tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-331678272009-10-13T15:38:49.769-07:00My journey with my beautiful Haflinger x Quarter Horse - Giuditta (Giddy); a left brain, short, extrovert with a sense of humour!! A dedicated natural horsemanship student, I have been studying the Parelli method for about 3.5 yearsFleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-75387712318395500982007-04-15T09:24:00.000-07:002007-04-15T09:25:03.705-07:00

the location of this blog has now moved to:http://www.natural-haflinger.blog.co.uk/

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-55004060729940219662007-03-21T07:14:00.000-07:002007-03-21T07:19:01.379-07:00

A week of horrendous weather, thought we were gonna blow away in the gales!!So have done no riding or groundwork, but today marked the beginning of a journey to a truly natural haflinger, and Giddy's shoes have been removed, so I now, after 2 years of thought have a barefoot horse!!She was really very cuddly whilst farrier was here, and after he left and I took some photos; I may well be

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-51129876057534894272007-03-14T02:52:00.000-07:002007-03-14T02:58:58.119-07:00

Had a dreadful session earlier in the week, so much so that i didnt even write down my notes! Once again it was Gidy's new game of taking me off the the left, she took me into the electric fencing (off), I got really mad, so got off, and then made her move her feet on the ground, hopped back on, did some LFs and then got offToday, I had a plan, cuz if we dont get through this soon, it is going to

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-28727562489971138812007-03-06T08:43:00.000-08:002007-03-06T08:50:27.526-08:00

Group lesson today with Ali Jones at Cholwell; had literally done nothing since last post as the mud and rain has made anything literally impossible, really is getting depressing now!It was a great morning; particular highlight was 5 horses, on 22ft lines in a carousel, circling and with a jump to negotiate, initially it was a bit chaotic, but after a short time, horses and humans all settled and

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-3219800576394732442007-02-22T06:23:00.000-08:002007-02-22T06:25:15.047-08:00

Our sideways was much better today ;0)) At first ask, she snorted and jumped on the spot a bit, and then we were off, got a bit of the pushing on my bubble from zones 1 / 2 but it is much improved, and she was yielding better when I asked her to straighten upAll a bit too muddy to do much tho, this dreary Cornwall weather is very frustrating, hopped on for a short ride, but its no fun for her

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-87823299700873768572007-02-22T06:17:00.000-08:002007-02-22T06:20:02.094-08:00

As somebody at the Keep it Natural group was asking about what the changes were in relation to now being able to get a canter; I tried to collect my thoughts!The things that have made the difference are I think the following; but there are lots of things I can't put my finger on!! In particular I relate this to cantering on the 22ft, this was a massive problem for us.. it used to be trotting!!

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-2996322487144548512007-02-20T14:32:00.000-08:002007-02-20T15:23:31.662-08:00

What a day!! I set out with a very clear focus today of working on our sideways game so that it's up to scratch for assessmentAs per normal, she was not happy with me stood in zone 3 on the right, I think this is partly because I favour the other side; for an absolute age, she was pushing her zone 1 and 2 at me, and was clearly showing she wasn't happy with me there; another example of it all

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-49852271314571141462007-02-18T10:11:00.000-08:002007-02-18T10:16:25.316-08:00

Thankfully wasnt raining today!! Another good session on the ground, set up a couple of jumps, and she seemed to be loving these... I never thought I would say it, but we actually need some bigger jumps!!!!Of course, in our ridden session, there it was again, that drifting left, I managed to stay focused, hold her to the right, and the trick is to ask her forward, and in effect ignore the

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-30558354149022604402007-02-18T09:59:00.000-08:002007-02-18T10:10:35.862-08:00

We were booked for a session with Ali Jones at Cholwell today, being in the afternoon, it meant I could stay nice and relaxed and not have to rush first thing in the morning!!Trailer loading went well, on first time, came off three times, then went in with confidence, all four feet in, so I was happy with that!We had a great afternoon, we really have turned a corner with our groundwork, got a

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-554500117530848912007-02-06T10:47:00.000-08:002007-02-06T10:52:58.309-08:00

much better day, and it was snowing which was fun!!after an email from a friend in Aus who was a big support in my early days of struggling with short horse issues... I realised that I have forgotten quite how hard it used to be, there was a time that once circle in trot could be a massive issue, so the progress we have made is brill, someone with more savvy would have got there quicker, but I

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-87761645006618146902007-02-05T06:03:00.000-08:002007-02-05T06:07:33.259-08:00

online was great, ridden was not so good today!interestingly, when taking her down to the field, she stopped for a bit in the yard, so I think she enjoyed our adventure yesterday!!checked out the energy over the jump again, and this was good, her life was really up to do, and we had lots of playful bucks, but ears were pricked and she was ready to go... spring must be in the air!!rode for a few

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-59766892230294635852007-02-05T05:50:00.000-08:002007-02-05T05:55:58.707-08:00

Decided to take her out in hand today up to the forest, it was probably a bit far to go really, but stopped and gave her a long graze when we got there. More on the ear observations... I noticed that if I was leading in zone 1, lightly ahead of here, she would tilt her ears back, when i moved back to zone 2, they swung forward.. hmmmmmm, this makes me think that when she has her ears in this

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-38524224959105358042007-02-03T07:45:00.000-08:002007-02-03T07:56:17.029-08:00

Well 2 days off due to work, but the sun was shining today, a beautiful day to play with my horse ;0)) Decided to play with some jumping again, used both squeeze and circling. Started off with some disgruntled head shaking as I asked her to squeeze over a little jump, and she was putting very little effort inSo, worked on getting her really comfortable in front of the jump and making this a

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1204818314495383882007-01-31T08:40:00.000-08:002007-01-31T08:43:55.930-08:00

just tuned up quickly on the ground as pushed for time, and did some H/Q disengagements with the porcupine game as have been neglecting this, and know that the right in particular is really sticky riddengot o and worked on this under saddle, and slowly but surely it got better, but she likes to avoid the issue on the right, and just drifts away and doesnt step under, tis a case of being firm but

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-79302594559909207092007-01-30T10:01:00.000-08:002007-01-30T10:04:58.592-08:00

Got the 45ft rope out today - it's been a while, the look of suprise when i can keep backing her that far is always hysterical. Worked on seeing if i could get one step back just with my life up and body position when she was back at 30ft or so, this went really well, and shows how much i have clarified my language with her. Draw is terrible, must work on thatDid a bit of circling, but kept it

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-64945120563601304142007-01-30T09:57:00.000-08:002007-01-30T10:00:50.131-08:00

As yesterday was high energy, kept it all low key today, played on the ground doing walk changes of directions and more yileding than i normally doput the snaffle on over halter, and she took it at first time of asking, and no fuss, so that seems to have improved, hopped on for the first time in a month, flexion checked out both sidesjust did literally 10mins in walk, ensuring we stopped before

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-45732631432046841332007-01-28T06:44:00.000-08:002007-01-30T09:57:47.482-08:00

I love this pic above.... she looks like she is moving really nicely, i would have given anything for a trot that looked like this with happy ears a year ago, but at least we are getting there! and....... three, yep three whole circles on a 22ft in canter!! left brained, no bucks, yes, we are making progress; granted there was some galloping and bucking before this ;0)) (the shortest horse in

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-88183718668909205292007-01-28T06:32:00.000-08:002007-01-28T06:35:18.019-08:00

At the session with ali, she talked about horses that push through fences, and or check an electric fence every day, are likely to be the ones that constantly push on their human, and check and test them like a fence every day ;0)) how very, very true!! Considering the state of the fence below, is it any wonder I have trouble!!!!

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-27912541967814342292007-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:002007-01-28T06:31:26.998-08:00

Came home, discovered horses in the garden.... nothing new there of course, except that previous escapes have been through the poor fencing in the middle which Giddy just pushes under, or electric fencing not on; today they were in the main (secure!!) fieldcaught them, and went to investigate, as i walked down, I thought my eyes were deceiving me as couldn't see any fence.... walked on, still no

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166882496390081702006-12-23T05:48:00.000-08:002006-12-23T06:01:36.406-08:00

After some procrastination, I got on with it, and what a great session, amazing how these little changes start adding up!Spent some time working on getting one foot to move at a time from a fair distance away doing as little as possible, all checked out pretty well, I am definitely getting a bit clearer in my communication now and she is more attentiveSent her back to check out our circling game,

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166881683509746402006-12-23T05:46:00.000-08:002006-12-23T05:48:03.510-08:00

What with shopping and everything, a 2 day break, today getting her back in after turn out, she was once again being pretty puhsy, amazing what a difference just 2 days makes; seems she is always testing our herd positions, no doubt she always will!!

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166881602338145592006-12-23T05:45:00.000-08:002006-12-23T05:46:42.350-08:00

Another good day, but writing this after the event!!

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166606982211830682006-12-20T01:24:00.000-08:002006-12-20T01:29:42.226-08:00

Finally managing some consistency, 3 days on the trot!Got a full circle on canter right, she dropped to trot, but went back into canter, and a half circle left which is the tricky side; left it thereTried her in her the bit she came in today, the big chunky french link with full cheeks, she actually seemed to much prefer this than the thinner french link, I suppose being pretty heavy set, it just

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166523209997505812006-12-19T02:08:00.000-08:002006-12-19T02:13:30.010-08:00

A much better day!The canter transisitions are the only thing we struggle with on the new L2 assessment, but I am always careful not to drill these; I have decided I want to submit my whole l2 on the new basis even tho we passed the old groundworkAnyway, today, we had not a single buck, and Giddy did 3/4 of a circle and didn't drop to trot / stop, so I asked her down before she finished a circle,

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33167827.post-1166435171810145502006-12-18T01:40:00.000-08:002006-12-18T01:46:11.833-08:00

Well, 6 weeks of not doing anything due to horrendous weather and a punishing work schedule has left me with a much lower position in the herd!!Getting Guiditta in and out of the field has been a challenge, she has several times nearly knocked me over, and respect for my space has diminishedSo, played on the 22ft today, bring on the bucking!!! She was keen to play, but extremely exuberant and

Fleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00513658054151323575noreply@blogger.com0