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