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