Partner vs. Predator

Less than stellar evening with La Principessa.  {sigh}

I had a plan to keep it simple.  Touch on just a few things and then feed her and leave.  Did I follow my plan? Nooo.  Did things go well as a result? Nooo.

We were out in the field with the herd so I haltered her and, using the 22' featherline, asked her for some canter departs on the circle.  Should have quit when I got what I was looking for . . .  It went south, but not too far.  I flipped the line over her back and asked for some sideways from Z5.  Should have quit when I got what I was looking for . . . Back down south again.

I managed to find a stopping point and should have called it quits there.  But since things were going "so well" (HA!) online, I decided to play at liberty.  Didn't take her long to bolt.  Big surprise!

I quit before I got too frustrated.  I grabbed the feed bowls and fed Cricket and Etruska.

And since liberty went so well the first time, I decided to try it again (yeah, I know, not too bright!).  She was gone in a flash.  The session rapidly devolved into Cricket running, totally RB, around the field and me trudging after her Z5 trying to figure out how to salvage the mess.

Finally, in the near dark, she turned to face me.  I crouched down, doing my level best to remove pressure but keep facing her.  She took awhile to process but finally, with tentative steps, approached.  She didn't run when I rubbed her with the stick.

I slipped the string around her neck and walked her to one of the hay piles, driving off another horse in the process.  Before allowing her to eat, I asked her for HQ yields as well as backing.  Somehow I needed to end on a leadership note.  I had the string around her neck but she could have easily pulled it from my hands as I was just holding the two ends together.  She didn't.  I slipped the string off and played some friendly and some yields.  She was right with me, "yes ma'am" and all.  When I turned to leave, she came with me, unbidden.

If the day ever comes when I can simply approach my horse, play with her in a non-offensive way and quit when it's all good, I will consider I've finally learned what Cricket has been brought here to teach.  At the rate I'm going, she'll live forever.  {sigh}

Sometimes the Answer is NO

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.

Back to Basics

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!

Pure. Unadulterated. Joy.

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.

Maybe, Just Maybe

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

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).

Good, Good, Not So Good

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.

Stepping It Up

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.

Pleased as Punch

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!

Sibling Rivalry

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.

Teeter Totters and Tug of War

Yesterday I played with both horses.  I felt like I was back on my grade school playground.  Playing with Bleu is a teeter totter - balancing respect and rapport; love, language and leadership.  Anything with Cricket is a death match tug-of-war.

Bleu's circle game continues to improve.  At the trot, it's more and more a circle than an egg or amoeba.  Her upward transitions to the canter are getting less emotional and slightly more balanced.

We've been playing with one of my bridges to simulate trailer loading and she seems to be getting more confident each time.  We also started some traveling circle game and while she was confused at first, she quickly figured out her responsibility to keep the circle going.

I had the opportunity to work with a real trailer so I decided to see how she would handle it.  Being the super obedient RBI that she is, she jumped right in and just trembled.  I played with yo-yo game, me in the trailer and her stepping in (2 feet, then 4 feet) and backing out.  We played yo-yo out of the trailer, approach and retreat.  She was able to relax with her head mostly in the trailer and I called that a win.

Later in the day, I went back out to ride with my friend Allison.  I decided to ride Cricket.  The ride wasn't that bad considering I hadn't been on her (except goofing around bareback & bridless) in over2 months.

We opened the gate from inside the arena, exited, held the gate while Allison and Dillon came out and then closed the gate.  I would say it's her BEST gate session ever.

Out in the paddock area, she was okay.  Leaving the barn, not so much.  It wasn't that she was afraid or wanting to go back to the barn.  If I wanted left, she wanted right.  It felt like argument for the sake of argument.  We meandered our way out on to the neighbor's property.

The ride was very low key and I spent my focus on "permission to graze."  I tried to see things from Cricket's perspective - she's been cooped up on her dry lot all day and I hadn't done much with her in 2 months.  So I kept my expectations reasonable.

Cricket did well.  All things considered.  But everything was a discussion, everything a negotiation.  That mare sees little to no point in anything I ask from her.

After feeding everyone, Allison and I turned them out and I stood in the pasture and had an absolute love fest with Cricket.  I found an itchy spot on her shoulder that caused her to stretch her neck, twitch her nose and roll her tongue.

I think it's time to reevaluate my approach with Cricket and get back to a stronger focus on developing Bleu.  I have camp in a few months and I would like to have Bleu going a little better than we are now.

Day 11-17: Trying to Catch Up

I promise I've been doing more than I've been writing about. Honest.

The only two days, not counting my official week off, in which I did nothing with the horses was Day 14 and Day 16. Sunday I just didn't fee like it. Tuesday I was at work until after 11pm.

The time is all mashing together and I've slept since all this happened and each day I get older and it feels as if my memory gets squishier.

I've been trying to focus on short, provocative sessions with Cricket. We've been playing with the F8 pattern since my return from the Columbus Parelli Across America event. I cannot say the success has been phenomenal. In fact, session three seemed to take a few steps backwards. Not too worried, however. It's light years better than it has been. Maybe after this seven day program I'll learn another key and the next time we pick it up, it will be even better.

On the days I didn't play with her, I've tried to spend some rapport time with Cricket. Her new ritual is to find me after I've opened all the gates to turn out all the horses and hang back for some scratchy time. I love this part of my day. I love seeing that she needs me for something.

I've been playing more with Bleu, working to build our relationship and partnership. Overall, I believe she's beginning to see me as more of a leader. She seems less reluctant to exit her stall and enter the arena. She seems less concerned about leaving the herd.

I took her on a trail walk with the barn owner. She did great until she realized just how far away we were. I'm sure we inadvertently crashed through a threshold or two. But I'm not wholly convinced Bleu knows how to honor her own thresholds so that's now on our "to do" list. I played with her until her focus came back to me and we headed back tot he barn with enthusiasm but relative calm.

A day or two later, I took her out again. With strange horses and closer to dusk. She hit a major threshold not too far from the barn. We worked it out, taking the time it took, and when she was calm and interested in grazing, I turned her around and took her right back to the barn.

We've been playing some in the arena - balance on the circle, sideways and feet on obstacles. She's become a champ with the tarp and we're working out the pedestal. I think I need to figure out how to get my bridges moved into the arena so we can start with something a little easier.

The other day she offered a jump and then I sent her over a single down barrel in the arena and she sailed right over. She's such a good and obedient girl!

Yesterday it was just too damn hot to do anything. It's been dry (as in no rain) but wickedly humid here. Today our temps, with the heat index, should top out around 105. So when I went out yesterday, I just walked both horses down to the other barn to hose them off and cool them down. I let them both graze while I just watched. They are so different. Bleu grazed the same 20' area while Cricket blazed a trail for the back of the paddock.

As I prepped feed, Bleu heeded the "call of the feed cans" and brought herself back to the barn. I had to fetch Ms. Independent - she knows she's going to get fed so why bother coming in when she knows I'll go get her. The nice thing, despite being on lush grass, when I called to her, she picked up her head and came to me. At a walk, but at least an enthusiastic walk.

Don't know how much I'll do this weekend. With the predicted highs, it's just not safe to over-exert the horses or myself. Who's stupid idea was it to do a 30 day program in the middle of summer?

Day 5-7: Approach Avoidance

So it seems I'm a little conflicted. Nothing new.

This weekend I experienced some serious approach-avoidance issues with going to the barn. I've been great guns and all of a sudden Whoosh! there went my motivation.

Have I mentioned I suck at "middles"? Who knew Day 5 constituted the middle of a 30 day program. Apparently I also suck at math.

I need to make the decision to keep Bleu or give her back. While I appreciate the 2 month trial period, it just prolongs the agony of the actual decision. Just rip the damn band-aid right off. Please.

Because right now she's floating in that space of mine, but not quite. And I keep talking about future plans with her, always caveated by "assuming I keep her." Well, why the hell am I making plans for the winter if I'm not going to keep her?

My plan was to finish this 30 day program, the end of which coincides with the end of my trial period. Perfect time to make a decision. But I think I just need to bite the bullet. Sign on the dotted line. Resign myself to a life of blissful pony-poverty.

I didn't exactly meet my criteria of "10 minutes of something positive and progressive" this weekend. I just didn't feel up to it. And that's okay.

With Bleu, I did some "leave your stall and the world does not end" friendly game. One day we just hung out in the hallway and I let her eat off the hay bales. Another day, I just took her into the arena and hung out while other horses "worked."

Cricket - just friendly time. We had a big first - I rode her bareback and bridless out of the arena. On a whim, I hopped on her from the tailgate of my truck. I did have the sense to put a string around her neck and take a carrot stick with me. Little good it did. Let's just say it gave me the illusion of control. Oh well. Let's just say that as long as my idea was "go wherever and graze" then she was following my leadership. But it was fun and just a little reckless and it certainly wasn't over-thought. If anything it was under-thought. I'd say that's progress - for me.

Day 2: A Herd of Three

I decided on a low-key day for yesterday's session. I want to keep Cricket guessing when I ask her to catch me and I am still developing rapport with Bleu. The weather has been excruciatingly hot and sticky and the horses' coats are matted and dirty. I decided a good grooming was in order. As part of the session I wanted to work on building our herd of three.

Bleu is not sure about being caught. She loves the safety of her run and as a RBI isn't so sure leaving is all that good of a thing. I spent the time I needed to catch her attention and interest. At one point she walked up but couldn't touch me. I was able to use light pressure (i.e. let me halter your butt) and she turned, faced and allowed me to halter her.

With Bleu in tow, I headed towards Cricket's stall. Cricket, waiting out in her run, was interested but not wholly convinced she should come to me. I just called to her and she finally came to the door so I could halter her.

Cricket is the alpha of the herd and has the right to push Bleu around. Except when I'm there. And that was part of what last night was to enforce. Setting us up for success, I sent Cricket out in front, driving from Z3/4, and allowed Bleu to trail at whatever distance she felt comfortable. After all, she doesn't yet know that I can protect her from Cricket.

I hitched both girls to the arena rail - Cricket in a blocker tie ring and Bleu with her rope loosely wrapped around a post. I alternated grooming each horse. First Cricket, then Bleu then more Bleu and then back to Cricket.

Cricket loves a good grooming. You can dig and scratch and curry and she just gets into it. Bleu is a little more sensitive. I was pleased, however, with how well she accepted the currying and brushing. I take it as a small sign that her reserve is cracking and she's more accepting of me touching her.

After grooming it was doctoring. Cricket has a bad belly spot already. So I put some Swat on her mid-line. Bleu has another "hickey." This is the worst bite Dillon has given her. I swear I'm about to tie that gelding's mouth shut! I've toyed with putting Bleu in a run by herself but I feel the companionship is more important. When I drive up, Dillon and Bleu are nose-to-tail, swatting flies for each other. When I get her fly sheet back on her, it should offer her a little protection.

I led both mares out, side by side, to the pasture gate. Bleu was very close to Cricket's butt and my sweet girl just accepted it. I was so proud of how she accepted my leadership and didn't so much as flick an ear towards Bleu. I squeezed Bleu between Cricket and the gate and the allowed Cricket to follow.

I turned Cricket loose and she just put her head down to eat. I un-haltered Bleu and she headed straight for Dillon, nickering - the poster child for Battered Mare Syndrome. I turned everybody else out and turned to head home. My Principessa asked for more scratches so I spent a few more minutes loving on her.

So Much For Horse Time!

Well so much for getting in more horse time. Life, or more accurately work, intervened and the best I've managed is scratches, treats and kisses.

I did ride Bleu early last week. We started with some simple passenger lesson and worked our way up to more leadership. I asked her for some sustained trotting. She wasn't so sure about that and it took lots of repeated requests. Finally, she gave me the trot and maintained it long enough for me to ask her to transition to the halt. I jumped off and called it a day.

I'm trying to balance my time with Cricket. When Bleu first arrived, Cricket would bang on her stall door, demanding my attention. Then she started just watching me. Finally, last week, she just stood -looking entirely too dejected - out in her run. My plan had been to take Bleu for a trail walk but I decided to leave her graze and spend some quality time with my Principessa. I grabbed a brush and curry and called her up and went to town. I tell you, nobody appreciates a good "elbow grease grooming" like my Cricket.

For the last several days it's been little more than a pat and a cookie for either of them. Work has been busy and hectic and I just want to crash at the end of the day. This weekend Wendy Morgan returns for another weekend of lessons. Starting Monday, I want to get Bleu out of the arena and start working with Cricket some more. We'll see how the next set of plans goes . . .

Camp Report

It seems that my camp was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I had some pretty high hopes to take what Cricket and I have been developing over the last several months and be able to shape and refine it.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men . . . Apparently that applies to horses and humans.

Saturday was particularly emotional. I lost my temper with Cricket, worse than I probably ever have before. I'm ashamed of my behavior and I'm glad nobody was there to see me. After reaching into her back molars to retrieve my chap stick and holder, the emotion and adrenaline got the better of me. Nothing I did permanently damaged our rapport and I certainly didn't hurt her. In fact, she nickered to me after I put her back in her stall.

Sunday was as good as Saturday was bad. We did a lot of transitions using the carrot stick and I have never felt Cricket so positively responsive to CS riding. With such lovely trotting during the group session, I used my private session to focus on that relaxation and respect. I asked her for a right lead canter and she gave me a beautiful upward transition and a lovely canter. I called that a win.

Monday we were confined to the indoor arena due to rain. Our ground session was pretty good but it fell apart during the riding. We were doing some high level finesse and the compression of the exercises coupled with the compression of the "line-up" was more than Cricket could handle. After one particularly upsetting moment in the line, Cricket was on the brink of kicking another horse. I pulled her out and dismounted until we both became more emotionally collected. I remounted and stationed her near Carol's "swing out car wash." Cricket proceeded to play with the plastic strips to her heart's content. She finally relaxed and the session ended better than it started.

Tuesday I had a great private session in the round pen. Cricket's draw is getting more solid and we played with 2 carrot sticks working on spins on the liberty circle. Her biggest issue is maintaining forward. Often her draw falls apart at the canter so we did a few canter circles, draw to me and stop. Our group liberty was done in a rodear - a living round pen created by the other students and their horses. Cricket did great but it became obvious that she was sore. After the rodear I played with her on the 22' trying to isolate the source of her lameness. I couldn't find anything but took her down to cold-hose her legs, apply liniment and give her some anti-inflammatory medication. By the afternoon she was better but still off. I rode her at an easy walk, asking for wide turns. She did great and I dismounted, put her in the round corral and watched the rest of the session.

Camp was very anti-climactic. It seems that I am past the point of Wow! and blinding flashes of revelation. Gone are the Shazaam! moments and instead it's the dawning realization that it truly is time to perfect L1. It was filled with moments of "Oh, that's why that is so important."

Don't get me wrong - I learned a lot. But it's mostly about how the little snags and wrinkles in my foundation become gaping holes if I try to progress without addressing and correcting them. And that's a bitter pill to swallow at times. It's not always about "having fun" - you have to put in the time to make sure the fundamentals are rock solid.

More on some of the specifics later . . .

Typical Cricket . . . Ugh!

I got on my horse on Friday. I don't know if I can say I "rode." If you define "riding" as the "mere act of not falling off" then maybe I rode.

We pulled out of the Centered Riding clinic because of the severe weather predicted for Saturday and Sunday. I took the opportunity to play with Cricket on Friday. All I can say is Ugh!

Cricket was . . . well, she was typical Cricket. Everything I asked for she didn't want to do and everything she offered she immediately hated. Most of our ride went something like this:

Me: Hey, Cricket, let's pick up the trot.

Cricket: NO! I hate trotting . . . I want to CANTER.

(canter depart, half stride, buck-up)

Cricket: I HATE cantering!

Me: It was your idea.

Cricket: I don't care, I hate cantering. I want to trot . . . but I hate trotting so I want to walk. I hate walking . . . I want to canter.

Ugh!

Enough is enough. After a few repetitions of the above sequence, I decided to help her find an idea and stick with it. She is, after all, a LBI and psychology works better than anything else. Since her idea was to canter, I picked the canter and went with it. The next time she offered a canter I decided we were going to canter until she could relax. It took a few circuits of the arena with more fits and starts and buck-ups than I can count. Finally she eased into a smooth canter and blew out. Brought her down to the halt.

Turned her to the left and we did the whole thing over again. This time, I managed her on a circle around half the arena and the goal was a relaxed trot. When she accepted the trot, we stopped on the rail and dwelled.

Ugh!

I don't know what was wrong.

• I made too many changes for one ride - pad, stirrups, bridle and reins. I was riding in jeans and half chaps and gloves. Maybe she was just as uncomfortable as I was.
• She may be having issues with her heat cycles. I'm considering adding red raspberry leaves to her feed. At least for the spring so I can see if that makes her more comfortable.
• It had been about two weeks since our last ride and my expectations were too high.

Things I learned (or learned again and maybe this time they'll stick):

• Cricket is not - and never will be - a "pick up/put down" horse. She requires consistent work in order to offer her best.
• My seat is a hell of a lot better than I thought. Not once, in all her stops and starts and intermittent crow-hops, did I feel as if I were going to come off. I never felt afraid, even asking her to canter when I knew she was popping her butt.
• PNH is not giving me the answers I need to unlock Cricket's exuberance on-line. It's time for something different.
• In order for my riding to progress to a point where I can offer Cricket the under-saddle leadership she needs, I need to ride a horse that gives me time and space to improve my skills.

Saturday I went up and audited the first day of a L3/4 camp at Carol Coppinger's farm. I'm super excited about my camp this weekend. I'll post some of my insights in a separate entry.

Elated

Yesterday was simply amazing. At one point I just stopped and squealed because I could not contain my joy and amazement.

Two of my best friends came out - Becky and Margenia - and we had a fantastic day.

I started Cricket with a brief warm-up on the 12'. Nothing major - just enough to see where she was at with her energy and connection. After her stretches, I saddled her up and off we went.

We warmed up with some walking and trotting on the rail and then into canter. Cricket has become a canter-aholic. She's so forward. I know we need to work on more gas pedal control but that will come. Right now, I'm kind of happy encouraging her upward transitions.

I asked Genia to watch because I'm struggling with my downward transitions. I keep getting pitched forward and it's discombobulating for me and for Cricket. In order to actually practice canter-trot transitions, I need to be able to ride her down from the canter instead of lurching about like a drunk monkey.

Genia keenly observed that my leg was floating too far back. Thus my knee was acting as a fulcrum for my upper body causing me to pitch forward as Cricket slowed (think about hitting the brakes in your car when you're not wearing a seat belt). It felt kind of foreign but we played with bringing my leg forward. Suddenly I wasn't so "fish out of water" when Cricket down-shifted. Still not the picture of grace and elegance but it's a start. We played with right and left lead canter and even used the question box for some simple changes.

I decided to join Genia (she'd already gone out) and the others in the play paddock. Cricket was awesome to open the gate. She gets a little emotional going out but she didn't fight with me when I asked her to come back and help close the gate. And then she stood, patiently, rather than trying to head off for the grass. For anyone struggling with gate friendly games - loop a savvy string on the gate. It's amazingly helpful.

Our little play paddock is bounded on three sides by electric fence and has jumps, barrels, trot poles and my short bridges. The terrain is uneven - it slopes down from the barn and has a bitty "hill" going across the back (part of the terraces for the whole field). It's a great place to get out of the arena.

We started with just walking and trotting around - all on a nice casual rein. When we stopped, no grass diving. At all. I actually had to convince Cricket I wanted her to put her head down. This is our third time working on this from under saddle. After some grazing we moseyed around some more, trotting down the left fence, in front of the terrace and up the right fence towards the barn then across the open end to the other fence.

And with no effort at all, as we crossed the back of the field, I asked her for a canter. And with no effort at all, she transitioned to the canter. And it was soft and sweet and relaxed. And the most fun I've ever had. And that's when I squealed. Because I have NEVER cantered my own horse with no boundaries. The only time I've cantered on a trail was on lesson horses. The only time I cantered Moose outside the arena was in an enclosed 5 acre field and that was just down the fence towards another horse.

We cantered on both leads. We cantered several times. It wasn't a fluke. It wasn't hanging on for dear life. It wasn't something we survived. It was something I want to do again and again and again.

I also asked her to trot over a small jump. She over-jumped it and I wasn't ready for that and I got a little rattled. But I didn't catch her in the head and I didn't thump on her back. For the rest of our session, every time we stopped she was perfectly content not to eat. How cool is that?!

My only worrisome thing is the emergence of two white spots on her sides. It's something with my saddle and I need to figure it out. I don't think it's the fit but there is something not quite right. Ugh! If it's not one thing, it's something else!

A Good Time Was Had By All

So in case anyone is wondering, because it's not been clear in my last several posts - I love my horse. She is unbelievably awesome and her fabulosity shines through more and more. This is not because she is becoming a better horse but rather because I am figuring how to be a better human.

Just a couple details on the play session. We had a brief warm-up in the paddock and then I saddled her in the aisle way. With her 22' piled on the ground, she stood, facing the grass and accepted the saddling and girthing. She moved once or twice but I just calmly put her back where I wanted. Once mounted, I worked a little on "don't graze until I give permission." This is a leadership issue and we're addressing it.

The idea was to go on a little trail ride. Didn't really work out. The setting sun brought out the little bugs and Cricket started headshaking. At first I wanted to just push her through it. Don't ask me why. I quickly got hold of myself, told the others to go on and turned her back to the barn. I stood her tied while I did some feed prep and then took her back into the arena.

In the arena we played with walk-trot transitions and Cricket's new favorite thing - cantering. Not quite sure why my LBI loves cantering in the arena. Maybe it's her way of defying definition. I worked on some control at the right lead - cantering down the long side, circling the back half of the arena and then continuing down the other long side. We even picked up the left lead and went about 3/4 of the way around the arena.

Called it a win! Worked on opening the gate and exiting the arena. She's a little difficult going through the gate but better than she's ever been about standing while I close it. Having a savvy string on the gate has helped give us more drift and thus more success.

Wandered in the paddock, chatting with some friends. Played more "don't eat, yet" and had moderate success. Considering this is only our second time playing with it under saddle, I'm more than pleased.

I'm having more fun with her than I could ever imagine. I need to work on downward transitions - it's very unpretty right now. But I don't care. We'll figure it out, just like we have everything else.

From Little Things

My play sessions with Cricket have just been little things. But some of these little things seem to be netting big results.

I have become more particular with her when leading her from her stall to the arena. We only cross 20' of aisle way but to her left is the stack of hay and to her right, the observation deck under which the feed cans are housed. Pretty big temptations for a very food motivated horse.

Rather than allowing her to drift to the hay stack and nibble, I've begun to insist she stand and wait while I refasten her stall door. Or if we walk down to the tack room, past the feed cans and desperately close to something that could be called grass, I ask her to focus on where we are going and to stand while I get whatever it was I forgot. She's getting better. This will take time as I'm the one who allowed the bad habit to develop. What I'm noticing is that she's more in tune with me from the get-go once we do start playing. Hmm, interesting what a little leadership can do.

In our ground play, I've become more particular about her attitude during the send and the change of direction on the circle game. In re-watching one of the SC DVDs, I came to better understand that her pinned ears may be her nature as a cow-y horse but her evil/driving thoughts need not be directed at me. I've started using a pattern interrupt to stop her in her tracks when she gets her "drive the momma" thoughts. I've had to balance this with maintaining her confidence. As evidenced by her somewhat erratic ear movement, she's quite conflicted in her thoughts on the change. I'm doing my best to accept her tries without allowing her to slip back into evil thoughts.

The net result is a horse who is now much more willing to canter. Odd for my little LBI pony. Even when I ask her down to the trot, she's prone to go back to the canter. Love it. Trying not to take advantage of it.

Riding is our littlest thing right now. I'm trying not to over-do anything. I still have discomfort from my gall bladder surgery but it seems to be improving. I rode her on Tuesday. We used follow the rail (consistency) with circles, walk to halt transitions, back-up, change of direction (variety) to warm up. When I asked her for the trot, she was forward and quickly became a little RB and spooky. I eased her back down to the walk and did more follow the rail. I asked her for just a few strides of trot and then back to the walk. Within one or two transitions she was back in harmony with me. I stopped and dismounted. It wasn't about the riding. It was about re-establishing my leadership and getting her focus back on me - despite the barking dogs, howling coyotes and the weird half-light shadows at the back of the barn.

Little things that seem to be growing into something big.