afterwards... so its ok...

Gone are the months and weeks, down to days. HOLY CRAP! I need to make checklists... lots of them.. otherwise I will forget all of my most important things. I *did* make a start yesterday though, by tying a piece of purple ribbon to most of the things I own in order to identify it as mine while I am at the Centre.

The trailer is saftied, but because of the weight I might need some sort of yearly sticker... dad didnt explain this very well, but he is a mechanic and taking care of it, so its in his hands. I still have to book his flight home and back to Florida, but HE needs to tell me the dates because he might visit a friend. That has been going on all summer.

I am quickly running out of time, but I feel like I am running TOWARDS my fate, in a good way. I will never want to come home once I leave, I'm sure. Who would?!?

:-)
S

Twenty Five Minutes

..was all it took last night. I was late getting to the barn last night because of stops we had to make on the way home from work, but it worked with my plan to stick to ground work only last night. The last few rides our riding connection has been frazzled so I decided to lay off for at least one session, and having less time to play was really helpful in enforcing said choice.

For starters when I went to catch Mo she looked up and started walking to me, and I was just so happy and excited to be there I started running around. Mo got super curious and follwed me, but at a walk and then came up and demanded her hugs... before going "Nanner nanner! YOURE IT!" And taking off for the barn. The priceless part of this whole escapade was that on her first canter stride takeoff, she SLIPPED!! She slipped, nearly fell flat on her face, looked at me with a "You didnt see anything...." and then ran off in an attempt to save face... OMG I laughed so hard.

I havent seen her do anything quite so klutzy [and funny, with dramatic timing] since she had that tantrum in the circling game back in Russell and fell flat on her face, lay there resigned to her ignomity for about thirty seconds and then got back up like nothing happened. My horse is my mirror for sure.... you want to make a point and run or storm off? To be sure, you will be landing on your face!

When I got back to the gate Mo was all proud of herself and haltered no problem. What a goof. Trixie was in our way behind Mo, between the gate and her body, so Mo got good friendly practice while I threw the rope over her back and hit Trixie with it intentionally. When she moved [total LB "Oh.. I guess I should get out of the way of the ropse swinging?"] we went through the gate and right out to the ring, with only a minor pitstop to switch for a 22' find our hula hoop and grab the carrot stick. I also brought out my camera to video to see if I can see whats going on in Miss Mo's head that I miss. Problem is its just my normal digital camera, so focus area is itty bitty. Oh well, better than nothing!

All set up, we played friendly with our snazzy hula hoop, making all the beans go around and make noise while I rubbed Mo with it, putting it over her head, swinging it on my arm, all that fun stuff. Mo was completely unfazed - we have done it all before. Then I threw the hula hoop out behind us and got her to yo-yo her behind into it. She was really slow about it. When she got there we did some porcupine of the front end with the hind legs staying in the loop, and then I brought the hoop up over her hind end and porcupined her sideways towards and hind quarters around with the hula hoop. That was fun, and very neato.

Then, in the Great Mo Squeeze, I brought the hula hoop to her withers, lowered her head [which was sticky, so have to work on that] and brought the hula hoop down over her head, essentially squeezing my entire half draft horse through one normal sized hula hoop. Pretty cool I think!

After playing with moving the hind end while the forequarters stayed still I tried to get the hoop back up over her head but I couldnt figure it out so I led by the front legs instead. With the hula hoop I mean. Cool. When I dropped the hoop again I tried to get all four feet inside it, but got stuck at on front and one hind, so I thought that was a good success anyways. It was both left feet. We did some lead backwards by the hocks with our fun toy AND that translated into lead back by the tail!! How cool! Mo was a total star with porcupine!

After that Mo and I played with some circling changes of direction, which she was super enthusiastic about, even tried to drive ME once - only once though because I drove her hard on that one. We went over to our barrels and did some trot and canter figure eights until Mo got it - that was neat. You could see the lightbulb moment when she went "OH! We arent just flying around, theres a PATTERN here!" It was cool - although watching the video I feel like I didnt draw back enough. So I will experiment more with that.

After figure eights, we did a few more circles and changes - I think we even got a flying change of direction on one and then as our grand finale, I HELD MO'S TONGUE WITHOUT PROTEST!!!! You cant see it to super well on the video, which is unfortunate, because I am SO proud of it, but I DID IT! And Mo just sort of stood there wondering why one earth I wanted her tongue.

Mo got to graze in the backyard after while I reviewed our video. I will post it here once I get it ready. Im pretty proud of it, even though most of it is pretty slow stuff.

Twenty five minutes was all it took.

:-)
S

Bareback Balance

I worked on my balance bareback with Mo yesterday. Interestingly enough, it was Indy who met me at the gate though. That was a nice treat so I just gave her a hug and some scratches and left her on her way. Mo was in the shed so I went over to say hi. She looked happy and walked over to me. After I haltered her I did a few little porcupine games including asking her to 'park out' like a hackney to lower her back for my less than profiecient bareback mounting attempts. I didnt actually get all the way on today, just swung up and managed to hook my leg on her hip. Thank you Mo for just standing there gawking at me.

When I brought her over to a post for me to stand on she siddled right up to me, so I took that as a good sign. When I sat down she walked off. Ugh. I should have gotten off right then, becuase that is a Mo telltale bad sign, but I didnt, I just thought.. I dont know what. So we walked off and Mo was either super impulsive or super trying to get back to the barn. Joy. Bareback on her when she is impulsive and all over the place is not a confidence inspiring thing so I got off [ finally] and went into a big focus debate with her.

She was thinking all towards the barn to I said let me help you, think about the barn, and back in that direction as fast as you can. Her speedy backing really has no sense of direction [we are working on that generally, when focused more] so she went wiggley and got turned around and headed over to the barrels I have in the feild. At the barrels I turned our game into a fast squeeze over, back and forth, back and forth, until she *finally* checked in with me and went "What?! Why am I so energetic??" When she could think I changed the game to circle over the barrels, which was actually pretty successful.

When we were both happy I remounted and we went after Legend who was patrolling the frog population near the road. Mo locked her target on him and when he started racing back to the barn I had to remind her to listen to me, not just follow blindly. We started some trotting circles around the telephone pole for balance and maintain gait, that went well. Both directions. Then what seemed like forever later we played with transitions within gait, fast trot slow trot, which was surprisingly good. I was surprised anyways.

Finally I asked for a canter and got a lovely slow collected UPHILL canter, which I stopped after half a circle before it could degrade [and Im PROUD of that] So we continued our pattern of half circles then trot and then canter transitions. Even some sideways trotting, which was really neat. Our cicles eventually moved from the semi weedy telephone pole area to a flat grassy spot near there. We proceded with more canter transitions and stopping until we changed directions and I realized I wasnt getting my right lead.

I tried a zillion and one different things from all the new things I have seen to try and help her, even a few things from 'normal' books once or twice just to see. In the end, of course, [srsly it makes me ache inside that this is what worked.. ache from laughing I mean] what worked was the very first thing I should have tried. You know in the old Level 2 when Pat asks for canter leads, he sticks on hand out and one hand back? Yeah, that. THAT is what helped Mo get it right. I tapped her bum on the outside to get her to think back there at the trot and then when I asked for a canter, she counter bent her body [ to the outside] in a gigantic effort[it was really REALLY weird] and launched herself into the right lead canter. Hmmm. Ok. I let her canter out to the telephone pole before stopping her.

We got it three times before I called it quits. When we got to the barn I let Mo go in the backyard to graze, a treat for her efforts...

So another weird ride. Interesting and prodictive for sure, but weird. I think Mo has spring fever, except its fall...?

:-)
S

Power

Today she and I fought. This morning and this evening. She ruined my mood, she ruined my ride, and I let her.

I hate her just a little for that. That she has the ability to get under my skin and force my mood to sway. No longer. I refuse to give that power to anyone. My temperment will be my own. It is mercurial enough without the aid of others.

Just before going to the barn harsh words followed me out the front door. My mood plummeted and all I wanted was solace in my horse. Mo's day, it was today. We would have fun, she and I, flying unfettered through the pastures.

As I walked out to catch her I forcibly set my mood aside. I had to, Mo can scent a bad mood a mile away and unerringly goes the opposite direction. I thought I had myself in check. I thought I was alright. I was pleased that I could set aside such trivialities and be in the moment for my horse. She caught me, I caught her and I just hugged her, she smelled faintly of week old show sheen.

On the way back to the barn we played some little games like falling leaf and stick to me. No matter how fast I run, Mo can trot faster. I need a new tactic to garner the canter. In the barn I tied, brushed and tacked her. Back out to the pasture we went, armed with a camera to hopefully take some film of the two of us playing.

Online went well, I think. Mo was light with lots of draw. It wasnt long before I mounted and, inspired by our online connectivity, I took off the halter. A boarder came out then, to catch her horse. Mo saw her and checked out. Foolishly I thought I would be able to garner her attention back. I was wrong. After two attempted take offs to the barn I got off. I put her halter back on. I fashioned our 22' line into a hackamore. My forcibly put aside negativity and pain was returning. Of all the days I could have used a flawless amazing ride, this was one of them.

Remounted, I directed Mo onto a circle. On said circle she defined the laneway side as terror for no reason I could discern so I ignored her obious cues and pushed her, into a figure eight patterns, varying with just circles at a trot and canter. Our canter maintaining gait was miserable so I added more energy via lead portion of the hackamore. That helped, fixed it compeltely actually, but I used it for the wrong reason.

I was getting frustrated again, and in my head I knew it was all because of her. I knew I shouldnt let her intrude on my session with Mo this way. I knew Mo didnt understand my shortness or being abrupt. I must say though, that compared to times gone past, I was very much in control of myself. A very large statment for the growth of my emotional fitness I believe.

Finally I gave up on staying in the tiny area dictated by the video camera's perch on a barrel. I let Mo go basically where she pleased and asked her for speed. We galloped around the pasture three times before she asked me a question, she was that uptight. Because of me, and me because of her. When we finally walked out, and went back into the barn, there was lather beside the girth. More anger at myself. It wasnt lather from exertion. It was from emotional unease. Unease I caused. Kudos to Mo for controlling herself fairly well though, in her past we would have be galloping bucking uncontrollably around the pasture. She is more inclined to stop these days, when I ask.

I untacked her rather hurridly and then walked her up the laneway. This is the part that kills me... the part that was nearly my undoing. The whole time I was walking her, Mo kept loking at me every four steps or so... just a swing of the head, glance over, plain as day, asking me "Are you ok?" It was then that I realized what had happend, how I had once again allowed outside folly to influence my time with her, it was then that the tears tried to make an appearance. Then, as now, I pushed them away, marking them for weakness.

On the return trip to the barn Indy stood in the shelter, head straining over the fence, looking for us, for me, concern writ on her face as well. They may have no voice we can understnad, but that doesnt mean they lack wits. Both my girls knew of my internal turmoil, and both struggled to help me.

I fed Indy some treats when she met me at the gate, hugged her nose, but then had to ask her to move to protect my herd of two with Mo. Mo stayed at the gate for a bit, obviously trying to console me. Ive never felt such an outpouring of support from any person as I have felt from those two horses this afternoon. All without words. It was beautiful.

On the drive home and the subsequent drive to class this evening I contemplated my situation. She cannot be allowed this effect on me any longer. It has been going on for nigh on two years. I can not emotionally handle the jagged lows she creats that accompany my personal highs. Not any more. It is highly unlikely that her confrontations will cease, but I have made the descision to refrain from allowing them to affect me this deeply. It is unfair to Mo, Dakota and Indy, who have to deal with me on these occasions. It is unfair to myself to try to handle this trauma alone, in my own head.

Once the choice was made I felt like a weight was lifted from me. I have made this 'choice' before, but always kept a peice of the woe for myself. For whatever masochistic sad reasons my heart had for hanging onto to that tiny sliver of pain, it is gone now. Whatever happens, it will just happen and I will move on. I do not need to cry Woe is Me any longer. Effort will be made to focus on the delight not the distress. It is done. She will have no power over me any longer. I am free

Who is she? She is my mother.

Sunday, Sunday

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Not so much in the sense of weather - it was humid and threatening rain, although gracefully breezy - but in the sense of what events came to pass.

Saturday during the day my aunt had told me "If its not raining tomorrow, come over and make me ride!" So Sunday morning when I woke up and things were drying off from the night time downpour, I was quite enthused. I walked into their kitchen and proudly announced "Its muggy, its cloudy, its breezy, and we are going riding!" Turned out all four of us would be mounted this day!

When I went to fetch Indy the funniest thing happened. All of the horses except Mo were down by the lower fenceline, bordering Candy's paddock. Mo was off near the road on the barn side. I had to wade through ponies in order to achieve my goal [Indy] because I have been going out for undemanding time with treats in my pockets so now all of the horses are my best friends. I shared a few treats before starting to protect my herd of two and haltered Indy quietly and calmly.... until behind me I hear thunder. No, not thunder. Mo.

I turned around to see what was going on and I see Mo galloping hell bent in our direction looking right at me. She gallops by and I laugh at her and call her name so she trots over with this "You have the wrong horse haltered" look. It was priceless. She hasnt figured out she will be stuck with me for six weeks straight yet....

I gave her some crunches from my pocket while Indy stands back indifferent, and Mo just looks at me with bright eyes. Aww... I hugged her and loved on her a bit, but I really really wanted to take Indy out so I eventually [softly] asked Mo to move. You would think I shunned her for leprosy or something at the way she took off galloping away. My whole [considerable] walk back to the barn was followed by an entourage consisting of the entire herd, with one dorky Mo galloping circles around us with her tail and head up like an Arab, and then trotting for all her Hackney blood is worth. Jesus. What a goober. A gorgeous goober, but a goober none the less. It was hysterical.

My aunt and Chelsea were standing at the fence post when we got closer and asked me what was up with Mo. I had to answer jealousy, because that was completely what it looked like! It was like Mo had super sonic hearing/eyesight and as SOON as I tied that knot on Indys halter she thundered over.

Before I brought Indy into the barn I called Mo's name again and she came to get more hugs, so I am glad she wasnt offended enough to not want her hugs. After I brought Indy back I brought Mo some treats at the gate to, which she came over willingly for, so that was good. An offended Mo is never a good thing, it behooves one to stay in her good graces.

*Pan back to Indy* I spent some time gussying up Indy and saddled her in the stall mostly just because I was trapped and had to kill time. When I could get out, we did and went to play on the ground in the ring. We played with our figure eights with barrels, and I found out that blocking zone one with the carrot stick works better to slow her down than using the rope, so neato!

Indy offered me some really nice sideways steps as well as relatively fast backwards at phase one. She also offered some BEAUTIFUL vertical flexion out on the circle at a trot, stretching into the saddle and new shim positions again. So that was nice. I switched to my hackamore and felt spoiled because the mounting block was out. I sent Indy over to investigate it and she was so cute. She went over to it, sniffed it, and just stood there resting her nose on it until I came over.

When I climbed up onto the block she actually positioned herself for me to! How sweet! Once mounted we set off at a walk [very energetic] and worked on our follow the rail at a walk and trot, with lots of back up transitions - which are getting better! We didnt canter A) because it was to wet and B) because I have decided she needs more balance before we up our speed.

It was a really nice feeling though when she was responsive off of my leg. Both in speed and in turning. It wasnt long ago that I had neither. What a treat. Our general group plan had been a mini trail ride for our outing. So ring stuff was basically just a warm up. A good one though. I have to be more concious of transtions in the trot though. I get so caught up in her wonderful flowy giant stride that I forget to ask for transitions.

Chelsea opened the gate for us as we headed out down the trail. Chelsea and Tripp were in the lead, with Colleen and Candy second, then Indy and me and Aunty and Tucker. We trotted most of the trail, I had to make sure to give them a head start so Indy's super trot wouldnt just over take Candy's pony trot in two strides. It worked out well.

When we decided the galloping trail was to moist for action we walked up the laneway - some where Indy has never been ridden before. I trusted her with a casual rein, and my trust was returned tenfold - she was a STAR! Indy was perfect! Tripp spooked once right in front of us because Legend was rustling in the bushes and she responded perfectly when I did a one rein stop, stopping and relaxing completely. She had only tensed a little when Tripp jumped, but still, I was very proud!

We wandered up the laneway, wending our way slowly until we hit the road. At the road we decided to make a left and ride out the width of the pasture. A good first road ride for Indy - and Tucker for that matter. Indy looked a bit crosswise at the mailboxes, and one of those electric kid cars someone had in their laneway, but I never pushed her and just let her do her own thing. It was perfect. Indy was perfect. We rode the whole time on a completely casial rein, relaxed, happy and interested! I was SO PROUD!

When we got back to the barn and untacked we brought the horses to graze in the backyard. Chels actually got a leg up onto Tripp, so I got an idea and brought Indy over to get personal with Mr. Trampoline. That went super well and I was able to mount her from the crinkly trampoline! How cool! I was pretty proud of the to - especially since the siddling up/sidepass towards thing Mo does isnt something I have taught Indy yet. So YEY Indy!

When I finally let her go out the back gate, she stayed and waited for me to run and get her another handful of crunch. She even kept her happy look when I ran back directly towards her!

What a spectacular horse... she is so clever! I will have to make sure to play with Mo a few sessions in a row now though to aleviate any residual jealousy *giggles*

:-)
S

Just Incredible...

Perhaps I should named Indy Incredible instead of Individuality. Perhaps...

Last night was just flat out amazing. Just phenomenol. I couldnt stop smiling at her and calling her wonderful clever and beatiful. Like every good diva, Indy preens at the compliments [or I just imagine she does..]

Fun things started when I went out into the pasture to secure me a pony.... they were all on the far side of the feild, completely ignoring me. I filled my pockets once more with crunches and started my trek out. Pleasantly surprising was the fact that Clarisse, the six million year old pony, walked RIGHT up to me! She and King had been hanging out at the "Spot" where all the horses stand in the high summer to swish each others flies. She walked straight up to me, ears up, super happy and was all "Hi!! How are you? Whats going on!" She looked so happy and sweet and I felt privilaged that she chose to come say hi that I gave her some crunches and a hug before continuing on my way.

Here now, is something that REALLY surprised me! I was maybe one hundred feet from where the herd was congregated - even Mo. One hundred feet away, I whistled and called Indy - she looked up but didnt move - but CRYSTAL, [yes, seriously, the horse that isnt even mine!] Crystal looked up, saw me, went OH BOY and walked enthusiastically ALL THE WAY OVER TO ME! Holy cow, I was just floored. What a doll. I gave her lots of scratches and crunches for that - at least until Mo got jealous and came trotting over to see what the fuss was about. What a goober. Mo got hugs and crunches to before I went over to Indy. Talk about starting off with a nice high!

Indy was with her new bff Tucker and didnt really want to leave him but when I was close enough they both came forwards. More crunches. Indy surprised me a LOT when I went to halter her. I even took extra stock notes in my head when it happened because I wanted to emphasize the importance of it! Indy TURNED HER HEAD towards me - over and down, just like we have been playing with - and offered to be haltered, no questions asked! WOW!! That is HUGE for her!! HUGE I tell you!!

So after much gushing and loving I asked for a driving in zone three ish game on the way back to the barn. It took her a little while to get up her confidence to step out in front of me but she did! We went over and jumped the tree a few times, played falling leaf a tad and some beginning stick to me. Her energy and play were coming up nicely! Interesting to note that Indy's dominance comes up in equal doses as her play drive comes out... will have to be careful with that - had to remind her not to pin her ears at me twice.

In the barn after being beautified we went out to the ring. I put the saddle on the rail and grabbed a 22' line. On our walk into the barn we had a walk and a very slow lagging trot so we played with send means SEND to the point where I pointed and she took off at a canter - BUT [my goodnes this is a BIG day for Indy] - SHE NEVER HIT THE END OF THE LINE!!! She used to pull and lean on the line relentlessly, but not yesterday! Not even when she tore off like a lunatic! WHOOHOO!!! I was soo ecstatic!

We played with figure eights to - Indy got it really quickly to! Got some really nice soft sideways by accident... which was fun. I was in zone four asking for forwards but I guess I asked wrong because I got super delightful sideways... *insert more gushing over Indy here*

About now I saddled up, it went really well! Indy is starting to be more animatedly interested in the process, licking and chewing, and wanting to investigate the tack. Wonderful! I actually rearranged my shims last night to. After Mo's indefinable session, I decided to try a new shim pattern. Seems I am on the mark for Indy at least because while trotting around for girth tightening stretching down and arching her neck.... So there I am spinning on my circle when I am supposed to be standing still, mouth gaping open, drooling over how she looks.... WOW... does even cover it... I will definately have to try to get pictures of this. These little flashes of what she *could* be, what she will be, are just incredible.

So after picking up my jaw from the ground, I finally mount up [from the ground, yey me!] I started out with a carrot stick, and found that I am slowly getting actually direction control with my legs! WHOOO!!! I cant even express my joy at that. After YEARS of riding side dead lesson/camp horses - even Kota sometimes, it is such a pleasure to ride a sensitive horse. Not that I would qualify Indy as sensitive yet, but she is on the road! Mo on the other hand... I have to work on that since she is getting *too* sensitive. I need to define more what means turn the corner vs sideways etc... She tries so hard and is so light though, so its all good.

Indy and I did some walk trot and trot halt transitions while playing follow the rail in both directions. She is really good at that. I ended up ditching the carrot stick because my darling had her giant stride on today and I wanted to be able to grab mane should I lose my balance - eventually I will stretch my balancing talents to doing all sorts of things while she trots, but for now I am pleased just to keep my seat and stay out of her way so her confidence stays intact!

I really got to test how our yeilding to leg was going without the stick - and to see how she responded if I talked with rein. I found that she is a little like Mo, and will stick her nose where the rein goes [if I use it] but may or may not always follow with the body. Interesting. Moving off the leg was pretty good considering three rides ago I had NOTHING. She also has a little bit of the Mo thing where if I ask to turn a corner she checks if I mean faster first... oh extroverts!

After a whole honking bunch of transitions and follow the rail I got bored [*coughextrovertcough*] and so we went to the gate to head for the trails. Another moment of Indy-genius. She REMEMBERS how we need to move to open the gate. As soon as I focused on it and thought 'I need to move over to reach it' poof, there she was, softly moving sideways so I could grab the gate - we got through the whole gate opening process without a single hitch. WOW!! I love my horse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we set off, at a lovely sedate walk on a casual rein. We moved up to a lovely sedate trot [a DREAM to sit] and then Indy sort of went "OH BOY! The TRAIL!" And went power trotting... I kid you not. I felt like a total slob posting to her trot because I was working so hard to find the right rhythm! Her stride when she does that is ENORMOUS. I finally found some vague sense of harmony and it just felt like flying. A minor hitch occured at the top of the hill where we can see the river. A cleverly places heron took off at just the wrong time and Indy went "OHNO"... and forze. Boy it was bizzare. She froze, to the spot, rigid, tense, *thinking* about running. Hmm.... I wondered what on earth I should do and opted for lateral flexion. Well as soon as I touched the rein she snapped out of her fuge and sort of spun to run home, but because I was already bending her we didnt go anywhere but in a circle. Whoo for right choices in that 50/50 draw!

She braces, and looked paniced for a short while, and then, miraculously, released to the pressure and sighed! I gave her a few crunches for extra distraction and we set off at that ground eating trot again. A few times she broke to a canter, but I just brought her back to the trot and left her alone on a casual rein. It was sooooo hard for me to do that. My head was literally screaming at me to slow her down. But it was just my lack of confidence. I went through the same thing with Mo's speedwalking. This is just how Indy trots!! She was calm, cool, and fully present, looking around, not spooking, nothing. It was all me - just because her stride is big and I am not used to it. So in a monumental feat of internal strength I grabbed mane with the hand on the reins so I wouldnt pull subconciously and just focused on finding my harmony with her. I am quite proud of that.

We went up the hill at the end of the trail, and down the galloping trail a bit at a walk before it pushed a threshold, so we turned around and walked - a fast, flowy free walk - all the way back down the trails at to the barn. When I dismounted at the barn Indy turned her head and looked at me like "That was fun!" and that is exactly how I want her to feel!! I let her graze for a while after unsaddling. She was super soft yeilding her head when I eventually let her go.

I am sooooooooooooooo beyond proud of Indy. She is fabulous, and has so much potential!

:-)
S

Good/Bad/Interesting

Given the title of this entry you should have some idea that I have no idea what to think of last nights session with Mo. I really dont. A few things were off kilter - I forgot my ipod and I had a time limit - that I think affected me in some way.

When I got to the barn all of the horses were in the shed hiding from bugs. Those blasted little tiny blackflies that never went away all summer. Walking to the barn I called Mo's name and she looked over at me ears forward, good sign! I filled my pockets once more before going out. I forgot to grab a halter.

Indy was at the very edge of the shed so that when I went through the gate I could see her bum. I called her name and much to my surprise she turned around and came over to me! Hmm!! I gave her some treats and checked that her milk wasnt causing problems and was confronted with Tucker, who was watching the whole procedure with intense curiosity. Tucker is usually kind of a reculse to me, doesnt like to be scratched on his face at all. I offered him a chance to sniff me and gave him a crunch. He looked pleased at that so I went back to loving on Indy a bit more before going to find Mo. On the way I met Pride again, who looked thrilled that I had another treat for her.

Past Pride was Delilah, who actually half pinned her ears in my direction! When she did, I stopped and then she sort of did a double take and went "Wait.. what?" And looked at me ears up so I gave her a treat to. Interesting. Behind her was Trixie and Mo, with Tripp in between the two. As soon as I ducked under Delilah's neck, Tripp turned around and made to leave. Trixie and Mo on the other hand looked really happy!! I spent some time with those two while Tripp left - which made me sad but it really is not my business.

I got Trixie to move eventually, along with Delilah's bum so Mo and I could leave and off we went. We hit a minor hitch when Indy blocked our way at the end and Mo left when I went to move Indy - jealousy I think . The second time I brought Mo forwards we got to the gate no problem and I let her into the barn. She went down the aisle and into Prides stall.

When I got the gate latched Indy was there looking sad, wanting dinner so I got her some more crunches. When I fetched Mo out of the stall she was looking very pleased with herself. I brushed and saddled her in the aisle and then we were on our way with a 22' line. We played in the riding ring because the bugs are less vicious there.

I wanted to play with the figure 8 pattern, but needed to retrieve a barrel from the re-flooded portion of the ring. I backed Mo out of the way [so the rope wouldnt get wet, I admit] and proceded in my retrieval pattern.... until Mo went beserk and ran like an insane horse around me. Thankfully, my hand was phase 4 pattern interrupting before my mind conciously acknowledged what had happened. [Interesting to note that I think - one small bit of unconcious competence]

Mo looked very 'up' so I sent her around behind me and backed her a bunch until she remained reasonably attentive then went back to moving my barrel. She moved again, but not insanely, to over in front of my, so instead I just asked her to back away from the barrel as I rolled it. Strange pony.

We played with the figure eight pretty nicely at a trot, with even a few offers to fix her own mistakes when she was going to miss the barrel. That was cool.

When she was ready I mounted up with a 12' tied in one rein and a carrot stick. Riding around at a walk was fine, we chased Candy out of the ring, even getting some back and sideways nicely in our pseudo bridless fashion. At the trot things sort of fell apart. Im not really sure why. I think maybe her confidence just wasnt there so I decided to 'hold her hand'. That worked really well for Dakota last time I had him at Auntys and we got some really great stuff accomplished.

I tied my 12' into reins and ditched my carrot stick. Mo's head was up, so to get a soft feel my reins ended up quite short, which was a semi-novel experience. Off we went into trot/halt transitions and doing a figure eight exagerated and huge around one of the barrels we used earlier and the lonely barrel in the far end of the ring. Mo was really soft in the halter. I was actually surprised. 'Usually' she likes to push against me when I take up any kind of contact on the halter.

Our transitions were good, and she was blowing and calming down so I asked for a canter. Oh boy... scattered! It was rished, it was fast, it felt discombobulated. Oh my! Hmmm... why? I sitll dont know. So I tried to work on canter walk transitions with some full downward all the way to backing thrown in for good measure. Things got better with that. Our canter departs got fairly snappy. I think I wasnt helping to much because I was fighting to stay on my balance point in the Wintec Wide which seemed to be riding really low on her today.... I will have to experiment with more shims in different places or something.

So we went around, with a soft feel and short reins. Things werent great, but niether was I having to phase 4 disengage to stop her. It was all softly done. I remember thinking this is what it should be, and what Pat means when he says softer..softer.. go softly in all those colt starts. Just because Mo's freestyle is getting good, doesnt mean her baby finesse will be. Or does it?

I find I need to relax. Whether it was the saddle or not, I had a lot of tension in my body last night. I had a hard time following her body, a small ache in my back and I generally felt stiff. If I felt like that, how did Mo feel?? I am going to try some different shimming techniques and see if that helps...

When things were mostly ok in the ring I decided to practice my canter fluidity on the trails because of the long straight stretches. I also remember thinking that it *might* be a mistake. Hmm... I cant decide if it was or not. It certainly wasnt what I wanted to do. Mo was tight, concerned that every clump of grass was going to kill her, and only calmed down on the last bit of the ride back to the barn. Suffice to say, my fluidity didnt improve at all.

Even right when I dismounted I couldnt decide how to feel. I dont know how to feel about the session. I am proud that she was soft and responsive, but there was tension and unhappyness about it.... I just dont know.... so we will see where it goes from here.

I am thinking more and more about a Fluidity Saddle for Mo and me - and Indy and Kota to. I am just tired of struggling to find balance in the Wide, and I am not sure the other saddle fits Mo right... let the saving begin I suppose.

:-)
S

New Best Friends

I completely forgot to post what I did on Tuesday so here it is, two days late, but here none the less.

Tuesday I wasnt feeling so great so I just filled up my pockets with treats and went out to see who wanted to do what. If anything at all.

Everyone was sort of out in the middle of the pasture so I made my way over there, just causually, not in any great hurry. Indy was the first horse I encountered, which was well and good because I needed to check her out and make sure her milk wasnt clumping and things. She was very pleased to recieve treats, not so much to have me fiddling with her full bag. She was really good about it though.

Interestingly, while I was taking care of Indy, Mo, from her place off to the right away [and further] from us, started walking AWAY from us. HONESTLY! I sort of *headdesk*'ed at that moment, wondering why on earth Mo would be walking away from me now of all times. I hadnt even so much as glanced her way yet!! She wandered over to the left where the other horses were and stopped.

When I finished with Indy, who looked sad as I took my treat filled pockets with me, I started to vaguely make my way over to where Mo almost was. I stopped at Trixie to say hi because Mo was giving me shifty looks. When I started to talk to Trixie Mo walked away.,.. again. This time over to Crystal, who she hates, so I dont know whats up with that. King was just beyond both Mo and Crystal so I sort of said "Mo and Crystal dont exist.. HI KING!" in my head. Interestingly, as I was passing them, heading to King [who hadnt yet realized my pockets were full] Mo sort of swung around to look at me and went "HEY! I didnt see you there! How is it going? Nice day huh?" And started walking with me.

I gave her a little treat and loved on her some. We walked in a curvy line and she followed me. Until I stopped. Mo kept walking. She walked like she had a great purpose in mind. It was pretty funny. So off Mo walked, while I dallied with King and Crystal, who both tackled me for treats - albeit politely. When I turned to check Mo's progress, I saw that both her and Indy were heading for the barn. Hmmm....

When I started after them Crystal came with me. Trixie then came up behind us so I stopped and waited and she opted to sniff me so I rubbed her. She licked and chewed at that. Interesting. When I turned to walk away, I hear this commotion behind me and then Trixie shoots by me in an all out gallop to the barn. Ok....

So now, all standing in the immediate vicinity of the gate are Mo, Indy, Trixie, Crystal and King. All looking at me. Indy is standing by the gate, looking at me and then meaningfully at the gate. Mo is at the old fence posts looking at me quite smugly like "See? I know the game plan! You come out.. we go in the barn" King was trying to harrass Mo with his little tiny pinned ears.. Mo just gave him one sort of "Seriously?" look and ignored him. Crystal and Trixie were both looking my way with fascinated expressions...

When I got closer Mo came over for more hugs. Which I obliged and then Trixie inched over slowly to, like she wasnt sure I wouldnt chase her away - which is justifiable, because usually I will. When she got closer I offered her my hand to sniff, which she did, and then proceded to scratch her while making sure not to offend Mo by scratching her with my other hand. One horse on either side, both arms in use, with just enough body blocking going on that Trixie didnt get to close to Mo to make a *squealkick* happen with me in the middle. Interesting!

And so it came to pass that I eventually waded through all the horses, to the gate, but not before Pride made an appearance from being in the shed and got her own treat. I dare say she looked very pleased.

I finally waded through them all, through the gate - after dislodging Mo, who had her head under the chain trying to get in the barn. I think they were all surprised when I just walked away.

Interesting thing happened when I backed Mo out of her gate conundrum - Indy was right there so when Mo turned to leave, she walked about two horse lengths away and just lifted her back leg like she was going to kick Indy! She couldnt have connected from where she was, but she was doing it anyways; completely left brain, slow and deliberate. When I saw her doing it I called her name sternly and she put her foot down. After a few seconds she picked it up again so I called her again and she put it down and walked away. Hmmmm

Very interesting experience...

:-)
S

Houdini has LEFT the Building!

Ivy went home last night! Yey!!

At home I had grabbed Mo and put her on the trailer so Ivy would have company - and hopefully a calming effect - and then went out to my aunts to fetch her. Mo was amazing, a total trooper, just standing there waiting on the trailer!

Ivy loaded really well. I didnt rush her, just sort of asked her to investigate and she curious'ed her own self onto it. Indy was grazing in the bakcyard while all this was going on, she didnt care at all. Once in the trailer before we started moving Ivy had a little mini panic attack, but it was more of a WHERES MOM than claustrophobia, so it was to be expected.

For about one and a half kilometers of the drive Ivy was prancing around but then she settled down and stood super quietly. Of course in my head I am thinking "OMG... shes being QUIET... is she dead?!?" But when I pulled into her new home [my neighbours house] she looked at me all bright and clever when I opened the door. Quite pleased with herself I think.

She unloaded like a total pro, while Mo stod and was an angel! We let her go in her new paddock and she fancied around with her extended Freisian trot, showing off to us while we watched. She made nice with her new family - Tia and Crockett - and prowled her perimeter.

Everything went great when we let them out together, until they cornered her - not even really crowding, just a little close - and she got concerned and squeaked through the electric fence. The fence has a three second delay so we think she didnt get shocked. Luckily, Ivy is super people oriented and was a breeze to catch. We just put them all back together and shooed them into the bigger pasture.

My pasture borders theirs, so of course Kota was doing his own personal brand of fireworks, running and bucking and carrying on, trying to see who the newcomer was. So pretty....ermm.. handsome?

When everything settled down I took Mo back to Aunty's because her girth sores have healed so I can ride in a saddle again... my home time Liberty really sort of flopped... I feel to restricted at home.. not enough space .... I want to play at liberty in my round pen and then go play out in a thirty acre feild! I love having so much room at Auntys. It really is ideal - theres a riding ring, a small pasture, a BIG pasture, trails and access to tons of giant hayfields just at the end of the laneway! Talk about PERFECT! Mo likes being there to I think, and going on adventures with me.

So now Ivy is gone, Indy is pleased and Mo is back in at Auntys. Very productive evening overall!

:-)
S

Random Things

This weekend was the Russell Fair and as usual it was spectacular in all its mildly boring glory. Fair Factor went amazingly, went out with a bang, since as far as I know this is the last year my dad is doing it.

The only cool thing I really wanted to note was that on the Sunday Cutting Competition, there was a guy who competed Bridless! I thought that was rather amazing in Russell, the cowboy un-natural town. So I was proud of that. I have no clue if he won or anything, I only saw half of his ride on my errands for Fair factor, but what I saw was brilliant - even the announcer commented favourably.

SO! Coolenss of natural horsemanship permeating the impermeable town fair!

:-)
S

Indys Second Trail Ride

On Wednesday I played with Indy again and it went really well. She is getting softer in response to the carrot stick and leg when we ride, and she is trying even hardr to read my body language on the ground.

After playing a bit with transitions in the ring we went out on the trail again. We did two circuits this time instead of one. She got a bit worried on the way back for circuit two, but as soon as I gave her something to do she calmed right down until we got back to the barn.

I learned an important lesson about not pushing Indy. On the way back down the long stretch I tried to pick up the reins and do trot/walk transitions and then canter/trot transitions. WELL! trot walk was peachy, but canter/trot we are NOT ready for on a concentrated rein! Indy let me know by rounding out like she was going to buck and sliding to a halt. Oops. My bad. To much pressure. *notes to self*

Other than that tiny incident she was an angel so I cant complain. Everything went really really well, on a totally casual/dropped rein. I see lots more carrot stick riding in our future...

On a side note, here is an awesome video! Someday I will be this good....
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4g86s_plage-naiade-17022008_animals

:-)
S

PS: Off to my hometown Fair this weekend, so no posts!
PPS: Ivy goes home on Monday!!!!!

Mo's Five Minutes of Awesome

Hahha.. in my excitement about Indy I forgot to gush about Mo. I love Mo. Seriously, so much its ridiculous. Last night when I got home from seeing Indy, I went out to feed Kota and of course Mo looks put out that she doesnt get [or need] any. The neighbours were making noise with some machinery and I wanted to see what, and I needed to distract Mo.

So the obvious course of action is take Mo over to see.... but I dont want to walk six acres away, so I should definately hop on Mo and go over to see whats going on. Except I didnt bring out so much as a savvy string. Hmm. Didnt stop me or even slow me down. As per previous post, I only thought about it later, and realized what I'd done and squeed about it then. At the time I just brought Mo over to the tree, sidewaysed her over to it and hopped on.

Yep. Hopped on. Mo. Bareback. Bridleless. Totally as if it were an everyday occurance. WHOA. If you had asked me two years ago if bb/bl would ever be common place in my life I would have said only in my dreams. Funny how that works isnt it?

Mo and I took a nice little walk/trot jaunt around the pasture - turns out neighbours were getting hay and it was their hay elevator making all the noise - cool, since I have never actually seen one in action.

We made our way around the pasture a little bit, waiting for Kota to finish eating. Some little figure eights and circles - a tap on the neck for Mo is she forgot to turn. How cool...

To get off I sidepassed her back to the tree and got down onto the tree... pretty nifty if I do say so myself. GO MO!!! Lots of hugs for Mo.

I am just beyond thrilled with how my horses are progressing. Sometimes that perspective just clicks into place and I go WOW look where we are now compared to where we were. I am so PROUD of all of their growth!

:-)
S

Indy's Trail Ride!

Before I get into our awesomely awesome session last night I want to share an interesting observation I came up with while mulling over said session before going to bed. I do that a lot. I get my best thinking done right before I fall asleep. Just like Pat says - do your feeling during the day and your thinking at night!

I was thinking last night about how.... soft.... Indy is. What amounts to a phase four for her on the rein to turn or do lateral flexion is only a phase three for Mo. I thought about this for a good while trying to figure it out, because when it happened yesterday I had to conciously FORCE myself to relax, slow down, and be light [what GOOD training for ME!]

It comes down to this. I think. Inside Indy's head plays refined elevator music. Elegant, fancy, delicate, soft. When she asks a question or makes an observation [such as on the trail] it comes out like "Oh My! What an interesting foliage formation!". Very classy, very educated. That is just how she is. In order to be 'heard' by her, it takes very little, because her internal volume is already on low - thats why I have to be so slow and light. If I give her enough of a chance, she will do everything on phase one and two - with the added bonus of not getting offended!

When compared to my darling Mo, the difference is plain. Inside Mo's head plays something along the lines of the ramjam noise on christmas morning the Grinch is always complaining about. A hundred different do-dads makings sounds in an incoherent mess. When Mo makes an observation is comes out like "OH WOW!!! OMG that is SO NEAT!! What else is there?? Whats over there?? COOL TREE!" Very energetic, verbose and enthusiastic. In order to be heard by Mo sometimes, it comes out as more of a "HELLO Im here!" and she mentally turns on her heel and goes" OH really?? I didnt see you there!" Which is part of why having her attention and keeping it is so crucial - and that while I do have it, the things we can do are crazy insane, just because of that enthusiasm and willingness to try anything.

Polar opposites, and I love the, both. I havent figured out Dakota yet.

So last night!

Last night was just FABULOUS beyond all reasoning. Indy caught me - walked herself to the gate. Haltering is getting so much better! We went into the barn SANS Ivy, which was just spectacular, and got tidied up. I just so cant resist brushing Indy. Dont know why. I didnt braid her this time. I saddled her with Dakota's Wintec Wide, just to see, since I finally remembered my short girth. Seems to fit her really well! I am hoping it will encourage her to use her back and reform all the topline she lost when Ivy sagged her belly down to her knees.

Saddled up and ready to go, I grabbed my 22' and carrot stick and we were off into the riding ring. Candy is such a non-event. Stands in the corner ignoring us. Ivy was making a few small noises, but Indy definately didnt care at all. Whoo! Point for me! We played around with Touch This and softeness with change of direction/falling leaf and not pulling on the line.

Sideways is still hard for her, but she tries so hard! So we get a couple of quality steps and change it up again. Lots of dwell time though. Lots of softness, waiting and dwelling - and you know what? TONS of licking and chewing! TONS! *yey!* *does happy dance*

When I mounted up today there was no drift. NONE! YES! She stood like a rock, and was adorable while I fidgeted with the mecate, tying it to my saddle. When we finally moved off, we set off at breakneck speed.... walking... She ambled off so we dabbled a bit. I asked her to turn with my leg and that almost went over but she changed her mind and ignored me until I put the carrot stick into play.

We went around playing follow the rail at a walk, walking the FULL rail including behind the shed [which scattered Candy each time and made me giggle] After two rounds Indy stopped trying to stop at the gate, which was great. We turned and went the other way - making it almost all the way around on body/leg!- and picked up a trot. It was that trot again. Her stride was even bigger though! I think she was experimenting in the bigger saddle. It was a dream to ride. She broke to the canter a few times hurrying, but I hardly picked up the rein before she came back down to a trot.

We played around both directions follow the rail, walk trot and canter, turning, circling barrels and all the fun stuff until I couldnt take any more of the itty bitty black flies. NOW things got interesting. Base point is I am lazy and Indy is a big horse. Mounting/dismounting/remounting is sort of a chore. So when I decided I wanted to take my big brave amigo out on the trails with only a gate in my way, instead of jumping off and going through the gate and clambering back up, I siddled Indy up to the gate, and in an Indy-First-Ever, we NAVIGATED THE GATE!

We havent done any sideways undersaddle at all yet, so I had to hint a bit with my carrot stick, but overall, it went REALLY well! Indy and I opened AND closed a gate!! Talk about feeling successfull!

As we walked across the back yard, the trampoline looked like a shady character so we approach/ retreated with it until that was sorted, then headed out on to the trail. I let Indy take little bites of the long grass when she wanted, just pleased to even be out here without a major freakout! When we got past the Stealth Trees we picked up a trot and then Indy kept looking around, trying to see around corners, it was so cute. She was so happy!

Her ears were up, her expression was bright, her head was up, but not RB up, just looking around AND [big very happy AND] I was on a completely casual rein! YEY INDY! We did walk trot transitions on the long stretch because she got a little tense, and that settled her right back down. We trotted up the hill and turned around to come back down. She almost wanted to go back to the barn, but decided I might have fun ideas to. It was actually that exact moment that brought me to my softness train of thought.

We walked down the hill no problem and then picked up the trot... and then... the canter! No problems, no spooks, no issues, casual rein, cantering down the trail on my pony! When we got to the curve we slowed back to a walk and walked back to the barn to untack. I didnt want to push it the first day on the trails afterall. Good notes are... well... GOOD!

I cant even express the high I was on. AM on. Indy was just amazing. She surprises me more and more everytime I play with her. WHAT A GOOD HORSE! I let her graze happily in the back yard after untacking her. She was pretty pleased with that. Even when I put her back out she was stellar. She even waited at the gate for me, to bring her a handfull of crunch since I forgot to grab some going down the aisle, when usually she turns tail and walks right off. What a girl.... I love my horse!

And thats the story of Indy's first ever trail ride. ! :-)

:-)
S

Awesome Indy

Sunday afternoon was just as, if not more, spectacular than Sunday morning. Dakota was amazing, but I know what he can do. Indy still surprises me at every turn. When I caught Indy and brought her in, she stood tied no problem while I went back to fetch annoying Ivy. I tied Ivy further away this time for practice and didnt worry about her at all. The occaisional pebble thrown her way alleviated the pawing thing.

Indy is just honestly the prettyest horse I have ever met. She STILL makes me stop and go wow. I have had/known her for a year and still. Kota and Mo do it to me to, but in different ways. Dakota in spring full golden is just plain gorgeous - but not like Indy, he is more in the magnificent category, noble and strong. Mo is only pretty to me I think. Just because I love her so much. Indy though... is just stunning. And thus, everytime I play with her I feel obligated to help her look her best. I brushed her to a high shine, show sheened her mane and tail and then braided her mane in a nice running braid - oestentiabbly to help keep her cool, since her mane is so long, but really she just looks so pretty all fancied up!

When I came back with the saddle I had to wait EXTRA long before she looked at me. All the way from the tack room door - and she was near the end of the aisle. It was really interesting! When she finally did acknowledge that I was bringing that thing her way again, but that I had waited for her to accept it, she was really happy, so I know it was the right thing to do.

Once she was saddled I changed to a 22' and brought Ivy and a piece of baler twine. I tied Ivy to a sturdy post with the baler twine and proceded to squeeze Indy to and from her. *Usually* Ivy is totally ok with Indy leaving her, as long as she can see her. Ivy acted up a little, but nothing major so I felt ok to walk away. We stayed still close, so that WHEN the little stinker did act up I was close enough to be able to drop Indy and rescue her. *sigh* It happened twice before I just gave up and threw her in the big feild away from us in the ring.

Apparently Baby is ready for weaning, as she was perfectly content to stand in the shed with all the other horses, not worried at all about her mom. Indy was even happier to be rid of the suckling spawn. I am three months to late as far as she is concerned! I was really proud though of Indy for not fretting. I definately think having someone in leadership position helped her.

We played with getting our transitions snappy, and then stopping and putting her nose on the barrel. When she got that she was super excited! Looked at me like "Did you see?? I put my NOSE on it!" Shes so cute. I forget sometimes that shes Mo's age, she 'seems' much older sometimes. Motherhood did that to her. I hate that. I hope now she can rediscover her inner youth. Her eyes just light up with such happiness when she figures stuff out. SUCH a clever horse! So we carreened around, putting our nose on things and taking off in a good working trot instead of the shuffle she sometimes tries to pass off as a trot.

When she was ready, and the girth was tightened I hopped aboard in an almost nimble fahsion, mostly just proud I CAN get on from the ground since the stirrup is waaay up there. Indy walked off a bit, so we will have to work on that. It was the only thing so far she had done to draw towards Ivy, so I couldnt really fault her. I had a hackamore on her, and my carrot stick in my hand. Goal is still to move off of my leg, so minimal reins!

We played with walk follow the rail which was SUPER hard for Indy at first! A million "back at the rail please"s she caught on and walked happily on the rail. Every other lap or so I let her go behind the shed and stop so she could see Ivy through the fence. She licked and chewed each time, so I guess it was good! Helps her know I wont push her to far I guess :-)

When we picked up the trot it was that trot I dream about... the trot that I couldnt post to save my life when I got her. Mo has done WONDERS for my adaptability. I must admit, I was very spoiled by Mr Comfypants Dakota. He is so smooth and slow and comfortable, trying to get in sync with Mo is STILL problematic sometimes. BUT now my muscle memory has in stock all the bazillion different speeds Miss Mo comes up with so now when Indy picks up her gorgeous trot, I can trot WITH her! Yey!

Before I go further I have to reitterate just HOW comfy Indy is to ride. O.M.G. SO smooth, and flowy and just..... drool worthy. You feel like you are just floating around. It is beyond wonderful. I love it. So much!

So anyway...
We trotted around, and then one circuit she seemed to just have extra go to get back to Ivy, so I took advantage, set us up for success, sat back and sent a tad more energy her way and VOILA WE CANTERED!!!!!!!!!!!! For the whole second time in my Indy-career, I cantered her! And this time for more than three strides! [More uber ultra comfyness, just btw]

We cantered all the way down the long side of the ring and stopped [no problem] behind the shed so she could see Ivy. She was licking up a storm! Smart cookie that Indy, for the rest of the session when I asked for a canter it was right there, no questions asked, no fault no fowl, just poof, canter. WOW!

Now Indy is an extrovert, and so a long horse, so eventually all these straight lines got to be a little much and her impulsion got higher as she tried to canter more when I asked for a trot. How interesting! To 'counteract', as it were, the over impulsion, I changed to a concentrated rein [for accuracy] switched my stick down to a more 'crop' position, just so it was out of the way, and went into a million transitions. Trot to walk to back up. Until she was completely with me again.

AND! BONUS! By the end of the session, after doing transitions around barrels in circles, she was STARTING TO MOVE OFF MY LEG!!! WHOOO!!! We will have lightness yet!!!

When doing the transitions I made sure I tried the suspension rein, because Indy likes to dump forwards on the downwards transtitions, this really just helped her pick her self up and come to a stop instead of clunking to a stop.

Walking out went super great to, we went around corners on mostly leg, only some stick to block zone one from veering around in a complete circle. VERY cool!

I am so so so so PROUD of Indy! She was AMAZING! And it looks like Ivy dearest will be departing soon [yey!] so I can get even more quality time with my favorite paint. I am so excited to be able to help Indy develop into the super horse I know she can be!!

:-)
S

Back in Action!

Sunday morning I got up and attem because I was supposed to be veiwing my new dvd's with a friend. She called to cancel ten minutes after I got up. Doh! Back injuries suck rather hardcore. I was left with the entire day to myself, with nothing but sunshine and good tunes to accompany me!

Playing with Mo at home has made me feel a little guilty for not playing with Dakota so I grabbed his halter and some apple snacks and went to visit him. He came when I called. What a doll. I love my big yellow horse. He is just the best. When I haltered him he was pretty happy... until I asked him to MOVE now please! Oh boy oh boy sloppy transitions!! We went over to the pedestal for kicks and of course he walked right on [Mr Chicken is very proud to have ''beaten' the pedestal] and eventually over to the round pen to work on our GO means go button.

Surprisingly, given the choice, Dakota WAS walking around the outside rail of the pen. Unlike Mo who kept cutting inside to avoid the effort [dear gods.. not EFFORT!] of stepping over or jumping the cavelleti. Dakota just stepped over them [he is bigger than Mo] and actually stopped at the killer tarp covered one and enthusiastically sniffed and played with it! I was so proud of him!! Usually things like that are a huge no-go without tons of approach and retreat! Maybe some time alone has sort of made him be more self confident?

We played around, circling over the jumps at different speeds, canter was really hard to pick up [lazy] but I got a nice extendo trot, which was cool. I did get a little canter, but it was litterally little. Itty bitty strides, which looks super cute/funny on this giant horse.

Eventually I couldnt resist the itch to ride so I haltered him again and brought him over to the tree to mount. I always forget how big he actually is.. right up until I have to get on. From the log, that I would say is maybe 1 1/2 - 2 feet high, I still have to swing up a la bareback to get on. Joys of short people with tall horses.

I played with some freestyle with Kota, reminding him about listening to me and things, since he was sort of of the mind to go off on his own tangents. We met Mo, who squeeled and jumped from foot to foot [really funny, think small child having a tantrum] for no reason whatsoever. Because of his RBI-ness sometimes freestyle isnt his best suit. Perfect example being the last time he was at Auntys house - RBI to the max but we accomplished some absolutely FABULOUS finesse stuff because he wanted me to hold his hand - ie, take contact on the reins. It was so soft and flowy, but all on a concentrated rein, very cool.

Today was freestyle day though. We did some little point to points between trees. Then just weaving around them and figure eighting. Just basically follow my focus. By the end he was being really light off of my leg, which was super nice. And he was listening and paying attention.

We stopped to talk to the neighbours to, during which time he fell asleep lol.

Gotta Love Kota. He is just fabulous.

:-)
S

Finding Fluidity....

Saturday dawned bright and shiny. Or at least I am sure dawn was fairly pretty, as I was asleep at the time. Personally didnt crawl out of bed until ten thirty or something. Even that late Cairo was sprawled ignomiously across the bed, enjoying his sleep. I love that cat.... sleep as much as I want and he's like "Hey cool.. SLEEP!" Not like Jones - aka the Demon Spawn, who got up at six and ran around "Are you up yet?...how bout now...*poke* Now?" *headdeskrepeat* So glad Davey Jones is a happy barn cat now.

Anyways! Saturday-day was a non event. Weddinged with mom, played the ever faithful photographers assstant, carrying things to and fro, holding flowers, picking up trains, etc.... was a short one at least - and there was NO first corintians!!! YAYAY! Srlsy, C, if/when you get married, if you put the First Corinthians speech [you know, the love is patient, love is kind BS] in your cermony, I will smack you upside the head. Instead there was a reading about marrying your best friend, which was the nicest thing I have heard at the forty some odd weddings I have been to!

So boringness aside, when we got home it was late-ish - 7 I think - so I didnt know what to do. I knew I wanted to play, but more than that I knew I wanted to work on ME. The evidence is in the pictures, two posts down - knees gripping and coming up making my seat unstable! OH NOES! Bless Mo forever more, she allowed me to just walk over, play some very minimal games and hop on bareback [..fourth try this time] My fluidity issue with her is at the trot. That sounds wrong, like its her fault somehow, but its all me, and I know it, so now you know it!

We set of at a trot, and of course Mo is Miss Energy going "OH BOY! Whats that over there? Oh AND THAT!" And so on. In addition to mastering [attempting] fluidity, my independant seat got a work out to boot. [Wii Fit says my balance is decent, so that was a surprise, I thought I was waaay off.... I credit Mo entirely with her wiggleyness for making me be balanced just to survive!]

I rode with just a halter and one rein and did a basica passenger lesson, messing with different things in my body, trying to move in harmony with her trot. I focused on keeping my weight back, but stretching my legs DOWN. There is an SC DVD somewhere with that on it... Yvonne and her balance point... I should find and watch that. Around and Around the pasture we went on our snaky trail. Mo played the extrovert being long and wanting to speed up - I had to remind her we were trotting a few times, but nothing major.

I found that if I have my hands in front of me, even if they arent on the reins, I have better balance, so I practiced with them up by my chest and back leaning on Mo's bum and everywhere else. I was really concious of MOVING my lower back and shoulders, because I think I tend to "get in the position' to ride, and then stay there trying not to move, even if it is subconcious because I sure dont do it on purpose!

Finally I felt something resembling fluidness and going in harmony. I wasnt bouncing like a maniac and my bum wasnt catching air at every stride [total plus!] and Mo was starting to stretch down and blow out [whoo!] So since I had things working fairly well at the trot I decided to move things up into a canter. WELL NOW! Mo thought it would be SUPER FUN to gallop around instead. Hang onto your hats ladies and gents because apparently when Mo wants to go Mo can GO!!!

I have to admit I sort of played daredevil teenager and just hung on for the wild ride for a bit before asking her back to a more respectable canter. It wasnt dangerous or out of control, just FAST, which for me, equals FUN. Plus it was SMOOTH. At the canter I found an interesting dilemma. When I stayed sitting where I was at the trot I ended up 'waxing the saddle' as it were, even though there was no saddle. For any one who has done that bareback, its not comfy... going the wrong way against the hair, so I knew something was wrong. I proceded to repeat my trotty exercises with substantialy faster success. The canter isnt really that hard with Mo, especially when she is willing to keep going forwards. I just thought it was interesting that where it worked for the trot, it was wrong for the canter. It makes sense of course because of the weight shift from 50/50 to 40/60, it was just fun to put it into practical experience.

Mo was being pretty go-y so I started doing some big canter circles using my focus. That was pretty cool. I had to support zone one a bit with my rein, but all the other zones followed my focus and the feel off of my legs - which was a weird experience, with her nose going the opposite way of the rest of her! We did that both ways for quite a while until she settled down into a nice easy cadenced canter. It was pretty much dark by now so we walked out then.

Pretty interesting stuff! Apparently I have been using a saddle to much and need to brush up on my bareback on more than just comfy Kota!

:-)
S