Silly Liberty

The other day, it was warmish out, and when I went out to feed the ponies their dinner, I got distracted by Mo and Zephyr. I had some cookies in my pockets, which I was sharing, until I decided to run away from the congealing group of ponies.

Mo and Zephyr both took off after me! Mo went over the three log jumps with me, and Zephyr just galavanted by. Mo got cookies, and I ran away again, and both of them came after me again! Zephyr was running all out up to me, and so when she passed me, I would turn and go the other way. She would slide to a stop on the slippy grass, hope her front end over, in a kind of half rear bounce thing, and then give a little hoppy buck straight up in the air, as if to say 'harrumph, no slipping for me!' and canter after me again!

Mo was more clever, sticking close to me, knowing where the cookies came from! She trotted and cantered with me, offered some really nice close circles too! We played some tag and catch me and then circles, with Mo close to me, and Zephyr out on the bigger circle - though still connected! It was really cool to be able to have that PLAY with them, and TOGETHER! It was the neatest feeling.

I really havent even 'done liberty' per say, with Zephyr, but she had amazing AMAZING canter/gallop draw to me, and then when we circled, she stayed on the pattern - it was a bigger pattern, probably somewhere between a 15-20' circle, but shes young, its hard to do close, little circles, AND she is exuberant and excitable, so I am pretty ok with those feet further away from accidentally kicking me :)

This is a tiny video of just the tail end of the draw, I was to busy enjoying myself to think of taking a video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRFAmM7lRvs

We had so much fun, running and cavorting around :D

:)
S

Nick Names

I wonder if everyone has so many nick names for all of their animals? I was thinking about it today, as I was running through Zephyr's multitude of names... its a little embarassing how many she has [and still responds to!!! ]

Zephyr - Phyr- Phyr, Ze-FUR, Fur- Burglar, Zeph, Ze-fur-fur

Indy - Stinky [to be fair, last summer when she lived in Russell by the river, she really WAS stinky, and it just stuck] Spotty pony, Stinky horse, Spotty face

Gambler - Gambleroni, Roni, Roni-horse [a more modest list, havent known him as long ]

Mo - really, I just call her Mo.... once in a while, Baby Mo, or Mo-y or My Mo. But nothing really un-Mo-like... weird huh?

Even Jax has a trillion names.... His name is AJAX but I call him Jax, Jaxie, Goober... fluffy dog, smelly dog... the list goes on!!

Just my musings while I was out with my frozen brain :)

:)
S

Over-Confident Children

Soemtimes, there are those kids that you see out and about - no fear, no hesitation, you know, the ones who walk up to everyone and ask for their life story. Apparently that was me as a child.

Yesterday I watched Zephyr prove to me exactly how LEFT BRAIN and CONFIDENT she truly is. I laughed at her the whole time. Such a goober.

I was playing with Gambler in the small field, we were minding our own business, having a VERY extroverted day, when all of a sudden I hear a big crash in the pasture woods. Sounds like some trees fell or were beign pushed over or something. Its hunting season, so in my head, its hunters chasing deer through my feild. Yea, this doesnt really happen, but hey, my imagination, my rules!

So, hunters coming at my ponies in my pasture. Right. All ponies are ears up, eyes on the corner, trying to see whats going to happen. Then Zephyr walks over to the noise. At first, just a few steps. Then, as the crashy crashy noise continues [though smaller] she eventually TROTS in the direction of scary. All the other horses are on high alert, and Zephyr is chasing down the noise to investigate... really??

It was too funny!!! I could see Indy getting concerned that one of HER herd was going towards what she percieved as DANGER AND DOOM, and she eventually actually called to Zephyr, who ignored the plea to return to 'safety' and trotted on. Ridiculous.

The creators of the crash noise eventually worked their way out of the woods, and it turned out to be none other than one Browncow, and one Blackcow. Guh. They must have been wandering in the back and gotten stuck somewhere in the woods. The cows are less than brilliant. When Zephyr realised it was the cows, oh man did she power up! She went right over there and started chasing the little fat things around! Really funny!! Mo helped :D It was adorable.

Such is my story of my confident child. When in doubt, run towards what should scare you. Right. Thanks Zephyr.

:)
S

*Extra* Extra Thought...

Apparently I am full of thoughts today. I am failing at my plan of "Do your thinking at night" ssshh... dont tell Pat...

Late this afternoon, as I was cleaning up my days worth of stuff strewn around my pasture, just as I was picking up the last thing - my long sleeve shirt, that was ABANDONED in favor of my TSHIRT because it was crazy wonderfully warm today [almost November, folks.. in Canada] Mo walks over to me. I am just walking by the logs, since thats where my shirt was and Mo purposefully comes over, says hi and basically [I swear, it was plain english] tells me she wants to go graze on the lawn.

It was ridiculous how clear this intention was. Now, I am not really one of those people who is believing in telepathy to animals to much... but sometimes I wonder... I figure, the connection we have after nine years has got to be worth something. So anyways, I hop up on the tree, Mo comes over to pick me up and off we go, out the gate and onto the lawn, bareback and bridle/halter free. Not even a savvy string. Just me and my pony.

So there we were, soaking up the setting sunshine and I just thought to myself " Holy crap. This is my life. My horsemanship. WOW" And I got really happy and excited. For no reason at all. Sometimes, out of the blue, it just hits my how cool my horse is, and how proud of her I am. I had a whole bunch of great rides today, even Zephyr wowed me when I ponied her out on Indy, and she just stuck with us like glue, never pulled on the rope once, even when we accidentally did some halt/walk/canter transitions. She was just a superstar.

The things that drive me to be better within Parelli are really those 'freestyle-y' things... the fact that my horse decided to come pick me up off a log and wanted to graze is amazing enough, but then we had to navigate a gate, AND cross perfectly good grass in the shade, because I wanted to sit in the sun. And we did. Just like that. My horse is amazing. Mo is amazing. I love Mo so much!

Sure, I might not be able to go out here and throw out one tempi changes[yet], but hey, I can get on my horse sans tack and feel pretty darn safe and have effective communication most of the time.  Gambler even had a few moments today, where I could feel the bridleless coming in the future. I love it. Its all about connection. And trust. You have to trust that they will be there for you when you have no backup, and know what the plan is if they arent I guess!

Either way, I just had a huge moment of LIFE IS COOL and thought I would share. Also, Mo is perfect. I love her beyond. I love her so much, it doesnt even matter how much the vet bill was from when she was sick [I choked a little when I opened it though... sometimes I wish vets had a menu like at restaurants, just so you know what you are getting into... its not like I would have NOT done any of the things I did, just knowing before would be nice, you know?]


:)
S

Random Extra Thought

As I came in for lunch, on this GORGEOUS 20 degree t-shirt wearing day, I was pondering over something D said to me last night. Its kind of rare that he offers any insight into my crazyness, but once in a while he makes me think.

As we were making supper, I was regaling him with all my awesomeness of the day. Yesterday was a good weather day too, and I got five horses played with/ridden [except Zephyr, because shes a baby, obviously] and over and over it was just "and they were SO GOOD!" And its true, everyone HAS been really good lately. To the point of surprising me, good.

So there I am trying to figure out if its a full moon or whatever, and D just says "Do you ever think that maybe its not that the horses are good, but that you are getting better and making them good?" Hmm. Well, no. My mom is always on me for not giving myself any credit, and she is right, I dont. But I dont want to be conceited either. Balance?

Lately though, my attitude has been really good. I have been positive, I have been having fun. I have just been enjoying every extra minute I can grab while the nice weather lasts. The Pete/Jerry Clinic and the Fawn clinic before that really gave me TONS of motivation to be a better me, for the world, but mostly for the ponies. Attitude is so very important in everything we do. Even if I still was with the horses every day, but I had the attitude of I HAVE TO DO THIS or its WORK, then I wouldnt be acocmplishing what I am now I think. Lets be honest though, I have a hard time qualifying 'horsey' as work... I love my job[s]!!!!!

All the break throughs with Gambler, and Indy, and the super easy first rides with Zephyr and now Duchess too [shes not mine though] Maybe it is me. Maybe I am harnessing my attitude better and now the ponies just want to give me everything because they can, since my attitude isnt in the way. Who knows... all I know is that they are all being amazing superstars, and I love it!!!!

ALSO- Mo felt amazing this morning and she ran over to me and begged to play so I took her for a ride in the new smart pad and she LOVES it!! AND SO DOES GAMBLER! Best ride on him EVER! SO amazing! I thought at one point he was going to buck in the canter before I realised he was just stretching over his back... crazy! POWERFULL that boy is, indeed.

Such is my random extra thought. Maybe I am taking this skill to another level and getting better :) I sure hope so!

:D
S

Since Then...

Well now, I seemed to have dropped the ball in posting [again].. mostly because the weather has somehow, wonderfully, amazingly, turned gorgeous again. Its warm, its sunny and is Indian Summer, for which I am eternally grateful. I was definately not ready for winter in September!

Since the clinic, life has been busy! Filled with ponies and lessons and life. October has been a delight, to say the least. After a ridiculously rainy September, the first bit of October was rainy too, but mostly sunnier. Or at least just over cast. The weather cooperated long enough for us to take our second cut of hay off the fields, so that was nice too. I feel very lucky that we can get our own hay. Yes, its a lot of work, but with hay prices sky high from the drought, it makes life a little more bearable with four ponies to feed through the winter! I never thought I would be doing hay wearing my carhart jacket though! The first bit we did was a fairly chilly day [and Im a wuss about cold anyways] so we were fairly bundled up! I usually picture doing hay in 47 degrees and everyone melting and sweating... even our first cut was lucky, before the super heat wave set in. It was just high twenties instead of high thirties! Hopefully we get just as lucky next year :)

So the hay is in, the ponies will be fed this winter on minimal budget and life is good. Mo is on again/off again feeling better. She had a really good couple of weeks, during which time I started playing online with her again and she was full of rambunctious energy. I was trying to start slow with her, and not push her to hard, but she was all "LETS CANTER EVERYWHERE" and super playful. It was really cute. Our cantering sideways has completely formed into existence as a communication now, instead of just me accidentally throwing to much energy at her during trotting sideways. Too cool! She looks so fancy when she does it to, very collected.

The last few days she seemed iffy again. I dont know if its because I am cutting her supplements down [Im supposed to] or what... but since we backed down to every other day, and a smaller amount she seems to slow down again. Not to sure whats up with her. Im going to play around with it some more before calling the vet out again. Poor Mo :( I wish she could just tell me whats wrong so I could fix it! Also, I just want my super partner back! We had one ride back, a week ago when she was all super amped, and it was amazing. She just reads my mind. I love it. Especially stuff like gate opening. She makes it so easy. I think it, and shes there. I love Mo.

In Roni news, he is a superstar. I had a little break with Gambler when Mo was sick and there were two clinics back to back in the area that I attended. He didnt take well to that. His RBI part of him came back out and we almost started over. I felt so bad :( We had been making so much progress and he had been getting so much more confident and into his true LBE self. Luckily, it didnt take very long to build his confidence back up. Once I realized what happened [thanks to Avery! Gotta love that 7th key... SUPPORT!] I was able to slow way down and get the positive expression and confidence back, and we have been making leaps and bounds ever since.

Online we have been playing with four poles on the ground at 3/6/9/12 oclock as a test to see how mentally present Gambler is. A lot of times, he can move his feet and look connected without actually thinking about whats going on. These poles are a SUPER tell, because if he is disconnected he will knock the poles around. If he clears them all, he is mentally connected and ready to move on to other fun stuff. We have been playing lots with figure eights too, and transitions on the circle, and obstacels on the circle - I have a line of three logs in a row, and I make it his responsibility to seek the line.

Under saddle things have been getting better and better. Lots of transitions, lots of question box, point to points, and yesterday we started the cloverleaf, with a canter transition when we came down the centre line. We have also been playing with gate opening, since that is one of those super handy skills that just naturally teaches a horse a lot of different things, and Gambler is getting really pro at that. It started out really messy, but after lots of practice on just the round pen gate, we are getting pretty slick with the pasture gate so we can go out and play in the fresh cut hayfield.

Yesterday, my SMART PAD finally came :D Of course, it was after I rode Gambler already, so I just *had* to try it on Indy! I tried it with a shoulder shim, and she seemed to like it. I like how simple the pad is. Its pretty too :) I also tried it on Chance, a horse I ride for a friend, and she did amazing in it. She is one who hated the theraflex, so I had been using just a normal pad with another folded pad to shim the front [she is really downhill] She was WAY more willing to maintain the canter and make transitions and read my body with the smartpad. Very cool. I cant wait to try it with Gambler - he is another one who didnt like the sticky theraflex, so hopefully he will rock out even more in this one!

Zephyr is growing like a weed, which is awesome. I did the old 'string test' on her the other day, and she has at least another 4-5inches to grow! We had a great play yesterday. She is so much fun :D

:)
S

Leadership and Personal Development Clinic with Dancin Pete and Jerry Williams!

Wow. It was amazing. Thats all.


....


Just kidding.

It all started on Tuesday last week [well, really, it all started months and months ago, planning, but I wont bore you with that] Tuesday, Kara and I met up at Costco to buy the food for the lunches, and headed to Little Creek Ranch to set everything up for Wednesday - Clinic check in AND Demo/Community night! Whoo !

Wedensday morning came, and I loaded up my demo partner - who was Indy, because Mo is still recuperating and from the Anemia thing. Poor Mo :( Lucky for me, Indy was mostly really clean, and we took off for Russell, to pick up the lovely Tristan, for Roxy, and then head over to Ashton, to the Ranch. We arrived in good time, its about an hours drive from Roxy's barn to the facility.

Noon, day one, two ponies unloaded and vehicles ready out of the way for escape later in the evening. Indy hung out in a pasture, making eyes at Beaux [one of the horses who lives at the facility] and Tristan was happy in his pen. Off to work for Roxy and I! Setting up, getting organized, helping people unload and taking paperwork!

It was a great reuinion for the local Parelli Community. We really should have more things like this. It was just so so so nice to see everyone, to catch up, and just for all of us to get together! So, fast forward a little, and most everyone had arrived, and it was time to meet before the evening started, to lay out the demo. We had four instructors on hand with horses, to represent our area, plus Pete acting as MC, and Jerry watching the whole endeavour.

I was able to bring Indy into the arena before the actual demo, which was good because OH BOY there was some right brain hanging out with us!! She tried really hard, and did really well with the warm up, still tight, but trying so hard to connect. I hoped that once we sat 100 people, we would maintain some of that! The plan for the demo was to go in Savvy Team style, and have a couple of songs for all of us to play to, and then have Ron do a spotlight with his two fabulous horses.

The evening started at 6, but the demo wasnt until 7:30, so we had lots of warmup time. Indy was pretty much buzzing with all the energy from the people, but she was far more connected to me than I thought she would be, so that was really great. We went into the outdoor arena attached to the indoor to warm up, while we waited for our turn. It was pretty obvious that Jeanette and I had the extroverts of the team. While we were out moving our ponies feet, Ron and Judy had their ponies hanging out, standing still, too funny. Indy would have stood if I asked [whoo!] but it would have be a tight kind of going-RBI standstill, so we opted for moving.

Finally it was our turn to head into the arena! OH BOY! Indy and I headed in second, behind Judy and her lovely boy, Dreamer. Indy took one look around and got super squirrley tight. Interestingly though, it wasnt head up tight. It was head down-looky tight. Humph. Dont know that Ive seen her do that before. It was interesting. So we walked slowly to the other end of the arena, doing little stick to me transitions, and then we ended up at some cones and did a little figure eight. It started really exagerated, with me moving a lot, then refined to me moving less as she tried to connect more. And then there was a ball.

The big green ball was more or less in her way, and about the fourth time around she just wanted to stop and check it out, so I allowed it. Turns out Indy like to eat green balls. Too funny! She stopped, she sniffed it, kind of bopped it around with her nose, and then decided it looked yummy and tried to take a big BITE out of the thing! What a goober.

We played with a little push the ball, go to the pedestal, jump the barrels, stop halfway over, go to the tarp, back on the trailer and then our time was supposed to be over, but Jeanette just got on Toby, so we were granted another song [I think it turned into three] so I decided to mount up too. I had my halter and 12' line on, so I just went one rein style. I was in the pedestal-free zone of the arena though, so I had to pretend I was athletic and mount from the ground. Thank you middle sized pony!

We did some follow the rail, transitions, bullseye around the pedestal, get up four feet on the pedestal, and then Ron played circling game around us which was cool. Then our time was up for real, and we all left the play area, and Indy survived her first demo! GO SPOTTY PONY!!

I quickly took her back to her pen, stuffed her full of cookies and untacked so I could head back and watch Ron's spotlight, which was amazing. He had Rambler bridleless and Buck at liberty together riding around. Thats the kind of stuff I see in my future with Zephyr and Mo.

And so the evening came to a close, everyone parted ways and headed home. Our community night was a huge success, and a perfect kick off to what would be a great week full of learning!!

Thursday morning started early, and it was COLD! Roxy and I carpooled to the clinic location from my house to be there for 7:30. I started on sorting out lunch, since that was my task, and had the best help ever from Karen and Donna and Paul. Thank goodness for volunteers! They were the best for the whole clinic! Between all of us that first day, somehow people got fed. They pretty much took over after that. For which I am grateful! 

The clinic itself started at 9am. We had a full house in the classroom, with 12 participants with horses, ten auditors and four local instructors!
This is a quote from the very start of the clinic - it pretty much set the tone [to amazing!] for the whole weekend!

Pete Rodda on the learning process- "The harder things are the better the opportunity to learn. True learning happens when you make mistakes, so embrace your mistakes! Be confident in your choices. Leadership requires quick and decisive decisions. And if you make a mistake, embrace it and know you have just become a better leader!"

We started a pattern of getting excited about our mistakes. We applauded, we WHOOHOO'ed, cheered, anything. Just made mistakes a positive experience, something to learn from and not feel badly about. Sure put a different feel in the air. How cool would it be if schools did that? Instead of feel terrible about your F, you get excited about how much more you can learn? Food for thought.

Jerry started us with a talk about visualiztion, and characteristics of a Leader.

• Leaders have the ability to visualize the future
• Leaders have the ability to communicate that vision to others
• Leaders have the ability to motivate others to participate in that vision

How interesting is that? How true. For example: Kara had a vision of this whole clinic. She knew what she wanted, and who she wasnted to lead it [Jerry and Pete] She communicated that to Roxy and I, and from there, onto our local Parelli community. She motivated the thirtyish people present to take part in her vision to make the clinic a reality! How cool is that?

For your horse, the plan looks a little like this:

• Have a plan of where you want to go
• Make a plan to get there
• Motivate the horse to participate

In the end, everything we do will reflect smaller portions of our overall vision for ourselves, horsemanship or otherwise.

After finishing up with visualizing our horsemanship journey and goals, Pete went on to talk about Brick Wall vs Feather. Are you the immovable Brick Wall, being the energy force that moves your horse? Or are you the Feather, that drifts in the wind, being moved by your horse. That was really interesting. I think I am a pretty alright Brick Wall, I rarely move for my horses, but there were some really interesting examples of people who started out as Feathers and learned how to be a Brick Wall! Huge changes in horses and humans, and its only day one!

Day two was all about communication. Communicate your vision to your horse! They talked about the concept of Teach, Control, Reinforce, Refine, which was super. Any time you are with your horse you are doing one of those things.

There was a great pre-ride and then riding demo after lunch.

Something stuck out to me about the 9 step backup that I thought I would share - The horse shouldnt start moving until step number 8 - your seat activating - everything before should just be flexion. For some reason this really resonated with me, and I really like having it broken down that much, since it makes sense to me - especially advancing!

Pete also had a great quote about getting things right - "Most people do something until they get it right, true professionals do something until they cant get it wrong"  Another something to think about.

On day three we did a liberty exercise really similar to what went on at the clinic with Fawn, except in a much larger arena, and one at a time. It was a really cool experience. One of the horses, who seems to be fairly introverted, belonged to a fairly extroverted and very athletic girl. It was the coolest thing to see that when he went looking for her, and she powered up, turned and ran, drawing him to her, he just POWERED up and GALLOPED to her. She was so athletic [marathon runner] that they actually kept pace together. He got so interested in her, that they could play on the same level, that he was riveted with her after that.  She would turn hard and fast and run the other way once he was with her, and he would just sit and spin and take off hell bent after her. It was just pure joy to watch.

During that lesson, I was the person who got to bring people back their halters once the horses connected with them. My job was to do it without drawing the horse. At first I failed epically. As soon as I thought in their direction, the horses had ear and eyes on me. I wasnt even doing anything!? Pete called me the BlackHole - drawing all their attention. OOPS. I think the last two horses I managed to somewhat think myself invisible and not catch those horses attentions. It is way harder than you think to be invisible to a horse!

Day four was wrap up day :( We did an exercise about how making the steps to your vision, and also played with the dreaded Helium Stick. If you dont know what this is, take this moment to be grateful for your ignorance. If you do, you understand. Jeanette and I sat this one out for a reason. Too funny!

Then it was over, for most of the participants. Rain started in the afternoon, our stretch of good weather luck ran out apparently. A lucky few [ me included!!!!] got to stay until Monday to have a private session with either Jerry or Pete. So, Monday morning, I loaded up again, and brought my spotty pony back to the 5 star hotel at Little Creek Ranch, and shared an AMAZING lesson with Jeanette and Toby.

We both worked on completely different things, and somehow, it still worked out great. Pete helped up both tons. Well, me for sure at least. TONS AND TONS AND TONS! I have been trying to figure out Indy and her braciness for...e ver... and I know its in me, but I never knew what to fix. Pete watched us for two minutes, told me two or three things to change, and all of a sudden, my high headed, bracy monster turned into a stretching, blowing, even tempo wonder-horse. Well Ill be damned. I was shocked.. and giddy! I hugged my pony and apologized and played with it again.

When I felt like I had that, Pete challenged me with some new turning ideas, and lightness in the go button - Lightness in the GO button for the RBE you ask? Well, yes. It can always be refined! So we played with that, walk/stop, then trot/stop and canter/stop. We were having technical difficulty with leads, so then I got to play with some flexions in motion, which is perfect for Miss Brace, and I cant believe I didnt think of it before. Sometimes, you really do just need another set of eyes. Which was exactly my thoughts going into the lesson. I know, if I pick away at things long enough, they will come together, but having someone else see - that can speed things up and show you things you never knew before!

So today, when I went out to play with Indy, I warmed up differently. I used the power of my belly button and energy, I refined everything time ten and it was AWESOME! She was so tuned in, so focused, so FAST! I think it was the shortest, but strongest/best warmup Ive ever done with her. Our ride was also amazing. Just as amazing as our lesson. I decided that Pete is a genius. It was exactly what I needed with Indy. Perfect, just perfect!

Im not saying our cantering is perfect now, but if I get ME right, it sure is way better! Indy is a great meter of how well I am doing, because if I lose it, her head pops up and she gets bracy again, I get it right and she flows and stretches down. Go figure. Sensitive pony 1, S -0.

I also had THE BEST play with Mo today. Could be because I didnt get to play with her lately because she has been sick, or maybe I really am supercharged with new knowledge now :D We played for maybe twenty minutes, all just little things, like Pete's version of the figure eight using your belly button, and then some little liberty - it was the first time I was able to play with tracking zone five with her. On the figure eight I dont think I ever picked up my stick, and she was perfect. At liberty I think I blew her mind. It was the first time in a looooooong time that inside the round pen she didnt go RBI. She was curious, she was confident, and when it was her idea finally, to be with me, holy cow did she want to be with me! She was trotting to catch up, she was cantering when I ran away, she was offering me close range trotting circles... and then she yawned and blew out. A whole bunch. I love it.

Thank goodness for these two events here, so close to home this month. They have both completely revolutionized me and my horsemanship thoughts. I really needed the re-inspiration I think. The goal of this whole clinic was to bring a little bit of the Parelli Ranch to our home, and I think we did. It was just so cool having my friends from the ranch - Pete and Jerry - come to my 'backyard' as it were.

Theres something to be said about getting a whole bunch of like minded people together for a week. Something good indeed! There is already talk of a 'next year'.,... so we shall see how that plays out!

 :)
S

Liberty and Horsenality Clinic

This weekend I had the immense pleasure of attending the very first Liberty and Horsenality clinic in Canada, put on by the one and only Fawn Anderson. Linda had taught this format before the Advanced GOC clinic in Zurich this spring/summer, and Fawn was there and brought us all the best parts that she learned! I will try to recreate the weekend as best I can :) It was fabulous and FULL FULL FULL of learning!

Saturday morning I went out to load up, I was feeding Mo and called all the other horses in - they were waaay out there, and somehow I got lucky enough that everyone thundered over :) Good start to the day! Since Mo is obviously not up to a whole weekend clinic, I took Indy with me. It was kind of a toss up. I thoguht about taking Zephyr, as a super start to Liberty with her, and Gambler to further our relationship and get Fawns help with, but I figured I would get the most out of the clinic if I took Spotty Pony, because other than Mo, she is my most advanced partner. Plus, she is so clever, she makes me look good ;) Or horrible... one of the two... Mostly, I just get distracted looking at her because shes so pretty and thats how it goes.

SO! We loaded up, headed out and arrived shortly at the clinic venue, which is only abotu a half hour away. Other than the ponies who arrived the night before, we were the first ones there. I unloaded Indy, handed her off to Laura - who was going to share the Indy for the weekend with me, and parked the trailer. Bless thy gooseneck, for it is back-able.

Laura played a little, while I sorted out paperwork, and then we swapped places and I got Indy settled in a stall while she did paperwork :) We had originally intended for one of us to to Saturday with Indy and the other play Sunday, but the way the clinic worked out, splitting up into two groups based on level, we both got to play both days! It was perfect!

The morning started out theory. YEY! I LOVE THEORY! I love knowing the whys and hows and whatsits that go into everything. Sure, I can go out and try it and feel it out for myself, but I LOVE having all the ammo in my brain to figure it out while Im out there without feeling like Im breaking new ground every time. Having only ever had a couple of clinics with Don Halladay, and one GOC clinic with Amy, I wasnt really sure what to expect. Fawn gave us an AMAZING theory session. Ask my notebook how many pages I scrawled out while she talked. Some of it just scribing what she said, other points just BFO's that I had as she spoke. I loved how it wasnt really "new" info, just more and more layers of filters to apply to what we already know about dealing with each horsenality.

OH! And also a new way to play stick to me, that doesnt involve micromanaging the horse to stay, or having everyone else chase the horse back to neutral[you] so that was super great. I felt really good as she was describing it, because I had sort of been experimenting with a very similar thing with Indy already, so it was cool to know that I was on the right track without knowing... if that makes sense?

So, super theory session under our belts, and divided into two groups of four, Group 1 went to get their horses! The goal was to warm up online, preparing for liberty, and using the model of Calm Connected, Responsive to give the horse what they needed so they could give us what we wanted. When the humans felt ready, they slipped off the halter and went to liberty. If the horse stayed, SUPER. The human would play some stick to me game and see what they could accomplish. If the horse left, then they would begin tracking their horse in Zone 5. Just following, tracking, not driving, not disengaging. It was Fawn and mines job to keep the horses trotting. Not cantering or galloping, fleeing pressure, just moving so the would look for an answer [and not turn and beat each other up]

Each time your respective horse would yeild you zone 1 a little, turn an ear, give you an eye, or make any kind of effort in your direction, you would arc away from them in a straighter line, when they werent, then you would arc in a more direct line behind zone 5. The horses were pretty fresh first thing on a chilly morning and galavanted for a while before starting to see a point to the humans following and reflecting their movements. Finally, each horses ended up following the appropriate human, and all was well! Debrief and LUNCH TIME!

Post lunch is was my turn to play with the spotty pony :D I was super excited. Laura and Indy did GREAT in the morning session, and I was really pumped to see what we could accomplish. We had a great warm up online, practiced our stick to me with a safety net, and practiced 'scooping' her up so she could keep up with me by her responsibility. *Scooping - when you turn to the outside, while maintaining your track, give them a moment to read the body language and intention for them to keep up and then 'scoop' them up with the stick and string by swining the stick back and having it come in to hug around the hock area*

Everything checked out online, so I went to liberty, and mostly things still went good. I was dull though, I wasnt engaging her, I had no plan and I lost her expression. This is typical for us. She will do stuff 'obediently' but her ears are back, shes doing it because I told her to, not because she wants to. I asked Fawn about this, how she was staying even though she looked lke she would rather be anywhere else, and Fawn suggested getting more provocative, pushing the boundaries, seeing if I could push enough that she finally 'had enough' and left on her own, without me sending her off, that way I could then track her, and have it be her idea to stick to me. Cool idea.

Off we went. As an afterthought now, I think I should have just gotten interesting with my energy and phases, but what I did was get interesting with my feet. I started moving faster. We ran around, well, I ran, she trotted, the arena, changing directions, stopping, backing up, a whole bunch of stuff! I was really actually quite surprised at how long it took her to leave. I asked a lot, she got interested. Hmm. she did leave though, and I got to tracking. She had played the game in the morning, and with me before too, so it didnt take that long, but it felt long? It felt long because I was feeling guilty about having MADE her stay. I want her to WANT to be beside me, not stnad beside while muttering grumpy curses under her breath.

When she connected, we just went right back about our business and she didnt leave again until I asked for a circle, then she left for half the arena and went "Oh wait, my human is over there" and came back to claim me, like some lost baggage on the carousel or something. Funny horse.

When everyone reconnected with their horse, Fawn had us halter up and show her our yo-yo game, so we could prepare for canter draw! Indy was sluggish. I knew she could do better, but thats what I got in the moment, because my energy was scattered. We played with refining our phases and using the PROMISE of pressure to motivate them, without actually having to go to the high phases hopefully. INTENSITY was the name of the game! Boy did Indy wake up! She didnt quite get to marching back the way I know she can, but she did scoot :D

Then we got taught a really cool drawing technique to encourage a speedy, exuberent draw. First, you yo-yo them out, then add a push to the shoulder and draw them on an arc while asking for speed through the shoulder. The idea is not to have them come to you on a straight line, but a slight curve so they can power up and use that curve to get the right placement for power.

When I think about it in my head, I get it. When I try it, Indy looks at me like Im a spaz, tries a canter, and I get so happy I release even though Im not sure what happened. Im still figuring out the execution, but I can definatley see how cool this could be!

Day one debrief after our session closes, and its home time for me and the Sportty face! It was so refreshing to be in the learning zone again! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to learn! Sometimes I wish I could just travel around to all the different clinics [or Florida, or Colorado] and go to them all, and just keep studying. When I win the lottery. :D

We came home, unloaded, cleaned up, turned out and called it a night. Morning came again and the routine repeated. I somehow got lucky again, when I called the ponies, maybe they were cold, but they all galloped in again! Poor Indy was all shivery because it was a whole 3 degrees or something and she didnt get the memo about needing a coat soon. I gave her a cooler for the drive and parked her tied in the sunshine when we arrived. She stopped shivering after that :) Poor sleek horsey!

For Sunday we had a shorter theory session, though no less packed with super information.Our focus of the day was "how are we going to be different after yesterday, and what is our plan" forming around the tasks of circles and figure eights. Cool. Once again, group 1 was first, and it was great to watch the strategies applies for those horses. I really liked being able to watch what was going on with everyone, and not just needing to focus on my own horse [I was also glad that my own horse wasnt a rafter monkey, since it was her first official clinic other than being in Florida!]

When it was our turn, we warmed up, looking for calm connected, responsive on a corners pattern. Like I said, my stick to me is wandering and doing transitions, so I set myself up on a corners pattern, and when we got to the corner, we stopped. This produced lots of licking and chewing and checking in [presumably to see where I found some leadership from] It was good though! When we went to liberty it was much of the same, and if she fell behind, I could scoop her up without her taking offence. The expression went a little bit, so then I started playing with more intensity, and I got her back, which was very cool.

Everyone went back online for the figure eight/circle part, and due to space,we went two at a time. The first two to go did their thing while I did little yo-yo plays with Indy in the corner and then it was our turn! First we played with having an effective send, using the promise of pressure and when that was good, we introduced the figure eight. I figured out a whole new level of refinement, and not doing more than she does. OH and also, not adding pressure accidentally but heading back to center before she crosses X. Lots of ear changes! Much less grumpy and micromanaged feeling pony I think :D

Once again, lunch and debrief and then we went into individual sessions in the round corral with Fawn, after some very cool change of direction simulations. Gotta love Conga Horses! Somehow I ended up going last. But thats ok. We went in and did our thing, halter off at the gate, walk across the centre to test connection and see if they are with you. Well, like almost every other horse, Indy stopped to smell the poops by the gate. POOP is more interesting than me.... ouch.  ;)

Off to tracking I went, and it wasnt long before she caught up with me, which was nice. When I was sure she was with me, we headed to the center of the corral to show seven games in three minutes or less [which she rocked at, and I felt great about her!] and then we went onto checking out our circle send and then the figure eight. She rocked it all :) I was so proud of her! Once she was connected and it was her idea, she was right there with me.

At the end, Fawn asked if there was anything else I wanted to do, so I asked about spins and how to know if you are ready. I have always kind of been confused about how those work at speed and just end up confusing my horse and breaking my change of direction. The answer was refine your change of direction until its so easy its basically a rollback, and then create a box-step to just keep talking to zone one all the way around. She also showed me a way to teach it online, which I cant think of how to descibe in words without showing? Anyway, she did a few simulations with me, to set me up for when I am ready, and it was great, really made sense and put into place those few things I was confused on.

Then it was over :( I was the last person to go, and after a debrief, we all went our separate ways. Two days just isnt long enough for me ! I want MORE! Hopefully when she comes back in the spring, there will be another topic clinic I can take! I just LOVED her teaching style. It really suits me and my unquenchable thirst for more knowledge. There were so many times where I was going to ask a question, but then on the next sentence, Fawn would already be answering them. She is just a fountain of information!

It always fascinates me how different everyones teaching style is. Having been mostly exposed to Don Halladay in a clinic situation [ok, twice] he is very much a "Heres the task, go play, come back with questions" kind of teacher, which works great for me on some subjects. Fawn was very individualized, with LOADS of info and tips and thoughts which I LOVED! Plus, it doesnt hurt that she was so recently so close to the source [Linda] so she had all the latest tips and thoughts Linda has been playing with!

Homeward bound we were, then. Indy loaded up a little snorty, so I have put her on a trailer loading programme again. Load, eat a snack, hang out, go back to pasture. Just to make sure that she doesnt revert to her trailer loading terror of her previous life. I decided to load Zephyr and Gambler today too. Both were super stars, though scared the crap out of me with mild choke cases [ I think] when they gobbled the cruch out of the bucket to fast. Some quick head down combined with water syringing ddown the throat and everything turned out alright, but jebus that was scary. Really now ponies, CHEW! Suffice to say, those two wont be finding crunches as a reward anymore... though Indy has never had any trouble? Go figure. The LBE's get over food enthusiastic.

To finish, here is a poem Fawn suggested we look up -

The Man In The Glass Peter Dale Wimbrow Sr.
	When you get what you want in your struggle for self And the world makes you king for a day Just go to the mirror and look at yourself And see what that man has to say. For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife Whose judgment upon you must pass The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life Is the one staring back from the glass. He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest For he’s with you, clear to the end And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test If the man in the glass is your friend. You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years And get pats on the back as you pass But your final reward will be heartache and tears If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

:)
S

Mo Update

I got the call back from the vet today, the blood work came back extremely anemic. The plus side to this is that the blood work also came back good for the kidneys and liver and other internals.

Soooo.... this means we have a reason for all the symptoms but not the cause. For now she is sticking on supplements, and getting all the tasty thigns she wants until she is better. The best part is that she WILL get better.

In other news, today I made a new mini pasture in the back field where there used to be a beaver pond. We broke the dam and cleared out the beavers and thanks to the summers drought we now have clean dry land. That happens to be full of lucious grass! I would have liked to fence the whole area, but because I have only step in posts right now, I could only do a small area.

It took me a little longer than I planned to finish this little project - mostly because it took FOREVER to untangle all the wire I had, because it has been used over and over. When I put it away last time, I wasnt terribly neat about it and it bit me in the butt today. From now on, every time I put away fence wire, I will do it PROPERLY! I do not want to spend all that time again...

Anyways, the ponies were fairly pleased to go out in their new mini vcacation home. I only let them out for an hour, but they were happy none the less. They kept standing at the tallest grass and nibbling like it was some kind of buffet. Cute.

Mo got her own solo hour out there too, and she hardly made it past the gate by the time I came to retrieve her. Too funny! She just mowed her way, slowly out and out. She was even happy to come back in, which was nice. I came out and just stood at the gate and she marched over right away. That was a nice feeling.

Such was my day. That little feild took me way longer to build than I thought, but Im happy with it. The horses are too. A crazy thunderstorm rolled in for the afternoon. The temperature dropped like crazy, and there was quite a light show! Mo was happily tucked into her shed.

:)
S

Mo is Sick, Gambler is a Star

Firstly, Mo is sick :( I am super stressed about it, mostly because I dont know what it is, and neither does the vet, conclusively. She was sick on Friday last week, with a fever and slightly colicy symptoms but nothing typical, so when the vet came out Friday night, she said she didnt think it was impaction, but maybe just the fever that had caused her to be all lethargic and not wanting to eat/drink, and then since she wasnt eating and drinking, there obviously wasnt any poops or pees. She got better, from the fever, and is all about food again, but remained 'tucked-up' in her belly, which resulted in my calling my poor over-dialed vet again. This time, she came out again and saw what I was talking about more, the "shes just off" and not wanting to move, and lethargy more than just listless due to not eating.

Our kind of go-to at the moment is Anemia. [Says the vet: ] It would explain her low energy, unwillingness to move, and lack of tolerence for exercise. While checking her for lameness yesterday, when the vet was back again, she trotted a few circles [barely, she did NOT want to go, and in an 'I cant" way, not an "I wont"] and then later cantered maybe one, just to be sure she wasnt off, and she was breathing heavily and even a little damp from exertion! For a horse that was competition fit in July, that should have been nothing! Poor Mo!

So, until further notice, Mo is on iron and general supplements via a liquid called Red Power, which I guess is to super power up her red blood cells so they can do their thing with oxygen and whatnot. We have drawn blood, one sample to test her iron, I suppose and the other to see WHY. If her liver is unhappy, or kidneys or something else internal, or if its just her body not absorbing enough of what it needs from the pasture. Hoepfully I will hear those results tomorrow, so I can sleep a little easier, and know that my very special Mo will be ok. Right now I just feel like she has the plague, and Im just scared all the time. At least she seems happy, if not quite right. Shes perky, bright, nickering to me all the time and generally trying to eat everything, as per usual. So that makes me feel a bit better. I just wish she would stop making all those wierd grunty 'Im in pain somehow" noises and be able to just TELL me whats wrong.... Wheres Dr Dolittle when I need him??

Such is my journey with Mo right now, just a whole lot of GET BETTER PLEASE vibes going around. I sure hope she gets better soon :( In the mean time, I think she is enjoying the lawn-mowing priviledge.

On a much happier note, Gambler is a freakin rock star. We are FINALLY starting to connect on the same wavelength. It was like before, I could get to DO stuff. But it wasnt really his plan, and he kind of exploded most times. The last time we played, he didnt explode once, AND we cantered online in a big space without him leaving :D He is so smart. His figure eight in the round pen is amazing, he is offering me the whole pattern at a canter with a flying change, and lightness on the turns and just incredible engagement mentally. He also looks amazing when he does this...

Our riding is coming along finally too. In the beginning, I was being so careful with him, and treating him all right brain, but the other day I ponied Zephyr off of him just for something different, and a buddy for my want-to-be-trail-ride, that I had a PURPOSE [duh....] which kind of got me to get him to be where he needed to be for Zephyr, no matter what. We had some little conversations a few times, because he wanted to GO HERE, but Zephyr needed him to BE THERE, and we managed. That simple. He didnt blow up, he didnt freak out, nothing. Just kind of went " Oh, well, since you have an idea, I guess I will listen..." I facepalmed after this. Have a plan, work the plan. Follow through. He is left brain. Play to the left brain. DOI!

Our next ride was great. The ride with Zephyr, we almost died via KILLER GATE [not really, but Gambler thought the gate swinging toward him might eat him] so we played with being able and confident to move the round pen gate, which is much stickier and requires me to actually physically push it rather than just swinging away when unlatched. That went much better. We got some isolation in the front and hind end, and more move-off-of-not-into-pressure-please-and-thanks! It felt great. We also went in the round pen and played the GAZILLION and then some transitions game. walk-stop-walk-trot-slowtrot-fasttrot-stop-walk-backup and so on. Super fast, super precise, evil thought stealing transitions. And he was RIGHT ON!

It was so cool, as we were trotting, the first time I thought "and now, we shall SUPER TROT" and he just powered off into a super speedy trot, and then I thought "Feel the inner turtle" and we slowed down to the slowest moseyest trot any western horse would be jealous of. He was just so in tune! I thought canter once or twice, but when his back came up, I wasnt sure if it was power or buck, so I just left that one for now. Ill try it when Im not home alone! Safety first and whatnot.

That ride we just stayed inside of fencelines, played with gates that werent alive, and it was GREAT! The next ride we had a similarly super great warm up, that included SUPER play outside the round pen and over some log jumps. Then we went on our first SOLO trail ride, playing point to point with grassy spots and apple trees. Man oh man was that Gamblers most favoritest game EVER! You would think he was starving to death or something.... I say this while you try and find his ribs beneath that solid fat covering... He is misled on his fed-status! Thirty acres of food and youre hungry, my foot!

So that was just super super super! We even navigated the gate horseback, out and back in, NO PROBLEMO! Smart pony! And since that ride he has been stalking me like "When do we go out again??" and its adorable. He is such a goober.

NOTE TO MOM: Picture day? Soon please? Roni, and Indy and Phyr Phyr at least.... likely not Mo since she is not up to more than an 'every girl needs a fan' kind of picture. 

So Gambler is a pro at life now. Its awesome. He is just a dream cloud to ride. I thought Indy was nice. Really, I did. And now, when I get on her after Gambler, its a bit of a letdown.... sorry spotty pony.

 :)
S

Zephyr in a Year

About a year ago now, Zephyr came into my life. A little chubby dun ball of furry love. She was cuddley, she was friendly, she was PUSHY! Right from the get go, my first iniative was PERSONAL SPACE!!!!!!!! With all those exclamation points, because Miss Zephyr had no concept of getting out of the way and possibly not running me over. It was possibly one of the hardest things Ive ever done. It is still a work in progress! Her friendly game is just SO solid, that establishing a driving game or response to a porcupine game or even a yo-yo was just beyond her thoughts. She just thought it was all another way to be loved on! It was really quite funny. Unsafe. But funny.

Ever so very slowly, I somehow managed to convince her that it was way easier to get out of the way instead of coming on top of me. As we built our partnership, her seeming introversion adn lazyness started to reveal a way more fun loving playful trouble maker! Now that I had started asking her questions, she started giving me answers! Some of them werent quite what *I* thought they should be, but she usually made [and still makes] me laugh anyways. I think one of my favorites is our circling game.

If you have heard me tell the story of going to see Zephyr the first time, you know that I saw her get 'lunged'... and by that I mean, I watched her lunge her human. It was really funny, and well thought out on her part. The poor human would walk to her zone five and snap the whip to get her to go,a nd beacause of her super friendly game, Zephyr would kind of just mosey off a little, on an angle, forcing the human to walk out on a bigger circle that she herself was walking. Realistically, the person got more exercise than the pony...

The very first time I asked Zephyr to circle, she gave me this great blank look. Like she was calculating how many steps she could make me take. For the record, I took none. I would send her, she would take half a step, then turn and face. Lather, rinse, repeat. A lot. And then some. And then, the light bulb went off and she went the whole way around until I asked her to stop. She had a lot of thinking to do after that!

That is pretty much how most things have gone with Zephyr. She used to try just not doing things, now she just tries doing one hundred different things, and then she promptly does what I originally asked. Usually with some bucking, head tossing and/or squealing.

Our circling game today is great. Any gait, lots of maintain gait, complete with the occaisional buck and squeal for good measure. Her yo-yo game is rock solid. Porcupine game actually EXISTS! Which was huge when it first happened. Same thing with driving game. Sideways was really hard for her to sort out, coordination wise, but now shes a pro, with or without a fence, away and towards.

Basically all that to say FOUNDATION FIRST! I am so so so proud of Zephyr and how much she can do, but most of all I am SO FREAKING EXCITED about how its transfering into her colt start. When I got Zephyr, she was so mellow. Kudos to whoever brought her into this world, and the people who had her until she was one. They gave her such a great start to life, she has no fear of people [didnt have much respect either, but thats better now] and no fear of much else. Pretty much since I got her, I have been able to throw arms around her while she grazed or ate her grain. I could sit with her or on her while she was laying down, and she was peachy with that. Confidence was given to her at an early age for sure! And then never taken away :D

Through this spring and summer I  really put an emphasis on taking Zephyr out. Me and Mo would pony her everywhere, through water, in open fields, on closed trails, short grass, long grass, you name it, we went through it! Also, adding in the friendly game of doing it while wearing a bareback pad, and sometimes a bridle. Layering in the friendly things, to the exciting things like going out on adventures!

Eventually I couldnt resist and I had to sit on her! The first time was just up and over, a total non event. The few times after that [separate occasions] Is at on her for longer and longer times, just hanging out and loving on her, often times filling her face with cookies in return for lateral flexion. Then came the big day... ask for some steps. You can see how exciting that was below. Zephyr is a rock star. And if you didnt think so yet, let me tell you about today, and you will have to change your thinking!

Today, I took Zephyr and Gambler on a baby trail ride. Baby, because it was Gamblers first time outside the feild under saddle. I took him for a walk the other day on the ground, but it was mostly a grazing adventure, and ponied him off of Indy once. He wasnt worried. He wanted to graze, but he did have a little squeeze feel about opening the gate while I was on him. Zephyr was pro through all of his kerfuffle, and just did what she needed to do. We went on our ride, my little baby Phyr-Phyr giving the big guy confidence to be out on 'his own'... ironic much? Only a little.

We came back from our ride, Zephyr was still happy and ready to go. I let her go when we got back in the field and thanked her for her superstarness, and figured that was it with her for the day. Turns out I was wrong. I finished up with Gambler, untacked him, grazed with him, gave him some tasty grain and turned him loose too.

I wanted to go get Chance, to bring her to the barn for some grain without the rest of the herd noticing, but she was way at the bottom of the little field. Really not that far away, in the scheme of thirty acres, but far enough. Zephyr on the other hand, was about ten feet away, looking at me excitedly, and also conviently two feet away from a log-to-be-used-as-a-mounting-block. Hmm.

We walked once. I wondered if perhaps maybe, just maybe, Zephyr might possibly take me from point A [front of feild] to point B [ back of feild] just because I asked her nicely. I held out the halter to her, inviting her to come, but only if she really wanted, and of course she promptly comes and sticks her head in the hole I created for her - its very rare to walk out with a halter and not accidentally catch a Zephyr no matter who you aim for.

I tied my 12' into reins and took her to the log. She sidled right up so I could be int he right spot and up I got. Just like that. No fuss, no muss. Just poof. Mounted. On my superstar pony. WHOO! I checked my lateral flexion, or rather, Zephyr checked both sides for cookies, and then I asked a leading rein start and HOLY CRAP WE WALKED. JUST LIKE THAT.

It was a thought, inside my head, and then we did it. Um. Holy cow. I even had steering. Hows that for amazing? Zephyr, the super kid, with a super start foundation, can do anything. On the second try apparently. WOW. This was no little eight step walk like the first time. This was a commited, forward, with steering and brakes, walk over to Chance. I have used Mo as transpo countless times.... I am still in shock that I just did that same thing that I often do without a thought with Mo, with ZEPHYR!!!!

Once we got to Chance, we stopped, energy down and bend, hop off and HUGS AND SCRATCHES!!! BEST PONY EVER!!! In my head the whole time, I was just thinking how unbelievable the whole thing was... and how important a solid foundation is, how much impact everything we have done over the last year has had on her.

I almost wish I could remember better how things went with Mo. I know I was just sort of a beginner in Parelli at the time, but I dont remember the exact details of what I did. I will have to dig out old blogs.

Anyways. Thats my exciting super pony news :D Zephyr rocks my world!!!

:D
S

Zephyr, the Amazing Super Pony :D

In general, Zephyr is a goober. I love her and adore her goofy personality. She does silly things like eat rocks in case they are cookies on the ground, and mirror whatever Mo does in hopes of earning more cookies too. She's two, she's a dork ball, and left brain as far as the eye can see.

Today was a landmark day for Miss Attitude herself. Today, I was going about my business this morning, playing with ponies, and then putting some cream on Phyr-phyrs leg when I decided it would be fun to have a little Zephyr sit today. She was so mellow and in tune and yawning just from the little walk in from the pasture. Seemed like a good idea to me :)

So we wander over to the mounting block, I tied my 12' into reins and got up on the block. My little pro sidewaysed right over to pick me up :D Smart ponies make my day. Little tiny things like not having to argue about mounting or chase them with the mounting block just make me so so so very happy. Like having a functional gate thats easy to open and close and latch. The simple things, right?

So she sidled right up, and I hopped right on after a rub. Zephyr is just great, she always looks forward to everything with her people. I know this is total anthropomorphization, but I feel like when I ride the others, she watches and asks me "When is it my turn??" I love her enthusiasum. I pretty much cant walk out to the feild without her trying to shove her head in the halter I am carrying. Unless I sneak past her and she doesnt see me, and then she comes over as soon as she does and tries to steal the halter anyways. Goober.

Sitting on Zephyr has got to be one of my new favorite places to be. New, just because I havent done it hardly at all. Because she is two. Obviously. My goal isnt to have her pooping out flying changes before she is three, just to get comfy with the idea of a person above zone three and possibly a person with ridiculous ideas and uncoordinated limbs - ie: me! So far that plan is going wonderously. I feel like I can sit up there for as long as I want and she is A-OK with that! Lateral flexion is feeling great, and especially light when there are cookies involved - like today!

Bend for cookies is officially Phyr-phyr's new favorite game. Her eyes lit up the first time she got one. Adorable. She really is battling the cuteness that was baby Mo. She is just SO cute ! Her little fluffly forelock that wont seem to grow just gives her that baby faced innocence.... until you see the evil sparkle in her eye and wonder what she is plotting next [she usually bucks off squealing about then] Not today though! She was all focused and paying attention to me - and cookies.

We sat for a while, and played with bending, and then Mo came by, and then the herd came by, and I thought it would be a great idea to ask Zephyr to walk over to the herd. I have been hesitant to ask for motion on the other two or three times I was on her just because I didnt feel total acceptance and understanding from her to just relax and have fun. Today I felt like we were all green lights, and I could probably live through a walk with no bucks!

So I started thinking forward, and tried leading rein starts to get her feet un-stuck. We ended up doing lots of FQ/HQ yeilds, which was great, she figured out how to balance and everything! Even a few steps backwards, and then, when I was just focusing "over there" and rubbing her, off she moseyed! Just like that! Stop to sniff the mounting block, give it a lick [yum?] and doo dee doo off we went!

HOLY COW! Zephyr just had her first RIDE! I bent her to a stop after maybe 8-10 steps, before she could get distracted or think evil thoughts and I jumped off and Zephyr got the hug of a lifetime! She looked pretty proud of herself - smug child. I was out of cookies by then, so we wandered back to the barn to get her face stuffed, and I even made her a special snack with crunch, supplements and cookies all mushed together. I think she liked it :D

As if today with Zephyr couldnt get better, this afternoon while I was playing some friendly game with Mo and the ball, Zephyr wanders over to say hello. We have had maybe three days with the ball, and she was mostly confident. Apparently very confident, because as I am bouncing hte ball around Mo, she comes over and gets in the way - as Zephyr does - and so I start bouncing the ball at her, off her and back to me. She just looked at me all happyface. I was reminded of my cousin Chelsea when she was very young. One day we were throwing soft plastic balls around and it hit her forehead and she laughed... this repeated several times and she laughed each time. Zephyr was doing the pony equivilant in my mind.... bounce ball, ball bounces up under her chin or onto her chest and back to me... she stands there with happy ears looking very pleased with herself.. silly silly gooberchild.

I love Zephyr.... She is going to be amazing when she growns up!

:D
S

Progress and Thoughts

Progress is such a dicey thing sometimes. It can be so hard to track, impossible to know whether you have made any from day to day some days... and, sometimes, no matter how much you actually HAVE progressed, you cant even feel it, because you think you should be further along. Ridiculous, right?

 

The other day I passed my Liberty Level 4. Well now. There is one of those things I didn’t see coming. I have 3 out of 4 savvies passed so far, just Finesse to go now, and then that coveted black string will be MINE MWAHAHAHAH..... I mean. Its not about the string. Its just a perk. The other day, I got to thinking. Holy CRAP. I have passed ¾ of L4. How the bejesus did that HAPPEN?!  Where was the progress, and how on earth did I manage to be even close to as good as all those people I see who have passed their auditions??

 

The answer is, I really don’t know. It feels like it went from “whats a yo-yo game?” to “Oh hey, L4 in three savvies” .... huh??  This is why I blog and journal my progress. I get a lot of satisfaction out of being able to scroll back the years and see where I have come from  to get to this point, because I really don’t remember.  And what Pat says about “Welcome to a new level of incompetence”, well its right. Somehow, it doesn’t matter what color string you have, sometimes you just feel like a goober who doesn’t know the difference between the end of a horse where the apples go in and where they come out...

 

Its fun to be able to go back through prior entries, and see exactly what I used to struggle with, and feel some happiness that those maybe aren’t the same struggles I deal with today, or that if they are, I handle them better/differently.  I think overall, it satisfies my inner student and says  “SEE? All this isn’t for nothing, it IS getting better”. Which brings me back to the whole talent vs skill thing – I spend a TON of time with my ponies, developing this skill, and making it part of me. Part of every interaction with every horse. All the time. It has to be, you have to LIVE horsemanship. To me, Parelli isn’t a brand, it isn’t a set of lessons to learn, it is just a way of being, a way of seeing horses through horse-colored glasses, a way to hope for the magical connection to just for once be real, and not held together with something mechanical. 

 

In a world of instant gratification, horsemanship MAKES you take the time. And then some more time, and some more again. As a supremely impatient child, I can tell you from experience, my ponies taught me SO much about patience! I started with Parelli back in... 2006? Ish? And here is is 6 years later before I got my L4... to be fair, I didn’t always have a lot of time for my ponies in the beginning. First there was school, and then work. There wasn’t money for lessons really. I had a few, but not many in the early days. The box said homestudy, and by golly, I took it LITERALLY! I always wanted to be homeschooled and do online courses, this was my chance to show I could do it! So I did!

I am a bit of a procrastinator/perfectionist when it comes to assessment, so it took me eight months to get my L1 - *because I was waiting for the live assessment during a clinic, obviously* Then another year and ¾ for my L2, because I waited to do it when I was in Florida the first time.... Parts of both of those reasons belong to the fact that I didn’t own a video camera, or have anyone to tape it for me.... but also to the nature of “I have to get it perfect!| I try so hard now to help people get past the perfection .... even though I still want it in my heart. Someday maybe...

 

I must really like spacing out my auditions, because my L3 was another year coming.... video cameras and I don’t get along very well when its time to shine... turn it on and tell me to go have fun, easy. Turn it on and tell me AUDITION TIME and things go south. Pressure and I just have a very unfortunate relationship. Im working on it.

Enter L4.... Soemhow, I was the luckiest person alive and passed my freestyle LIVE in florida... thank goodness. It is SO much easier that way! For me... just because there is no video camera.  Then the deadline... Sometime mid July the panic sets in and I managed to power out my online and then mid august pooped out a Liberty audition, with not even my horse because my horse was lame... thank goodness for professional support! Parelli people are the nicest people I know, honestly.

 

So there is is, a six year, very spread out process of two assessments [pre audition time] and so far six auditions... Progress, albeit seemingly slow... When I think about the people that just start and are L3 in a year, I get really excited for them. I know they fall into the talented category, and they will go far in a short time span. Me and my skill will just have to keep plugging away at it until we can catch up I guess.  It’s fun though, to remember how far we have come, and how much faster progress is with new horses compared to the slow climb I made, first with Dakota and then Mo.

I remember thinking after having Indy in half of my externship, that she knew as much as Mo after it... and I had been steadily progressing with Mo since she was 2[she was five-coming-six at the time], compared to basically starting over with Indy for those three months.  I felt like that was a good ratio... start out taking years to learn and teach.. to turning it into a matter of months...

 

The same thing has been happening with Indy’s Liberty lately – it was our neglected savvy because I have a hard time with it, and then she just goes RBE and runs around, but patterns and repetition and consistency have brought her *almost* up to Mo’s level in about three weeks. GO INDY!  Obviously there are some things that aren’t quite there, but hey, she went from nothing with me, to I think, a high L3 in three weeks... Ill take it! Indy is also a smarty pants, so that may account for some of it :D

 

Sorry for the randomness, I got distracted with all the reminiscing. I try really hard not to take for granted that these days, when I can go out and just hop on Mo, bareback and bridleless and just do ... something...  that we built our relationship and I worked hard to be the partner she wants me to be... it didn’t just magically appear. The days when she was a crazy bucky goober, or the days when Indy was a psycho runaway, they aren’t that far past. But they are in the past, and thats pretty ok and cool with me. The fact that Mo can do just about anything bridleless, is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Freestyle is where I want to excel. Its what I think is the coolest test of the relationship. That I can take Indy out on the trail [some days, this is still new] and take off the bridle completely still blows my mind. Honestly, I never ever thought I would do anything sans bridle with her. It was a sad thought, but I just wanted to live more than I wanted to do bridleless stuff with her... but theres PROGRESS! We DID get to the point where I *wanted* to take the bridle off.... we did LIVE, we did have brakes, we did still have connection.  And each time, its still the coolest thing EVER.

 

Possibly, I am easily impressed by cool things. I think my ponies are cool.  I love them so very much and what they can teach me every day.

 

HERES TO PROGRESSION! Bring on the never ending self improvement.

 

:D

S

PHEW!

Its official folks, I passed my L4 Liberty!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to the help of one amazing pony named Toby, and One fantastic support person named Jeanette, we pulled it out, right before the deadline. Thank goodness. I can breathe again!

I am a little sad that Mo wasnt ok enough to do the video with me, and Indy just wasnt ready yet - so close... but not quite there-  but I am thankful beyond words to have had the support of Jeanette and Toby to help me through the whole thing!

All in all, YEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Onto the land of FINESSE.... though thankfully there is no deadline on this one ! I can just play with it and develop my ponies as they need :) I think I might try one just for fun before the snow flies though, Indy is doing sooooooo well with Game of Contact ideas!

Thats my news :)
Heres my video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsZjKinr6M0

:D
S

Talent VS Skill

In Parelli, Pat is always talking about TSTL - Talent, Skill, Try, Luck. Today I was pondering the difference between Talent and Skill, and what it means to me. 

While riding Indy today, I was noticing what changes I have made, and what new awarenesses I have have ... become aware of. The biggest thing that comes to mind is my crazy left leg. If any one out there has ever had a club foot and then tried to ride, you can understand how crazy and unhelpful this whole thing is. Having tendons cut in my leg/foot as a baby to straighten out the foot has constantly caused me trouble and now that i am trying to ride with a little more precision VS a freestyle seat, its coming into a whole new light just how limited it really is right now. See that? Thats me being positive. Right now. It will get better. It HAS gotten better since I started picking on it. So there broken self. I will fix you.

My latest dilemma has come from trying to keep my weight even in the stirrups - my body likes to try and balance heavily to the right because that leg is used to supporting me, which results in my left leg/foot floating and then rolling onto the outside and pushing against the very ouchy metal stirrup bar. SO! What to do.. I have been standing in my stirrups TONS. Really playing with centering my weight and then when I go back to a rising trot, keeping that weight even, and going back to standing if I lose it. I am also hyper-concious about keeping my left foot stretched into the stirrup and in the MIDDLE of the stirrup pad [to avoid that ouchy roll outside thing]

That had been going very well, so today I decided to add the next part involving pushing my knee down to elongate my leg, anchor myself into the saddle and stretch my heel down/toes up. WELL! Everything on my left side failed to respond epically. How interesting. The right side went great, it looked pretty, it felt solid, and I thought I had the right idea until I turned to check out the bad half of my body, only to find it really hadnt moved at all.... hummm...

Sitting in the saddle this looked pretty funny. One side all stretched out and the other all contracted, but I kid you not, when I tried to push down on my knee, whatever tendons or ligaments translate that down your calf to stretch your heel just either have been cut [literally, not kidding here] or are so atrophied they dont remember how to work. Well.... I kept at it. I got a tiny little fraction of a move, and sort of figured out how to push the knee without needing to redo everything else. Sort of.

The moral of the story is that before, I was so super frustrated about my foot rolling in the stirrup etc, and then I found a way to become hyper aware of it and its a work in progress now... so... I should hypothetically be able to do the same thing with my knee, right? Thats the plan.

Which brings me to the whole point of this post. Talent VS Skill.

I whole-heartedly believe I am one of those people who builds skill. I work* at my horsemanship, and when I dont, it kind of slips away to a lesser level. When I work at it, it gets better, I get stronger and things go much nicer. I am not one of those people who was born knowing how to ride, I just HAVE been riding since I was born. The skill is not innate, its just learned from a young age.

There is nothing wrong with having and building a skill to a high level. It may take longer than your average talented person, but that doesnt make it un-do-able. Just a little more challenging.

* I just want to clarify work vs play here, because with Parelli, we are supposed to play with our horses. And I do. What I am talking about here is working on ME and my skill set and within my limitations...or outside them as I so often do.

So, if you are one of those talented people, thats awesome! Take advantage and go as far as you can! If you are like me, building a skill set and refining it each and every day, trying to feel that intangible *thing* those talented people feel, keep at it, keep trying, keep doing anything and everything to get better and learn more!

:D
S

Spotty Pony Liberty

This last week, I have really been focusing on my spotty pony, she is the first pony I play with in the morning and we have been touching a little in all four Savvies, though mostly Liberty, then some freestyle with a little GOC thrown in. I am hypothetically getting her ready for a show on the 19th, and the 26th.  We practiced a little pretend Dressage test yesterday though, and it was a bit dicey, so who knows. There is still lots of time for more bit confidence!

What has really been a highlight though, is her Liberty. I am really really surprised. I know I shouldnt be, because this is the crazy super learner I am dealing with here, but somehow, I still am! The first day we played at liberty it was just an explosion. We were connected online, everything was great, so I went into the round corral, took off the halter and she trotted away. ... guh... Ouch. Enter catching game, a lot of it. She would run away with herself [RBE] and then notice me, yeild, but not come forward, so mostly the first day, all we did was figure out that I was a good place to be. At the end we also got some nice Touch-It with the two barrels I had set up for a figure eight.

Day two was much better, she didnt leave when I took the halter off. We started with some core yeilds and she mostly stayed with me. When I started to get into some Stick-to-Me though she left a bit, so we went back to catching game and then some yo-yo and sideways into a deliberate circling game. The challenge, with both my ponies it seems [well, Mo and Indy] is changes of direction. When I would back up to draw, they would just stop and look out of the pen... send forward and they would get worried, disengage and then its game over and then what? So we were stuck for a little while. To muc pressure would cause her to squirt back through towards the fence, but I just did what Linda showed on the latest Savvy Club dvd and tagged if she did that, but be neutral in my re-direct if she changed towards me. Somehow, magically, goodness who knew this stuff worked, she stopped turning towards the fence.

She will still sometimes kind of drift her focus out of the corral on a draw, but if I just wait for it she will still come back and change direction. It took a little too, for her not to just JUMPSTART off into the change, to realize that there was no tag coming, and she could leave with rhythm and relaxation. We got some actual figure eights on day two. Whhoot!

Day three was good too. We started with all of our close things, we played with not making assumptions when I send sideways or back, to read my energy and not just keep going until you hit a fence. That was interesting. She figured it out pretty quick. We played with more circles and coming in for close circles, which was really cool, and our figure eight was really nice! Changing from right eye to left is easier for her, going left to right still gets sticky a bit. But its a work in progress :) Pretty ok for three [focused] sessions!

Riding has been going well too. I have been fidgeting a lot with my posture and figuring myself out, espeically my left sideself. I need to find some stretches for hips and flexors I think. My left hip flexor is was tighter than my right, which is affecting my ability to stretch into the stirrup I think. Indy has been offering some really nice stretches and all gaits, which is a miracle. I honestly never thought I would figure out how to help her stretch. I just thought I would always be dealing with a head-up kind of pony... When she does stretch though, its a wow. She just gets so smooth and powerfull.... her canter when she rounds out is amazing. I havent figured out how to help her find middle ground of not pulling me down out of the saddle at a canter yet, but the trot is coming along marvelously! The best part is, its all her idea! Steady in-gait is best, transitions up are still iffy, but down is rock solid stretchy! She still gets a little emotional in upwards transitions, especially to canter and takes a few strides to find the stretch and rhythm.

Yesterday we went for a conditioning run around the hay feild. We did a lap at a trot and then a canter lap each way standing in the stirrups and she definately found some really nice rhythm. Forward is NOT an issue with this pony! Its when I try and slow her down to fit in the dressage ring that we get into trouble! :)

Mo is doing really nicely too. We were on the same Liberty patterns as Indy for two days, then I missed yesterday in favour of riding Gambler before her, and then it rained a whole lot so my afternoon of Mo and Zephyr and Chance got changed to housework... oh well. Mo's Liberty confidence is coming along nicely too. We played with some catching game to start too, and I think that surpised her a little. I really waited for it to be her idea to stay and didnt try to keep her when she came, we just kept on going and if she left, then more catching game. When she stayed it was just wonderful... to the point of close range canter circles. We got some nice figure eights too, once she figured out the draw on a circle towards me on day two.

The thing with Mo is she knows it all, and she tries to be obedient in the round pen, and then because of ME doing stupid things in the past, I have blown her up and caused her to be unconfident so she gets really RBI in that situation. As soon as we leave the pen, I get LBE/LBI Mo back. Its IN then pen ... I am trying really hard to have it be a confident place now. And so far so good I think :)

We havent been doing to much really riding. We had one ride with some GOC when she was really avoiding contact, so we did lots of stretching forwards etc... and then two days ago when it was a trillion degrees we just took Zephyr out on a trail walk and it was so hot that both came back sweaty just from walking! It was still really fun though :) They are both trail super troppers, blazing through grasses taller than all of us! Zephyr was a pro in her bareback pad too :) All grown up! [onlynotyet]

So thats where we are at. My brain is slightly thinking that maybe my L4 Liberty horse is Indy, but I think my heart wont let me NOT try it with Mo. Maybe I can audition with both, and then they can mash it all together and take the best bits of each and pass me that way? HA! Unlikely, but wouldnt that be awesome? The in-corral stuff with Indy - her forte, and the out of pen stuff with Mo. Deal.

At least I finally feel progressive about it. And I am putting up a temporary fence between the play ground and shed/barn to try and stop Mo's "Im leaving and running to the barn/shed/hiding ok??" At least now I might have a chance of regaining her attention and setting us up for a success! Gooberball pony.

In other exciting news! I am hoping to get to go play at a friends house in a few weeks!! We are going to film each others auditions, so it should be a super fun time! Me and Mo love outings :D

:D
S

Gambler Watch, 2012

Gambler, or Remy as Derek likes to call him [ he wanted him to be Gambit instead of Gambler, and thus Remy is Gambit's real person name when he isnt being an Xman... lame, I know] is doing great. He is settling in with the herd nicely, making friends with everyone, and generally, more or less taking over. He is the new leader of my modest herd. Indy is most put out, and gave a good try at keeping her leaderness, but in the end, she swooned to the handsome fella and fell into line.

The more I get to play with Gambler, the more connected he becomes. Its so nice to see him more and more willing to interact and engage and ask questions! I was playing with saddling yesterday, and just had the pad playing friendly game which he was a little unsure about in that moment, so we would check it out, swing it, and throw it up [wayyyy up!], rub and take it off to go move his feet! He blew out a whole bunch with that pattern, that after a few times I felt good about throwing the saddle up too, and repeating the same pattern. More blowing and happy pony so I finally girthed it up and we went and moved like that.

He was a little tight at first so I just asked him to keep moving his feet until he relaxed and blew out and then we even got some really nice canter transitions! What a star :) I was just really wowed by the difference in connection yesterday. I know it takes time to bond and build that rapport and relationship, but its still kind of amazing when it starts to happen!

I am so excited to ride this gigantic pony! I want it to be perfect though, I dont want to rush him or blow him up in any way.... but oh boy am I excited!

I also rode and played with the spotty pony last night. We played with a little GOC and some follow the rail on hilly footing. She was good. My ankle was not. Unimpressed. *sigh*

I dont even know how to help it anymore :( Its not walking sore, or anything like that. Lately when I ride it goes numb, or, because of the way I balance on it oddly, it rolls to the outside and its like I am rolling my ankle each step I ride, and its skwooshed against the outside of the stirrup iron - which isnt to comfy in soft leather boots! I am not really sure how to remedy this issue, so if anyone out there in internetspace has thoughts... please tell me. I need to be able to have feet in the stirrups! The issue has mostly only come up with the advent of shorter stirrups for jumping and the correct length finesse that I never knew existed before Linda found Colleen Kelly. If I ride long and freestyle, I am fine... its when they are shorter for two point, or shorter for engagement... I dont enjoy being broken!

Such is my day today.... its the middle of the day, and raining, which is why I am indoors [to be fair, I came in for lunch and now its raining] Spent my morning trying to till a precision pen for myself :) Hard work, but its going to be awesome when its done!

:)
S

New States Crossed off the List!

Officially, I crossed two more states off of my To-Travel-To list yesterday and the day before :D I am excited about that. What I am MORE excited about is GAMBLER!!

Here is his story :)

Tuesday morning I got up early and loaded up the truck and trailer with... well... not much really. My pillow, some tomorrow clothes, a toothbrush and some hay. I felt really.... empty? I felt like I was forgetting everything!  Usually when I load up to go anywhere, A] its not just over night and B] I am pulling OUT of the driveway with a horse. Needless to say, I felt extremely under-packed. I headed out anyways.

Off through New York I went, and then into new state #1 - Massachusetts [and yes, I had to google how to spell that] It was MOUNTAINY! My oh my Goliath was not impressed. Up down up down.... sometimes I thought we should be heading down, but nope, up again. Holy moly.... My ears popped again and again. At least the roads were easy. All interstate all the way. It was nice like the 401 with the rest stops right on the road, so gas stops and bathroom breaks were no brainers.

And then I passed a sign that said Belcherville. I kid you not. It made my drive. Oh town names, how you are the best part of road trips. Suddenly I was in new state #2 - Rhode Island!  After a little excursion in what seemed like a suburb, we somehow magically ended up at the beautiful farm where Avery and her horses were. I MADE IT! The drive felt short, which was nice. Much easier than the drive to the NC/SC border enroute to Florida!

Safely arrived at my destination, I finally got to meet Gambler in person! I had seen pictures and some videos, but nothing really came close to doing him justice. He is HUGE and WONDERFUL and GORGEOUS! I got to play with him, and learn about him and his history and decide to bring him home with me.

The next morning we loaded up and hit the road. Avery had told me that he might not travel so well in a straight load trailer, which is what my trailer is, so I was ready for the worst. Mostly though, I was just glad that he fit in the trailer at all!

We set off, and true to his history he was shifty in the trailer. Not kicking or anything, just restless and unconfident. This went on for about 45 minutes and then he quieted down. I stopped at the first rest stop to check on him and he was pretty right brain, although he had found a standstill. Onward bound. The best thing I could do for him would just to be keep moving. The longer the trailer was still, the more worried he got. Off we went again!

By the second time I stopped, he had been quiet in the trailer, and when I opened it he was all left brain, even pushing on the door as I opened it and not letting me close it on him again! He was sticking his head out, he was blowing, he was eating his hay and engaging with me. It made me feel so much better to see him relaxing!

The rest of the ride was uneventful. We made it across the border without to much to-do and then finally home safely. Gambler walked off the trailer like a star and we explored his new home together and then got him some friends to meet. Everything went easily enough and he settled happily with his new herd after taking a couple of victory laps around the big pasture. He even jumped the tree that is down. Fancy!

This morning we played and he was great, and when I went to bring Zephyr in so I could take care of her leg, he was right with us, making sure I didnt do anything untoward to his new love. They have been grazing side by side all day :) Adorable :) Little Phyr-Phyr has a boyfriend! Hopefully she wants to grow up all big and strong just like him!

The journey with Gambler is going to be a great one! I cant wait to see where it goes :D

:D
S

Liberty is FUN AGAIN!

After my little [reads: ginormous life-altering]  breakthrough courtsey of my momsy I have been finally having fun with Liberty. And mostly with Mo again. And horses in general. Part of that being now I actually have TIME, since I let go of the one extra job that was causing me so much un-needed stress. So I have been playing with Mo in a whole different mind set and its been AMAZING!

My attitude is so much happier and joyful and light that hers is too. My LBE is BACK and better than EVER!!!! The funniest things have been happening in the past few sessions - one of them being that EVERYTHING ends up in Mo's mouth. Thats HUGE for her to show off her confidence again. She's all "Oh, halter? Is that like a bridle?"[into mouth it goes] "Or reins? Yum!" "ROPE! On the ground and otherwise unattended! MMMM" And then she looks at me all innocent and slowly spits out whatever is in her mouth. [At least she isnt like Zephyr, who has been munching on rocks she thinks might be dropped cookies.... yea. Shes a bright crayon]

So today I went out to say hi to Mo and she was all excited and power walked over to me from the other side of the pond and stuffed her face into her halter [after trying to eat it....]We wandered over to the barn playing with some stick to me transitions on the way to the land of bug sprays. Mo was right with me and STRAIGHT! I was playing with a technique Pat showed in a Mastery Lesson with Merlin the other day and it really helped her think in straight lines, very cool!

After getting sufficiently moistened with fly spray we went out on one featherline and played with stick to me some more, on a bigger circle and at a trot and canter and changes of direction and then headed into the roundpen to have some FUN at liberty. Its my new thing. Liberty is FUN. Dont DRILL. I dont feel like I was, but my attitude was. "Its got to be good, we HAVE to audition!" Its always better when its fun though! And Mo always plays harder!

One thing I have really noticed is that I can play harder... ask more with more intention when she is confident than before when there was so much worry. Which makes sense, but I tagged her once, playfully, and she just went "Oh DANG! You got me!" and caught up to me whereas before she would have been really worried and left.... I love it! There was lots of playful/dominant head shaking, which while something I will keep an eye on, made me really happy to see her feeling that way!

We started out mirroring what we did online, some stick to me circles, walk and trot, changes of direction and Mo was just BEAUTIFUL! All long and stretchy and flowy and close to me! She never even offered to leave to the rail. It was about a 15 foot circle, and it was wonderful. As soon as I thought canter it was there, up and down transitions, changes of directions [slowly though] but all soooo connected! Even flowing in and out of a figure eight! She even offered me some cantering through the figure eight!

I love my pony!!

And then we rode :D And it was super! She was still flowy and stretchy and wonderful at the trot. We started with a follow the rail around the round corral and transitions and then moved to playing with some canter transitions. She was so light off my leg that at first when I brought my leg back to ask for the canter she just abruptly turned that direction. It was a great lesson on cantering in my body first! My legs have a tendency to get ahead of me :) We figured it out though. It was really good for Mo I think, because I had bridled her, but just had the reins looped around her neck without being attaached to the bit. So she got to be more confident with the bit andnot have me fuss with it.

We played on a sort of skewed question box pattern, just because I had to many things in the arena :) She tried really hard, and we got lots of tries on the front end then drop to a trot stride and pick it up - Which I have to say is a HUGE improvement from her just ignoring that her back end was on the wrong lead, so ROCK ON MO! :D

So that was our ride. I went out planning to warm up freestyle and play with the Game of Contact, but I got to distracted by super fun freestyle instead :D I love my Mo!

:D

S