WYOMING!

Well, here we are in beautiful Cody, Wyoming to spend a month with Farrah Green at Double Doc Center for Artistic Horsemanship. Me, Mo and Surreal have journeyed here in an epic three day car ride (that thankfully went VERY uneventfully, exactly how you want cross country hauling to go!)
We barely got settled in before jumping back into the car to head to South Dakota with Farrah for two brilliant days of teaching.

We have since returned to the ranch and I have gotten to play with Mo a bunch, building on our collection and practicing for an upcoming dressage show where we will compete in the First level test 2 and Second level test 1 classes. Who knew?! I am pretty excited about how well Mo is doing, and progressing to higher levels of balance and collection - while staying soft and willing. She has such a tendency to get worried and tight, it has always been hard to introduce collection or more challenging exercises without her becoming stressed or worried - especially wearing a bridle!

Surreal has been having a bit of a hard time with separation anxiety, after being in a trailer for three days with Mo. She is getting better slowly, but she still isnt thrilled when she isnt two inches away from Mo. Mo, lucky for me, doesnt notice being away from Surreal, and I think even enjoys the freedom from her hovering.

Today we practiced the first level test, and since Mo was tired from yesterdays great practice I used Surreal to get the test in my memory. It was a really sad attempt at the pattern, but she did accomplish it, if not exactly to the directive of tasks. It was probably the most focused ride I have had on her in a long time - maybe since the fall at the cross country show. Clearly I need to be asking more of her because once she sorted out what we were doing, it was full steam ahead. We even got some decent steering at the canter in the end!

Very happy with both girls today :) Even if Mo was tired, we had some awesome freestyle canter, which is especially amazing to me, as usually when we focus on the finesse riding, our freestyle goes out the window because she gets to worried. So .. YEY!

SUPER PONY!

Mo, the worlds most clever pony, does it again!
Last time we played I touched on trying haunches in on the circle and it really didnt happen. Like not even a little bit, haha. Poor Mo. She tried a million things but was just pretty confused.
Initially today when we played, I wasnt even going to ask her about it, but everything was going so well and she was so soft and trying so hard, I kind of just thought about asking her to try and POOF.... it just happened!! One of those pick-your-jaw-up-off-the-floor moments! I honestly didnt really expect it to come, but there it was! Easy peasy, clearly understood.Balance, flexion, softness, engagement. All of it! WOW!!! She looked so FANCY!!

Both directions, it worked! I feel like Mo mulled over the issue since we played last. Such a clever pony she is! We were even able to play with it more in motion! She was understanding it so well that we did walk in haunches in to canter to walk in haunches in transitions! WOW. Crazy gorgeous pony!

In other news, the school halt is coming along too, as well as balance in the trot during shoulder in on the circle. I did a little bareback ride to test how light I could be to influence to haunches in while riding, and then went on a little trail ride in the hay field with Aeverie and Trixie.

3 hours later, cold toes but oh so happy!!!

Rides 1 and 2 !

Whoops, lax on posting already! On Sunday it was finally nice out so Mo and I got to play OUTSIDE! The arena is hard packed snow/ice stuff, but we can kind of walk around. We played with haunches in along the fence and both ways were super easy, so I started asking for half passe as well and it was great! Mo is really understanding!!

I started trying to ask for haunches in on the circle after playing with shoulder in. It didnt really work, but I think we can puzzle it out.
Then I decided to hop on for a little ride! We just walked around with playing with shoulder in and haunches in. Mo was really great. I, on the other hand, almost fell right off, just giving her a cookie because I was bareback and wearing snowpants. Snowpants are veeerrry slippery if you didnt know. I didnt. Now I do. Lesson learned. :D we played for an hour and a half

Then on Tuesday afternoon it was kind of warm so I saddled up and we headed out into the hay fields for a little trail ride, mostly just going grass point to grass point to all the little patches sticking out of the snow. Mo was actually really brave and blowing out a whole bunch, I am kind of surprised,, usually she is less confident out back. We had a great time though!
We rode for an hour

Session #3

Got to play again today! In the barn alley, because it is treacherously icy and bitterly windy.

Started with the boomerang draw. Mo is getting really good at seeking my bellybutton on her own and putting effort into getting there. Really really excited about that!

Her haunches in left was stellar right from the get go. Played with some turns on the haunches with my hand at the girth, instead of drawing the shoulders. She was a little wiggly at first, but got it really quickly.

The coolest part was watching her AHA moment with the haunches in right. For whatever reason, that is really really hard for her and today she finally went ITS THIS RIGHT and totally just picked herself up and floated over down the alley in a beautiful haunches in! She got lots of cookies for that ;)

We also did the best school halt she has done yet! It took a lot of trying on her part, but she really started to experiment with sitting on her back end and bending her hocks. I learned today the meaning of "touch the hair" - I hardly even touched her skin today, just used the tail end of the dressage whip to tickle the ends of her fuzzy winter hairs and she was shivering her skin, shaking her head as if to get rid of a bug when I was near her withers, and swishing her tail if I was near her back end. Mission: Annoy Mo until she tries something - Accomplished.

It was so fascinating to watch her go through this whole annoyed process, especially in the school halt, because she usually wants to get tense and just throw out everything she knows - spanish walk, piaffe, rear, the haunches in - anything to just get it "done" without really thinking about it. If I up my phases then she just kind of jumps around and happens to get it and I release because she got it, hoping the calm try will come next time. Today though (and each session since this started) I have really adjusted my thinking in applying phases and getting lightness and most importantly TRY. I stayed at that one annoying phase, just bothering her to try, without making it an issue that she must do it NOW. It was so interesting watching her work through offering everything she knows, waiting for the pressure to intensify and when it didnt, just calmly sitting down into the school halt. Smarty pants pony.

I really think Mo is the best teacher I have ever had. When I shut up and listen to her.  

Session #2!

Finally got a second session since Sunday! Again in the barn - not because it was cold this time, but because it was so warm today all we have is sheer ice now. I appreciate the warmth though, but I do hope we get some snow soon to cover up all the ice... or it just stays warm enough to ride in the slush? 

Mo was stellar! Started the "come" portion of the boomerang, which I hadnt done with her before. She was lame back when I got the dvd's at my birthday. I have played with both Zephyr and Surreal with it, but never got back to doing it with Mo because she only came sound in December, after I gave up on playing for the winter. She was pretty confused at first that I genuinely wanted her to touch me with her forehead, but seemed fairly pleased with herself when she sorted it out. 

Tried our haunches in again, left was super easy - she was able to maintain it the whole length of the barn right off the bat! Right was harder but more understood than last time. She was able to maintain two steps together by the end, and she was way more clear in what her feet and body needed to be doing.

Also played with some "how light can your follow a feel be" with right side lateral bend. I think sometimes, Mo is so sensitive, it is too easy to manage her through maneuvers and I need to give her more chance to be responsible for seeking her release. She started a teensy bit bracey but finished buttery soft. Finished with a bit of school halt, she is understanding more about tucking her bum and stretching her hamstrings. We both need yoga class.... 

40 minutes together, before dinner, after the gym  :) 

Northwood Farms Winter Challenge!

Today marked the start of the 12 week, 40 hour, 30 ride challenge hosted by Northwood Farms. They host the challenge through a Facebook Group and this year there are over 1000 challengers! It is kind of like NaNo for horse people, to keep motivated in the winter time.

I just started playing with Mo again, after her being lame for what seemed like forever, and then just taking a break from playing, giving myself permission to just do or not do, to keep myself sane with the winter darkness and bad weather. So now, to re-motivate ourselves in the depths of a gross winter, I thought I would join this challenge. You sign up with only one horse, and your goal is to spend 40 hours with your horse, over the course of 12 weeks, with 30 rides - only 5 of which can be bareback, so you must actually saddle up! It doesnt matter how long those rides are, but you must saddle up at least 25 times! I've chosen Mo to do the challenge with - in part to re-connect with her after her time off, and in part to get ready for our time with Lauren Barwick in May.

This morning dawned one of the coldest mornings we have had lately, BUT, I am the proud new owner of a HEATED JACKET and I could not be more pleased! It has battery power and heat settings of low, medium and high, to keep me toasty warm no matter the temperature!

Since today was the official FIRST day of the challenge, I felt like I couldn't not go out at least for a little while. I bundled up in all my under armor warm things and heated jackets, with snow pants and down jacket on top. I must sort out the fingers and toes bit now. I do not yet own the perfect gloves. I went out in the mid afternoon, hoping for the warmest part of the weather today. It was COLD and slightly breezy, so it was a bit sharp out to be outside. I decided to bring Mo into the barn, so we could play in the barn alley.

Ive been playing with the Art of Academic Riding lately, following the style and teachings of Bent Branderup, teaching correct posture, self carriage and engagement through ground skills before ever riding. I have done a bit of this with Mo over the last year and some, but not super consistently. Zephyr is really quite talented at it comparatively, as she is much straighter through her body. Mo, in all her squigglyness is much harder to align and have her choose to stay that way.

Today we focused on the haunches in. Shoulder in comes quite easily to her, so organizing and uniting her hind end is a much bigger challenge. To the left things come much easier to her. She seemed to understand the idea quickly and be able to maintain it down the length of the alley. The right side she had a harder time with, being able to maintain only a few steps by the end.

The other thing we worked on was being able to pivot on the HQ while drawing the shoulders towards me, without letting the hind end leak out in the last few steps. This was super challenging for Mo, but she did sort it out eventually. We practiced in the alley to change directions and also in the stall where there was more room.

To finish I checked out our school halt as well, which we started working on I think twice now. She still gets a bit unsure which leg I am asking her to weight - and I think she is a bit like me, tight in the hamstrings, so the "sitting" action is challenging. It is so interesting to have seen Zephyr do it though - because she can almost sit right down! I am not sure if Mo is tighter in her back end because of the extended lameness or if thats how she is, or if she just isnt sure what I am asking yet.

Overall, an hour and twenty minutes later, we concluded or inaugural Northwood Challenge Session!! Here is to many more in the next 12 weeks!

Demo Psychology

Doing a demo is such an interesting thing.  I think it says a lot about a person. You have to be brave to want to get out in front of anyone with something as personal as horsemanship - brave, or supremely dedicated to your horse!

This past weekend, me and Mo went out to the local fancy equestrian park with two other Parelli Professionals to show the area what Parelli is all about. I think we were very successful, and shared our message in an appropriate way.

Its everything that goes into sharing that message that has been making me think, over the last few days. First, there is the OH BOY factor in originally signing up. That point when you go "YEY! I get to ride at X Fancy place!". The joy of sharing that message with everyone you know - the "HEY! Im going to be riding here on X date! Come support us!" That part is one of my favorites. I love getting people excited about coming out to fun events.

After that comes the "Oh, I guess I better make sure my horse is ready for this" part, when you go out and play with your horse and practice the fun stuff you want to share. For me, this time around, it was pretty interesting. Firstly, Mo was just coming off an injury, so I wanted her to have as much recovery time as possible, before starting to push her buttons, so we didnt DO a lot. Secondly, the first time I did try and test out my  bridleless FreeStyle - which is usually our specialty - Mo was a crazy gooberball. She was tight, tense, fast, over reactive, and generally not a super demo horse to watch. It was such an odd ride that night. She was doing what I asked, sure, but there was just so much.... internal fizziness... that it just wasnt pretty or fun looking. It was extra interesting, because its the first time I can remember consciously thinking "Relax, go through the process, it will all work out and be fine tomorrow. Embrace the messy". I totally surprised myself on that one. My inner voice was so calm and blasé about the whole incident! When did that happen? [Im usually one of those terribly perfectionist type people] Apparently Ive turned a new leaf.

That whole thought process in and of itself caught me so off guard. But, apparently, I was completely correct. The next day, I went out, saddled up, hopped on, and VOILA. My perfect demo horse was back! Now, what all that fussyness and crazy business was about the day before, I will never know. What I do know, is that I guess my inner self was right, because once I embraced the messy, it resolved itself, and my normal pony came back to me.

Going into this event I wasnt to sure about Mo's fitness level. That tends to be the one thing I worry over, when taking my horse places. We have a lot of pasture. She is fairly round. And due to her time off, she wasnt/isnt in the best shape of her life. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. But I still dont like to over-face my horse and leave her exhausted by accident.  We had maybe a handful of rides before the actual day. She was so good though, I wasnt going to over stress it.

After you know your horse is ready, its time to get YOU ready. Getting myself ready for these things, is probably the hardest part. I always forget things. This time, I forgot my BUSINESS CARDS. Seriously. I thought I had everything. Every. Single. Thing. Any yet, somehow, that one little IMPORTANT cardboard box, sitting on my desk, got left behind. *sigh*  Luckily, I have 5 or so in my wallet, to put in my display, so it didnt look too sad.

Getting to the venue on the morning of is usually somewhat chaotic. This time, I felt fairly prepared, and woke up early before my alarm, so I had loads of time. Mo loaded like a pro, and we hit the road with Derek in tow for once. That was nice :) Having a someone to keep me on schedule and make sure I eat/drink enough water and to collect the various things I forget in various places was a real treat at this event!

Setting up the booth went pretty well. We were so lucky to have a super helper team - so I really didnt even have to do anything! By the time Mo and Toby were settled, I  went back and voila, gorgeous booth! Having a super support team can really make or break a day! I am so appreciative of the people who came out to help us!

Talking to people is the easy part for me. I love to say hi and share all of our free stuff! Somehow, it was already time for us to get the ponies ready for our first demo though! Mo was in heat, so she had made a mess of her back legs.... ew... and needed a quick wash up. After washing her up, I  didnt really have time for a warm up, so we kind of saddled up and hoped for the best!

Going into the arena for the first time is always a rush! A) ITS HUGE [grand prix stadium ring!] B) there are PEOPLE watching! C) You want to show Parelli at its BEST for all the people who have never seen it before.... no pressure.

Our music was great though. Started out nice and slow, and let us get in and get comfy before bringing out the exciting tunes to do exciting stuff to. It usually takes me about 30 seconds to forget where I am and who is watching me, and to totally and completely become absorbed in my horse. This isnt unusual for me at all. This happens at home too... I lose hours and hours when it does!

Mo was a total rock star. Allow me to re-iterate. SHE WAS A ROCK STAR!  She was spot on, perfect. I couldnt have asked for more! We played, we laughed, we had fun, we rode, we had some goofies, and then somehow it was over? That fast, it was time to finish up!

Looking back at the pictures is always my favorite part - I always wonder if it looks like as much fun as I am having in the moment. Sometimes, when you are having fun and concentrating hard, you forget to tell your face to smile and tell the world you are having fun. Seeing the photos from this event, there was no doubt I was having the most fun time out in the arena with my pony :) Im glad my brain remembers to tell my face ;)

Demo # 2 was so much more mellow. I didnt really have any expectations of Mo, given that she gave me her all in the first time slot. She pulled out all the stops once more for me though! That pony is all heart! I love her so much! I didnt even blink at the crowd the second time, I just went and had fun with my best pony, and it showed, to her, I think. Thats why she gave me so much, all over again.

It was such a great day, with so many great memories made, and hopefully many new friends!

   - S

The End of An Era

One of my most cherished and favorite times in my life has came to an end on Saturday around lunch time. My dog Ajax slipped away into the afterlife, quickly and without pain in the end. It was the worst moment of my life this far. A moment that I have been dreading in the back of my mind for a while now, knowing that thirteen and a half years old for such a big fluffy fella was a lot. The only thing I can come with that might supersede the pain of Saturday will be the day Mo goes...

Things went quickly, and for that I am grateful. I never want any one to suffer. Friday night all was well, he was tail wagging and stalking me around the house eating cookies. Saturday morning he went out for his usual yard tour and then we got a freak snow storm. He was napping on the front porch, becoming a snow dog when I brought him inside. At first I didnt think anything was really wrong - sure his hips were stiff, but that has been semi-common the last week or so, on and off. Having to carry/drag him in just seemed par for the course lately.

When he got in though, things were different. Subtly, slowly at first, but then progressing faster. At first his breathing rate was just elevated. Not to all out panting, just .... heavier. Harder. Like his tummy hurt. I tried to give him a treat but he wouldnt take it. Not even CHEESE. That was a big uh-oh. He drank water though, so that was good.

The day was a busy one around the house, while D and his father went about lifting and re-setting the floor with insulation. Trying, one step at a time to make out drafty old house just a little bit warmer. I, luckily, wasnt needed to help so I sat on the floor in the front room with my old fluffy pal and snuggled him, while trying to red light away his pain. He wasnt comfortable, kept shifting from laying flat to laying up on his belly - but I thought maybe his hips were bothering him.

Then I noticed he started drooling. Jax NEVER drools! That was a big red flag. Then I noticed he had peed himself - just a little. Another big red flag. I started to panic. Ill admit it. All my biggest fears were coming true, I could feel it, and I wasnt ready! Jax was supposed to get another bad haircut this summer. Jax was supposed to be a best man at my wedding, in his little [big] doggy tux. Jax still needed to run over Varo a few more times so he stops going to the road!

He gave me the look though. That look that sees right through your soul and tells you its time. I wanted so much for him to be able to just pass quietly in his sleep one night. No pain or fear or car rides to the vet. At the same time though, I am thankful I was home that Saturday. Thankful I chose to snuggle him on the floor all morning. Thankful each and every night before going to bed, I hugged him and told him I loved him.

When he gave me the look I couldnt control myself anymore... and D walking by asked me what was wrong. I am sure he didnt expect me to say " I think Jax is dying" - but when I did, he did the right thing, hugged me and echoed T's sentiments of taking him to the vet.  It was a snow storm though, and all the emergency vets were in the city. Our regular vet was closed. D went online and found out that one of the other clinics in town was open. With a tiny shard of hope in my heart, that they could just give him some medicine and he would be better, we went off to the vet in town.

I sat in the backseat with him on that slushy snowy car ride to town. Held his head in my lap, burying my fingers deep in his winter fluffies. I must give credit to the clinic we went to - they were great. When we walked in - D carrying Ajax- they rushed us right into a room and a vet came right away to see him. I was a mess, but I tried really hard to answer all the questions they wanted to know - how old is he? 13.5 What happened? He is old.... What did you notice that was wrong? His breathing, he couldnt walk, he peed, [he had also pooped when we came in.. ] his tongue and gums were getting paler.

They went through their analysis, the vet and her assistant, while I sat on the floor, touching as much of him as I could. I wanted him to know he wasnt alone in this strange place. He was never alone. When the vet finished her assessment, she said what I knew, but what I didnt want to hear -"He is trying to die" She said. My heart broke. Clean in two, Im sure. She said likely his internal organs were shutting down, or some kind of heart failure. His heartbeat was already really slow, and obviously with the uncontrolled pee and poop, that was a terrible sign. I made the choice, the one I never wanted to have to make, to help him slip those final few steps to peace. And I hugged him and told him how much I loved him the whole time. He was never alone.

Just like that... in the space of a few hours, my best friend for more than a decade was gone. No more patrolling the property line, no more bad summer haircuts, no more summer shed brambles rolling around until fall, no more inopportune flopping in front of me while I walk, begging for a belly rub.

I cried for a long time. I dont envy the position of vet clinic staff in those moments.

Then they finally had to ask - "What did you want to do with him now?" Obviously, they have that service, where they do... I dont even know what with bodies of passed animals. I panicked and just wanted to say YOU CANT HAVE HIM HE'S MINE. But its winter. What can I do? A quiet voice in my head said Go to Russell. So I made D call my dad. It was a quick phone call. "We had to put Jax down, can you bury him please?" "Yes, bring him to my house" and that was done. Thank goodness. I am so grateful that on that day, my dad was home, and free, and has a backhoe that can dig through snow and frozen ground to give my best friend the burial and honor he deserves.

Finally I was able to compose myself just enough to be able to get Jax back in the car, and get home to switch vehicles so I could take him on his final trip to Russell. I cried the whole way there. Sometimes I would get some control over myself, but mostly it was awful. I dont actually know how I made it there, but I made a point to keep two hands on the wheel and my focus on the road....

I had been texting with T this whole time. I cant even imagine how she felt getting the text simply saying "hes gone" .... I hate that I had to do that to her, but I am so infinitely grateful that, without hesitation, she was on her way to dads too. Jax was her friend too.

I passed dad on the road to Russell as I was heading to his house. He was on his was to the Garage to pick up the backhoe. Probably better that way. T and I met at dads and just hugged each other and cried for a long time.

Finally dad came back with the backhoe, and after more hugs and tears, we went into the field to dig a hole. He dig a nice hole, by a nice tree. Jax went out in true Russell style, charioted to his resting place proudly in the backhoe bucket, between T and I . How many times have I ridden around in that bucket? Countless. I never thought it would be for that reason though. I never thought I would have to get in that bucket to escort Jax to his final nap.

After one final hug and ruffling of his fluffy scruff, Dad reverently laid Jax down - and for that I am thankful. I looked away while he covered him... that part I couldnt watch. And then it was done. Just like that... I needed some way to mark it. So comemorate the amazing partner in crime that he was, so dad took the bucket and scratched some bark of a tree and gave me his knife to carve his name with. It seemed that when they do that in movies, the trees are not made of real bark, and it was much harder than anticipated. Dad got his chainsaw though, and made it permanent. His name in a tree, while he overlooks the river and the hayfield, forever at peace now.

And so the Era of Ajax comes to a close. He was so loved and touched so many lives with his infections joy and conversation. Nothing will ever be the same. 

  - S

What a Cool Horse!

WOW I met a cool horse today!! He may just be the horse of my dreams...

He is a six year old Connemara Thoroughbred gelding. Nothing flashy, just medium bay with a star. He is a pretty good size, maybe 15.3. He can move like a floaty cloud. Just wow. This boy OOOOZZZES charisma. There is just something about him... that *it* factor, is there in spades!

His temperment is amazing - he is a total LBE. Confident, playful, spirited, curious! Smart, brave, athletic! He belongs to the barn owner where I was going for a lesson, and since the owner is away on vacation, my student is going to start playing with him until she can return.

He has never done any Parelli before, so we were going to start at the beginning with him. When she brought him into the arena though, he was basically a kite. A happy, confident, exuberant kite, but a kite none the less. He was NOT going to stand still, and he was basically trotting and cantering circles around my student, occasionally bucking when she accidentally pulled on the lead or he hit the end of it. Poor guy just wanted to MOVE! With all the ice rain we have had, there is a good crust on all the snow, so the horses dont want to move through it. With this being his first adventure into the arena in months, he was just happy to have good footing!

As soon as it was safely possible, we got the lead off of him and just let him move his feet! WOW. Just wow. Thats all. :) He ran, he played, he bucked, he goofed off, he tested our bubble, and then he asked a question. It was such an interesting thing, watching him play around. Everything he did had a purpose. He checked out every obstacle in the arena. He cantered circles near us, moving about two inches closer to us [we were in the corner, protecting all the things he could get tangled in or hurt on] He just kept testing the bubble. How close can I get to you guys before you move your feet? Luckily I was armed with a carrot stick so I was able to just claim my space, without managing to offend him.

What was really cool about him was how EXPRESSIVE he is. If you just claimed space, he was totally fine with getting out of the way, even if he got tagged. IF he felt like I was coming after him, or being unfair, he bucked! What a goof! I love that dignity! I hope no one ever takes it away from him :)

Once he had moved his feet, he became very curious about us people! He would check in and move off and check in and move off, so we started tracking him, since he was more walking/trotting now, rather than cantering/bucking. He was immediately curious, and basically ended up giving us small liberty circles, yielding his hind quarters as we followed him. It was amazing!

The whole key was to shape what he was already offering, and not give him anything to brace on - part of the reason we stayed at liberty! He followed us all over the arena after that, checked out the tarp, checked out the brush jump and poles on the ground. All four feet on the tarp and he jumped the jump on his own. He got fixated on the door for a bit, because his buddy was out there, so we went over and claimed the door as our space. He figured it out pretty quick and really started softening and offering to connect and come over without bowling us over!

We played with him from our spot. sometimes he would fixate on the outside, so we would see how little it took to get him to refocus. He was so light!

To finish, the student connected with him and walked over to where the lead rope was and took him out. He tried to revert to his usual pushy self so I had to remind her to treat him with zero brace and just yield his hind quarters without pulling to get him to focus. As soon as she did that, he was soft and connected and everything went wonderfully. She said it was the best he has been about turning out through the gate :)

What a cool horse!!!! I had so much fun playing with him :)

:)
S

Happy New Year!

Today is officially the first day of a new year - this wild and crazy year of 2014!  Which, coincidentally, is also the Chinese Year of the Horse. How cool is that?

Of course the traditional thing to do to kick off a new year is lay down some resolutions or goals. I have a few so far.

     1- I would like to become more physically flexible. This will help my riding and general comfort in life, and it is something I have really neglected since... forever. I think playing with flexibility on a continued basis will also help out my club foot situation so I can be more balanced.
     2 - I plan to become 'extraneous' debt free in 2014. Obviously, I will still have a mortgage [barring a lottery win!] but I have a plan to pay off all other debts owing.
     3 - I will set aside actual planned time with my own horses, and not let them slide by the wayside because I get to busy teaching/training other people and horses. Especially poor Zephyr! The Phyr-Child will be grown enough physically to be able to do more, so I can use that 'excuse' for her any more. Id like to accomplish some L3 auditions with Zephyr this summer.
    4 - I plan to attend as many learning experiences as I can justifiably accomplish, given resolution #2. Progression is key to motivation for me. Whether horse related or not!  

One of the things I decided to randomly start doing this year too, was something that was floating around facebook - its to start a savings jar. Each week you put the dollar amount in the jar that corresponds to the week numer - IE: this week one dollar, next week two dollars... etc...  http://thehousemadehome.blogspot.ca/2013/06/52-week-money-challenge-are-you-game.html
It seems like a great way to save money without really noticing, because the most you will ever put it, in a week will be $52! But as each week adds on to the last, you will end up with over a thousand dollars by this time next year :) Who doesnt want to start the new year with a little extra cash?

There was another thing I saw on facebook that I plan to do too - its another jar. I like jars I guess. But in this one, you write notes of all the amazing things, the fun things, the silly things, the OH BOY things, and you put them all in the jar. So you can remember how amazing the past year was when you get to this time of year and start reminiscing again. As someone who wishes they blogged more about the little things in life, this caters to me perfectly :) Now I just have to find some jars/bowls/buckets!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope it is filled with joy, laughter and of course lots of horses!

:)
S

Christmas Time

This isnt a particularly horsey post, just some thoughts I wanted to write down :)

Its that time of year. Christmas/New Years/Holidays. Ironically, a time of year usually associated with a lot of stress.

The norm for me is to feel the pressure this time of year. I am not really sure why, but it isnt usually a good time for me. This year surprised me though. I felt really good leading up to the holidays, and Christmas and all its kerfuffle ended up being a really joyful experience - Just like its SUPPOSED to be!!!!!

My family really likes Christmas - my mom and sister LOVE to celebrate and decorate to the MAX! I am basically the polar opposite. I have one snow man stuffed fellow who sits on my couch [all year actually, I just like him] and thats it. No tree, no extras, nothing. Too much is overkill for me. I like watching my specials on tv, I like my snow man, but for now, I am happy with my second decoration-less christmas :) I think it helped me be really happy and excited for everything because I wasnt 'done' with it before it even happened.

This year me and my sister went to do our Christmas baking at my moms on the Friday before Christmas. It was really fun! We decorated the tree, we reminisced over all of our old ornaments and school crafts, we colored - one of our traditions - and we baked EVERYTHING!!!! Soooooo many cookies and tasty things :)

It turned out to be a wicked snow storm day, so we ended up spending the night at moms, which made the whole experience that much more fun and nostalgic. Even driving home the next morning was really dicey - it was a lot of freezing rain, which is my ultimate winter nemesis!

The weekend after baking was spent mostly trapped indoors, as the rain continued for two days. Yuck! Ice Storm, mini version! The ponies were less than impressed, to be sure!

Christmas eve dawned sunny and COLD. -20ish. But still my FAVORITE part of Christmas. Cousin Christmas day! For the last nine years, since our families kind of stopped doing things together, me, my sister and our two cousins our age have made our own Christmas together. This year was no exception, and as always, when the four of us get together, things get epic! Christmas Intensifies, most certainly! The show stopper of this years shin-dig was certainly the present me and Tanya made for Crystal - we made her her own version of Monopoly - Crystalopoly! We worked really hard on it, and were really proud of it. I think she loved it as much as we did :) We all had a great time playing it, and then subsequently laughed our butts off playing Cards Against Humanity.

After a late night at Tanya's Christmas eve, we got up early to go to Moms for the super yummy Christmas breakfast, featuring my very favorite crepes!! YUM! Then, after a fantastic visit at moms, with Grammie and Grampie, Derek and I headed up to his parents for his family get together. Following the trend of awesome, the afternoon/evening there was also a resounding success and joy. We brought Varo, and he was a total doofus, as always.

We came home with lots of chocolate, treats and amazing thoughtful gifts :) Then on Boxing day, my dad came over with Tanya and we had another great adventure day. We tried to go to St Huberts for Lupper, only to find out it was closed :( Scores was a great second choice though, so it all worked out in the end and we all had fun!

Such was my really good Christmas marathon this year!

Now if only the ridiculous layer of ice could leave so the horses can walk over snow without hurting and I could maybe ride :)

:)
S

Pennsylvania Adventure

This past weekend a friend I headed south of the North Land to a small town called Altoona, in PA, to attend a series of workshops being put on by Jake Biernbaum [3*] and Dancin Pete Rodda[2*]!!

It was only about seven hours away, so really not that far in the grand scheme of life. To be fair, I drove that WITH Mo in June for the tour stop. So going without her [sad:( ] and getting to take Kara's bigger-on-the-inside teeny car [seriously, $35 to fill up.... are you kidding me??]  up into the mountains of PA for some Parelli fun.

I went with the intention of supporting Kara in her first long distance driving foray, and also to socialize and catch up with my friends. Turns out I got a whole lot more out of the weekend than I planned for!  I really am not even sure I am finished digesting everything yet, and about 70% of it isnt even horsemanship. Kara and I had some amazing conversations that have really caused me to think a lot, plus what we talked about with Jake and Pete and the others at the clinic.

We arrived Friday afternoon to our B&B - which was GORGEOUS! Full on HOLY WOW when you drove up gorgeous. This is it - http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/pa-tyrone-stonypointbedbreakfast.html?gclid=COaf6qGzi7sCFa9aMgod7i4Atg in case you are headed to Harmony Horsemanship Center and need a great place to stay! It was beyond beautiful, with so much character and a story! Apparently it was built in the 20's from timbers off of old rail road cars, when they were converting all the cars to steel! There was a connection to the Free Masons as well. Very cool history.

The house itself was just so welcoming. The carpets were plush, all the doorways were arched and inviting. Our rooms were luxurious and used RADIATORS for heat!! The radiators were inset into the window frames, so there was shelving on top of the one in my room - I laid my pjs and clothes there each day, and was rewarded with warm clothes to put on each morning and night! What a treat, because it was COLD!

After settling in on Friday, we headed over to the facility where there was going to be a demo and dance night. Getting to see Pete again was so nice! He was just here in September, but re-connecting with friends is always great. Its been much longer since I saw Jake [ 2011?] so it was great to catch up in person again too. Thank goodness for social media - really, it doesnt feel so long between visits with all my worldy friends thanks to things like facebook.

The demo was great. River - Pete's mare - is looking AMAZING - and she was pretty before! Lil Grey was adorable, and it was fun to see him 'live' after seeing pictures and video of him before this weekend. I always love watching parelli people - especially instructors - with their personal horses. Its one thing to get international instructors to come teach locally, but to see them interact with their own horses, where the relationship is the foundation, its just awe inspiring to me.

After the demo, we learned the 7 games dance. Ive learned it before, but it was tweaked a little since then, so I wasnt quite as comfortable as I thought I would be. Consider the silly bridge crossed. Surprisingly, it was quite 'warm' the first day - 13 degrees or so. We mistakenly thought that would set the tone for the whole weekend.... *sigh*

Saturday morning was COLD!!! The wind was picking up and snow was threatening! How rude. The arena at HHC is gorgeous - The whole east wall is open to view the mountains! It just isnt all that warm unfortunately. Though honestly, I am not sure anything could have kept us warm.

The first workshop of the weekend was about personal space. Jake and Pete presented their ideas surrounding 'Brick Wall and Feather' - are you the wall, or are you the feather? After the theory discussion they headed out to play with some of the ideas for the morning.

The afternoon was all about rein positions and leg positions - theory and then practical. I will admit to being so cold I bailed to the heated viewing room/class room, so I didnt hear everything, but saw most of it. The evening was finished off with an amazing lasagna and meatballs meal presented up at the house. The amazing and gorgeous house that had RADIANT HEAT FLOORING in the dining room. I was not the only one who laid out on the floor to de-thaw that evening!

The meal was delicious, the company was fantastic, and the time seemed to go to fast. It felt like no time at all before we were headed back to the B&B to gear up for the next day.

Liberty was up the next morning, after a theory session about the lines in a round pen. With all the snow the day before, the outdoor round pens were 'out of order' [aka - none of us wanted to stand out in the snow and wind] so we concocted one in the indoor arena made from barrels, jump standards and ropes laid on the ground to mark the boundaries. Then all the people stood around the outside to reinforce said lines. It worked out pretty well! It was a really interesting morning, if VERY cold!

At lunch time, there were leftovers so we all got treated to more hot food and warm floors!! Best invention ever! I thought for a minute there might be a schedule change to keep the afternoon session horseless, but the riders were brave and headed out after the theory discussion, ready to ride patterns!

Jake did a great demo about getting/building neutral on the figure eight that really dropped the last pieces in place from what I had learned from Pete on his last two Canada visits. It allowed me to come home and get to where Mo trotted two laps pf the pattern all on her own while I stood in neutral, in just one 15 minute session!

Right at the end of the clinic, one of the horses coliced - seemed very mild though. We quickly treated her with the red lights and essential oils, and she was up on her feet in about 45 mins - and I heard she was doing great the next day too. After that scary interlude, we all went up to finish off the last of the lasagna and meatballs and enjoy some more time on the heated floors.

We had more good times after dinner, playing Pete's board game called the Seven Games [all Parelli trivia] and then trying to learn how to juggle with lemons - I learned that if you drop a lemon enough times, you get lemonade! We had some pretty squooshy lemons by the end! Finally, late into the night we said our final goodbyes and headed back for one last night at the B&B. One more night of warm jammies and then we packed up to head home Monday morning.

It was sunny again, no more snow falling. The temperature rose steadily as we got closer to home - ironic, no? We got lucky and had great, easy travels in both directions. Great discussion and music, great friends and tons of learning.

The funny thing is, that if you were to ask me what I learned this weekend, I am not sure I could pin point it. I learned that I am on the right track with a lot of my thoughts. Everything that I have been playing with this summer seemed to get touched on, even briefly, at some point during the weekend. So thats good. I learned a lot about feel. I learned that I knew a lot about feel - which was kind of surprising.

I still have more to soak on, but it was a really great weekend that left me plotting ways to get to Florida so I can continue my education this winter....

:-)
S

Three of the BEST days Ever, in a Row.

Thats right. Three. THREE AMAZING DAYS all in a row, and I didn't even have to leave Canada!

Im going to start with Day 3, because its today, and because I PASSED MY L4 FINESSE AUDITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. That happened. All the gods and Karma's and Universes that be, Bless Mo, thy saviour horse, who ALWAYS pulls my S%$t together when I need her to, and teaches me every lesson when she needs me to learn. My goodness I LOVE MO! We are officially fancy enough to be Black String Bearers!! Much more coordinated with my fancy black pony, dontcha know ;)

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

So thats today. Now to try and focus on the rest of the amazing - because trust me, it was amazing!

I will go back to day 1 - more Mo amazingness :D [Mo-mazing...?]

Saturday when I woke up it was awful weather. I have to say, the day did NOT start out feeling like it was going to be an amazing day for the history books.  It was cold and rainy and windy!! None the less, Mo and I were going to be brave. We waited all week for this day!

What grand adventure were we off to? Fox Hunting of course! What more could you ask for, than some pseudo-British weather when we want to try our hand at a British sport!

With a pit stop in Russell to pick up Roxy and Tristan, we were off, in the thankfully-tapering-off drizzle! We pulled into the Hunt Farm and got ourselves all registered. I think we were the only ones out of the people who did sign up for the Invitational Hunt, to actually show up - because of the weather! I am so glad we did though!

After getting ourselves sorted out, we unloaded the ponies and tacked up in the windy drizzle. Mo was her usual self, eating grass while this went on, but when I moved her feet I could tell she was feeling some energy. Who wouldnt on one of the first cold days, with the wind coming and all the other horses feeling it too!

Once I got on Mo I could really feel her energy up! She was BUZZING! Responsive, but very aware of everything. We sat and had our Stirrup cup [I had lemonade instead of port :) ] She surprised me when the hounds came out by doing nothing. She was absolutely FASCINATED by them! Which was a trend that continued for the whole ride. Every time they were in view, it didnt matter which direction we were travelling, she was looking at the hounds. Let me tell you how good our shoulder in was by the end of the day.... Ha!

In Hunting there are 3 fields of horses that go - there is First field, which are the ones that follow the hounds closely, galloping and jumping everything in their way. Second field goes slightly more moderately paced, trotting and cantering, with alternate routes around the jumps. First field mostly walks and trots, observing from farther away. Laura, Roxy and I opted for second field. Speed, but options :) I like it. Second field is where we rode in the summer on the "mock hunt" trail rides too, so I knew what to expect... sort of!

Second field was perfect pace. I really enjoyed it. Mo was SUPER riled! Basically the most adrenalized I have ever felt her, but still connected and responsive. It was such an odd combination! There were moments when she just COULD not stand or walk, so we did a bunch of passage/piaffe but it was all without me holding her back.... It was outright odd! I would just sit in my body and think " you can do what you want, in this box, but dont leave" and she would trot on the spot, poll high, bum low, super rhythmic and nice.... but just very emotional about it. It was sooooo soft. Just not calm! I refused to hold her up/back with the reins, so she held herself, but she stayed and thats what happened....

I remember thinking later, that I should probably do something to interrupt the emotional pattern, but in the moment it was just SUCH a cool feeling that all I did was set it up and ride it.... whoops ;) So we bounced our little way around the hunt field. There was regular walking and trotting to of course! And cantering! And galloping!

Im pretty sure the big horses were not galloping.... but Mo for sure was! It felt like the fastest we ever went - and it was extra fun because it was in a group with my friends and through a big corn field :D

FLY LIKE THE WIND MO!

I had so much fun :D I kept smiling and laughing [and because of that, ate a bit more mud that I really wanted to] and poor Mo's little white face was fairly mud colored by the end!

After the riding part, Mo and Tristan got to go stay in Laura's very swanky new barn and get spoiled there while we all got spoiled with FOOD! There was a DELICIOUS supper provided and tons of dessert! We all went home happy, tired and full! What a superb day!

After such a great day, Mo and I came home and found out we lost Phyr.... how? I dont know yet, because I havent had time/daylight to investigate, but when we got home late and in the dark, Zephyr was no where to be found!! After much searching and calling she finally crashed out of the woods in the back corner from the WRONG FIELD! GAH! Phyr child.... what she did to get over there and why she was there, who knows.... at least she came back!

So one tired Mo was re-united with one slightly stressed out Phyr and all was happy.

Sunday morning dawned much brighter and nicer than Saturday! Sunday was to be a big day too! I had thought long and hard on Saturday about  what to do - I had scheduled a lesson with Farrah Green for my self for Sunday morning. After our ride the day before though, I didnt think it would be fair to take Mo into another physically challenging endeavor. Which meant Zephyr was nominated!!

Time for the little kid to grow up, go on a trailer ride all by herself and have a lesson in an indoor arena for the first time ever! OH BOYY!!!

Zephyr totally blew my socks off. I cant even say how proud of her I am! She marched herself right on that trailer, all by herself, came off DRY and calm, and waited while I brushed her all up and then walked right into a strange arena while the previous lesson finished up! WOW! WHAT A KID!

I was actually really glad we had some extra time to settle because as good as Phyr was being, she *was* tight for her. So we played touch it and explored the arena a little bit in the ways that we could without disturbing the other person. There was a mirror in one corner that made her go "WASSAT!" but other than that she was pretty brave once she touched everything.


When it was actually our lesson time, Zephyr was spot on. I decided I wanted help on how to figure out how to help her not feel like I was "making" her do everything - even at phase one! I got some great strategies - 1] breathe and release with every step on the yo-yo. Keep going, but time your breathing to one foot. This made an immediate difference for her! I was really surprised! She is such a sensitive thing, that such a subtle thought really affects her!

On the both the circle and the yo-yo we played with maintaining a rhythm. Not just blah blah blah, but the walk I would like to ride, or the back up I would like to ride, or the trot... etc...  Even just changing my focus to be looking for rhythm and doing in my body what I would do if I were riding really caused Zephyr to change!

The we played with maintain gait at the trot - every time she broke we would change direction and send again until it was her idea to keep going. Canter transitions, which have been sticky for us got much easier and clearer! Instead of a helpful drive [my thought] we changed to a follow the feel porcupine up into the canter, which my genius child got right away. Because she is a genius! Her transitions were also GORGEOUS and uphill - which is something she struggles with!

We talked about how not to expect her to maintain that until its easy to maintain the trot forever and the transitions come easy - going to neutral with Zephyr is always my challenge because she tends to get lost and emotional out on the line and then either comes up with naughty thoughts or just robots and runs... so that was really perfect to have Farrah see her and get input on it. We played also with a little bit of just can you canter and using the same change of direction strategy and then when the attitude [can you see me!?!?!] came out, I would just support it in a friendly way, to let her know I saw her and was still there.

We also played with a little spanish walk towards the end, but there was some kafuffle with another horse and Phyr was not about to focus on something so small and ignorable, so Farrah just did simulations with me, and I will play with it with Phyr this winter :)There was also some sideways trotting in there somewhere - first time I ever asked her to trot sideways, and voila! Ha!

Phyr spent the rest of the day while I watched the rest of the lessons, by herself in a little paddock [thanks Garry!] happily grazing. When it was time to go home, she happily loaded up and rode quietly home. She unloaded PERFECTLY, didnt even call to Mo, and walked back into the field all " Did you see, Mo? I got to GO today and you had to stay here :P " I could seriously see her gloating. It was so funny.

The biggest thing I learned yesterday with Zephyr was that I can stop babying her !!!! Farrah says we are close to a L3 audition - so my goal is to pull that out now :) I cant believe that, but YEY Phyr! In my head she is still my baby, but its true, I CAN stop babying her and expect a little more from her now :)

So thats my last three days. Both of my ponies blew my mind, and then I got the email that compounded everything time a million :D

:D
S

The Phyr Child is Growing Up!!

Somehow, over the past two years of having Zephyr in my life, she has been growing up... In the beginning, she was such a cute little kid. Last year she was kind of a funny looking middle sized kid - being all super downhill and such. This year she was still really downhill, but much bigger and starting to look more like a horse than a baby. She still has lots of growing to do, she is only three and three months old. But she is amazing. And wonderful. And SUCH a great teacher!

There are times when I forget she is a baby. The lightness of her responses and the quality of her tries, just blow me away. I and working so hard not to put anything into her that she doesnt need to know. Sometimes, that means I do less with her than maybe I could, but it all pays of, so I am not worried about what we maybe "should" be doing by now. We go at our own pace, and learn together with success!

Today was really a culmination of all that preparation for me. We have really been playing with building a stretchy trot online - because she tends to be rather stiff necked and bracy just about moving forward in general. Causing her to think down was NOT an easy task! I had to get very creative, because if I got in close to her and started trying to move her body around, I was likely to get an exuberant and playful hoof in the stomach. Not my cup of tea. I started with trying to influence her from a distance, but she just got confused and went faster, so it was time to think outside the box.

I would take her out into the hayfield, where the grass is long and delicious looking and ask her to trot until she really wanted to stop and eat grass. Then I would allow her to stop on the circle and eat grass. It was hardly any time at all before she was stretching her neck down for the grass, but maintaining forward movement. Today was the ultimate test! She carried the stretch for over a lap in the hay field, and then when we came back into the playground after saddling [during which she was a total champ!] I asked for the stretch where there was no tempting grass and VOILA! Stretchy Phyr! YEYYY!!!! My plan is working!!!

So online warmup was SUPER today. Just perfect. She is getting better at canter transitions in general, but still a little sticky once saddled. We played with it some, and it got better, but definitely still something to push to get better. Once I felt good online [only one squeal, and a half hearted buck!] I brought her over to the mounting block and hopped up.

She was a total PRO! Stood like a statue, and came around for lateral flexion pretty much when I thought about it! She is so sensitive when she wants to be! We walked off really nice and played with some point to point in the back with the barrels. Walk first, then trot. Lots of licking and yawning! I rode with the carrot stick to, which Zephyr likes I think, because I can be more clear without having to add more to her halter.

Then came the miracle moments. I went over and dropped the stick at the mounting block and thought "We should canter back to Mo" and POOF we did! It was only the second time we ever cantered before, EVER! Then we went back to our point to point barrels and continued the theme of canter departs. Really thinking about changing my picture from trot feel to canter feel [not just add speed for faster trot] and causing her to catch on to that, rather than "lets canter a whole bunch". Its not about the canter! Zephyr was amazing. Of course we had a few miscommunication moments, but nothing horrendous, and she was trying so hard anyways! The last two were PERFECT and she settled into a lovely forward canter !!!! Holy moly can little horsey canter BIG!

Overall, I could NOT be more proud of my Phyr. SHE ROCKED MY WORLD!!! I LOVE ZEPHYR!!!! She is so smart, so sensitive, so clever! Now, I just have to make sure I dont screw her up :D

SUCH a good morning!!!!

:)
S

Mo The Champion

[this was supposed to be posted before previous post, but it got saved as draft somehow]

So a few weeks ago, me and Mo went to a show called a Combined Test. I never really knew these things existed before hearing about this one, and since it was about five minutes away from my house, I was game to try. Essentially, you ride a dressage test and then jump a stadium course. Based on your scores from both, a division winner is decided.

I decided just a few days before the show to enter Mo. We chose the smallest division - an Entry level dressage test and a 2'3 jump course, because I didnt really leave us much practice time. It was the Friday of this weekend that I filmed my Finesse Audition, so I felt pretty ready to ride a dressage test.

The day before the show it rained non-stop. I am not kidding, it just rained and rained and rained some more! I was starting to think I would have to teach Mo the backstroke to get to X! Due to the rain, there was no practice on the day before. Luckily, Sunday dawned nicely.

We were pretty much the only trailer-in competitor, other than Jeanette and Toby. Which meant we had plenty of space to warm up and play. Warm up and online play went really well. Short but intense and focused. Then it was time to braid and saddle up! Mo looks so fancy all braided up and with her fancy white saddle pad! Our warm up ride got to run long because things were a little behind, but thats ok. We played with transitions and sideways and canter-walk transitions. Mo was really happy and confident in the bridle, and happy to move forward because it was a chilly day!

Then it was our turn!! We trotted around the arena a few times before we were called in. During one of our rounds the judge said hello and complimented Mo! How nice is that? :) When the bell rang [it was actually a duck call because the bell was being drowned out by the wind, ha!]  we were close to the gate and I opted to head in. Probably a bad move, because we lots rhythm and straightness suffered. Oh well!

Luckily, I had Amanda calling for me, even though I had the test memorized, because then I could just focus and ride :) Mo was great. I was and am SO proud of her! She was rhythmic and consistent and responsive! We broke our canter on the second circle, but otherwise I felt really really good about everything else. Snappy transitions, nice direction and circles and relaxation, most of all!

Coming out of the test I felt really happy. Thats what was the best part. I was so proud of Mo, and she was still happy! I took her to the sidelines to watch Jeanette and Toby do their round. They did great too! After both tests we headed back to the trailer to get the ponies some well deserved hay snacks and find ourselves some lunch!

While on lunch the results for our first class were released.... MO GOT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!! I was basically beside myself with pride! Mo was so amazing that even the judge noticed! In the comments section there was a note that said NICE HORSE in all caps :D What a nice judge! We scored a 71% on our test!

Mo got a big red ribbon and even a bag full of horsey treats :D She was obviously very tired after such an effort....

After lunch it was time to warm up for jumping. Mo did her classic and over jumped everything from the long spot in the warm up. It was ok, I am getting better at riding it at least. Then it was our turn!

Into the jump arena we went. It was a very tight twisty turny course, but Mo is good at that. There were lots of Mo eating flowers, which Mo wildly over jumped, but we lived. Because she was a little spazzy I opted to ride again, and the second time out was SO MUCH BETTER! I was just happy that Mo was able to maintain more rhythm and fowardness through the course !

Happy with our effort, but totally not expecting a ribbon [ I actually forgot our second round could still count] we went back to the trailer to untack and get many scratches. When I came back to watch the little kids go, the score keeper/ ribbon giver found me and told me that MO WON! AGAIN!!

Some how, Mo got the optimum time!! I didnt even know what it was, but somehow she got it! WAY TO GO MO!!

Mo got FIRST in both of our classes!!! Which means she was CHAMPION in our division!!! How cool is that?

Not only our first, first place ribbon, but there were two of them AND a fancy giant Champion ribbon!

Mo rocked my socks the whole day and it paid off :D YEY MO!!!

:D
S

Mo the Teacher

Mo has, and will always be one of my most influential teachers, but today was especially poignant for me.

This morning we had a great play online after a slightly mopey catch-me time. Yesterday I let them out in the very grassy back pasture, so this morning when I called them up for breakfast, no one was interested - surprise, surprise! It was pretty funny really. When I went down to walk them up, Zephyr came over from about 100 feet away, said hi and do you have any cookies, but left when she found out the answer was no! Mo was over behind her, and when I started to walk to Mo, Zephyr got re-interested, but when I ignored her she got offended and left [the indignity of it all!] As Mo figured out that I was talking to her, she came over and we walked together up to the barn for her brekky. Zephyr only noticed that Mo got food about 15 minutes later as I was brushing Mo. So she did get hers, just belatedly - silly goof.

So me and Mo headed out to play, on a 22' with some zone five driving, that is always something Mo seems to worry about. It is not my strong suit, and though I know we have enough of a foundation in it to make our L4 audition pass, I have decided it might be something I would like to refine a little more. I had the line draped over her back, and I was really looking for her to tune into where my belly button was pointing to direct her, and then I could support with the stick if I needed to. I kept it simple, just a few circles or a figure eight near to the barn. Something easy and confidence building. There was lots of licking and chewing, and even a few blow outs. I was happy with that!

From there I played with refining my communication with zone 1 in the send for sideways. Mo got really energetic about that and trotted and cantered sideways a bunch. Then we played with extension/collection on a circle. That was super interesting! She got some really cool extension AND in our collection portion - we almost got piaffe!!! just a half step or two, but it was almost there! Definitely something to keep playing with.

I decided that today would be bareback balance day. The last few times I have actively ridden bareback, things felt iffy, so I thought today would be a good chance to assess that and check out whats really going on. I got some savvy strings for reins - because I still want to play with lightness, and hopped up [from the fence]

We walked and trotted, I checked my balance point, I made an extra effort to check and make sure I wasnt gripping with my knees and everything felt great. Mo felt good, I felt in sync with her, I was really happy with that. When I felt good with everything at low speed, I asked Mo up into the canter and then she got all weird. I was really confused at first. She got her neck all curled up, she wouldnt move forward, it felt like she was bouncing on the spot, and she actually did buck for real at one point. I kept just using one rein to shut it down and asking her to go, but still trying to figure out WHY she was doing that. Something obviously wasnt good for her in the canter.

I tried to figure out if her back was in pain - but no, that should show at the trot more for the bouncy. Maybe my locked hip was blocking her? Again, no, nothing at the trot. And then it hit me - The canter transition had me gripping with my knees!! I told Mo that I wanted to work on my bareback balance, and here was her feedback! So up into the canter we went again, with me consciously trying not to grip with my knees and leg, and there was less of the 'cant go forward'. Excellent.

So we played with that, until we could transition and canter without my brain being useless. And then when I got off - the swirly hairs I usually find under my legs werent there! No brace-no rubs !

Once again, Mo has been my wonderful teacher. How I love my pony!

:)
S 

Road to a Finesse Audition

Well, I finally did it. Me and Mo finally got ballsy enough to try filming out Finesse Audition. And we had fun doing it! We did it in one shot, we smiled, I laughed, and Mo jumped imaginary things, just for fun.

If you want to watch it - the link is here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUVdXpo25Z8&feature=youtu.be

Mo was wonderful. A little slow, but it was actually the first hot day in weeks, so I dont really blame her! From 15 degrees to 27, with her partially grown winter coat! POOR MO! Other than slow, she was perfect. PERFECT!

Attitude is the number one thing I can cite as why it went well. Taping previous auditions, I really had the attitude of "OMG GOTTA DO THIS OR ELSE" - because of the deadline and what not. Yesterday, I literally woke up and thought "Hey, today would be a great day to film my audition for Finesse I think". I still had to go to work and do all that business, so it even had to wait until I got home. And I still had a great thought about it. I was actually really excited to film! That never happened before!

So I came home from work and Mo was in the shed, hiding from the bugs and sunshine. She and Zephyr got their tiny portion of supplements, and then I spent a whole bunch of time making Mo pretty! I brushed her until she shined, put a gallon of show sheen in her mane and tail, and even braided her mane a little bit :) She looked so pretty!! No that she doesnt always look, pretty, but she sure looked extra pretty :)

After saddling, we slowly made our way out to the shifty dressage arena I made. D was coming in from cutting wood by now, right on time to video Mo in all her glory :)

We warmed up online as usual. I went really slow, waiting for her to put some try in. Mo went really slow at first and then came out squealing and goofy, trotting and cantering.  When I mounted we just played around freestyle first. She was even slow freestyle, so at least I know it wasnt about the bridle! For reference, it was hot enough for ME, the eternally cold one, to be wearing a tank top! Poor Mo in her half winter fluffies, she was a little toasty. She got a ton of apples for her effort though!

After testing out our follow the rail and a few flying changes [HA! Who knew I would ever say THAT semi-casually!] I checked my pre-laid pattern in my head and told D when to start filming.

Turns out my pre-planned route would only take three minutes. Oopsy! So we had to improvise a little at the end, but I had semi-accounted for that, and had a sort of idea what else I would like to do, at least :)

It all went great. Mo jumped the log twice on our left to right changes, because she is a goober like that. Then one time, when we stopped, when I tried to go again she was all "WAIT!!!! MY NOSE IS ITCHY!" and it was really funny because she is so dramatic. I just laughed and let her scratch her nose, and then we went on.

Overall, I think it went very well. I dont know if it will pass or not, but hopefully :) At least I had fun doing it. Getting to this point has been a hard road. To be able to just let go and have fun and let the Audition Gods play as they see fit was a very hard thing for my perfectionist personality!

Black string, here I come!!

:)
S

Dressage Practice

This past weekend me and Mo headed out the the local Hunter Pace, and we had an amazing time. It was by far the best most connect event of this sort I have had with Mo. She was far more connected to my body language than she has been in the past, and even with the record amount of mud, we had a super day.

Yesterday I decided to enter a small fun show at the barn where I have taken lessons in the past year and a half, on and off. It is a dressage/jumper show, so we have to ride a dressage test and then jump a stadium course. Sounds easy peasy huh? Well, I hope it will be. I am quite excited about taking Mo, since it is such an affordable event and a fun way to get out and practice what we have been playing with.

Obviously I cant compete in a halter, so that means I have to re-introduce the bridle again, which is what we did last night. It was a very very interesting session.

My afternoon started when I got home from teaching, and jumped on Google to tell me how to make a dressage ring, and which test I would need to ride. I found both, and headed out with my trusty sharpie and started to lay out my hastily planned dressage test practice zone! It actually turned out quite well, and I am fairly proud of it. I used jump standards as my corner points, with jump poles to mark the arena lines vaguely, and small white barrels with the letters markered onto them as my letters for the pattern. Then I mowed the  whole area with the lawn mower [dont tell D... he hates when I do that! ]

The best part of the whole endeavor, was that Mo hung out with me for basically the whole time! Except the mowing part, which I understand ! But while I was moving poles and standards and barrels, she was with me, checking things out, probably snickering to herself as Zephyr chased around the new cows.  I thought that was rather nice. Mo being with me, not Zephyr chasing cows [though that really is just funny]

Once it was all set up, I fetched myself a Mo, which was really easy because she was right at the barn. She haltered herself in a lovely fashion and I set about making her purtyfull :) I wasnt sure if we would have to go fully decked out in show gear this weekend, so I tested out if my white sheet will work over my Smart Pad, and it turned out ok. Saddling was good, so then it was time for the bridle. Despite our bridle hiatus, Mo was eager to take up the bit again [yey!] and so we were ready to go.

I had her on a 12' line, with reins in hand, and my dressage whip instead of a carrot stick. It is easier for me to listen to her and not 'make' her at phase one with the littler stick I think. We turned to go and got about five steps before Mo said "hang on a second" and paused. I waited a bit, she licked and we went on, but it was really one step at a time. I was really trying to mirror her, and not just step off without her. We made it just past the red gate before she got stuck again. This time I accidentally kept walking a bit, because I was distracted by squirrels.

Now Squirrels. This might not be a big deal to the rest of the world, but it is a fairly significant thing in my life. For the last 14 1/2 years of my life, there have been NO squirrels anywhere near any house I have lived in. Why, you ask? Well because of Sable and Ajax. Between the two of them, the doggies kept small game to a minimum because they are apparently very tasty. So, the fact that I uncovered a nest of at least two baby [well, youngish] and one grown up squirrels..... well thats a sad fact because it means my amazing fluffy dog is getting older and doesnt want to chase them any more :( I think Varo is to too engrossed with chasing Orange Cat to take up the reins eating squirrels, so who knows? Maybe I will be over run with the little critters soon! Maybe then Jax will notice, and resume his squirrel hunting prowess.....

So, squirrels. I was so astounded to see them, that when Mo stopped, I kept walking until the end of the line and then noticed she had stopped. Oops. So I waited. I watched squirrels and waited until it was her idea to come up to me. And WOW. When she came up to me, all on her own, she power walked! And was SUPER enthused to keep going out to the field! Thanks, Squirrels. My mistake turned out pretty alright after all!

Out in the field I took Mo over to check out our new play pen. We checked things out and played a little with circles, stick to me and sideways. It was just amazing. I allowed her to offer what she thought was right with the energy I directed to her, and released when she matched my picture. She did TONS of thinking! Her sideways was some of the best its ever been, cantering from a standstill with loads of happy exuberance! I released way more often and was rewarded with way more try. How interesting! Im not sure I can even clearly express the easy happy back-and-forth that went on in that session. It was just so light hearted and fun! I ended up playing online for much longer than I had planned to :)

When I finally did get on and ride, I started with my reins on the halter. We played with some connection there and tried out our test for Sunday. It went really really well. We were both just so focused and in tune, it felt easy! Then I switched to the reins and tried out a soft touch, and it was still wonderful, then a little more of a soft feel to her mouth,  and it was still there! She got a little bit iffy with more feel, really wanting to hide in a stretch, but I tried really hard to keep it light and fun and giver her a release often. I must have done something right, because by the time we were done, she had NO frothy green [from cookies] stuff at all! I am pretty sure that is a first EVER! SUCCESS!!!

After playing around with our test a few times, we tried some different things too. Sideways, haunches in, shoulders in, just different shaping the body things. I tried a few changes, but I didnt set her up right, so we just got the front end - ALTHOUGH! A few times when we missed the hind, she did get extra elevated behind and fix it herself. THAT was cool, and also a first :)

I am really really enjoying the feel of playing with this new filter I have given myself. It is making a world of difference to Mo and even to Zephyr. I think too, it is giving me permission more to be where I am, instead of wondering why I havent gotten to X point yet. I feel like I am putting way more layers on what Ive got, rather than needing to DO new tasks..... if that makes sense?

Hopefully today I will be able to sort out some kind of a video.... if Zephyr will leave an unattended  camera on a barrel alone! Darn curious children ;)

:)
S

Interesting Things Pt 2

As promised, here is Mo's story over the last few days.

I would have written it sooner, but I really needed some time to digest and think/feel on it, before sharing it. Hopefully, I can do the story justice, because it has been very powerful to me at this point in time.

Mo and I have come a long way together. Loooonnngggggggg....gggggggg. When I got her, she was just two weeks old, and I was 16. I knew nothing about Parelli [or very very little] and I was about to embark on a gigantic learning curve.

Most of my first Parelli greenhorn mistakes were made with Dakota, but I have had to do my fair share of apologizing to my sacrificial lamb of learning, Mo, as well. As we rise up the levels together, I see more and more how much she has filled in for me and I appreciate her ever-more. Lately, with my focus being on passing my L4 Finesse, I have been trying to shift my thoughts towards really having her WANT to be doing this with me - WANT to be there, holding my hand, not *just doing it* because I said so. She is very obedient by this point. Mo, for sure, has a billion opinions, and frequently voices them, but she is also very obedient, in that if I say "Hey, lets focus for a bit and play later", she generally replies in the affirmative and ceases whatever goofballness she was pursuing.

This week has been a realy eye opener for me, in seeing what Mo REALLY wants, and listening to her. I recently was FINALLY, after literal YEARS of wanting one, able to wrangle myself up my very own Photonic Red Light [and if I was tech savvy, I would know how to make their name a fancy link-y thing, but instead, you will just have to google them] A friend of mine has been really starting to look into the therapy and practicing on Mo a few times, as well as getting her treated by Brian [company founder] twice in London - really opened my eyes to the positive effects this kind of therapy can really have. Mo would be a different horse each time after treatments. Much more free moving forwards, and happier to go sideways and that kind of thing. Listening to her, it really showed me that she enjoyed that. So now, with my own, I have really tried hard to listen to her in respect to WHERE she would like me to place the light. The last two times I used it on her, she was quite obviously trying to put it in certain places for longer, or making sure I hit a particular spot I might have otherwise glossed over.

So step one in listening to Mo came from treating her with the Red Light. Step two really came the other day after the Zen Ride. So Tuesday I guess, if that was Monday? I went out, really trying to chanel my energy into re-creating that amazing ride. we warmed up in a very similar way, and then headed over to use a tree as a mounting block. Thats when things got educational!

Quite often when I snap my reins on and head to the mounting block, I will ask my horse to follow me at Liberty, hop up on my perch and then they sidle over to pick me up, of their own volution. Things were going as they usually do, reins snapped on, we were walking over to the tree, I stepped up onto the tree, Mo sidled up about halfway.... and then went "Actually, not ready for that yet" And walked away! She just turned hard right, and walked just to the outside of the gate for the bottom field, and stood there.

Well dang. I could totally feel in the moment that it wasnt an attitude thing. It wasnt a play - I dont want to - thing. It was a total I cant. I KNEw I could go get her, bring her back and get her to stand, just by picking up the rein - not even holding her there, but just by having contact with her - but I truly want it to be her idea to hang out with me, and do the things *I* love to do, because she loves them too. This might be a stretch, but it is my focus right now.

So I waited. She wasnt going any further. She was maybe 60-70 feet away from me. She was standing with her tail towards me, head low, really introverted and processing. Hmmm.... So I waited some more, and she finally did turn to face me. But she placed herself in a such a way that there was a t-post directly in front of her, between her and I. Like she was trying [unseccessfully] to hide behind the t-post. Her focus was still kind of soft and dreamy and introverted, but she was trying to connect. It was like she was kind of daring me "what are you going to do? Will you come get me and MAKE me? " So I waited some more. I really wanted to see if she would eventually just come back to me on the mounting block.

I feel like she would have. At one point though, she put her head down to rub and her reins fell up her neck into a dangerous position, so I had to go save her. I didnt just march up to her though. I still felt out her bubble, I got her to turn towards me, I just fixed her reins and stepped back. She was willing to turn towards me [I like to think that she knew why I was coming in] but not to move her feet with me. So I backed off some more and waited some more. She was doing a TON of processing on this.

So was I. Lets be honest. This was HARD for me. It was SO hard, just to NOT get emotional [upset, frustrated, confused] when she walked away in the first place, and just go "how Interesting" and try to see what would happen. If I wasnt trying so hard to listen to her, to see if she is feeling ok, if there is anything ouchy, or if she is feeling like a partner today, I could have easily just caught the rein and mounted anyways and avoided this whole kerfuffle. Instead I let me horse dictate the timeline, and tell me where she needed me to be - which was not on her back yet.

So we played with waiting game, a little approach and retreat, a little bit of friendly game when something made a big banging noise in the sad barn and spooked Mo. Interestingly, she wanted to go over and check it out, instead of leave. She went about half way over, then decided it was kosher and came back to her original spot.  She looked fascinated that I wasnt just coming to get her. I was just as fascinated with her thought process and feeling for her emotions.

Finally I felt her really connect to me. She felt like she really wanted to draw into me, but she kept looking concerned at the electric fence that makes that gate. I know she is nervous about that kind of thing, so I backed off, to allow her lots of space to make it through without feeling like she would get trapped in the squeeze with the shock-y stuff. Just like that, she walked all the way up to me and blew out with a big lick and chew and started yawning.

Well holy cow. We just stood and I rubbed on her a whole bunch for a while. I snuggled her while she sorted out her thoughts. Then we went TOGETHER, to the mounting tree, she came to me perfectly, and I mounted and off we went. Our ride was really basic - we just went out in the hayfield on apple tree point to point. Mostly inconsequential after that ground session.

All told, that liberty plot line ran about 35 minutes from the time she walked away to the time I stepped back in the saddle. Thats a lot of waiting! I kind of wish she hadnt gotten tangled with her reins, and I could have stayed on my block to see what would happen, but I think what happened anyways was a fairly clear vision of her emotions.

So that brings us to yesterdays Liberty session.The day I rode Zephyr, Mo was all over me, but I didnt have time to play with both, so I just hugged her, gave her some cookies and promised I would see her later. The next day I went out with the intention to play with Mo, but after a quick friendly game she squealed and left! Oky doky then....! I caught Zephyrs attention and we played [see previous post] and the whole time Mo was watching us. grazing, yes, but sneakily keeping an eye on what we were doing and ever so softly coming in closer.

I didnt even notice when suddenly she was behind me as I was asking Zephyr to do something, until I accidently bumped her nose with my elbow! Poor Mo! She stayed though, just long enough to get a cookie, before spinning and trotting about 20 feet away. Goof. She did that twice more, staying closer each time until she was basically my shadow while I did stuff with Zephyr. I didnt ask anything of her though. When I finished with Zephyr, Mo walked with me back out of the gate and then trotted off to the barn when I asked her to turn, and she looked funny at the trot. ONLY because she looked funny at the trot, I caught up with her at the barn and tossed my string around her neck to bring her to the round pen. She didnt protest or try to escape or anything - but it wasnt her idea totally, or she would have stayed with me in the first place. If I hadnt thought she looked off, I would have left her to keep figuring out her own thoughts.

In the round pen I had her trot for me so I could see. She looked fine in there, so I have no clue what she looked funny about before. BUT !! Once in the round pen, she have me amazing close circles AND change of direction softly. We did that for maybe five minutes [just enough for me to check out her gait, go WOW and remember to get out before it gets bad] and then she stuck with me on her own plan as I walked back to pick up something and back to the barn. Even when I did transitions, she was right there. How interesting!

Which brings us to today! I was very curious to see what yesterday's liberty escapades would brew for me this morning. Apparently really good stuff! I fed the girls their breakfasts, and then haltered Mo. She was ALL about getting her face in the halter!  I brushed her and saddled her and off we went. Our little ground warm up consisted of playing with drawing the forehand to me. Mo was a little confused [rightly so] but got it really quickly. From there I went over to the mounting tree, and just thought "today, I would like to try mounting from the right" Guess which side Mo presented for me? I DIDNT EVEN HAVE TO ASK! She just read my mind! I was flabberghasted!

The amount of times I get on from the left, or just clamber up onto something and hope Mo comes over, I get the left side automatically. Today, by some magic, I got her right side. Wow. It was so easy! Here I was, thinking that we would be playing with our sideways towards on the right today. Boy was I wrong! It was just all right there! How cool is that? I went to mount, and the saddle slipped, but Mo didnt even move. She let me fix her up and try again, successfully this time - but the pad had tried to escape when I fixed the saddle and I didnt notice, so I had to get off anyways to fix it. This time, remounting, I thought, "Well, I will just get on the left this time" and POOF, again, like magic, over came the left side. Scary, no? My pony the psychic.

I mounted once again, and off we went. Something still felt different though. I couldnt put my finger on it. She was calm, connected and responsive as we walked out, but her body just felt different. The saddle was right, though, so I attributed it to the fact that I was wearing rubber boots and jeans, and just got new stirrup leathers. Off we went. Practiced our HQ yields from the walk and used them to direct our path instead of direct rein. Out into the bottom field where they are turned out right now, we started trotting. At first she was a little tight and looky [it was cold and windy] but then she relaxed and started stretching on her own. I was riding her in just a halter and finesse reins.

I eventually asked for her to come up to me, to collect her body and give softly to the halter and she did, soooo easily! This was only the second or third time I have really asked her this question in this way, so I was pretty surprised with how easily she answered positively.

And then we cantered. And I thought she was going to buck. But she didnt.

I was so confused that I bent her to a stop. Her canter hadnt felt like her normal canter. It felt much more UP, and suspendy. I didnt know what it was. So I thought she was going to buck! My general response to a bucking horse is bend to a stop, so thats what I did! Mo looked confused though, so we went again, and again she like this great suspendy upitty dolphin! Instead of beding her, I just checked in with her, asked for a touch of flexion [got it on phase one] and kept going.

And then I figured it out!

Mo was USING HER BACK! She was ENGAGING! She was LIFTING from her abs through her back! She was CARRYING herself! When I checked in with her, she was in beautiful vertical flexion! She was still soft, and responsive and super connected. As soon as I thought walk, it was there. I didnt know what she was doing, because I have NEVER felt her do it before!!!

NOW I know what people mean when they talk about suspension in the canter, and the 'up jump'! Riding Mo this morning was like riding a collected dolphin! It was amazing! I didnt push her much more than to confirm that she wasnt bucking, because I didnt want to ruin it. Even as I was rewarding it, I was wondering if I just rewarded her for bucking, until I figured out what she actually did!

My theory in-progress is that with all the nice red light treatments Mo has been getting, combined with the new supplement she is on that makes her muscles feel good, plus me finally getting smart and really being aware of her wants and desires has caused Mo to feel good, and really reach for the next level when I ask for it, even if I dont really know what I am asking for, preciseley! Really, exactly what she offered me today, is what I have been asking for when I ask for her to use her body playing with finnesse, and when I ask for suspension in her canter to make those flying changes. It really is the very COOLEST thing that she just decided to try it out this morning and see how it went!

Thats where we are at for now. Pretty cool stuff happening this week. I will have to post again later on MY take aways from it all!

:)
S

Interesting Things....

Over the last few days I have had some really interesting experiences. Both with Zephyr and Mo. I feel like I have really grown in my understanding of both of them, just in the last few days. I want to try and write about them to digest and fully understand them - but it may not be completely coherent yet, so bear with me. [Also, my fingers are cold, so my typing may not be the best...!]

I will start with Zephyr, since her story is a single event at this time.[ I lied, I just remembered part 2, but its still shorter than Mo's, so Ill keep on it]  On Wednesday I went out to play and Mo didnt really feel like engaging, so I picked the ever present Phyr Child, because she ALWAYS wants to play. I love that about her, and I hope I never do anything to dissuade her from that opinion. We started out Online. It was VERY warm. 35-40 degrees Celcius in the humidity. For contrast, Mother Nature has shunned us now, and it is a balmy [reads: frigid] 10 degrees currently. From Heat warning to winter jackets in three days. Welcome to The Great White North!

Whether it was because of the heat, or just because its Zephyr and she is a goober, she didnt really want to go anywhere. Her expressino was really awful relating to anything like a send. Ok. So we played with yo-yo instead. Really tiny, miniscule yo-yo, unless she got crooked [her habit] and then I got much bigger. Her interest COMPLETELY perked up when I started being thoughtful in that direction! I was so surprised that she didnt take offence to me picking a direction for her feet! Every time she got straight on to me, I would release, and she would have a BIG lick and chew, and blink, with sometimes a yawn. This was HUGE stuff to her! I couldnt believe it. This is not to say that we didnt have a functional yo-yo game before this, it just wasnt functional at this level!

When that was feeling pretty good, I decided to visit sticky game numero deux - her sideways. For whatever reason, when I got Zephyr, sideways was THE hardest thing for her. She just could not sort out how her feet were supposed to move in tandem, sideways away from me! Poor kid. She is hugely improved now, but it still isnt cantering sideways or anything like that. So I isolated just turning her front end over, from a straight on position [conviently provided by my now-fixed yo-yo game!] On just phase 1 from about 17-20 feet away, I was able to direct her nose to turn so she would face side-on to me. COOL! From there I could raise my energy and ask her to take a step or two before she would think forward. Luckily, with my yo-yo being so recently empowered, when she leaked forward, I just changed my energy focus and used a phase on yo-yo to back her up! How cool is that? It was all so slow and subtle, but it felt so light and airy and interesting! Zephyr was having brain explosion after brain explosion! Licking a ton, blinking hugely and yawning over and over! I thought she was going to lay down at one point.

I thought about asking for a circle after, but her expression just so snarly I just changed my mind - because things had been going SO well, and I really wanted to put some thought into helping that before I ruined our great session. We played with back and sideways a bunch before heading back up to the barn to tack up. I figured a nice walking ride would be good for us both. I was able to keep her happy and motivated on a figure eight after saddling. Before mounting I put a savvy string around her neck and picked up a carrot stick. Never to soon to reach towards bridleless riding, right?

Mounting was great, as were Zephyrs lateral flexion checks - which means her looking for cookies! Ha! We walked forward a bit and I played with some lateral flexion with the stick for the second time ever. She is a little iffy about that - she wants to go forward through the pressure, but thats ok, she figured it out and we will continue to play with that. The coolest thing was the first time I asked her to back up with the neck string. I just asked for a backup in my body, and supported it with *maybe* a phase two on the string, and POOf there was my super nice backup! Thank you, understanding of porcupine game, you make my life so much easier!

We played with those things as we moseyed around. Really isolating those core basics of lateral flexion, stopping with out reins, backing without reins or with the neck string, HQ/FQ yields and forwards transitions from a stop. Zephyr really impressed me that day. She is SO light. Mostly because I have been SUPER vigilant on myself to not dull her - but it still surprises me when she responds just like Mo in some things. The bonus of having gone the long twisty way in developing Mo [still on that path!] means I can find the straighter path with Zephyr, which means I can set her up right, right from the start, to the best of how I know, right now.

After our mosey and checking things out, we headed up to the gate to ride out to the apple trees. This was only the second time I have ever tried to open a gate with Zephyr, and it went pretty well. Opening was good, closing got messy and I had to bail and just toss it closed because Mo was trying to escape. Coming back though, it was better and we did it two more times to get it really good, and she was perfect! Our ride out was nice and easy. We just walked around the edge of the hay field, kind of point to point to the apple trees.

That was that session, and then yesterday I played at liberty for a little bit with her, because Mo was playing another game with me. It was actually really really interesting to watch Mo get closer and closer and closer to us, as I played with Zephyr, and finally start playing with us too - all her idea! Since Zephyr was all about playing - I decided to ask her to squeeze over the little log. This is something she does all the time Online and on her own, so I figured it would be an easy start. Except it wasnt!

When I would send her, she would try to go around the log. Hmmm. Disengaging brought her right back, but she wasnt understanding the the job was to go OVER the log. Finally, I got brighter and tried to draw her to me over the log, instead of sending her. This still took a long time, and a lot of rewarding the slightest try, but she finally sorted it out and came over the log to me! Lots of cookies and rubs, licks and yawns later, we tried it again. Similar length of time, but mission still accomplished. Same after effects as well. We continued that pattern a few more times, until she really got it and I sent her over once and called it the end!

The best part was, she was engaged and trying and happy for the whole mini session! Very cool stuff, and she learned, without really feeling like she had been taught - I hope :)


Soooo... not quite as short of a story as I had thought, but there you have it. Zephyr in a few sessions. The big teller was this morning when I went to feed them, Zephyr didnt even try to crowd or come up and push in for her food. Hmmmmm!!!! Such a quick study, my Phyr. Everything I do right means so much to her. And everything I do wrong.... means ten times more!

Ill finish this post up and post it on its own so that there is a sort of organization here.... Mo's story to come !

;)
S