Harmonious Honey.

Honey modelling for a hat band photo shoot for Harmonious Horse...

Big lessons...

Little Fly had a huge day today!!!  Her new owner, Ann, came out for the day and we played with float loading.  Fly, as always, was hilarious!  She had no clostraphobia issues at all, she just couldn't co-ordinate picking up all four feet in the right order to step them up in to the float!!  The front ones weren't a problem, they would walk straight in, then she would pick up the back ones and do a big step, but if she missed, she then couldn't work out what to do!

She was very willing, and tried so hard.  Once she had the right idea I helped her out by picking a back foot up and putting it in, then asking her to put her weight on it.  The other one would then just automatically hop in.

After a long float loading session, ending in Fly being able to stand in on her own, pick at the hay, open and shut the back door, and pick up all four feet while calmly standing in there, she was then brushed, and had her feet trimmed!  So by the end of all that she was exhausted!!!  She thinks that being a big girl is darn hard work!!

Fly's first, rather unco-ordinated, attempt at putting her back feet in!

Take away the brace!!!!

I had breakthroughs with two horses yesterday!  And both in relatively short sessions.

The first was Ruby.  Since she hasn't been getting ridden much, and is spending a whole lot of time hanging around getting fed carrots, I've noticed that Ruby makes herself 'unavailable', when she sees the saddle come out.  Hmmm.  I don't want that.  So today I restarted my program of making wearing the saddle a pleasant experience.  I saddled her at liberty while she was eating her breakfast, then let her carry the saddle around the paddock for several hours while she grazed and I did other jobs.

After a while she was back at the house following me around while I picked up poo etc, not hiding in case I was going to ride her.  So then it was time to ride, when she invited me too.

I had a plan for what I wanted to achieve in my session.  Ruby's confidence with riding has improved tremendously with me 'holding her hand'.  But she still has a lot of brace when I ask her up a gait.  (See the photo of Angela riding her below).  Going from a walk to trot, as soon as I think about trotting, she gets stiff in her body and the ears go back.  It can take her several strides (like half a lap of the round yard!) to finally make it up to the trot, then once she is moving forward, she relaxes and the ears come forward again.  She is getting stuck in the transition.  She will also push out sideways, through my leg, instead of moving forward.  I know asking her 'harder' by going up my phases just confuses her more, anything that she sees as more pressure fries her.  I had tried to help her by asking her up, and not worrying about direction, just let her go where she wants and reward the try.  It hasn't worked. Precision has helped her so far with her confidence, so I have been thinking that maybe that will help her trot transition...

Being me, I haven't ridden her, I have stewed over this until I came up with a plan!  I decided it was time to tackle this brace.  My first thoughts were that I need to keep working on our precision.  Straight lines are going really well.  I can maintain a strong focus on a distant object, hold a soft feel on the reins, and feel Ruby move a hair off my focus and put her back.  She gains confidence in my leadership and relaxes.  Circles are another matter... she pushes out, then rushes in, and it is a mess.  So I needed a circle I could 'see', so I could be more precise for her, I think my circles out in the open are round - she thinks I'm on drugs!  So out came a bag of flour and a 22 foot line, and I 'drew' a perfect 44 foot circle on the ground!  At first Ruby followed me around eating the flour as I sprinkled it out, thinking this might be interesting after all...

It was perfect!  I could feel her pushing me around, and help her stay perfectly on that circle.  If she drifted an inch, I would pick her up, put her back, then go again.  Without criticising, just saying 'Hey, I noticed that!'.  She was starting to relax, so I decided it was finally time to tackle that bracey transition, and played a game with it.  I had a very clear picture in my mind.  It was that she could gently go up in to a trot, and maintain her direction on the circle.  

If I asked her up to a trot, she would push in to, or out of the circle through my leg. When she pushed out either way, I would stop her, put her back on the circle, and ask again.  Previously she would push on my leg, I would try and push her back over, she would feel it as more pressure and brace harder.  This time she had nothing to brace against!  I didn't push her back over.  Instead of getting in to an argument with her, I would stop, back her up, put her back on the circle and gently start again.

I rewarded every effort she made to stay on the circle, and trot softly.  She even offered a trot I could sit to!  Unheard of!  It wouldn't have taken 10 minutes before she was able to do this!!!  Another thing that has been holding us back for years addressed!!!  What a good feeling!!!  And it is all about me trusting that I have the skills to fix the problems, being confident that she could do it, and changing the plan to suit the situation.   Hmm, how interesting...

I asked Angela to ride Ruby so I could get a good look at what was going on.  Here Angela asks Ruby in to a trot, and gets her typical reaction - notice the tight lips, eye, tense neck and body.

Flying Fly

Check out the draw on my 3 year old filly, Fly!

I drove up the driveway, then stood on the back of the bike and called her. I think this answers the question I am often asked, why we called such a nice little girl a name like "Fly", this is why!!!

I sold her last week and she goes to her new home tomorrow, so I am really happy to have got this video before she goes...

Please excuse me rousing on the dog...

Sarah & Woody: Parelli Level 4 Liberty Audition

I just wanted to share this level 4 liberty audition I found on youtube. The zone 5 driving is cool. And a great trailer load at the end!

Energy...

It a pretty wild and windy weekend here, so we didn't get any horse play in. But I did go up and watch the horses in the bush for a while before I fed them last night. I have Ruby and Ripley, Pete and my horses, in 'babysitting' the 2 year olds. And boy are those 'youngens' giving ours a run for their money!

Last night they played and played! Ruby voluntarily raised a sweat! I was impressed.

And most impressive to me was Ruby's go button. If you watch the very start, she is standing quietly with me watching the others fool around. Then she decides to join in...

"Savvy Horse Transport"

I had a nice afternoon this afternoon.  I helped Anne move two of her young horses home to the mountains after their stay on the coast.

I have posted a blog previously about how I get so confused about my horsemanship goals.  I put so much time and effort into caring for my horses, and increasing my knowledge, and to what end?

Having a couple of hours in the car to ponder this afternoon, I thought maybe I should become a horse transporter!!!  I enjoy carting horses around.  Long drives don't worry me.  And after recently watching a few episodes of Parelli's "The Horsemans Apprentice", www.thehorsemansapprentice.com the thing that got me the most excited was the impressive horse trucks, goose necks and pick ups!!

Surely there is a market for personalised horse transport!

Pete and I already have a reputation for moving donkeys around here.  Some people contacted us once and asked if we could move a donkey for them.  After that the word got around and we had several requests to move donkeys.  It seems to be something that poses quite a challenge.

We went to one place to move two donkeys and the owners were amazed that we calmly had them on our stock trailer in next to no time.  Apparently the previous time they had to move them they had contacted a horse transporter who had come out with their truck, they couldn't get them on after several hours, so they went and got another truck or trailer of some sort.  After several more hours they still wouldn't budge, so in desperation, after spending the whole day trying to get two donkeys to go on a truck, they called on a neighbour with a tractor and they lifted them in with the front end loader!!!  So I understand why they were so surprised when, with a little Natural Donkeymanship, we were able to get the donkeys moved stress free!!

So maybe their is a niche there for me.  Teaching horses to load on floats is one of my favourite things.    How can I get this to work for me?

Seeing results!

I am still really enjoying trimming our own feet.  Well, our horses that is.  It took me so long to have a go at it.  In fact I avidly avoided it!  Partly because I thought it would be 'hard' physically, but also because I wasn't confident to attempt it.  Having a masters degree in Analysis Paralysis with honours in procrastination, I just didn't think I had the knowledge to do it, and thought I might do damage to my horses.

But there were things I could see weren't right with their feet, and bodies, even to my 'uneducated' eye.  So I finally took the plunge and decided to get educated.  Now I am obsessed!  I pick up every foot on every unsuspecting horse I come across!

Their is still so much to learn.   I am only on my second round of trimming our horses (there are a lot of feet in my paddock!), and already I can see changes!  It is very satisfying to see frogs spreading and walls growing down.

I have Pete Ramey's Under The Horse Dvd series.  http://www.hoofrehab.com/  It is 16 hours long, and most of it theory, and I am watching it through for the second time.  Something to keep me entertained when I go to bed with my cup of tea at night...

School bus run.

I don't get to ride my horses nearly as much as I would like to. Naturally enough with the life I lead! So I try and get creative with spending time with them. I have found all sorts of ways of making sure they get exercise, and attention.

One way I get them to walk each day is by separating their food from their water. I feed them here at the house, but can turn off the water, so they have to walk a couple of kilometres over fairly rugged terrain to get to the dam for a drink. It also optimises the grazing. If they didn't have to go find water, they tend not to go find grass either, and just hang around the house waiting for the bucket lady to turn up!

All of our horses are completely relaxed with being led off the motor bike too. So if I have to go and do a job around the place, I will take a couple of horses with me, so they get to go do something.

Another opportunity to take them for a jog is getting the boys off the school bus in the afternoon. This is usually Ruby's time with me. We trot up to the bus, get there a bit early so she can graze, then trot home again. Because we live at the end of a quiet road, I often take her head collar off, and we mosey home, playing mare and foal game with the bike. When we get through the last gate, we race up the driveway! It is lots of fun. She enjoys it. She usually canters up to the piece of rubber that sits outside our shed that she has claimed as her own, and waits for all the apple cores to arrive out of the kids bags!

Yesterday I tried to video this, but Ruby is very camera shy, she feels pressure from me when I am focusing on her with a camera, and her right brain introvert nature comes out! She is such a hard horse to get a nice photo of because she just can't look at me when I am pointing a camera at her! So she isn't sticking with me as well as she normally does at the walk. But it gives you a bit of an idea of what we get up to!

What a day!

I had the busiest day today!  Nothing dramatic, just really busy, and the rest of the week is going to be much of the same.  I was looking forward to getting home, and getting to relax.  But not so...

When I was mixing up the horse feeds I received a phone call to say that my 3 year old Quarter horse gelding had finally found his inner cow herder and was chasing new born calves on the agistment property he lives on.  This horse has lived with these same cattle on and off all his life!  Why, today, did he decide it would be fun to give them a run for their money, and apparently he was really chasing them, and knocking them over, then trying to get them up so he could do it again.  I think he mistook them for fluffy green balls!  Understandably the owner of the cattle was not happy!!!

So I got the float on, and the kids back in the car, and off we went to do some impromptu horsemanship in the dark!  They are running on a 900 acre dairy farm, and have had minimal handling in a long time.  So for starters I was going to have to catch them!  When I arrived, it was a peaceful scene.  Three horses grazing calmly amongst a mob of cows in the full moon light.  I was expecting carnage after the phone call I had!

To my delight it only took a couple of minutes to catch them.  Getting them on the float took quite a bit longer.  Silky, our old mare, was hesitant, and a little confused about the interruption to her settled life, she was pretty worried about being whisked away under the cover of darkness!  But it didn't take long to reassure her that all was well, and she hopped on the float.  Split has barely been taught to lead, and is a left brain thug, who was a left brain thug on right brain adrenalin, so therein lay our challenge!  Silky was amazingly calm, nervous, but obedient, and stood patiently on the float while I spent an hour taking the time it took to convince Split it was ok.

This all sounds reasonably calm.  I am leaving out the fact that their was a third horse involved, a thoroughbred, not mine, that spent the whole time galloping around the car and float and screaming out.  I had two unconfident horses on line, in pitch dark with three small children to help.  And help they did.   They were amazing.  Ciaran helped by sitting in the car for the whole time.  Justin and Jack were awesome and I am so proud of them.  I was just as happy having an 8 and 10 year old team of assistants as I would have with most adults I know.  They were very patient, their skills were wonderful, and we all stayed calm!  They had to keep themselves safe from the loose horse, calm the nervous horse standing in the float waiting, hold the young horse when I was putting the older on.  They were in charge of the carrot stick outside, and their timing was immaculate.  Every time that horse made an effort to think about the float, they stopped.

I was so proud of how they handled the pressure.  They listened carefully, and did everything they were asked, when they were asked.  It was a dangerous situation, and I trusted them completely.

We took the horses to town and got pizza for dinner as a reward for working as a great team!  I am also proud of the horses.  I was saying to the boys that it was a huge achievement to have done what we did in the dark in only an hour.  It could have been a very different picture!  In a different world we could have been chasing the horses around the huge paddock trying to catch them for an hour!  My boys know no other type of horsemanship, they take it for granted that this is how things are, that you can drive out in to the middle of a couple of hundred acre paddock, catch an unstarted three year old, float load him, and be on your way!  I love it!

My wild cow chasing horse, Split.

Ansur Excel

Ruby blowing and releasing after her first ride in the Ansur...

Well, today I FINALLY got to have a quick ride in the Ansur Excel saddle.  (http://www.ansursaddle.com/excel.html)

I have to say, I was impressed!  By the time I got to ride, it was nearly dark, and blowing a gail.  Ruby hasn't been ridden for months, it seems.  I put the saddle on, only asked for a circle each way online, and hopped on.  Ruby was on her toes, and I didn't want to push things, so opted for familiar territory instead of an argument and went up to the round yard.

She was a little distracted and oversensitive, so I asked her to follow the rail, then I asked her to bend a little, do a partial disengagement along the rail, and bring her hind leg under her.  This is something Ruby has a LOT of trouble with.  She is usually very resistant, stiff, confused, and generally really troubled when I ask her to do this.  I have tried different saddles, all with the same results.  I thought a lot of it was the saddles, but a lot I also put down to her defensive attitude.  So what a surprise I got when she was doing whole laps stepping under with her hind feet!  Both ways! With her ears forward!!!!  Unheard of!

Then we just trotted some nice gentle serpentines, and she was dropping her head, rounding her back, and relaxing.  Since it was getting late anyway, I called it quits with that.

When I hopped off she dropped her head and blew and licked and chewed for quite a while.  It was lovely to hear those long, relaxing, loose, blows.

I found the Ansur very comfortable for me too.  It puts me in a slightly different position than I am used to, and I need to play with it a lot more, but I didn't feel like I was struggling to find my seat.  It is lovely.

So I can't wait to have another ride!!

Lucy...

Here is a short video of Lara having a ride on Lucy. Lucy has had maybe half a dozen rides...

I am still playing with Lucy in my 'spare time', which there never seems to be enough of! She is such a cutie, and quick! Last week I had her out on a 22' rope and she was galloping, bucking and kicking and having a great old time, then she screeched to a slide stop, picked up a hula hoop in her mouth, and stood there and looked at me and asked what I thought... I thought, 'Oh, man. This play is really cool on the ground, but how is our obedience going to go when I am riding her?'.
I had a little play with her this afternoon, and she was lovely and calm and soft, so I took her in to the round yard and hopped on and had a little ride. At first she was surprised, and kept turning around and looking at me, no bareback pad or saddle, but she soon relaxed.
I quickly found out that Lucy is really confident with me up there! She has had a few rides, but hasn't really had to do anything yet, just accept the rider. Since she is confident now, it is time to ask a little of her. If we sat there too long without doing anything, she would reach around and grab the fringe of my chaps, so we got busy really quickly!
We didn't do much, she offered to put her nose on or pick up everything she could find in the round yard. I asked her to stick on the rail for a while, she obliged, but thought that was pretty boring and much prefered her idea of checking stuff out. We started doing some disengaging hindquarters and bringing her front end through which she found really easy.
She is soooo soft! When I go to disengage her I just have to barely think about it, turn my toe out and she floats around! When I ask her back on to the rail it is a mere tightening of my little finger.
We only had a short session, since she is so keen to play, and is confident and eager, I want to keep it that way!!

Hempfling - Horse Dream - Klaus with his horse at liberty in wilderness

I love this video of Klaus Hempfling. Plenty to aspire to in this one!!!

Al the Nearly Loadable

I haven't been on my youtube account for ages, and I logged in this morning and was going through some of my old videos and came across this one of me playing with Al, and it brought back lots of memories, and brought up lots of emotions! This horse is an off the track thoroughbred who had severe float loading trauma, and had also bowed a tendon, so he was headed to the slaughterhouse. I asked the owners if, since he was probably going to be put down anyway, could I please have him. After some consideration they said if we could get him home we could have him...and there the fun began. He was 8 hours away from our place. The kids and I travelled to him and I spent a week playing with him every day to get him in a position where he would load on a horse truck to travel to our place.

The first time we went to see him, I led him past a float, and he hit the end of the 22 foot rope before I could even turn around to see what was happening. I mean this horse had MAJOR float issues. But he was a successful racehorse, how did they get him to the track? I heard later that they had parked the trailer and the end of a cattle loading ramp and chased him on with a stock whip until he ran up the race and fell in the trailer. Otherwise they conditioned him to get on one of their floats, it was a big, open, four horse angle load. He would run on to it full pelt, and then you snapped him in real quick. As soon it was time to unload you made sure you were out of the way, unsnapped him, and he would scramble out of there blindly. Absolutely terrified. But he had been beaten so many times he decided the fear of that trailer was the better of two evils. The first thing I made clear to him in the first few minutes of our time together away from that place was that that would never happen to him again.

Once I got him home we played with him for 18 months rehabilitating his injured leg, and his faith in the human race. He spent most of his time running in the bush with our herd, as he was well bred and 'valuable' and I doubt ever allowed to take the risk of being allowed to behave like a horse! It was not easy. This horse has been my greatest teacher yet. It was sooooo frustrating!!! But so valuable, and so rewarding and I am a better person for having had him in my life! Ask Chris Corbidge, one of my instructors, she got many an email along the lines of "Oh, my goodness, Chris, what on earth am I going to do!?! This horse is going to be the death of me!!" But I never gave up on him. I put him back in the paddock a few times when I was out of answers, but I never gave up.

When I look back at this video, which was somewhere along his journey, not the end product, I have a sense of pride at giving this guy a chance, and I also smile at the memories I have of our time together, it is a wry smile, he was a hard teacher, but a good one!

Al did eventually accept the float as a safe place, and his 'unhealable' bowed tendon healed beautifully. He now has the perfect relationship in a new home with a lady who loves him to bits, and has bought him a new car, a new float, and now a new farm! And he will never experience fear like that again, and he will never be forgotten around here either, as frustrating as he was for me, our whole family, as well as many others who become involved in his journey, completely fell in love with him. I don't think any animal should have to be put in the situations that this trusting, gentle, noble horse was exposed to. He was destined for the slaughterhouse, his 'usable' life was over, and he was only five years old when I got him.

Big Al, you're a legend!

Jack and Honey

Jack having fun with Honey today!

Angela and Alfie...

Here is a short clip of Angela and Alfie playing with their freestyle.  What a cute couple!!

Bella...

I had a fun play with Bella today!  Lara has left Bella here for the school holidays, and is coming over most days to play with her.  They have just passed their online level 3, and she is starting to work on liberty.

Liberty is very challenging for Bella, well, no that's not true, it is easy for Bella, it is very challenging for Lara with Bella!!!  When Lara first got Bella, she could be very dominant, and as soon as she had had enough, she would leave.  Not just wander off, or tune out, she would leave with the force of a freight train!!  Lara become the master of the power position.

It is so lovely to see how their relationship has developed.  Bella is so much more positive now, and has a much nicer expression on her face.  She is also soooo soft in Lara's hands.  It is beautiful to see! 

But it is also great to stretch Lara!  So today when she was playing, I suggested she focus on Bella asking questions.  Bella is doing everything Lara asks, and nice and softly, but I could see she was just going through the process a little, and could engage more.  So Lara got a pocket full of sunflower seeds and started really rewarding when Bella asked a question.  They started to break things riiiiiigggghhhhtttt down.  Like send her out on a figure 8, if she got to the cone and stopped, Lara didn't ask her on, even softly, she waited, and waited, and even waited some more, until Bella would finally look at her and ask her what was going on.  To start with Lara would bring her in and give her a few seeds and tell her how clever she was.  Of course, this blew Bella's mind!  She gradually asked more questions, and they came a lot quicker, and Lara was able to ask more and more.

Then came my opportunity to play with her!!  Bella very rarely storms off like a steam train now, but I notice that she still 'leaves' or checks out.  Sometimes it is really subtle, she will just sidle sideways a little and put herself out of position.  Lara then has to go after her to put her back, so Bella has quietly changed her focus.  Other times you see her whole body language change, like today, I was asking her to do a weave pattern.  She would stay connected, and then her whole posture would change, she would straighten up, and look to leave.  If you corrected her, she would keep doing the weave, but I felt she is at a level where she needs to be held accountable more, and not micromanaged so much.  This horse knows the weave pattern inside out, but still makes Lara work hard, even if ever so softly, and when she was doing this to me I was trying to think how to make her decide it was a better option to put effort in to what I wanted...

Sooooo, I would ask Bella to do a nice gentle, slow weave, and when she zoned out and thought about leaving I went 'here, let me help you!!' and away she went!  We were on a 45' rope, and that girl can really get some pace up, so I let her run up hill and down dale, kept putting jumps in front of her, and ditches, and piles of dirt.  As soon as she looked like she was looking to me, we went back over to the logs and I invited her to walk calmly around the pattern again.  If she started to leave again, away she would go!!  I can't remember how many times it took, or how long, but she made the connection!  She realised she could take responsibilty, stay on the pattern, and stop trying to intimidate me, and life would be easy for her!!  Or, she could try and take over, and find out that her idea might not be all she thought it was cracked up to be!  I didn't force her to canter, she would take off at a canter, I just kept wandering around and putting as many obtacles as I could in front of her.

It was one of those moments that I didn't have a plan, I just did what came to me, stuck at it, and came through the other side.  Dave Ellis told us us that when the horse comes up with it's own idea, don't try and make them feel wrong, he used to say "go ahead, try it, let me know how it works out for you!"  This is what I was doing with Bella, letting her have her idea, then she had to decide if it was a good one or not!

Thanks Lara, I love playing with Bella!

Just get out and do it!!!

I'm getting as much horsey play in as I can this week.  As always, it is short sessions, but I'm TRYING to make sure I get at least a little bit of time each day.  Even if it is just at feeding time in the dark on really busy days.

I have been a bit lost in the darkness for the last little while.  Since completing my level 3 I didn't have that to focus on.  I am so far off filming level four I wouldn't even know where to start, and it was a big relief not to have to think about levels stuff for a while anyway.  I have started looking at all the Karen Rohlf DVD's and I'm working my way through the book.  It is all making sense, and I have played with it a little bit, but I just still hadn't quite known where to start.

Yesterday I was riding Ruby home from the bus stop and since she is getting much more confident with me riding her, I thought I would start to ask her to release even more brace, and I started to ask her to bend her ribs.  (Like the partial disengagement that Linda does).  We went up and down the driveway (I find anything I can use in the absence of an arena).  Ruby was getting bracier and bracier.  She was starting to get really frustrated, and I was starting to doubt that I was doing it right, and thinking that I should quit, do some more research, and try again another day.  But just as I was thinking that, Ruby went "I CAN'T BRACE LIKE THIS ANY LONGER!!!", dropped her head, and started blowing! 

I hopped off, pulled the saddle and bridle off, and we walked home and had dinner!

Tonight I wanted to start playing with Karens preparations.  In her first dvd she shows at liberty that your horse needs to understand your intention.  That you can have the horse circling at liberty and

1) Can you be an invisible human, walk with it, up to it, and away from it, and it continues as if you aren't even there, in other words an active neutral.
2) Can you use your energy to project to the horse to speed up.
3) Can you walk to the horse with the intention of game over, you did great!

And the horse can understand the difference in your body language between all three.

It was fun playing with this.  Karen also emphasises that you really need to project how wonderful the horse is doing, and mean it!!  It is lovely how excited she gets when her horse tries, and I have been really trying this with Ruby.  Imagine her surprise when we first started and I sent her out on a circle, she went at a walk, tentatively walked quarter of a circle in stiff right brain introvert slow motion, looked at me with two eyes to check she was doing ok, and I ran over to her and gave her a big hug and told her how good she had done!!!

The rest of the session was then fantastic, Ruby couldn't do enough for me!  She had no trouble understanding my intentions as above, as we were already going down that path.

Luckily for me, Jack had ridden her home from the school bus so she was already warmed up and ready to go. :)

In our 'arena'.

I had a really nice ride on Ruby on saturday.  I wanted to go for a long ride, and still be able to look after her right brain introvert lack of confidence!  Since I have really worked out what is going on with her, I haven't ridden her 'out'.  Ruby seems to be calm on the surface, but she is a delicate little butterfly underneath.  The more I study her, the more I see how she is just 'coping', and being obedient, but isn't really confident.  When I am riding freestyle, with a loose rein, she gets impulsive and snotty.  It can be interpreted as her trying to take over, when what it really is is that she feels a lack of leadership from me.  I have been trying to give her too much responsibility.

So what I have been working on is being a very strong, but very gentle leader when riding her.  It has been a great awareness.  There have been a few things I have been doing to help her gain her confidence while riding.

The first is to ride with light contact.  This allows me to be able to quickly and gently redirect her if she starts to get ideas of heading off on her own path.  It also lets her know that I am still there, that I am with her, holding her hand.

The second is letting her know that I notice every time she has an idea that isn't my idea.  If she speeds up or slows down, I just gently pick up a rein to say 'hey, I noticed that'.  If she goes to change direction, even the slightest bit away from my focus, or cut a corner on a figure eight, I can close my fingers and tip her nose back, with the same intention, 'hey, I noticed that'.  It is gentle noticing, not 'you did the wrong thing', or 'don't do that!'.  It is more 'we are ok', 'stick with me'. 

Previously I would have thought this was micro managing.  But this is what I worked with Kaye Thomas on.  With Ruby it is not micro managing.  It is helping her find the confidence to realise that she is ok.  Trust me.  Follow my focus.  Then as she gets more confident, I give her more rein and responsibility.  She will 'earn' her loose rein.

The other point is that I have to have a really strong focus.  If I am sitting up there looking around at the scenery, Ruby panics, and wonders who is in charge of this outfit!  So I pick a point, like a tree, and if she deviates by a centimetre, I gently put her back on path, I am the leader.  She has nothing to worry about.

So on Saturday, I wanted to put it all to the test, and we went for a long ride through the bush, got to our 'arena' that flat bit out the back, did a bit of stuff there, then rode home again.  When we started out, Ruby was tight, unconfident, and had a threshold every few metres!!  I did all the of the above, kept a really strong focus, and softly reminded her to stick with me, that we were ok.  It was no time before she dropped her nose to the ground and started blowing and releasing all that tension.  It was really cool! 

By the time we were ready to walk home she was on a full loose rein, walking along with a low head, relaxed neck, and picking her way through the bush. 

Too cool!  AND she had pricked ears the whole time...

Kids Pony...

Ruby, you are patient and perfect.

'Don't teach something they don't need to learn...'

I had a great fun lesson with one of Jack's 9 year old class mates this morning.  It was her first time out here, and it was a real eye opener for her.  There are very few opportunities for kids to have 'riding lessons' around our area.  This girl has been going to regular lessons, and her mother asked if I would be interested in teaching her, because she wasn't happy with how she was being taught, but she loves horses, so was resorting to learning in a manner that goes against their principles.

I have heard the same story over and over.  I have also heard plenty of horror stories about what goes on at this other place.  I keep getting asked to teach these kids.  And I keep saying no, I am not qualified.  But I have decided too bad if I'm not qualified.  I am no less 'qualified' than where they end up when I say no.  There are no other options around here.  I don't think I am doing any harm.  I can't stand the thought of them starting out on the wrong foot with these amazing animals, when they could learn Love, Language and Leadership right from the start.

I realise it is discouraged for students to teach students withing the Parelli program.  And I completely understand the reasoning behind this.  But what is there on offer for 9 year old kids who's families are not involved with horses and have no means or finances to get them to the nearest instructor who is a minimum 6 hours away?  And even if they went to one or two clinics in a year, what would they do in between?  I fully encourage people studying with endorsed instructors.  I am not trying to take their business.  I cart teenagers to clinics all over Australia.  I see no greater compliment than seeing these kids 'outgrow' me!  I encourage people to attend clinics wherever they can.  I certainly don't think that by supporting a few locals along their journey I am taking away from Parelli.  If anything I am drumming up more business.  That is my intention anyway.  If I didn't keep guiding the people who come to me along the natural horsemanship path, they would drop off in to the abyss of normalsville, or out of horses altogether.  It is more mentoring than instructing as such.

When I asked S what was different about coming here to what she has been doing, she said 'You are so kind to the horses!!'  For her to reply like that, without any prompting or discussion, she has obviously witnessed 'unkindness'.  I don't want kids to 'learn' unkindness to any animals.

The hoof trim debacle...aka perfectionism gets nothing done!

Oh my goodness, I haven't written a blog post since May 23!  That's terrible!  It means I haven't been spending time with the horses.  Unfortunately other things have been taking my attention, travelling, farm maintenance, raising children etc etc etc, but I am still trying to do as much as I can.

One thing I did yesterday was print out a set of self assesment sheets for each my horses and put them in a folder.  I can then keep track of where each horse is at with its development and where it is up to in the patterns.  I find that I when I have a short bit of time to go out and play, I get out there and don't know what to do with who!!  I thought this might help me have some ideas to go out and play with when I only have short amounts of time.  I tell lots of people who tell me they don't have enough time to play with their horses to do this, so I thought I should take my own advice!

I have also started a good winter feeding regime for the horses.  It has been cold, and the grass is running out rapidly, so I wanted to get in to a good routine before any of the horses started going down hill.

Another thing I have done is started trimming my own hooves!!!  I trimmed Roxy this week, my first victim, umm, I mean client!  One thing I know about myself is that I am a chronic sufferer of analysis paralysis.  I won't try anything until I have researched it thoroughly, believe I know everything I possibly can about the subject, then I might give it a go... so I have put off trimming feet for years, because I am sure I don't know enough about it, and that I am going to cripple my horses for life by doing one wrong trim. 

But enough is enough.  I just had to start somewhere.  So I started with Roxy.  Roxy has challenging feet at the best of times, having been chronically foundered as a young horse, so I figured I couldn't do too much more damage while learning...  And to start with I really just wanted to get comfortable with my tools.  Anyway, Roxy looks fine, and we both survived the experience with no blood from either of us, so I guess I have overcome the biggest hurdle, actually starting!

So now the fun really begins.  A new aspect of my horsemanship journey.  And I don't know where to go now!!!!  There is so much information out there, of course, like everything, everyone who is teaching is convinced that their way is the best way.  I guess I will just have to start somewhere and go with my own judgement.

'Backhoe proof' pony!

There may be no such thing as a 'bomb proof' horse, but Fly is well on her way to being 'backhoe proof'.  It was de-sensitise Fly to machinery day on Saturday!

We had a really busy day planned, and it didn't look like I was going to get much horse play in for the weekend, so when Fly wandered up to the table when Pete and I were sitting outside having a coffee, I took that as volunteering, and brought her with me for the day!

We were chopping wood, and Pete was working on the backhoe, and Fly came along!  So it was noisy and busy, and there were a few of us so there was lots going on.  Chainsaws going, the backhoe roaring, axes splitting.  She was great!  She helped pump up a backhoe tyre, by sticking her head in the way, licking Pete's ears, and swiping snot all over the back of his jacket. 

Amongst all the noise I just continued getting her ready to ride, we did lateral flexion from the ground, throwing the rope over head head from zone 5 and asking her to come around to me, etc etc etc. So if we keep this up, she is going to be one un-flappable pony!!!

Fly has been playing a lot of put your nose on things, and there was one time when Pete drove past on the backhoe, and I asked Fly to go over and put her nose on the back bucket, as he was driving.  I thought that was a good touch it challenge!  Any way, she stuck to the backhoe and trotted all the way along the track right behind it until he got to the house, at least 200 metres!  I had her on the 22 foot rope, so I just stayed back and jogged along out of the way!  She is a 100% cow horse bred quarter horse, so I guess she will latch on to anything!

Reaping rewards.

I moved all our horses to the back paddock today.  There isn't any feed left around the house, and I am sick of spending half an hour trying to get the prickles out of the horses before I can even get a head collar on them when they are out in the bush.  So I have put them out the back.  I have a few barrels and heaps of natural obstacles in the big paddock, so I will play with them down there for a while.

To move them I put the three older ones on line, and had the two younger ones follow along and we went off on the bike.  Leading one, or even two on my own is easy, but five can be a challenge!  It only takes one of them to be challenging, and the whole operation can be a mess!

I was so happy, because they were perfect!  They got in position, one on either side of the bike, and one behind, and they stayed right with me.  I never had to speed up, or slow down because one was lugging behind.  They never jostled for position.  I never had to untangle the ropes, while leading three horses with one hand, and controlling the bike with the other.  When they had to squeeze between the bike and trees, or embankements, they thought their way through and didn't panic and burst through.  The two that were loose just followed along nicely.  They all had their ears forward and were happy and relaxed and looked as if it is the most normal thing to do in the world, walk along through the bush following a motor bike!

I take these things for granted, but I was thinking about it as I was riding down there, and I wondered how many horses in the world would have been so relaxed and well behaved when asked to do this.  We had to go a couple of kilometres, and down a really steep hill, just before dark, and it was lovely.  I really enjoy these times with my horses.  Even though I don't win at competition, it is times like these, when I ask a lot  from my horses, and they are so willing to do it with so little fuss, that I realise the rewards of the time I put in to them...

Emily passed her level 2!

Emily passed her level 2 Freestyle audition!!!! 

Her comments on her freestyle where:
"Great job Emily, I really liked to see how much fun you were having, you also had real good focus and sideways game.  Just think about using eyes, belly button, leg and then the stick before using reins.  Only use your rein for control if you have to."  Ryan Rose.

I had previously posted her audition and the link to it is...
http://genquinn.blogspot.com/2010/04/emilys-level-2-freestyle-audition.html

She had already passed her online, so now she has earnt her blue string. Well done Em.

Princess of the pedestal!

It looks like Ruby's title of Queen of the Pedestal is under threat!

Fly is up to day three of the touch it pattern on line, and she is really starting to hunt those pedestals!!  She even calmly offered to put four feet on yesterday!  Pretty cool I thought, for her to offer this so early.

She also started rolling the barrels with her knees, apparently just putting your nose on things is boring.  So I can't wait to blow a ball up for her and see what she can to do with that!

I am having so much fun with Fly that I actually dragged myself out of bed and went out to play with her at 6.30 this morning, in the freezing cold, before work!  Consistency is a challenge for me.  I have the best plans to follow a program, especially with these young horses, and I start out all motivated, then things get in the way.  But I am trying to arrange my life so I can offer my horses consistency.

Honey Bunny.

Ohh, it was so cold today!!  And misty drizzle, just enough to be annoying, no actual rain.  And just enough to keep my snuggled up inside reading Karen!!  (Rohlf that is, I have just started her book, and I'm finding it very interesting so far!)

But I did venture out for a little while this morning, I went for a walk and got the horses.  I usually go on the bike, and it was nice to walk.  The horses all stayed with me and we walked home together.  I put them in their yards as we came up the driveway, Ruby wandered off, and I went to find her and put her in the last yard, and found her standing on her piece of rubber mat at the shed waiting for me!!  She is such a good girl.  She got a carrot for smart thinking for that one.

The weather set in and I came inside for a few hours, then went out with the intention of riding Honey up to the bus stop to collect Jack.  Honey was so full of prickles it took me about 45 minutes to get her deprickled enough to put her saddle and bridle on!!  Then she was full of thresholds, and we only made a few hundred metres before Jack turned up on his own!!!

Honey was having thresholds in true Honey style.  She doesn't panic, just walks a little and stops and looks.   Honey finds stopping very easy!! Instead of getting frustrated I thought I would play with it.  I would ask her to go, with some energy, and if she only made it 10 steps I would make a big deal, rub her, and then ask again.  After getting a tap on the rump with a savvy string the first two times, she decided to go at phase one the third and subsequent times.  Progress!

On the way home, we had the opposite problem.  Honey had lots of energy, was bracey, and in a hell of a hurry to get home.  Well, it was dinner time, and Honey has never been accused of being late for dinner!  I wanted to play with pushing her sideways until she relaxed, but then had another idea.  I have been riding figure 8 patterns with her, and there were two cones on the side of the track, so I thought I would combine the two.  I rode figure 8's, and pushed her a few steps sideways in the middle, then around the other cone, few steps sideways etc.  She was bracey to start with, and I didn't have a stick with me, so I just gave her a little help with a string to move her ribs over off my leg.

She soon got it, stopped fighting to go home, started to drop her head, relax, and then did lovely soft blowing, and heaps of licking and chewing.  I hopped off there and we mosied home as it was getting dark and I had six horses to feed and hay up. 

I can't wait to get back out tomorow!  I couldn't work out who I wanted to play with, so I kept all six here!!

Oracle

I just had to share this email I received yesterday.

Hi Gen and Pete
I would like to thank you so much for Oracle- she's a beauty! She has settled in very well and rides out bush with us 3 or 4 times a week. She has some lovely training and is very light on her feet. She does try it on sometimes but who doesn't?
After my appie died which was less that 15 months after my husband died I was devastated (again). So would you pass on my heartfelt thanks to your sister for such a beautiful gift and know she will always be well treated and loved. Thank you for the work you put in too. It was lovely to meet parelli people!
Love

M


I am so happy things are working out for Oracle.  She was a challenging horse to find the right home for as she doesn't fit into 'normalsville' very well, but I was sure something would work out for her, and it has.  Through a lovely set of coincidences, Oracle has found her place in the world!  And I am happy to have been able to help that process along.

Quiet amongst the chaos...

I had a lovely afternoon! It was a beautiful sunny autumn day, and there was still some warmth in the air so when I put a stop to procrastinating and went outside to see what I could come up with.

I really wanted to ride Ruby, but I haven't practiced what I worked through with Kaye since she left two weeks ago. My thought for the afternoon was not to appear direct line. I didn't want Ruby to think I was going to get her ride her feed her leave her.

So when I went out, I went and mixed the feeds up first, and just observed what the horses were up to. Ruby was not standing in her usual prime position. She usually stands in the door of the feed shed, and all the others fight and bicker behind her, trying to get the next in line to the feed shed position. Today she was standing off on her own near my car watching the left brainers argue over 'her spot'. This was unusual. And another little reminder to make sure I haven't been getting too direct line...

I went and got a carrot, gave her a taste as I walked back past the car, and went back to mixing the feeds. Ruby was straight back over at her spot! I decided I wanted to use my imagination and not be predictable when saddling her. Ruby is very obedient, and will stand and be saddled at liberty, but I wanted to be aware of their being something in it for her. s
So I would go over, give her a bite of carrot, go back to the feeds, another bite, etc etc. Then on one of my visits back to her, I took the saddle and pad, showed her, got a totally positive response, so I put them on, gave her a nibble, and left her there and went back to the feeds. She kept a completely positive expression while I saddled her!

Then instead of riding straight away we took the dogs and bike and went up to the bus stop to get Jack. We got there early so plenty of time to graze. Came home again. And then we bridled and rode. It was a long preparation, and a very short ride. But it was successful. Ruby was happy and co-operative, and I was more aware of her needs.

Direction...

Tired tonight. But good tired. Tired because I have been stretching my brain...

I find that one of my biggest challenges in life at the moment is direction. I struggle with direction in my life generally, and also my horsemanship.

I find it hard to play with the horses if I haven't got a long term goal. And I struggle with what that long term goal with my horsemanship is. It has to be possible!

I don't mind instructing, but I don't think I am passionate about it. And I just don't see any way I can get overseas to do instructor training any time soon...

Colt starting get's me excited. To take an unmoulded horse and help it develop in to a reliable partner...but the more I learn, the better I want to get for my young horses before I touch them. I am tired of seeing unnecesarily damaged horses. To specialize in colt starting within the parelli system I would have to do the six month intern program...not likely before I'm 50...

I really enjoy helping out horses with a troubled history. This includes physical and psychological challenges too. I love to see a horse with a troubled background gently start to trust and gain confidence. I find that very rewarding. And this may be more do-able for me. I need to learn even more about nutrition and health, but I enjoy that. The problem is, some of these horses are very hard to move on, and I have a paddock full of half broken down horses!!! I really enjoy playing with a lot of different horses too.

Hosting clinics is a posibility... I love to promote natural horsemanship, gently, and I think I would enjoy hosting clinics. But the problem is the venue. I just don't know if I could ever get this place suitable...there is no room for a honeycomb or proper arena. So I just don't think that is practical either!

I guess competition is an option, but I have never competed in anything, and don't even know where to start, or what I would compete in even!

So I go around this never ending circle...I always seem to end up at the same place. I do a clinic, or speak to someone who is really motivated, and get all excited and enthusiastic again...but then my goals seem so far off I start going around that spiral again...

I find it hard to get excited about just developing my own horse for her and my benefit...but I think I need to be content with that for now, be happy with my lot, and stop worrying about the big picture for a while.

Lesson with Kaye Thomas.

Well, what a good day!

Kaye Thomas was in the neighbourhood, so we had her over here giving us some lessons!

Justin and Jack went first. They did an hour on line and learnt about rhythm, relaxation and retreat in the friendly game, close range driving game, keeping their feet still, and when to retreat when playing friendly game in the delicate zone.

Then they both rode in their bareback pads. Jack learnt about actually getting Honey to go before he can ask for her to do anything!! Justin followed the rail, learnt different ways to change direction and get back on the rail using a direct rein, transitions, including how to use a suspension rein to come down a gait.

They did so well, really concentrated and listened. And they loved Kaye!

Then it was Ruby and my turn. I was very nervous!! And Ruby had been so patient, saddled and waiting all morning. Kaye asked me to show her how Ruby responds to a freestyle figure eight, with no warmup. It was around two objects in the playground, set a long way apart, and up and down hill. Ruby did her usual freestyle effort, ducked and dived and ran off and pinned her ears. It was a perfect example of Ruby at her absolute worst!

It set us up for a fantastic lesson in how to help Ruby feel confident in freestyle riding. And the answer? Ride her with contact first!!! Ruby gets lost and worried and annoyed when left to her own devices. She is much more comfortable when her hand is held. I have to get her confident by holding her hand first, and then gradually give her more rein, as she gains more confidence, and get our freestyle going from there.

Kaye was fantastic. The first thing I learnt is that my energy is WAY to high for Ruby!! I thought if I was any more introverted I would be dead! But Kaye said no way, there is a lot going on in there...interesting. That blew me away right from the start!

I thought I was going really slowly with Ruby, but it isn't slow enough. I have to sloooooow right down... and be soft, soft, soft.

Ruby was fascinated, and responded so well.

Lots to play with!! I just can't wait to get out there and ride again tomorow morning!

Taking care of the little things...

Oh, I had such a good play with Ruby today!!!!

I wasn't quite sure what to do, but thought I better shim my saddle etc for my lesson with Kaye Thomas tomorow.

I saddled her straight away when I got her, I didn't play with her first. Ruby is an 'old faithful' now. I can get her out of the paddock, throw the saddle on, and virtually ride off. BUT, I always do my pre-flight checks as I move her around as I saddle her.

Linda Parelli is always saying she starts off really slowly with Remmer, her introverted horse, and I have also watched Anne do this with Rowley, so I had that in mind when I was moving her around, and right from when I went to get her out of her yard. I let her approach me at Ruby speed (about the speed of a stoned turtle) and while saddling I asked her to put her nose on a tree, with me in zone five, then I asked her on to the float, again with me staying in zone 5. I didn't ask her to go any faster than she was offering, and I found her offering more than I asked! With a positive attitude.

As she backed out of the float she felt her rear cinch 'grab' her, and she came flying out backward, and kept going backward, and eventually came to a stop, almost sitting on her haunches!! WOW! It was impressive backing up, but I was pretty glad I don't make assumptions, and assume that just because Ruby has been ridden in that saddle, with the same cinches, for the last five years, that there may be a day when It just doesn't feel right! It re-inforced to me why I back my horses up after I girth them, and before I get on them, EVERY TIME I SADDLE THEM!! I could have got on, rode her off down the track for an hour, and then asked her to back through a gate and have her flip over on me.

I remedied the problem by asking her back in to the float, relax, gently come out, still a bit quick, in again, relax, out, a big sigh... that's what I wanted!

We then went off and had the best ride ever!!! Ruby was really on her toes and we had fun and played with high speed yoyo games! We would canter off, slide in to a backup, and canter, or even gallop, out! Boy that girl has some power when she get's on her hindquarters!!! I can't wait to learn how to harness it properly!! I'm just playing around with how to get her attention. It seemed to do that, and I thought it was great fun!

Since she was offering so much, I kept it short, and then played with something that has been too long over looked. When I get on Ruby, she gives one little tail swish. It used to be a really sour face and a wringing tail, but it had got down to a little swish with her ears back, not pinned, but not happy. So I thought it was finally the day to tackle this! I stood on a chair in the round yard and she obediently came straight over and sidepassed up for me to get on. But instead of getting on I just stood there on the chair and rubbed her, and found an itchy spot in her mane. Eventually I put one foot in the stirrup, and when she flicked her tail, I just kept rubbing the itchy spot and up and down her neck until she relaxed, then I took it out again. I kept playing with this, then standing in the stirrup and getting down, then sitting on her and getting back off, until I was able to get on her and sit quietly and she kept her ears forward the whole time!!!

Isn't it amazing how we keep going forward and don't put the time into addressing the 'little' things!

Ruby and my relationship took huge leaps forward today! I haven't ever seen her with her ears forward so much!

Still plenty to work on with Kaye though...so stay tuned tomorow!!

Level 3 liberty audition.

Work today so no horseplay :(

So I am putting up the level 3 liberty audition that we filmed after Ruby and I made a program of liberty! The audition isn't perfect, but that isn't what it is all about. It is definately an improvement, and I can really feel the benefits of being dedicated to doing a designated liberty session each day, even if I don't think they really show up in this video!

For this audition I had the start planned, backing through the tiny gap into the yard, and the end, standing on the mat, but the rest of it I just took what came up.

And I vow I will never try and canter in deep sand again, my lead changes are terrible!!!

Emily's level 2 Freestyle audition.

The day started out beautiful, but then the weather closed in and I was a complete sook and didn't go out and play with the horses! So since I don't have anything to write about today, I am going to post Emily's level two freestyle audition. Good job Emily, But I really want to know how you trained Skip so well!! And can I PLEASE post the bit where Valla threw a tantrum and refused to go anywhere but up in the air!?!

Lara's level 3 online.

Ok, I can't help myself. I have to post Lara's online Level three audition. She is in Sydney, by the time she get's back and realises I have posted it every one will have seen in and it will be too late to kill me!! Lara hasn't sent off a level two audition yet, but I decided that was too easy for her and Bella, so we filmed the level three tasks and will see how she goes...

Fly

I have been focused on Ruby and 'neglecting' all the other horses around here, so I decided today it was time to play with some of the others. Fly was handy, so she volunteered herself as project no 1!

Fly is just 3, and has been handled to the point of leading, tieing, trimming, worming. But she hasn't really been 'played' with, and she is definately ready to go on with! She isn't very tall, barely 14hh, and I don't think she is going to get much taller either, but she is really well developed, and would have no trouble carrying a rider now.

She has always been sooo easy to handle, I have assumed I had a lovely little left brain introvert on my hands, but on playing with her today, there is quite a play drive in there! Definately left brain though. I thought we would just put her nose on a few things, do some porcupine, lateral flexion on the ground, just a few things to check her out and see what we have got. She was really confident, putting her nose on things was a breeze! That tyre, sure, put my nose on the jump up? Why, I'll just jump up it! A see saw, cool, let me on it! Kids on motor bikes, no worries! So I soon realized I was going to have to think pretty quick to keep this little girl on her toes!

It is lovely playing with a young horse, seeing how impressionable they are. At some stage Fly has been rewarded by standing with her hip to someone, It may have only been for a second, and probably not even noticed at the time, she may have just been having a scratch, but she remembered. When she felt slightly confused, she swung her hip to me and it stopped right in front of my nose, and she stood there and relaxed! Since there was absolutely no notion of her kicking, I didn't react the first time, I was just wondering what on earth she was doing. The second time it happened however I just yielded her hindquarters away and let her know that it is much more appropriate for her to come to me nose first!!

We just had two short sessions, with some time on the patience post in between, and I am happy with our results for day one! She is such a sweety.

Do a lot, and then do nothing!

Well,

Two more liberty sessions since my last blog. I am playing with doing a really intense, provocative, but short liberty session, ending on a really good note, then going off for a ride to 'cool off' and relax.

It seems to be working! Ruby is really alive and attentive! Now I just have to be careful not to squash it...

I have been really struggling with Ruby finding relaxation at a canter, at liberty, ridden, or online, so I have been thinking about how I can help her. I feel she needs to keep at it long enough to find relaxation, but I was finding I was doing a lot of work to try and keep her cantering!

So the plan for today was to take her in to the small round yard, and really work on our circling game. I can send her out at a trot and she will maintain gait, maintain direction, and stay out there all day. But when I ask for a canter, she gets tight, her head goes up, she will take a couple of strides, and drop back to a trot. I had 'do a lot, then do nothing' in my head. It was something Tara and I had talked about regarding Ruby. So I would ask her to canter, then when she broke gait I would make a big fuss, then quickly go to complete neutral as soon as she cantered.

It worked to a degree, I was getting a lot more canter, but she was starting to lose confidence. When this happened I let her drop back to a trot, or her favourite, figure 8's around two buckets, until she was relaxed and in contact again.

Then we would try again. I would reward her by bringing her back to a trot as she offered more and more canter.

So I had mixed success today. I didn't get 20 laps at a canter, or even a lot of relaxation, but I had a horse who was really trying hard, putting effort in, and very responsive! And I am experimenting, and problem solving, and using my knowledge to try and find answers, so that has to be good.

I have also been riding bareback everywhere! Up hill and down dale. And cantering as much as possible. Canter canter canter. We both have to be nice and balanced at a canter, and I guess there's only one way to do it, a lot, and bareback! Jack rode Roxy, Pete ripley, and Ciaran came on Ruby with me, and we rode over the back to shut a gate this afternoon. We were having so much fun that we got almost home again and realised we had completely forgot to shut the gate!! Oh well, a good excuse for another ride tomorow...

Musical coffee!

I'm back!!!

This blog thing is hard! I just don't know where to start. I have been playing with Honey, but haven't got to write what I have done each day, so feel I have to go back to the start, so then it gets too hard, so then I don't write anything.

So today I am just going to write SOMETHING!

I thought I would start with something nice that happened this morning...

In a rare occurence around here, Pete and I were both out playing with our own horses, at the same time. That in itself is a rare thing. I have decided I better do some liberty with Ruby, but Pete and Ripley had beat me to the round yard.

I went inside and made a coffee, collected Ruby, and headed around to wait in line. I decided Ruby had had enough un-demanding time, so I hopped on and started riding the outside rail, practicing our freestyle riding outside the safety of the yard. Pete then got on Ripley bareback and bridless too, so he started riding the inside rail.

I had sat the coffee on a post. We were both quietly doing our own thing, focused on our own horses, then one of us would ride past, pick up the coffee, drink for a few posts, put it down, the other would ride past, pick it up, drink as we rode, deposit it on another post. It was funny. A bit of a dance really. Two quiet, focused, freestyle riders sharing a space, but off in their own worlds! I wish I had it on video.

But aside from the trivialties, I had a productive little play with Ruby. I have decided I need to lift her life in our liberty play. I have been tip toeing around, trying to do things nicely, quietly, calmly. And she has been doing things nicely, quietly and calmly, but apparently not responsively enough. So today I decided I was going to get out of my box and experiment! Being the introverted little butterfly that she is, we started very slowly and gently, then as we progressed, we lifted our life, and played some tag, and got some maintained canter even!!! She missed the hind end on her changes a few times, but at this stage I wasn't worried about that, I was just after energy, when I asked for it! And boy, did all that driving improve her draw! She was asking with two ears to come in, PLEASE! It was cool. Not pretty, but progress.

Pete brought me out some lunch so I went over and sat on the gate, and she straight away sidepassed over for me to get on. I let her stand there while I ate, then for fun I thought I would see if I could send her, from where I was sitting on the gate, to go and try something, even have a roll because she was sweaty. She side passed about 8 metres, then still wondering what I wanted she walked off and found a cone over the other side of the round yard, played with it for a second, then looked over to me to ask if that was what I was thinking about. I wasn't expencting ANYTHING, so, still from sitting on the gate, I said sure, that was great, come back, which she did, and was rewarded with some corn chips! It seems trivial, but I thought that was a nice little problem solving excersise. She could have just left!

I called it a day in the round yard at that, and to further improve her obedience asked her to stand on a piece of rubber outside the shed while I went in and mixed up the feeds. She got off a couple of times, and I went back out and put her back on. She soon got the idea and waited on the rubber until I had finished the feeds and brought hers out. Cool. It was also hard for her too because she couldn't see where I had disapeared to in the shed. She just had to trust that I would come back!

So there. A little update on what I have been up to! I have waffled on for long enough, so I am off now to plan what horsey manouvres I will be up to tomorow!

Nite all...

No blog today...

No blog today...
Nothing nice to say...

Day one...

Wow, day one of my blog, and I don't know where to start!!

I guess with why I am actually writing a blog. Mainly to journal my own horse time and experiences. I have tried before in a notebook, then a journal, but I keep it up for a while, then get bored. And I like telling stories, and there never seems any point writing interesting things that happen in a notebook that is just journalling the time spent with each horse and no-one will ever get to read!

A blog seems like a much more interesting way to keep track of what I am doing, and share stories, photo's, achievements, learning experiences etc etc etc. And also, I don't have to send copious emails to Angela and Anne describing what I am up to, you can read it here!!!!!