29 Aug

Darn it.... that means I haven't ridden for days looking at the date, this blog is definitely raising my awareness of my extreme procrastination!

On a positive note, have been making huge progress with the dominance game Giddy plays in zone 1 with me... I had always thought that when she snatches her head away when you give her a rub, it was a broken friendly game, but have come to realise that she is just saying "ha, you cant touch me there" and it is an example of her dominance, thinking about it, when the horses are stabled next to each other, giddy and lighting do this to each other all the time

by flapping around her face, gently but with lots of movement and following as she flings her head about when she does this, after a few days, it really is beginning to be her idea now to have her nose rubbed with love ;0))

cant believe it has taken this long to get this sorted and to understand what and why I am doing DUH, I am sure there are lots of "little" things like this that play a big role in the big picture

I WILL ride tomorrow

23 Aug 06

Well despite leaving it really late after talking to my brother about wombles and moomins whilst trying to get work done (!!!); I still managed to keep positive and not make an excuse and rode for 10 mins... a good session, and not a bad thing for her to do really short ones like this

she is walking out so much better, it's largely the saddle, but also my new confidence in my riding position and positive outlook

Lateral flexion still bracey on the left hand side but not so bad as yesterday, back up straighter and sideways also better over a pole after having done this on the ground for a couple of days, seems that this helps her to understand what I want cuz i expect my body is not quite in the right position!

Tomorrow, I plan to incorporate the middle field and ride up to the yard to keep her guessing a bit

22 Aug 06

A great session; only 5 mins or so on the ground, tried to mix things up going from game to game quickly and changing the subject rapidly, she is much happier when it goes like this

Saddled up, stood nicely for saddling and mounting, checked out my lateral flexion.. hmmm, not there, bracey neck, took a bit of time to get her soft to the left, but the right side was pretty good straight away

Watching Linda Parelli with Allure has inspired me..... for me to keep my left brain extrovert's attention, I need to be thinking what I am doing all the time, wandering aimlessly around just doesn't cut it

I really need the visual markers I have put in the field, cones in a circle, cones scattered in straight lines, poles in a line on the ground, mixing up going round the big circle, small circles round the cones, focus, trot to a cone, back up, stop, ride one side of a rail.... things are definitely changing, she is listening, ears are forward and am getting some fairly nice transitions to trot

And haha, a new game today, the respect levels have gone up, and she threw a new one in... three times she stopped to pee, not something she ever has a problem with when being ridden, three times she didn't go... I am sure this was just another little game on her part so that she can stand still!! Gotta laugh

Worked on some small circles.. can I get her to circle a cone with just focus, bending my ribs and no reins - suprisingly yes

Worked on back ups, was quite snappy but drifting, so backed her up turning all the time to try and get that "make it her idea" eventually, did get some nice straight steps, and it's amazing that we can actually back up and turn pretty quickly, not sure if i am really asking the right way, but it did the trick ;0)

After 20 mins of this, she got a paddy on, and was trying really hard to leave the "arena" took some pretty strong focus and rhythmic pressure on the outside to get her back - so trying to understand that this was all quite mentally taxing, I rode her to the other corner, sat quietly, did some LF and then got off at the other side which I never do. Must remember that although she needs to mentally stimulated, that it's also quite hard work. But I am chuffed with myself, it's not so long ago that I would not have been able to win this game - the confidence the new saddle has given me is making a huge difference

All in all, a great day, she loved the apple I gave her and stayed with me or a bit before heading off

It's been a long time

My journey here has been a long one, but despite all the tears, I have had a wonderful time with my challenging little Haffie in my pursuit of becoming a good horsewoman!

I have been following the Parelli programme (with quite a few breaks when it all got too much) for about 3.5 years now!! We passed our old Level 2 groundwork 18 months ago then came to a bit of a standstill, but now with increased confidence, I hope to make some progress again.

I am going to try to record my journey here with all the ups and downs so that I have a permanent record of what we have done, it's also a way to track what I am doing consistently and avoid the procrastination that often stops me in my tracks!