Ok this was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I did it anyway. The theme for August's Parellitube (Parelli's you tube channel) submission is the theme of partnership. I originally just had my hubby take the camera just so I could practice having it around on me, in preparation for my level 3 audition when we get that far. I also thought it would be nice to re-learn how to make videos and edit because it's been so long since I have done that.
Partnership is such a wonderful thing, especially between a horse and a human. We aren't hard wired to act like horses, we are predators. And this can lead to some very frustrating problems with horses. Every day problems that until I discovered Parelli seemed impossible to fix.
This is a theme that just fit Duck and I so well! We've been partners now for almost 3 years. Only the last year and a half have I been able to put more hours into the relationship. So it is slow and steady going for us.
Here are some things I love about our partnership!
I love the way my partner, Duck comes to meet me at the gate EVERY single time I come to see her. I know it is a small thing but how many times have you seen horses run away from being caught?
I love that instead of having an instructor yell at me to use my legs/hands/seat in a certain way, that I KNOW how and why I am using them, not just because the instructor said so! And how to build more on using subtle aids.
I have always wanted to ride bareback and bridle less, since WAY before Parelli. I just couldn't figure out how to get there!
I love that I feel safe enough to put my kids up on Duck. I will say that even a year ago I didn't. She was still quite spooky at foreign things. But with all the progress and relationship building we have done through PNH it just keeps getting better every day!
I don't expect to be chosen for the submission and that is OK with me. It was more than outside my comfort zone for me to submit it and put it up here, too. I did find out that I get a copy of the UK celebration DVD for submitting it which is fantastic!
Guess what horsenality I am?
So drumroll please.....
I think it turned out pretty good! What do you think?
And here is my out takes video. I had about 30 minutes of footage, not everything would fit onto the limit of 3 minutes of video plus some funny stuff.
Funny, isn't it? :)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday Night Latta Trail Ride
Ah the wonderful Tuesday night summer trail ride at Latta! I haven't been in a few weeks, one time the weather decided we didn't need to ride, the next week Niels decided he needed to work late. Ah, but it was worth the wait!
As I have been trying to do I played mostly on the ground in the morning to gear up for the trail ride in the evening. That way, I know we've been on the same page before I load up and head out to the trail. We played with the weave on the 22ft line using barrels that were layed down. Funny thing is near the end she offered to jump one, and I said "sure" let's just jump all 4 in a row! She did and I think she felt very smart for it, too!
We loaded up around 5:30pm, and my 8 year old, Christian, loaded Duck onto the trailer. She's becoming quite the champ at traveling! To the point that I can hardly believe that we ever had trailer loading issues at all. Up she goes, straight on in, and stands patiently for me to do the butt bar up and come around and clip her in. My 5 year old got a bit hasty and tried to load Eli before Duck bar was up. She squeeled, and kind of bumped the divider, but didn't try to back out! Yippee!
Did I mention it was HOT. Really hot. 93 but feels like 100 hot, which for this trail ride worked in my favor! We got there, and the horses were already sweating up a storm! Saddled up, moved her around a bit and then sent her to a bench for me to mount. She came right up and we rode on out of the parking lot.
I know that sound pretty boring riding out of the parking lot, but it was huge! In fact, this was the very first time that we had ridden out of the parking lot ( minus a couple non-savvy rides on my part where I should have 2 years ago). Before this ride I had always driven her from zone 3 out of the parking lot to make sure she was ready to ride. She was calm, she even led for quite a bit! Another huge success for us!
And then, to top it all off, we cantered! Four times (not for too long since it was hot). And once she even led! WOW, WOW, WOW! She cantered like a champ and felt totally in sync, and had brakes to boot! I could not of asked for anything more. So you see, the heat played into my favor for cantering, but it was well worth it. We all had a wonderful, warm, relaxing fun trail ride that did feel a bit cooler in the shade of the trees.
I've had this conversation with a bunch of my horse friends. It seems like all foundation work I have been trying so hard to get going well is finally starting to gel. And I am REALLY liking it! I am not saying it hasn't been hard to be patient. I've wanted to trail ride so much in the past but the few times we did go out it was obvious we weren't ready. I can see the difference now, and I wouldn't trade that for anything!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Playin' in the Heat and Playin' with the Truth
So this week has been wonderful! My boys have been at camp at the YMCA this week, all day long! That is a first for me, no kiddos around especially for that long. So I've been spending lots of time at the barn with Duck!
Of course it has been really, really hot, especially today but that isn't going to stop me!
This week my friend Liz and I trailered out for a trail ride at Anne Springs Close Greenway. This was a very fun place with some real hills and trails and Duck went like a champ the whole way. Trailered well, too. I sent her up and right in she went both directions of the trip! There were deer in the woods that she just watched quite curiously, a rickety and narrow bridge that we crossed and later out found out we weren't supposed to be on that trail, and even riding through the Kudzu forest! We kept joking that we shouldn't stop to take pictures because we might get grown over in Kudzu!
Yesterday I was lucky enough to audit a friends' private lesson with 3* Parelli instructor Dan Thompson. What an eye opening experience. He has a wonderful gift of teaching just what is needed and explaining so well using lots of simulations etc. I learned so much!
Today though was priceless. I went and rode this morning which wasn't a super great session but did end well. Still playing with getting Duck to relax and not feel like she has to go so FAST all the time. So played with that but then left, had lunch with the hubby and came back for more fun in the sun!
I decided to test out our "truth." Pat Parelli says that when you take all the ropes off that all that is left is the truth. It's hard for me because it isn't our greatest savvy, Duck is very unconfident, she loves the rope there to hold her hand. And quite honestly things generally go south when at liberty for us. We have a decent stick to me but that is about it. Try and send her anywhere and she is GONE! But, I have been playing with increasing draw online to counter the GONE factor and I would say today went fairly well. The figure 8 has been a big challenge for us at liberty. It's also one of those things I need to be able to do at liberty for my level 3 audition. So we played with it today and had twice where she went GONE when sending her around the cone, but I tried to stick with it and get her back, and it seemed to work. We got 2-3 nicer figure 8's at liberty in the round corral. Then I figured what the hey, might as well ride a bit bareback and bridle less in the round corral. Duck doesn't have near as much "go" in the round corral and I had already ridden her a few hours earlier. Fantastic! Walk/trot/backup and figure 8 at the walk. I was super pleased!
Then I hopped off and wondered since she trailer loaded so well for the trail ride if she really is getting confident or if I am "making" her load while she is online. We played stick to me from the round corral all the way over to where Liz's trailer was parked which is a decent walk. I opened the back, sent her across the ramp (with a nice bring back I may add), then asked her to load up, and she did it perfect all the way in and stayed there until I backed her out by the tail. YIPPEE! I was grinning ear to ear!!
I've been playing a bit more stick to me out around the property with a savvy string on her neck for a safety net, and it has been going pretty good considering how much grass I have to contend with! From letting her graze in the field she will leave the grass and come to me generally from about 20 ft away which is great progress for us!
So I have one more day of fun in the sun tomorrow and I plan to enjoy it with Duck!
Of course it has been really, really hot, especially today but that isn't going to stop me!
This week my friend Liz and I trailered out for a trail ride at Anne Springs Close Greenway. This was a very fun place with some real hills and trails and Duck went like a champ the whole way. Trailered well, too. I sent her up and right in she went both directions of the trip! There were deer in the woods that she just watched quite curiously, a rickety and narrow bridge that we crossed and later out found out we weren't supposed to be on that trail, and even riding through the Kudzu forest! We kept joking that we shouldn't stop to take pictures because we might get grown over in Kudzu!
Yesterday I was lucky enough to audit a friends' private lesson with 3* Parelli instructor Dan Thompson. What an eye opening experience. He has a wonderful gift of teaching just what is needed and explaining so well using lots of simulations etc. I learned so much!
Today though was priceless. I went and rode this morning which wasn't a super great session but did end well. Still playing with getting Duck to relax and not feel like she has to go so FAST all the time. So played with that but then left, had lunch with the hubby and came back for more fun in the sun!
I decided to test out our "truth." Pat Parelli says that when you take all the ropes off that all that is left is the truth. It's hard for me because it isn't our greatest savvy, Duck is very unconfident, she loves the rope there to hold her hand. And quite honestly things generally go south when at liberty for us. We have a decent stick to me but that is about it. Try and send her anywhere and she is GONE! But, I have been playing with increasing draw online to counter the GONE factor and I would say today went fairly well. The figure 8 has been a big challenge for us at liberty. It's also one of those things I need to be able to do at liberty for my level 3 audition. So we played with it today and had twice where she went GONE when sending her around the cone, but I tried to stick with it and get her back, and it seemed to work. We got 2-3 nicer figure 8's at liberty in the round corral. Then I figured what the hey, might as well ride a bit bareback and bridle less in the round corral. Duck doesn't have near as much "go" in the round corral and I had already ridden her a few hours earlier. Fantastic! Walk/trot/backup and figure 8 at the walk. I was super pleased!
Then I hopped off and wondered since she trailer loaded so well for the trail ride if she really is getting confident or if I am "making" her load while she is online. We played stick to me from the round corral all the way over to where Liz's trailer was parked which is a decent walk. I opened the back, sent her across the ramp (with a nice bring back I may add), then asked her to load up, and she did it perfect all the way in and stayed there until I backed her out by the tail. YIPPEE! I was grinning ear to ear!!
I've been playing a bit more stick to me out around the property with a savvy string on her neck for a safety net, and it has been going pretty good considering how much grass I have to contend with! From letting her graze in the field she will leave the grass and come to me generally from about 20 ft away which is great progress for us!
So I have one more day of fun in the sun tomorrow and I plan to enjoy it with Duck!
Monday, July 12, 2010
It's not the knee
So after having the vet out yet again, we have determined that it is not Duck's knee that is giving her pain. It is still in the hoof. It's good that it isn't the knee, but it is bad in that it is another round of unknown slight grade lameness and that it has been off and on now for over a year. The vet says it may be navicular syndrome and for starters we are going to try putting shoes on her front feet to see if lifting her up off the ground helps. She goes so much nicer on the soft sand, so it is very apparent that with trail riding and such that she is going to need the extra lift of the shoe to make her more comfortable beyond the boots that I have been using to protect her feet. At this point I am up for trying about anything!
Beyond that though things have been going well. I didn't get to play with her over the weekend but headed out today.
But before I get to today's session I want to tell you what I did last week.
Trail ride! Yippee! Duck trailered very well and we rode on the trails for about an hour and a half with friends. She was SO good, even wanted to lead some of the way. And when a tree fell in the woods and was VERY loud (I thought it was a gunshot) She just tensed and didn't even try to go anywhere. All the horses were worried about that, but they all did very well. I was so proud of her! Even ended the ride by standing up on her
The chiropractor was also out last week for Duck. Her shoulders were a bit jammed up, which doesn't surprise me. Other than a few vertebrae here and there that were out though, she was in pretty good shape! That same day while a friend and I were talking with the chiropractor I was letting Duck graze. Well one of the guys at the barn came around by Duck with the really noisy tractor holding an 900 lb bale of hay in the front of it. I tried to tell him to stop but he kept coming closer to Duck and I knew she was going to spook. She took off with the 12ft line still attached and I figured she was going to run all the way back to her barn which is a ways. But I went after her and she only went about 4-5 strides before she turned back around to face the tractor, and me and then came right back to me. I was thrilled!
We have also been playing with the figure 8 a little on the 22ft line, playing with increasing our draw. So I send her out around the cone and bring her right back. At first she was very unconfident to come back. This was very revealing to me of how unconfident she can be about things. But repetition and lots of rest in between has really helped. Now we will be moving on to the whole figure 8 which is what i did today.
One whole figure 8. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult, but it seems to have eluded me after much play in this area. How do I know? Well if liberty is the truth then Duck was telling me that only the line was keeping her from leaving and that she really didn't know the pattern. So, I am breaking it down, and then going to rebuild it, hopefully stronger and better and with her feeling like she doesn't need to go away just to do a figure 8.
We also rode today and even got in some nice cantering. Some not so nice cantering the second time, but the first time was good. If I could just figure out what it is I am doing or not doing that is adding to the inconsistency that would be great. But most of the time we are going well for increasing lengths and that is huge progress!
Beyond that though things have been going well. I didn't get to play with her over the weekend but headed out today.
But before I get to today's session I want to tell you what I did last week.
Trail ride! Yippee! Duck trailered very well and we rode on the trails for about an hour and a half with friends. She was SO good, even wanted to lead some of the way. And when a tree fell in the woods and was VERY loud (I thought it was a gunshot) She just tensed and didn't even try to go anywhere. All the horses were worried about that, but they all did very well. I was so proud of her! Even ended the ride by standing up on her
The chiropractor was also out last week for Duck. Her shoulders were a bit jammed up, which doesn't surprise me. Other than a few vertebrae here and there that were out though, she was in pretty good shape! That same day while a friend and I were talking with the chiropractor I was letting Duck graze. Well one of the guys at the barn came around by Duck with the really noisy tractor holding an 900 lb bale of hay in the front of it. I tried to tell him to stop but he kept coming closer to Duck and I knew she was going to spook. She took off with the 12ft line still attached and I figured she was going to run all the way back to her barn which is a ways. But I went after her and she only went about 4-5 strides before she turned back around to face the tractor, and me and then came right back to me. I was thrilled!
We have also been playing with the figure 8 a little on the 22ft line, playing with increasing our draw. So I send her out around the cone and bring her right back. At first she was very unconfident to come back. This was very revealing to me of how unconfident she can be about things. But repetition and lots of rest in between has really helped. Now we will be moving on to the whole figure 8 which is what i did today.
One whole figure 8. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult, but it seems to have eluded me after much play in this area. How do I know? Well if liberty is the truth then Duck was telling me that only the line was keeping her from leaving and that she really didn't know the pattern. So, I am breaking it down, and then going to rebuild it, hopefully stronger and better and with her feeling like she doesn't need to go away just to do a figure 8.
We also rode today and even got in some nice cantering. Some not so nice cantering the second time, but the first time was good. If I could just figure out what it is I am doing or not doing that is adding to the inconsistency that would be great. But most of the time we are going well for increasing lengths and that is huge progress!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Undemanding Time
Today I spent over an hour just hanging out with Duck, doing undemanding time. We've been doing a lot lately and I realized I need to give her some more lovin' time! I tried to stay in her turnout pen, but between her and her pasture buddy Oakie, they don't like to leave me alone. Duck asked me to scratch her favorite itchy spot, her butt, so I did. I scratched and scratched all her itchy spots for a good 20 minutes. I got her halter and off we went to graze her favorite spot, the clover by the arena. The hayfield usually is where we go to graze, but it is still real short from being cut a week or so ago. We just hung out in the clover patch and I just let her graze for nearly an hour.
She gets so many flies on her, especially her face, so I did a second try on the fly mask since I first got her 3 years ago and couldn't keep one on her. Well, I found it in the pasture morning. She just doesn't like to wear fly masks even though the flies are so bad they are making her eyes tear and get somewhat goopy. And that is with me wiping fly spray around her eyes, ears, and face!
I tried putting it on again today, we'll see if it makes it until tomorrow. I may just take it off her later tonight if it is still on. Maybe then she won't feel like she needs to rub it off.
There's an idea...
She gets so many flies on her, especially her face, so I did a second try on the fly mask since I first got her 3 years ago and couldn't keep one on her. Well, I found it in the pasture morning. She just doesn't like to wear fly masks even though the flies are so bad they are making her eyes tear and get somewhat goopy. And that is with me wiping fly spray around her eyes, ears, and face!
I tried putting it on again today, we'll see if it makes it until tomorrow. I may just take it off her later tonight if it is still on. Maybe then she won't feel like she needs to rub it off.
There's an idea...
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Playin' Around
So this week has been a lot of fun and quite a bit different for me! I've been getting up real early (the likes of 5:30 to 6ish) almost daily to get to the barn to play before the heat kicks in. With the heat index here topping 100 for several days in a row I was melting when finishing riding at 11am! It's been fun to say the least, and I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit with Duck.
Finally after almost 3 years, she is cantering online on the 22ft line. It's far from totally relaxed, but much improved on our former range of non-existent canter to raging dead gallop with lots of bucking and pulling my arm out of the socket.
For instance since last week, we've gone from 36+laps at the canter to the left (her easier direction) before getting a marked improvement in relaxation, rhythm, and contact, to yesterday about 12 laps to the right (which is her much harder, I'm going to yank the heck out of you, and crossfire to boot) direction. She is still fast while cantering, really fast at times, but most of the time after a few laps I am getting some slack in the line and to the right she is now more consistently picking up the right lead, and without cross-firing! She is also stopping dead in her tracks to ask questions occasionally which at least means she is checking in!
Cantering while riding, not near as good. Sometimes I wonder if we're just going to have to go the crazy fast you can canter until you want to relax route, but she can be SO unbalanced and heavy on the forehand I worry about us taking a spill which wouldn't be good for either of us. On the flip side though there have been a few days where I have gotten more than 1/2 lap with a very nice relaxed canter, both directions so I think that is a huge improvement!
We've also been playing around with the weave while riding and getting more relaxation at the trot. Can you tell that relaxation is on the agenda?
And the other fun in playin' around this week has been in playing with two of my friends' horses. On Tuesday I got to play with Melissa's horse Tucker. He is from my observation a LBE/LBI gaited Kentucky Mountain Horse. Ok, well I kind of stole him when I had seen her struggle so long over the course of a few months I couldn't stand it anymore with sideways and him running her over constantly. And like she said later in the session, she's so used to it that she didn't even notice! (even though I have mentioned the running over you thing to her before :) )To which my BFO is 'WOW" I am not the only one who's horse does stuff they shouldn't be and not notice it! LOL
Let's just say that I think an hour later things were much better although Wednesday morning my body did not quite agree with me. My arms do not appreciate being taken sand skiing even when in a power position (which I probably did not utilize enough), but well I just don't know that there was a way around it. Perhaps there was, but I certainly didn't have that arrow in my quiver to improve his attitude without some opposition. Tucker likes running the show and he didn't like my idea that he shouldn't be pulling my arm out of the socket constantly as a prerequisite to sideways! All in all though on Wednesday the two of them seemed very happy.
Yesterday I was able to play with and ride Liz's horse, Eli. He is a very well seasoned horse, also LBI. I learned so much from him! See I only have Duck to play with. Can only afford one horse, generally only have time to play with one horse anyway if I'm lucky. So there tends to be that comfort in the relationship of what is expected, how things go etc. Well Eli was a quick reminder not to be so complacent with other horses! I about got myself kicked playing the falling leaf by not sending him out enough sideways away from me. He REALLY likes to kick out! It took about 10 reps before he quit kicking out! WOW! Talk about an eye opener! He was just voicing his opinion that he didn't like the idea of yielding his shoulder! After we got on the same page I rode him for awhile. Liz had said I could borrow him to canter since Duck's canter is so inconsistent. Wow what a dream! I felt like I was if I'd been driving I would have been in the luxury SUV! It is amazing how so many miles and experience on a horse can teach a rider. He was wonderful! He seemed to enjoy my company as well because I tried to have Christian cool him out riding him and he didn't want to leave me. What a sweetie!
So that's been the week so far! Lots of BFO moments and lots of fun! Thanks so much to Melissa and Liz for letting me play with their wonderful partners!
Finally after almost 3 years, she is cantering online on the 22ft line. It's far from totally relaxed, but much improved on our former range of non-existent canter to raging dead gallop with lots of bucking and pulling my arm out of the socket.
For instance since last week, we've gone from 36+laps at the canter to the left (her easier direction) before getting a marked improvement in relaxation, rhythm, and contact, to yesterday about 12 laps to the right (which is her much harder, I'm going to yank the heck out of you, and crossfire to boot) direction. She is still fast while cantering, really fast at times, but most of the time after a few laps I am getting some slack in the line and to the right she is now more consistently picking up the right lead, and without cross-firing! She is also stopping dead in her tracks to ask questions occasionally which at least means she is checking in!
Cantering while riding, not near as good. Sometimes I wonder if we're just going to have to go the crazy fast you can canter until you want to relax route, but she can be SO unbalanced and heavy on the forehand I worry about us taking a spill which wouldn't be good for either of us. On the flip side though there have been a few days where I have gotten more than 1/2 lap with a very nice relaxed canter, both directions so I think that is a huge improvement!
We've also been playing around with the weave while riding and getting more relaxation at the trot. Can you tell that relaxation is on the agenda?
And the other fun in playin' around this week has been in playing with two of my friends' horses. On Tuesday I got to play with Melissa's horse Tucker. He is from my observation a LBE/LBI gaited Kentucky Mountain Horse. Ok, well I kind of stole him when I had seen her struggle so long over the course of a few months I couldn't stand it anymore with sideways and him running her over constantly. And like she said later in the session, she's so used to it that she didn't even notice! (even though I have mentioned the running over you thing to her before :) )To which my BFO is 'WOW" I am not the only one who's horse does stuff they shouldn't be and not notice it! LOL
Let's just say that I think an hour later things were much better although Wednesday morning my body did not quite agree with me. My arms do not appreciate being taken sand skiing even when in a power position (which I probably did not utilize enough), but well I just don't know that there was a way around it. Perhaps there was, but I certainly didn't have that arrow in my quiver to improve his attitude without some opposition. Tucker likes running the show and he didn't like my idea that he shouldn't be pulling my arm out of the socket constantly as a prerequisite to sideways! All in all though on Wednesday the two of them seemed very happy.
Yesterday I was able to play with and ride Liz's horse, Eli. He is a very well seasoned horse, also LBI. I learned so much from him! See I only have Duck to play with. Can only afford one horse, generally only have time to play with one horse anyway if I'm lucky. So there tends to be that comfort in the relationship of what is expected, how things go etc. Well Eli was a quick reminder not to be so complacent with other horses! I about got myself kicked playing the falling leaf by not sending him out enough sideways away from me. He REALLY likes to kick out! It took about 10 reps before he quit kicking out! WOW! Talk about an eye opener! He was just voicing his opinion that he didn't like the idea of yielding his shoulder! After we got on the same page I rode him for awhile. Liz had said I could borrow him to canter since Duck's canter is so inconsistent. Wow what a dream! I felt like I was if I'd been driving I would have been in the luxury SUV! It is amazing how so many miles and experience on a horse can teach a rider. He was wonderful! He seemed to enjoy my company as well because I tried to have Christian cool him out riding him and he didn't want to leave me. What a sweetie!
So that's been the week so far! Lots of BFO moments and lots of fun! Thanks so much to Melissa and Liz for letting me play with their wonderful partners!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Level 2/3 Camp at Carol Coppinger's Farm
I had the wonderful opportunity again this year to attend a 4 day level 2/3 camp at 5* Parelli Instructor Carol Coppinger's Farm near Nashville, Tennessee. It is about a 7 hour drive with the horse and this time the hubby and the kids didn't stay. I drove behind Niels in our car and followed him pulling the trailer.
4 days of uninterrupted horse time. Life does not get much better than that! We built on what we had done last year including more patterns such as the weave, circles, etc. We also did quite a bit of cantering, and simple lead changes. On day 4 we got an introduction to "the game of contact" which was a ton of fun! I hadn't ridden Duck much in a bridle, but had her in the cradle bridle (which she loves!) for this.
A lot of people (the clinic tends to be the same group year after year) including Carol said we were looking pretty good and that we had made headway from last year, so that was nice to hear. I feel like we've accomplished quite a bit but of course not near as much as I would like!
We did so much it would be too much to list it all, but as usual Carol exceeded all my expectations and we made lots of positive progress. Duck did come up lame again on the last day, in her left knee again, so it is going to be x-rays to check it out. I am hoping it is nothing serious, and part of me wonders why it keeps showing up and this time after more than 4 days of harder work. Prior to the clinic I had trail ridden her and she had been turned out and ran pretty hard in the arena.
What is really interesting is that I used the red light treatment on it at Carol's but didn't ride after I got her home, and today she was quite zippy and seemed pretty good. That was mostly at liberty in the round pen though, so we will see how she looks on the 22ft tomorrow.
Of course the clinic was so good, I had to sign up for next year!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
On the Mend
So since I posted last a couple weeks ago Duck has been pretty much on rest. The day after my post the vet came out to do shots, teeth etc, and I wanted her to check out Duck's left knee. She had whacked it pretty hard a couple of times on her stall door back in January before I got her stall guard. Why would she whack it? Well to get to the grass of course! She figured out that if she leaned into the door with her chest and then whacked her leg against it (probably several times) she could pop the screws on the latch and get out to happily graze the hay field. I can't say I blame her. At that time the horses were in their stalls a lot (more than I like her to be) with the sloppy and cold weather.
So it hadn't fully healed or something else was going on so I had the vet do a lameness exam. She scared me again by using the "n" word, fearing that since the lameness was in the same area, the left front that it might be Navicular changes in the foot. YIKES! The vet was VERY surprised then when she did knee flexion and Duck came up extremely sore on that knee. WHEW! Anyway that meant time off, 15 days to be exact and bute (horsey aspirin).
So now we are coming off her rest time and we've pretty much just been walking. I started with hand walking and now am riding at the walk, and trotting on the straightaways sometimes. She offered a canter towards the hayfield and I went with about 12 strides because it just felt so good! But we'll see how that knee is faring tomorrow. I thought she was a bit off today, but when I flexed her knee and trotted her off she didn't seem sore to me.
So we're just going real easy and working our way back into things. I need her sound for our level 2/3 camp in June! So here's hoping she does ok. Otherwise I am going to be calling my friend Jody up and telling her to bring 2 horses instead of just one for her!
Keep it natural!
So it hadn't fully healed or something else was going on so I had the vet do a lameness exam. She scared me again by using the "n" word, fearing that since the lameness was in the same area, the left front that it might be Navicular changes in the foot. YIKES! The vet was VERY surprised then when she did knee flexion and Duck came up extremely sore on that knee. WHEW! Anyway that meant time off, 15 days to be exact and bute (horsey aspirin).
So now we are coming off her rest time and we've pretty much just been walking. I started with hand walking and now am riding at the walk, and trotting on the straightaways sometimes. She offered a canter towards the hayfield and I went with about 12 strides because it just felt so good! But we'll see how that knee is faring tomorrow. I thought she was a bit off today, but when I flexed her knee and trotted her off she didn't seem sore to me.
So we're just going real easy and working our way back into things. I need her sound for our level 2/3 camp in June! So here's hoping she does ok. Otherwise I am going to be calling my friend Jody up and telling her to bring 2 horses instead of just one for her!
Keep it natural!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Turbo Drive!
Ok so I had the kiddos at the barn today with me. They were running around enjoying themselves near the water.
My plan had been to continue practicing 2 carrot stick riding, and on the bowtie still.
My friend Liz and I were playing/riding out in the play area by the pond. Started on the ground on the 22ft line practicing sideways and a few figure 8's.
I was practicing figure 8's and then moved onto the bow tie at the trot, or so I thought! We did a couple laps trot, walk around the cone etc. Then I decided to canter and we did one loop around the cone, and then whew we were going at the canter, quickly. We missed our turn at the cone and kept going.
Duck slowed down alright, not super great but not horribly, and she wasn't trying to buck so I thought I'd play with this higher speed since we haven't done it at all.
WOW! My horse can GO! And although it felt super fast to me, Liz says we weren't going as fast as it seemed. But we just played with going and then slowing, life up, life down. At first she got on a bit of adrenaline, not wanting to slow, but as I played with it and towards the end I cantered, then asked her for a short gallop of a few strides and then quit to eat grass.
Granted our brakes weren't perfect but wow it felt good to GO that fast and not feel like I was going to get bucked off at any moment. And we were riding in open spaces!
Very fun, it was like being in Turbo Drive today!
Oh, I and now I can't get her OFF the pedestal! Every time we go near it, she puts all 4 feet up there and then looks at me for her cookie! :) Fun times! Now I just need to move on to the smaller one!
She has been slightly off for awhile in her left front, and the vet is finally coming tomorrow. So hopefully it's nothing serious, but with all the cantering we did today, she should be lame if she is going to show lameness for the vet.
So we'll see how the appointment goes tomorrow, but the play is going great!
My plan had been to continue practicing 2 carrot stick riding, and on the bowtie still.
My friend Liz and I were playing/riding out in the play area by the pond. Started on the ground on the 22ft line practicing sideways and a few figure 8's.
I was practicing figure 8's and then moved onto the bow tie at the trot, or so I thought! We did a couple laps trot, walk around the cone etc. Then I decided to canter and we did one loop around the cone, and then whew we were going at the canter, quickly. We missed our turn at the cone and kept going.
Duck slowed down alright, not super great but not horribly, and she wasn't trying to buck so I thought I'd play with this higher speed since we haven't done it at all.
WOW! My horse can GO! And although it felt super fast to me, Liz says we weren't going as fast as it seemed. But we just played with going and then slowing, life up, life down. At first she got on a bit of adrenaline, not wanting to slow, but as I played with it and towards the end I cantered, then asked her for a short gallop of a few strides and then quit to eat grass.
Granted our brakes weren't perfect but wow it felt good to GO that fast and not feel like I was going to get bucked off at any moment. And we were riding in open spaces!
Very fun, it was like being in Turbo Drive today!
Oh, I and now I can't get her OFF the pedestal! Every time we go near it, she puts all 4 feet up there and then looks at me for her cookie! :) Fun times! Now I just need to move on to the smaller one!
She has been slightly off for awhile in her left front, and the vet is finally coming tomorrow. So hopefully it's nothing serious, but with all the cantering we did today, she should be lame if she is going to show lameness for the vet.
So we'll see how the appointment goes tomorrow, but the play is going great!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lots of Fun and Play!
The last couple of sessions with Duck have been very fun! The other day when we played we tried driving with 2 reins for the first time ever! I had two 22 ft lines, and had them through loose loops on the bareback pad so they wouldn't be so heavy to carry, but would come out if needed. It took a little while but she seemed to get the hang of it. We drove from the pasture down to the arena. Got tangled after my loop came undone, started over and then went in and around the arena a couple of times. I then decided to drive her down to the play area by the pond and it went fairly well once I got her going!
I haven't had the opportunity recently to play for a long period of time. Yesterday I had an hour and was going to ride, but when I got there Duck was a shedding disaster! Hair everywhere! So instead, she grazed the hayfield and I curried and groomed for almost an hour! The hair never really quit, I just did. After that I had about 20 minutes left so Duck got a partial massage. (yeah she is WAY more pampered than me! LOL) She has some soreness in her back but it is hard to know exactly why. My farrier did notice that she was tighter than usual which made me realize I need to get back into a regular stretching routine as well. So I worked some points out of her back and stretched her legs and neck.
Today was a really fun day! I got there and we tacked up while she was in her stall. Brought 2 carrot sticks, a string, a 22ft line, hackamore, and her new confidence snaffle. We headed down to the arena to drop off some stuff and then I realized I could hopefully do all that I had wanted to for the session in the grassy play area by the pond. So we went down and played on the 22ft line. We have been having squeeze issues recently, more specifically with the bridge (which I think had to do with her confidence being lost when she fell off the bridge and scraped her leg way back when) so I decided to focus on squeeze game for awhile. When I realized we were having issues was last week when I asked her to come up to the bridge so I could get on, and she wanted nothing to do with it!
We started with the pedestal, first getting 2 feet, then all 4 on the pedestal. (Can you say, "cookie, please?")
Then we went to the bridge. After several tries she got her front feet up most of the ramp and I am considering that a success for the day!
We also played with the new telephone pole circling and maintaining gait at the trot. An interesting thing happened in that she kept wanting to canter after going over the pole. I have been wanting her to canter so I allowed it. First she only cantered a stride, the next time around all the way around and over the pole again. When she got over the pole she went fast and then stopped turned and faced and then backed up. This is a trick that she has been trying since a couple weeks ago. She did it when I was asking her for the canter. Today I let her drift (and it was a lot backwards) and then I just quit circling and we went on to practicing sideways.
Recently I have been trying to practice our sideways over stuff like ground poles, the new pole, and one barrel. It is not as easy as it looks! Duck is still wanting to go forward enough to get over the obstacle completely. Today while going to the right (her harder direction) I took it really, really slow but did almost the whole length of the telephone pole. 1-2 steps at a time and we made it! Yeah!
Moving on to riding I started with the hackamore and rode in the play area. Got over to the pedestal and did 2 feet and then doing it again we got all 4 up there! That was our first time getting all 4 feet up while riding!
Did the sideways thing over the log, just the last couple feet of it. She really wants to come forward while I am riding. Then we went to the bridge and she put one foot on the bridge so that was good.
Then since I need to practice freestyle carrot stick riding with 2 sticks I tied up my reins and rode with just 2 carrot sticks out in the open by the pond still. That was a first for us! The bowtie pattern at a trot and walk (mostly), some sideways with the fence, 2 feet on the pedestal, etc.
On the bowtie pattern she kept wanting to canter the direction of home, and did. I was proud that I didn't grab the reins right away and was able to stop her with my body and the sticks. We did some yo-yo's while on the bowtie pattern and got some more whoa happening!
And for one more thing in our busy fun day I put the reins on the bridle. This was only the 3rd time I had done this. We were back in the arena for this, and just played with the fluidity rein on the circle to the left to which she did some real nice blowing and breathing with a some longitudinal stretching!
We ended our day with me spraying her in the wash stall. Once while I was riding in the arena she was pawing and acting like she wanted to roll. I took the saddle off in the arena after I was done and she didn't roll. I then sprayed her with what turned out to be HOT water. Someone had hooked the hose up to just the hot side on the water, and I thought it was the cold side. Why would someone do that? Good thing I caught it before it got too hot! We went back to the arena and I was trying to get her to roll, pawing the ground myself etc. I have thought that she was totally too unconfident to roll around me which may still be the case, but after I pawed the ground and circled, she did a bit too, and I just sat down. She waited a bit, took a few steps, rolled (and flipped all the way over and back) and then got up real quick. But she did roll with me there!
This is why I don't blog so often. When I do, it is so long and boring that no one is possibly going to want to read it all. I am too long winded when writing. I guess I need to play with having more short, interesting and effective blogs....
Well for now, that is all.
I haven't had the opportunity recently to play for a long period of time. Yesterday I had an hour and was going to ride, but when I got there Duck was a shedding disaster! Hair everywhere! So instead, she grazed the hayfield and I curried and groomed for almost an hour! The hair never really quit, I just did. After that I had about 20 minutes left so Duck got a partial massage. (yeah she is WAY more pampered than me! LOL) She has some soreness in her back but it is hard to know exactly why. My farrier did notice that she was tighter than usual which made me realize I need to get back into a regular stretching routine as well. So I worked some points out of her back and stretched her legs and neck.
Today was a really fun day! I got there and we tacked up while she was in her stall. Brought 2 carrot sticks, a string, a 22ft line, hackamore, and her new confidence snaffle. We headed down to the arena to drop off some stuff and then I realized I could hopefully do all that I had wanted to for the session in the grassy play area by the pond. So we went down and played on the 22ft line. We have been having squeeze issues recently, more specifically with the bridge (which I think had to do with her confidence being lost when she fell off the bridge and scraped her leg way back when) so I decided to focus on squeeze game for awhile. When I realized we were having issues was last week when I asked her to come up to the bridge so I could get on, and she wanted nothing to do with it!
We started with the pedestal, first getting 2 feet, then all 4 on the pedestal. (Can you say, "cookie, please?")
Then we went to the bridge. After several tries she got her front feet up most of the ramp and I am considering that a success for the day!
We also played with the new telephone pole circling and maintaining gait at the trot. An interesting thing happened in that she kept wanting to canter after going over the pole. I have been wanting her to canter so I allowed it. First she only cantered a stride, the next time around all the way around and over the pole again. When she got over the pole she went fast and then stopped turned and faced and then backed up. This is a trick that she has been trying since a couple weeks ago. She did it when I was asking her for the canter. Today I let her drift (and it was a lot backwards) and then I just quit circling and we went on to practicing sideways.
Recently I have been trying to practice our sideways over stuff like ground poles, the new pole, and one barrel. It is not as easy as it looks! Duck is still wanting to go forward enough to get over the obstacle completely. Today while going to the right (her harder direction) I took it really, really slow but did almost the whole length of the telephone pole. 1-2 steps at a time and we made it! Yeah!
Moving on to riding I started with the hackamore and rode in the play area. Got over to the pedestal and did 2 feet and then doing it again we got all 4 up there! That was our first time getting all 4 feet up while riding!
Did the sideways thing over the log, just the last couple feet of it. She really wants to come forward while I am riding. Then we went to the bridge and she put one foot on the bridge so that was good.
Then since I need to practice freestyle carrot stick riding with 2 sticks I tied up my reins and rode with just 2 carrot sticks out in the open by the pond still. That was a first for us! The bowtie pattern at a trot and walk (mostly), some sideways with the fence, 2 feet on the pedestal, etc.
On the bowtie pattern she kept wanting to canter the direction of home, and did. I was proud that I didn't grab the reins right away and was able to stop her with my body and the sticks. We did some yo-yo's while on the bowtie pattern and got some more whoa happening!
And for one more thing in our busy fun day I put the reins on the bridle. This was only the 3rd time I had done this. We were back in the arena for this, and just played with the fluidity rein on the circle to the left to which she did some real nice blowing and breathing with a some longitudinal stretching!
We ended our day with me spraying her in the wash stall. Once while I was riding in the arena she was pawing and acting like she wanted to roll. I took the saddle off in the arena after I was done and she didn't roll. I then sprayed her with what turned out to be HOT water. Someone had hooked the hose up to just the hot side on the water, and I thought it was the cold side. Why would someone do that? Good thing I caught it before it got too hot! We went back to the arena and I was trying to get her to roll, pawing the ground myself etc. I have thought that she was totally too unconfident to roll around me which may still be the case, but after I pawed the ground and circled, she did a bit too, and I just sat down. She waited a bit, took a few steps, rolled (and flipped all the way over and back) and then got up real quick. But she did roll with me there!
This is why I don't blog so often. When I do, it is so long and boring that no one is possibly going to want to read it all. I am too long winded when writing. I guess I need to play with having more short, interesting and effective blogs....
Well for now, that is all.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
More pictures from the play date
Here are some more pictures from the play day. I just love how cute Duck looks out there with Eli in the field! They ran around for awhile, and of course had to meet the other horses over the fence!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Parelli Playdate!
This last Saturday I had the opportunity to finally go to a Parelli Playdate! Got to trailer off the farm and head to Mariah Helms' place in Wingate. WOW, what a beautiful place. I have been there before, but it still is just such a nice farm!
Liz came along as well (since she has the horse trailer after all and wanted a fun day out) and we headed down.
We came up with a new slogan that we need to use as a sticker on Liz's trailer for when Duck and Eli are trailered together. "If the trailer's rockin' don't come a knockin!"
Duck and Eli are hilarious! It is a 2-horse straighload trailer, but there is no separation between their heads, so they can reach over and bother each other. And bother they do! It is constant! And they do it so much the trailer really does get to rockin'!
After we arrived we played in Mariah's new play area which is a big open area with obstacles as well as a new round corral. Duck did very well considering being in a new place and that we don't get to play in the open as much as I would like. We played online in the morning using the obstacles such as logs, poles, etc. I even played with Laura's mini named Ace, but that little LBE gave me a run for my money! He has a habit of pulling very hard on the lead and taking off! I seriously don't think that Duck has ever pulled on me that hard! Little guy got away twice! The first time just caught me off guard, and the second time he waited until I was talking to Liz to take off! Oh well, now I know not to hold the very end of the rope with a new horse like that. There just wasn't enough play in the rope for me to recover! LOL
At lunch we turned Duck and Eli out together in Mariah's huge pasture! I told her we may end up playing the catching game! Both Duck and Eli were loving all that room! But by the time we got back, she was at the gate and after coming to me once and then trotting off and then coming again, she was ready to "catch me". Later I found out from Mariah's mom that Duck and Eli had heard us coming and ran over to the gate to greet us! I can't think of a better compliment than that, it surely made my day!
We rode in the afternoon out in the same area. I practiced with some of the obstacles and also with going across the field and back several times. Christian, Mariah's brother and Bethany who were also at the playdate were running their horses back and forth randomly. Of course since Duck isn't used to galloping horses it upped her emotions. So it was good to just play with keeping her relaxed in spite of the thundering hooves!
Lately Duck has been super choppy wanting to canter all the time when I ask for the trot. So at the playdate I did the circling pattern around a log to try and get her more relaxed. It worked! It took quite a few laps there, but this week when I did the same she was much more relaxed at the trot and not trying to rush off!
All in all, it was a great playdate and I was tired by the end of the day. I think I was gone for 12 hours total with the trailering there, playdate, trailering back and unloading everything and taking care of Duck for the evening. Good thing I have a super supportive awesome hubby that watched the kids all that time so that I could play with Duck and my friends. I don't get to do that sort of thing very often because of working and time constraints on the weekends so it was a real treat! I am looking forward to being able to do it again really soon!
Liz came along as well (since she has the horse trailer after all and wanted a fun day out) and we headed down.
We came up with a new slogan that we need to use as a sticker on Liz's trailer for when Duck and Eli are trailered together. "If the trailer's rockin' don't come a knockin!"
Duck and Eli are hilarious! It is a 2-horse straighload trailer, but there is no separation between their heads, so they can reach over and bother each other. And bother they do! It is constant! And they do it so much the trailer really does get to rockin'!
After we arrived we played in Mariah's new play area which is a big open area with obstacles as well as a new round corral. Duck did very well considering being in a new place and that we don't get to play in the open as much as I would like. We played online in the morning using the obstacles such as logs, poles, etc. I even played with Laura's mini named Ace, but that little LBE gave me a run for my money! He has a habit of pulling very hard on the lead and taking off! I seriously don't think that Duck has ever pulled on me that hard! Little guy got away twice! The first time just caught me off guard, and the second time he waited until I was talking to Liz to take off! Oh well, now I know not to hold the very end of the rope with a new horse like that. There just wasn't enough play in the rope for me to recover! LOL
At lunch we turned Duck and Eli out together in Mariah's huge pasture! I told her we may end up playing the catching game! Both Duck and Eli were loving all that room! But by the time we got back, she was at the gate and after coming to me once and then trotting off and then coming again, she was ready to "catch me". Later I found out from Mariah's mom that Duck and Eli had heard us coming and ran over to the gate to greet us! I can't think of a better compliment than that, it surely made my day!
We rode in the afternoon out in the same area. I practiced with some of the obstacles and also with going across the field and back several times. Christian, Mariah's brother and Bethany who were also at the playdate were running their horses back and forth randomly. Of course since Duck isn't used to galloping horses it upped her emotions. So it was good to just play with keeping her relaxed in spite of the thundering hooves!
Lately Duck has been super choppy wanting to canter all the time when I ask for the trot. So at the playdate I did the circling pattern around a log to try and get her more relaxed. It worked! It took quite a few laps there, but this week when I did the same she was much more relaxed at the trot and not trying to rush off!
All in all, it was a great playdate and I was tired by the end of the day. I think I was gone for 12 hours total with the trailering there, playdate, trailering back and unloading everything and taking care of Duck for the evening. Good thing I have a super supportive awesome hubby that watched the kids all that time so that I could play with Duck and my friends. I don't get to do that sort of thing very often because of working and time constraints on the weekends so it was a real treat! I am looking forward to being able to do it again really soon!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Full of of it for Spring
It must be spring. Or at least Duck is acting like it is spring! She is frisky, and downright fast sometimes! She has a lot of buck in her lately which is OK when I am on the ground, but not so hot when I'm trying to ride!
So this week I have been playing around with the 45 ft line again. Just trying to use it (on the dog) to get used to it. I've put it on Duck a couple times, but she does seem a bit "lost" out there with all that rope! So for now I am just trying it here and there and trying to improve my rope handling skills.
Yesterday I went to ride and she was full of it online. So much energy she cantered 6 laps on the 22ft line for circling game! Yippee! Then she added in a gallop and about 3-4 good bucks! We played for awhile longer and I felt like she was pretty in tune so I mounted up.
I must have been W-R-O-N-G! She kept giving me really nasty ears and wanting to canter when trotting so I was doing transitions downward to get her back in tune. This is all while playing the corners game. After a few laps she decided to canter off and I decided to say "and a few more ounces" to keep her going. She didn't like the idea that I was asking her to go past the corner, so she promptly BUCKED a huge buck and then stopped very nicely in the corner. WHEW! I got off and tied up her hackamore so I had the 12ft to play on. And then I backed her, a long ways. And she is still full of it, so I decided to have her burn off some more energy. I sent her over every jump in the arena. Most of them were cross rails, but 2-3 were straight rails. 2 of them were 2 ft straight rails, well the other one was higher, probably 2'6" maybe a bit higher, I'm not sure. But she has been very hesitant to do anything other than cross rails and with all this newfound energy I decided to give it a whirl.
I sent her from the trot and she flew over it, turned and faced. Mind you I'm on the 12ft line and the standards are so high you can't throw the rope over so I am on the near side of the jump wondering if she's going to take off after she lands! But she didn't and then I stayed there in zone 1 and asked her to come over it again, and she did! With hardly any pressure!
And then she was tired out a little and not so energetic, so I got back on.
I had recently changed my shim pattern so I wonder if the major nasty ears were feedback from that. Today I changed her shims back and she still got some nasty ears when trotting but not near as much.
She does, however want to keep cantering when I am asking her to trot. I think that stems from the last serious play we did of "gaits within the gait" at the walk and trot. She wanted to canter while I was doing that and a few times I let her because she was in tune and didn't feel like she was going to buck! So we have done some passenger lessons at the canter, but we are still working on direction at the trot! She likes to get hard-headed and since my mustang was exactly the same I can only assume that it is me making her stiff. So I am trying the advice of "never, ever, release on a brace". I'll keep you in tune for how it goes!
The other news is that Duck got a new pasture buddy. Her pasture buddy, Kay that has lived with Duck since we moved to Sundance almost 2 years ago left a couple weeks ago. Now she has a cute black and white paint gelding named Oakie for a buddy. Duck owns the pen now though, before it was Kay that was top horse! She hasn't buddied up with Oakie too much yet, but she isn't running him all the way to the other end of the pen constantly anymore either.
Tomorrow we are headed to a Parelli play date! I am so excited to get off the property and practice our savvy at a new place! Hopefully someday I can get a trailer so I can actually start going on more trail rides! But that in itself is a whole different post for another day.
So this week I have been playing around with the 45 ft line again. Just trying to use it (on the dog) to get used to it. I've put it on Duck a couple times, but she does seem a bit "lost" out there with all that rope! So for now I am just trying it here and there and trying to improve my rope handling skills.
Yesterday I went to ride and she was full of it online. So much energy she cantered 6 laps on the 22ft line for circling game! Yippee! Then she added in a gallop and about 3-4 good bucks! We played for awhile longer and I felt like she was pretty in tune so I mounted up.
I must have been W-R-O-N-G! She kept giving me really nasty ears and wanting to canter when trotting so I was doing transitions downward to get her back in tune. This is all while playing the corners game. After a few laps she decided to canter off and I decided to say "and a few more ounces" to keep her going. She didn't like the idea that I was asking her to go past the corner, so she promptly BUCKED a huge buck and then stopped very nicely in the corner. WHEW! I got off and tied up her hackamore so I had the 12ft to play on. And then I backed her, a long ways. And she is still full of it, so I decided to have her burn off some more energy. I sent her over every jump in the arena. Most of them were cross rails, but 2-3 were straight rails. 2 of them were 2 ft straight rails, well the other one was higher, probably 2'6" maybe a bit higher, I'm not sure. But she has been very hesitant to do anything other than cross rails and with all this newfound energy I decided to give it a whirl.
I sent her from the trot and she flew over it, turned and faced. Mind you I'm on the 12ft line and the standards are so high you can't throw the rope over so I am on the near side of the jump wondering if she's going to take off after she lands! But she didn't and then I stayed there in zone 1 and asked her to come over it again, and she did! With hardly any pressure!
And then she was tired out a little and not so energetic, so I got back on.
I had recently changed my shim pattern so I wonder if the major nasty ears were feedback from that. Today I changed her shims back and she still got some nasty ears when trotting but not near as much.
She does, however want to keep cantering when I am asking her to trot. I think that stems from the last serious play we did of "gaits within the gait" at the walk and trot. She wanted to canter while I was doing that and a few times I let her because she was in tune and didn't feel like she was going to buck! So we have done some passenger lessons at the canter, but we are still working on direction at the trot! She likes to get hard-headed and since my mustang was exactly the same I can only assume that it is me making her stiff. So I am trying the advice of "never, ever, release on a brace". I'll keep you in tune for how it goes!
The other news is that Duck got a new pasture buddy. Her pasture buddy, Kay that has lived with Duck since we moved to Sundance almost 2 years ago left a couple weeks ago. Now she has a cute black and white paint gelding named Oakie for a buddy. Duck owns the pen now though, before it was Kay that was top horse! She hasn't buddied up with Oakie too much yet, but she isn't running him all the way to the other end of the pen constantly anymore either.
Tomorrow we are headed to a Parelli play date! I am so excited to get off the property and practice our savvy at a new place! Hopefully someday I can get a trailer so I can actually start going on more trail rides! But that in itself is a whole different post for another day.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Another Parelli Lesson!
I love that we have been able to do so many lessons here with Parelli professionals here in the last several months. In fact, this is more instruction in the last 3 months than I have had in a year, most years! This last Saturday 2* Parelli instructor Linda Algire came to Sundance Stables to give 4 of us Savvy club members a lesson.
We each got private lessons and they were great! In my lesson we really delved into the theory behind the horsemanship and playing with the theory of "how little can you do" to cause Duck to move her feet. I have always known Duck is sensitive, just wasn't fully aware HOW sensitive! I was able to get a figure 8 mostly off my intention and the smallest of body language, without even a carrot stick! Talk about an eye opener!
We all had a great time and learned so much! I have so much to play with and as usual not near enough time to do it!
We each got private lessons and they were great! In my lesson we really delved into the theory behind the horsemanship and playing with the theory of "how little can you do" to cause Duck to move her feet. I have always known Duck is sensitive, just wasn't fully aware HOW sensitive! I was able to get a figure 8 mostly off my intention and the smallest of body language, without even a carrot stick! Talk about an eye opener!
We all had a great time and learned so much! I have so much to play with and as usual not near enough time to do it!
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