I've been working on trying to be more assertive. I think that's the reason why we're having trouble with things like the circling game. He knows the circling game...I however, don't think I'm that good at it. So we're parcticing it a lot, all at the same time while trying not to bore Pep Boy to death. Sideways is also hard for me. I think I need to slow it down.

So that's all we're up to these days(well ya know, besides moving). And watching lots of videos on the new site :)

I am always trying to figure out Pepper. He is a different horse everyday! Today he changed horsenalities a few times...when I first came into the pasture he was quite LBI. As we started to play I could see him kinda zone out....RBI. So I waited, and let him relax, and he yawned like crazy! Then deffinately went left brain. He tryed to take my ropes and stick in between yawns. And he stayed pretty LB the rest of the time we played.
Then at feeding time, I went down to the pasture to find a leaping, bounding, dancing, race horse! Even after I fed he trotted a couple laps around his stall before eating. Strange horse. Difficult day. So I didn't do too much, it was hard for me to keep up.

BUT I lovvvvve the changes to the savvyclub website! I feel there are more resources for me, and SOOOO much more for me to learn and gain savvy to help my dear PepBoy! Though it looks daunting and complicated, I really think it'll be easier to track progress, how to improve, and what gaps need to be filled in. So cool. Can't wait to see what other changes they will make.

Yesterday was a fun day. I verrrrry rarely have a bad day with my horses anymore. I think for awhile I stopped enjoying them like I did when I first got Pepper. Everyday I find an "Oh Boy!" moment instead of an "Oh noooo..." moment. I truely have fun with my horse over every(well, pretty much) feat and obstacle. I love not getting frustrated or angry at my horse...what a concept eh? I think a lot of people don't enjoy horses as much as they think they do.

SO, something you should know...when I first got Pepper, sometime within that first year, I discovered quick release leadropes. They are designed so that when you have a "right brain" moment(or when your horse does =P ) you can grab the snap so that it automatically releases. Meant for easily tying your horse without having to tie up your horse.
So I had snapped Pepper to our new gadget, and went to grooming. I did something with his face(can't remember what), as he yanked his head back I instinctively grabbed the rope....the quick release rope! He held his head up and looked at me. Looked at the loose snap dangling from my hand. And I could see him think, "Freedom". I reached for the halter as he swung around and took off like a mailman from a dog. Eventually some cowboy man went down the road on his horse, and brought back my pony(I'm sure he watched our cartoon from a distance, and came over when he could stop gigling at the newbies).
Now you can fully appretiate yesterdays triumph. We were out in the field next to our house, no fences, and ages of yummy grass. I asked Pepper to circle, when I had a clumsy moment. I dropped the leadrope! Having a flashback to the quick release incident, and knowing this time there would be no cowboy to help me, I watched the leadrope drag in front of me. And then around me. I looked up............and Pepper was still circling. He casually made several laps around me, rope dragging in the weeds behind him, before coming back in to see if he could viset. Lots of scratches, and we headed back to the house for some jelly beans.

I'm looking forward to the new format Parelli is coming out with tomarrow. I was a bit worried at first about the change, but am thinking it's going to be pretty neat how everything fits together.

Go Get Your Horse and Mosey

Today I decided to mosey with Pepper. We really haven't done much moseying(weird word). Maybe we've been moseying through level 1 and 2...but we don't mosey very often. How many times can I use mosey in a sentence!? haha! Anyways, it was a great was to observe his horsenality, and his thresholds. He's actually a fairly confident explorer. He's cautious, but not totally unconfident. Once he realized that moseying to the stack of hay bales wasn't the only place we would go for the day, he enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny with his nose. He closely examined the different types of ground we walked on, and really liked the asphalt on the road. He even tryed to lay down and roll! I didn't think it a good idea to roll in the middle of the road though, so we moved on. Was a good day...and I'm thinking he may actually be mostly LBI(on the ground, with some extrovert tendencies. That is when he's left brain anyways, and I don't think he actually goes RB very often, but I'm always paying attention to make sure I don't lose him in RBI. Cause I know how fast he can go to RBE! He's fun, and always makes me laugh.

Pepper is coming along slowly but surely. When he is LB and thinking, he learns very quickly. We're doing lots of stuff, like trotting next to me(not behind me), lead by the leg(he likes that one), circling, sideways, games 1,2, and 3 all the time, lots of yoyo, and just hanging out. circling needs some work, especially on the 22'. He likes to stay close, and not use the whole 22'. Lot's to learn. Always learning.

On the circling today he had a RBE moment, but a quick phase 4 brought him back, and I was glad of how quickly he came back to left brain attitude.

I've just been kinda dinkin' around with Pepper.

He's not very confident with the circling game, and on bad days will explode RBE.
But it's been fun to teach him little tricks like how to bow and such. He's very proud, of what he can do for a treat. A little LBI...I think so. A little bit of everything! haha! It's hard to keep up with his extream changes. I always wonder what horse will show up at the gate.

Monday June 16

Haven't posted again in awhile. Losing my pal Avery to colic has been a hard thing to grasp.

I miss him dearly, and always will. There will be a page just for him under "my partners" where you can learn more about Avery.

Pepper is home now, and I hope to continue my Parelli journey with him to develop and further my savvy.

Haven't posted in awhile. I got kinda caught up in the Horse Expo I think. I volunteered for the Parelli Booth at the Western States Horse Expo last weekend. I think it was great for me. Just small enough for me to be comfortable, but just big enough to get me out of my comfort zone and learning. What cool people. Very fun for me to be around, and would love to volunteer again someday.

Avery is doing GREAT with sideways. He's even doing alright with circling...okay, so we make half circles, but that is WAY more than we were doing. I'm also getting myself more comfortable with working outside the pasture. I don't know why it makes me so nervus. The only difference is the fence, and which side of it we're on. But I'm doing well with "my" thresholds. haha!

I had to switch gears a little today. I went down to the pasture to find a bouncing bolting playful horse! Not something I see very often. So we went straight into our games. We're doing good leading from zone 3 now, and doing good with putting his nose on something. I started making half circles today(on the same side of the fence), and stopped him and started over every time he started to run me over. He's doing better about having a happy face. As I get more interesting, Avery gets more interested. I see some extrovert qualitites. Not a lot, but enough to look happy and not bored all the time.

Today was a great day with Avery! I brought in 2 buckets, and placed them about 30ft apart, and set a treat on each of them. I started to lead him from zone 3 to one of the buckets...but it took awhile, as he was dragging his feet not caring about what we were doing. When we got to the first bucket, he picket up the treat with look as if he was surprised to find it there. Drove him to the next one, and ta-DA! Another treat! NOW this was an interesting game! He knocked over the bucket to make sure he got everything. Drove back to the first bucket(and tossed a treat on it before we got there) and he knocked it over too. Did this several times before moving on.
Then we went to a gate(by now he's looking for where a treat might appear if he puts his nose on it), and he shoved the gate making it open. Good boy! I gave him a treat.
Swung around at the hanging jolly ball, got a treat. Opened another gate, and pushed the big exercise ball around.
I think he really gets this game now. I'm hoping it'll help our circling too.

Spent some undemanding time with Avery today. He stood by me the whole time, and didn't go wandering off. He used to leave within minutes. Progress! He wants to chill with me! It's great to see a little bit of trust.
Tryed out sideways with the 22'. It needs work. I realized that I need to work on using all the 22' not just 12. haha!
Other than that, I'm trying to keep a balance of love, language, and leadership. It's hard to make the language clear, and the leadership strong enough. Will continue to work on it though.

Well...today I touched a little deeper into challenging dominance. I've really only been playing the first 4 games, and advancing them everyday. The circling game, sideways game, and squeeze are very challenging for me. I'm very afraid that when I have to "tag" my horse because he is so unmotivated, that he'll explode. He'll come over the top of me, kick me in the head, then run over me, and then sky will fall suffocating me. I know that's unrealistic, but seems very possible when I'm in the situation.
So, today I got on the other side of the fence. He rampages this way and that until the fence stops him. So I let him for awhile until the adrenaline came down, and he was doing it somewhat more coolly. At one point he just turned away from me, and walked away. I tagged his hindquarters, and he reared! So high, and so close to the fence I thought his front end might come over it. hmm. how interesting -- when the hind end is tagged, the front end comes up. A little bit later he walked away again. I tagged his HQ and pulled his head slightly toward me. THIS time he let out one HUGE kick, and all 4 feet came off the ground. Okay. One more calm lap, and I had to quit. That all got way to close to my theory of the sky falling. Will try again tomorrow. Not much enticement to ride.

The last few sessions have been kinda similar with a bit of variety. But basically we're working on, sideways, leading from zone 3, and "wipe that snotty look off your face!".
Now that I'm slowly getting my confidence back, I decided to not allow those snotty ears to be pinned anymore. If I can get that straight and sorted out on the ground, I'd be a lot more comfortable with riding. I find myself saying a lot lately "why fix something from the saddle what can be fixed from the ground?"
He checks in a lot, and lets me know when he needs a treat. He pushes the bucket, and the jolly ball when I point to them. I can rub his tounge, and am still working on his feet. He doesn't like to hold up his left front. Wierd horse. But lots of fun!

I know it's been awhile, I've just been too lazy to log in my days the last few weeks. We've been pretty much doing the same thing. Just practicing the 7 games with different obstacles. Our sideways game has been waaaaaay slow. What I do is face his side, then "push"(with the carrot stick) his front end, then hind end. Usually he swings his hind end too far, and ends up face to face with me. So today I stepped it up a notch, and asked his front end to go before he could face me again. It was pretty cool, and I could actually see that what we were doing was sideways and not just the driving game bakc and forth.
Started the circling game...but I wasn't very confident about it. So I'll leave that for another day. Also started playing in his mouth, an dwith his legs. LOTS of friendlyness.

Over the weekend we went to Atwood Ranch's open house. It was pretty cool to see Pat and Kalley play with horses. It always is. It was strange though seeing Remmer and Allure happily grazing out in a pasture. And even stranger meeting Linda. It's just wierd to meet someone I have already learned SO much from, and she has no idea who I am. But I had fun. It was a great weekend.

I played with Avery for just a little bit today. I really want to get my circling game good. He has a dominance issue with it, and I think if I can get myself to push him through it, and tag him at just the right times, it'll help a lot.
He can just explode sometimes though, clearly in a dominant way. Usually my fear gets the better of me, and I abandon the rope, the horse, and all, and hide behind a tree until the explosion settles. That's about how riding goes too. I think I'd feel better to get the circling game good because it is so similar to his antics and fits when riding. Why work in the saddle what I can work on the ground? Shouldn't be a fight.
I also know I have to retreat, and reward at the right times too. I've got a lot to practice. Should be fun though.

I played with Avery today. I've been trying to lead from zone 3 for awhile now(zone 3 is the middle of the horse, between the withers/shoulder, and the hindquarters). It's really an interesting thing to do with your horse instead of lugging him everywhere. You reveal thresholds because they're "leading" and your sort of guiding, just as you would be from the saddle.

Anyways, I've had a really hard time keeping Avery motivated to keep moving forward while i stay in zone 3.

Today I realized that first I need to get him to walk with me. And arrive with me. So...we just walked. I walked very intently, and had an objective to arrive somewhere with a plan. Anywhere. And he stepped up his pace, and I actually saw some energy come up in him, and an interest in what we were doing! After awhile, I was leading from zone 3 with lots of motivation from Avery. It was VERY cool for me.

Avery is a horse that is extreamly difficult to keep motivated to do ANYTHING! I've realized(now...after having done things much differently, and quite unaffectivly) that once you engage his mind in something he will put in all his effort.

I also brought out our excersize ball to play with. We played lots of friendly game(approach and retreat), and then the yoyo game. I would back him up past it, then ask him to come forward in front of it, causing him to "bring" the ball to me. By the end of the day we were playing with the ball at liberty. It was a pretty good day.

Avery is so different from Pepper. He is very left brain, and clever! I had a hard time keeping up with his quick thinking today.
I asked him to circle around and go through 2 trees, a task we have done many times before. Well he decided to just wrap around both trees, and THEN go through them! What a tangled mess my rope was!
He doesn't like the circling game, it's too predictable for him. He knows what's going to happen, and doesn't understand why I keep asking him to circle. So we don't do that long before moving on to the next game.
I had him standing with his front feet up on a pallet, and he was doing well...but when I asked for all 4 feet the pallet broke, his foot fell through the slats, and a few large pieces of wood went shooting out from under him. He perked his ears forward and manuvered his foot out carefully, and casually, as if he had only found a new puzzle to work out.
Such a smart horse, I can't wait to see what kinds of things we'll be able to accomplish.

Just got back from viseting with Pepper. His horsenality changes just about everyday. The day I rode he was inately Left Brain Introvert. Today he was Right Brain Introvert, trying to go extrovert! So I decided it was absolutely best not to ride.
We started with circling game. We did great at the walk, making several laps. He did well with the trot, but was having a hard time staying in a left brain way of thinking. His head came up, his legs got stiff, and he was constantly looking around him as if looking for a way out. I think he was a bit shocked that I didn't push him harder into a lope or gallop.
He had a hard time manuvering through the jumps I directed him twards. In order to go over a jump, ideally, he would be looking where he was going. But since he was traveling with his head up, hollowed back, and stiff legs, it took a few trys to make it over the jump somewhat gracefully.
He was also absolutely not willing to go anywhere near moms white sweater. So I took it and played with it around him. I put it over his neck, but he was so distracted, he didn't even realize it was there for about 5 seconds. When he just about went LBE.
So we played lots of friendly game until he relaxed. Even his lips were persed togather. He did relax though, especially on the way back to the pasture.
It was an intersting day, and I'm curious to see how he'll be next time.
Hard to imagine I had such a good ride on this horse just a few days before.

Didn't spend too much time today. Just spent some time at liberty with Avery. He's gotten pretty good with porkypine game moving the forequarters, and okay with the hindquarters. Pretty good with driving game, but tends to escape when drving the front end. Backs up great, and comes to great(yoyo)! Gets a sour expression quite a bit, but I expect that from the LBI. Otherwise he seems willing, and puts in some effort!

one step at a time

Today I went to go viset with Pepper. He is my horse who was abused when his last owner rode him. So he is such a sweet heart to be around on the ground, but when it comes to riding he is very Right Brain Extrovert(i.e. - impulsive, scared, can only think of how to get away).

So I started in the arena just playing some games on the ground as usuall. Porkypine, here and there, circle, yo-yo, etc.etc. We went through some poles, over jumps, and between barrels. When we were done, I parked him next to the mounting block to practice leaning on him. I have been leaning on him for awhile now, and usually do at the end of every session. I wait until he relaxes, and then rub him, and put him back.
Well today he wasn't tense at all! In fact, he fell asleep! So I slipped a leg over, and sat on him. Not much of a reaction, so I rubbed him. Then he started walking a little, so we walked a circle, and ended up back at the mounting block! I am SO excited, and feel so accomplished! I hope to continue to help Pepper feel secure with a person on his back.

I felt so great about Pepper, that I went home and sat on Avery! haha, He's so crabby sometimes. We played first, adn he trotted 1 circle in the circling game(which is great, by the way)! He broke the pallet and got his foot stuck...but was very calm in figuring out what to do about it. So, I did some leaning with him too, and hopped on! He tossed his head, but I expect that from my grouchy left brain introvert(dull, snotty, clever). We walked a few steps, and he pinned his ears and tossed his head again. Not wanting to get into a fight in a heavily wooded sloping area, I quickly decided it was best to quit there.

I am so excited to have come SO far with these 2 horses. And I know we still have so far to go! I can't wait to continue to learn and make progress!

keep it natural

a bit of an intro

A few months ago I started with Parelli Natural Horsemanship. With how far I've come, and with what goals I have, I thought it would be fun to start a blog. Maybe it's only fun for me, but I'm more than happy to share with those who are interested in what I'm up to.

I'll start this entry by telling you about what all this is about.

I have 2 horses. One is a real sweetheart, but has been through a lot, and is quite unpredictable when ridden. The other I bought as a 2 year old, and through a matter of events, he is still rather green.

I aquired an extream fear of all horses the last couple years. And it's been very difficult to deal with. When we brought them home for the first time in about a year, I had trouble leading, and managing my horse let alone riding. I was ready to give up horses all togather. It wasn't worth the fear, frustrations, and feeling like a failure, to keep them.
It was then I saw Pat and Linda for the second time at the horse expo, and was fascinated. Not just by them but by their students. I knew if they could do these things with they're horses, then I could too! I decided to be dedicated to the program, and knew I would get results.

I got Level 1 last Setember for my birthday, and have now moved on to Level 2. There are 3 levels to complete at home. After that I can go to the Parelli center in Colorado.We haven't started riding yet, but I look forward to that very soon. But I know I can do anything with my horse, and cause him to WANT to do it, because of understanding the horses psychology!

I've learned about how the horse thinks, and about his body language. It's REALLY cool, and super helpful. I hope someday to be on the Savvy Team, like the students I saw that day, and help people help their horses, and feel GOOD about it!

keep it natural