Day 8 - The Inevitable

My journey with Cricket has been a lot like trying to assemble a puzzle bought at a yard sale. The pieces are in a plastic bag and there's no guarantee that I even have all the pieces.

It's frustrating when I cannot figure out how to put things together but it's incredibly triumphant when the picture begins to come together.

Monday was one of those days when none of the pieces seemed to fit anymore. After a week of fabulosity, I had a challenging session with Cricket and I began to doubt everything.

The plan was more Touch It and Figure 8 and quickly moving on to riding. Cricket is really getting the Touch It. When I put that feel and thought into my body, she stood stock still while I moved out to the end of the 22'. We had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: Let's play Touch It.

Cricket: Okay, where would you like me to go?

Me: To the pedestal.

Cricket: Great! There might be cookies. Hey, there are no cookies! No worries, would you like me to do something besides put my nose on it?

Me: Sure. How 'bout two feet?

Cricket: Absolutely. Anything else?

Can you ask much more? We moved to the Figure 8 and she was very good. She's getting the pattern and starting to draw and redirect with less and less motion from me. We are about 2/3 of the way down the 22' most of the time.

Then we moved on to riding. At about the time I was mounting up, someone else came into the arena. I don't know what happened. His energy, my ego, the weather - I don't know. Cricket was extremely forward. To the point we were playing impulsion control games. I asked too much from her when she wasn't even listening to my "go and whoa" cues.

I stopped being pleased with her and was upset that she wasn't doing what I wanted her to do. I forgot to address the horse that showed up and instead kept asking her to be the horse she was on Saturday. I finally realized I wasn't being fair to her and I started asking her for little things I could reward. After some soft transitions I dismounted, told her how much I loved her and called it a day.

In the past, this would be the beginning of a long stretch of doing nothing with my horse. But I committed to "30 in 30" and I've made myself accountable on two public forums. So we'll carry on. I think the biggest beneficiary of this whole thing is going to be my emotional fitness.

Day 7 - Simplicity

Sunday I opted for a day of simplicity with Cricket. On Saturday, as I was wrapping things up and chatting with a friend, we hit upon an impromptu plan to go trail riding on Sunday. The plan was to go for a long walk - Cricket is still green when it comes to trail riding and she hasn't ridden her horse in about a month.

We decided to head to the local Rails to Trails. This is Cricket's third "official" trail ride. I'd love to get her out more but I have neither a trailer nor a truck with which to pull one so we don't get out nearly as much as I would like.

My friend arrived at noon and we loaded Cricket and headed off. As we were saddling the horses, I reminded my friend that the most important thing to me was my horse's confidence and my own. Though not a PNH student, my friend was very respectful and agreed the ride was just for fun, no goals and we'd stay out as long (or as little) as necessary.

We headed out. Her horse is a half-Arab and while he's older, he's much more "nervous" than Cricket. He had a lot of "what was that?" starts and Cricket would react to him with "huh?" It was good, in a way, because I got to ride lots of mini-startles and develop a feel for what happens before what happens happens.

We encountered two kids on bikes. They were so polite and followed our directions so we could safely familiarize the horses with these strange beings. Later, another cyclist came up behind us and before he could announce his presence, my friend's horse spooked into Cricket which caused her to spook. The cyclist was apologetic and was really good at picking a slow but steady pace and talking to the horses as he went by. We also came across some folks walking dogs and they were polite and courteous towards the horses. We only passed two other groups riding and Cricket was calm but a little disconcerted by the wonky-walking horses. She seemed convinced something was wrong with their legs.

The trail is marked every half mile with distance markers. It's so funny - this is the third time we've been on this trail and every time we pass a mile marker, Cricket turns as if to read it. I know she's saying, "Dammit, we've only gone half a mile. How much further is this place?"

We only rode about 2 miles. Cricket was getting a little nervous and at one point she refused to go forward. I turned her around and she was more relaxed. We decided that was good enough and by the time we were back at the trailer, both horses were soft and relaxed.

When we returned to the barn, I decided to let Cricket graze and I laid in the sun for about an hour just enjoying my horse. We ended the day with some ground driving on the neighbor's property. She is so much more responsive when we are out "going somewhere."

All and all, a very good day!

Day 6 - Pushing the Envelope

I feel like my relationship with Cricket has become a long road stretching for miles in front of me. There is simply no end to what we can accomplish.

As I headed out to the barn I started thinking about cantering. I'm not trying to psych myself up to do something for which I'm truly not prepared. I am trying very hard to get out of my head and to trust my seat and my horse. I'm not in a rush but I am tired of dragging my feet.

Today my plan was to continue our Touch It and Figure 8 and move quickly on to riding. Cricket was much more in-tune with Touch It so I kept it very short with only two touches. I moved to the Figure 8 and asked Cricket to put some energy into it. She offered some fantastic cantering and two FLC from right to left. She was sassy and energetic but quick to relax and offer a L&C when I turned the game off.

Riding was a little more aimless than I would have liked. There were too many people in the arena and not everyone has what I call "arena etiquette." So we moseyed around doing some CS riding at the walk and trot. We followed the rail a bit and did a bit of Figure 8. She pooped in the arena and I used that as an exercise in "we have a job to do." When that was finished I decided to ride with reins - still freestyle but sans stick.

I picked up the bowtie pattern and she was a little rushy but relatively responsive. With a bit of a "now or never" thought, I asked for the canter. She pinned her ears and gave me a rushy trot. No worries, stick to the pattern and ask again. We went through it several times and WE CANTERED. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't anything to win awards. But it was canter and it was freestyle. She gave me two or three decent canters to the right but only some jumpy steps to the left.

That pretty much ended the session. What more could I ask? We finished with some liberty grazing in the lush field.

An unexpected bonus from our riding sessions is she seems more connected to me at liberty. Hmm, how intersting!

Day 5 - On Top of the World

I had to plan on the fly yesterday. I realized as I headed to the barn that I hadn't taken the time to draw out my plan for my session with Cricket.

Because Wednesday's groundwork was unbelievably mediocre, I decided we needed a different direction to our online sessions. Since I'm trying very hard to adhere to the Patterns, I decided to go back to that for my groundwork. No more circle game until I reach that pattern in my progression. I decided to stay with Touch It and introduce Figure 8. For the riding, I wanted to continue with CS riding.

Cricket started asking some good questions on the Touch It. Not solid but good. My influence from farther distances is becoming more solid. I'm trying hard to be pleased and to be patient. After about five touches, we moved to the Figure 8. She was sloppy but I just presented the pattern and she started to respond. She gave me some nice trotting and good draw. I kept it short and ended on a positive note for both of us.

Saddling is still evoking ear-pinning. I'm still treating her GI tract and offering her cookies to help adjust her attitude. Everything else about her under saddle work is GREAT so I'm not going to get hung up on one thing. I'll just take note and see how it plays out.

We did just a bit of freestyle warm-up - walk and trot in both directions and a few bowties - before I picked up my CS. Again, I secured the reins and rode the rest of the session "hands off."

We are pushing the envelope of our CS riding - asking for turns, transitions, sideways, lateral flexion, bend to a stop, disengage, back-up. Last night was the first time we've ridden with other people in the arena. Even with nothing but my CS, Cricket did great.

The session ended with some short and sweet liberty play. One of the other boarders was riding and I don't like to feed while some one is riding if I can avoid it. So I hung out with Cricket in the arena, giving her scratches and cookies. I took her to the mounting block and played with FG from above Z3. She was relaxed and happy to be scratched all over. When her nose became interested in the cookies, I asked for a send around me. She gave a couple of quarter laps, stopping for cookies. I was pleased. I asked for a little more and she offered me her close range, jog trot circle game. First time we've gotten that in AGES!

What I took away from last night:

• I need to work more on my body cues. The stick is great because I think it causes her to tune into my seat better than she was reinforcing my butt with the reins. But there are times I'm too quick with the stick. I need to be confident enough to stay soft and give her time to yield.
• Cricket's liberty confidence is returning and I just need to be more aware and not screw it up again.
• My confidence has been our main limiting factor. I need to trust my mare and allow her to trust me.
• THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Day 4 - Undemanding Time

For a variety of reasons, yesterday was a "no play" day. At about 3:30 I realized I hadn't had lunch and at 4:23 I realized I still hadn't done anything about it and it was time to go. All the way out to the barn, I hemmed and hawed about what to do with Cricket. Storms were blowing in and my tummy was rumbling like thunder. As I pulled up to the barn, I made my decision.

I grabbed the 22' line and brought Cricket out of her day dry lot and headed across from the arena to the ungrazed field. For 30 minutes, I sat on the tailgate of my truck and just enjoyed watching my horse feast on fabulous grass. I knew, as hungry as I was, there was no point in trying anything focused. So undemanding time, it was.

I discovered something interesting. Cricket has a strong aversion to stepping on her rope. I've been wondering if it's RB or LB or what is going on. She is unbelievably aware of her rope and is very skilled about maneuvering around it. As she was grazin, I piled the excess rope in front of her feet. She stepped on the rope and when she moved her head for new grass, she popped it up and did a "soft" pull-back. The catch? Her head wasn't caught. Her foot was on the rope but she had oodles of slack. Twice she moved backwards to free herself when she was never really caught in the first place. Hmm, how interesting! Gives me some things to consider in addressing this issue.

So even my day of undemanding time turned out to be very enlightening