Tickled Pink!

The last two days have been pretty awesome!  Had some great rides with Gwen, I passed Parelli Level One online, and I got my pink Savvy String in the mail from Emily! Plus, I'm now starting a nice long week of vacation for the holidays, and I get to stay right in town and play with Gwen the whole time! Whoohoo!! What could be better than Christmas and horses?!

I'm not quite sure how to get my PDF audition summary on here... hrm.  At work I can save PDF files as images, but apparently my laptop is not as cool. Oh well!  Here's the breakdown:

Relationship: 2+

• Expression: 1++
• Rapport: 2
• Respect: 1++
• Impulsion: 1++
• Flexion: 1++
• Drive: 2
• Draw: 2
• Technical: 1++
• Technique: 1++
• Assertiveness: 1++
• Obedience: 2
• Exuberance: 1++
• Positive Reflex: 2+

Savvy: 1++

• Friendly: 2+
• Porcupine: 2
• Driving: 2
• Yo-Yo: 2
• Circling: 2
• Sideways: 2
• Squeeze: 1++

Overall Feel: 1++

• Rope-handling Skills: 1++

Yeah, I'm pretty happy :) 

And now, just for Emily, some pictures of Gwen with her new pink string!





Getting a drink.

In aisle near the tackroom, after our ride.

Grazing

Close up.



 I braided it into a piece of her mane, so that it wouldn't fall down near her head when she was grazing.

I didn't get any pictures of her with the pink string while riding. I didn't to risk it getting under the saddle blanket while we were trotting, and possibly hurting her, so I kept it on me as a belt. :)

Happy Holidays!

J



Passed!!!!

It's late and I'm super tired, so this post is gonna be short but... I passed!!! Level one online, I passed level 1++ !! Whoohoo!! Even better than I expected. I'll post more about it tomorrow.

J

Colic

Got a call this morning; Gwen has a mild case of colic. Tho there's nothing I can do, I'm down at the barn, babysitting her on the hot walker.

She just about broke my heart when I arrived though. I could see her froma distance and she was walking along, head down, ears lax, looking miserable. And the she noticed me coming and her whole demeanor changed. She perked up, she kept looking right at me with her ears up and happy. Even now, as I sit outside the fence, she's watching me and keeping an ear on me the whole time.

I can tell she's not feeling well tho. I walked beside her on the walker a bit; she was a bit confused about that at first and kept trying to stop.

Barn manager already gave her some banamine, so now I'm just waiting and hoping she feels better soon. This is definitely not how I wanted to spend my Sunday, but I doubt it's how Gwen wanted to either.

At least she doesn't take after her mom! Missy would colic every time the temperature changed.

In other news, still haven't heard anything about my audition. Have a few weeks to go before I hit that 6 week mark. Hoping to hear something my Xmas.

J

Level 1 Online Audition

The weather was great, Gwen was awesome!  Please pardon the millions of birds that you can hear in the background (this is definitely where they fly to for the winter!). Big thanks to my boyfriend for filming this. Thank you Video Camera Gods for not letting the battery die! (We had some concern around the 6 minute mark, as you may hear).

Let me know what you think...

Thanks!

J

Resolution

Thank you, Melissa, for your comment on my last post. It really helps to know that I am not the only one who feels a little... uncomfortable with other people wanting to ride, or riding, my horse.

I am happy to report that there has been some sort of resolution to that particular dilemna. After a few days of really thinking about it, and weighing all my options, I finally got up the nerve to talk to my riding instructor about it. This was based, in part, on yet another comment that was made to me by one of the other riders at the barn. Turns out all three comments were related one particular incident. It turns out that barn mom I mentioned (that has her own horse) did, indeed, ride Gwen. Yeah, so not thrilled about that.  But my riding instructor explained the circumstances of that instance, apologized, and told me that it would not happen again (for several reasonson). I asked her how often Gwen was ridden by others, and the answer was "very, very rarely". She explained the few times Gwen had been used, (of which I already knew about; little kids, etc).

I did not ask her to stop using Gwen. Given my situation, I felt that would be extremely selfish of me. But after our conversation, I feel confident that my feelings on the matter are known, and that if Gwen is ever used for lessons, it will be only with a young kid to walk around the ring with. At the moment, I am content. If there is ever a time when I flat-out own Gwen, then I will bring up the topic again and make sure that Gwen is no longer used for lessons/trails/etc.

On to other news... Keep your fingers crossed that I am able to film my Level One Online audition tomorrow!!  I am super excited, really hoping everything goes well. Weather should be good, and the barn should be mostly empty, so those things will be in my favor. Whee!

Second... I have been letting everyone know (friends/family/boyfriend) that the ONLY thing I want for christmas this year is money for a saddle. I am fairly certain I will be able to buy one, but I have no idea if I want to get an english saddle, or a western one.  I have been riding her in Western, and my original objective was to purchase a western saddle, but now I am not sure... I am trying to think long term, and I don't know that I would ride any other horse Western. I have always ridden english... hrm.

But, price is definitely a factor. I have been looking around online, but it's hard to know what is a good brand, and what is not. Bleh. So stressful!

J

Jealous, Bitter, Heartbroken. Dilemma.

There are a lot of negative adjectives that could describe me right now. Resentful. Bitter. Jealous. Angry. Hurt. I'm also feeling guilty, sad, worried, and conflicted. Not a good mindset, really.

I don't usually consider myself to be a jealous person. I like to think that I am very giving in most aspects of my life. I give a lot of my time, energy, emotions and sometimes money and stuff, to those around me. Sometimes they are deserving. Sometimes they are not. But there is one huge part of my life that I am insanely jealous with. Gwen. With Gwen (or any horse that I would consider to be *mine*), I have a very "don't touch my stuff!" attitude. I'm calm, cool, and collected outside, but inside, I'm a raging two-year-old who wants to hoard all her toys.

Before you think too negatively of me, I will say that I am only jealous about Gwen in certain situations, scenarios, etc. I don't mind, for instance, if people want to pet her, feed her treats (but I will monitor what treats she gets), brush her, etc. I only get jealous when other people RIDE her. And usually, I find out about said ride after the fact. That's when my inner two-year-old comes out, and least inside (hey, I'm RBI, things stay pretty internal around here.).

So basically, the situation is this:  I lease Gwen. I pay to keep her at the barn she's at, which happens to be a barn I've been going to for... oh... let's say fifteen years. I've known the barn owner/manager/riding instructor (all one person) since I was 12. She taught me to ride. She introduced me to my first horse. She's one of the most generous people I know. Case in point, she's letting me board Gwen there, even though my situation is not very typical for her.  I mean, she introduced me TO Gwen. She knew Gwen before I did. She trained Gwen, she works for Gwen's owners (out at their ranch) and she's borrowed Gwen (and Star & Cool) for summer camps and trail rides in the past.   So I really shouldn't be surprised when, in a pinch, she'll let one of her lesson kids ride Gwen.  Without asking me. She's never been sneaky about it; she'll usually tell me when I show up later that day/week that Gwen was ridden by so-and-so, etc. But that doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, I feel WORSE. I'd rather not know about it... I think.

I'm super conflicted right now. It's gotten to a point where I don't know if I can keep doing this. I understand that, every once in a while she might need an extra lesson pony and, hey, she knows Gwen and how she reacts... but still. A large part of me feels cheated, used, and jealous when I find out that Gwen was used as a lesson pony. She's MINE Damn it, even if I don't actually own her...

It's really weighing on my mind tonight, because I had two seperate people make mention of it today.  First was one of the barn moms, who said something about Gwen disliking her... I don't know if she actually rode Gwen (and I sincerely hope she did NOT since she owns her own damn horse... ) and the second mention was by one of the lesson kids in the arena with  me. Admittedly, the girl was giving me a compliment, but it kinda backfired. She said, more or less, that whenever someone else rode Gwen, she was grouchy and stubborn, but when I rode her, she'd do whatever I asked with no fuss.  I was both pleased at the comment, and very, very upset by it. Because it got me thinking, 'just how often is Gwen being used as a lesson horse?'. Because my understanding was that those moments were rare and few between. Ex: until today, I could only count 3 times that she'd been ridden by someone other than me since I began leasing her in March...

I'm really kinda pissed off! I'm spending a good chunk of my pay check to lease Gwen, and though the dollar ammount might not seem large, it's a great deal more than I probably should be spending on a "hobby" (though I would never consider Gwen a hobby, other people might). I'll admit, I have sat down and thought about what else I might use that money for... savings. Down payment on a house. Going back to school...  But then I go to the barn and see Gwen, and I couldn't imagine NOT having her...

Which makes this next part really, really difficult. 

I don't know if I can keep going on, if Gwen is going to be used as a lesson horse when I'm not around (or when I AM around. That would be infinitely worse).  I don't know what to do about it, though.  Of course the first piece of advice I am likely to receive is to TELL NORA how I feel. But that's a huge struggle, because any way I picture bringing up the topic, I look like a spoiled, jealous, whiny brat. Maybe I am. Or maybe I'm completely justified in my feelings. I don't know the answer to that. All I know is how I feel, and that pushing it to the back of my mind and trying to forget about it is no longer going to work.

The flip side is... Nora has been extremely generous to me, both now and in the past, and I feel like bringing up this topic (and asking her not to use Gwen) is very selfish of me. She's done so much for me, the least I can do is let her borrow my horse for lessons right?  Except no. Because I have to think about Gwen in this, too. And the thought of some scrawny brat sitting on her back, yanking on her mouth and kicking her in the ribs (or using a crop on her, which has been done too) makes me sick, and furious, and just... spitting mad. NONONONONO! If anyone is going to ride Gwen, I want them using a halter, with me instructing them, so that I can monitor all behaviour of both my horse, and the rider. But I can't do that.

Argh! 

So there you have it. My big dilemma. I have three options, that I can see.

1) I can keep doing what I've been doing; pretending it doesn't bother me, and then doing my darndest to forget about it.
2) I can bring up the topic and risk a very uncomfortable conversation with Nora, in which I feel like a total ass, being selfish, etc.
3) I can break the lease and not have Gwen any more...

I honestly do not know what I am going to do. So I think I will just go cry now.

J

Oh My, What a marvelous tune...

Or Trot, as the case may be!  So, I haven't updated in a while, but I have been meaning to do just that for the past week, simply because each day has been one of those "wow!" days with Gwen. I can't believe how good she is doing!

We kept up the riding progress, and I actually made it out the barn every day last week (which won't happen again for a while I'm afraid, thanks to daylight-savings ending :P). By the end of the week, Gwen was calmly trotting along the short side of the arena, whoohoo!  Yesterday, we picked up again, and even tho the ground was muddy and gross, and there were lots of other horses in the arena, Gwen made lots of progress!  Her trot is getting consistently more mellow (no more speedy/pogo-stick trotting!), and though it's no where near what would be considered a western 'jog', it's definitly not as bad as it used to be!

But I have to say that, undoutebly, the best part of yesterday was not our time in the arena (although that was awesome!), it was the time just before it when I was saddling her up. Wow. What a different horse from last week!  Last Monday, when saddling, she was internal, half-lidded, tense and clearly not happy. Very RBI. Yesterday?  Ears perked, watching me, interested in things around her... happy to stand still while I showed her the blanket and saddle, eager to put her nose on both.. I was shocked and amazed. For a moment (a very brief moment) I wondered if I had accidently pulled the wrong horse from the ring!

Her attitude stayed up-beat and connected for the whole evening, too. She was happy to move off in a circle, stood quietly by the mounting block with no tension, and didn't try to move forward as I got on... simply put, she was outstandingly connected and a total partner.  And this with a ring full of kids on ponies?! Crazy!

The only time she got a bit grouchy and tense is when said kids-on-ponies would run up her butt. She didn't kick, but she'd get a grouchy-mare face and start tensing up. The kids are young, but definitely know better than that. I politely informed them that they did NOT want to run up Gwen's butt (her mother, Missy, was notorious for kicking out at horses who followed too close, and I wasn't sure if Gwen took after her or not... better safe than sorry), but when polite, and pointed, instruction failed, I simply halted Gwen on the rail and waited for the kids to realize they had to GO AROUND!  I wish I'd had a camera, because for a moment I had a little trail of ducklines all along the fence because no one seemed to want to pass us! They are lucky the riding instructor was busy... seriously, all those kids know better than to just follow the leader.

One of the things I really respect about my riding instructor/barn owner, is that she really teaches you to RIDE your horse, and not just sit there. She makes her students take responsibility for themselves and their horses. She always preaches to GO AROUND, or make a circle, or do SOMETHING so that you are not just following the horse in front of you. So yeah, laziness rather than lack of knowledge. Plus, it was funny to watch them all just... stop behind us :)  But it fixed the crawl-up-Gwen's-butt habit quick.

Rant aside, Gwen did terrific with kids and ponies and mud, etc. I love my girl XD

Unfortunately, it looks like I will only be able to get to the barn three nights a week, due to the time change. Tuesday and Thursday, I don't get out of work until 530, and now... well. It's practically dark at that time. And we do not have a lighted arena (or lights at all, really). I may take to going on the weekends, since that was previously my 'days off', but we'll see.

Either way, awesome progress for Gwen and me!  Can't wait to see how she behaves tomorrow :)

Lookin' so cute in a lesson saddle!

Holding my brushes. What a good partner!

J



Up-Date!!

This is likely to be lengthy, given how long it's been since I made a proper update. So here goes!

Monday, Oct 22nd, I saw Gwen briefly after a half-day of work. We had the whole place to ourselves (it was awesome!) and did lots of fun on-line games. Ran thru everything I need to do for our Level 1 online audition, which I hope to shoot soon (not this Sunday, but the Sunday following, fingers crossed!).  We even tried going over the barrels! She never got to actually jumping them, but I got nose, neck, and a little feet action (she pawed at it mildly).  After the first four attempts, I decided to back it down a notch, and pulled them apart to ask for a 'squeeze' thru them instead of over. I was mildly surprised when she showed hesitation. She's never had a problem with the Squeeze game before (and even loads in trailers with no worry at all). It took two passes for me to realize she wasn't worried about going between the barrels, she was worried about putting her feet between the poles on either side (that were used to keep the barrels from rolling away). Hm! How interesting!  As soon as I adjusted, and moved the poles away, she had no problem with this game.

All in all, it was a very pleasant day with some great games, and wonderful attitude (from horse and human alike, I should say!) which made me veeeerry happy because... the rest of last week, I was on vacation! It was a much needed break from work, but unfortunately meant I had to take a break from Gwen, too, as I went out of town.

This past Monday was my first day playing with her since our awesome Oct 22nd play day. With daylight fading fast, and work consuming all the good hours (I would totally work a night if I was allowed, just so I could spend the sunny part of the day with Gwen!), I didn't have much time with her. But I took a chance, and decided to try riding. Of course I did my pre-flight checks on the ground first, with some driving/porcupine games, circle game at trot both ways, and making sure she was feeling connected with me (if not entirely confident; Gwen is not very confident with a saddle). She was giving me good signs though, so I went ahead and mounted up.

We kept it slow and easy, doing nothing but walking along the rail. I used the time to practice using seat and weight to drive and steer rather than reins and legs. We did pretty good for our "first" go.  I was curious how she felt about it, though, so was looking forward to how she'd behave when I came to get her yesterday, Tuesday.

Well, I shouldn't have feared, because Gwen started walking up to meet me from half the paddock away! She hasn't done /that/ for a while, so I was absolutely thrilled.  I had even less daylight yesterday, so I had to save grazing for after, and saddled her right away. Pre-flight checks... looked pretty good, got on... things went well yesterday too! She was even "lighter" than Monday, moving when I shifted my weight, and was feather-light on the lead rope. She's never very comfortable or happy when riding, but I think she's beginning to realize that me-in-saddle is just like me-on-ground and that I'm not going to kick her, or yank on her, etc. She's really started listening to more subtle cues, which is fantastic! We even did a little trotting (read as: we did two strides of trotting, and then went back to walking).  Since I pushed her more than usual, I was a little concerned about our relationship. Well, she proved that I was doing all-right, because when I went to turn her out, she did not want to leave me. She followed me all over the turn-out pen, until I said good night and ducked back under the fence. :)

Gwen is never more RBI than when she's saddled/being ridden. Pre-flight checks are a MUST for her. There's a video on the Parelli Connect sight where Linda is narrating as Pat works with an RBI for the first time, and she talks about how RBI's tend to really shut down and look sleepy, but really that is when they are most dangerous because they are just bottling everything... and if you don't stop and back off they can explode.  Well, the only time I see this in Gwen is when she's saddled. She stands in the ring with half-lidded (but not blinking) eyes, and acts like she can't hear or see anything around her.  Then we start playing friendly game, porcupine and circling, and she sort of "comes back" to herself; she begins having an expression, she shows interest in the world around her and in me, and gives me two eyes and two ears.  Then I know we're ready to mount up.

Today was the best day we've had under saddle. Started out as normal, with our pre-flight checks, circling game both ways (she even offered a trot /herself/ when we went counter-clockwise.) was a little less confident going the other direction, but connected enough for me to feel safe getting on.  This time, after we went around the ring on the rail a few times (following the rail has been our focus the past two days) I started asking for some trot.  She gets very uptight with trot, and usually gives me two or three really choppy strides, and then slams into a halt (at which point I go pitching forward onto her neck... I am SOO out of shape/practice). We started out with the typical, choppy trot but instead of slamming to a halt, she sort of... slams to a walk, if that makes sense. So we've made progress!  I made the game very simple... walk three-quarters of the ring, and then trot along one rail.  No matter what direction we went, we always trotted as we were going toward the turn-out ring (this was a very calculated decision on my part ;) ) We had some "drifting" issues, and more often then not we were kinda trotting down the center of the arena than along the rail, BUT we got lots of trotting in!  I made sure to always ask her to walk before she did, so that I was making the request rather than her. I got some nice big sighs from her, and a bit of licking/chewing. Definitely progress!  And... completely by accident, we did some sideways under saddle!  Woo! I wasn't even trying for it (honestly I was trying to turn her around...) but she gave me some very nice side-ways steps. Silly Gwen, now I know you know how to do it!

All in all, I am very pleased with myself, and cannot wait to continue riding her tomororw. :)


Getting all fuzzy for the winter!

J

Totally Off Topic...

This post is totally off topic, as it has nothing to do with Gwen. However, it does have something to do with Parelli! I am a huge fan of model horses (which is a no brainer, really...) and I love all the nifty tack that can be made for them (by people much much more talented than me).

I have always wanted to get into tack making, but I haven't the skill, time, or materials to really become good at it. But, something I have really wanted to see since getting into Parelli is a model-horse rope halter... and today I made one! It's crafted from embroidery floss, and lots of knots, but it actually looks and functions like a real rope halter!  I am uber proud of it. It's the first I've done, and while I won't say it's easy, it was simple enough that I think I will be making many more.

The fit isn't perfect. It was measured for a traditional scale horse, but fits a traditional pony better (the under chin/throat piece is a bit short for horses, and the nose band is a little small...) but again, for a first try, I'm proud!

Notice the loop at the chin, and at the cheek to tie?

close up of chin/throat.

More about Gwen and me in the next post!

J

Ah-maza-zing!

Yes. That's right. My weekend was so amazing, it deserved another syllable. Ah-maza-zing! I don't even know where to start, it was so awesome! I feel so... energized, renewed, knowledgeable, hyped, and dedicated right now! This weekend at the Horse and Soul tour was what I have been wanting, nay, NEEDING, to really commit to Parelli.

I've posted in the past about being... let's say "shy" about telling people about Parelli, or even practicing where others can see me. And while I have made some great strides lately (no longer hiding in the round pen, not afraid to play with Gwen even when others are having riding lessons in the ring) I've still been... quiet. Well, no more! I am a proud Parelli student, and I am happy to show it! (I can totally hear Diana Ross singing "I'm coming out..." in my head right now...).

I was lucky enough to catch a t-shirt this weekend, and lucky enough that it was one I wanted! A red "Keep Calm and Savvy On" shirt, which I proudly wore to the barn today. I've also got a hunter-green Parelli cap, that I'll be utilizing in sunny weather ;)

I didn't take as many pictures as I could (should) have, but I was so engrossed that I forgot to lift my camera.

Aside from the demonstrations, being able to go thru the merchandise area and actually put my hands on everything was awesome. I am a very tactile, visual person. I've been dying to put my hands on some Parelli saddles, the flex pad, etc., and this weekend I got to do just that! It was a struggle not to max out my credit card, but I held back!  I didn't deprive myself entirely however... I came away with some awesome goodies including...

• 3 tee shirts: my winning catch, a "may the Horse be with You" shirt (i'm a huge Star Wars geek), and a "Horse and Soul" shirt.
• My Parelli Cap
• A Proud to be RBI bracelet
• A "Seven Games" Keychain (wanted one forever!)
• A pink 22' line (10% off Pink things for Breast Cancer Awareness month! Whoo!)
• And maybe most important of all..... Level's 1/2 on DVD (finally!!!!!)

I was so stoked about the level 1/2 on DVD that I started watching it in the hotel room on Saturday night!

One of the things I really got out of this weekend was about riding. I've been putting off riding Gwen (using the lame excuse of not having a saddle) because I felt like I needed to wait for us to be awesome at everything on the ground first. But really, Gwen has been doing amazing On Line, and I just feel like a klutz in the saddle. Watching Pat work with a non-Parelli horses on the ground and then in the saddle, I got to thinking that Gwen and I were ready for it. Or, more importantly, I felt like I had the tools and knowledge to make our time under saddle comfortable and progressive. My goal is to ride at least once a week, using a lesson saddle until I can get my own.  I will always make sure that Gwen is OK with this, but she's been so responsive and "in-tune" with me the past few times I played with her, that I think we're ready.

Today, I put her on our new 22' line with no expectations. I was focusing more on me than her, meaning that our play session was about me getting comfortable with handling 10 more feet of rope, rather than focusing on Gwen's improvement. As a result... Gwen was amazing! She backed up off phase one TO THE END OF THE ROPE!  I about quit there, I was so in shock. And then, once she got there, she stopped and waiting for me to direct her, rather than just assuming it was Circle Time. Whoohoo!  We played yo-yo a couple more times before I put her on a circle, figuring I'd have a lot of rope under my feet... but she stayed at the end of it without pulling, at walk and trot (I wasn't in the arena, and the ground was too uneven, so I didn't ask for Canter this time), and then came right on back in when I asked her to, no resistance. I was on cloud nine, it was so awesome!

We were just as connected for the rest of the evening, thru side-ways and squeeze. I'm so encouraged by the way we've been going these past three/four sessions that... I think I'm ready to film my audition. Next time my boyfriend and I both have a Sunday off, I've asked him to come to the barn to film me. (Sunday is the only day the barn is "closed" and therefore I'm more likely to have the arena to myself). With any luck, I'll have it submitted before Novemeber, way ahead of my goal :)

And now some pictures!

My haul ;)

This guy was awesome, galloping around bareback/bridleless.

And twirling a rope!

Told you I din't take near enough pictures! I have about a dozen of this guy (forgot his name... from Texas!) on his horse bareback/brideless, just galloping around the arena, doing rollbacks and sliding stops. Just amazing!

J

Ahhhh!!!!

HORSE AND SOUL TOUR!!! TOMORROW!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!! How will I ever sleep? I am SOOOO excited! (as if you couldn't tell, from all the exclamation points and capitols! Lol!)

Anyways, Gwen and I have been having a BLAST lately! Monday and Tuesday we worked on our basics, things like porcupine/backing off the chest and nose, etc. After attempting to back her and getting zero results, I decided we needed to go back to basics until she got those good again, and THEN work on moving forward. My goal is to have our Level 1 online audition in by the end of November, which is totally workable. She's actually doing figure eights now (whoohoo!) and my only "problem" is the trot-backup, since she doesn't really know what I want when I try to back her with me beside her (rather, without pulling her back. She doesn't understand that she should back WITH me, not wait for me to pull her along) So that's what we're working on :)

Today we took it easy, and had some good ol' undemanding time. I gave her a seriously good grooming, and she was looking super pretty, all shiny and clean. Then I just let her graze on the patch of grass behind me while I watched the riding lessons in the ring. All in all, an awesome afternoon with my favorite girl :)

Picture from Monday :)

J

Milestone Moment

This has been a pretty good week, horse-wise. Although I didn't get down to the barn much (only tuesday and today), the time I spent with Gwen was very rewarding.

On Tuesday, she met me half way (she hasn't done that for a long time!) so I know we're getting back on track. We played with Yo-yo a lot, since she's been having difficulty backing straight and staying there. She wants to immediatly go into a circle, rather than listening to what I'm actually asking. So we spent Tuesday playing yo-yo, backing up and staying put, and then coming to me again. We took it slow, and things went very well.

Today, we played more with yo-yo, and did some circles, but we kept it very, very low key since the ring was full of other riders. And they weren't very perceptive riders... they kept cutting into my circle because they weren't paying attentiong :/  When they started jumping, I got the heck out of there because, frankly, I did not want to be run over.  But Gwen did SUPER good with all the chaos!  She was listening to me, stayed reasonably calm and focused, it was great!

But as good as our session in the ring went, what happened afterwards was even better, and is the reason for my Milestone title.  See, one of the girls at the barn has been having trouble with her horse, Cinch. I've watched them for a few weeks now, and my heart really goes out to both of them. Cinch because she's getting thumped and smacked and argued with, and her rider because she obviously wants to do well but hasn't got a clue how to get Cinch to understand her. I have been /dying/ to try some games on Cinch, and today I got my chance!!

Cinch was having an off day, and since the riding instructor was not there, her rider opted to graze her rather than ride her today, and we got to talking. See, she's a young girl, and she's having similar problems with Cinch that I had with Missy (manifesting in an argument over proper leads, and stopping at the gate) so I offered to talk with her if she wanted, confessing that I'd had a horse just like Cinch when I was younger. She's seen me work with Gwen, and was very eager. So we got to talking about the "root cause" of their problems which is, frankly, relationship and communication. Without actually talking about Parelli, we talked about Parelli! I explained how I built my relationship with Gwen based on love and understanding, and offered some tips on what she could do to help Cinch "like her" more (since she confessed that she doesn't think Cinch likes her). I had my carrot stick with me, and asked if I could try some things with Cinch. She said sure, so I got to playing the games with her mare.

I didn't do all of them, just friendly, porcupine and a very small bit of driving. But my point was to demonstrate to her rider that she could get Cinch to respond on light pressure, rather than relying on heavy pressure (like thumping with legs/crop). I got lots of licking and chewing, especially when I started playing porcupine on her nose and getting her to back up. And I think her rider was a bit impressed at how quickly I got Cinch to respond. At the end (and we only spent about five to ten minutes doing anything) she was coming in with perked ears and a happy expression, blowing out and licking/chewing. It was amazing! I am so thankful that I got a chance to work with Cinch, because I just KNEW she would benefit from some Parelli.

I offered to show her rider a couple games, and we practiced porcupine on her nose. I'm hoping that I get to work with her again some time, to see if I can help build a relationship between them. Cinch is a really awesome horse with a ton of potential, and if I can help them communicate and understand each other, I think they could have a really amazing time together.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Cinch. I'll have to snap one next time!

On a funny side note, Cinch is Gwen's new best-buddy! Haha!!

My pretty Gwen!

J

Whoa, Nelly

Was watching some videos of me and Gwen that my boyfriend shot earlier this summer. I never posted them because I felt like they were a terrible demonstration of what Gwen and I could do. I remember being frustrated with almost every game we tried to play, and my overall feeling was that we could do so much better, and WERE doing so much better, when the camera wasn't rolling.

Well, I re-watched those videos tonight and... wow. I saw so much more than what I saw the first time I watched them, and what I saw/felt during the actual event. I saw so much that I needed to improve on. For instance, though I didn't feel like I was moving especially fast at the time, watching Gwen as she reacts to me, I realize I am moving very, very quickly from one request to the next. When doing hind/fore yeilds, there is very little pause between when I ask her to move her hind quarters, and when I ask her to move her shoulder/head. It's not super sonic speed, but I can't help to wonder how she would have done if I had gone just a little slower, took a little longer of a pause between requests.

At liberty in the round pen, there was a moment when she turns in off the circle, and I try to encourage her to come in/walk with me. I turn and start walking slowly and Gwen doesn't follow. During the actual event, I wasn't very surprised and turned around and came to her instead. Watching the video, I can see Gwen's reactions, and thought process, and she actually TRIED to come to me, but I just moved too fast for her; I was way too fast between the invite (turning and walking) and when I "gave up" and went to her instead. Her ears were on me, and she had that look on her face like "I might go stand with you... oh. You came here instead".

I remember feeling so disconnected, like she wasn't listening to me. Watching the video, I can totally see her /trying/ to get me to listen to her, but I'm the one who's deaf. Her body language is totally there, and I'm just  not seeing it, not responding... and we only get worse as the video goes on. 

Wow. Talk about eye-opening.  But I'm encouraged, because I feel like I am much better at reading Gwen now, than I was back when the video was taken. And now that I see how quickly I tend to move, without realizing it, I'm going to make it a priority to go slow, take long pauses between requests and long pauses between games, and see if I can read Gwen a bit better.  And I definitly want to have us video'd again, to see if I improved at all.

J

I've said it before...

And I'll say it again. I'm a terrible blogger! ;_; 

Not much to blog about, though. I feel like I'm caught in limbo with Gwen. And for the past week or so, I actually feel like we've gone backwards, rather than forwards with our relationship. I dunno. I'm finding it hard to be motivated because I'm not seeing the positive "return" so to speak. I'm also fighting general lethargy more related to long work hours, and really, really HOT weather, than to equine activities. Regardless of cause, or reason, the result is the same; my lack of motivation means ZERO progress has been made. Bleh. We still can't do a figure 8 to save my life, but hey.

I'm trying to find ways to motivate myself to go out and DO something with Gwen at least 4 days each week, because this lack of activity is killing us. My main enemies are: the weather; work stress, and confusion/lack of knowledge about how to proceed. So, how do I tackle these three problems? Hrm.

I can't do much about the weather; it is what it is. I can make sure to go later in the evening when it starts to cool down, but it's still a factor. It will start getting cooler in the fall, but that has it's own problem (like rain, and lack of indoor/covered areas).

As for work stress... well, that's always going to be there, and all I can really do is just... push through it. MAKE myself go to the barn, and MAKE myself at least bring Gwen out and do SOMETHING with her. Deadlines and quota's help with this. If I tell myself "Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, you will do XYZ with Gwen..." I usually follow through. I try to leave the exact task undefined, and see how Gwen's feeling... (but that can lead to the third problem; lack of knowledge/confusion about where to go from here).

As for that, well... I don't have an answer there. So moving on...

My next great adversary in the motivation-battle is harder to deal with. An Audience.

Since school is back in session, it means that riding lessons are now hosted in the evenings... which is when I go to the barn. I got super spoiled all summer because of summer-camp. No one rode in the evenings, and most of the time I was THE only person there! It's so much easier when no one is around to see me. Now that people are back, not only is space super limited, but now I have the added presser of an audience. And I do NOT do well with an audience. I get tense, Gwen starts reacting, which makes me MORE tense knowing someone is watching me look like a complete idiot, which  means Gwen acts up MORE... etc.

I don't want to be back in the round pen, especially in the blazing heat (it is called the 'hot box' for a reason...). Argh!

So I'm grumpy, and pout-y, and all-around full of self-pity lately, with no real idea how to snap out of it and get back in the groove of things. :/  At least I'm going to the Parelli Horse & Soul tour in October! Maybe that will help...

J

To Infinity... and Beyond!

I don't normally go to the barn on the weekend. Since I work right across the street, and it's otherwise a very long drive from the house, I tend to stay home on the weekends and visit Gwen Mon-Fri after work. Since this past week was so terrible in terms of weather, and I only got to see her on Monday, I drove down yesterday to spend some quality time with Gwen, and play a few games.

After watching a few Savvy Club episodes (in particular, one on the figure 8) I decided it was high time we got good at that one. It's the only thing standing between us, and our first audition video.  Until yesterday, I didn't really play with the figure eight, mostly because I wasn't sure how to approach it. After watching the video, I had a much better idea of how to teach Gwen the pattern.

Since she's an RBI, I knew I would need to take it slow. Thankfully, Linda talked about what to do with an RBI + figure 8, what some common hang-ups might be, and how to move past them. I felt pretty informed and confident. Gwen and I had been having a few relationship issues which, after some deep thinking about it last Friday, I realized was all my fault (no surprise there!). I'd kinda forgotten the most important aspect of Parelli: Put the relationship first! So yesterday, I went to the barn with that in mind, with the idea that we would try out the figure 8, if everything else went well. 

To my surprise, she offered to talk back to the gate with me! Ever since the Neck Bite incident, she hasn't offered to meet me half way, or walk back without the halter (relationship issues). But, she offered to talk back with me on Saturday, which surprised and humbled me. So far so good!

We had our customary groom/graze session, and I noticed a couple other riders grooming and tacking up not far away. I didn't really want to try and play with Gwen when there were other horses in the ring, but after a quick inquiry, they told me they were going down the trails. Awesome! Ring to myself :) However, they took their sweet time mounting up and getting going. As a result, Gwen and I spent quite a bit of time just standing in the ring, as we waited for the trio to mount up (using the mounting block inside the riding ring, as it were) and get comfortable walking around. I didn't mind waiting at all, and used the time to love on Gwen, rubbing her neck/head/ears, and just being with her. In return, after about five minutes, Gwen gave me a huge sigh and just completely relaxed. From now on, I'm going to make it a point to make sure she gives me a sign of relaxation before we actually start playing.

After the other riders left, we played a little driving game, and then I set up the barrels under a shady tree so that we could start the figure eight. She happily followed me around as I set things up, and showed so much curiosity at the barrels (she even offered to push and roll one with her nose!) that I just played around with that for a while.

I decided not to use my stick/string, because sometimes she shows tension when I have it. We started slow, just backing between the barrels and then playing a circle game around them and me. After a turn or two, we tried a figure eight. I got one whole pattern before she started getting tense and anxious, and then shut down. I waited, and then put her back on a circle before trying again. She did really well for her first time, though she's not exactly sure what I want, and tends to start getting anxious about all the direction changes after about one/two figure 8's., but I think for our first day, it was a big success.

Hi pretty girl!

At the end of the day, I took her for a walk down the street to a patch of grass/trees on the side of the road. It's the same place I tried to take her a few months ago (back when I first started playing with her) where she got so upset and nervous about being away from her buddies, that she wouldn't even nibble. This time, though she had a few "What's that!?" moments, she walked along with me very easily (no tension in the rope, never needed to stop or wait) and got right down to the business of grazing. Yay! Happy horse :)

Our new grazing spot.

"What's that!?"

Tomorrow we'll try our figure 8 again.



J

Whee!!

Weather has been terrible. It's either sunny and 100+ degrees, or it's thunderstorming and raining! I haven't been to the barn since monday due to work and weather (:P) so I don't have anything to report on that front. But, I do have exciting news!  I went ahead and got two tickets to the Parelli Horse and Soul tour that's coming to Katy TX in October!!  Whee!! I've been debating about this for a while, since it's quite a long drive (159 miles, ouch!). But I really wanted to go, and seeing that members get FREE tickets?!  How could I NOT go!! I'm going to have to start stashing cash so that I have plenty of spending money. WHEEEE I'm so excited!!!

(and even better, the non-horsey boyfriend is going to come along too!)

Hiding behind a tree. Silly Gwen!

J

Long Overdue

Wow. I can't believe it's been over a MONTH since I last updated! I am a terrible blogger. At least I'm better at other things, right? Heehee :)

Anyways, here's a summary of what Gwen and I have been up to:

Lots of online games. Been focusing on Yo-yo /= circle. She likes to back up, and then go right into a circle, so I've been focusing on backing up, standing, and then giving her something to do (either moving into a circle, or coming back to me, mostly). There's been a lot of emphasis on standing patiently and waiting for me to ask her to do something. A lot of this had to do with ME, rather than Gwen. I got into a really bad habit of backing her up and then sending her off to do something else, without a lot of waiting. 

More recently, I've stopped using the yoyo as a preclude to the circle game entirly. Instead, I just porcupine her nose until she's about arms length from me, and then ask her to circle while I let the lead slide through my hands.

The Circling game is my favorite, and I've been trying really hard to stay concious of how many times I ask her to circle, so that it doesn't become boring for her. I try to mix it up, so that sometimes she circles once before I ask her to come in, sometimes it's twice, sometimes it's only half a circle. Sometimes we walk half, trot half, stop. Sometimes we walk a little, trot two steps and stop, etc.  I've been working on her canter, too, which she's not overly fond of.  I think it's a balance issue, though. When I ask her to canter, I know she understands what I want because she'll get a grumpy face, arch her neck/round her back, and kind of hop along at a really bouncy/weird trot for a stride or two, and then she'll either settle back into a trot (if I don't say anything) or "sorta" canter if I reinforce the request with another verbal "Canter!" And by sort of canter, I mean that it's not really a canter, but it's not really a kick/buck. As soon as she takes even half a stride of canter, I ask her to yield and slow down, so that she's rewarded as soon as she complies.

The reason I think it's a balance issue is because she has NO problem cantering when we're in the round pen, which has a bigger circumfrance than what the 12' line can give her. So I think she feels unconfident, and is worried she's on too tight a turn to canter without tripping. It's one of my biggest motivators for wanting a 22' line, so that we can practice cantering more. She's always had a small "issue" with cantering, even before I began playing Parelli. I remember riding her, and dreading the canter because she'd usually buck. Not a bronco-busting kind of buck, just a kick with both feet, but it was enough to throw me off balance and ruin our departure. As a result, I don't plan to ask for anything under saddle until she's comfortable on the line/ground, for obvious reasons.

We've also been "jumping"! Or, Gwen has. In an effort to spice up our circles and to introduce her to the concept of jumps, she's been going over poles and small caveletti-like jumps. She's not a big horse, so even the smaller stuff makes her hop over it like a real jump. She was very unsure of this game when we first played it, and there were a lot of trot circles that screeched to a halt before the jump so that she could investigate and walk gingerly over the pole. After the second day, she was actually hopping over the jump at a trot, both directions. She's not a huge fan of jumping, but her confidence has grown. Instead of worry, she's more apathetic towards the jump. Sort of an "Another jump? Mooooom, whyyyyyy? *pout*"

Our "jump" with barrels as standards.

We can confidently walk over the bridge now, too. And we've begun to practice with figure 8's around cones and barrels.

Last week we did absolutely nothing, mostly due to the fact that, a week ago last thursday, I brought Gwen out of the turn out with a huge bite on her neck (horse bite, not bug bite). Poor thing! It was very swollen on one side, and actually bleeding on the other. So she got a lot of down time as I waited for it to heal. Tomorrow will be our first day back in the arena.

Left side, first day she got bit. (this is after I washed it, so she's all wet)

Right side, all swollen. First day.

And that's it! 

-J

Little Maverick! So cute!

And... Exhale.

My new job started this past Monday, which means I can finally get settled into a routine again! For the past month, I felt like I was running at full-speed, with barely a chance to collect my thoughts. Two different jobs (training at the new one while finishing up the old) really didn't leave a lot of time for Gwen. I did get down to the barn a couple times a week, but I was so mentally exhausted we didn't really do anything besides graze/groom and walk around the ring bareback. So our games have gotten a little hazy as a result. When I've got it together, she's great. But when I can't remember what's up and what's down, we go to pieces.

But while we might not be on our A-game in the games-department, our relationship has REALLY gotten great!  For the past week and a half, Gwen has started meeting me "half way" when I go out to get her from the turn out. When I get close enough for her to see me, I'll give her a little 'Hi pretty girl,' call. In the past I might have gotten an ear flick. Now I'm getting two eyes, two ears, and a lifted head!  I've begun making it a habit to really slow down my pace, and kinda lumber (exaggerating my body sway, to look more relaxed and less predator-stalking). It started at 10 feet; I was lumbering my way towards her and she took a couple steps in my direction. Next day it was further, next day further. Now, I can stop about 15-20 feet, and she'll walk the rest of the way to me, and follow me back to the gate without needing her halter.

But today I got one of the greatest rewards to date. All those past times, there was nothing contesting her attention. Today, there was hay on the ground. I noticed as I walked out that they had been fed recently, and figured this would be a day where I'd have to halter her to get her to the gate (since all previous times when hay was involved, she had no interest in walking away from it). To my complete and utter astonishment, she LEFT HER HAY and met me "half-way" and then followed me back to the gate! I couldn't believe it! I am so amazed, and really, really touched by this. It was awesome!

Since my new job is literally across the street from the barn, I'm going to try to visit Gwen every evening. On those days when I don't get out until after 6, I'll probably just make it a quick trip, with some grooming and undemanding time. On the other days, when I have more time in the evening, I'm going to start pushing myself to get back on track as far as our games/play sessions go. I've gotten really lazy, and it's time we got back at it. I really want to pass our level 1 online, and for that we need practice-practice-practice! Me especially. I need a ton of work when it comes to being OK with people watching me. I didn't realize I had such a problem with spectators, but clearly I do. Whenever I even think someone might be watching us, Gwen starts acting like she has NO CLUE what I'm asking her to do. And I know it's my energy that's got to be getting to her. Time to get over the stage-fright!

In the mean time, enjoy pictures of the new baby at the barn!! He was born a week ago last Sunday. In these pictures, he's only two days old!

Sooooo cute!!

Baby! And mama's leg!

Look at that face!

Pretty blue eye!

His mama is a foundation-bred Quarter Horse named Slate. His daddy is a sorrel paint named Bandit. You can't see it in the photo's, but the coloring on his legs is actually a shimmery silver color! Unfortunately, he'll probably lose that as he grows up, and it will either turn black, or go gruella. He's so freaking adorable! And he absolutely loves people. They recently opened up his stall, so he's got a double-sized area. He gets let out into the arena with mama at least once daily, so he can run around and kick up his heels. When he's a little bigger, he'll get to play with he OTHER baby at the barn (who is a month or two older than him, I think...)

J

Fun Times!

I definitely did not intend to wait this long to post again! But, a ton has happened including... a new job! Hurray!  And with the new job comes a pay raise, double hurray!! I'm so excited! Not only is my job LITERALLY across the street from the barn, but I'm making more and will be getting regular raises which means, with fingers crossed, I should be making enough within the next two years to buy Gwen!! So that is my goal: save and work hard, and be able to purchase my pretty mare by summer of 2014. It's a lofty goal, but I have faith!

Speaking of Gwen... I did get down to the barn two Friday's ago, with the boyfriend and a camera. Of course, as soon as you put the horse, and the person (me) in front of a camera, we promptly forget everything we ever knew about anything. Our circling was terrible, our backing was terrible, our yo-yo was terrible, our touch-it was non existent... seriously, it was sad. I was embarrassed, and very very humbled.  It was bad enough that I've decided not to post the footage. Not out of vanity, but because I feel like it's a really poor example of what we're capable of. When the camera is not involved, we're so much better.

I know all of our "problems" that day were due to me. I don't consider myself camera shy, but there were a number of factors going on that day that were "new". It was the first time my boyfriend was watching us, and it was the first time we were being video-taped. I wasn't nervous, but I guess I felt a little pressure to show-off how good we are. Gwen certainly reacted to it, though not in a performance-enhancing kind of way. It was a bummer, since I was kinda hoping to video my Level 1 audition... but obviously we need to work on keeping our cool under pressure. We called it quits very early on, and went back to grazing.

After that terrible Friday session, I came home and thought a lot about what went "wrong", and also how to work on Gwen's attitude toward being ridden. I decided that I was probably asking a bit much of her all at once, and that breaking down the steps might help. So I really broke it down. On Monday, after grooming, I looped the lead over her neck and hoped on bareback, and then just sat there while she got to graze on the patch of grass by the turn-out. And that's all we did. I sat, she grazed. It was great. When my butt finally couldn't take any more (she's kinda bony...) I slid off, brushed her down again, and then turned her out.

Tuesday was a rinse-and-repeat kind of day. More sitting and grazing, and that's it. I didn't even touch the lead-rope. It was there purely for safety reasons. It's kinda fun to sit on her while she grazes. She gets to eat and doze, and I get to practice balancing myself on a horse once again. I haven't ridden seriously for almost ten years, and my body has changed so much since then (gained a little weight, balance has shifted, not fun). It was harder than I expected for me to just sit/move with her while she grazed, and keep relaxed and not tense up. especially when she shifts her weight to one extreme side. 

Sitting and Grazing!

Wednesday I did it again, lots of grazing and sitting, and balancing. I introduced some very minimal requests (such as moving away from the fence, or moving out of the bushes) but nothing too demanding.  Then I was gone Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday due to personal and work obligations.

So today was my first day back at the barn. I decided we'd riding in the arena today. I looped her lead around like I normally do, and then we walked over to the arena. We weren't the only ones riding, but it wasn't overly crowded. I spent a good five/ten minutes working with her on the ground first. We did some flexing, a little "standing and doing nothing" with the friendly game, played a little touch-it. And we did all this while I was wearing my helmet, and she had the lead knotted around her neck like I usually do when I ride. Everything was feeling really good, especially after our long hiatus from playing any games, that I decided to give riding a whirl. I hopped up on her, spent some time standing and flexing, and then asked her to move off at a walk and follow the rail. If we had been alone in the arena, I wouldn't have cared about direction, but as it was I had to make sure we stayed out of the way of the kids having their lesson.

We weren't perfect, but we did SO MUCH BETTER than every other time I have ridden!  I got direction changes without much complaint/argument. Only once or twice did I really have to be persistent about where we were going, otherwise she followed my suggestion very nicely. I tried to stay as relaxed and loose as I had been those earlier times (the sit-and-graze days), and made it a point not to ask her to do anything with my leg, since she seems to dislike it. I found that if I ask for a turn/direction change with both reins (as opposed to just direct-reining) she does a lot better. I am by no means an accomplished rider, but I think we did pretty well today! I'm very optimistic, and would like to continue riding her a little bit each day.

Happy horse after riding! Yummy grass

J

Riding.

My relationship with Gwen has hit a snag. Or, rather, I've found a snag in our relationship. On the ground, we're doing fantastic! Way ahead of where I thought we'd be, after only two months (Has it really only been two months!? Wow.)  I can tell by the way she reacts and responds to me when we're in the turn-out. When I walk up to her, she stops eating, gives me an eye and an ear, and pays attention to where I go. When I start to walk off, she happily follows after me without any pressure on my part. I simply have to start walking and she follows. This is beyond amazing to me, and the fact that it has now happened consecutively, means that I know it wasn't a fluke.

We're doing amazing on-line. She's attentive, happy, and willing to do what I ask. I rarely have to go beyond phase two, and we're fine-tuning our phase one. She'll walk and trot in the circle game, going off voice-commands alone, and we're working on canter with amazing results (she's been fussy about canter in the past, but this is not something I'm concerned about as she's making gigantic leaps forward each time we play, and I'm confident that what I'm doing is helping her be confident at all three gaits). She Yo-yo's like a champ, is yielding her forehand reliably (if a bit touchy on her right side still) and will touch just about everything I lead her up to, including the dreaded bridge (which I actually got her to walk over today, yay!). 

We've been doing SO well, in fact, that Monday and today (didn't have time to be at the barn yesterday) I decided to take it a step further and start riding again. Nothing fancy, just looped the lead around her neck and hopped on bareback. Monday, all I did was lead her to the mounting block, hop up on her off-side, and then we just stood there. Literally just stood at the mounting block and did absolutely nothing (well, lots and lots of friendly game while on her, but that's it). When I was ready to hop off, I asked her to move a few steps away from the block and then dismounted, and we ended on that.

Today, after a on-line, I got on her again. This time, I did not use the mounting block, but instead mounted off of the bridge. This was a non issue, though I think I surprised her, as I've never mounted her without the block. As soon as I was on her back, it's like I had a completely different horse. I'm so bummed out.

She gets defensive, locks up, super tense, makes really grumpy faces (that persist after I've dismounted until I've "rubbed" them away), doesn't want to move. I've touched on this in the past, when remarking about her behavior when I'm on her back, so this was nothing new. Previously when I've ridden her, she's displayed annoyance at my legs. What I mean is, when I ask her to move off of leg pressure, she tends to tense, and swing her head around to "bop" my leg with her nose.

Knowing this, I decided to adopt an approach that involved absolutely no leg pressure whatsoever. Since she goes off voice commands so well on the ground, I just wanted to use those. Since we were the only ones in the arena, I just left the "reins" loose across her shoulders. She got to pick direction, etc. I just wanted to dictate speed. We did a bit of walking, but when I asked for trot (using voice, and a bit of encouraging clucking) I got the same reaction I used to get with leg pressure; grumpy face, head swinging back toward my legs. This completely stumped me, as I was making sure I didn't put ANY pressure on her with my legs. We eventually got a few steps of trot, but she was so tense and jerky it was uncomfortable, and she was so clearly miserable that I didn't try to move her when she slowed down/stopped.

Instead of trying again, we just stayed parked where she'd stopped, and I did lots of rubbing on her, and talking to her, and finally just dismounted. Her grumpy face stayed until I rubbed on her head a bit, and she "came back to herself" for lack of a better explanation, and became the happy Gwen I'm familiar with. I did not want to end there. I was pretty determined to make some progress with "riding", if just to get her comfortable and happy-faced (or, not grumpy faced at least) with me mounting. So, we played a lot of friendly game with her by the mounting block, and then I did a lot of "leaning over" and rubbing on her side, then swinging my leg over, sitting for half a beat, and then dismounting off the other side. She seemed relaxed enough through it all, and didn't try to move away from the block while I was getting up/mounting, but I don't know if this is "progress" or not.

Basically, I'm stuck. I don't know where to go from here as far as riding is concerned. I'm more than willing to work on this for months/years if I have to, but I just want to know that what I'm doing IS going to help her, and isn't just making things worse. It's as if she doesn't realize that the person that's on her back, is the same person that's on the ground with her. Seriously, it felt like after I dismounted and played on the ground, she went from grumpy to "Oh, it's you! OK, let's play" and she was happy again. Right now, I'm pretty discouraged, and don't even want to ride, because I'm not sure if it's helpful.

This is definitely a plea for help/advice, so if you're reading this, I highly, highly encourage comments and advice. I'm pretty confident that it's something I'm doing. My boyfriend has agreed to go to the barn with me on Friday, just so that he can video me working with Gwen on the ground, and on her back, so I can see what's going on. I will definitely try to post that video, and will be seeking advice/comments/thoughts on it.

Keep in mind that I do not actually own the level 1/2 DVD's yet, and have only see the level 1 stuff that's posted on the Parelli Connect page. Purchasing the level 1/2 is something I very much want to do, and I wonder if it will help out with what I'm experiencing as far as riding Gwen. Is this simply a case of needing to work more on-line? Do I just need to do a LOT of "sitting around doing nothing" on her back? Any advice is welcome.

Thanks for reading,

J

p.s this is not a sleepy face. This is her post-Grumpy, coming back to Happy face. I get an ear, but she's clearly not happy. :(

Whoa!

Long time no post, I know. But OMG was last week crazy! A week ago last Saturday, I bought a new car. My old one was on it's last leg, so I decided to trade it in before it died completely and was worth even less. I now have a much younger, more dependable car WITH a warranty! Whoo!

Due to the car-trade-buying, I didn't get to see Gwen for a solid five days (SAD!) and when I finally got to see her last Monday, her wound was looking not so great. Instead of being completely healed, it was puffy and oozing puss. Very gross.  She wasn't limping, thank God, but I had to hose it down and poke at it to get most of the nasty stuff out (definitely didn't like that), and then hose it again before slathering ointment on it. After five days of the same routine, her leg is almost 100% healed! There's just a small scab where the wound was, but there's no swelling, and she doesn't seem to have any pain there at all, whoohoo!!

I didn't see her Saturday or Sunday. I'm not sure how she feels about those days that I don't go down. Is she glad for the break? Does she miss me? I'm not sure she would miss me in the same way that people miss each other, but since routine is such a big thing for horses, I wonder if she wonders where I am. But that's all philosophy. The cold hard truth is that... I know my horse loves me!

Whenever I go "catch" Gwen, I make sure that I rub all over her, both sides, before I ask her to wear the halter. This way, she doesn't feel like I just show up and nab her, and I get a chance to walk around her and look for any boo-boo's, etc. Today, she was picking at the leftover bits of hay on the ground, (which is pretty typical) as I walked around her, but when I came around her rear and up on her left side, her head was up and tilted toward me, and she was giving me her left eye and ear. This is new! Usually she will acknowledge me, but this was more than that. So I decided to see if she would walk with me a little bit without the halter. I've tried in the past with zero response, and she usually just goes back to picking at hay-bits. Today, she walked ALL THE WAY back to the gate with her head at my shoulder, no halter, no rope (I didn't even have to put my hand on her) and she looked happy and content to be there. I was completely and totally blown away. BEST DAY EVER!! I didn't care what we did after that, I was over the moon!

I am so completely thrilled that she wanted to be with me. True, it wasn't dinner time, but she still chose to walk with me to the gate, knowing we would be leaving the turnout, and she stuck to me like glue. <3

I repeat. Best. Day Ever!

"What's that!"

Yummy round-pen grass! Nom nom nom.

J

Two Days for the Price of One!

aka, Jackie is lazy and hasn't updated in two days, and now must put both days in one post! Haha!

Tuesday:
After what happened on Monday, insofar as Gwen's RBI moments, I was really curious how Tuesday would turn out. First of all, her leg is doing SO MUCH BETTER! The swelling is gone and though she still has a wound, it's not bleeding. I'm keeping a close eye on it, making sure it stays clean and that I keep Swat on it to make sure the flies don't bother her. Otherwise, she's right as rain :)

No more swelling!

 There were kids in the ring, so I couldn't play in there. But rather than use the round pen, I decided to work in the big open space between the Jump ring (aka the boys turnout) and the barn. I was pretty proud of myself because even though I'm usually shy about playing with Parelli when others can see me, I got out there and played in full view of everyone and it didn't bother me at all!! I was so confident in what I was doing that I wasn't the least bit concerned about criticism or observation. I was pretty pleased with myself. I don't think I'll have any problems playing around other people from now on, but more on that later.

We played with all our games except squeeze and sideways, mostly because there was no fence. After musing about how we both behave when working on her "off" side, and listening to some pretty good advice, I've decided to really try to nip it in the bud, and focused heavily on right-side activities. I'd never paid much attention to it before, but Gwen really goes to great lengths to keep me in her left eye. To the point that if I'm standing slightly to her off-side, she'll tip her neck around to have her left eye toward me. I always thought she was looking into the distance or something, but now I can really see that she does NOT like me on her right.


We did lots of circling-game with her going clockwise, and then lots and lots of driving-game with me on her right. She didn't care for that; lots of halting, freezing, head-in-the-air uncomfortable looks, (she's a wiz at the driving game when I'm on her left). But I tried to make it easy for us both, and we played the 'driving game on the right' towards a patch of grass, and her reward for getting there with me was a nice relaxing break, where she could pick at the grass while I rested. Very low-key.

Resting

Yummy!

 We rested for about a minute or two, and then went back to driving-game. I used a conveniently located trailer (not the ones in the pictures, but another one closer to the barn) to play touch-it with. She wasn't really keen on that, but I think she was a tad confused as to what I wanted her to touch. She kept going for a rubber bin that was on the ground, then looking at me like 'That was it, right? No? Are you sure?'.

After touch-it we played with yo-yo. She is getting so good at it! We had two 'backing' at phase one! Yay! Each time we play, she's getting better and better. Soon, I'll really start working on a snappy response and more than two steps at a time. Right now it's 'finger-wiggle, step, step, stop, phase-two, step step, stop, etc, and I have to keep asking. But she's getting better).

Wednesday:
Got super lucky on Wednesday; though there were people in the ring, there were only three so I took the opportunity to stake out a corner to work with Gwen. Everyone ended up leaving about five minutes after, just because it was getting late in the day, so I ended up having the place to myself! We did all the same things as Tuesday, but also some sideways and squeeze. And we played touch-it with a wooden bridge that one of the other riders had left out. Her yo-yo was awesome too! I'm consistently getting more and more backing off of phase one alone.

Things were going well enough that I decided to hop on bareback. She was OK with me riding her, but her attitude definitely changes. It's like... on the ground she's responsive and listening, but once I'm on her back, she reverts to her old ways, and I really don't want to get into a situation where we're both unhappy with the other one. After a trip or two around the arena, I called it quits on riding and went back to on-line stuff. Then, since we were alone, I turned her loose in the arena to see what she did. I thought she might wander off and roll, or go get a drink, but she stuck with me the whole time. If I sat on the mounting block, she'd only come within five feet of me, but if I got off and walked around, she'd follow me so close that either her nose would be at my shoulder, or her cheek would be. It was flattering, and very rewarding since we'd had a not-so-great experience with me on her back so recently.

Loose in the arena! Happy Gwen :)

Her mane is getting so long!

Clearly not thrilled with the hat-idea ;)

Since today was a day off work, I also made it a day off from the barn to recharge my batteries. Might go down tomorrow, otherwise I'll definitely be there Saturday!

J