Positive, Progressive, and Natural...

America and I had a two hour lesson yesterday with Jerry S. Williams, 3* Parelli Professional, and one obvious fact came out of that lesson. I've been doing a good job with the positive and natural aspects; however, I need to get more progressive to keep everything in balance!

Jerry has been helping me with America's development online, at liberty, and under saddle. We're doing great and are building a nice foundation; however, Jerry noted I need to get more progressive with America to avoid dulling her out. He suggested I need to start challenging not only myself but America as well. We are past the teaching phase in many things and need to move on to reinforcement and refinement. I also need to begin being more particular and working from greater distances and with more speed.

I got some great tips on several things yesterday and saw an immediate improvement with each one. During our online part of the lesson I learned to really use my phases and phases within phases. America has been pretty sticky when I back her up, especially when at a distance. Jerry had me practice being effective in delivering my phase 4 down the rope...wow...what a difference and how much easier!! Once I was able to deliver a couple of effective phase 4's down the line, America was backing when I brought my life up and backing with effort!! I found the power of my belly button!!!!!!!

Next, I'd been having a problem online with drawing America around the right barrel in the figure 8; the left barrel is no problem. Jerry noticed, after watching us play, that I tend to reward America after she goes around the left barrel so she "cheats" the right barrel trying to get back to the left barrel to get her reward! Once I stopped rewarding her at the left barrel, America really made an effort to get around that right barrel instead of cheating it. The second trip around the right barrel and she was really looking for me and I brought her in for her reward. I can't wait to play with this some more and get our right barrel as good as our left!!

During our liberty part of the lesson, I learned some stratigies for our stick to me. I tend to "leave" without America and she ends up following my lead rather than staying with me or she will shoot past me, in effect leaving me! Jerry gave me an assignment to help me break the habit of leaving without America or America leaving without me. I am to put a clip, with a string on it, on my shirt at my shoulder and clip the other end to America (on the saddle pad or her mane) at her shoulder. If either of us gets out of position, the clips will come off and I need to do something about it; if America failed to follow my intent of moving forward, I need to encourage her, if I moved off without her I need to start over, if America shoots past me I need to send her out on the rail to work! The clip idea is great because it will increase my awareness!! We also needed help when I ask for the back up as America wants to turn to face me rather than back up straight so the assignment for the teaching phase is to put her on the rail to eliminate that option. It will help her find the right answer sooner.

During our freestyle part of our lesson I got some help with mounting. I had been mounting America from a mounting block or from a fence during the early part of her saddle training. I did this to avoid putting pressure on her withers and to help encourage her to stand still for mounting. Yesterday, I mounted from the ground instead and I was having a bit of a struggle until Jerry reminded me of the proper position. WOW...I bounced three times and up I went...no problem!! One of the things I kept doing before Jerry got me sorted me out was having my butt too far out/away from America's body and my belly button pointed in the wrong direction.

America stood still during my mounting foibles and when I finally got into the saddle, she stood until I asked her to move off. She was a bit sticky at first and I had to use all 4 phases to get us moving. America was drawn to the side of the round pen where someone else was riding their horse. I upped my leadership to make that idea uncomfortable for her and America picked up a really nice free walk and blew out a couple of times...she was pretty relaxed. It was time to ask her up into the trot! It took a bit of convincing, the use of my phases, and rewarding her for going into a faster walk and three repetitions and we went up into the trot. We did 2-3 strides and I rewarded her big time by stopping and rubbing her. I was happy that we got the trot and REALLY happy we got it without a lot of drama and NO BUCKING even though I did have to spank her a bit (only when spanking myself to create commotion didn't work)!!

It was a great lesson, I learned alot, and Jerry gave me some homework assignments: I need to get more progressive (for both of us), I need to make up my clips and use them during our stick to me, we need to do more trotting (starting with a couple minutes and building up to 10-15 at a minimum), and we need to start cantering within the next month even if I need to get someone to do it for me for the first few canter rides. Since Jerry is leaving Florida for the summer, I'm thinking of contacting Emily Thompson, another Parelli Instructor AND a horse development specialist, to help me with the riding parts of this assignment. Emily will be in Florida all summer.

Jerry leaves Florida next week and I'm really going to miss our lessons and his help with America. I'll be looking forward to next fall when he returns! Until then, I have lots to play with and I have a goal to film our Level 2 auditions before summer is over!!

What a Smarty Pants!

Went to another play day yesterday and played online refining some tasks. Jae gave some helpful tips to improve our figure 8's/weaves and help me help America to uphold her responsibilities...THANKS JAE!! It really helps to have someone watching me!! It turns out I'd been nagging America and micro managing her as I would make a request and continue to hold my rope hand up, in effect always leading her through the pattern instead of helping her find the right answer. Once I quit nagging/micro managing, America really enjoyed showing me how she could do the pattern. I have work to do to break my pattern and actually go into neutral after my request!
The squeeze through the hanging tarp (that was blowing in the wind) was great. America went right up to the tarp, thoroughly investigated it, and walked calmly through. She stopped after passing through with her zone 5 at the tarp and I let her eat a bit of grass right there while the tarp blew on her butt. It didn't bother her one bit!
Sideways is coming along nicely...still working on speeding it up and getting her hq straighter instead of at a 45 degree angle...we're at about 50 degrees now.
Did some nice falling leaf and I really like how America moves her shoulders over to make the turn. She really puts a lot of effort into it. Now I want to refine it so she has more responsibility and I can just use energy/body language and less stick/string!
Did a few really nice trot circles and America is really finding her rhythm and relaxation out on the circle. She used to be so impulsive out on the circle and it would take a while to find the relaxation but she gets it now usually in the first 1/2 lap. Canter circles are a different story; sometimes the canter is relaxed and in rhythm, sometimes she's a little emotional and will cross fire behind but gets herself sorted out within 1/2 lap. Something to keep playing with and ask Jerry about at our next lesson on Saturday.
After playing online in the morning, we had lunch and then saddled up for riding. We did all our pre-flight checks and when I went to mount up, America kept wanting to walk off which is uncharactistic for her. I rechecked everything and all seemed in order so tried remounting again and she walked off again. It was nothing extreme...just a few steps and stop but definitely a polite "no"! We were expecting storms so someone check the weather radar on their phone and WOW...the storms were only about 15" to 20" minutes away. I think America knew that and was politely telling me that now was not a good time to get into a riding session!
I decided to repeat standing in the stirrup until America could stand still and call it a day at that point. The next time I bounced up and down and stood in the stirrup, America stood still and I stayed in that position for about 1 minute and got down and called it quits.
We unsaddled pretty quickly and I put my tack up then loaded America. She went right in the trailer on the first ask and we headed for home (about 15" away). We made it home and I unloaded her just as the first rain drops started to fall. Within another 5 minutes, it was pouring. WHEW...we just made it home in time. I think I have a pretty smart mare!!

Lots of Fun and Several Firsts!

America and I went to a friends to play yesterday and had lots of fun doing some familiar stuff and trying some new things. We had several firsts yesterday!

We warmed up online, playing with lots of obstacles: tarps hanging in trees (and blowing because we had a nice breeze), figure 8's and weaves (with stumps instead of cones as markers), circles at walk, trot, and canter and with an obstacle (small jump). sideways along a fence, without a fence, and over the stumps used for the weave. We also did some falling leaf to work on America moving her shoulder over after the turn...she did beautifully!

After the online play and trying to build a connection, we moved to a small pasture to try some liberty. Terri played with Beau while America and I watched (I still had her online for the moment). We had a fun few minutes when Beau decided to leave and America and I helped to "encourage" him to find Terri. Once they were connected again, I took America off line and we played with stick to me at walk and trot and with some turns and changes of direction. America stayed with me and put effort into keeping her shoulder even with mine. The moment did come when I lost her and she decided to trot off. She went to where Kash was in the paddock...I think she'd been wanting to meet him all day!! I played the catching game with her and she made a lap of the small pasture ending back near Kash. I continued to play the catching game, going towards her hq was thrilled when I was able to draw her from about 50' feet away!! As I approached, she had turned to look at me so I started backing away and used my energy to draw her...she came straight to me. Of course, I rubbed all over her and gave her a cookie. Terri and I took the time to spend several minutes of undemanding time with our horses. They hung with us, AT LIBERTY, while we talked. I loved how they were able to stand fairly close to each other with no "naughty" behavior, both focused on their partner (US!!!).

After our online and liberty sessions, we moved to a small arena for riding. I was a bit nervous about riding in this arena for a couple reasons: the arena is bigger than a round pen and I had my english saddle to ride in. I had dropped off my western saddle on Friday to have the fenders cut down a bit so I have the ability to shorten the stirrups a bit more. I had not ridden America in the english saddle and I don't feel as secure in it as I do in my western saddle.

We did plenty of warm up and I went through all the pre-flight checks. The one issue I saw was our lateral flexion to the left. America is very soft to the right but wants to "argue" a bit on the left. I'm not sure if it's a physical issue or an attitude issue. I plan to rule out any physical issues and then address the emotional issue. I did ride America seeing as this was going to be a passenger lesson and I am able to bend her to the left, it's just not nice and soft...something to work on!! When I mounted up, America stood still for mounting and for about a minute after that, until I asked her to move off.

I'm so happy I rode!! We had a fun ride and we had Terri and Beau in the arena with us. It kind of turned into our first trail ride although America kept cutting across the arena to catch up with Beau and a few times we ended up doing some small circles to the right...America's choice as I wasn't touching the reins. I tried to position my body to "encourage" circles to the left but that wasn't successful...she may be more stiff on that side and it could also be why we have lateral flex issues on that side.

I don't think I could have picked a better horse to try "colt starting" myself. America has been so willing and cooperative and any issues have been pretty easy to sort out. When I first got into horse, I couldn't imagine I'd ever be starting one of my own horses...I'm so proud of my girl!!

Now...to sort out that lateral flex to the left issue, to move from passenger lessons to guiding, and to move from walk to trot!!

Our First Trail "Ride"

A friend invited me to go on a trail walk with our horses today and I'm so glad I decided to take her up on her offer. I arrived at the park about 10:00 a.m. and unloaded our horses. America unloaded very nicely, in a slow and controlled manner and began grazing...there was a lot of pretty nice grass in the parking area!!

It took a few minutes for all of us to get everything ready to head out to the trails and America took full advantage of this time to graze, graze, and graze some more!! When we were ready, I started asking her to move her feet by moving her body parts around. I did it to get her focused on me and not on everything else, including the grass!! We headed off down the trail and I was paying particular attention to America's reactions, whether her head was up, down, or level, her breathing, her pace, is she blinking or staring, and whether she was focused on me or something else. I was so pleased when, for 99% of our trail walk, America was very relaxed, her breathing was even, her head was level, and she was connected to me; she would walk when I walked and stop when I stopped. She eventually was confident enough, towards the end of our walk, to allow me to drive her from zones 3 and 4!

America took everything in stride. We came across some orange safety fence out in the middle of nowhere, we went up and down some pretty good sized hills (for Florida anyway), came across a BIG piece of machinery and some porta-potties. None of this caused America any concern, in fact, she was curious about all of it and investigated everything. We did have a couple of moments when her head went up, her ears were forward, and she was really studying something she was seeing but when I asked her to focus on me by moving her around, it was easy to get her attention. We had another moment when something was running through the woods. I was happy when America didn't want to bolt and run but instead, turned, faced, and waited to see what I was going to do. She was looking intently in the direction of the noise but again, it was easy to get her focused back on me.

We also played a bit of "leap frog" on the trail both leading and following and America seemed to have no issues either being in the lead or being in the back. It was interesting that both horses, when in front their ears were forward and when they were behind their ears were back listing behind them. I think America really enjoyed being in the lead though and looked like she thought it was really interesting.

We did some transitions on the trail rom walk to trot back to walk and then stop. America kept pace with me and my hand was open on the lead rope!! I played with using just my energy to cause the transitions and America really connected with my energy.

I really enjoyed going on this trail walk. It gave me the opportunity to expose America to a lot of the things we will encounter on future trail rides and see just how she will react to those situations. I'm very comfortable saying and thinking once we have the walk, trot, canter, and bending to a stop at all three gaits going well in the round pen and arena, we should be able to go trail riding with confidence.

Our Third Ride!!

We started our session with the catching game at liberty and I only had to go to America's hq once; after that one time, she stayed with me no matter where I turned and even trotted to keep up when I took off running! After a good rub, we went online and played the 7 games to check where we were...everything went well and I only had to reinforce a couple of times in the sideways game so I played with advancing our sideways on the fence. America wanted to lag her hq a bit so I pushed a little more of my energy towards her hq and she straightened up a bit. With a bit more of an energy push and me speeding up a bit, she took a few trotting sideways steps so I stopped and rewarded that...it was exactly what I wanted and I was rewarded with lots of licking and chewing. I'd also like to note, I was about 18' feet from America while influencing her with my energy...no carrot stick or string involved!!

We also played with our figure 8's online and we're getting better. I've noticed I really need to slow down when drawing America around the cones...she seems a bit unsure of what to do, especially when going to the left. She also getting better when I send her, she is really moving her shoulders over and going straight through the "X" in the center. This is much better when I'm sending her to the left...need to work more on pushing that shoulder over when sending her to the right but I'll take time with this as this is the side where our draw is more difficult.

After our liberty and online, I saddled America and she was a champ. Did all the prep; cinching 3 times while moving her around in between and got ready to mount. America felt the need to move her feet when I stood in the stirrup so I got down, moved her back into position and tried again. This time she stood still while I stood in the stirrup so I swung my leg over and sat quietly. After 30 -45 seconds, I asked for lateral flexion in both directions and for hq disengage in both directions. Everything was a go, so I asked her to move off by bringing my life up and squeezing with all 4 cheeks and she walked off very nicely. She actually went to the rail and followed the rail. We made a whole lap going to the left at a relaxed walk with no corrections!! I then did an indirect rein then a direct rein to change direction and we did a complete lap at a relaxed walk with no corrections to the right too!! I bent her to a stop and rubbed her for about 2 minutes and gave her a cookie from the saddle and got off.

I'm so pleased with our progress. This was only our third ride and America is really doing well!!

The Florida PaRally

I'm finally getting around to writing a post about the Florida PaRally and I've got lots to share! December, Tink, and Marjie put a lot of effort into putting this thing together and did all the heavy lifting. My role was coach, cheerleader, and networking...a very easy tasks for me being a LBE!

The girls were there on Wednesday and Thursday setting up all the wonderful obstacles and getting things organized. I couldn't be there as I had to work although I did stop by on Thursday evening to say hello and drop off some cavalettis. The girls were hard at work setting things up. I can't imagine how tired they all must have been after the conclusion of the rally!

I attended on Friday without my horse. I figured I could man the registration table and that would free up December and Tink to play with their equines; I imagine they didn't get much time to play on Wednesday or Thursday. Registrations went in spurts so I had time to join in some of the simulations. The "brick and feather" or "ice cream cone and tick tock" simulations with Pete Rodda were enlightening and lots of fun. I also enjoyed the riding simulations and how to find your balance point with Karen Woodbury and Annie Shank. After the simulations, it was time for me to get back to the registration table and let others get in on some of the fun. I also wanted to chat with Bonnie Williams about the Young Living Essential Oils and her table happened to be right next to the registration table...how very convenient!! I ended up having to leave earlier than I'd wanted to; I had gone to my truck to put something in it and noticed I had a tire going flat. Luckily the ranch had a compressor so I was able to inflate my tire but then the hunt was on to get it fixed...not an easy thing on Friday after 5:00 p.m. I absolutely needed to get it fixed as I was hauling my horse to the PaRally on Saturday morning. Lucky for me I was able to get it fixed but I didn't make it home until almost 9:00 p.m.

Saturday I was up bright and early since I wanted to get to the ranch by 8:00 a.m. I loaded America at 6:30 in the morning and even though we'd not practiced loading in the dark, she loaded with no problems and we hit the road. I had to stop at the store to pick up a few things as I was planning on staying overnight if America was handling everything well. We arrived at the ranch just before 8:00 a.m. and did our check in. A previous post tells all about our adventures on Saturday and Sunday.

The facilities at Goethe Trail Head Ranch were very nice. There were plenty of stalls and lots of room for hook-ups. The ranch even has a pool, although the weather wasn't quite warm enough for a dip and I didn't have a swim suit anyway. There were 2 round pens and either 8 or 10 turn out areas for horses. The main arena was very nice and lighted all night long for night time use! Also, the restrooms and showers were very nice with plenty of hot water for showers. I didn't get in there until late and thought I'd have to take a cold shower but was pleasantly suprised to have hot water...and boy did it feel good after a long day of horse play!!

The Parelli Professionals, Karen Woodbury, Annie Shank, Dancin' Pete Rodda, Whitney Van Zyl, and Jerry S. Williams, were outstanding and represented Parelli Natural Horsemanship very well. Their demos, similations, and lessons were informative and fun and several people signed up for lessons with each instructor. Jerry's "laser coaching" sessions were amazing, free of charge, and very popular. Each participant had 10" and explained their particular issue in one or two sentences. Jerry then gave them some strategies to use to make a change. Transformations were amazing and people went away with new information, happy to have new tools to problem solve. Whitney Van Zyl had just received her 2* rating from Parelli and needed to give away 10 hours of freestyle lessons as part of her new 2* status. I'm happy to say, participants at the rally helped her meet that requirement and were very happy for the opportunity!!

The presentations by Dr. Fred, the equine dentist, and Beth Ramsay were outstanding. Dr. Fred's presentation was very interesting and informative...I wish more people understood the importance of having regular dental visits for their equine partners. Beth's presentation on personalities and working well with others was a hoot. There was a lot of information and Beth presented it in a very entertaining way. We all had fun deciding who was D, C, S or I and the best approach to working with them. There was a lot of laughing as we all recognized ourselves in the information Beth shared. I highly recommend participating in this presentation if you get the opportunity.

I don't know the final tally on numbers of horses, riders, and people that visited without horses but we had a lot of people at the PaRally and there was plenty to do. In fact, I missed a couple of things I'd wanted to do because I was busy doing something else.

I also want to acknowledge all the volunteers, especially December's husband Brian, and Whitney's dad, Dan. They were invaluable all weekend with their willingness to jump in and do what ever needed to be done...we couldn't have done it without them!! Another huge thank you goes out to Lorel, AmberRay, and Jeff at Gothe Trail Head Ranch. All three of them worked very hard all weekend to provide the PaRally participants with a wonderful experience and take care of all our needs. Well done to all of you!!

I am very happy to say, we didn't completely wear out December, Tink, and Marjie and the best news is, there is already plans for the 2nd Annual PaRally, February 15-17, 2013!! I can't wait until 2013!!

The Florida PaRally Part 3

I was up early Sunday morning, partly because I wanted to check on America and partly because I sometimes have trouble sleeping in new places. Either way it worked out well and I got an early start on the day. I fed America and cleaned her stall while she was eating then we went out and went for a walk and some hand grazing and hang out time for about 45". I then turned her out in a turn out pen to stretch her legs while I went to get my breakfast; she did a couple of laps around the pen at the trot but then settled down to more grazing.

After breakfast we went out to the big playground that had lots of obstacles. We played with figure 8's at the walk and trot which went well; I stopped when she made the effort to draw to me then go when I sent her with energy rather than having to use my stick and string.

The next obstacle was a kind of car wash with pool noddles placed vertically along upright posts. They could be moved in or out to make more or less of a squeeze. America didn't have any problem with the noodles as we have a car wash at home made of hanging pool noodles...she kept playing with them, mashing them with her nose!

Next up was the water obstacle. It was a big wooden box, lined with a heavy liner and filled with water. At first America was hesitant and would only go so close to the obstacle then need to move away. I kept playing squeeze game with her, gradually asking her to move closer. Pretty soon she was smelling the obstacle, then drinking the water and then in went the feet...all 4 of them!! She began pawing and splashing and generally having a ball. I'm glad I was standing a distance away or I would have gotten soaked!! When I asked her to come out, she did it calmly and went back in for round two when I asked. I was sending her from about 18'!

By the time we finished with the water obstacle, it was time to head back to the barn and get ready for check out. I still had to strip America's stall and pack everything up. I was a bit sad having to leave so soon but very happy with how everything went for America and I the entire weekend. I think I have one very special horse!!

When it was time to load up, America hesitated a bit, almost as if to say she didn't want to leave either but when I asked her again she went right in the trailer and we headed for home. As we got about 1/2 block from home, I think Li"Bert"y heard the horse trailer because I could hear him calling for America...he absolutely adores her. He was so happy she was back home! When I unloaded America and put her in the pasture she gently reasserted herself as the leader of the herd by moving everyone around the pasture. Once that was established, she set about eating some hay and Li"Bert"y was right by her side.