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...