Horsemanship in Harmony

Having FUN

2012-02-17T07:59:00.001-06:00

I was chatting with my friend Tina the other night on Facebook and we were talking about having FUN with our horses. It's in all caps for a reason because we think, say and even type it with enthusiasm. I am coming to realize that most of the really cool stuff going on with Cricket is because I'm having FUN.

My only real goal with Parelli was to pass L3. I started PNH in 2002 when the home study ended at L3 and anything beyond was available only through direct study at the centers. Even when the program changed to put L4 in home study format, I never changed my original goal. With Cricket being innately introverted, I imagined L4 to be another adventure in frustration for both of us.

So when I returned from camp with my green string, I became lost. I didn't know what to do so I just started goofing off. Trying things just for fun and laughing when things didn't go so well. And that's when it all started changing. Cricket started becoming more engaged. She began offering more energy. She started having FUN.

Now I have this tiny inkling that maybe L4 is possible. But if I'm going to get there, I'm going to play my way there. I'm going to have FUN.

Last night I had FUN. Since the stalls weren't ready when I arrived at the barn, I took Cricket and Etruska into the arena while they were being cleaned. I put them both on featherlines -one white and one black so I knew which was which - and I played tandem games with my LBI/E and my best friend's RBE/I. I had them circling, Cricket stretched and blowing at the canter and Etruska stretched and blowing at the trot (because she's a big ol' warmblood and can trot to Cricket's QH canter). We did some COD and that was a little comical but we worked it out. I finished with some FLC with Cricket alone and we had a fabulous canter draw to finish it off.

Yeah, maybe we can get to L4 if we keep having FUN.

Don't Try, Just Do It

2012-02-07T08:12:00.000-06:00

I will never forget the lesson in which I first heard these words: Don't try, just do it.

I was taking periodic lessons from a natural dressage instructor. He had laid out a pattern for me to ride and when he'd finished giving his instruction, my reply was, "I'll try." And that's when I heard those words.

How many times, in doing something with our horses, do we try? We try to get out to the barn more often, we try to follow the Patterns, we try to be more creative, less demanding, more provocative, less critical.

If I asked you to try to tie your shoes, that request would seem silly. Of course you can tie your shoes. You don't try, you just do it. But if I asked you to do it with one hand, would your reply be to do it or to say, "I'll try."

You see, buried in the phrase I'll try is the acceptance of failure. Think about it.

Saying "I'll try" is the precursor to saying "I tried." I'll try to get to the barn three times a week leads to I didn't get out there at all but at least I tried.

Don't try, just do it.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with failure. And there's nothing wrong with fear. Failure can be the gateway to amazing discoveries. Fear is the mind protecting the body.

I'll try is not about failure or fear. It's about the fear of failure.

The fear of failure stops us from moving forward.

I've been afraid. I've failed. I'll be there again, no doubt. But I don't want to be afraid to fail. Being afraid to fail keeps me in the arena. Being afraid to fail keeps me walking endless, boring circles. Being afraid to fail keeps me from being a partner and a leader.

I have experienced amazing things with Cricket over the last year and even more so over the past several months. In large part because I've finally quit trying.

In the Dreaming

2012-02-06T12:39:00.000-06:00

Several months ago I created a vision of a farm. My farm. I even named it. Cooinda. It's aboriginal for "happy place." I knew it was real even though it wasn't yet mine. In my dream, I built a place where I could simply enjoy my horse and have space, one day, to expand it to something more.

In the last several days, some doors have opened. There is a distinct possibility that my dream may become reality much sooner than I ever imagined.

I have no idea how this is going to play out. I'm going to try and trust my intuition. I'll know it's right when I step foot on the property and it says, "welcome home."

Our Liberty

2012-01-17T22:32:00.000-06:00

I managed to tape our liberty session tonight. It wasn't as spectacular or energetic as it has been. Cricket was fairly low key at the start. I think I was a little preoccupied with the camera.

The clip is edited and annotated. Of course some of the best stuff happened outside the field of view.

Shift

2012-01-16T22:30:00.000-06:00

I wish I had Cricket's original horsenality charts. Honestly, I don't even remember if I properly charted her. I do remember thinking that everything about the left-brain introvert was patterned directly on my mare.

Following are the charts I did for her this weekend. I've done both the horsenality and the positive attributes charts.

I find it fascinating how her chart has rotated about 45° clockwise. Her original charts were very heavy LBI with a few dots in RBI and a few in LBE. Now she's moving more into LBE and has a few dots in LBI and RBE. Hmm, how interesting!

Looking at the positive attributes, she's all over the map. Pretty cool!

The thing I need to remember is even though she's charting LBE, she's innately LBI. It's not about making her into something she's not; it's not about staying where I'm comfortable. It's about understanding that, although she's displaying more extroversion, she's still an introvert. I need to be aware that I don't use and abuse the beautiful energy she's offering. I need to keep my eyes open to those moments when she needs a little extra time to think or when her confidence waivers.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Change

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. ~C. S. Lewis

I think both Cricket and I are emerging from our shells. And we are learning to fly.

The journey to my green string was huge for me. Taking the time to build my confidence and chip away at my fear was a long process. It's not finished. There are still moments where I feel my anxiety rise. That's okay. I've come this far; I can keep going forward.

Cricket is becoming the horse I never imagined I could own.

Our session on Saturday was mind-blowing. I love the development in Cricket's magnetism. I've stopped screaming at her with exaggerated phases and I've started keeping an eye on her confidence. I've started allowing her to initiate games and I've stopped feeling the need to manage every step.

She left once. But that led to the coolest part of the day. I brought her to me at the canter. First. Time. Ever.

We had tons of fun. Her circle game is back. Including transitions and change of direction. We had a little trouble with the FLC from right to left but she nailed it going right to left. And she maintained the canter in the new direction.

We played with some sideways and she gave me a few hop-canter steps going down the arena wall.

Riding didn't start so well. Not sure where we broke down but she seemed mad at me. I think my energy was off before I even got on and we were just out of sync. It took us awhile to find a rhythm but eventually things started to harmonize.

I played with her canter on the question box. I learned, very quickly, that I'm not ready to ask her for flying lead changes under saddle. I need to go back to lower gaits and work out the mechanics of my body and her body. It doesn't matter that it didn't work out - we played with it and she was so patient and tolerant.

We did a little bit of jumping and my friend helped me find better position and the last time over the cross-rail felt so good and balanced.

When I got home, I charted Cricket's horsenality. I converted the PDF horsenality charts into a JPG image so I can just chart her on my computer and then upload. I'll save that for another post . . .

Unscripted

2012-01-12T09:49:00.002-06:00

Sometimes the best sessions are the ones we don't plan. Where we just play and we just BE.

With Cricket, those sessions are rare. She is so full of her own ideas that without a plan, I usually don't stand a chance. Monday was one of those precious moments.

Cricket came in from the field wet. I had an idea to play with emergency dismount but sitting on a soggy pony wasn't my idea of fun. I turned her into the arena while Bonnie cleaned stalls. I thought maybe we could work a little on laying down. Wet Pony + Sand = Roll.

Cricket had other ideas.

One of the best ways to get her feet moving without breaking the connection is Squeeze Game. That mare will canter a squeeze and easily disengage when any other send will elicit a bolt. I sent her over the small jump and she just sailed right over and looked at me as if to say, "what next?" So I upped the ante by asking her to jump the cross-rail and then a single down barrel. Piece of cake.

After a few repetitions, I decided to move on with some stick-to-me and maybe build a circle game. As we left the jumps, the big 40" ball was right in her way. She jumped it.

I stopped dead in my tracks. She knows it moves. But she jumped it without disturbing the ball at all. Did I mention she's an introvert? A left-brain introvert?

Since she was still cool with jumping, we played with a three jump combo - cross-rail, barrel and ball. She never got all three in a row but she did get two out of the three most of the time. Including several more jumps over the ball.

We finally moved on to F8 and I blew it. She was cantering around the left cone and I wanted a FLC in the middle. She tried and tried and eventually bolted. Damn it!

I got her back and we played very slowly with the F8. I used a few bits and pieces from The Project and eventually we finished with a soft, connected F8. Not a bad recovery.

With her energy down, I asked her to try to think about laying down. We never accomplished the lay down but her connection and curiosity were worth every minute - including the ones where I went down and rolled in the sand!

I think we are making huge strides in our liberty connection. I know I threw in a little circling and she never left me.

Riding in the New Year

2012-01-04T11:28:00.002-06:00

Cricket, rigged up in surcingle, bridle and long lines.

There are numerous superstitions and traditions surrounding New Year's Day. Some make sense. Having money in your pocket or paying off debt before the stroke of midnight signal hope for financial prosperity. Others not so much. Seriously, what's up with wearing yellow underwear? (I'm not kidding, google it.)

My only New Year's tradition is to do on this day all the things with which I hope to fill the coming year. I spent time with friends and family, puttered with some hobbies, worked a little around my house, got in a bit of exercise and, of course, played with my horse.

Becky and I make a point to meet on New Year's Day and do something with the horses. The weather was supremely cooperative this year and we had a truly glorious day.

After hand-grazing and grooming, I played with Cricket just briefly. I need to work more variety into our ground play and until I get my creative juices going, I just want to make sure she's free and forward. She offered me some beautiful circles and I was pleased. I sent her over a small cross-rail, part of a pattern that was set up in the arena, and she took it nicely in stride.

I saddled up with my ReactorPanel, my fantabulous English saddle. One of my goals is to start jumping and to do so, I need to reacquaint myself with my English saddle. I decided to shorten my stirrups as I have a feeling they are way too long. It felt awkward at first but as soon as Cricket picked up a trot, I realized how much easier it was to rise to her trot with shorter stirrups.

After a nice warm-up, I took her through the jump pattern. We trotted up the east wall and around the north side of the arena. We turned in and took three trot poles back towards the east wall. Following the east wall, we came around the open south end towards the small cross-rail. And then we jumped.

Okay, not a real jump. Cricket took the jump in a high trot stride. But still . . . She was so soft and forward. She felt so balanced and sane. It was wonderful. I wasn't afraid at all. Well, maybe I was a little apprehensive but it felt so good.

So we did it again. And then again. The final time through, she jumped a little more and that was just fine.

I was thrilled!

We finished with some left lead canter circles. I had asked Cricket for a right lead and she was very rushy and I didn't like it. I put her on the left lead on a question box. The first time, she popped two little bucks. I think I was squeezing her with both legs. The second time, she was relaxed and forward.

I decided to strip her saddle off and rig her up in long lines and her surcingle. It's been ages since we've done anything with driving and I'd like to get back on track with it. We did a simple follow the rail and we just worked on solving the puzzle of following a feel on the lines. I asked her for some trot but was unable to be effective from Z5. We need to play with that some more. I quit when she offered a canter stride - not because I wanted the canter but because she tried really hard to do what she thought I was asking.

The day ended with more hand grazing in neighbor Dave's field.

If that day is a sign of things to come in the new year, I couldn't be happier.

Playing at Liberty

2011-12-22T09:50:00.001-06:00

I had an amazing liberty session with Cricket last night. To the casual observer, it probably looked chaotic and even pointless.

I have been having a problem with Cricket's liberty play. Though she'll do most anything, when it comes to circle game, she bolts. We've had this issue before but it's never been localized to the circle game.

One of my goals for the winter is to work on magnetism - increasing Cricket's desire to be with me. It goes beyond physical draw; it's a mental connection.

Last night I played with "look at me; never mind." I followed Zone 5 until Cricket turned her attention to me and then I would turn and walk away, ignoring her. Cricket hates to be ignored. Pretty soon she was in stride with me, asking questions about what was going on.

I wanted to experiment with the circle not to see if she would circle but to see if I could find what wasn't working. It was so interesting to see every horsenality show up in this simple exercise.

The first time I offered the send, she braced against me by looking in the opposite direction. Totally LBI. I held the send without offering any additional pressure and she switched to her right brain, very unsure and even a little worried. I changed the game and she wasn't ready for it.

I even saw flashes of RBE when she would bolt, though she quickly flipped LBE.

We finished when, after a soft send with soft support, she thought through the bolt and disengaged the moment I asked. I think she went back to her right brain to process it all through.

Thinking through the bolt was pretty significant. She's not scared, she just doesn't want to deal with the pressure. I loved seeing her make a conscious choice to stay and see what might happen. It was hard to quit on that note. To see her really offering the connection that has been elusive in our liberty.

I remember something Carol told us about exuberance: until your horse greets you with exuberance, you quit when you get it. The same for this magnetism. Until Cricket is locking onto me from the start, we quit when we get it.

I think my decision to end the session came as a huge relief to Cricket. I cannot explain it. I think liberty worries her just a little. She showed way more right brain than I'm used to seeing in her. I need to let her know that she's right, no matter what. Even when she bolted, I kept in mind the idea of "send, allow, bring back" and just kept my focus without criticizing how she executed any one part. I just kept asking until she could offer something I liked better.

We finished with wonderful connection. Again, it's hard to explain. The energy from Cricket just felt like "yes ma'am." When I opened the arena gate and indicated she should go to her stall, she did so with purpose.

Emergency Dismount

2011-12-20T08:43:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, I survived my first true emergency dismount. I was bareback and bridle-less and Cricket became a runaway . . . at the walk. She was crossing the gravel road as I planned my dismount but as soon as she got off the gravel, she broke into a trot. I vaulted off and landed on my feet. Unfortunately, I was facing the wrong way and Cricket's momentum pulled me backwards and I softly toppled to the ground.

Since this event, I've been reflecting on a few things.

It didn't scare me. At all. It was my choice to get off. The power of that decision preserved my confidence. Later that day, I haltered her and rode her from the barn back to her turnout field.

I've also thought about when the runaway actually started. Most people hear "runaway" and picture a horse at a full gallop and a rider hanging on for dear life. In reality, a runaway occurs when your horse disconnects from your leadership. When you don't control the brakes, it's a runaway. But when you don't control the accelerator, it's also a runaway. A horse can runaway in one step. If you fix all the little runaways, you never get to the big one.

So when did Cricket runaway? Honestly, before I ever go on her. I asked her to pick me up at the mounting block and she didn't. I had to coax her with the stick. I thought, "Well, I'm just going to sit on her while she grazes. We'll be fine." I failed to establish my leadership and since nature abhors a void, someone had to step up. It doesn't take much for Cricket to take over.

My last thought was about the actual emergency dismount. I have never vaulted off a moving horse. Ever. I've become very fluid in my bareback dismount and it was that muscle memory that saved me on Saturday. I also practice landing on soft knees and ankles, sinking further than necessary to ensure the shock is absorbed throughout my body. It was that softness that allowed me to tumble backwards and prevent injury.

Since I often ride bareback in the winter, I think this is an excellent time to improve my emergency dismount. I want to be able to vault off Cricket, from the walk or trot, and land safely on my feet. I'm going to start at the halt so as to retrain myself to twist my hips and land facing the same direction as my horse. When that gets good, we'll put it in motion.

As weird as it might sound, this is one of my best moments in my horsemanship journey. I vaulted off a moving animal, landed on my feet and was just fine. A year ago, I'd have fallen off, gotten hurt and taken months to rebuild my confidence.

Magnetism

2011-12-14T09:36:00.001-06:00

I need to find a way to increase Cricket's magnetism.

It's different than draw. We have draw . . . most of the time. If we had magnetism, we'd have better draw.

A while I go I blogged about rapport being more than just handing out cookies; I realize that's part of my solution.

But first, the problem. Or rather the challenge.

How do I cause Cricket to understand the send on the circle in open area liberty? How do I keep that rubber band whereby even as she leaves, she's being pulled back?

This is isolated to open area liberty.In the round corral, she circles just fine. She'll even offer short-range circles and doesn't rely on the panels to "hold her in."

I'm not worried. I'm not taking it personally. I'm just pondering ways in which I can, in our daily play, begin to build the rubber band.

Like Coming Home

2011-12-09T18:41:00.001-06:00

I was able to play with my pony tonight.

Simply wonderful.

I wasn't asking for much and I wasn't expecting much. And in return she blew my socks off.

My normally introverted and sullen mare was so beautifully and openly extroverted. Something I haven't seen in our on-line play in a very long time.

Things were good when she offered a little trot in our warm-up. Things were better when she gave me a gorgeous forward trot in the circle game. She gave me some easy, 3-beat canter and an exuberant flying lead change. We played with some long distance, energetic touch-it - asking her to really hook onto my idea. On a focused send, she went straight for the jump and cleared it with beautiful energy and intention.

And that was it.

I sat on the barrels, scratched her belly and then put her up and gave her dinner.

Like coming home.

Making it a Game

2011-12-07T09:57:00.001-06:00

I have finally figured out how to make the phases into a game.

It's only taken 9 years, 3 horses, 13 clinics/workshops, 2 trips to the ISC, taking countless lessons, auditing numerous clinics and thousands of dollars to figure this out.

Yeah, I can be slow.

Here is my realization: You cannot avoid something that was never coming in the first place.

Let me translate that into Parelli-speak: If I never intend to offer my horse a phase 4 then she cannot play the "ha, ha you missed" me game because you cannot avoid something that was never coming in the first place.

Get it?

If you do not intend to go to phase 4, your horse cannot make a game out of moving first.

Get it?

I finally get it.

I noticed a huge change in Cricket after camp. I started thinking about phase 4 before offering phase 1. I got very focused on phase 4 as I offered phase 1, 2 and 3. And Cricket started offering more at lighter and lighter phases.

Sure, my intention and focus was better but the promise of phase 4 was now real.

And my phase 4 is not a "whack her, beat her, how hard can I hit her with the popper" kind of phase 4. It was about delivering a kiss to the tip of the hair with a smile on my face.

The last time I played with Cricket, she offered me a soft, true canter at phase 1. She offered me a soft flying lead change at phase 1 and she finally hooked onto my idea of cantering circles and settled into a beautiful forward canter. It truly was a game.

Normal, Naturally

2011-12-05T12:50:00.001-06:00

I have this thought gnawing at my brain and I want to see if I can get it out before it festers.

I read a Parelli Central blog post about "breaking horses." It wasn't the actual post that got me thinking but rather some of the comments. I don't want to pick on people but I want to explore an idea about normal vs. natural . . .

There is a pervasive idea that Parelli horses are "crazy." You don't have to be a super-sleuth to find this out. You simply have to Google Parelli and you'll find a host of anti-Parelli websites and people who wouldn't touch a Parelli-trained horse with a 10ft pole.

Parelli people don't always help this image.

It is possible to get so wrapped up in what we think is creating relationship and preserving dignity that we fail to realize our horses are brats. Or worse, dangerous.

"He needs to move his feet." Sure, he does. But not while the farrier is up underneath him. True story - a Parelli student allowed her horse to just walk off and wander around, leaving the farrier with a dumbfounded look.

"She's unconfident in new situations." Sure, she is. But that doesn't mean she gets to shoulder through the vet tech who's trying to hold her for x-rays.

"He's food motivated." Of course he is. But that doesn't mean he gets to pull the hay out of the barn owner's hands while she's trying to put out hay for the boarder horses.

"She's dominant." I get it. But that doesn't mean she gets to charge and kick when another boarder comes to get her horse.

Here's a bit of a news flash: Your horse may not always be under your care. But . . . but . . . No buts. It's reality, folks.

My mare spent four weeks at the teaching hospital at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She had three major procedures and had to undergo daily sedation and nerve blocks. While this may be an extreme case, it's an extreme example to illustrate my point.

I had ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL over the people handling my horse. Worse, few vet students have large animal experience and some are very afraid of horses.

I remember handing Cricket's lead line to the vet student and simply saying, "Don't hold her close and trust her." I couldn't explain the million things that had gone into her training and development. I had to trust my horse and the preparation I'd given her thus far.

It is my responsibility to help Cricket get along in a normal world. A world where horses are not seen as sensitive, emotional animals. A world where they are expected to meekly obey every cue and command. Where they are supposed to lead on a short line and stand tied and lead into a trailer and go into stocks and stand on scales. A world that expects her to be "normal."

I train my horse to be normal, naturally. I treat everything the normal horse world expects of her as a friendly game. She will lead on a short line and stand tied and lead calmly through gates. She'll back away from her feed bowl. All the behaviors that make her an equine good citizen.

To make the world a better place for horses we need to spend some time making our horses better for this world.

(Not) In the Mood

2011-11-09T11:41:00.000-06:00

It's been ages since I've updated my blog. Every time I start a blog post, I just sort of fizzle out. What's up with that? Maybe it's just a bit of the winter blahs . . . Who knows!

I've had several good play sessions with Cricket in the past weeks. We continue to work on and refine what Carol taught us at camp. In so many ways, my relationship with Cricket has never been better.

We've been playing with more intention on-line. Using softer phases and stronger focus has my little mare offering more with me doing a whole lot less. She's beginning to offer draw at speed, we've gotten some soft flying lead changes on the change of direction and she's offering canter more and more. I need to remember that I turned groundwork in to drudgery and it's going to take some time to convince Cricket we are actually playing.

Under saddle, we're still having a ball! I've been playing with steady rein and stretching into bit contact. Cricket picked that up in no time and now I'm teaching her to follow the feel of the bit - forward and down or back up into my hands. She totally gets it! She can get a little resistant about holding frame so we're just going soft and slow.

I've been teaching her correct bend for lateral work and she can nail it on the right bend but we've been fighting (for lack of a better word) on her left bend. Her lateral flexion is fine to both sides and her freestyle HQ disengagement is fine to both sides. But for some reason, when we put them together, it all goes to hell. Carol helped me break it down and Saturday, I asked for the bend and when I asked for the HQ she gave me the weight and body shift. Loved it!

I want to start preparing Cricket to be able to ask for flying lead changes under saddle. I never imagined this would be something I would do but I think we're ready. At least for the ingredients.

We're starting to introduce speeds within the canter. Unfortunately our arena isn't wholly conducive to this but we're making the best. I've started asking her for more speed on the long side and then to slow on the short side and speed up down the long side. It's a little hit or miss but I think that has more to do with Cricket trusting me than anything else. When she figures out I really want her to turn it on, I think we'll have some fun.

I also got a wild hair to start asking for freestyle walk-canter transitions. I saw it on a Mastery Lesson and thought, "why not?" I can get a little rattled asking Cricket to canter freestyle, simply because I had this idea that going from the walk to the canter was a finesse thing. Don't ask me where I got that idea. So last Saturday I just started playing with it. At first, Cricket gave me a racey-bracey trot. I just brought her back down and asked again. A few repetitions on the left lead and she got it and I rode one of her best freestyle canters EVER. On the right lead, she nailed it on the first try.

Speaking of right lead canter, I think we've finally exorcised the Corner's Demon. You know, the little devil on Cricket's shoulder that convinces her to run hell-bent for the corner every time we take the right lead. She offered a right lead canter on Saturday and rather than say, "No." I opted for "Me Too!" and she gave me several circuits of the arena with no indication of running for the wall. None!

And I have finally found the perfect bit. Because sometimes equipment matters. In the time I've been riding her in her new bit, she's come to the point where I hold out the headstall and she reaches for the bit and takes it up into her mouth. Recently, when I went to remove her bridle, she continued to play with her bit and I stood, for about 10 minutes, holding her headstall while she played with the bit. The past weekend, she tried to pick up her bit while the headstall was still on the wall and I was still saddling her. I think we found a winner.

So there's the update. In all of this, Cricket's attitude towards me is just amazing. She nickers to me, comes to me with purpose and intention. She's getting into the conversation more and more. In a word, she's becoming willing. It's beyond "I'll do what you say" obedience, it's "sure, that sounds great" willingness. Not all the time but more and more. Loving it!

Sometimes the Answer is NO

2011-10-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

One of the important lessons I learned from my camp experience is that it's okay to say no.

But wait, you say. Doesn't this contradict everything we've been told? The horse is always right. Don't make him feel wrong.

Well, yes and no.

Allow me to digress . . . years and years ago I read about a study done with children and fenced yards. The researchers found that children who played in fenced yards were more self-confident, less fearful and more exuberant than children who played in yards without defined boundaries. Hmm, how interesting.

My interpretation of this . . . The fence provided a clear, consistent and unemotional NO. On the other hand, the children in the open space might freely roam into the neighbor's yard one day but be scolded the next. A frantic parent might grab the child inches from tumbling into the street but later pull them back 10 ft from the curb. Inside the fence, you won't find children sobbing because the fence is there nor will you find them constantly running into the fence, expecting it to move. No, what you will find is joyful, exuberant PLAY. You'll find kids running from one end to the other, whooping and hollering. In the open space, you might find the children are hesitant to run, unsure of where the real boundary lay. And should the parents encourage these children to play, you might see hesitation and refusal.

So how does that relate to horsemanship? I'm sure you've already figured out where I'm going with this . . .

Every time my horse asks a question, it involves the boundaries of our relationship. It's a little more complicated than a simple fenced yard but the basic, underlying principle is the same.

One of the exercises we did at camp was to ask our horses to circle. No big deal except that it was at liberty in the big arena with 11 other horses around. Every horse left - even Carol's. Every horse came back with the "Can I come to you?" look and every one of us said, "No."

You heard me. We all said, "No."

Because the game was circles. And the horses knew it. When Cricket left and came back, her question to me was, "Can I come to you?" And my answer was, "Thank you for asking but could you please find your circle." I don't remember how many times she left but each time she headed towards me, I thanked her and reminded her we were playing circle game. When she found her circle, I said, "YES!" and brought her in.

It's difficult to say, "No." But establishing boundaries and creating an expectation of responsibilities is more liberating than saying "Yes" all the time. In my last couple of ground sessions, I've raised the bar and Cricket has offered more exuberance than I've seen in ages.

Of course the key is how you say, "No." It cannot be authoritarian or dictatorial or emotional. It must be prefaced with, "thank you for asking but could you please . . ." You must have a clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish and reward the moment - the absolute INSTANT - your horse hooks on to the idea even if you don't achieve the final product.

It's okay to say, "No" because often there's a much better YES! on the other side.

Endless Possibilities

2011-10-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

Camp was an absolutely amazing experience. Every year I say best camp EVER and this is no exception.

I don't usually take notes during camp but this year I did. There was so much great stuff and I'm glad I took the time to write it down.

Please remember that my notes are my interpretation, taken through the filter of my experience. Nothing in this post is to be construed as the definitive way something should be done.

It really is about playing a game. Until you evoke the game, it's just "make" and you'll constantly be doing more and getting less.
Phases, at this level, are about stealth. Carol gave us the analogy of a hunter going through the woods. If he crashes through the brush, calling "Any deer around here?" by the time he gets to the clearing, he's going to think there are no deer in the entire county. You have to sneak up on Phase 4 so you cause your horse to really pay attention.
Phases are about intention, not motion and commotion. Phase 4 should be delivered with a smile and you should aim to kiss the hair on the top of zone 5 with the popper.
When your horse knows your phases and is counting on the consistency, start mixing things up. But don't just go to phase 4 every time. It's got to be a game!
Until you have a consistent canter at phase 1, you are working on snappy departs and not maintain gait.
There is a big difference between a phase 1 canter and a phase 4 canter.
You cannot hide behind your tools, thinking the CS alone will get you a canter depart. You must have intention.
Using the slingshot to invoke the game - slow draw towards and a speedy redirect, aiming the popper at the belly, just behind the elbow.
Level 4 is about accessing the athleticism of the right brain with the left brain in control. In the early levels, it's all about safety but in L3/4 you need to unlock the right brain and clear out the cobwebs.
Getting to the right brain can get a little unfriendly - your LB horse, who thinks she knows everything about you, needs to learn your less predictable than she thought. It's okay for your horse to be a little frightened.
Put purpose to everything you do. Don't do a falling leaf "just because" - use it to invoke the game or get more snappy or as a "consequence" for not upholding a responsibility. Don't just go from one end of the arena "doing a falling leaf."
Have a clear idea of what your looking for and how to reward it. Stop when you get what you want.
Once your horse hooks onto the idea, reward it and stop. At least for a little while.
Forget the horse you had yesterday, this morning, five minutes ago or even five seconds ago. That horse no longer exists. What horse do you have in this moment?
Asking a worried horse to calm down only adds more pressure.
Retreat doesn't have to mean going away completely. In a new environment, retreat from one object by going away to another and another and another. When you return to the first object, it's suddenly familiar.
FORWARD IS THE KEY. If you don't have forward, do what it takes to get it.
Can you use your tools independent of everything else? Can your horse yield to the CS without your body? Can he yield to the bit without your seat? The key is intention.
The horse must learn to uphold his responsibilities.
Can you cause your horse to stretch forward into contact? Can you cause him to stretch into contact and offer forward into that contact? This is the key to real finesse riding. It's not just about the headset or the frame but rather about the horse really understanding contact.
The more your horsemanship develops, the less overtly evaluating horsenality matters. You just know where to be, why to be and what to do when you get there.

I'm sure there's more but this is the nuts and bolts of what we covered during camp. As I moved through the four days, I realized that I do not play with Cricket. On the last day, during our individual liberty session, I found the play, not just in me but in her. And it was fabulous.

Prior to camp, I had this idea the level 3 meant we were done. As I think about invoking the game and causing Cricket to want to offer more, suddenly I see door opening everywhere and the possibilities are endless. Here's to dwelling in the world of possibility.

I Did It!

2011-10-21T08:38:00.002-05:00

There it is. My green string. I can hardly believe it.

I PASSED MY LEVEL 3.

This means more to me than I can ever explain.

I set out to achieve L3 and somewhere in the middle, I realized that what I wanted was the horsemanship and not the string. After my liberty audition, I was determined that my freestyle would flow naturally out of my progress with Cricket. I was not going to "try for my freestyle."

So I just went about playing and riding. And things got better and better. I had folks telling me to just video it and get it done. I didn't want to - not because I was afraid of failing but because I didn't want to turn everything into something artificial.

My goal, as I prepared for camp, was simply to go and just let things unfold. If nothing else, Carol would give me feedback on what I needed to achieve L3.

On the second day of camp, Carol asked us to ride a figure-8 with 1 or 2 sticks. When it was my turn, I just started at the walk, asking Cricket to find the pattern. We moved to a trot and then just flowed into the canter. It was a little helter-skelter but it was okay. We worked it out. I could hear the strains of "Barbie Girl" over the loudspeaker and just started to have FUN!

And then I heard it. Carol's voice. "That's solid level 3 riding." And I knew we had it.

As we wrapped up camp on Tuesday, Carol asked us for our highlights. I told her my biggest highlight was not necessarily my green string. It was that I came to camp and for the first time, I wasn't the one saying, "I'll just trot" or "I'm not going to canter." It was that I made this journey with my horse. Truthfully, the string was just gravy.

Camp Day 4: Wrapping it All Up

2011-10-18T18:20:00.000-05:00

The last day of camp is always a little bittersweet. The longing for more is all jumbled up with the fatigue and brain-fry that comes from spending 10-12 hours a day in a pretty intense learning environment. So we don't do a whole lot of new stuff.

Almost half the private sessions for the morning consisted of chatting at the picnic table. It was so cool to have that one-on-one with Carol and interesting that so many of us came to the same idea. I think I got something out of each conversation - maybe even more than I got out of my own.

We had individual liberty sessions in the round corral for our morning ground work. I was a little nervous, this kind of spotlight can send me a little right-brain. I decided just to focus on the skills I needed to get Cricket more responsive. I was really pleased with our session. Carol coached me through my phases and I actually felt playful with my horse. Nothing earth-shattering but I started to get some nice upward transitions at phase 1 and that's part of what we need to have even a hope of maintain gait.

The weather was a little non-cooperative but we were able to ride for about an hour before we wrapped up. I think I have some better insights into getting Cricket to stretch and come into contact and once we get some of these basics, I think our riding is going to get really good.

Camp Day 3: Rise and Fall

2011-10-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

My private session this morning was a bit of a fall from glory. After ending on such a high yesterday, it was bound to happen.

I wanted to work on maintain gait on-line. At the canter. It wasn't pretty. At least to me. I felt uncoordinated with my tools, my horse was unenthusiastic about my efforts and I felt as if we did a whole lot of something for a whole lot of nothing.

I'm sure that's just my perspective.

In our ground session we did long line driving. My frustration from my private session spilled over into our group session. I was way too hard on Cricket, probably as a reflection of being too hard on myself. Cricket got just a little scared of me. While I'm thrilled to see her access a little of her right brain, I'm not proud about how it happened.

We wrapped up driving and did some liberty. Of course Carol calls on us to do our liberty circle game right as Cricket and I are in this uncertain place in our relationship. It was okay but I could tell Cricket wasn't so sure about it.

As we played at liberty for the session, Cricket tried so hard to please me but I think my confusion made that very hard for her. While I was asking her for a figure 8, she left me and went to the middle of the arena and offered a circle game. By herself, complete with change of direction. Around no one.

Later she went out from my figure 8 and offered a figure 8 on the other side of the arena. By herself, completely alone.

She hooked up with my friend Margenia's horse and they proceeded to take a casual stroll on the wild side. Carol had Genia and I meet up in the middle of the arena and ask them to circle us. It was pretty cool as both mares worked out a circle together. When they hooked onto the game, we disengaged them and they came right up to us.

Our mounted session was better. A review and extension of the previous day. We also introduced some lateral work, building the blocks towards half-pass, side-pass, haunches in and shoulders in. I really struggled with Cricket's bend to the left. I asked Carol about it and she helped me to separate each element and figure out what was confusing Cricket. I'm not sure how long I played with this but I finally started making some progress and called it a day.

Camp Day 2: Fun Fun Fun

2011-10-16T20:30:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought it couldn't get better . . .

We had another mind-blowing private session about the circle game. It's amazing how such a simple concept has so many layers and facets. Our ground session was a bit of a review of the previous day and then expanding on the liberty we started on day one. Carol is asking us to stretch our idea of how the horse takes responsibility and it's pretty intense.

Under saddle, we started with a review of day one and then did some CS riding using a F8. Carol had half the riders at one end, half at the other and the goal was to do a F8 using CS and neck string. As always, it was up to us how to approach it for safety and confidence. When it was my turn, I was pretty nervous about it. But it's a pattern Cricket knows and likes so I felt that we could work through it. I started at a walk to get Cricket on the pattern and then we moved to a trot and then a canter.

I cantered my horse with just a carrot stick.

It wasn't perfect, it wasn't all that pretty (at least in my mind) but dammit, I did it.

And then I cried. Happy tears. I've waited so long for that moment.

The second time around was better.

My private session was the first of the afternoon and I decided, just for fun, to ride bridle-less. Crazy, right?

Crazy fun! Cricket was so freakin' amazing. We did all gaits, simple changes through the walk, sideways, yields . . . Oh my gosh it was a blast.

At the end, all I could do was thank Carol for all she's done over the course of my journey with Cricket.

So I wonder what day three holds?

Camp Day 1: Exceeding Expectations

2011-10-15T05:49:00.000-05:00

The first day of camp was amazing. Every part of the day exceeded any expectations I had coming in.

I have to admit to some trepidation. Cricket and I have a bit of a rocky history with camp. As hard as I try not to carry that particular baggage with us, it's hard. I have so much time and emotion invested in this horse and we can crash pretty hard.

Almost every moment of the first day was just knock-your-socks-off kick-butt.

Each day of camp starts with private sessions. Then we usually do some sort of simulations before starting our ground session. After a lunch break we have a riding session and then finish the day with some more private sessions.

One of the early morning private sessions was focused on the circle game. And that was the key, it's a GAME. I think I got enough out of that 15 minutes to make the entire camp fee worth it. Our simulations focused on steady rein and weight aids and that was cool. Our ground session focused on the game of the circle and building the ingredients for on-line flying changes. My favorite part of the morning was when Carol demonstrated with Cricket. I had questions about how to ask for more without being critical of what she's doing now. In riding, we did steady rein and stretching, asking the horse to move forward into contact. In my private session I wanted to work on maintain gait at the canter and Carol put me on a reining pattern of fast and slow circles throwing in some lead changes.

I have more detailed notes and will probably post more once I get back home and can process everything.

The Final Countdown

2011-10-13T12:01:00.001-05:00

I've said it before but this time I mean it.

I'm not ready.

And not in that "I haven't done enough with my horse this past year" kind of way. Rather in the "holy crap, I leave tomorrow and I've only done a handful of the million things I need to do."

I had already decided on a minimalist approach to preparing for camp. Even with that, there are certain things that need to be done: feet, feed, tack and clothes.

My world got tossed around last week when, through a serious of strange and unforeseen events, my sweet kitty was killed. I never considered myself a cat person and imagined that life would somehow be easier without him. I miss him more than I could ever have imagined.

So to say I'm behind is the understatement of the century.

All that being said, beyond the stress and anxiety I am super excited about camp this year. I feel like Cricket and I are the best we've ever been. The last several days she's met me at the gate, going so far as to mosey over when she saw my truck approaching the barn. I'm determined to just take her wherever she is and just have fun.

I'm going to take notes and maybe try to blog a little during camp. We'll see how that goes.

Afterall, It's Supposed to Be Fun

2011-10-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

At the heart of Parelli is the idea of playing games with your horse. You'd think I would have figured that out by now. Apparently not.

I scheduled a lesson with our local 2* Junior Instructor, Robin Harris, as a tune-up for camp. I've been struggling with Cricket's on-line canter and nothing I'm doing is terribly effective. Rather than count on camp to fix things, I set up a lesson. After Cricket's little buck-up last week, I decided to include some riding in the lesson.

We started by just running through the games. As I applied steady pressure to Cricket's shoulder, Robin asked, "Is that how you always check your porcupine?" "Yes." "Do it differently."

Huh? I stood there, with a completely blank expression.

"How is your 'lead by'?"

So we did lead by the mane and lead by the leg. Robin suggested incorporating more of this into our daily routine and to use grooming for checking basic yields. The same basic challenge was issued regarding driving game so we did driving from Z3 and dwell only came when Cricket matched the energy I wanted.

The rest of the games were good and we deliberately omitted circles.

For the circle game, I showed Robin what we had and just how well it wasn't working.

We did a little on the circle but it wasn't working so Robin had me do a short range circle. The idea was a 2 second lead it/energy cue followed up with a deliberate but quick phase 4. Cricket gave me some great energy so we took that to the regular circle.

When I finally got the play dynamic right, Cricket gave me some beautiful canter. Simply beautiful. The first time I stopped her, I did so with a disengage. Robin encouraged me to use more draw so we could both become more comfortable with that energy coming towards me. The first time I asked, off a left circle, Cricket came in and jumped right, jumped left, reared a little and finally straightened up towards me. I swear, with a lift of my arm to the right, I would have gotten the most beautiful FLC. Going the other direction, she was much straighter.

Instead of wearing that out, we called it a win and moved onto riding. We adjusted my shim pattern in an effort to alleviate the back pain I've been feeling lately. I think it worked because I didn't feel a twinge or spasm during the entire ride!

Robin introduced me to the steady rein and using weight aids to move your horse. The weight aids comes from Colleen Kelly and it's something with which I'm already familiar. My dear friend Kathy has been certified by Colleen to teach her methods and we've played with it off and on over the years. We played a little with canter and Robin helped me adjust my request so I could stay with Cricket during the transition and canter rather than falling behind and inadvertently driving with my seat.

What I need to remember:

Be more creative. Cricket knows her basic yields so check those during grooming, haltering, etc. Use play time to expand on those basic yields.
The key to Cricket's play drive is mental intensity.
She needs to understand the consequences for breaking gait and I need to follow through when she does. If there's no repercussions for dropping to the trot, why should she exert the energy to canter?
More draw to bring back, less disengage. Keep the energy flowing and forward.
If she offers her crappy 4-beat canter, do some transitions until she can move into a forward, correct canter. Don't punish the crappy canter but find a way to let her know that's not what I wanted.
If she pins her ears, don't make her feel wrong but do something about it - change something to effect a change in her. Foster the happy ears without criticizing the driving ears.
Stop making excuses for her.
Ask for the canter by riding the transition UP. Literally. Lift the inside hip a little and get up with her. When Cricket offers a true transition, she's very up in her front end and I need to be ready for that on the first beat.
Be more particular on the small things - straightness through the transition, up or down; go when I say; whoa when I say.

All in all it was a great lesson. Now I have camp in just under two weeks and then Wendy comes back in November. I should be rockin' and rollin' just in time for winter to come in and shut everything down! Ain't that the way it goes?

My Dream, My Journey

2011-09-28T09:51:00.002-05:00

My dream is my own dream.

My journey is my own path which follows my own dream.

My dream is my own and it is not concerned with your dreams. My journey does not follow your path.

I am competitive by nature. I don't like being left behind and I don't like being left out. As such, I struggle with holding onto my my dream and following my path.

I have started by defining what my dream is not. I do not dream of becoming an equine professional. I do not dream of entering the competition arena. I do not dream of adventures in trail riding.

I am an introvert. I want things to be intimate and close to home. I want to reserve my energy and emotion for my passion.

So if I know what my dream is not, can I then define what my dream is?

My dream is partnership and willingness and joy and fun. My dream is enjoying the time I spend with my horse, regardless of what happens in that time.

I want simply to be in the moment with my horse and have my horse in the moment with me. When the day seems to call for lazy, undemanding time to just spend that time together and not waiting for something better to come along. When the day calls for a spontaneous ride in the snow, we are together in our mini-adventure.

My dream does not preclude progress and improvement but strives to balance that with acceptance and peace.

I am delighted for my friends who are pursuing professional goals. I am excited for my friends who are entering the competition arena. I am happy for those weekend trail-riders.

But that is not my dream; not my journey.

My dream is my own dream.

Playing in the Dirt

2011-09-19T14:21:00.000-05:00

Cricket and I got to play in the dirt yesterday. It was so much fun!

The owners of my barn are having some major earth work done around the boarding barn. The result of Sunday's work was two big piles of dirt where one of the terraces used to be.

When the bulldozer guy took a break, I asked if I could play on the dirt with my horse. He grinned and said, "Have at it." I'm not sure he really understood what I wanted but was happy to oblige. I ran off to get my boots, giddy as a school-girl.

I brought Cricket out, hooked her to my 45' and off we went. The dirt was in two piles, a smaller one down away from the barn and a pretty large one in the paddock.

She was pretty easy going and we started with some friendly game of just moving around near the dirt. Cricket was pretty nonplussed about the whole thing. I asked her to head up the big hill and up she went. She got to the top and looked around as if to say, "well, this is different."

The front of the hill, where she went up, was pretty well packed from the bulldozer. The steeper back side was all loose dirt. I asked her to crest the hill and come down the steep side. Over she went and down she scootched as if she it were an every day occurrence.

From the ground, we played with both dirt hills. I asked her to go up and over or go up and wait before turning around and going down the way she came. I stood on the smaller hill and had her circle around me. She was a little confused but eventually figured it out, even jumping part of the dirt pile as she traveled around. I played with yo-yo, standing at the top of the hill and asking her to back at the bottom and then run up to me. That was fun. I even asked her to back down the hill from Z5 while I stood at the bottom.

Everything was going so well, I saddled up and decided to ride on the hills. Going down hills on horseback scares the begeezus out of me. Cricket and I nearly somersaulted down a hill during our one ACTHA ride. But I figured this was a good opportunity to practice.

My Crickie-Monster was an absolute champ! She took me around, up and down. The little hill was okay - the top had a good platform to turn around and walk back down the packed side. The big hill was a little narrower at the top. Our first attempt was a little nerve-wracking. Cricket tried to go down the loose dirt but I was able to clarify my request and face her down the "ramp." Where she stopped dead in her tracks. I encouraged her forward and she walked calmly, straight down the hill. Where she got lots of cookies at the bottom. We finished our dirt play by riding up the small hill and then backing all the way down. I took her out into one of the open fields and we did a little trot and canter before ending our ride.

My view from the top of the smaller dirt pile.

What It's All About

2011-09-14T11:40:00.002-05:00

I made the choice to play with my horse last night. To actually play with her. Not "do stuff with her" or "work on her on-line canter". PLAY.

I invited Cricket to come play with me. She accepted and so we began . . . with haltering. Just the softest touch to ask her to keep her head lowered and towards me. Just the softest reminder to please bring her head back.

My idea was to squeeze out of the stall and head to the arena. Her idea was to squeeze out of the stall and grab hay from the bales stacked across the aisle. We went with her idea . . . why not? After the initial, frantic bites, I asked her to yield her HQ in a half turn followed by her shoulder in a half turn, all with a "hurry up and get back to the hay" attitude. Suffice it to say, she didn't believe me. At least not at first. I repeated the pattern so she understood that I loved her idea and could she please consider my idea. I also added in some sideways away, sideways towards, hurry up and get back to the hay.

In the arena, there was a 3-barrel pattern set up and my plan was to use that to do some free-form change of direction. I decided to keep everything at the walk or trot. She doesn't want to canter and I'm tired of telling her she's wrong.

I started slow, just using the barrels as objects and asking her a series of "can you" questions. We played with all three barrels before I asked her to circle.

At a walk, she made it past the first barrel and at the second barrel, I wanted her to go around and draw back to me. She wanted to jump. But only half way. I wish I had a picture of the expression on her face. She was so proud of herself. This is something we've been working on and she knows I like it and she knows it almost always yields a cookie. She was right - I loved it and gave her a cookie. It took more effort to do what she did than what I wanted.

She showed me she wanted to jump so I changed my plan to "go around or go over." As we approached each barrel on the circle, I asked her to either go around (and maybe draw and redirect or draw and stop) or go over (maybe half way, maybe all the way, maybe jump and stop or maybe jump and keep going).

It was so far from perfect but it was so much fun. She started asking questions and participating. Her energy never really came up, except for the jumping, and that's okay.

We finished with some upward transitions following a change of direction. It's a pattern my friend taught me to help the horse prepare for FLC. I asked Cricket to change direction at the walk and then immediately move into the trot. I don't know if I really set us up for success but on the last one, Cricket put in an energetic trot and held it through the change. I figured that was enough and told her how wonderful she was.

Leaving the arena, I sent her back to the hay and we played some more with her idea. I opened her stall door and asked her to back into her stall and quickly come forward for more hay. She liked that a fair bit and it was a little bit of a challenge to get her to stay in her stall.

Last night made me aware of how I have drained the fun out of being with my horse. Up until now, it's been about what we need to do or worse, what we cannot do. It's not been about what we can do or better still what we want to do.

This is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be recreation for both of us. So what if she's not perfectly bio-mechanically correct, so what if I ride a bit like a drunk monkey, so what if she doesn't canter on line. We'll get there . . . when we're both ready.

A Different Take on Yes and No

2011-09-12T16:36:00.002-05:00

In a recent issue of the Savvy Times, Linda Parelli wrote an article on the Minister of No vs. the Ambassador of Yes. This theme has come up, in different ways, in various aspects of my life.

I've been reflecting on this and have come to the decision that, in order to say YES to the parts of my life I most want to embrace, it's time to say NO to some other parts.

I have no energy, no joy in my play sessions with Cricket. All my "yes" has been used up and all I'm left with is "no."

I started saying "no" when I gave Bleu back. It was a hard decision but the right one. Bleu is doing so well back in her old home. It's hard to read the Facebook updates and not feel like a failure but I know I did the right thing for me and ultimately the right thing for Bleu.

I need to say "no" some more.

I need to say "no" to some of the things that waste my time. Like spending way too much time on Facebook or other meaningless games on my laptop.

I need to say "no" to some things that do not constitute good use of my time. I may decide to let go of trimming Cricket's feet. It's not that I cannot do it but rather I don't want to have the pressure of maintaining her feet.

I need to say "no" so I can free myself to say "yes."

I want to feel more joy and connection in my play time with Cricket. I want to get out from under the pressure of finishing my L3 and I want to forget about L4.

I want to feel more peace and serenity in my house.

I want to use my time to get things done rather than waste my time and scramble at the last minute.

So forgive me as I put on my Minister of No hat. Forgive me if I'm just not as available or flexible as I once was. Forgive me if I don't please you as I've often done in the past. Forgive me as I learn to say "no." But if you are patient and forgiving, I promise that when I can once again become the Ambassador of Yes, I will be a more true and authentic person. I will bring more light and joy and our interactions will be richer because of it.

Concerning Circles

2011-09-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

I have this idea that if could ever achieve even a modicum of mastery of circles with Cricket I would be somewhat of a horseman.

And not just will she send, will she stay out, will she come back. I mean rhythm, cadence, tempo, impulsion, obedience, flexion and maybe a little exuberance.

Cricket on a circle is the picture of resignation. She puts forth only as much energy as it takes to create motion in a sort of forward direction.

Nothing I have done has produced consistent results. I've tried psychology - do less to try and cause her to want to do more. After awhile she realizes she can just do less. I've tried playing a game - come here so I can tag you. That will get her energy up but only in short bursts and it's pretty easy to cross the line into offending her. I've tried leaving her alone and rewarding her when she offers more. I've tried a driving circle game.

But fundamentally, I saw no purpose in the circle game. And neither did Cricket.

Sunday night, I asked my friend Kathy to watch our circle game. At best she might see something I was missing; at worst she could at least commiserate with me.

So I just played while Kathy watched. Cricket did her poky little trot. Her canter was barely a canter. It was more of an "un-trot" - four beat, stilted and just crap. Her walk was not easily distinguished from her halt.

Kathy and I chatted about it. She has some similar issues with her LBI TWH mare. Kathy suggested using raised poles on opposite sides of the circle to see if the pattern itself could cause Cricket to move better.

I put two ground poles on Rail Razers and sent Cricket on the circle.

It's almost embarrassing how un-athletic she was about these little poles.

To clear the poles in stride, Cricket needed to be straight on the circle. Which she wasn't. Hmm, how interesting!

So I left her alone and she started to figure it out. And she started to move forward in a lovely energetic trot. All without me asking. I rewarded the trot and then asked her to go again.

On the right circle, she offered the canter and after a few laps, she adjusted her stride and balance and was doing the most beautiful free, flowing canter. She was taking the poles in stride and she was just relaxed. I cannot count how many circles she did - isn't that cool in and of itself?!

To the left, she was a bit of a hot mess. She kept falling in on the circle and loosing the arc. She was bunny-hopping on her hind legs instead of reaching into her stride. I had to use some driving on the circle to encourage her and help her understand what I wanted. Physically, she never got it as well on the left as on the right but mentally she was trying her heart out. I rewarded her for a good try and called it a day.

So now my quest is to find ways to turn the circle into a "maintain gait" puzzle and build her both mentally and physically. I was so pleased with how well she worked to figure out the game and this might be a way forward.

If It's Not One Thing . . .

2011-09-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

I mentioned it in passing but feel it deserves a little more attention . . . Cricket has borderline anemia.

Cricket has been lethargic for the past month or so. By nature she's a conservationist but something told me there was more to the picture. I'd seen her nibbling some weeds in her pasture and became concerned about possible toxicity. I made an appointment and had my vet draw blood to run a full check on her.

The good news is - no liver or kidney damage. In fact Dr. Harry said her levels and ratios couldn't be more perfect. The one anomaly is her low red blood cell count and low hemoglobin.* Her red blood cells are perfectly healthy but there just aren't enough of them.

That would explain the lethargy. But what explains the anemia?

There are three main causes for anemia in horses: blood loss, increased blood cell destruction and inadequate blood cell production. My gut feeling is Cricket is suffering from inadequate blood cell production.

The most obvious sign of blood loss would be acute injury. That one's easy to rule out. Other sources of blood loss can be gastric ulcers and parasite infestations. Symptoms of gastric ulcers and parasite infestations can include, among other things, poor appetite, poor hair coat, mild colic and weight loss. Cricket shows none of these signs. Outwardly, she appears to be the picture of health. Minus the whole "I'm not moving" thing.

Blood cell destruction is often accompanied by fever, yellowish mucous membranes and, in more severe cases, dark reddish urine. Possible causes are toxicity (red maple leaves or certain classes of drugs) or infection (EIA). Another cause could be increased exposure to wild onions or garlic, resulting in Heinz body anemia. As Cricket's blood cells appeared perfectly health, it is unlikely cell destruction is a the root of her problem.

So by process of elimination, we have inadequate blood cell production. And of course this is the hardest to resolve. Go figure. Just my luck.

Inadequate blood cell production can result from prolonged disease, stress, environment, nutrition and probably the alignment of the planets. Okay, maybe not the last one but still . . . .

Since her blood work showed no signs of infection, I can rule out one cause.

I'm going to look at stress, nutrition and environment and see if we cannot iron out the kinks. She's been on limited pasture forage and I think her run-mate is bullying her out of her food. When horses lack access to adequate forage, it can increase stress. Horses have evolved to graze slowly over long periods of time. Unfortunately modern horse-keeping doesn't always honor that instinct. Different horses have different levels of tolerance. Apparently Cricket's is pretty low. Go figure. Just my luck.

* this is the diagnosis as I recall from my phone conversation with my vet.
† Please note the information in this blog post is based on my internet research following Cricket's diagnosis. It is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified veterinarian. If you suspect your horse is anemic, please contact your veterinarian and discuss your concerns.

And Then Again, Maybe Not

2011-08-29T12:50:00.000-05:00

Well as it often happens, the best laid plans have gone astray. But it's all good.

I've decided not to move Cricket. I don't know who's more relieved - me, the barn owners or all the other folks who come to the barn.

I've worked out an arrangement where Cricket will have 24/7 pasture access and I will be able to offer free access to hay in a slow-feed environment. This set-up will be shared with another boarder - a sweet, goofy gelding named Dillon. Dillon's owner is 100% on board with this and I think it is going to work out just fine.

It's funny how things just seem to be working all towards the good lately. The stress and the anxiety seems to be melting away and I see the sunshine more and more these days.

Cricket is still lethargic and I think it's going to take some time to work out the anemia issue. Fixing her forage will be a major first step and then we can go from there.

This will be a fun adventure and I'm still looking it as a learning opportunity to begin taking ownership for the care and stewardship of my horse in preparation for the day I bring her to my own farm.

Taking the Next Step

2011-08-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

The decision was made to let go of Bleu. She will be leaving on Tuesday to return to Mobile this coming weekend. One difficult choice made.

Now onto the next steps.

I've decided to move Cricket from her current facility.

This is another one of those choices that was easier to make than to execute. I've been at my current boarding barn for five years. The owners are good friends. They have been there when I needed them and gone out of their way to accommodate me.

I have come to believe that a dry lot situation is not in the best interest of the overall health of my horse. My current boarding facility uses dry lots during the day with turnout at night. It is unreasonable to even ask for the entire operation to be turned upside down at the whim and request of one boarder.

I am going to find a a pasture board situation where I can create an environment that balances Cricket as an easy keeper with her need for constant access to forage. I've been researching paddock paradise and slow-feeding and I think it's the way to go, especially for Cricket. It may be a lot of work at first but I feel the health benefits will far outweigh the effort.

I'm also looking at this as an opportunity to develop my skills at managing Cricket for the day I move her to my own place. It will be like having training wheels!

I am nervous and excited. I am fortunate that my barn owner is trying to understand and has told me I'm always welcome to come back. I know I have a safety net and I'm forever grateful for all they have done for me.

Making Decisions

2011-08-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

I have made the incredibly difficult decision to send Bleu back to her guardian.

I am so fortunate to have had her in my life. She is an amazing mare and she deserves more than I can give her at this time in my life.

It's hard to put into words what I'm thinking and feeling right now. The past several months have been unbelievably stressful for a variety of reasons. In trying to keep all the plates spinning, I'm running myself into the ground. The time has come to make some difficult choices.

In her short time with me, Bleu taught me so much. She helped me see that being a leader is far more effective than trying to be a leader. She taught me to see myself more clearly, both my strengths and weaknesses. She graced me with her gentle spirit and her sweet kindness.

Though this ends in a way I never imagined, I am forever grateful she came into my life. Every aspect of my life has been affected by her and I thank her for the gifts she gave me.

I thank God she has a soft place to land and I hope, with all my heart, she finds the place she belongs. She deserves it.

What Would Happen If?

2011-08-01T15:56:00.001-05:00

What would happen to your horses (or other pets) if something happened to you?

Do you have a plan or are you hoping the good will of your family will suffice?

This has been bothering me for several days, ever since I engaged in a small discussion following a status post on Facebook. The comment thread took the general tone that it is up to the surviving members of the family to ensure the safety of surviving pets.

I just don't agree.

What would you think of parents who failed to name suitable guardians for their children, choosing to rely, instead, on the surviving family to decide what was best?

For my horses, I choose to be more proactive. I choose to make sure they have a soft place to land, no matter what. I am fortunate that Bleu, through her original owner, already has that safety net. I owe it to Cricket to give her the same.

I have mapped out several options for Cricket should something happen to me. I have a good friend and Parelli Professional who has agreed to take her. As a last resort, she has a place with an amazing equine sanctuary where she can live out the rest of her life, in peace, just being a horse.

Not only have I planned where she will go, I'm working on providing for her care as well. Partly because she's a bit of a special case and partly because it will ensure she receives the care she needs, she has an inheritance, so to speak. At present, it's simply a bequest in my will. As soon as I can get the details worked out, I will set up a pet trust. For some basic information on Pet Trusts, including states with currently enacted Pet Trust laws, and alternative options, check out the Pet Trust Primer from the ASPCA.

This is not a commitment I made for my lifetime but rather one I made for the lifetime of my horses.

Many have forgotten this truth, but you must never forget it.

You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.

~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Snakes and Ladders

2011-07-28T17:15:00.001-05:00

Did you ever play Snakes and Ladders?

Here in America, I think it's more common to see Chutes and Ladders but I grew up with snakes. I guess that's a little more appropriate for the Australian Outback.

My horsemanship journey has become like one giant game of Snakes and Ladders. And I think I've just landed on a snake.

If you were raised by wolves and are not familiar with the game, the premise is simple. You roll the dice, move the designated number of squares and the first person to reach the finish line wins. If you land on a ladder, you advance to the top; hitting a snake takes you backwards.

Cricket and I have hit some good ladders over the past several months. We moved from a relative fear and apprehension to confident cantering. We hit a big ladder when I started cantering with one and then two carrot sticks.

We hit a decent snake when she started running for the wall.

I don't mind the snakes. Not really. I've been playing this game with Cricket since the day she came into my life. Sometimes we make steady progress, avoiding the pitfalls and staying a relatively steady course. At times, every toss of the dice resulted in a backwards slide, often going all the way back to the very beginning. Other times it's been one quantum leap after another. I guess that's the nature of the game.

It's not necessarily what happens when you roll the dice but having the courage to stay in the game, even when things aren't working quite as you would like.

More of What's Been Going On

2011-07-26T15:18:00.000-05:00

I never did get around to posting about my lesson with Wendy. Or any of the other stuff I've been doing this summer.

In early July, we hosted Wendy Morgan, 2* Junior Parelli Instructor, for a day of lessons. I took advantage of being the coordinator and scheduled two sessions for myself.

We started with an easy session on saddle shimming with Bleu. I had ridden shortly before the lesson and felt I was fighting my saddle the whole time. The experimentation that comes with shimming is very much outside my comfort zone so I wanted Wendy to hold my hand a little while we played with some changes.

Here's what I learned:

There are three main points to evaluate for saddle shimming: scapula clearance, muscle atrophy and rider balance.
Evaluate your horse in motion, free from the saddle. Observe carriage, head position, stride length, etc. This is the baseline for anything else you do. It works best with at least one observer but if you're alone, use a video camera to help you observe.
If you already have a saddle and pad set-up, saddle the horse and repeat the circle game. Notice if anything changes from the "nekkid" circle game.
Take a good look at your horse's back. Use a carrot stick to evaluate uphill vs. downhill and attach a savvy string (one that contrasts well with your horse's color works best) and drape it along your horse's spine. This gives you a very clear picture of the shape of the back.
There are only three basic backs: uphill, downhill and atrophied. Yeah, it's almost that simple.
Make a guess and pick the basic shim pattern. Nothing says you cannot change it.
Observe the horse on the circle with the new set-up. Is it better? Worse? Remember, if your horse is introverted, it may take some time for her to relax enough to tell you what she really thinks.
Experiment until you feel you have a good shim pattern. Mount up and see if you feel better, worse or whatever.
Once you've found a pattern that works . . . KEEP EXPERIMENTING. This is the hardest part for me but it helps the pendulum really settle in the middle.

This was an awesome session and I'm so glad I did it. First, we had some huge positive changes in Bleu's back. I had initially shimmed her for an atrophied back but we just didn't see that this time. When I changed her to a downhill, A-frame shoulder, everything just looked and felt better. When I rode, I felt more in balance and less pitched forward. I need to play with it some more but I'm not in a big hurry. I feel more savvy and confident with saddle shims now.

Later in the day, I rode Cricket in a 2 hour Freestyle lesson with my friend Shari and her teenage daughter, Kim. While we all had a slightly different focus, the main theme of the lesson was carrot stick riding with greater control and even a little precision.

I have to say, I was so nervous going into the lesson. Cricket had been doing great but it was in controlled environments and with familiar horses. I had no idea what to expect and I was just a little worried my expectations and ego would ruin everything.

We started just warming the horses up. Cricket was doing well and I asked her for a canter. She gave me three beautiful laps on the left lead, no hands on the rein, stick on the outside. It was wonderful!

The actual lesson started with tuning up the disengage - making sure leg = yield rather than leg = forward. This is something I've been working on and Cricket was very good. Then we put it in motion, asking for a disengage to a downward transition. We took this onto FTR and did some great CS disengage. Even from the canter!

Once this was working relatively well, we did some loose figure-8, disengaging to the halt in the center. The idea was to create a sweet spot in preparation for simple changes through the center. During this exercise, Cricket got very snarky about the sticks. I know part of the reason was me getting focused on the task and probably forgetting my phases. At one point we abandoned the plan and trotted around the arena, swinging the stick in a high-level friendly game.

Wendy put us back on the rail and we did a "jump friendly game" by approaching low jumps and going sideways around them to continue on the rail. This was great for me since I get very nervous about jumping. We changed it up again by adding in yo-yo - either up to or after the jump.

To further incorporate sideways without drilling it, Wendy set up a sideways weave. I opted to dismount to get my spurs. We did the pattern a few times and Cricket was doing well.

By this time, I think Cricket and I were both a little tired and frustrated with carrot stick riding. I decided to ditch the stick and just have some free-for-all fun. Since it was the last 10 minutes of the lesson, Wendy just turned us loose to decompress.

Cricket gave me some great canter and some very soft simple changes. Wendy snapped a little video of our ride and it was so nice to see how well we were doing. Cricket is almost to the point where she'll pick up the canter from the walk and that makes everything smoother and more balanced.

Things have unraveled a little since the lesson but that's a subject for another post and something I'm not too worried about. We'll work it out . . . just like we have everything else.

Summertime and the Livin' is . . . SWEATY

2011-07-25T09:56:00.000-05:00

Summer time in the South is not for the faint of heart. Walking out the front door is like hitting a wall of humidity so thick you need a machete to get from your porch to your car door. I know the rest of the nation is suffering a stifling heat wave but triple digit heat indices are a way of life down here.

I don't like the heat. I like the cold. I can put on more clothes but there is a socially acceptable limit to what I can remove.

Even if I had the energy to ride, the look on Cricket's face clearly says, "Don't even think of putting your butt on my back." And frankly, the idea of sitting on her hot body isn't so appealing either.

But camp is coming up. Less than three months until my L3/4 camp with Carol Coppinger. I need to get moving.

Cricket is shaking things up . . . again. God forbid that mare give me more than a few days of thinking I've got everything working. All our progress with cantering, freestyle and CS riding has hit a wall. Literally. Cricket has taken to running, at a good canter, straight into the wall. But only when I have 2 sticks. Hmm, how interesting. Of course she's not so stupid to actually hit the wall and she's not so right-brain that she's doing this out of fear or lack of confidence. Her sole purpose is to scare the sh*t out of me. It's not working and I think that's pissing her off even more.

This has nothing to do with cantering or carrot sticks and everything to do with the balance of leadership between my horse and me. I'm not sure how to convince her to fully turn loose to me. If nothing else, I'm sure Carol can help us when we get to camp.

Despite the heat and humidity, I need to start a plan to get some things tuned up before camp. I'm so excited to be able to show Carol how far we've come since she last saw us together.

Back to Basics

2011-07-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

I need to go back to some basics with Cricket.

Particularly when it comes to her back-up.

When we play in the arena - at liberty or on-line - she's got a pretty good back-up. For a generally under-motivated LBI.

In her stall when I'm feeding, it's as if her feet suddenly become glued to the ground directly in front of her stall door.

I like all the horses to back away from me when I enter with their feed. Bleu and Dillon do so with a little wave of my hand, at most. They know the routine and are happy to comply. Etruska about has an aneurysm but will back-up and calm down once I approach her stall.

Cricket is the unmovable object. And when she does, she walks a forward circle in which she ends up further away from me but doesn't actually back-up.

I had a bit of a come-to-Jesus meeting with her the other night. While it worked that one time, it wasn't effective because the very next night she was just as staid in her position at the door.

I know the real key is psychology but I'm out of arrows on this one.

Cricket is food motivated but she's also self-confident and independent. It's a bit of a stand-off and unfortunately she's winning. And she knows it.

UGH!

Let's Catch Up

2011-07-08T12:19:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. Let's sit and chat.

The six weeks have been busy but thankfully not too hectic. It's not that I've been so wrapped up that I haven't had time to write. I just haven't been in a place to put it all down in words.

I have a lot of changes going on. Some extremely positive and some that are causing some discomfort in my life. Still positive but not all good things are comfortable.

Things with Cricket continue to improve. Our cantering is become much more comfortable and I've progressed to cantering her with one stick and even two sticks. We've had some great rides and an absolutely awesome lesson with Wendy Morgan, 2* Junior Instructor.

I feel very, very close to being able to assess my L3 Freestyle. The only thing holding me back is the feeling that Cricket hasn't quite turned loose to me under saddle. I want to feel that she's more "yes ma'am" than "let me get back to you on that one." Early in our relationship, I convinced Cricket that I had no leadership from atop Zone 3. I lacked confidence and was fearful, anxious and inconsistent. I allowed her to set direction, speed and even control the duration of our ride. My confidence has taken a quantum leap in the last year and I'm ready to be the leader. Cricket isn't so sure . . . yet.

On the ground, she rarely challenges me. Sure, she'll have her "I don't wanna and you can't make me" moments but we figure it out and move on. That has more to do with her left-brain, introvert nature and my developing savvy than it does with who is actually in charge.

I'm not too worried about it because it's improving with every ride. Even when she questions me or asserts her dominance over my direction, I'm learning to be patient and persistent.

Life outside my horses is going well. I applied for and was accepted to graduate school. I registered for classes and I start this fall. I'm nervous about going back to school. I've always been a good student and I loved college and graduate school. But that was when I was a carefree liberal arts major. I'm going back to get my MS in Management with a concentration in Acquisition and Contract Management. Nowhere near as fun as Theological Studies. But, as I discovered, there isn't much money in liberal arts and a degree in Management, coupled with my years of experience, should be a very good thing for future prospects.

The uncomfortable, yet positive, change is in my very personal life. I am taking steps to become healthier and to lose weight. Not an easy topic for me to discuss. I'm intensely personal and introverted. I've made some great strides but am going through a stage of self-sabotage. I totally recognize it, know it needs to stop but am still sliding down that slope. Why is it so hard to love/like myself enough to do what is best and right?

So there's my life in a nutshell. I promise to blog specifically on my lesson with Wendy because it was just that awesome that it needs its own post.

Happy Birthday, Principessa

2011-07-07T14:07:00.002-05:00

Today is my Crickie-Monster's 10th birthday. She came into my life almost 8 years ago and proceeded to turn my world upside down.

Everything I thought I knew about horses and horsemanship has been passed under the microscope and little has survived.

She has pushed me to the very limits but never over the edge, beyond recovery.

In her stubborn nature, she's taught me patience and perseverance. In her willfulness and dominance, she's taught me to be an assertive and fair leader. In her disobedience, she has taught me to look beyond the surface and find out what is really going wrong. In her mischief, she has taught me to be more playful.

And then when she softly yields, she gives me the gift of submission. When she moves out under me and we fly through the fields, she helps me taste joy and freedom. When she leaves her herd or her food or whatever she was doing when I call to her, she shows the bond of our partnership.

She demands perfection but accepts my flaws.

I love her in a way no person should love another mortal creature. I am blessed to have her in my life and I am so thankful for all she's taught me.

Pure. Unadulterated. Joy.

2011-06-13T13:23:00.000-05:00

This weekend was simply amazing. Better than any ride at any amusement park. Ever.

Other than feeding, I've done little with my horses in weeks. It's been unseasonably hot and muggy and just the act of toting feed pans and filling hay nets was enough to have me drenched in sweat. At 9 o'clock at night.

On Thursday I noticed the air seemed less thick and Cricket wasn't sweating from just standing in her stall. I decided if Friday held the same, I was getting on my horse.

Well the weather was beautiful - hot but not humid - all weekend and I rode all three days.

On Friday, we just rode in the paddock. I didn't want to bother with anything too specific, so I just put a bareback pad on her and asked her to move around a little. We did mostly walk but a fair amount of trotting - at least considering my trepidation about bareback and the fact we were "outside." I actually had fun trotting her up the small rises in the paddock. We played approach and retreat, stepping up onto my new pedestal. It scares me to no end when she steps up there. Twice I asked her up and just scratched her and that was enough.

Saturday, I brought Cricket and her BFF, Etruska, out to play a little. We did a little stick to me and some tandem circle game. I find it interesting that Cricket will offer and maintain a canter on this type of circle game but it's like pulling teeth to get her to canter any other time. How interesting! I put my bareback pad on Cricket and ponied Etruska around for a little. There were a lot of other horses and Cricket and Etruska were very good. On a whim, I parked Cricket and asked Etruska to circle around us. It was a little challenging to get Etruska to understand what I wanted but once she got it, she gave me a beautiful trotting circle game. Then I asked Cricket for a yield on the hindquarters to follow Etruska around the circle. That was incredible! Cricket had a harder time to the left but to the right she gave me a full turn and Etruska maintained her trot.

But all of that pales in comparison to Sunday. I've decided it's time to push my boundaries again and start riding Cricket out of the arena more. When I audited Carol's Super Camp, I was so jealous of the folks out cantering in the field. And I thought, as I watched, "I can do that." So it's time to put action to thought and get out there.

Our pasture for the boarder is about 6 acres, cross-fenced to make three larger fields and one smaller "catch paddock." After saddling Cricket, I walked her out to open the gate between two of the fields. At the back of the top field I used a ditch to mount up and we rode back towards the barn to meet up with the other two riders. Cricket showed no signs of spookiness or nervousness and I was pleased.

We started with some trotting, following the fence line. The entire field is terraced and so we had the fun of going up and down some gentle rises. I was happy to feel Cricket work to maintain the trot but not rush as the terrain undulated. We rode out to the back field and did some free-form trotting. Cricket was pretty attentive and pretty relaxed so I was feeling good about our ride.

I don't know when we started cantering. I want to say I asked for it but maybe she offered and I agreed. Who cares! The point is we started cantering out in the field. It was a little helter-skelter for awhile but it didn't take long to introduce some discipline to our ride.

I think Cricket enjoyed cantering up the terraces. It was a total rush to feel her power up the incline, even the small swells of the terraces.

I had two separate sessions of working some circles and simple lead changes. In the second session, I was able to let go of the rein and really ride her freestyle. That was cool to feel the trust and communication.

When we were ready to wrap up, the barn owner cantered off to the gate between the fields to close off the upper field. I followed and urged Cricket into the canter. My intent was to head down the long fence line, all the way to the corner of the second field. Cricket slowed at the gate and broke gait one other time but I just urged her to turn loose and she did. The last stretch of fence line, it felt like she was flying. I could feel the wind in my face and I was probably grinning like an idiot.

As we approached the corner, I rated her back down to the walk and turned and headed back to the other riders at the gate. I just dropped the reins over the saddle horn and let her walk. When I met up with the others, we turned to the barn and I walked Cricket all the way back. Not once did I need my reins, not once did she dive for grass. Come to think of it, I don't think she dove for grass the entire ride. How interesting!

I have waited years for that ride. It was worth it.

Discipline

2011-06-03T15:21:00.001-05:00

I've been mulling some things around and it came to me, today, that I lack discipline. That is, I lack impulse control. Not just in my approach to my horsemanship but in almost every aspect of my life. I live in a state of perpetual damage control. Always trying to get the house tidied up, always struggling to get my weight under control, always floundering for direction and progress with my horses, always racing against a forgotten deadline at work.

It's not healthy and it's not fun. And I don't want to be like this anymore.

Recently the Parelli Central Blog featured a guest post by Dachia Arritola. In addition to her website, Dachia writes a blog and I skipped on over and started reading. I was particularly struck by an entry titled How do you become something you aren't? At the end of the post, Dachia writes the following:

The point to all this is that while it is important to ask the question "how did I get here," it is more important to move to the next question, "now what?"

I find myself at the now what? stage. I know things need to change but what path do I take?

And maybe the path I choose is not so important as actually making the choice and doing something. In choosing, I am doing and in doing I am going somewhere that's not here. If the path is wrong or if I discover a better way, I can change my mind. But I've got to start somewhere.

And while all this is rolling around my mind, a link from Dachia's website caught my eye and took me to this site. And on this site I found the following quote:

Discipline: Few things enable our horses to say yes to us like our ability to say no to ourselves.

Wow! I love it when the universe conspires for my benefit.

Maybe, Just Maybe

2011-05-17T11:27:00.001-05:00

Could it be that I'm actually progressing with Cricket?

Crazy talk!

Last Wednesday, I rode with my friend Kathy. I didn't really have a plan. I wanted Kathy's feedback on Cricket's flexion issues but other than that, I was just enjoying time on the back of my horse.

While Kathy played with bending and physical connection, I just started warming Cricket up. I dropped the reins and Cricket did some lovely follow the rail. I thought that was pretty cool but wondered how much that was habit and how much was actually following my focus.

When I asked her to cut in, half way down the long side of the arena, she sort of listened and sort of didn't. I changed my focus to a trot circle and only used the rein when she actively ignored my focus and my body. We achieved some very nice right bend circles and then we switched to the left.

Cricket struggled more to the left and I'm beginning to believe she might be out just a little bit, making that arc a little more difficult. I cued her for the trot and she picked up a lovely, rhythmic trot. She fought the bend when we had to come across the arena but overall she was very good.

Towards the end, she maintained such cadence that I was really able to focus on myself and experiment with shifting my body to affect her bend. Our final circle came when I really got my inside shoulder up and back and lifted myself out of the hollow on the right side of her body and Voila! she changed her bend and followed the circle with relative ease.

We finished with a little finesse and I'm more convinced that her reluctance is more physical than mental.

Sunday I rode again. Abby was working on her posting with Bleu and I was just meandering around on Cricket. We did some more "no hands" trot circles and she followed my focus incredibly well. We opened the gate and though she was reluctant to work with me, that had more to do with slightly tender feet than anything else. Once out on the grass, she didn't dive to graze at all. I trotted her around a little and when I stopped, she just waited. I jumped off, took off her bridle and allowed her to graze.

Oh, speaking of bridles . . . I rode in my new Herm Sprenger bit and I love it. I played with bridle friendly, really taking the time I needed to get Cricket to drop the mental brace. We still need more but by the time I put the bridle on, Cricket was engaged in the game and actively seeking the bit. She still offers some resistance to actual bridling but it was much improved.

Maybe, just maybe, by fall camp we'll have enough of our freestyle riding working at L3 that we can get some audition feedback from Carol. Fingers crossed!

Bringing up the Butterflies and More

2011-05-17T11:10:00.001-05:00

I have been riding. Honest.

My biggest problem, and not just with my horses, is my serious lack of attention. I get very excited about something, going great guns for awhile. Then something else catches my fancy and I'm off like a rocket in a totally different direction. It's no wonder why I seem to be spinning my wheels all the time.

I committed to my program of carrot stick riding. Then I got the wild hair to teach Cricket to drive. From that pursuit, I've developed an interest in classical in-hand training. All of that got shelved after auditing Carol Coppinger's Super Camp and now I want to ride freestyle.

Really, it's a medical condition and I should seek professional help.

I spent five days at Carol Coppinger's first Tennessee Super Camp. I was not truly auditing as my primary responsibility was caring for my friend's daughter. Wendy was invited, by Carol, to assist in teaching the camp and I volunteered to play Nanny so she could focus on teaching. While I didn't get to really watch, I was able to see enough to get fired up about my L3 Freestyle (again).

Following the camp, and despite the horrible storms that affected north Alabama, Wendy worked with me and both my horses. The general message - the devil is in the details; it's time to sweat the small stuff.

My lesson agenda was entirely direct-line: I wanted help with carrot stick riding to prepare for my L3 Freestyle audition. While we did address that issue, where I found the most help was in my groundwork with Cricket and an impromptu session with Bleu.

The highlights of my session with Cricket:

Improving the quality of our groundwork and on-line warm-up. While I'm right in saving the "cream" for our under-saddle work, if the warm-up is ho-hum and Cricket is not connecting mentally, I don't have much hope for a good ride.
The quality of neutral cannot be over-emphasized. The pauses between the notes create the music.
Breaking bridling down into a step-by-step friendly game. Can you bring your head around and relax? With my hand between your ears? With the headstall in my other hand? With the headstall between your ears, resting on your face? With the bit at your mouth?
Cricket is far enough along to understand the consequence of not following my focus. So with CS riding, I need to be clear about offering eyes, bellybutton, leg, STICK. The idea is to bring the stick into play with the attitude of "you knew it was coming, hate it for you."
Getting into the psychology of maintain gait. How do you make breaking gait more difficult than simply maintaining gait? Not so easy with a LBI and the canter!

My session with Cricket was great and what we covered is making a big difference in our sessions together. But my biggest revelations came in my time with Bleu.

Not having a plan for working with her, Wendy started off with a "Seven Games Diagnostic." We focused primarily on Friendly Game and Driving Game (with some Circle Game as an extension of what we did in the Driving Game).

Playing FG with Bleu, Wendy challenged me to maintain the rhythm until Bleu could ask me a question. It wasn't about moving past tolerance to acceptance but rather going a step further to checking in with me. I don't know if this was Wendy's intent but I can see serious value in teaching this response. When commotion starts, don't just accept it, check in with me to see what we need to do about it.

My socks truly got blown off when we played with the Driving Game. Wendy talked to me about the concept of "bringing up the butterflies" and the "return spring." Too often, especially with RB horses, we spend too much time going slow to build confidence and deal with thresholds. For L1 and L2 that's ideal because it's safe. But in L3 and L4 it's about developing the horse as much as the human and it's time for something more.

The driving question behind this shift is this: Does the alpha mare care how an individual herd member feels? The simple answer is, No.

This is a HUGE paradigm shift for me. I've been the biggest advocate of "set it up and wait" and "slow and right beats fast and wrong." I try not to over-face my horses and would rather err on the side of asking to little than demanding too much.

We used driving backwards to play with the idea that "it's okay for you to be upset, but look at me and do as I say."

I started with a long phase 1 and a slow escalation of phases to get Bleu moving backwards. Once she got the idea, I increased the intensity and asked for snappy! The idea was to keep it up until she started offering something a little more - thinking backwards, better flexion, etc. All through the backing, I used the lead line to bring her head back to look at me with two eyes and 2 ears. When I found a stopping point, I brought her forward and started over. No waiting for the lick and chew, no babysitting her confidence.

After about the third repetition, Bleu immediately licked and chewed the moment we stopped. How interesting! She never really gave me good flexion but she started putting more energy into backing and she was staying straighter. I took that as a win because at least she seemed more connected.

We took the same idea to the Circle Game. Back up like you mean it; send and take your shoulder with you. If she didn't take her shoulder out onto the circle the I disengaged and resent. To the left she was good; to the right, much less confident.

In the middle of everything, the most amazing thing started to happen. Bleu started playing with me! She was leaping, jumping, cantering and PLAYING! The best part? I knew it and was playing with her. She had a hard time taking her shoulder out to right and I had to be firm and repeat the request multiple times. But she started departing at the canter, maintaining the canter for multiple laps and drawing to me with this engaged and fabulous expression. And to top it off, she looked MAGNIFICENT! She started experimenting with her body and moving with better arc on the circle. How cool is that?

This is a quantum leap in my thinking. But it's taking my horsemanship to a new level. Bleu's general draw has gone through the roof - it's like her leader suddenly appeared and she's happy to be with me. Cricket is finally willing to acknowledge that a better alpha has shown up (at least sometimes). Yesterday I trotted circles (both bends) with no hands - total relaxation, cadence and only one or two corrections with the reins.

Just when I'm ready to shelve Parelli for awhile, something like this comes along and knocks my socks off (again).

What Matters Most

2011-05-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

It's been over a month since I've really posted anything about my horsemanship journey. So much has happened in just the last week and it's cast a very melancholy light on my life.

Last week Alabama was ravaged by a massive storm system that spawned over 20 tornadoes. People were killed, houses destroyed, property damaged. The entire northern portion of the state was without power for up to a week (some still haven't had power restored) and our utilities are still unstable and subject to additional outages.

I was unaware of the damage as I was up in Shelbyville, TN for Carol Coppinger's first Tennessee Super Camp. We had some bad weather but nothing compared to what they suffered at home. It wasn't until my friend called Thursday morning that I became aware of the events of the previous 24 hours. My first thought was my family - my mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and niece. Were they safe?

The power was out, the phones were out and the cell networks were so overloaded calls just weren't going through. I had no idea the status of my family. It's hard to maintain emotional fitness in those moments. Time stood still and my heart stopped beating. My family is my world and what would life be like without them?

It wasn't until much later that I was able to reach my brother-in-law. Though he wasn't with my sister and my parents, he'd spoken to them after the storms has passed and before the phone lines went dead. They were safe. Thank God.

Throughout the day, I checked in with my friends and slowly reports of "we are all fine" filtered in. My home was safe and my horses were unharmed. I have several friend who narrowly survived. They have major property damage but no loss of life - people or animals.

I returned to work Wednesday, once power was restored to my office building. Each day - as I drive to work and return to my home - I have to pass by one of the worst disaster sites. The tornado worked it's way through a neighborhood then crossed the street to lay waste to a pharmacy, gas station and grocery store. It's almost crazy to see the credit union with barely a scratch and nothing but rubble where the gas station, not 100ft away, used to stand.

I have some very cool things going on with both horses. I want to post about my amazing lesson with Wendy Morgan, 2* Junior Instructor. But now just isn't the time. Hug your loved ones. Never end a conversation without an "I love you." Kiss your horses and stroke them as if it's the first time you've met and the last time you may see them. Life is a precious and fragile gift.

Planning for the Unexpected

2011-04-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

There's a saying that goes something like "you can run cattle in a field for a hundred years with no incidence but put a horse in there and within 10 minutes he'll find every gopher hole, loose wire, stray branch, etc."

It just seems our equine friends are prone to injury. I've encountered the routine cut or skinned leg along with the not-so-routine hoof puncture and corneal ulceration. Through the years, I've seen the importance of a well-stocked first aid kit.

In the short time I've owned horses, I've managed to assemble a pretty decent first aid kit. It started by combing the Internet and looking for suggestions. It grew from the practical experience of actually doctoring my horses. Each year I go through the contents and check inventory levels and expiration dates.

In their article, Your Barn's First Aid Kit,The Horse* recommends the following items:

A rectal veterinary thermometer—the plastic digital kind is safer around the barn than a glass one, and gives faster readings.
A pair of safety scissors (with rounded ends so you don’t accidentally cut into your horse if you’re snipping off a bandage).
Another pair of small, sharp scissors, for suture removal.
A stethoscope (inexpensive ones can be purchased through medical supply stores or pharmacies for less than $30).
Self-sticking bandages such as Vetrap.
Gauze squares at least three inches by three inches (where horses are concerned, larger is better!).
Vaseline or another type of lubricating jelly (for the thermometer and for protecting the tender skin of your horse’s heels from chapping if you have to cold-hose a leg injury for several days).
Medical adhesive tape.
Gauze bandage such as Kling.
Some type of cold pack, for days when cold hosing a new injury just isn’t possible—chemical packs that create "instant cold" are available, although in a pinch you can use a bag of frozen peas from your freezer.
Stable bandages and quilts.
An antiseptic wound cream (yellow furacin ointment is a popular choice) and a spray-on wound treatment such as furazolidone or Topagen.
Hydrogen peroxide—its bubbling action is useful for cleaning dirt out of fresh wounds and for dealing with thrush (a fungal infection of the hooves), but don’t use it routinely on a healing wound as it will inhibit the healing process.
An antiseptic scrub such as Betadine (povidone-iodine, or "tamed" iodine) or Nolvasan (chlorhexidine).
Latex gloves.(consider latex-free just in case anyone treating your horse has a latex allergy.)
A flashlight to help you see wounds in a gloomy stall at midnight.
A bottle of saline solution—useful for cleaning out wounds in delicate places like around the eyes. A bottle of contact lens saline solution with a squirt nozzle is perfect.
A roll of sterile cotton.
Pre-moistened alcohol swabs (you can find these at your pharmacy, individually wrapped)—good for cleaning small wounds or creating a cleaner site for injections.
A bottle of rubbing alcohol, for sterilizing instruments.
Forceps or tweezers, for removing splinters, ticks, or other nasties.
Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)—mix with warm water to soak an abscessed foot.
Iodine shampoo—good for various skin conditions, as directed by your vet.
A quick-to-apply poultice such as Animalintex (which can be used hot or cold).
Thick sanitary napkins (the obstetrical pads you can get at a hospital or pharmacy are good) or disposable diapers, for applying direct pressure to a bleeding wound.
A hoof pick—you can never have too many.
A farrier’s rasp and nippers, for removing a shoe if you need to (ask your farrier if he has cast-off ones he can donate to your cause).
A hoof knife.
Duct tape—useful in any emergency, and especially good for hoof wraps, as it’s water-resistant, moldable, and fairly durable.

I am proud to say I have just about everything on that list in my first aid kit. And almost morbidly proud to say I've used it all! The article also makes suggestions beyond the basics and I plan on checking out some additions to my kit. A few extras I have in my first aid kit:

a roll of garbage bags - makes any bucket a clean bucket
a couple tubes of electrolytes
safety razors
human first aid supplies
antiseptic wipes (in addition to alcohol wipes)

I have also recently ordered Dr. Eleanor Kellon's book on basic first aid for horses.

So, have you checked your first aid kit recently? Might be the time to do so.

*The Horse may require registration to view the article. Registration is free and the site is an invaluable resource as all articles are veterinarian approved.

The Importance of Footfalls

2011-04-05T10:46:00.001-05:00

It's about time I better understood footfalls.

I've been reading Wendy Murdoch's Simplify Your Riding and I just finished watching Eitan Beth-Halachmy's Poetry In Motion: Understanding Your Horse from the Inside Out. I also have Mark Rashid's Understanding Foot-Fall and Influencing Movement but have yet to watch it.

I know the basic sequence for each gait and I know the phases of movement for each leg. I know which diagonal I should be posting and I know that the canter is initiated from the hind. I know lots of stuff about footfalls but I don't truly understand them.

It's high time that changed.

To understand footfall is to know, at any given moment, where the feet are - both in sequence and in phase. It means feeling the movement of the horse and timing a request at the moment the horse is able to make a commitment about where the foot will next land.

Simplify Your Riding, a fabulous book that is no longer in print, has wonderful photos and information about timing requests to the footfall to effect the movement you want. So timing your trot request at the right moment in the walk sequence allows you to rise on the correct diagonal on the first beat of the trot. Timing a downward transition at the right moment allows you to ease into the lower gait. Pretty cool?!

I wish this had been impressed upon me earlier. Not that I could have done much about it. Until the last year or two, most of my time on Cricket's back has been about survival. I started getting a good feel for footfall about 2 years ago when I was up at Carol's in the deeper sand of her indoor arena. I played with it and got pretty good about feeling the landing phase of each foot at the walk and getting a feel for the trot diagonals. Then everything kind of went by the wayside when I started working on canter and freestyle riding.

In the last month or two, I've started gaining a better appreciation for the connection between how Cricket moves and how she feels. When I can influence her body to be correct and balanced, her mind is much more relaxed and obedient. I've not completely given up on my freestyle riding or finishing my L3 but I am exploring ways to improve Cricket's physical response and in turn I'm seeing her offer more. Hmm, how interesting!

Those Moments

2011-04-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

The horse. Here is nobility without conceit; friendship without envy; beauty without vanity. A willing servant, yet no slave. ~ Ronald Duncan

I have often fallen into the debate of mares vs. geldings. And I always stand in defense of my mares. Geldings are jolly and playful, existing in a state of constant adolescence. Mares, especially alpha mares, are mercurial; as changing as quicksilver. Their role is leader, protector, mother and teacher. They know to conserve energy for flight from danger. They know how to yield for the good of the herd. They demand respect but cannot be commanded to be respectful. You must win the admiration of mare; merit her obedience. Those moments are fleeting, golden and powerful.

When, by chance, luck and a dash of skill, I manage to evince one of these moments, my breath is stolen and I stand in awe of my sweet mare.

Saturday afternoon I decided to ride ride Cricket and get a little help on my left lead canter. I know my riding dynamic is affecting Cricket's ability to move correctly into her left lead just as it's inhibiting my ability to comfortable ride her left lead. Through my own experimentation and observation, coupled with discussions with friends, I've figured out that the what I need to do is somewhat counter to what I've been taught in Freestyle riding.

My friend Kathy has been successfully using a weave pattern to set the horse and rider up for clean, correct canter departs and she coached me through the pattern with Cricket.

We started on the right lead so I could get a feel for what I was doing before I moved to the more challenging lead. The first time through on the left, Cricket picked up the correct lead but I was a moment or so behind on my request and so it was a little disjointed.

The second time through, I kept my focused and timed my request at the exact right moment. I wish I could have seen a picture of what I felt.

Power. Control. Grace. Athleticism. Collection. Obedience. Exuberance. Flexion. Lightness. Elegance.

There are no words that adequately describe what I felt.

Cricket departed from the hind and powered over her back, picking up a soft and collected left lead canter. It was the most amazing thing I've ever felt. Not to be too graphic, but it was orgasmic.

In a moment, she gave me everything. Willingly. I hold onto that moment as a glimpse of what is possible with my horse.

Good, Good, Not So Good

2011-03-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

I struggle with making a plan for my play sessions. And then I get frustrated when I find myself in the middle of a big pile of "going nowhere." The other day, I decided to watch this month's Savvy Club DVD rather than continue my 10 day marathon of Clash of the Titans. I'm so glad I did.

Basically what Linda offers is a 2 minute run-through on the 7 games to see where your horse is and what needs attention. This is not new but it's an idea who's time has come - at least for me.

I brought Lilly out last night and did a quick run through on the 7 games. In just about 2 minutes I had an idea of where we were - good friendly game, good driving game but weak on some porcupine and sideways.

We started with porcupine backwards. Lilly has a bit of a dominant streak and a habit of pushing on people. Backing is not her strong suit. It took several repetitions before I felt like Lilly was responding to and respecting the pressure on her chest. Then everything else just fell into place.

We did just a little "follow the feel" from a rope on her front leg. I tried to minimize my draw so she'd listen to the rope. I don't know if she truly moved from the porcupine game but she didn't oppose the feel so I'll take it and just keep working on it.

From there, her yo-yo backwards was so light and soft and straight! Her circle game send improved and though she pulled in the allow she maintained a circle and then thought through the pressure and released herself by bringing slack into the line.

One of Lilly's biggest problems is that she's learned not to think through puzzles. Her owner is a very sweet but timid person who would abandon ship at the first sign of trouble. I've been working with Lilly to deal with issues that come up but keeping her focused on the task but allowing her time to sort things out for herself.

Yesterday she calmly and confidently put two feet on the pedestal and, with just a slight suggestion, offered and then placed a third foot. I asked her to continue forward and with little fuss, she went right over the pedestal. It was so cool to see her work through the puzzle instead of trying to get around it.

We finished with just a little bit of lateral flexion. I think I've found someone to do Lilly's first rides so she'll be staying with me for quite some time.

On the Barefoot Bandwagon

2011-03-21T09:34:00.001-05:00

I have finally committed my self to the barefoot bandwagon.

It's only taken seven years.

With Moose, I simply could not entertain the idea of a naturally barefoot horse. I was too busy learning all the ins and outs of actually owning a horse. The most pressing issue with him was keeping weight on him. I swear, I have one picture that looks like the "before" shot on a rescue case.

Things changed when I got Cricket and I decided to try barefoot. Not only was I more confident in my abilities but Cricket was a clean slate. I fired my first farrier (an event shortly before Moose's death opened my eyes to just how incompetent he was). I hooked up with a barefoot trimmer/farrier. We kept Cricket barefoot for a few months before trying her in front shoes. After about 9 months or so, we went back to barefoot. I tried, for two years, to keep Cricket barefoot. It just never worked right.

At the suggestion of Gene Ovnicek we put her in shoes on all four feet. It made such a huge difference in her movement and her comfort. I kept her in shoes until I had a falling out with my farrier (brilliant trimmer, crazy lady). I found a decent trimmer and kept her barefoot. I figured this would be the lesser of two evils, the worst being Jim Bob slapping shoes on her and ruining her feet completely.

Cricket never was that comfortable and after about a year I found another Natural Balance trimmer/farrier and put her back in shoes. This continued until last year when I got Bleu and I decided to take Cricket back to barefoot. I had noticed, in the cycles we'd leave her barefoot that each time she was moving a little better. With Bleu to take up some of the slack, I thought just maybe we can try to get her fully transitioned to barefoot.

After my ride this weekend, I'm on the bandwagon. 100%.

Over the last year, I've been tweaking Cricket's nutrition. She's always had good feet and it's been a bit of a mystery (to me, at least) why she was always tender footed. I was introduced to the idea that maybe what she has is a weak laminar connection. Each step exerts pressure that pulls on the laminae, much like trying to pry your fingernail from the nail bed. Ouch! So we've changed some things to support the strength of that connection.

Easyboot Glove

I have discovered the Easyboot Glove. When I took Cricket out of front shoes around 2005, the newest boot on the market was the Easyboot Boa. Easy to put on, easy to take off but horrible for my horse. They were too clunky and Cricket didn't like them.

I've glanced at hoof boots over the years but not really paid attention to the advancements in material, design and technology.

I borrowed a pair of Gloves to ride in this weekend. I had her walking, trotting and cantering in the paddock and didn't feel one iota of difference in her stride, balance or movement. Out on the little trail ride, her first steps on the gravel were very tentative. Almost like she expected it to hurt. And then she evened out.

I absolutely loved the Easyboot Gloves!

The very coolest thing about the Gloves is that you can order, directly from EasyCare, a fit kit to assist you in getting the correct size boots. The website includes instructions for measuring and ordering the fit kit. The kit comes with the size boot you think you need plus the sizes on either side. The total cost is about $9 and that includes return postage. Can't beat that with a stick.

Not for the Faint of Heart

2011-03-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

I swore up and down, after all the issues I've experienced with Cricket, that I would never start another horse. It is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. Yet here I am with LillyToo. I maintain that what I'm doing with Lilly has more to do with establishing a foundation for "real" under saddle training than actually "starting" her. Others disagree.

When I started Cricket, I didn't know enough to know what I didn't know. I also failed to realize that what I didn't know was fairly critical. I made mistakes, honest mistakes, that have taken years to undo.

I can be pretty hard on myself over Cricket's start but the truth is, years later, she's a pretty amazing horse. Not because of anything I did but rather because I managed not to screw too much up. And I know, despite what I did wrong, that the start I gave her was probably better than 95% of the professional ~~predators~~ colt starters.

For anyone, particularly my friend Tina for whom this post is intended, here are some of the lessons I've learned:

Know your limitations. If you're a timid rider, don't put the first rides on a colt. If you cannot afford a real professional, find a competent rider and work with them for the initial rides.
Understand the type of horsenality with which you're most compatible. Many of the issues I had with Cricket were simple the result of a less-than-ideal horse/human match. Let's face it, when you buy a horse because she's pretty and has a dent in her butt that looks just like the dent in the butt of the horse you just lost, it's not always going to be a match made in heaven. Cricket is a strong willed, independent left-brain mare. In the face of my uncertainty and limited knowledge, she often took over the leadership. I would argue that a mild RBI would be the best candidate for a colt start. Nothing too extreme but a horse that is looking for leadership is going to be much more compliant than a horse with an agenda of her own (i.e. Cricket).
Advance your savvy as much as possible before starting a horse. It goes without saying that the more you know the better time you'll have. Duh! When I started Cricket I had just passed my L1 (old VHS system). I had no idea how the progression of skills felt - what it took to turn sideways on the fence into sideways off the fence into leg yields and isolations. The more you know the end product, the better you teach it in the beginning.
Every moment is a teaching moment so be aware of what you're teaching. This is true for any horse but particularly important for an unstarted horse. If your horse is high energy and you start every session by blowing off steam, the horse quickly learns to act a little crazy out of the gate. If you never encourage a reserved horse to get out of her shell, she'll suck back further and you'll loose the impulsion.
Saddling and mounting are just a version of the extreme friendly game. Before you ever put a leg over a horse, they should know that it's all just a big friendly game. There is an excellent Savvy Club DVD where Linda works with Elizabeth. Elizabeth has fear issues and the DVD focuses mainly on her thresholds. The cool thing is that the techniques employed are the same as you would use for building confidence in the horse.
In the first rides, the most important things a horse can learn is that it's okay to go and it's okay to stop. This is the most critical lesson. Steering and controlling the energy come later.
Know when your out of your depth and get help. After working with Cricket for just over a year, I sent her to a good friend and fellow PNH student for two months. I finally realized that I was in way over my head and I searched out the best help I could afford.

So there's some of the most important things I learned from doing my own colt start. It's a huge responsibility. You don't realize how huge it is until you try it, screw it up a little, get help and swear you'll never do it again.

Whirlwind Weekend

2011-03-14T11:14:00.001-05:00

What a phenomenally busy weekend! Coming back to work on Monday has been more restful than getting off on Friday afternoon.

For Saturday, my plan was to take Cricket out for a trail walk and work a little more on her preparation for harness and hitching. I convinced Kathy to come with me.

I had Cricket on two lines, though for a good part of the walk, I had the far side line up over her rump so as to carry both lines on one side. I also had my carrot stick. There were moments where both of us were a little wadded up but all in all it was good.

Down the first bit of dirt road I asked Cricket to yield across the road using a little direct rein and a little supporting/pushing rein. She totally balked at the feel on her legs and ended up going backwards. I did my level best to help her come out of it without really giving on the rope at her hocks.

I know she needed to feel release to go forward but I didn't want that release to come while she was backing. I'm not sure how we sorted it out but we did and with just soft feel, I had her moving from one side of the road to the other, back and forth, with a nice forward walk.

Later, we used another road to practice stopping and putting slack in the line. Cricket's first response was to back up to me. I tapped her on the butt and she went forward, swung sideways, etc. We just repeated it until she could respond to the feel by stopping and just shifting her weight back to find the slack.

Yesterday I spent nearly all day at the barn. I met Becky at about 9:30 and we spent about 2 hours playing and riding. I needed to retrieve the cookies from my truck so I asked Cricket to come out of her stall, pick me up at the picnic table and walk me the 50ft to the truck. She was so obliging! After a little grazing, a quick grooming and a brief warm-up, I saddled and got on. Cricket was so good. I haven't asked her for much in weeks and she gave me some great trotting and some relatively easy canter. We had some hiccups in our right lead and some severe wonky-ness in our left lead. But it was almost all physical. Little or no mental resistance at all.

After Becky left I ran home for lunch and then back to the barn to work on my saddle shimming for Bleu. I'm not happy with it. Either the shim pattern I'm using is wrong or it's the wrong shim pattern for my mare. It worked fine when Carol Coppinger put it together but it's not working too well for me. I had a brief ride and just felt the saddle was too low on her shoulder and too high in the back. I'm ordering a felt pad from Jeffers so I can make some shims and play with it some more. Bleu was so good. So very, very good. I don't think I've ridden her since Thanksgiving (when I first got my saddle!). I'm looking forward to spending more time riding her this Spring.

Lilly's owners came out to see how she's doing so I put Bleu away and brought Lilly out. My last session with Lilly was a serious event in which I started to address her pulling on the halter. While her circle game was not perfect, there was much less pulling and much more thinking about the connection. We played with sideways on the fence, backing over a pole and she even stood on the pedestal for the first time. There were other horses in the arena and I used the opportunity to help Lilly understand energy and when it's about her and when it's not.

I decided to play with some mounting friendly. When Lilly finally understood what I wanted, she was happy to comply by standing right with me at the pedestal. I jumped up and down and she was not at all bothered. I leaned over and scratched the opposite side and she was just fine. I jumped up and draped myself over her - the first time a human has ever been on her back - and she acted like it happens every day.

I was so proud of Lilly. So excited that her owners got to see that milestone. And really, just honored that Lilly trusted me enough to accept what I was doing. I laid over her a few times, swung my legs back and forth, hooked a knee over the opposite hip and even swung both legs up so I was laying down her spine.

So I can say I groomed all three horses, played with all three horses and got on all three horses.

Finished my day with iced coffee and Kahlua on the porch swing, followed up by homemade blackened shrimp Alfredo over whole wheat pasta and organic strawberries for dessert. Not too shabby!

Stuck

2011-03-11T08:21:00.000-06:00

I seem to be stuck. Better than one step forward and two back but not exactly the positive and progressive place in which I'd like to be.

I need a plan. More than that, I need a realistic plan.

And then I need to put that plan into action.

Saturday night we spring forward and that gives me more usable daylight. The weather is warming and the arena protects me from the rain and the perpetual wet. The excuses for not getting things done are falling away . . .

Lilly is coming along nicely but we have two main issues: friendly game in motion and respect for the halter. She's not a naturally spooky horse so I believe this is something she's learned. Her owner is an incredibly sweet and soft woman and I believe Lilly has been inadvertently rewarded for "chicken little" behavior.

Last night we played with sideways and Lilly just couldn't think through the pressure on the halter to do half-circles on the wall. She bounced back and forth not from the squeeze of approaching the wall but rather because she hit the halter pressure. I played with being a post and repeating the request to stand, perpendicular to the wall. Once she knew that was the right answer, she was wonderful. The key is getting this generalized and replacing the pulling/bolting habit with a giving/yielding habit.

For Cricket, I want to work on her foundation for driving. This is largely dependent upon good weather because we need to work primarily outside the arena. Her motivation in the arena is pretty low. We're doing good with some basic long-line work but need to add more; refine more.

I want to start riding Bleu. There is no point keeping a second horse if I'm not doing something with her. Lately all I've done is obsess about Bleu not wanting to eat.

So there you have it. My goal is to play with Lilly and then work/ride one of the others, trying not to default to Cricket just because she's "easy" (ha! that's funny!)

Driving: Putting Principles to Purpose

2011-03-04T10:41:00.000-06:00

It's time to get serious about learning to drive Cricket. I know this can be dangerous but so can riding. It's about education and preparation. Even if I have to figure this out mostly on my own, I think it's achievable.

I see this as a way to take our ground play and communication to a whole new level. I see this as a way to put to purpose what we've learned thus far. I also see this as a way to give Cricket a job.

I'm beginning to understand that she needs something to do not just to be doing something. The few times I've played with her and another horse, she takes on this attitude of responsibility. I can really see her working through the situation and "doing what needs to be done."

Last night I took her out on long lines to practice some of what I learned from the Jonathan Field DVD. The goal of his DVD is not to prepare a horse for harness but rather to increase communication through long lines as an aid for under saddle. Regardless, he teaches some good rope handling skills and you have to start somewhere.

I used the "carpet of motivation" (i.e. the field of green grass across the drive) to help me out. If it things went pear-shaped I could drop the lines and Cricket would just eat. It also allowed me to go somewhere and give her a reward at the end.

We played with circles and flipping the ropes around her back and down to her hocks. She got a little fussy at the bind created by the drag on her head from the rope around her hocks. She didn't flip out but pulled a lot with her head. She eventually sorted it out and I got some nicely shaped trot. We played a little with going from a circle to a straight line. When that was pretty good, I added changing sides to move from one eye to the other. Cricket exploited every little rope foible by coming to a dead halt and eating as if she hadn't been fed for weeks.

After visiting with my friend while she was feeding, we headed back to the barn and before I put her away we got some lovely, and I mean lovely, outside change of direction with a little ask on one line and a little release on the other. I would ask Cricket to walk past me and use a feel on the far line coupled with a release on the near line to get her to turn away from me and change directions. She did it with relaxation and total flow.

I ordered Steve Bowers' book, Farming with Horses, from Amazon and it arrived yesterday. Apparently this is the bible when it comes to harnessing and hitching a horse. To put it mildly, I'm a little overwhelmed. I've just paged through the book and I see that this undertaking may be more daunting than originally planned. But I can see some cool things, too. What if I could teach Cricket to pull the harrow?

But I've done so much with Cricket already. If we just take our time and find help along the way, I think we'll be fine.

Introspection

2011-03-03T11:33:00.000-06:00

It's the beginning of March. Two full months into the year and that magical time, at least in the South, where hints of Spring can be seen everywhere.

It's a time when I look back on all my grand plans from the start of the year and see just how far I've come. Or not come, as is usually the case.

My friend Michelle posted a bit of a ramble on her blog and I've read through it a couple of times, now.

I have to come clean with a few things. Forgive me, Michelle. I've been reading this blog since before I started my own blog. In fact, Michelle's blog was part of what inspired me to start my own on-line journal and relative "me-fest." Over the past 15 months or so, Michelle has been on a huge journey which has taken her from a place where she was dissatisfied with her health and fitness level to a place of amazing success. She has been dedicated and honest about where she is at any given moment, celebrating her well-deserved/earned victories and confronting her set-backs.

What should serve as an inspiration for me has generally elicited a level of bitterness and vituperation of which I am not proud.

I don't like to discuss myself. I don't like the harsh light of reality shed upon the carefully constructed illusions of my self-image. I try to quickly brush under the rug those moments that shatter my delusions. Much like a child tries to hide the fragments of a broken dish.

From a link posted in Michelle's recent blog post:

People who find it easy to be supportive and understanding to others, it turns out, often score surprisingly low on self-compassion tests, berating themselves for perceived failures like being overweight or not exercising....

Wow! Does that hit like a ton of bricks! When I'm not ignoring reality, I am unbelievably brutal on myself. I don't often say this out loud but I have this deep-seated belief that if people truly knew me they wouldn't like me. I think the emotional barriers I've constructed have manifested as physical barriers. It's much easier to believe that people dismiss me because of my physical self than my real self.

I have taken on a project of de-cluttering my life. It has started with my physical dwelling. The effects are amazing. I feel so much more peace in my home. I think, maybe, it's time to take some of the emotional clutter and free up some space to feel more at peace with myself.

A Three Ring Circus

2011-03-02T14:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I executed a circle game with Cricket, Bleu and Lilly. And I lived to tell the tale.

It was sort of an impromptu thing. I haven't done much with Bleu and I need to spend time with Lilly and I have a hard time ignoring Cricket. So I hooked each horse to a 22' line and led them across the gravel drive to graze in the neighbor's field.

I got this wild thought in my head . . . it was almost one of those "hey, y'all, hold me beer and watch this" moments. I figured if all hell broke loose not one of those mares would go too far before stopping to graze. The advantage of bring a horse from a dry lot to a lush field.

I sent Cricket in front and allowed Lilly and Bleu to follow. Cricket, though somewhat under-motivated, picked up a nice trotting circle and established the pattern for the other two. Bleu wasn't to be left behind and Lilly wasn't wholly sure what the hell was going on.

The first go-round, we established a nice trotting circle game, though Lilly broke to canter a few times.

The second time, Bleu moved into a very nice canter and Lilly followed suit. A little energy to Cricket and I had all three loping together. Pretty cool!

Called it a win and allowed them to graze.

Bleu really surprised me with her canter. Especially considering the histrionics we've had in the past. I was proud of Cricket for "doing her job" and leaving the alpha mare attitude at the door. Not once - NOT ONCE - did she play a dominance game with the other two. Lilly is still learning that energy doesn't necessarily mean she has to do something. She needs to pay attention to the direction of my energy, not just the energy itself.

Emerging from Chaos

2011-02-28T14:32:00.000-06:00

To say things have been crazy lately would be a gross understatement. Kind of like saying the surface of the sun is a little warm.

I'm not sure how or when things fell apart. Nothing catastrophic, mind you. But when disorder creeps into my existence, it creates a perfect storm of introversion, procrastination and OCD. The result - I become an ostrich with her head buried in the sand.

But it's getting better.

I've done little with Cricket. I've done less with Bleu. Most of my energy has been devoted to LillyToo. LillyWho? No, not horse #3. Good Lord, I'm not that crazy.

Lilly is a coming 4yr old QH mare belonging to a good friend of mine. We've worked out a deal for Lilly to stay at my barn and get a bit of a groundwork foundation and get her ready to be properly started under saddle. I know my limitations so I have no intention of putting a leg over this mare's back. I'll take responsibility for screwing up Cricket but I won't add another to the list of casualties.

I have to say I'm totally in love with Lilly. It's a good thing she's short or I'd be tempted to steal her. She's a lovely balance of all the horsenalities. She's forward but not a run away. She's playful but not a total pest. She lacks enough confidence so as to look for leadership but she's not worried and fretful. She pauses to think but her introversion is shallow and she digests thoughts very quickly.

We have two main issues: maintaining connection between her brain and her feet in motion and looking to the human for guidance/leadership. Both are coming along so nicely.

I'm glad the days are getting longer and warmer. I cannot neglect Cricket and Bleu just because a new project has come along. I can only avoid "middles" for so long!

With Cricket my current plan is to abandon all formal groundwork. It's not getting better, in fact it's getting worse. So we're taking long trail walks with a savvy string fashioned into a collar and a feather line for a leash. We're playing at liberty with the clicker. I want to ride but I just don't want the pressure of my freestyle audition right now.

I want to start riding Bleu. I've not really taken her out of the arena since last fall. I need to see if she helps my confidence for trail riding. If not, I'm not sure what I'll do . . .

Neither Pleased Nor Satisfied

2011-02-07T11:56:00.000-06:00

I am in an unhappy place with my riding. Not with my actual rides, with my riding in general.

I feel as if I don't have general control over Cricket's direction and speed. She doesn't get the whole idea of "maintain gait, maintain direction."

The litany of reasons for this sad state of affairs is a long and pathetic one. Cricket's bucking, my confidence; Cricket's headshaking, my confidence; Cricket's dominance, my confidence.

It seems she has all these little ways of putting me just enough on edge that I don't push the issues that need to be pushed.

Horsenality is not an excuse. It is a piece of information that gives us a strategy.

How much have I not been taking this to heart? I am still making excuses for Cricket because she's a smart, LBI. I'm still using the excuse that she's a LBI to cover up how much I hate repetition and pattern work. But here we are, preparing for a L3 Freestyle audition and I cannot elicit a consistent trot or a rhythmic walk.

I think it's time for a warm glass of "suck it up and deal with it." I think it's time to get serious about pattern work. She's done great with the FTR and Corners Game. It's time to take it to the next level and start tackling the Cloverleaf.

Learning to the Left

2011-02-02T21:54:00.000-06:00

My latest endeavor in the spirit of never ending self improvement: Learning to write with my left hand.

The main reason for this effort is to try and narrow the gap between the proficiency of my right hand and the awkwardness of my left. It was real but negligible before I broke my arm; it's significant and more inhibiting since.

I hatched this idea a few years ago but never really followed through with it. More and more I'm becoming aware of a strong preference for my right hand. My stick is almost always in my right hand, I feel more nervous following the rail to the left and I seem more unbalanced cantering on the left lead.

I was in physical therapy on and off for a year trying to rehabilitate my left wrist after the break. While I regained more mobility than even my doctor expected, I'm left with permanent limitations. I decided to learn to write with my left hand as a low-stress way to become less one-sided.

I bought one of those writing tablets. You know, the kind little kids use when they are first learning to write. I started out the same way my Mum first taught me to write. I printed out a neat row of upper and lower case As with my right hand and then neatly traced over them with my left.

I have about 3 pages of As at last count. The upper case was fairly easy but the lower case is quite troublesome. Changing the angle of the paper, adjusting my grip on the pen - nothing seems to make the letter flow easier onto the page. Each attempt is awkward and ugly.

I began to think about this project in terms of my horsemanship. After all, it started as a way to improve my overall tool handling skills. So how could I use what I know from my Parelli journey to improve my penmanship journey?

I started acknowledging the things that were right. I identified the element of the letter that was plaguing me and instead of writing "a" I focused on just the oval, repeating the circular motion until it felt more natural. Oddly enough, by the end of the line I had several left-handed letters that looked remarkably like their right-handed counterparts.

I am finding this little project to be more intriguing and revealing than I could have imagined.

A Glimpse of Things to Come

2011-01-31T14:22:00.001-06:00

This weekend I caught a glimpse of things to come.

Our weather was gorgeous. Saturday was sunny with a lovely breeze and our temperatures topped out in the low 60s. It was a beautiful breath of the Spring that is waiting on the other side of Winter.

I started my play with Bleu and Cricket on-line, together. After a little confusion, I managed a very cool circle game with Cricket cantering in front and Bleu trotting behind. I finished our tandem play with sideways from Zone 1, asking Cricket to push Bleu and help her understand. Both horses did very well and I'm excited to see the prospect of playing with them together.

I saddled Cricket and decided to ride with one rein and a stick. It went well but I just wasn't feeling like I wanted to push my envelope. I've cantered Cricket with a stick and the reins but I felt like I survived it more than enjoyed it. I've allowed her to canter while I was "hands-off" the reins and holding a stick but that was her idea. It's always good when it's her idea. I just get a little queasy when I think about cantering with just the sticks.

I decided I just wanted to have fun so I exchanged my stick and lead for clip reins and off we went.

Cricket is becoming a bit of a canter-aholic. It seems to be her favorite gait, almost as if she's making up for all the times I wouldn't let her canter. I have to admit, I'm becoming a bit of a canter junkie myself. As if I'm making up for all the times I wanted but just couldn't trust my horse.

We just sort of monkeyed around and then I got a wild idea: I decided to try out my spurs. Just to play a little with my yield isolations. I dont' fully trust the stability of my lower leg to do much else. I strapped them on, hollered out, "hey, y'all hold my beer and watch this" and got on.

Holy Crap! That little mare can MOVE! Cricket did really well. I knew she would. She's ready for this and, to some degree, so am I. We did some HQ yields, some sideways and some forehand yields. We rode around a little but I was nervous about how much the spurs were touching her and that, more than anything else, was making her cranky. I stopped and asked for a quality HQ yield to both sides and then took off the spurs.

Then we took off again. By this time, Ed was in the arena, cantering Slingshot so I decided just to follow him. Whatever he did, wherever he went - we followed. It was so much fun and it gave enough purpose to make it a little more meaningful for Cricket.

At one point, we were on a left lead, doing circles at the back of the arena. Cricket finally relaxed and just arced into the bend. It was awesome. I told her, "good girl" and she slammed on the brakes and damn near pitched me over her ears. I had to laugh, however, because I've apparently taught her that "good girl" means "get a cookie" so it's my own fault!

Next we did some weaves and I tried, oh how I tried, to do the weave at the trot but Cricket just kept breaking into the canter. I think she would have done flying changes if I'd had the coordination to ask for them! I'll admit I probably didn't try hard enough to enforce the trot. Mostly because I was laughing so much at my little LBI Energizer Bunny.

I did, finally, manage some trotting on her but the minute I thought about the canter, BAM! we were off again.

The coolest thing was that I could see how far we can go together if I can just pull some things together on my end. I rode Cricket for about 2 hours with some LONG stretches of canter and she was so ready to go. By the end of the ride, she was pretty sweaty and was breathing heavy but even in her cool out she was ready to canter at the drop of a hat.

I have a list of things to work on:

First and foremost, either disassociate "good girl" with treats or find a different phrase to praise and encourage her while riding. I don't like my "saddle turned ejector seat."
Get control over my body while I ride. When we canter, I still feel a little like a marionette in the hands of an epileptic. I seem to have lost all I gained from my Pilates training. Maybe my break is over and I need to get my butt back in the studio.
As much fun as our canter is, I need to take control over the gas pedal. Having her canter when she wants is no different than having her not go when I want. It's all about who's foot is on the pedal and right now, it's not mine. I'm fortunate that I can stop her with little more than a breath out but we need also to be able to transition from one gait to the next, up AND down.

All in all, though, I enjoyed just having some fun. Just doing something with her and not "working" on anything. I think we have good things in our future together and I'm excited to see more of what's down the road.

Yippie Yi Yea

2011-01-28T11:16:00.000-06:00

Last night was a fan-damn-tastic ride. There's just no other way to put it.

I'm becoming more comfortable with the sticks. So much so that I wish I'd done this ages ago. In fact, I wish I'd been riding with sticks from the very beginning.

It's not so much that pushing Cricket is better than pulling her or that the sticks reinforce other cues. It's that riding with sticks has been such a catalyst for letting go.

Last night, while working on Follow the Rail at a trot (one stick, reins looped on the saddle horn), Cricket broke into a canter. More than once. I knew it was coming, I could feel her gather for the transition. And I just allowed it and rode it back to the trot. I rode the whole event without grabbing for the reins or the saddle horn or doing anything other than going with her.

I put down the sticks to work a little more on our canter and I was able to ride her left lead with more relaxation and flow than ever before. We did a few runs through the Question Box and then some FTR at the canter. I played with both leads and then played with some simple changes through the center. Our downward transitions are a little awkward but our upward transitions are great.

For the first time, I was able to ride her left lead totally freestyle. I still don't feel in total harmony with her but that will come. That I can even think about my shoulders and hips and lower legs is a miracle. A year ago I was still surviving her canter. Now I'm relaxed enough to think about what my body is doing. It's amazing how far we've come.

Yippie Yi Yea, in deed!

Chugging Right Along

2011-01-24T14:48:00.000-06:00

We are movin' right along.

I've had about a half a dozen carrot stick rides on Cricket. I've even started working with two sticks at the walk and the trot.

I've been mainly focused on FTR and Corners Game. It gives me a focus and it gives me a frame of reference to see how well Cricket is following.

Last night we had more stick biting than we've had in the last two rides. Only after I picked up the second stick, though. I truly believe this is nothing more than feedback about her frustration with my communication.

I played more with our yields in isolation and the HQ is getting so much better. The forehand yield is still rather sticky. Not surprising, especially considering she feels a little dominant.

I'm still not ready to canter her with sticks. Not quite yet. But we're getting closer.

I put the sticks down to work a little on our canter. The right lead was good and the left lead was better than it's been in a LONG time. I've been using a soft contact rein on the left bend to help Cricket shape her body. The element I was missing was alternating a lift with a give. Inadvertently, I've probably been pulling her a little onto her inside shoulder. Oops! My friend Ann pointed this out and with a little lift and release, Cricket really set herself more on her hindquarters and gave me a kick-butt left circle with the softest downward transition.

Jumped off and called it a win.

I Know Why the Dun Mare Bites

2011-01-19T09:16:00.000-06:00

I figure it out. I figured out why Cricket bites at the sticks. It's me. Go figure!

It's not because I'm rude with the sticks or even that she's upset when I touch her with the sticks. It's that the sticks make me nervous and that degrades my leadership. I offer her a ton of conflicting signals and it seriously pisses her off.

Duh!

What I Learned Yesterday

2011-01-18T09:34:00.000-06:00

We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters. ~ Robert E. Lee

I'll start out by saying I had a good ride on Cricket yesterday. We had a short liberty warm-up and then onto saddling.

I've been saddling her at liberty. This is one of my tasks on my Parelli Connect page. The only problem with this scenario is that Cricket is such a pest that she has to keep turning her head to ask for a cookie or to see what I'm doing. Oh well, at least she's involved in the process.

Our carrot stick riding is getting so much better. We started with one stick and did some FTR and Corners Game at the walk and trot. I'm feeling pretty confident with one stick and the trot.

I wanted to revisit our canter - something we haven't done in awhile. I opted to put the stick down to set myself up for more success. Cricket was a little snotty about it but basically obedient. I rode her right lead freestyle but picked up the reins for the left lead. I wanted to be able to help her with her bend. She did really well - the best left lead we've had in ages.

I picked up one stick and we did a little sideways with a bridge rein and then I picked up a second stick. We did some more FTR and Corners at the walk and trot. We stood on the bridges (building up the nerve for the pedestal). I asked her to step over a low jump and with one stick asked her for sideways off the pole. She obliged and I opted to end the ride.

I spent last night reflecting on what worked and what didn't and here are my BFOs from our session:

Cricket only started biting the stick with some dominance/aggression when I got nervous about trotting with two sticks. Previously she only mouthed the stick out of playfulness, the same as she does on the ground. How very interesting.
With sticks, leg suddenly always equals forward. We've been working on "no rein" isolations of the FQ and HQ and she's pretty good. But not with sticks. I think this exposes a hole in our foundation. I don't know how consistent I am with my leg as a cue for forward and so it's kind of confusing. I cannot say I micro-manage her with the reins because we can do it with arms crossed and no forward. What makes it different with the sticks?

My goal for our next ride is to do some two stick isolations and get better forehand and hind-quarter yields. And to start working on consistency of my leg cues.

Commitment

2011-01-17T09:17:00.000-06:00

There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. ~Art Turock

The above quote came to me by way of my friend Tina. It makes me uncomfortable and I cannot get it out of my head. It's like a splinter in my mind, a thorn of a thought that will not be ignored.

There is a difference between interest and commitment.

I can't shake it.

When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.

I invest a great deal of time, energy and resources into keeping Cricket and Bleu. And yet I seem to invent excuses for not spending time with them. Faced with the cutting reality of the above quote, the reasons for not going to the barn evaporate like mist in the noon-day sun.

Something curious has happened since I first encountered this quote. It's as if a word jumble, turned on its side, now suddenly spells something quite clear. Packing my barn clothes in the morning is just part of the routine. Planning for dinner at night is easier. My little line of ducks looks less like a squiggly mark and more like a straight line. How interesting.

I still have a long way to go and I'm sure there will be obstacles. But I have a sneaking suspicion the manner in which I deal with them will be different.

Stepping It Up

2011-01-16T10:21:00.000-06:00

True to my promise, I continue to ride Cricket with a Carrot Stick. I'm even forcing myself to hold the stick while mounting. No sideways to the fence to pick up the stick - every ride starts and ends with a stick in my hand.

We started yesterday with a little bit of liberty. Cricket was offering to jump so I asked her to draw to me over two jumps and she easily did.

I asked her for a turn on the HQ with me standing still and she offered a lot of resistance to the stick and string pushing her Z1. I played some extreme FG with the stick/string going over her head. Kept it up until she could lick and chew. I asked her for the spin again and finished with the same FG until she could relax. A few repetitions and she had a better spin and quicker relaxation afterward. This is something I need to keep in mind as I ask her for more - I need to give her LB time to think, process and relax.

I saddled her up and we worked some more on FTR and Corners Game. I'm trying to work the patterns and find a moment where she offers obedience and quit on that note. So far it seems to be working as each ride gets better.

The only time she offered to bite the stick was right after mounting when I asked for lateral flexion. And it wasn't aggressive but rather more playful. I just rubbed her mouth and asked for the flexion.

Being in a saddle I was more willing to go to a firmer phase 4. This is what we both needed. I need to be able to touch her and insist that she respond. She needs to know that I say what I mean and I mean what I say.

At one point she pulled out pretty far instead of going to the corner. I didn't fuss but opted to put her in the corner before allowing total rest. She resisted the stick and I ended up touching her on Z1. She spun out a little and I just continued to ask her to move to the corner. When I got her lined up, I allowed her to dwell and play with the barrel and cones that were there.

The next time around, I put my focus on the corner and with just a tiny bit of support from the stick, Cricket went right for it. I jumped off and called it a win.

I don't know if I've ever been this forceful with her under saddle. I never got mean or mad but I just said, "this is what we're doing, get on board." And lo and behold, she did.

I finally feel like I'm ready to move my riding to the next level. To start holding Cricket more accountable and being the leader she needs. She's going to be a bit grumpy about this at first but I know, once we get through the initial transition, she'll be happier and more relaxed under saddle.

There's Snow Pony Like My Pony

2011-01-14T19:23:00.000-06:00

I did it. I rode my horse in the snow.

I managed to leave work a little early today and arrived at the barn with little time to spare before sunset. I brought out my saddle and hackamore and headed to get Cricket.

I pulled her out, stripped her blanket off and threw the saddle on. Get to, got to. I cleaned out her feet and put on Bleu's Renegade hoof boots. I mounted up from the back of my truck and off we went.

And we had a blast! Cricket was really forward in her walk. She was interested in what was around. A few times she hit a bit of a threshold and we either waited, retreated or just went somewhere else.

I know pulling her out and saddling her was a bit rude. I didn't ask permission, I didn't play with her beforehand and I didn't do much but allow her to breathe between cinchings. But I've had this mare for over seven years and I've ridden every mood and attitude she has to offer. The fact that she stood at her door asking for my attention was enough to know that we would be fine.

Sometimes we all need a little get to, got to. Sometimes we just need to say, "here's what we're doing, I know you're ready and we'll be fine." Sometimes we just have to get on and ride.

Two In A Row

2011-01-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

Got in another ride tonight.

When I arrived at the barn, Ed was measuring out hay and we chatted through my brief warm-up. My goal is to do just enough on-line to get Cricket mentally connected and offering to do things. Ed needed to go in but he promised to come back out.

I decided to do all the feed prep while waiting for Ed to return. I removed Cricket's halter (she still had her bareback pad on) and set her up in the aisle with a bucket of hay.

All I have to say is that feed time with a LBI on the loose takes far longer than normal. In truth, she was very good. She strayed to the hay bales a few times and I just put her back on her bucket. She tried to visit me a few times and I backed her back to her bucket. She wandered over to investigate things and pester Bleu and I just left her alone.

She became a little emotional when I started feeding the other horses. I don't blame her. But she handled it well and was very willing to come back with me and go into the arena. Once I got ready to get on her, she was just fine.

We continued our FTR and mixed in some turns and Figure 8. Ed was in the arena with me and that created some draw and distraction. I played just a little bit with 2 sticks but the lack of "control" brought up just enough fear that I decided to save that for when we are in a saddle. I started playing with some sideways and Cricket was offering some lovely turns on the HQ. We struggled with sideways to the right and when she softened and offered some flowing steps, I called it a win and dismounted.

Overall, I'm very pleased. She was a little resistant but I don't think there was much biting at the stick at all. With time, I think that will just fade away. I really feel that her negative reactions are a little bit of baggage from my ineptitude and a whole lot of resistance to my leadership.

Just Do It

2011-01-05T20:20:00.000-06:00

After whining on my Facebook page about motivation and my deserted barn, several friends chimed in with some strategies for playing with my horses when I arrive at a dark, uninviting barn.

I have to go out every evening and feed. When it's cold and miserable, it's harder to get in the mood to play when I'm all by my lonesome.

For safety reasons, I don't ride when there's no one else on the premise.

Wendy Morgan, my good friend and Licensed 1* Junior Parelli Instructor, suggested that I plan out my ride during lunch and then think about it all day so I'm more excited when I arrive. I think this would work better if my day were more errands and hum-drum. Unfortunately I work in an often fast-paced and erratic environment. My train of thought jumps around like a nervous bunny - not conducive to building momentum through the day.

But I adapted and started thinking about my ride as I drove to the barn. It takes about 40 minutes on a good day and upwards of an hour if I get stuck in rush hour traffic.

When I arrived at the barn, I plugged my iPod into the barn speaker dock to see if it would work. Voila! Just having my own music was motivational. I'm more motivated to pull together a play list of my favorite music.

I just brushed Cricket and put my bareback pad on her in her stall. We warmed up for about 15 minutes with some slow groundwork. I mounted up - with my Carrot Stick - and we had a short, 15 minute ride.

My BFO for the evening - I accidentally popped Cricket on Z1 with the stick. Truthfully, she ran into the energy. I was thrown an little off balance as she kind of spun away from the stick. She immediately licked her lips and was much more responsive to the stick afterward. I jumped off when she responded to just some body cues for moving around some different obstacles in the arena.

Riding with Carrot Sticks

2011-01-04T09:49:00.000-06:00

That's my goal. Every ride until I can execute my simple lead changes on the Question Box with just two sticks.

My biggest hang-up to passing L3 is cantering with carrot sticks. The only way to get through that is to actually start riding with sticks. Duh!

I don't often ride with a stick. I have a couple of reasons:

Cricket bites at the sticks.
I have a difficult time maneuvering the stick with my left hand due to an old injury.
Using the sticks brings up fear and control issues.

That said, it's time to address said issues:

Cricket bites the sticks. I think this is a mixture of dominance and OR. I probably released her at the wrong time and may have taught her that biting makes the sticks go away. The few times I've ridden with sticks recently, I've played friendly game at a halt and in motion. When she bites, I get more energetic and when she relaxes, so do I.

Maneuverability. Almost six years ago I broke my left arm and I have some limitations in the mobility in my wrist. It can be a little awkward and a little painful to hold and use two sticks for an extended period of time. I do, however, have two "little sticks." They may be similar to the "kid's stick" Parelli is now selling and they are lighter weight, a little shorter and easier to manage. This may be an option - at least in the beginning.

Fear and control. I have a hard time letting go. I'm sure you've noticed this theme if you've been reading my posts for any length of time. I'm sure this ties back to why Cricket bites the sticks. I get nervous, she feels the void and takes over, she pushes back on the stick and I get afraid and too quick with the sticks. Cricket biting at the sticks just reinforces my fear.

What I've discovered in my last few CS rides is that if I direct more energy to her shoulder, rather than her head, she responds with a yield rather than turning to bite. She is less reactive even if I have to touch her. I'm sure this is tied to the LBI "don't touch my face" thing. Something to keep in mind.

So that's the plan. Stick in hand EVERY ride - no excuses!

Oh, and isn't it funny that I have no issues riding Bleu with a carrot stick. None. Hmm, how interesting.

Bendy, Bendy, Twisty, Turny

2011-01-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

I have a feeling Cricket is out of whack. Again. But having just paid for both horses to see the equine dentist, I'm not sure there's anything left for the equine chiropractor. Unless I sell a kidney.

The last couple of days have been groundwork only. I've been feeling a bit out of sorts myself so I've taken the opportunity to just have some down time with Cricket and Bleu.

Part of my focus with Cricket has been trying to sort out her left lead canter. As Becky observed on Tuesday, Cricket is relaxed and correctly arced on her right lead but she tips her nose out and falls on her inside shoulder on the left lead.

I played with some shaping her on the circle and after a few repetitions, she was able to keep herself relatively straight on the circle and transition from the trot to the canter. I've also started working on some of Karen Rohlf's mobility exercises from her Results in Harmony DVD series. Basically, just taking Cricket on the circle and then asking her to yield her HQ while maintaining forward motion.

This is definitely outside my comfort zone. I got frustrated with Cricket yesterday. I know she was trying but unfortunately she was also trying my patience. I took a moment to calm down and we started again. I tried to maintain my posture and to ask her for what I wanted. I'm not sure I was getting it but it was getting better and I managed to stop on a good note.

I don't think I'll get to play today. I want to continue our progress but need to honor how my body feels and not push myself.

A New Year and a New Resolution

2011-01-02T13:30:00.000-06:00

The tradition of New Year's Resolutions originates before the birth of Christ. When Julius Caesar developed a solar calendar, the first month was named for the Roman god Janus. Janus possessed two faces and it was said that one looked back on the old year and the other forward into the coming year. It became a tradition to seek forgiveness and exchange gifts of good fortune at the start of each year.

And so, over the centuries, the tradition has become to make a self-promise of life changes at the start of the new year.

I'm not so sure about this, personally. I've never had much luck with resolutions, always blaming my lack of will power for my lack of success. Cruising around the internet, I stumbled across the following article from The Wall Street Journal. Turns out will power has little or nothing to do with follow-through.

With a new perspective, maybe it's time to make a New Year's resolution.

My goal for the coming year is better balance. Especially in the last several months, I've felt as if my life were spiraling somewhat out of control. I have a slightly manic personality and it means high highs, low lows and some pretty scary shifts from one to the other. It also results in a tendency to be gung-ho in the beginning and then become completely derailed by the most minor of hiccups. It's not fun.

What I want is balance. To be able to balance working full time with playing with my horses. To be able to balance the time I want to spend with my horses with the time required to keep my house running smoothly. To be able to spend time with family and friends and time alone to recharge. To have what I need now and a way towards what I want later. To take care of myself and still give to others.

It seems a lot considering that I've never managed to carry a resolution past the first week of the new year. But like coins dropped into a piggy bank, a little change here and another little change there soon adds up.

Consistency

2010-12-29T09:12:00.000-06:00

I have had some of the best sessions with Cricket over the last three days. I've even started to rekindle my desire to play with Bleu.

The consistency has been good for me and it's been phenomenal for my Cricket.

On Sunday, as I blogged earlier, we just played at liberty and then a little on-line.

Monday I went out and brought out both girls. I stripped off Bleu's blanket and put both horses at liberty in the arena. Bleu was content to munch hay over the wall but Cricket wanted to be with me. After brushing the mud off Cricket, I haltered Bleu and allowed Cricket to munch hay.

I played with some traveling circle games and obstacles. Bleu gets skeptical and rather than address an obstacle, she tries to duck out of it. With Cricket, I'd almost rather she ducked out and kept her forward. But for Bleu, I'd almost rather she stopped to think about it rather than plowing forward. I never made her feel wrong but kept adjusting the circles to "force" her to address the bridges, jumps, barrels, cones, etc. She became much more fluid and I called it a win. We did a little with her canter on-line and then I saddled her up.

It was my first ride on Bleu in my Natural Performer and my first ride on Bleu since my October camp. She was a champ! We walked and trotted around a little before we stumbled on a little game with Cricket. Cricket, still at liberty, was bothering some of the other folks in the arena. I grabbed a stick and when I went to drive Cricket away, she kind of startled at the stick and string. Hmm, how interesting. I used Bleu to herd Cricket around the arena until Cricket would stand and accept the friendly game from Bleu's back.

At a win spot, I dismounted from Bleu and took both horses over to the rail. I unsaddled Bleu and put her away with some hay and then saddled Cricket. We did some FTR and corners game at the walk and trot and then some FTR at the canter. I am getting more and more comfortable with a true freestyle canter, at least on the right lead.

Ed wanted to ride a passenger lesson on Honey so I picked up a CS to be able to defend Cricket's space. We continued with some FTR at the trot and Cricket was pretty accepting of the stick. It just felt right so I asked her to pick up the canter and we cantered, for the very first time with a CS in hand. The second time, I even asked her for the downward transition with the CS. WOO HOO!!!

Yesterday, I played with her on-line, at liberty and under saddle. We had a long day with intermittent appointments so everything kind of runs together.

She's becoming more consistent with liberty circle games at the canter. We're missing just a few ingredients to get a FLC.

She's getting more solid with her "jump half way."

We're still struggling with left lead canter both on-line and under saddle. She's tipping her nose out and leaning on her inside shoulder. I tuned her up a bit at the trot and then tried to figure it out on a left hand circle. Part of it is me and I think part of it is a habit Cricket has developed because of me. I need to work on getting her more supple on a left bend. Hmm . . . might need to make some room for some serpentines and I might need to consider putting her back in a bridle for a little while.

Can't wait to get out there tonight . . .

Cricket's Gift to Me

2010-12-26T19:37:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve was perhaps one of the most beautiful days we'll have this winter. I spent the majority of the day running like a mad-woman, trying to finish things up before heading to my Mum & Dad's house for Christmas.

The day after Christmas was miserable -cold, windy, snowing. What do I do? I head out to the barn to play with my horse. It wasn't too bad as I had on all my clothes and the barn blocked the wind.

I gave all the horses a little hay to stoke the furnace and keep them warm. I invited Cricket out of her stall and she clearly said, "No thanks, I'm good." I left her stall door open and sat on the hay across from her. Nothing doing. I went in the arena to help someone and still Cricket stayed in her stall. I finally tempted her out with the Carrot Stick and the promise of hay while I groomed.

We finished grooming and I asked her into the arena. Though she was slightly reluctant to leave her hay, she obliged my request.

My plan was to play a little at liberty and then go on-line and maybe ride. There were lots of folks there and Cricket has been a bit iffy at liberty lately.

We started with some simple "stick to me" and Cricket was ON. She easily gave me the trot and then the canter and even maintained her canter while I walked a circle. I stopped my feet, encouraged her on and she gave me the first canter circle we've had in ages.

She was jumping everything. And I mean everything. From a small barrel that was tipped on it's side to a straight rail to double down barrels. She tried really hard to jump a single standing barrel but lost her confidence a little. She even jumped a cone. A little cone she could have stepped over or even on, she jumped it!

On the circle, she started offering canter so I took that and worked on some change of direction. While we didn't get a flying change, we got some soft, obedient and relaxed simple changes. We tried to do a full turn around the previously mentioned small barrel and she spun and then jumped it.

We played with sideways towards and she gave me a trot and almost a canter.

Everything was energetic and just full of spit and vinegar. The only drawback to the whole thing was her headshaking. I didn't let it bother me because I'm really at peace with this as "just a part of Cricket." She was pretty emotional and a little RBE (awesome to see in a normally LBI) but very obedient. The emotions, coupled with the snow blowing in her face was just a bit much for her.

We went out into the paddock, still at liberty, and played friendly game with the little horse-drawn sled. I put her on-line after she spooked which caused the horse pulling the sled to spook. Nobody was hurt but I wanted Cricket to get over her skepticism. I put her on the 22' and had her follow it much like we did the cow simulator at the Parelli Center. The young girl on the sled offered Cricket a cookie and that sealed the deal. Cricket's skepticism turned to curiosity and she followed, nosing the girl's boots and jacket.

What a fun day and what a beautiful gift from one of my beautiful girls. We turned the horses out into the snow and I got to watch them all frolic, run, buck and play. Bleu put on such a display, I laughed out loud.

What's Been Going On

2010-12-21T11:07:00.000-06:00

I've been waxing a little poetic over my horsemanship journey lately. I decided to post about what's prompted all this philosophical pondering.

And then you'll marvel at my ability to make mountains out of molehills.

On my third ride in my Natural Performer, Cricket gave me the ride of a lifetime. At least our lifetime together so far. She was so eager to canter and it was a wonderful feeling.

On my fourth ride in my Natural Performer she was even better. The next day (Sunday, December 5) she was still free and forward and was giving me the most wonderful freestyle walk to canter transitions with just a smooch. The weather was quite chilly that day and as we were walking around the short North wall of the arena, I sniffled and she cantered!

I wasn't able to ride the rest of the week but was determined to get out there the following weekend and have another ride. And that's when everything went pear-shaped. Well, sort of.

I got this crazy idea in my head that I was going to canter Cricket with a carrot stick. Not necessarily using the stick but having it in hand. I didn't do a thorough enough ground check to see where her "forward" was and when I got on, she bucked up a little going into the canter. I know that my perception of the event is probably quite different from the reality of the event. But the little black rain cloud had entered the ride. I managed to finish on an acceptable note.

So I did some thinking. I am, after all, a LBI and thinking is what I do best.

The worst times I have with Cricket are when I'm "working on something." I get my blinders on and I don't adjust to the feedback I receive from my horse. I get the best results when I take what she offers and shape it, quiting when it's good.

On Saturday I went out to ride. My only goal was to see where she was at the beginning of the ride and do something that caused her to be better at the end of the ride. Cricket was a little stuck in her feet so I decided to tune up her forward. She offered the first canter and I rode it, totally freestyle. I noticed we've established a pattern of transition to the halt after a canter. I refined our "forward" goal to "forward through the downward transition." I was pleased with each try she made. I quit when she went willingly to the trot, willingly to the canter, forward into a trot out of the canter and then down to the walk and halt.

On Sunday I threw a saddle on her for a brief ride and focused on the same goal of "forward" and "forward through the downward transition." She was awesome. Still stuck in her feet but better overall. It took less time to get the forward and she offered less "back-up avoidance."

My new plan to get to my L3 Freestyle audition is just to ride and have fun. In each ride, if I can practice some of the elements of the audition, shaping what Cricket offers, then we'll be okay. Much like the organic nature of my Liberty audition, I think there will be a day when it just feels right, we'll grab a camera, roll some film and see what happens.

Perception and Progress

2010-12-20T09:52:00.000-06:00

I have finally come to accept that, despite my perception to the contrary, I am actually making progress in my horsemanship.

Crazy talk, I know.

Perception is a funny thing.

The processes of perception routinely alter what humans see. When people view something with a preconceived concept about it, they tend to take those concepts and see them whether or not they are there. This problem stems from the fact that humans are unable to understand new information, without the inherent bias of their previous knowledge. A person’s knowledge creates his or her reality as much as the truth, because the human mind can only contemplate that to which it has been exposed. When objects are viewed without understanding, the mind will try to reach for something that it already recognizes, in order to process what it is viewing. That which most closely relates to the unfamiliar from our past experiences, makes up what we see when we look at things that we don’t comprehend. ~ Wikipedia: Perception

I create my reality with Cricket and with Bleu based on my past experiences and do not wholly entertain or understand the reality because I reach for what is familiar when faced with what I don't fully understand.

In and of itself, that is a powerful realization. I think this is a particular challenge for "backyard horse owners." Working with just one or two horses keeps you in a circle of particular knowledge and experience. If "the human mind can only contemplate that to which it has been exposed" then the more limited exposure, the more narrow the contemplation.

What I have experienced with Cricket colors my ability to understand what she is doing now. My perception inhibits my ability to be present in the moment. My mind searches for a way to understand what's going on and draws conclusions and parallels from all that's happened before.

The only way to alter perception is to increase knowledge. And not just more patterns, more techniques, etc. Increase your knowledge of what YOUR horse is actually doing RIGHT NOW! Don't rely on your perception. Find ways to match your perception with reality.

The best way I've found to do this: VIDEO TAPE YOURSELF PLAYING WITH AND RIDING YOUR HORSE.

Two weeks ago, when Ed filmed me cantering Cricket, I felt as if we were flying around the arena. When I watched the tape, I couldn't believe how slow and relaxed Cricket appeared. That alone has lessened my fear and insecurity about cantering. Cricket's canter - the very same canter that felt like Mach 10 - now feels relaxed and slower. The canter has not changed but my perception - now formed by new knowledge - is more accurate.

For Every Up . . .

2010-12-12T07:45:00.000-06:00

There Must Be a Down.

This is my journey. No way around it. No sense complaining about it. Just keep working to make the up a little better, a little longer. Keep working to make the down a little less like the vertical drop on the first hill of a massive roller coaster.

I do not like roller coasters. I tried to like them but I really don't. I didn't ride my first roller coaster until I was in high school. I was so terrified I couldn't scream. I sat, eyes clenched tight, mouth sealed shut. I tried, for a few years, to like roller coasters. All my friends loved them. But not me.

I don't like the tumultuous nature of a roller coaster - climbing up, plummeting down; rocketing left, then right; flying upside down. I like fairly even ground. Rises and falls, but in a gentle undulating manner.

Cricket is my roller coaster. The journey we are on is one of steep climbs, unpredictable turns and, often, steep drops. Like the flat track before the sudden, invisible drop, I can have a ride on Cricket that causes me to feel we are finally over the "really steep climb." And then the world falls away and the car plummets down the track.

But always, on every coaster, there's a final spot where everything levels out and you step out of the car, a little shaken but none-the-worse-for-wear.

I'm searching for that place with Cricket. One day, I just might find it.

WOW! What a Weekend!

2010-12-06T12:54:00.000-06:00

Video from the very tail end of my session with Cricket on Saturday.

By Sunday, we were cantering from the walk with just a smooch.

I almost hate how much I love my new saddle.

Round 2 with the Natural Performer

2010-12-03T12:19:00.000-06:00

Last night was the second ride in my saddle. It was better than the first.

We started out with some ground play. Using the 45', I stood about 30' away and asked her to play Touch It with the bridges and the barrels. She was not wholly confident and kept looking to me for clarification. I was pleased with how much she checked in.

After that I played a little with half-circles and some sideways away and towards. She's finally getting the hang of trotting sideways towards me.

Then onto circle game and the dreaded canter. Ugh! If I ever truly solve the puzzle of Cricket's canter, I'll know I have savvy! Tried "go slower." Didn't exactly work. Tried falling leaf. Didn't exactly work. Tried transitions. Didn't exactly work. Tried tagging where she'd been. Didn't exactly work. Finally, I got fed up. Not mean or mad, I'd just had enough. It's like when you say to your kids, "I feed you, I clothe you, I put a roof over your head - I am not asking too much."

I switched to a snappy back-up. I wasn't looking for speed but that little extra effort. That moment where she turns loose and says, "yes ma'am." When I we got that, I asked for some snappy squeeze. And BAM! there was the canter. Forward, true three-beat, jackpot!

On to saddling and riding. Cricket's main interest in saddling was the cookies. I'd used treats with her the previous night to surprise her and turn her negative thoughts to positive thoughts. I forget that is a bit of a backfire with her because it almost "trains" her to be snotty. She wasn't bad but it's not exactly easy to saddle a horse that puts her nose of her flank looking for a cookie. But she was good.

Mounting - no problem; standing after mounting - small problem. I realized I was sort of holding my breath and she was interpreting that as "do something." We spent most of our ride at the trot but with a good bit of walking.

Cricket is really stretching down at the walk and the trot. I like this because it indicates she is very free over her back. I don't like this because it puts too much weight on the forehand and if she's set-up for a buck if she takes a sudden dislike to something I ask.

At one point she offered a very snarky canter. I tried to ride it out but it wasn't pretty and I didn't feel secure. I really felt Cricket was taking too much leadership. So I changed tactics to partial disengagement and that helped her relax a little. Then we did "almost trot" transitions until she was relaxed enough to do actual walk-trot-walk transitions.

I played with concentrated rein turns on the HQ - which she executed with near perfection. Ed asked if we did much of that Freestyle. Not so much because it works best with a CS and Cricket bites the CS. In the spirit of not setting up roadblocks, I decided to try it.

YOWZERS! Cricket gave me some soft, relaxed FH yields with just the tiniest hint of stick to support. Amazing what our horses can do if we just let them.

It wasn't, by any means perfect. She bit at the stick a few times and I just did my best to work through it. I'll have to say she was better than she's been in ages.

We finished with some concentrated rein trotting with some transitions and thrown in. Our last transition, she was coming out of the halt into a walk. I asked for the trot and she eased into the softest canter. Rode it down the rail, stopped and called it a day. I stayed on her as she processed through everything and then got off.

I Think She Likes It!

2010-12-02T10:01:00.000-06:00

I finally was able to ride in my Natural Performer last night.

I love it.

I do believe Cricket liked it.

YIPPEE!!!!

I decided Cricket would be my guinea pig for testing the fit of the saddle. My sweet tolerant Bleu would probably be okay with anything, regardless of how it made her feel. Cricket, on the other hand, believes her opinion is law and has no problem letting me know when any little thing is amiss.

We started with a little ground play. Some stick to me - one foot at a time and then some "snappy come with me." Then on the 45' line we played with long-distance Touch-It and then some circles - one foot at at time and then some transitions trying to elicit a willing canter. Not too bad, not too good but I'll take it. Did a little extreme Friendly Game by running up to her and flopping against her. She was a little concerned at first but when the lunacy was coupled with some belly scratches, she decided the craziness was perfectly acceptable.

Then cam the big moment. Saddling her with the new saddle. She was a little grumpy, pinning her hears and turning her head. I just gave her cookies and she quickly decided it wasn't that big of a deal. I have her pad shimmed with the basic "wide shoulder, downhill" shim pattern. Figured that was as good a place to start as any.

Once I got the saddle on and relatively secure, I checked the front of the saddle. Holy Shoulder Clearance, Batman! I could fit my whole hand comfortable back to the stirrup bar area. There was certainly enough space to invite her up into the saddle.

I moved her around a little and got things snugged up. No resistance with mounting. Another good sign. We walked for a bit but my stirrups were really too long to do anything so I jumped down to shorten them. Took her back to the mounting block; again, no resistance to mounting.

We walked and trotted around the arena. She was stretching and pushing her back into the saddle. She was forward and open in the trot. She sort of offered the canter but I think I wasn't really ready. My stirrups were still a hole or two too long and I didn't have my helmet on. And there was just too much mental pressure for me. All that translated into tension between Cricket and me and she was a bit snarky about even offering the canter. No worries, there will be more rides.

She was very responsive to my leg and seat. We played with turns, curves, circles, sideways, transitions, back-up, etc. Everything felt great.

One thing I know - it takes more than the positive feedback from one ride to really evaluate a saddle. A poor fitting saddle creates pressure points that may not be affected by a new saddle. The first rides feel great because the already sore spots are getting relief and any new sore spots have not had time to develop.

Another thing I know - anything, and I mean anything, that remotely inhibits Cricket's movement causes her to bow up, buck, swish her tail, pin her ears, turn to bite, etc. It's instant feedback on whether something feels good. She has never once protested her ReactorPanel and we've been riding in that saddle for 2-3 years.

I'm pretty confident this is going to work for Cricket. I'm pretty confident it's going to work for me.

Oh, I tried to get pictures but the lighting was terrible (for photos, anyway). I'll take some better pictures and some video this weekend. I may even ride Cricket in both saddles and see if I feel/see a difference in her attitude, movement, etc.

New Saddle & Renewed Determination!

2010-12-01T10:14:00.000-06:00

image from http://www.parellisaddles.com/

For any who may have missed my subtle comments, I bought a super-wide Natural Performer.

It was one of those things that just happened. I'd made the decision to purchase one through the layaway program but in the week before Thanksgiving, a few things converged and I was able to buy an in-stock saddle. It took eleven days from when I ordered it to front-door delivery.

My biggest challenge in my riding is my confidence. I've made great strides in the last year or so but when it comes to cantering, I still get all wadded up.

So while most folks progress to an English saddle to further develop their riding, I'm going the other way. I'm moving from my beloved and phenomenal English saddle to a new western saddle.

Because my issue isn't how well I ride. As it turns out, I'm a pretty darn good rider (when I get out of my head and out of my own way). My issue is letting go and just riding. And for that, I have the idea that a western saddle is better than an English saddle. Valid or not, what's in my head matters because "in my head" is where most of my problems reside.

I am more determined than ever to get through my L3. Not for any other reason than it's time. I've been mucking about in L3 for three years. That's long enough! I've been stymied in my riding for longer than that and it's time. It's time to be positive and progressive. It's time to have some real fun with my horses.

Obstacles, Hang-Ups, Roadblocks and Sticky Spots

2010-11-29T20:52:00.000-06:00

I've been challenged, by my friend Clare in her response to my comment on Nitty Gritty Plan. The challenge - to outline some of the sticky spots I have in my horsemanship. Specifically working towards my L4 Liberty and my L3 Freestyle.

When it comes to Freestyle riding my biggest obstacle is my fear of losing control. Letting go of that rope and really trusting my horse is hard for me. I suppose it's a bigger hang-up than just my issues because I'm sure it creates a roadblock for my horse. If I cannot turn loose to her, how can I expect her to turn loose to me?

A specific problem - riding and guiding my horse with the carrot sticks. I can ride with them and if Cricket listens to my body we're golden. But if I have to use the stick it goes to hell in a hand-basket. Rather than yielding to the stick, Cricket turns into it and bites it. Why? I have no idea. She doesn't bite the stick when we play on the ground. She yields to the stick on the ground, soft and easy. Under saddle, major issue with her biting at the CS. Not exactly the picture the assessors want to see in L3.

And then our perpetual Achilles heel - the canter. We've come a long way, mostly in fits and starts but we've still got a ways to go. I can canter Cricket on a Question Box pattern and I can do some Follow the Rail. But it's not wholly confident on my part nor is it wholly relaxed on Cricket's end.

Roll those three things together and I have a particularly big sticky spot when it comes to passing my L3 Freestyle. Of course I could try it with Bleu but I've yet to even try cantering her under saddle and she has no idea about responding to my body . . . yet.

My goal to progress towards Freestyle is just to ride more and have fun while I do it. I'm going to work on Cricket and the CS and see if we can't figure out just what's going on - I have a feeling it's part dominance and part lack of confidence. I'm going to ride Bleu more. Even if she's not the one to actually ride for my audition, she's teaching me about courage, confidence and leadership. All things I need if I'm to conquer the canter on Cricket.

My singular hang-up for my L4 Liberty is the required flying lead change. The precursor to that issue is the maintain canter and draw at the canter. Right now, even getting Cricket to canter takes an act of Congress. So we're going back on-line and trying to fix her impulsion there. It needs to be a puzzle and I need to be playful about it. She's offered/attempted a FLC at liberty in the big arena. She thought about it too late and tangled her feet and had to buck/kick her way out of it. Since she's already better at liberty than on-line, if I can fix it on-line it should work even better at liberty.

So there it is - my issues in a nutshell. I have a plan and I just need to put said plan into action.

Pleased as Punch

2010-11-28T21:41:00.000-06:00

I went out and played with both horses this evening. I had a simple plan. I was bound and determined to be pleased.

I decided it was time to do something, anything to get out of the horsemanship slump.

Since I've been remarkably unsuccessful having a plan of my own, I decided to take a different tack. I took my on-line and freestyle patterns maps and taped them to the inside of the tack room door. Now I have them right there, at the barn. I also read through my task lists on Parelli Connect and took a few of those with me. I'm following another blog that lists a new task each week and I'll be using that as well.

I played with both horses in about an hour. I feel I accomplished more in that single hour than I have in all the times I've played since fall camp. I checked out Bleu's extreme Friendly Game and started her on the F8 pattern. I played with Cricket's "snappy" and started to re-build her on-line canter.

Nothing was perfect but it felt progressive. When Bleu had trouble with the draw on the F8, I chunked it down until I got a willing 2E2E (two eyes, two ears) draw. When Cricket was giving me low energy, I just matched it until she was mentally engaged enough to offer more.

Turns out that having a plan makes it easier to deviate when necessary. By actually knowing what I was trying to accomplish, I was able to separate, isolate and recombine. The times I've just wallered around the arena, I had no idea how to fix what wasn't working because I had no real idea what I was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Finally, I was reminded by my good friend and 1* Junior Parelli Instructor Wendy Morgan (or on Facebook) that it's about the relationship. If you don't put the relationship first, what is the point? So I decided to find ways to be pleased. Pleased with my horses, pleased with myself. Lo and behold, it worked! Now I feel like I'm looking forward to playing and being with my horses. Finally!

Progress? and Parelli Connect

2010-11-27T09:38:00.000-06:00

My biggest challenge lately has been progress. Or more aptly, lack of progress.

I just seem to be spinning my wheels, getting nowhere. It's frustrating and seriously de-motivating.

The bareback stuff with Cricket has been fun. I know it's an indication that things are moving forward. I remember one of my first bareback rides out at Ed & Bonnie's. About four years ago, I couldn't even walk into the little paddock with out being afraid. Every undulation of Cricket's back was enough to cause me to tense and panic. Now we are cantering. There have been little milestones along the way with Pilates and Centered Riding contributing the most.

Work has been stressful and demanding. The days are shorter and growing colder. And with two horses I seem to be getting nowhere twice as fast.

I found out, through Jessica's blog that the Parelli Connect site was up and running. I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere but sometimes I'm a little slow on the up-take.

My first thought - great, one more social networking site. Another thing to consume my precious time. But I set up my account, added my horses and had a little look around. It's a pretty neat site where you can follow and interact with other Parelli Savvy Club members. So in that respect, it's more filtered than Facebook.

The one feature I really like is the tasks for you and your horse(s). Based on the level you enter for your horse, you receive a list of tasks you can check off. Also, on your horse's wall, you can post activity, savvy and duration - a very cool way to keep up with time spent on your horsemanship.

So as part of my goal for making some measurable progress, I am going to:

make a serious attempt to keep up with my Parelli Connect account, using the task lists to give me something to do with my horses
take my Patterns maps to the barn, post them on the wall and work in a more orderly fashion

Maybe, just maybe, I'll come out in the spring a little closer to that damnable green string . . .

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2010-11-24T09:08:00.000-06:00

When I went to the barn to feed on Monday, my intention was to pull Bleu out, groom her and then feed and leave. My house has returned to it's "federal disaster area" state and I need to get things in order.

Ed came out and said that Jeanne and John were coming so I decided to stay - at least to visit. Despite the fact that I live on Jeanne and John's farm, I rarely get to chat with them.

So I stayed. And I ended up having a lovely session with Cricket.

I played with her at liberty. She's still reluctant to maintain a canter. As with most everything else, I'm 99.9% sure it's got more to do with me than it does with her.

I put a bareback pad on her and got on bridle-less. Because there were other horses, I just rode her to the rail and put her halter on from there. She was pretty reluctant to hold her head to the left - partially her opposition and partly I really think she needs to have her teeth done.

She was wonderful. Only a few snarky faces to the other horses. I've been diligent about leadership and confidence under saddle and it finally seems to be paying off. We walked and trotted around with relaxation and flexion. She carries herself so beautifully, so naturally. One of these days I hope to have the skill and knowledge to take her to the next level.

We even cantered. Yep, you read that right. We cantered. Just twice.

I put her on the pattern we used before and just opened the door to see if she was in the mood to go through it. She was and we did. The second time I just took her on the pattern and when I felt her connected to me, I asked and she obliged.

Again, this is only 2-5 strides. But it's earth-shattering to think that I can even consider asking Cricket to canter bareback.

The end of our session I played with posting bareback. Not something I've ever done before. I think Cricket liked it and she even got to the point where she was gathering herself to offer the canter. I brought her back down, thanked her and got off.

Fun. It was just FUN!

A Little Catch Up

2010-11-22T09:47:00.000-06:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the cool, crisp air and the delicious kaleidoscope of colors. My house looks out on sweet rolling hills, occasionally dotted by cows and streaked with deer. The world gets so sleepy, pulling the dark up over her shoulders, preparing for the winds of winter.

I love fall because even as the trees shed their leaves, the promise of spring grows. Without the bleakness of winter, there is no glory of summer.

Much has been rolling through my mind since I returned from my camp at Carol's. It was a bit of a hard learning experience for me. As it turns out, I didn't so much "take Bleu to camp" as I "didn't take Cricket." And there's where things fell apart for me. It may seem a trivial change of words but the attitude inherent in each statement is significant.

I've been in a quandary about Bleu -wondering if she really is the right "second horse." And in all that, maybe I've inadvertently put the strikes against her. As Second Horse, she sits somewhere lower than Cricket, somewhere "other." And that's not doing either of us any good. I'm still not sure but I'm taking some time and being at peace with my uncertainty.

I played with Cricket the other night and it was okay. She refuses to maintain a canter on-line and I just have no idea how to fix this. I'm tired of fighting the same fight with her over and over and over. At liberty she was better but still . . . On-line she side-waysed (is that a word?) over four parallel poles, straddling each one. Then she backed of the pole, keeping her feet on either side. Pretty cool! But she's always been good a the slow, thoughtful things - that's my precious LBI.

I jumped on her bareback and bridle-less. We rode the halt while I worked on this weird issue with the carrot stick. From the top of Zone 3, when the stick is in my left hand, if it comes towards her she bites at it. Never on the ground; never when the stick is in my right hand. 'Splain that one to me!

My biggest, funnest news is that I bought a new saddle! All the pieces just fell into place and I'll be getting a Natural Performer in about 3 weeks. It will fit both horses and I'll have a western saddle again. I can hardly wait. I'm so hopeful that this will help me advance my riding in ways I just haven't been able to do with my English.

In the Moment

2010-11-09T11:20:00.000-06:00

One day, in my Facebook News Feed, a blurb popped up about one of my friends "liking" Horses for LIFE - an on-line magazine devoted to horsemanship. I've followed it through my news feed for a few months but never thought too much of it.

The other day, I hopped over to their website and totally fell in love with the magazine. I plunked down the money for an annual subscription and have been perusing the archives ever since.

In one of the earliest issues of the magazine, there is an article called Where is He? and it was all about how we connect - in time - with our horse.

Two excerpts from the article:

[Your horse] is right here. Right now. He exists as a pure being, his consciousness completely in this moment. Not the last moment. Or the moment before. He really doesn't care what you did two moments ago, he cares about now. He exists in now.

Our mind is everywhere but in the now. If you want to talk to the horse, you have to find the ability to join him where he is. In this moment. This moment that is gone the next, to a new moment that you must be in, releasing the moment that came before and that you were just in. You begin by living in each moment, moment by moment, letting go of all the moments before . . .

The author goes on to say that by living, fully present in each moment, something amazing begins to happen. Time begins to stand still, allowing each moment to stretch longer and longer. We can then become aware of more because we find more time to observe. We find the place where our horse lives.

Wow!

Thinking, Thinking, Thinking

2010-11-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Man, this stuff is HARD!

I had my Centered Riding on Wednesday. I opted to ride Cricket. While Bleu is just lovely, I think she needs some time off so I can work on strengthening her back, independent of a rider. I've been having jolly fun with Cricket so I assumed this would be a walk in the park . . . or arena.

Principle #2: Make no assumptions; teach no assumptions.

Cricket was great through the tacking up process, standing ground tied in the alley way. No flags popped up during our brief warm-up and she was accepting of the mounting process.

And then it went south. Thankfully not too far south but south, none-the-less. She popped in a little buck. No worries. Another little buck. Okay. And then again. Uh oh! As she was only increasing frequency rather than intensity, I decided I was okay to stay on. After her fourth mini-tantrum I stopped whatever my instructor was asking me to do and did some intense "yield the HQ." Both directions, with some intention. I was a little upset but not angry.

After that we kept everything at a walk and really made Cricket THINK! Lots of curves, turns, circles, serpentines. Doing what ever we could to keep her brain engaged. And it worked! Not once, for the rest of the lesson did Cricket act out. She was only resistant when I became demanding, grabby or pull-y.

We concentrated on connecting her thoughts to her whole body and then connecting her hind legs to my hands. I'm not sure how, exactly, we accomplished this but it worked. I felt her energy coming into my hands and moving forward.

Mimi had me work on leg yields - coming into the quarter line off a circle and then yielding her towards the rail. Out of the dozen time we tried it, I really got it once or twice. Some pieces would fall into place, others would fall out of place but a few times it all came together. On the last yield, I asked Cricket into the trot as we came to the wall and she picked up a lovely collected (as in not scattered and strung out) trot down the rail and to the center line. We finished with a near-perfect square halt (front AND hind) and called it a day.

My biggest struggle in all of this is really understanding rein connection. What Mimi is teaching runs counter to some of what I learned in Parelli. Maybe not to Parelli itself but at least to how I've learned and understood it over the years. I am trying to wrap my head around how the inside rein and outside rein work in concert to set-up and guide/control the horse. I can feel it work. I can feel my horse understanding it and responding to it. But I'm not making the connection between what I'm doing and how/why that's influencing Cricket the way it does.

Time for a little LBI research . . .

A Giant Leap

2010-10-24T20:07:00.000-05:00

There comes a point - well, truthfully, it happens several times along the journey - where you experience a quantum leap. Something shifts, something changes and nothing is the same ever again.

I believe I have experienced one of those moments. Whether it is just a crack in the damn or the opening of the floodgates, only time will tell.

I cantered Cricket bareback.

Each word of that statement is so significant. It is almost magical just to consider the impact of what happened.

For the past several sessions, I've ridden Cricket bareback. It started with a quick ride right before camp. I just wanted to put my leg over a horse. I slapped the bareback pad on Cricket and we had one of the best rides ever. Since then, I've just been riding the wave, so to speak. Taking it while it's good and enjoying each moment.

Yesterday I met Becky out at the barn. We groomed the girls, played a little and then hopped on bareback. Before I even got on, I had a feeling. Just a little inkling that maybe, just maybe.

Cricket was a little forward and a little snarky and I decided that now wasn't the time. No worries. And then it just sort of happened.

Circling a barrel at the end of the arena, she stepped up into the canter for a few strides. The next time around, I opened the door for her to canter. Just a few strides. And then, as we came around the circle (which was rather tight), I just straightened her out and we went about five strides across the arena.

Just like that.

And things will never be the same again.

Back from Camp

2010-10-21T20:10:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from camp. Well, I've been back for a few days but it's taking some time to settle back into the real world.

I took Bleu to camp. My intent was to spend four days getting to know her and building a relationship with her. That was just the tip of the iceberg.

What I discovered is a great deal of buried angst about having two horses. For the first two days I was just so so. Bleu was doing well but I'd find myself getting frustrated or angry with her. I kept thinking, "this is not that difficult, what is the problem?" Monday it boiled over. I second-guessed my decision to keep Bleu and I just kept wondering if this whole idea wasn't a big mistake.

Towards the end of the riding session things calmed down a little. Tuesday morning I used my private session to talk things over with Carol. Carol gave me some good perspective and I realized my feelings of doubt and confusion were perfectly natural. So I spent Tuesday being more present to Bleu and we had an awesome day.

In truth, all of camp was wonderful. Bleu tried her heart out, despite the garbage I kept offering her. Carol told me, on several occasions, that she was a good horse. She was so right.

The camp was a L2/3 when we started but mid-way through Sunday, Carol changed it to a L3/4. Wow! What a compliment to all of us.

I cannot remember everything we did. I know it pushed my envelope on several levels. I'm proud that I tried more things that I normally would have - especially considering that I've done little with Bleu since the early days of our relationship.

On the ground we worked on snappy departures - with backwards and towards; from Zone 3 all the way out to behind Zone 5. We did sideways without a fence; from Zone 1; away and towards. We did backing from Zone 3 and by the tail. We played at liberty each day, beginning with simple stick to me, progressing to circle at liberty and finishing with "can you" challenges.

Under saddle we rode more in four days than I probably have in the past four months! Carol numbered us off and while we took turns doing certain maneuvers or patterns in the center, the rest of us rode the rail working on lots of different things.

We did a lot of carrot stick riding. I had never ridden Bleu with a stick and was pretty pleased with how she responded. We stayed in the hackamore and didn't go above the trot but we tried just about everything the rest of the class did.

I don't have detailed notes from the clinic. I find that I just get on overload and cannot take notes like I once did. I'm also finding that it's just a few little things that seem to make the biggest impact.

Here's what I'm taking from camp this year:

Before you can really engage the HQ, you need to own them through disengagement. Without this, you're creating a more powerful runaway.
Snappy is not about moving fast - it's an attitude, it's the "yes, ma'am."
Commotion doesn't always produce motion; focus and clear intent have more to do with producing what you want than flapping ropes and sticks.
It's time to get down to feel - technique only gets you so far.
If you're having issues with the Figure 8, try it without markers - get your drive and draw flowing.
Planting the seeds of L4 early give you an idea of where you might be going.
If your leg = forward, spend time getting your yields isolated.
Build in relaxation by addressing brace the moment you notice it.

I'm sure there's more but it's not coming to me right now. I have a greater appreciation for my skill and how far I've come over the years.

Light as a Feather

2010-10-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Despite all I have to do to get ready for camp, I squeezed in a little time to ride last night.

I'm introducing new feeders to Bleu and Cricket and it's taking some time to rework the routine and figure out how much to feed and how to incorporate their supplements. Last night I decided to feed Bleu and, while she was eating, monkey about with Cricket.

In her stall, at liberty (while Bleu and Dillon were eating), I put my bareback pad on and then slipped the halter on. I grabbed a CS as we entered the arena. Our warm-up consisted of 2 HQ yields, 2 FQ yields, 2 back-ups and handful of circles in each direction, a little at the walk and a little at the trot.

I tied the 12' into reins and got on. And I had one of the best rides.

Cricket was amazing. She was soft in her trot and so responsive to my focus and leg. I used the rein - light contact through the weight of the rein/snap - to shape her a little. We had beautiful turns, relaxed forward and just general lightness.

She got a little forward and Ed helped me use some lateral work to soften and slow her. It took me out of my comfort zone - allowing her to be forward and shaping it rather than shutting her down. On the curves, I pushed her ribs so she floated out on the curve, taking her inside hind and stepping deeper. I could really feel her power up from the back but at the same time, she took that energy over her back and softened through her neck.

Almost all of our "work" was at the trot. I don't usually trot turns bareback. But last night, I just let go. And it was fun. I was relaxed; Cricket was relaxed.

Standing still, I did some isolation yields, mainly the HQ, and with no input from me (i.e. totally slack rein) she responded with no forward motion.

I am so pleased with Cricket and with myself. It's time I stopped being so critical - of myself, of Cricket of everything.

The Best Laid Plans

2010-10-11T10:05:00.000-05:00

We all know how the saying goes . . . Apparently this is yet another rule to which I am not an exception.

Work is still a bit of a mess. It eased up for awhile. Just enough to make me think there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

The good news is that I still get my vacation time to go to camp. This will be an opportunity to spend dedicated time with Bleu. I really like this horse. But it's hard, especially for me, to move out of my comfort zone. And in this case, my comfort zone is dun and slightly chubby and answers to anything when there's a cookie involved.

It's been a bit hectic, the last two weeks. The latest drama has been the mysterious leg swelling. On my two horses. Go figure. My farrier came out Wednesday to put shoes on Bleu and trim Cricket. I received multiple phone calls from Robin - my good friend and stand-in horse handler - saying that both Bleu and Cricket were warm to the touch and swollen on their back legs and that Bleu was uncooperative with handling their back legs. Unable to reach me, Robin and my farrier decided to trim Bleu and post-pone shoeing just in case this was something serious. By the time I got there, the swelling was only obvious if you were looking for it and their legs were warm but not hot. Great!

We changed their pasture and that didn't solve the problem. But we did notice that their legs were fine when they came in but puffy and warm by afternoon/evening. We changed the hay and the problem disappeared. The weird thing - all the hay is the same (just different cutting) and it's all been baled from the property.

So now Bleu has an appointment to get shoes the day before we leave for camp. Please, dear Lord, let this be okay!

In the midst of things just not quite going right, I've done little - if anything - to get ready for camp. Bleu got a bath yesterday but I have no illusions that my grey horse will remain clean for five days. I'm going to wipe down my saddle to get the surface dust off, but that's about it. Oh well . . .

Fun Stuff, New Stuff

2010-10-01T08:31:00.000-05:00

At the end of my lesson on Wednesday, my instructor mentioned that she was going to see a vaulting demonstration this weekend. As it turns out, a few of the vaulting teams going to the WEG are training in Tennessee, just outside Nashville. This Saturday, they are putting on a free demonstration before heading to Lexington for the competition.

I am so there.

What an opportunity to see such an amazing sport.

In searching for information about the demonstration, I browsed through the Central Tennessee Dressage Association website. There I found out about a Mary Wanless clinic that will be held in December. I've been intrigued by what I've read about her approach of riding with your mind and it would be fun to see her in person. I'm waiting to hear back from the clinic organizer to get more details on auditing.

I'm also starting to make serious inquiries about learning to drive. I want to train Cricket to drive and I want to learn how to drive.

It's about having fun. And if it's not fun, what's the point? It doesn't mean every moment will be fun but if I'm not enjoying what I'm doing and learning, why on earth am I spending the time and money to keep my horses?

Arcs and Straight Lines

2010-09-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Take a dressage whip and curve it, making an arc. The arc is strong and flexible. It can bear pressure without collapsing. Straighten the whip and discover that the straight line is flexible but weak. It cannot bear pressure without collapsing.

Now consider your horse's back. Something I was given to ponder while watching some demos at the WEG.

The desire to have the horse in a natural posture is only good when his back is in a natural state, unencumbered by the weight of a rider.

No matter how natural we want to be, the act of riding a horse is unnatural. They are designed to pull, not carry.

To effectively carry a rider, a horse must lower his croup, step under with his hind legs, lift his abdomen and round over the neck, flex at the poll and bring his head just in front of the vertical.

In this position the horse is rounded from croup to poll and his back lifts to carry the weight of his rider.

This is not a forced position. It's not about pulling in the head and driving up the hindquarters.

The clinician we saw was riding a gorgeous Andalusian stallion. He had a double bridle and was being ridden on contact. Yet when the rider moved his hands forward, the horse maintained his frame and his cadence. A beautiful example of self carriage.

I don't know that I have what it takes - either by my skill or the ability of my horses - to achieve such magnificence. But more and more I'm convinced that ignoring the physical - failure to help the horse move in a bio-mechanically correct manner - is just as detrimental as ignoring the mental and emotional.

Getting Connection

2010-09-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

I am going to try and be more active in updating my blog. It seems to help me be active with my horses.

Last night I had my third centered riding lesson. The first was way back in the spring and at the beginning of September we started a regular engagement at my boarding barn.

I've ridden Bleu in the last two lessons and I'm beginning to make some connections. Literally.

For the first time I felt what contact means. I wish I could come up with the right word to describe it. It was strong without force, firm without grip and solid without being rigid. It was soft without being weak and relaxed without being floppy. It was perfect . . . and fleeting.

Bleu is wonderful for learning. She has none of the assumptions I've built into Cricket. She is looking for leadership so she appreciates all my efforts. She is willing and honest. Not that Cricket isn't. But I've long since learned Cricket is not the appropriate horse for my learning journey. Especially when it comes to concepts that result in smoke coming from my ears.

Things we worked on: seat connection, rein connection, the proper way to turn my horse, speeds within the walk and fluidity in two-point.

It was a great lesson and I'm looking forward to my next adventure.

Back from the World Equestrian Games

2010-09-28T19:58:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from my weekend at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington. We didn't see any of the competition - we went for the shopping. And to soak in the atmosphere. This is the first time the Games have been on US soil and even if they come back, who's to say they'd be close enough to visit.

The vendors and exhibitors were amazing. I learned quite a bit and I saw more than I could have imagined. And I spent more than I had planned. But oh well . . .

One of my highlights was the opportunity to Ride a Reiner. Yep, I can honestly say I rode at the World Equestrian Games! As we were walking around on Saturday, we came past a pen where they had kids on some horses. At first I thought it was cute that they had pony rides. Then we found out it was the chance to ride a Reining horse. Three of us signed up.

When we entered the pen, they asked us how much riding experience we had. I knew the three of us could ride and the fourth girl was a rider as well. So after we mounted up, they sort of turned us loose.

I had a sweet buckskin gelding named Nugget. At first he was pretty annoyed and swished his tail a lot. I tried to ride as confidently and securely as I could and soon he settled. He picked up a little jog and and I eased him back down, thinking we weren't supposed to go above a walk. But when the other girl rode by at a jog, the announcer said that since this group was more advanced, we'd be doing a little more.

And we did. After jogging around the arena, the other girl came by at a lope and off we went. I had a blast. We walked, jogged and loped around that entire arena. Both directions, both leads. It was amazing.

So it begs the question: why can I get on a horse I've never met, wearing the wrong shoes and no helmet and canter like I've done it all my life? It's worth pondering

More Odds and Ends

2010-09-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

Time just keeps slipping away from me. Work remains busy but it seems to be tapering off. My partner in pricing has returned, though not full strength.

Of course now that work is slowing down, everything else is ramping up.

This coming weekend I'm taking a chic-trip to Lexington to soak in the atmosphere of the World Equestrian Games. We aren't going to see any of the competition, at least not really. Sunday the Endurance ride will cover the whole park and our tickets include that but what we're really there for is . . . the shopping.

Since my Centered Riding lesson earlier this month, I've done nothing with Bleu. After I come back from the WEG I'm going to get more time with her. When things are rushed I just default to my Cricket. Not for any other reason than I know her.

And not that Bleu is missing out on anything - I think I've played with Cricket twice since my last blog post. Our constant Achilles heel is CS riding and I'm going to make a better attempt to help her understand what I want and why I carry the stick. The other night I did tons of friendly - just rubbing her with the stick while she walked around. Then I used leg and rein and a light stick and she seemed more accepting (i.e. she didn't reach around and BITE the stick). I think this is going to be our program for the times that I do ride.

Life Intervening

2010-09-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not dead, I promise.

Life is currently haywire. I work in the defense industry as a pricing analyst (it sounds much fancier than it really is, trust me). In my company there are two pricing analysts. One went to Vegas and ended up in the emergency room with a perforated colon. One stayed home and now has to do all the work. Guess which one is me?

I've been spending a little time with the ponies.

Last week I finally did some work on shimming my saddle - got in just under the wire on that part of my August goals! It's not perfect but I think it lifts my saddle more off Bleu's shoulder. My saddle is build for my brick-house QH mare. While the spring of Bleu's ribs is enough to support the middle and back, her narrow, rotated shoulders are trapped by the super-wide gullet that fits Cricket's linebacker build.

I took a Centered Riding lesson on Bleu last week. She did fantastic. It was only the third time I'd ridden her in a bit and the first time I'd done anything with real contact. I think she liked it . . . a lot. We worked on balancing Bleu and getting her to move her body with more nose-to-tail connection. She is very strung out and Mimi gave me some ideas for helping her use her body better.

I've not been following a regimented clicker program with Cricket. I'm just not focused enough. But I have been playing with it. We've been doing some liberty in the arena and having a blast. The other night, I had Cricket in a lovely canter circle game - all her idea. Did I mention the arena gate was open? And that she actually spiraled in towards me rather than heading for the great wide open? Love that mare! She tried to give me a FLC on a change of direction but got tangled up (she made the choice too late) and ended up bucking up to sort out her feet. She also did some lovely trot sideways towards.

So for now it's hit or miss with getting horse time and, unfortunately, hit or miss with getting to blog about it. Maybe in the coming weeks it will settle down. As it's Government Fiscal Year end, I highly doubt it.

Sibling Rivalry

2010-08-28T08:07:00.000-05:00

My newest adventure with Cricket and Bleu is teaching one to pony the other and thereby teaching the other to be ponied.

Mind you I'm not a professional nor have I ever played one on TV. I'm just sort of making this up as I go along.

It's funny to see them together - they are like two kids in a car on a long trip. Bleu reaches towards Cricket, Cricket swishes her tail. My girls . . .

Wednesday, following my farrier appointment, I had the girls turned out in the open paddock near the barn. I decided to saddle up Cricket and start teaching her to pony Bleu.

With Cricket saddled and ready, I figured I'd start with trying to pick up Bleu's leadline from Cricket's back. The idea was that if I couldn't get them to stand next to each other without the hassle of lines and reins, maybe ponying wasn't such a good idea.

I managed to get Bleu's lines with minimal pinned ears from Cricket and only a few "mosey offs" from Bleu. All in all, it went well. I think Cricket started to understand her "job." Bleu, while she wanted to be near Cricket, was also respectful of Cricket's "stay back" energy and was a little laggy. The other thing Bleu missed was "synchronize with the herd." She totally didn't get that she needed to go when Cricket started moving off. By the end of the session she was much better. I dropped her line to allow her to graze and trotted around with Cricket for a little while.

Last night we had another short session in the arena. I put my bareback pad on Cricket and got on her while holding Bleu's line. I was so proud of my Cricket. Yes, she was ugly and swished her tail and pinned her ears and snarked a little. But I was on her bareback (not her favorite thing) Bleu was too close (another not-favorite-thing) and there were four other horses in the arena. Six horses in a 60' x120' arena is fairly close quarters for Cricket. Not once did she actually kick or bite or even open her teeth.

I think this is going to be a good adventure for us. In trying to manage both horses, I don't over-think what I'm doing and I have to be in charge to stop any of us from being hurt. I think I assert my leadership better without getting dictatorial and it seems to put purpose to even aimless wandering in the arena.

Bits and Pieces, Here and There

2010-08-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's been awhile since I've posted anything. Work is so super busy and by the time I get home, I'm just drained. It doesn't help that I stayed up until almost 4am Sunday night (well, Monday morning, really) finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But I digress . . .

I have been doing something with the horses, honest! But not much of anything that seems to warrant a blog post.

I rode Bleu the other day, finally getting around to shimming my saddle. This is new territory for me. I view shimming with slightly less distaste than I used to view trimming. I paid what I paid for my saddle so I had tack that fit my horse. I swore, up and down, that when I got a second horse, the first requirement would be that my current saddle would fit. I guess, like every other "new horse" requirement, that went out the window when I laid eyes on Bleu.

It's not that bad, really. It fits the spring of her ribs but it's too wide at the shoulder. Partly because Bleu has some forward rotation of her shoulder and partly because Cricket has shoulders a pro-football linebacker would envy. The Skito pad I have helps fill in some of the "too wide" but I need to lift the stirrup bar to free room for her shoulder to come back.

Rather than invest a lot of money, I rigged something up with materials we had lying around. It wasn't perfect but I did feel that Bleu was more free and forward than before. I need to sit down and cut out some shims to fit in the Skito so I can come up with a more custom, long-term solution.

Tonight I rode Cricket. Just for fun around the paddock. Bleu was out grazing and I managed to side-pass Cricket up to her and lift the rope off her back. I started teaching Cricket to pony Bleu and Bleu to be ponied by Cricket. Bleu totally missed the idea of "synchronize with the herd" but Cricket totally loved the "I have a job to do." I had some ugly ears from Cricket but I tried to 'splain to her that next to Bleu was where the grazing happened. I'm pretty proud of my Principessa. Every time I had to wiggle the rope to get Bleu back, Cricket stood like a rock. The few times I moved Cricket around with a little energy, Bleu seemed not to mind. So this scenario looks promising!