*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