The saddle is seriously a pain in the butt!!!
Anyway, I went to the bowtie focus station bareback. I did not want to mess with the saddle. So we did our hind end disengagements into canter departs that way. She got the pattern and we moved on. She's much to quick to get it!
Then the shim mess started. And that took a long time. Eventually we settled with one, but as soon as I got on I felt like i was falling forward :( She didn't really like it either. But we just kinda dealt with it and we started trotting around the enchanted forest. She was a little RB so we did lots of circles around trees as we made our way closer to home and then when we got to the main gate I kept her going. She weaved around some and kept trying to stop at the round pen (that's our lay down routine), and I would ask her to maintain gate. Finally the last one, we were pointed towards home and I asked for a trot again and she didn't rush off! So we left it at that.
That was about it for today! Oh we did work on getting laterflexion without reins, and disengagements without reins, and that worked, so that was super fun!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Riding again!
Today was our first riding day again. We got to play with the balls and the seat builders which was fun.
Avery did a great demo on how to get your horse ready and really working with the porcupine game. I'm going to use that a lot when I work with Blue because it will really help with her dealing with pressure behind the ears and not freaking out with being tied.
I went to the shim check and messed with it some, but in the end, I still pretty much hate the saddle! Blue doesn't seem happy with it, I just think it gets in the way, blah... Anyway, it was ok with walk, and trot, but once we started cantering it didn't go very well. There's a downhill slope to the honeycomb, so she really got annoyed at the canter. I think the saddle is just pressing down on her then because she isn't really rocking herself back yet, and then my weight and fluidity isn't helping I'm sure. Anyway, it looked a bit like a stretch/crow hopping session for a bit. So finally I just ditched the saddle and worked with her. I put her in the round pen and for a good two rounds she just stretched her back out. So that tells me the saddle was really messing with her. I'm really going to have to figure this out these next two weeks!
Then after supper I went out with Sandy and she followed me on her Indy and I got to smack Indy for coming to close, haha. After a few good hits she got the hint! Then we took it up to walk/trot/stop/backups and Indy got it! So we quit. It was great for Blue because I was less particular and not paying attention to her and then she likes it much better because I'm not nit picking and I'm slower to correct her, which she's a fan of as well.
Anyway, it's dark out and I'm heading home!!
Avery did a great demo on how to get your horse ready and really working with the porcupine game. I'm going to use that a lot when I work with Blue because it will really help with her dealing with pressure behind the ears and not freaking out with being tied.
I went to the shim check and messed with it some, but in the end, I still pretty much hate the saddle! Blue doesn't seem happy with it, I just think it gets in the way, blah... Anyway, it was ok with walk, and trot, but once we started cantering it didn't go very well. There's a downhill slope to the honeycomb, so she really got annoyed at the canter. I think the saddle is just pressing down on her then because she isn't really rocking herself back yet, and then my weight and fluidity isn't helping I'm sure. Anyway, it looked a bit like a stretch/crow hopping session for a bit. So finally I just ditched the saddle and worked with her. I put her in the round pen and for a good two rounds she just stretched her back out. So that tells me the saddle was really messing with her. I'm really going to have to figure this out these next two weeks!
Then after supper I went out with Sandy and she followed me on her Indy and I got to smack Indy for coming to close, haha. After a few good hits she got the hint! Then we took it up to walk/trot/stop/backups and Indy got it! So we quit. It was great for Blue because I was less particular and not paying attention to her and then she likes it much better because I'm not nit picking and I'm slower to correct her, which she's a fan of as well.
Anyway, it's dark out and I'm heading home!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Holy storm!
Ok, so about 3 a.m. it was pretty damn scary! Wind, lighting, thunder, crashing rain! I was not able to get back to sleep so I had to read part of midnight sun! Finally when it settled I could sleep again.
We show up at Parelli at about 9:40 a.m. Oh my gosh!!! There are like 8 trees down! So I give Blue her breakfast and I put on my riding gloves to help drag tree branches. We worked with all the Parelli faculty and externs and more volunteers. Crazy how the trees roots are so shallow, it's like I coulda pushed them over!!! And a lot of them were hollow! But super tall trees at that. It's pretty sad to see a lot of them gone :( I guess it's time to start planting some! It was perfect before the storm, if they get another storm it's going to start looking empty :( At about 12 there wasn't much more to be done without the big machines, so then I took Blue out.
Blue I had had a blast. She took me around and did all her things that she knew would get her some grain. She's a total one trick pony! Once she gets it, she wants to do it over, and over, and over again! She understood I wanted 4 feet in the water, so that's what I got, 4 feet and then she'd turn and come back out and get grain. She did this about 15 times! Then she took me to the carwash and went through it at liberty about 30 times! Grab a cookie and turn around and do it again. She is so stinking funny!
I also took her up on the hill for a workout. we did traveling circles at the trot and canter. It's funny, the more she canter the more uncomfortable she gets. If I don't have her check in then she starts getting worried. But we worked through it and she blew out and was my little Blue Bug again. She really doesn't enjoy getting worked up! And the girl is hard to get sweaty!
This week we get to ride :)::):):):):) Woohoo, now we can really canter all over the place :):):):):):) Woohoo, less running for me!!
Anyway, it was a super nice day and I think I got a wee bit sunburnt.
Dustin called and said he made it safe back to Korea, so I'm happy about that. Not that he's in Korea, but that he's safe :)
We show up at Parelli at about 9:40 a.m. Oh my gosh!!! There are like 8 trees down! So I give Blue her breakfast and I put on my riding gloves to help drag tree branches. We worked with all the Parelli faculty and externs and more volunteers. Crazy how the trees roots are so shallow, it's like I coulda pushed them over!!! And a lot of them were hollow! But super tall trees at that. It's pretty sad to see a lot of them gone :( I guess it's time to start planting some! It was perfect before the storm, if they get another storm it's going to start looking empty :( At about 12 there wasn't much more to be done without the big machines, so then I took Blue out.
Blue I had had a blast. She took me around and did all her things that she knew would get her some grain. She's a total one trick pony! Once she gets it, she wants to do it over, and over, and over again! She understood I wanted 4 feet in the water, so that's what I got, 4 feet and then she'd turn and come back out and get grain. She did this about 15 times! Then she took me to the carwash and went through it at liberty about 30 times! Grab a cookie and turn around and do it again. She is so stinking funny!
I also took her up on the hill for a workout. we did traveling circles at the trot and canter. It's funny, the more she canter the more uncomfortable she gets. If I don't have her check in then she starts getting worried. But we worked through it and she blew out and was my little Blue Bug again. She really doesn't enjoy getting worked up! And the girl is hard to get sweaty!
This week we get to ride :)::):):):):) Woohoo, now we can really canter all over the place :):):):):):) Woohoo, less running for me!!
Anyway, it was a super nice day and I think I got a wee bit sunburnt.
Dustin called and said he made it safe back to Korea, so I'm happy about that. Not that he's in Korea, but that he's safe :)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sticky Saturday!
Today was hot and muggy! Ugh..... And now it's all windy and pretending it's going to be all stormy, but no sign of rain yet!
Today I took Blue out in the enchanted at liberty again. I asked Julia if it was ok, so I wouldn't get in trouble. She stuck to me, so I was really happy about that. We just roamed around and did little things here and there. Nothing too exciting really, just fun to watch what she comes up with. She did take off in a little jog and I was like, OH SHIT! But she took me to the water pond and offered to put 4 feet in :) For the rest she walked over some poles, went in the trailer again, got up on the big square sand jump thingy, and just little lots of cute things. Pretty much more of the same. I can tell she likes liberty much better because she always pulls the rope out of my hands when I have her attached to it, it's funny.
She did ignore me once today when she found some really good grass and was not hiding her hiney and coming over, so I decided I would put the halter on, before I really delivered a phase 4. I crouched down and sure enough, nothing, so WHACK!! and ta-da! she was fixed, hahah, the little monster! She loves to see if I'll really follow through. A lot of the time I don't, but that's because she responds, yes, a little slower then I would like, but in the end, I still get what I hoped for.
Oh and then Linda came by on Remmer and all I could think to say is, Hi! For real, my mind went blank after that!!! So so much for small chit chat. I told Kelly she just missed linda and she said, "What did you say to her?" Ahhhhh, nothing! She said, "You could have asked her how her ride went!" Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, right, yeah, that would have been a good one. Man, i'm so socially moronic at times!
That's about all for now. Going to give her a little more snacks for tonight and head home to watch a movie or something.
Today I took Blue out in the enchanted at liberty again. I asked Julia if it was ok, so I wouldn't get in trouble. She stuck to me, so I was really happy about that. We just roamed around and did little things here and there. Nothing too exciting really, just fun to watch what she comes up with. She did take off in a little jog and I was like, OH SHIT! But she took me to the water pond and offered to put 4 feet in :) For the rest she walked over some poles, went in the trailer again, got up on the big square sand jump thingy, and just little lots of cute things. Pretty much more of the same. I can tell she likes liberty much better because she always pulls the rope out of my hands when I have her attached to it, it's funny.
She did ignore me once today when she found some really good grass and was not hiding her hiney and coming over, so I decided I would put the halter on, before I really delivered a phase 4. I crouched down and sure enough, nothing, so WHACK!! and ta-da! she was fixed, hahah, the little monster! She loves to see if I'll really follow through. A lot of the time I don't, but that's because she responds, yes, a little slower then I would like, but in the end, I still get what I hoped for.
Oh and then Linda came by on Remmer and all I could think to say is, Hi! For real, my mind went blank after that!!! So so much for small chit chat. I told Kelly she just missed linda and she said, "What did you say to her?" Ahhhhh, nothing! She said, "You could have asked her how her ride went!" Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, right, yeah, that would have been a good one. Man, i'm so socially moronic at times!
That's about all for now. Going to give her a little more snacks for tonight and head home to watch a movie or something.
Savvy Spotlight
I'm here at the Parelli center on Saturday morning so that Blue can get some food in her belly. Then I'm going to let her run in the big arena with Rein and then we're going to go check out Ocala and all the tack stores. Blue's been eating wood, so I've been told that she's lacking copper. I'm going to try and add some seaweed to her diet, so we'll see how that goes. Then later on in the afternoon I'll come back here to play with her some more. So gets so dang bored in her stall, even though it's pretty big and there's lots to look at.
Well, yesterday was a treat :) I got to try a savvy spotlight practise with 10 other people in front of the faculty that was around and the rest of the students. I was 9th on the list, so I had to wait about 30 minutes before it was my turn. In that time Blue just molested me the entire time. She played with the rope, the carrot stick, my hat, a faculty member, non stop messing with everything. But it was fine, we were just hanging out.
Then it was my turn and I was a little worried. We've been going into the round pen everyday and it has become a habit to lay down first. Sometimes it takes longer then others for her to find the right spot. So I was worried that it may take her 3 minutes, the entire song time that I had, to find a nice comfy spot. So that would have sucked. Luckily she was AWESOME! We walked in and within three seconds she was laying down :) I gave her some grain, sat on her back, and then got up to ask her to stand. Of course she looked at me like that was not near enough grain, but after a couple of secs she joined me. The rest of the savvy spotlight is on my facebook video's, and the 2nd view point is on my youtube page. It doesn't seem to want to load on facebook :(
Anyway, point of the story is, Blue is awesome. We did laying down, stick to me with walk/trot/stop/backing up, the pedestal, little bit of accidental sideways, spin to the left, spin to the right, trot to me, back by the tail, mount by neck, dismount by butt, and bow, I think that's it, all at liberty. She was awesome!!! There were only a few instances that we lost a little communication, but she caught right back on when I asked a little clearer. She was adorable :)
The rest of the day we just kinda hung out and played. It was fun :) Next week I get to ride :):):)
Then we went out with the girls and two of the guys in our class. It was hilarious. We did some line dancing, some booty dancing, and some country dancing. Oh, and I rode the bull! Which is fricking awesome fun!!! I rode it twice and then the operator made me come back and ride it backwards, hahahaha. The first time I rode it with no hands because it just seemed awkward to hold your arm in that position, but the second time I toyed with me, holding on and then releasing and seeing what I liked best. Anyway, it was super fun, and I want one for my birthday! Haha! It was fun to have that many girls out all dancing around, i'm so lucky to have such an awesome group to hang out with!
That's all for today, i'm going to let Blue stretch her legs!
Well, yesterday was a treat :) I got to try a savvy spotlight practise with 10 other people in front of the faculty that was around and the rest of the students. I was 9th on the list, so I had to wait about 30 minutes before it was my turn. In that time Blue just molested me the entire time. She played with the rope, the carrot stick, my hat, a faculty member, non stop messing with everything. But it was fine, we were just hanging out.
Then it was my turn and I was a little worried. We've been going into the round pen everyday and it has become a habit to lay down first. Sometimes it takes longer then others for her to find the right spot. So I was worried that it may take her 3 minutes, the entire song time that I had, to find a nice comfy spot. So that would have sucked. Luckily she was AWESOME! We walked in and within three seconds she was laying down :) I gave her some grain, sat on her back, and then got up to ask her to stand. Of course she looked at me like that was not near enough grain, but after a couple of secs she joined me. The rest of the savvy spotlight is on my facebook video's, and the 2nd view point is on my youtube page. It doesn't seem to want to load on facebook :(
Anyway, point of the story is, Blue is awesome. We did laying down, stick to me with walk/trot/stop/backing up, the pedestal, little bit of accidental sideways, spin to the left, spin to the right, trot to me, back by the tail, mount by neck, dismount by butt, and bow, I think that's it, all at liberty. She was awesome!!! There were only a few instances that we lost a little communication, but she caught right back on when I asked a little clearer. She was adorable :)
The rest of the day we just kinda hung out and played. It was fun :) Next week I get to ride :):):)
Then we went out with the girls and two of the guys in our class. It was hilarious. We did some line dancing, some booty dancing, and some country dancing. Oh, and I rode the bull! Which is fricking awesome fun!!! I rode it twice and then the operator made me come back and ride it backwards, hahahaha. The first time I rode it with no hands because it just seemed awkward to hold your arm in that position, but the second time I toyed with me, holding on and then releasing and seeing what I liked best. Anyway, it was super fun, and I want one for my birthday! Haha! It was fun to have that many girls out all dancing around, i'm so lucky to have such an awesome group to hang out with!
That's all for today, i'm going to let Blue stretch her legs!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
An oh boy moment!!
So last night after I wrote my blog Blue and I went for a walk in the enchanted forest at liberty (Blue is loose), there's a fence that surrounds the area, but it's about 10 acres or so. Anyway, we strolled around and she was real sweet and stuck with me the entire time. Sometimes she'd let herself fall behind and then she'd come flying to come catch up to me again. We grazed some at the back and strolled back again. We came by the pedestal and she got up on it and so I gave her a cookie. Well, seeing she got a cookie for that she went and loaded herself in the trailer, hahahahah! So now I really have a self loading pony :) It was a nice night.
Then today, we did our morning routine of going to lay down in the roundpen while I fed her grain. She basically brings me to the roundpen now! Then we learned about synchronizing, and taking leadership, and then letting the horse take the leadership.
In the afternoon I went to the Savvy Spotlight remuda, but before that I took her to the roundpen to do some practising. Well, that's where I made the mistake. I decided at that time that I was not going to give Blue as many grain treats, I was not going to let her turn and face me for grain treats, and last I was not going to let her bring her shoulder in to me to come stand next to me. Well, big mistake! By the end of that roundpen session she really didn't care so much for me :( It wasn't that dramatic, but she definetly let me know that her feelings were seriously hurt!!! Her shoulder moving in is her comfort, so I don't think I'm going to push her away really anymore. She asked much more politely after I told her not to do it. And she's being better about the grain as well.
But the problem was, we had to go put on a savvy spotlight! So we had 4 people at a time with a bunch of people watching. The 4 people had to play with their horses for a song. Well, my draw was basically half broken. She was coming in, but it wasn't like it was the day before. And she was doing half of what I asked her. So I just kept it light and easy and just took what she offered. 3 minutes is really to short to do much of anything anyways. But it was fun, and I learned not to be hard on my pony.
So tonight I went into the enchanted forest again and we played a bit at liberty. At one point she saw another horse and trotted off and left me, hahah. But when I got about 100 feet from her I whistled and she came cantering back to as if to say, what took you so long! So then I played with her on the 45 and was practising cantering out there by herself. WOW, did we have a RBE moment! First it started with a simple buck in one "corner", then the next time she went around it was another buck, added by another one a couple of feet further. Then the third time she really got creeped out and had a little rodeo, and then she went completely peppe le pew crazy tearing around. So I watched her for a bit, because I don't get to see it very often, it was cute! Then she was really getting crazy and just running as fast as she could, so I decided it better be time to interrupt the pattern before she's hurt. She was still there because she turned and cantered towards me and snorted right in my face, a couple of times! hahaha! Then I send her and did some falling leaf and that was fun!!!! I never get to deal with a right brain anymore, so it was fun!!!!!!! But not good for her, so I got her to settle down. Then she really stuck to me!!! After she caught her breath I send her out on the canter again and she controlled herself :)
On our stroll back we stood on the pedestal again and she loaded herself again. Then I asked her to load up again and she did so I was able to get to the front of the trailer and give her some grain. Then she took me to the roundpen because she wanted to lay down and eat some grain again, hahah. It's her new trick now. I wonder if I should keep her out of the roundpen tomorrow until my savvy spotlight, haha, because she'll want to lay down right away, hahah. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!
Then today, we did our morning routine of going to lay down in the roundpen while I fed her grain. She basically brings me to the roundpen now! Then we learned about synchronizing, and taking leadership, and then letting the horse take the leadership.
In the afternoon I went to the Savvy Spotlight remuda, but before that I took her to the roundpen to do some practising. Well, that's where I made the mistake. I decided at that time that I was not going to give Blue as many grain treats, I was not going to let her turn and face me for grain treats, and last I was not going to let her bring her shoulder in to me to come stand next to me. Well, big mistake! By the end of that roundpen session she really didn't care so much for me :( It wasn't that dramatic, but she definetly let me know that her feelings were seriously hurt!!! Her shoulder moving in is her comfort, so I don't think I'm going to push her away really anymore. She asked much more politely after I told her not to do it. And she's being better about the grain as well.
But the problem was, we had to go put on a savvy spotlight! So we had 4 people at a time with a bunch of people watching. The 4 people had to play with their horses for a song. Well, my draw was basically half broken. She was coming in, but it wasn't like it was the day before. And she was doing half of what I asked her. So I just kept it light and easy and just took what she offered. 3 minutes is really to short to do much of anything anyways. But it was fun, and I learned not to be hard on my pony.
So tonight I went into the enchanted forest again and we played a bit at liberty. At one point she saw another horse and trotted off and left me, hahah. But when I got about 100 feet from her I whistled and she came cantering back to as if to say, what took you so long! So then I played with her on the 45 and was practising cantering out there by herself. WOW, did we have a RBE moment! First it started with a simple buck in one "corner", then the next time she went around it was another buck, added by another one a couple of feet further. Then the third time she really got creeped out and had a little rodeo, and then she went completely peppe le pew crazy tearing around. So I watched her for a bit, because I don't get to see it very often, it was cute! Then she was really getting crazy and just running as fast as she could, so I decided it better be time to interrupt the pattern before she's hurt. She was still there because she turned and cantered towards me and snorted right in my face, a couple of times! hahaha! Then I send her and did some falling leaf and that was fun!!!! I never get to deal with a right brain anymore, so it was fun!!!!!!! But not good for her, so I got her to settle down. Then she really stuck to me!!! After she caught her breath I send her out on the canter again and she controlled herself :)
On our stroll back we stood on the pedestal again and she loaded herself again. Then I asked her to load up again and she did so I was able to get to the front of the trailer and give her some grain. Then she took me to the roundpen because she wanted to lay down and eat some grain again, hahah. It's her new trick now. I wonder if I should keep her out of the roundpen tomorrow until my savvy spotlight, haha, because she'll want to lay down right away, hahah. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Nothing but smiles :):):):):):):)
Ok, another awesome day. I really can't help it. Maybe my positive attitude is clouding my vision!
Anyway, this morning Blue and I did our morning routine now of laying down a bit. Then a little liberty play with walk trot canter stick to me, on a small circle. She does pin her ears at the canter, but I don't know if it's because she's concentrating so hard, or because she's pissed off. She could leave, because it's at liberty................hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Anyway, today was horse/personality day again. I joined the LBI and I definetly fit in there as well. Especially with someone telling me what to do, instead of asking me! I will do everything in my power to not do it, just because someone told me to! And then coming home to unwind after a busy day. Dustin is still reeling at this point and still needs to unwind, but as soon as I enter the door I want to get on the couch and CHILL! Even after we've gone out partying, he wants to turn on the music and start cooking and all I want to do is hop into my warm bed. I love knowing about these horse/personality charts. They just explain so much! I'm dissecting everyone I know now!
And of course our horse conga's were tons of fun. We practised spins and change of directions.
So I got my Blue bug and we moseyed our way up the hill. Did a little trot, walked way out behind her and focused on the trailer and she jsut walked right on in and waited for her grain snack. This focus thing is seriously start to work now. I mean, I was like 15 to 20 feet behind her and she went right in!!:)
Then I went into the round pen and played with the draw again. Once the draw was at a good place, which took about 6 tried for her to really come cantering/trotting in, then we could move on the change of direction. So we did change of directions at a trot and ofcourse she remembered it all from yesterday and just started to offer after I reminded her once that that was what we were doing! I seriously have the smartest little mare, and she does not like it when she's wrong!!! So then I tried figure 8's at the canter and that went pretty well, sometimes she'd drop to a trot, but would pick it up right away again. Pretty flying lead changes :)
Next it was trying to start the spins, with the two different methods. One was starting with the drive zone 1, and then other was starting with a draw first. Well I started with a drive and first she just wanted to sidepass so I had to help her move her nose a bit more around and then I ran to the other side of her to let her know she was perfectly correct by doing so! Well, ofcourse when I told her it was right, that was it, she had it! and as soon as she brought her zone 1 around I was there to draw her back in and send her in the opposite direction! It was so cool! It totally worked!!!
I did both directions at a walk, and then moved out of my round corral and just did at liberty in the honeycomb, so that added a little more fun because there were other horses in there with their owners. Blue was a champ and stuck with me. And if she did walk just a wee bit too far away I would whistle and she would come right back to me :)
So then I tried the other spin where you draw them towards you first and then send them, and it worked too :) I was a little nervous because if I sent out too much energy she could have left me, but she was awesome!! So we did those a couple of times until she really got it and then we got off of it!!!! :):):)
Oh Oh, I got a great tip from Avery. What I didn't realize that I was doing was when I was drawing her in my body had the attitude of game over! Well, this draw is not supposed the have the attitude of game over, but of come to me and be ready to do something else! So I REALLY have to watch that now!!!
Then we grazed for some time and chitchatted with whomever was close by and spend some quality time. Ofcourse I wanted to push my luck just a little more and I tried a spin at a trot, hehe, and it worked :) So I really left it after that one!!! She is just the best horse.
Oh another thing I discovered is that Blue was a RBI!!! When I filled out the chart I had dots in all the other three quadrants, but zero in the RBI. But as I got deeper into it and starting thinking back when I had just gotten her, and remembered how patient I had to be with her, because she always wanted to check everything out before she was ready to move on, I was basically doing RBI strategies. But now she doesn't really have any of the worry qualities unless we start something new and I don't take it slow enough. If I help her just the right amount she never gets overwhelmed and she just flies through all the new tasks. But if I go to quickly then she'll get really frustrated with me and herself for not understanding. So, huge lightbulb in my head!!! I never even looked at her like that anymore, because she has all the other qualities on the horsenality scale, in LBI/LBE/RBE when she wants to have a little fun.
Anyway, so all is well. I'm having a SUPER blast and every day is totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!
I really miss Toby, my gelding, because he's a RBE/LBE and he would have so much fun here! I would like for him to have the same experience. He would just love all the things they have to offer here!
Now I'm going to go for my evening stroll with Blue :)
Anyway, this morning Blue and I did our morning routine now of laying down a bit. Then a little liberty play with walk trot canter stick to me, on a small circle. She does pin her ears at the canter, but I don't know if it's because she's concentrating so hard, or because she's pissed off. She could leave, because it's at liberty................hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Anyway, today was horse/personality day again. I joined the LBI and I definetly fit in there as well. Especially with someone telling me what to do, instead of asking me! I will do everything in my power to not do it, just because someone told me to! And then coming home to unwind after a busy day. Dustin is still reeling at this point and still needs to unwind, but as soon as I enter the door I want to get on the couch and CHILL! Even after we've gone out partying, he wants to turn on the music and start cooking and all I want to do is hop into my warm bed. I love knowing about these horse/personality charts. They just explain so much! I'm dissecting everyone I know now!
And of course our horse conga's were tons of fun. We practised spins and change of directions.
So I got my Blue bug and we moseyed our way up the hill. Did a little trot, walked way out behind her and focused on the trailer and she jsut walked right on in and waited for her grain snack. This focus thing is seriously start to work now. I mean, I was like 15 to 20 feet behind her and she went right in!!:)
Then I went into the round pen and played with the draw again. Once the draw was at a good place, which took about 6 tried for her to really come cantering/trotting in, then we could move on the change of direction. So we did change of directions at a trot and ofcourse she remembered it all from yesterday and just started to offer after I reminded her once that that was what we were doing! I seriously have the smartest little mare, and she does not like it when she's wrong!!! So then I tried figure 8's at the canter and that went pretty well, sometimes she'd drop to a trot, but would pick it up right away again. Pretty flying lead changes :)
Next it was trying to start the spins, with the two different methods. One was starting with the drive zone 1, and then other was starting with a draw first. Well I started with a drive and first she just wanted to sidepass so I had to help her move her nose a bit more around and then I ran to the other side of her to let her know she was perfectly correct by doing so! Well, ofcourse when I told her it was right, that was it, she had it! and as soon as she brought her zone 1 around I was there to draw her back in and send her in the opposite direction! It was so cool! It totally worked!!!
I did both directions at a walk, and then moved out of my round corral and just did at liberty in the honeycomb, so that added a little more fun because there were other horses in there with their owners. Blue was a champ and stuck with me. And if she did walk just a wee bit too far away I would whistle and she would come right back to me :)
So then I tried the other spin where you draw them towards you first and then send them, and it worked too :) I was a little nervous because if I sent out too much energy she could have left me, but she was awesome!! So we did those a couple of times until she really got it and then we got off of it!!!! :):):)
Oh Oh, I got a great tip from Avery. What I didn't realize that I was doing was when I was drawing her in my body had the attitude of game over! Well, this draw is not supposed the have the attitude of game over, but of come to me and be ready to do something else! So I REALLY have to watch that now!!!
Then we grazed for some time and chitchatted with whomever was close by and spend some quality time. Ofcourse I wanted to push my luck just a little more and I tried a spin at a trot, hehe, and it worked :) So I really left it after that one!!! She is just the best horse.
Oh another thing I discovered is that Blue was a RBI!!! When I filled out the chart I had dots in all the other three quadrants, but zero in the RBI. But as I got deeper into it and starting thinking back when I had just gotten her, and remembered how patient I had to be with her, because she always wanted to check everything out before she was ready to move on, I was basically doing RBI strategies. But now she doesn't really have any of the worry qualities unless we start something new and I don't take it slow enough. If I help her just the right amount she never gets overwhelmed and she just flies through all the new tasks. But if I go to quickly then she'll get really frustrated with me and herself for not understanding. So, huge lightbulb in my head!!! I never even looked at her like that anymore, because she has all the other qualities on the horsenality scale, in LBI/LBE/RBE when she wants to have a little fun.
Anyway, so all is well. I'm having a SUPER blast and every day is totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!
I really miss Toby, my gelding, because he's a RBE/LBE and he would have so much fun here! I would like for him to have the same experience. He would just love all the things they have to offer here!
Now I'm going to go for my evening stroll with Blue :)
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