Weekend ramblings

Well the weekends seem to go too fast! My new Knowledge pack arrived, I looked at how much I have spent in my journey and I swallowed hard. I have invested a lot in my journey and I don't regret one cent of it at all. I have watched 3 of the DVD's so far and although there is a lot I already know "cool" there is a lot that I am learning.

I played with Star on line on Sunday and found him to be very playful to say the least. We played around a tree that had fallen down. He got all fizzed up and only thought about jumping, he did one pass over the main branches of the tree that would be 5 foot and cleared it with ease!! After a while we managed to get to sniffing the log, walking over the log, squeezing between me and the log and then we moved on to another more challenging set up. I have managed to construct a log jump and another one some way past. So we played here,all the while Scout was watching and stuffing his face :-) We managed to do the double on line without too much trouble...it was the rearing at the end that was interesting! How playful is this horse and how I am glad I am not riding him yet! He looks to play every time now which is great, now all I need to work on is constructive play!

I took Scout out for a walk along the road as the arena was too wet and the paddock too slippery for him. Interesting. I encountered about 12 years of behaviour that he has honed to perfection! He got RBE then LBE then he went dominant, reared, would not disengage his hind quarters and all while doing this sort of stuff I played games to win. He took 20 minutes and then the realisation dawned on him that when he reared, carried on and tried to be the boss he had to do some very strenuous work, when he didn't do that and was a partner he got to eat grass. It took him 5 outbursts and 2 hours to get it! During this time, he reared, pawed, shook himself all over, rubbed his jowls and threw himself on the ground!!! How interesting. I hada vision of a 3 year old at the supermarket checkout chucking a tantrum cause he couldn't get what he wanted!! The rolling was amazing, he just walked along and then quick as a flash he was down. Not like when he sat down with me riding him, more like as if to say "Well I wonder if this will work!" Nope. I directed a lot of his energy into go touch this and put your foot on that and now yo yo up that bank and now turn face and wait. By the end I was exhausted, lucky to have both of my arms....and he was a mess. Bruce came to check on us twice as he could see that it was going to be a big session! God he's a treasure!

It all ended positively with us both sauntering along. Me at zone 3 and him chilled and confident without a sign of his previous behaviour. He has so much baggage, so many issues and so many savvy arrows but now I have more! When I jogged he trotted when I stopped and walked so did he. I think he made a huge leap in his trust of me on this day. I kept repeating to him out loud that I would never let him down, would never do anything to hurt him and would only try and help him see that humans are worthy leaders and that I love and respect him.

The next morning I had a horse who looked at me with softer eyes. He has since seemed different. Tonight when I go home to play with them I will start to teach him some patterns that I hope will help him become more confident. I have a street kid who is starting to see that this home is his last and it's a good one!

August 08 - Rain rain rain

As the rain tumbles from the sky more and more I marvel at how well my arena is draining...well it needs some work but it's coping well! Update on the two tearaways! Star: Has mastered transitions on line, upwards and downwards. He has even mastered transitions with distractions like small ponies trotting past while he is supposed to be doing circling game! Catherine and her boys came over to play last weekend and it really stretched Star's mind! It was good to see him wish he could go beserk but then re-focus on me. He is still aversive to friendly game around his back legs. He is also starting to arc up about having his feet picked out. We get there cause I out persist him and quietly remind him that I want his foot. He is not doing this cause he is scared, he's doing it because it's another game of who will give up first. So Friday night it was 45 minutes to get his feet picked out. That's ok, I had all night! Yo yo is very light now...only have to wiggle my finger and we are going backwards, even when I ask him to start he knows he has to back through gates and so now he starts to take over...so now we yo yo but then we stop half way...ha ha that's got him thinking! Scout: Has an expanding girthline! Fat is the word! I have stopped rugging him cause he is so rotund and I need him to burn some calories keeping warm. He is off the paddocks at night, goes in the arena for a few hours in the day. I am even going to the local weigh bridge with him to see how tubby he is! He is building muscle but there is a higher percentage of fat there. Anyway he is going well, we do serpentine now with me on the stand and him running around. It's made a huge difference in his demeanour, me not moving my feet. He even whinnies to me when he sees me! Cool. He brings Star up if they are out together! Ah hah! I am so looking forward to taking him to Chris's place in December. I have so much to practice before then though. My transitions with him are good, he's lazy and gets bored so quickly I have to make things more complex for him so he gets more enthused. I am going to start hill work with him at a racing incline track about 15kms away to start getting him fit. Or else his stable name will have to become Norm. I am playing with him about 3 times a week for an hour or so but he can eat more than I can get him to burn!! I played with him for about 3 hours on Sunday last and it was wonderful. I did figure of 8's with him at trot and canter with the trot transition in the centre of the 8, in readiness for one day getting him to change, won't be too far away as he is starting to offer things now. He has a very full Parelli Equine Savvy chest all I have to do is slowly and carefully unpack it I think!

July 08 - First ride in my new saddle

Well quick update. I am supposed to be working but wish I was playing so I come here instead! I finally got a chance to ride in my saddle on the weekend. Saturday was a lovely sunny albeit crisp day so after I got the hundred and one jobs out of the way I collected up my saddle and trundled off to the arena. Got a new play pen organised for Scout and then went off to get caught. It takes less than 2 minutes now which is lovely. I then get a long face from Star when it's not him I choose to play with. Scout seemed happy enough! We yo-yoed into the arena between 2 poles and over one at the end. He did this with consumate ease! Ah hah...have to make it more spicy. So we did circling... at the canter.....he was showing off! We did change of gait....still showing off. Almost like he's saying....yeah what else cause I got that one. Then we did sideways at the trot....this got him thinking.....good. Then we did porcupine...now this is nort his favourite game....he does everything to not move but I have more moves than him and so he's beginning to lose. I make a huge effort to not move my feet. He gets very stroppy when this happens.....not aggressive but as though he's saying "Oh that's not fair you have worked out my secret game." Then we went over to the mounting block, I introduced him to my new saddle, theraflex pad and all the other bits and pieces. All he wanted to do was hold the green shopping bag I had my helmet in, in this mouth. So he did. We saddled up, now issues. We played in between cinching, no issues. I stood up on my elephant stand which is a bit too high for them to get on...and asked him to come over so I could get on. Being lazy. He did. We strode off at the walk and I practiced my pushing passenger lesson as well as indirect and direct reins. We practised this for about 5 minutes and we were then moving on to follow the rail. Then it happened. He pulled out his gold plated savvy arrow! He stopped as if to scratch his jowl on his leg and then gently plopped onto the ground! I let out a cry much like Bridget Jones when she slides down the firemans pole, kicked my feet out of the stirrups and then when he had landed I calmly stepped off. I DID THIS ALL ON AUTOPILOT!! I didn't get scared or bothered I just did this without thinking. Then I thought about my saddle and that I WAS NOT WILLING TO LET HIM ROLL ON IT!!! Sorry Linda I am TOO precious about my saddle. I asked him to get up, he did and then looked at me. I looked at him, he smiled at me, I smiled at him and thought, OK mister lets play some more and then I am going to get back on you. We did some squeezes over a jump, he threw a loop of rope back at me, have you ever had them do that. THEY are so SAVVY with ropes that they can do this!! Well he can!! I know when he's going to do it now and just throw one back at him! He knows I will do it too and so it becomes a very interesting experience. After about 10 minutes he asked if he could stop. I said sure, he came in and politely asked for a scratch. He got one. We then did sideways to the stand and I got on. This time I asked for "interesting" stuff. I asked for rein back, I asked for sideways and he actually seemed interested. Then Bruce dared me to ride a lap around the arena outside the fencce. Something in me..maybe fear....maybe savvy...who knows said nope I am happy here ending on a positive note for us both. After that episode I have mulled this over a million and one times cause that's what I do. I have emailed Christine and asked her advice and look forward to hearing what she think. I did get dejected and think that this horse is too much for me, why do I never pick the easy ones.....Bruce tells me cause he knows I wouldn't have it any other way. He's right too. I did start to feel un-savvy about this but then quickly thought that we must either be on the cusp of breakthrough or I am going to learn what to do when this happens again. Cause believe me it will, he's only got bucking and rearing to go in his arsenal, both of these he does on line and both I am waiting for when I ride. Luckily he's too fat to be as athletic as Star! Phew! Star on the other hand is coming along really well. He's happy for me to be his leader now. He is starting to be so comfortable around me. He's showing me all his itchy spots when we are in the paddock together.....he's even grooming me which I take as a huge compliment. He's showing me just how athletic he is. The other night he did one time changes to his feed bin! I looked at him and said now I only need to communicate that I would like to ride those and for you to say ok cause you know how to do them already! All is good, my savvy is being stretched...but one thing is for sure. I AM SO DAMN GLAD I BOUGHT THE FLUIDITY SADDLE, IT"S FANTASTIC!

July 08 - My new sadle arrives

YIPPEE my new Fluidity Superwide has arrived!! I ordered it 7 days ago expecting it to take 2 months. Well I had budgeted for it to take 2 months and then I get an email saying it's ready to go! A small holdup in Quarantine made it too late for the weekend...but this Monday it arrived!! It's as good as I expected. I actually put my old saddle up next to it to compare the width and the gullet size. Well they don't compare! My old saddle looks like a pony pad in comparison! I am not complaining that I haven't been able to get it on one of them cause it's been teaming with rain but this weekend...or possibly Friday I am going to see how it fits. have watched the DVD on fitting 3 times now!! I hope that now my riding will improve exponentially! Oh yes. As we are on tank water only we decided to take a punt and drill a bore. We are in a really risky area for bore water. But we got water at 40 metres and then a better supply at 70 meters. Our poor neighbours drilled to 150m and got nothing which is not a cheap exercise at $88 per metre!!! Everything seems to be going well for us at the moment. I couldn't be happier. After looking quite poor at the beginning of winter my lovely girl Jazz is coming good. Makes a difference with her teeth done...she hoes into her food every night now!

June 08 - The dentist comes...

Bit of an update from me! As I sit here typing, looking at my red string, too scared to get it dirty!! I have one question for you all. When did you get a real equine dentist to look at your horses teeth? Me well I have been looking for someone who "understands" teeth for nearly a year! Well after some disgruntled visits from my local vets 6 months apart I knew that what they were doing just wasn't working. More intuition than anything. I finally got onto a chap who is a qualified Equine Dentist and made a time for him to come out and look at my 3 partners! The result. Well poor Jazz, she had a loose tooth that was cracked in half, she was dropping food when eating and rubbing her jaw and I knew she was in pain. Well she was poor girl. She was so brave, the tooth was removed and after she recovered from the sedation she looked a bit brighter. I really felt for her though, having a tooth pulled with no pain killers. She has perked up no end, she's not rubbing her jaw while she eats, she's not dropping as much food and she seems to be happier. Star had terrible teeth, even though he was "floated' only 4 weeks ago. He had a sharp ridge on his very back molars, he had ramps and goodness knows what going on. High and low points, sharp teeth digging into his jaw. His bite was out.....due to poor chewing action from having sharp teeth. The end result was he had excess pressure on his TMJ and this would have been like having a headache all the time. He was so brave for the procedure which took over an hour! After having major work done he spent about 20 minutes yawning and licking and chewing. I think maybe some of his rearing might be because he was suffering ongoing discomfort! Lucky I wasn't riding with a bit in his mouth...poor boy. Scout, well he's as solid as they come. No surprises in his mouth, it was not too bad really. He did however have 2 really sharp teeth...sharp enough to cut your finger I can tell you! I could see where they had been irritating the side of his cheek! Such a good boy to put up with all that. He was the dentist's favourite, he asked me if I would consider selling him. I thought about it, looking at him all the while, then said, "nope sorry he will never be for sale. He has found his final home here, I can't think of selling him. He might be big, boisterous and beligerant but he's a great partner and he has taught me so much in such a short time." He's like a street kid really, he is almost expecting that he will get moved on from home to home. When he realises he has a home for life I think he will be happy. He's getting there I think. He lets me put a rug on him, fuss over him and be a leader for him. It's nice that he is "letting" me get close to him So if you can, get their teeth assessed by someone who "knows" how a horses mouth works!! Oh yes, very very excited. I have bitten the bullet and ordered my Fluidity English saddle..... Now all I have to do is sell my normal dressage saddle to cover some of the cost! I have waited and waited and thought and thought and then I just thought. What am I waiting for? Well I know I will have a tax bill to pay...but I will manage somehow to pay for it!!! LOL I am just hanging to get into a saddle and ride and continue my Level 1 and begin leve 2 riding..... I have also registered for the SuperCamp in Victoria with Chris Corbidge. I haven't told my hubbie how much all this is costing!! I am hoping to take both boys over there. Jazz will have Querida to keep her company while I am away! Star is beginning to actually like having me around, especially at dinner time. They only get a little hard feed as they are doing well off the paddocks but Scout actually hoovers his food, never seen a horse eat like he does. He makes all sorts of sounds as he eats and it's gone in no time. I have to defend Star so he doesn't miss out. He's learing to be less of a contemplative eater though! Scout gets the message that if he tries to get Stars food then the Alpha horse comes in and sorts it out. Very interesting now, Star stands behind me and waits for me to drive Scout away. He's less bothered about the savvy string now as well. Scout then busies himself with eating grass and then waits patiently to see if there is anything left! How interesting! Star is getting better with the farrier, played with him before the farrier came the other day. He was full of Mexican bucking and rearing beans....and I mean full! It was hillarious to watch him, I couldn't help but smile as he tossed his head, galloped with his head down with much purpose, reared on our change of directions and then OH you want me to stop and look at the poles on the ground. He did a slide stop and put his nose on 4 poles i had put together so they were quite wide. He stopped and looked at me, two ears and a workman-like look! He cracks me up sometimes, where as once I would have gotten bothered by this now I look at the athletisism before me and think, wow how is that going to be when he's really rideable! It's not too far away either! Cool!!! Querida is growing into her skin. She still looks like a baby, still has plenty of growing to do and in the spring she's going to come home to be part of our herd. Will be interesting seeing as she hasn't been split from her mum....hhmmmm. She will have plenty of friends to keep her company and I will put her in a paddock where she will be able to see her mum and then slowly move her further away.

Level 1 Pass - May 08

Ok so did the Clinic with Chris...I passed Level 1 woo hoo! Rode in the English Fluidity as I mentioned and loved it. Scout was great, well behaved, very left brain and very competant. He was mischevious and quirky as usual. Since the clinic Scout has had a break, only played one night during the week, the other times he has watched as Star and I play. Well Star is very playful at the moment. Lots of rearing. Not savvy enough to know what that's all about! This afternoon we played, sun was setting and although he started out LB Star quickly went RB! We had the tail up, huge snort...arcing back to his Arabian ancestors. Truly spectacular but not very in control! At one point he took off, I tried to wrap the rope round a tree to stop him, I managed to but in the commotion I dropped my carrot stick! Then we spent 40 minutes looking for it in the grass. Who could have thought that something bright orange could be so well camoflaged in the grass! Tee hee! Anyway after that we went down to the tree and played squeezing over a jump. All went well but interestingly he went RBI for a while. Not used to seeing that. He really did astral travel somewhere. Bruce was with me and asked what was going on. It was sad to see him do this after being so flamboyant only minutes before. He's got a lot to work out in that beautiful head! So we did something else, something he likes. we played change of direction, sqeezed over the jump one more time and then called it a day. It was wonderful to see Star so energetic but the RBI side of him is new. Do I have to read/learn more or what! Have booked in for the camp in December at Wongaburra, so have to be cool as a cucumber to float all that way!

May 28 - Fluidity saddle

AWESOME is all I can say. Will post a better explaination of what happened later on. However saddle was lovely....the Fluidity that is.....extra wide is so comfortable! Scout and I are on level turf now....he seems to be accepting me more as a leader and less as a pain in the butt! As always there was plenty going on...I rode twice and loved learning new stuff....keeping on my balance point is a challenge though.

Don't be direct line....it hurts

Well. Things can change in a week hey! Scout is now having more issues with my leadership, it's a good thing that Chris Corbidge is here as we are having some interesting times! Had some issues over the weekend...me getting to direct line...him getting out and squeezing into my feed shed and then down the side of the stables and the float I rushed over to get him out and whacked my leg badly on the float. A good reminder not to be so human!! I now have a wonderful big black haematoma on my right let that hurts when I touch it or forget and cross my legs!!! LOL Anyway after the leg incident I managed to get caught, then we headed to the arena where i was told that I sucked basically! As a leader I don't stack up in his eyes. He wouldn't even turn face and wait for squeeze game. So we went back to very basic. We fixed all the broken things, circling game, yo-yo, change of direction, squeeze over a jump.....but porcupine was still broken! How interesting! Still is unless I do driving game first and then the porcupine game gets slightly better. After 2 hours in the rain, we were both sopping, I could no longer feel my bruised leg and he was asking questions and being a more amenable partner! Star on the other hand was amazing and a complete contrast to Scout! He nearly did a pirouette he was so eager to please. Maybe he picked up on my no nonsense vibe!! Christine is here for a clinic at the moment and we are going to the L2 sessions and I can tell you I need to have some injection of savvy eyes!!! I am going to take my saddle and see how we go....the one I have on trial looks good but as yet I haven't had a chance to ride in it! Better check my girth fits them both hey! Scout is such a barrel still that I might have to get a longer one! Rain is here, horses are toey but hey it's all good really.

my horses keep me sane!

WOW WOW WOW....90% of the time when Star sees me now he whinnies and comes rushing up to the gate! He's really changing and it's amazing to watch this creatue finally starting to like me!! He is offering places for me to massage him, at times he is very particular about where.. to the point of gently placing his bum in front of me! Was very interesting to see him do this. TRUST is a big thing for this horse. Scout and I are coming along well, he enjoys it when I play with him and ask him to match my gait. He was quite intrigued to start off with but he's got the gist of it now. When I trot he trots, I walk so does he, I "try" to canter and he works it out! He's offering a lot more. What have I been up to. Well I have been avidly reading Karen Rolfe's new book. It marries NH and Dressage and I am loving it. It comes with a DVD that I have watched half of and I am hooked. I was concerned that doing NH and feeling it was so "right" and then thinking about my previous dressage training and the feeling it was so "wrong" made me upset. I love dressage, I may not be very good at it, my balance is not as good as it used to be but I am passionate about it and that's what really matters. I am also looking at saddles! Well which way to go. Treeless yes but they look funny....are they as good as is promoted? Balance...well they look lovely and more what I am used to and the praise for them is high...Fluidity Saddle...looks lovely too. I am going to try an Ansur saddle. It looks like the best of both worlds. It's treeless, it allows you to "feel" the horses back, it won't give your balance away by placing you in the correct position. It looks like most mainstream saddles when it's being ridden in and only looks different when there is no one on it. Anyway Star will tell me straight away. He's my sensitivity litmus test. Oh yes. Have been getting them all used to different things. Yesterday they all had their teeth done......with a power rasp carefully used by the operator. NONE OF THEM NEEDED SEDATION!!! Not even Star who needed to be knocked out like a prize fighter 8 month ago! It was a big day cause the farrier came as well. No troubles from Star here either...just telling me he was a little stiff but nothing like what he used to be like. The farrier was so happy, he made comments at how calm and relaxed he was. I am progressing through the ground tasks of Leve 2 and enjoying the practicality of it. Am looking forward to riding in the Ansur saddle, I have it on trial for 2 weeks so will let you know my thoughts. 3 weeks till my next school with Christine Corbidge and looking forward to it! Cheerio for now. Hope you are all well and happy. Ps. My Dad came to watch me play the other day. He said afterwards, "You looked like you had no idea of the time, the fact that it was freezing cold and rainy. You looked truly at peace and in the moment." I had to agree. Horses keep me sane!

The goat

Wow what week and seems to me like Murphy is on my tail! Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong today...aarrgghhh The equine family on the other hand are all well. I took Jazz for a saunter last night. The boys went mad.....but they settled after some hot laps around the paddock!!! Whoa are they fast or what.....LOL Anyway we wandered down the road, we met a goat!! The goat was pretty chilled out about meeting us as we were accross the other side of the road. But Jazz well she relaxed as soon as I stood between her and the goat and got alarmed when I moved...little experiment....anyway she didn't go very RB at all she just got BIG!! From daudling along with her head low she got on adrenaline and wow she looked magnificent! Needless to say she came off adrenaline as soon as I protected my herd, not once did she even look like she was going to leave the scene which was heartening! When we sauntered back she actaully nickered to the goat and then wanted to go meet it! I was mindful of keeping her safe as Mrs Goat was showing all the signs of wanting to bunt her! Not meet her at all!!! I then realised that if Mrs Goat did go the bunt she would quickly reach the end of her chain and not be able to make contact! Phew! An eventful saunter of 20 minutes but it was lovely.

A quiet walk...not.....run for your life!!

A quiet walk down our road was in order this afternoon or so I thought! Played with Star..all 7 games pre flight check and then off we set down the road that runs the length of our property. Well we slowly worked through our thresholds and then just when everything was going along fine this RBE came out to play! We went from doodling along nibbling at grass to OMG what was that...and that.......oh dear....it was lightening fast the LBE to RBE transformation...he grew about 4 hands and then the snorting started.... So I yo-yoed him...and yo-yoed some more.....up a bank......waited...yup he licked and chewed and chilled and we continued on...then we flipped again onto adrenaline.....thar he blows.....wow.....we had striking.....rearing and the whole shebang......at what...I don't know but he seemed to think going for a herb with the 3 mares was more fun than being with me....so more yo yo.....big yo yo and then sideways and then more yo yo....stopped in for a check with me....nice.....got the adrenaline rush again and it was on for young and old. Meanwhile Bruce was with me standing there watching with two bewildered little terriers who looked terrified! Bruce went back to the house while I dealt with the horse that showed up who was off his rocker by now. I was challenged within an inch of all my savvy...but then I remembered what Linda/Christine said.....when they get on adrenaline make them "want" to come off it...so I got him moving....up a steep bank, round and round in circles and then after what seemed like an age he stopped and looked at me with both ears and both eyes as if to say...now why was I doing that again?? He is such a complex horse and boy was I glad I did all this on line!!! On the way home we spent 70% of the trip.....500metres yo-yoing...then amazingly we got to a spot....and he was calm as a cucumber...no fizzy horse to be seen.....we did have to contend with a neighbour with a float...a narrow road and no courtesy from neighbour who bore down on us...at this stage Star was rearing and striking and I was trying to sort that....as well as stop the neighbour! Some horse people just don't get it hey! I asked him to stop his big 4WD and allow me to walk past him rather than vice versa....we did ok but there was a stallion in the float I think intent on getting out....that low rasping whinny noise stallions make eminated from the float along with a hefty boot at the tail gate! I was so proud of Star...he shied at the float but not on me!! Such a huge progression....I had my carrot stick ready...but didn't need it....needless to say my normal neighbours looked strangely on but hey like I care! We got home through the gate and did some more games....then we mosied and I told Jazz all about what had happened......I intend to do this walk often to start to desensitise him to the road...work on that and then build on it...he's so inherently fearful of change and my mistake was to probably go over a threshold without realising it....I will take Scout for the same walk tomorrow and see what happens......he is more LB than Star most of the time...... If anything tonight made me confident in myself that when every arrow Star has gets thrown at me I am ok. I am in control, I am calm and I am consistent and when he's like that I am all he has! I can tell you the day I can lie down in the paddock with him and he trusts me and lets go of all the angst he has with humans will be a beautiful day. We are getting glimpses of the calm LB Star and more of them than the RB one so we are moving forwards! A challenge is to be had here I can tell you.

It's all about food

However during the week we had food issues!! The boys have decided to get all dominant at tea time! Scout did a massive rear and clapped his front feet together, very exciting, when he wasn't allowed to barge me over. Star interestingly has started challenging and barging me again! Last night Bruce fed the boys as I had to work late and he told me how he had to do savvy helicopters and how Star challenged him and reared. Not being there made it hard but I reckon they see Bruce way down the pecking order and when he stood his ground the result was interesting. We have talked about what he needs to do to stay safe when the boys are a little too bombastic! He's so wonderful and happy to follow along and learn Parelli, I am so glad in instances like this he is! Kept him safe!!! The boys aren't naughty they are just dominant and sometimes they push the envelope to see what the result is. If you give an inch to them they take a mile the next time. So with me they are more respectful and know that I am more of a leader. But with Bruce they still test him. He's getting more and more savvy....and I tell him SAVVY = SAFE!! SO there you go. We are making lots of progress but we are changing dramatically in the process and sometimes we have growing pains!

Equine Nirvana - a partnership is blossoming!

have to say that tonight Star and I found our place together. He was so calm. Played the 7 games and he was chilled and attentive so I got my bareback pad out and we played saddling game. All good there. Saddled him up with the bareback pad indian side and then played a bit. All good. Then got on my mounting block - eek he thought she's gotten big! So we played with me on the block for a while. All calm so I asked him to come to the block so I could start to ask if it was ok to get on. After a few moments he decided that that was ok so he allowed me to lie over his back and then get off. Then he allowed me to get on. Now I am not religious but I did have a spiritual experience. We did pushing passenger all over the arena. He was fine. Chilled...almost humming along! I noticed straight away that I was stiff so worked on relaxing me and concentrated on looking forward. Then I realised that he was doing the best walk he has ever done! It was like John Wayne's walk! Fluid, smooth, huge strides not bad for a racer that didn't have a walk pace at all in Jan this year! So feeling that all was good we then practiced one rein stops. They are not his favourite but he got the gist in no time. Have done them to death on the ground...as he used to be a forward-a-holic I was leaving nothing to chance. We changed direction with the rein over his head all good. Then I started to focus on me, where i wanted to go and feeling that in me and translating that to him. I used my posture to go to places in the arena and you know what! When I was on my balance point and focused we went where i was thinking! I then practiced some moves I used to do when I was training to get my balance in my normal days. Arms up, to the side, to the front, to the back, shoulder shrugging etc. All for me as I am as stiff as a well starched shirt from being out of practice. I dis-mounted when the rope fell onto the ground. I sat back on my balance point and thought stop and we did! AWESOME!! Now I don't expect this every time but if you only knew what this horse was like when I got him 6 months ago you would know why I am getting so excited. Afterwards he sighed and then he yawned and he yawned and he yawned. I think he released a lot of pent up emotion about humans riding him. I hope he felt better about it. Seemed to, he offered me itchy spots and was very distinct about where they were. I hold my hands over his body and rest them on him and then he moves around me to show me where he is sore. This is amazing as only in Jan he was so stressed out and fearful that he wouldn't dare do that. He had issues with this feet, now using the PNH way I ask using the slightest pressure on his chestnuts and I get a foot and I get it held up for me...same with the back. I rest my hand on his hock and i get the foot and have it held up! Tonight I have marked a Star on my calendar. I am going to celebrate this day every year for it's the day Star seems to finally have accepted me as his leader! Thanks for reading my ramblings.....I enjoy releasing them into cyberspace here! Oh yes through all of this Scout waited at the gate with a face that said...why are you not playing with me! He got special attention at dinner time. A lovely brush, scratch and a promise that tomorrow is his turn! Jazz as always watched with interest and told me she loves me with a nicker as I wandered over to her. The herd is finally becoming happier...and so are the horses!!

My normal friend comes to visit

Played on Sunday with them both. Was great fun. Had a non-parelli friend who rides come over on Sunday so I decided to show her how good Star was now. She saw him when he was pre-parelli and she was amazed at two things, 1. How calm and attentive he was, he was in a LB sort of mood! 2. How he had built muscle without me riding him!!! It was funny cause she started asking how I taught him to yo-yo (cause now most of the time he yo-yo's on a wiggle of my finger), she asked how long I had been doing PNH and was amazed when I told her how long. It's only really taken me a short time to teach him so much. She did however see the "old star" when we played friendly around his hind quarters, he kicks like a cow with the slightest touch of the savvy string and we can only get just above the hock before we get a threshold and a RBE reaction. However, this is a HUGE improvement, I keep having to remind myself that once upon a time he wouldn't even let me get near him at all with the stick and string. We did sideways (half pass) but he's still a little sore so we only did a bit. I think I wrote before I am going to do hill therapy with him so that's what I am going to do now. He needs to be stronger and then we will be ok to move on. Later, after my friend had gone, I played with Scout. I wanted to try out my new bareback pad which I did for about 5 minutes and then we had a discussion about what direction we needed to go and then I got off and sorted it out on the ground. Here I saw the Scout who throws his head up on dismount although I had an inkling that he would do this so I got off in such a way that made it impossible for him to head butt me. I didn't read the signs before this as I played with him. He was fractious, didn't "feel" calm to me and was not happy about something....we did have lots of flying ants...who bit you when they landed on you. Miserable things! He took off at one stage, back over to Star and they both lamented on my lack of savvy! It was like they were talking about the arrow Scout had just pulled out....god knows what I did to provoke it? I have a bit of work to do here but nothing major. It's lovely though to see him changing, calling to me when he sees me walk out of the house. The look on his face when I play with Star first and vice versa. I am doodling with the little filly as well. I have no real experience with young horses but I am taking it slow, we are having lots of fun and she's really bonded to me which is why I am now her custodian of sorts. I tell you what she is a totally different horsenality. A clean slate and a wonderful future dressage partner! Look up Pura Raza Espnanola...she is this! Stunning!

Change in the weather

I took Scout to the playday. He loved it. Since then it's been wet and cold, how refreshing. We are all enjoying this cooler weather. We have been playing in the paddock. Farrier came yesterday and remarked how calm Star was. I played with him for 5 minutes before he arrived. Made all the difference. So have the regular leg massages he gets. He is quite un-fussed about his feet which is a huge difference from November last year where he would try and literally run away if you even looked at his feet! He stood for the farrier, picked up the foot that the farrier was looking at for him! Star was a star. I even taught the farrier how to ask for feet by using the chestnut and said that was how I would like him to pick my horses feet up in the future. The tendon squeeze is not nice at all. Scout was good too, he had a trim. I watched with amusement as he leaned on the farrier a bit. My farrier travels with a friend and they work together. They are both very good, young, motivated guys who are actively learning and keeping up with all the new techniques. He showed me some scary photos of a horse he was asked to see who had been trimmed by a bare foot trimmer, the horse had huge long heels, had dropped onto his pasterns almost because of it. His hoof wall had collapsed and was not functioning as a hoof at all. Now I am all for them not having shoes and will see if Star is capable of going barefoot but I can't see myself using someone who leaves feet to grow like that. I think the art of hoof trimming is just that. It's knowing the Bio-mechanics of the horse, the muscles, how they work, the shoulder action, the foot development itself. The horse doesn't travel the distances it used to on the hoof these days so surely this must be taken into account? My two areas of research at the moment, is the horse and the hoof and also saddles and saddle fit. I have had some very informative emails sent to me so far on saddles. I want to continue on with my riding and get back into competing in dressage and have just ordered Karen Rolfe' s new book and DVD. It's for sale on her site at a special price at the moment so I gave myself an ealry birthday pressie! So glad that the girls had a good ride, something I would love to do is show a different way of being with horses to my girlfriends daughter. She is pony mad but has been taught the pony club way. I have my doubts that her heart is in horses but that's only my opinion. Going for a ride in the forest is something I want to do. Ideally when Bruce can ride and we can go riding together. We talked about getting a 3 horse float so we can take Jazz with us as well. We shall see. I have a pedestal now...it's a bit high cause I made a mistake with the measurements but it's in the areana, it's bright red and so far it's not been used. I hope this weekend to introduce both the horses to it. I am thinking about having both boys in the arena at the same time. One playing with me and one watching....will let you know how I get on. Toodle pip Ps. I am off to see my NH partner from 10 years ago. An arab mare called Tara. She is living with a wonderful mother and daughter about 70kms away from me. I am getting excited at the prospect of seeing her again. She is and always will be held in my heart as a wonderful partner.

Easter arrives

Oh the lovely Easter break! Hope the Easter bunny was generous to you! I had a wonderful time. Friday was indeed good. Played with Scout, we got some lovely work done. He seemed happy and calm. We played all the games with twists and then we played with the float. What a confident boy going on....what an unconfident boy when I started after some time working with the breaching doors! Oh yes and from experience please don't stand too close to the breaching doors when horse is exiting the float! I did and got clocked in the side of the head thinking that I was out of harms way as he backed out. The door swung wider than I thought, clocked me and nearly knocked me into next week! While I was seeing stars literally Scout backed off the float and came over to me with the look "oh dear that looks bad mummy". All I could do was hug him and then wait till my head hurt less. We then loaded again and calmly waited till he was ok with the doors being closed over. The fact that I couldn't actually open my mouth was a bit disconcerting but it's getting better. Least I couldn't eat too much chocolate!! Went to a Parelli Play day with a local group on Saturday, took Scout. He was great, very calm and it was great to meet others and have a nice time. It was so lush and green, the venue was the local polo grounds and boy did Scout do a lot of mowing! On the way I colleced over 30 cars at one point I am a slow and steady floater and I think he liked that. He was so calm there I even got on and practiced my one rein stops, trotting and back ups. I am really enjoying riding bareback, he's like an easy chair to ride so it' nice GOing home was different, another horse turned up who was not at all happy about travelling home. Like an angry toddler he had a tantrum, we had a chat about it, he went on, he then came off, he went back on...then Bruce said, "when he goes on please don't LET him come off again I want to go" Oh I was furious at this as I was trying to do that with love language and leadership......oh did I have to give myself time out or what!!! LOL. In the end I decided to see if someone might help me who had more experience as my quiver was empty and I was Literally quivering....I did get help and some wonderful advice and we got home. We have homework to do though, we need to work on confidence with the breaching doors and back door. Can't help thinking though that this might be a pattern behaviour rather than a confidence issue...am I over analysing???? Ok Sunday played with Star, gave Scout a break. Star was wonderful, very playful, very exuberant and very spectacular to watch. With the hint of rain in the air he was enjoying being a horse I think! Scout and Jazz watched with interest as we did all the games, we did sideways long range and then we started playing with the ball.....interesting....we are playing friendly game with it! Bruce was busily making me a pedestal after seeing the new Savvy club DVD with Zuess playing with one. Ours is fire engine red and after some poor measurements from me a bit too high Bruce was unfazed, I was sorry.....it's a great mounting block though! Monday was Scouts turn again...shocking day. Windy and everything was flapping and blowing....he had a few moments of OMG as even the Andalusian girls were getting flustered by the wind which is most unusual! So we had a few interesting times but by the end of all of them we were squeezing over barrels and long range sideways, ripping the second tarp and being really cool. Needless to say I had chosen MOnday to tape my Level 1 tasks and so I abandoned it for another day....stage fright as well?? Weather has changed, we have had 10mm of rain. All of them are standing bums to the wind and the paddocks are now not dusty. Yay!! Going to play tonight with Scout and Star and see what's what

Big Green ball and cow favoured barrels!

Ok so am at the time when I know I can get on and ride Scout. We played on Sunday night. It's important with him to play all 7 games and then the good stuff starts. His favourite thing is squeezing under a tree we have. He gets this look on his face! I played with him right next to some gorgeous Andalusian mares I have staying over, now they were really going nuts, but it was as if they weren't there! Fantastic. He was so soft, watching me, offering things, it was wonderful. Star is recovering from his fence mishap, he's had accupressure and trigger point therapy and he's coming along. Using his bum more! He was sore behind as well as in front! Silly me only saw the front foot.....but he did willingly stand with his foot in a bucket of iced water. Maybe cause it's so hot!! Yucko 6 days of over 35 and counting! No end in sight either so they say Oh well, I wait till the sun goes down a bit and then go out. Been watching the float training DVD and it's very good. I am imagining the day when I can send them both on from afar!! That's my vision so now I have a mission. To be the best leader I can so they know what the hell I am talking about and also that I am worth listening to. I know I am getting closer to them, they are getting more trusting of me, my draw on them is great. I am so flattered when they look up and come over to me. Scout is the best, he's trotting up when he sees me, Star has a look then walks over and Jazz as always nickers as soon as she sees me and walks up. I am dreading the cold weather for her and me. I know her arthritis will be back and so will mine! Oh well. I am off to do some more work. Then go home and hide instide till the weather cools off. Oh yes am also eagerly awaiting the big green ball and my cow skin barrel covers to arrive from the US!!! Can't wait to see how they react to that!

Fences and horses - oh dear

Oh boy! This morning we had a slight set back. Star and Scout ever the playful boys were discussing the morning's news and then Star decided he wasn't winning in the porcupine game and playfully struck out at Scout. Problem was he got his foot over the lowest wire on the fence! Luckily I was standing in the family room, toast in hand watching the proceedings, when it all happened in front of me. I leapt out the door in my PJ's over the fence and carefully went to see how he was, Bruce ran to the shed to turn off the fence. He had managed to get his foot out, but as he got stuck he got a whack from the fence which startled him which made him pull back. I swear it would have been worse had we not been studying PNH!! As I jumped over the fence, I could see him pull and then stop, then the fence zapped him and he pulled away. It would have been ok had the fence not got him. The result is, hair and skin off, sore fetlock and slight superficial cuts and abrasions...LUCKY STAR it could have been so much worse. I walked up to him, he gave me two ears and lowered his head, he was holding up his foot for me to inspect. I had a quick look and then we headed up to the gate, Bruce was waiting with the halter and we then proceeded to the wash bay to get a bucket and some water. I wanted to see if I could get him to put his foot in a bucket of ice cold water. Now in the past this would have been out of the question cause he didn't trust me or my ideas. This time with some support and lots of friendly wither scratching he decided it was a good idea to put his foot in the bucket. ATTA BOY STAR!! He stood with me for 15 minutes and calmed down, me standing there in my PJ's with Bruce looking on worriedly.....all was OK and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief almost all at the same time! Jazz was worried, Scout was calling and we had to calm them down with friendly pats and rubs.....all is well now. Star has a hot fetlock, vet coming tomorrow...I will wait for him to fit me in cause he is one of the best horse vets I know. In the meantime I am going to be on swelling duty and Star will have to like my idea of foot in the bucket treatment. I guess he will have to be rested for a week or two so I will have to get up to speed with Scout! Ah the joy of horses hey! One thing I am sure of is that my relationship with Star is much stronger than it was 4 months ago. We both agreed that he was so different throughout this ordeal. I don't think there is any safe fence for horses, we have good fences with sight wire etc. but there will always be those times when they get too close. Hopefully Star will be more wary.......

March 08 - First Learn Burn!

Well what a busy weekend. My neice turned one and so we trecked off for a 1 yo birthday party. It was fun but we were glad to be home! Played for a couple of hours this afteroon. Today I got my first learn burn. It was my fault. Playing with Scout out in the paddock, his trick is to take off and he managed to get the better of me this time. I didn't have my baby tree to help me. Anyhow he took off with my 22" line trailing after him and had a right brain moment. A flat gallop around the paddock saw him really work off some steam! I walked down to the corner where I figured he would end up, near the mares who were watching with interest as he herbed around. He is so fast! But so unfit! Anyway this happened twice, so I have 2 learn burns....not too bad as I managed to open my hand and let him go. There was no way I was going to stop him. Once he had caught me again we did some more work out in the paddock and then went into the arena, long range sideways, circling game, squeeze over the barrels and then put your nose on something. I also squeezed him back through two barrels just wide enough for him to fit. He was glued to me which was fun. We did some friendly as we both rested and then I asked him to go get my straw hat, it's past it's prime and so has been donated to the play cause. He did this with gusto and so now it's sporting a new brim look....like ripped off!! He really tried hard tonight, we both learnt something too. I know I am still shouting...I will get better...I think I am every day! Star was next and we did some nice squeezes past things on the way to the arena. We then did some nice circles, his gait is so soft and light compared to Scout! They are so different too, Scout is so chilled with the commands whereas Star is still so unconfident at times. He still needs so much friendly so that's going to be my aim this week, we will friendly in all sorts of places and spaces cause it seems only to work in the areana! Every where else it's still skeptical horse. Tonight we did long range sideways and I have to be so light with him cause if I don't he panics, but he did learn it! He licked and chewed and then went oh yeah I get it. Then we got glimpses as we walked accross the arena. His yo yo is awesome and now I am beginning to be so discreet with my commands to see how light i can go. It's good fun actually and I think he likes it too. I have never seen this horse so happy. Really he is actually offering things now and taking things in that I never thought he would be capable of! His whole demeanour has changed and it's not time at all till I am caught when I go into the paddock. I have bought the catching game DVD and so will watch that when I get it. had to send the first one back as it was all scratched when I got it...bummer. The trailer loading DVD is great though and I am watching that every chance i get. i have to be careful that i don't study too much when Bruce is home!!! LOL he gets bored quick!

Saddling the savvy way

Well work got in the way of play for 2 nights this week. Not to be outdone though I got home last night and played till it was so dark we both had trouble seeing!! I played with Scout first, took me 20 minutes to get him to want the halter on without trying to frisk me for carrots. I get a whinny and two ears every time I go to his paddock. He's got a HUGE play drive and is very mischevious!! I love this. So finally I was able to put his halter on without him trying every trick in the book. Then decided that if the haltering was an issue we wouldn't leave the paddock till we got some things sorted out! So we played in the paddock and off he shot like a rocket, Star was watching, so I think Scout decided to show Star some of his tricks! Well the tricks were, pull on the human in the circling game, go right brain and put your tail up and snort like mad! So I played my savvy arrows like this....I used a little tree to get more whoa in my rope, so when he took off he took off around a tree and then the tree stopped him not me.....he was so shocked he turned and spun and faced me and licked his lips and chewed. I sent him the other way from around the other side of the tree and off he went again! Then he did the darndest thing, he went aound the tree, spun, got the rope around him like on the most recent Parelli DVD with Linda....I didn't panic like I might have done in the past, I waited till he stopped, sorted out the rope from the tree, then asked him to sort himself out from the rope. He did, no panic, no nonsense he just stepped out of the rope and then calmly went on the circle as light as a feather, when we went right brain again he had to sort himself out over some rocks, and a little hill, at first he jumped the whole lot! He has a BIG jump!! Then as he thought more about it he stepped nicely over and then eventually when it all got too much he stopped and looked at me. It was nice, I reckon we got closer just from that lesson and I am so glad I kept it in the paddock! The play in the arena was great. We found things, jumped things, got our long range sideways more soft and then we played with the saddle! I have an old Wintec which is just as well as he rubbed on it, pushed it and generally used it as a scratching post!! The saddle blanket got stepped on, nibbled, nuzzled and pushed. He spent about 5 minutes exploring it. He was obsessed with it!! Then we played saddling and he really has NO ISSUES!! YIPPEE!!! Tonight I am going to try for putting the saddle on and doing the first of the riding games if that's the way the lessons go. I have also started using the games on the site here, so we started to practice yo yoing through barrels, around barrels and then we did send through the barrels. On the weekend for both of them we are going to play with the float! Star was next, he was in a very playful mood. We did falling leaf, circling and then we had a huge SPOOK at the saddle....it was nearly dark mind you! At the end of the lesson he wouldn't sniff the saddle but would stand over it. HOW INTERESTING!! He did everything I asked and we had great fun, he's a different horse to Scout, we still have a way to go with friendly game but porcupine is so light, driving is getting better and sideways...well we are going to tackle that today. Our short range is fine but I want to look at our long range and then we will go play in the paddock for something different. Jazz is not forgotten, I spend lots of undemanding time with her. I talk to her about what I am doing with the boys and she looks as though she thinks it's all very funny. Jazz too needs confidence in me so on the weekend I am going to play quietly with her around the float. In the end I hope to have them all sending at liberty onto the float. That will be a while away but we are getting closer every day!

Hot day - more play

Well what a weekend! Firstly, on Saturday I played with Star in the paddock at dinner time again. I decided that the more we play away from the arena the better. We did driving which he wasn't really too happy about. We went up the driveway and out onto the road that runs down the side of our place. It's a private road so it's quiet. We got to a threshold and then we chilled and then when he was relaxed we went on. We got 100 metres from the gate and then we hit a big threshold and so we stopped and ate grass, for him it's amazing, as he's usually so unconfident that he won't even look down. He's spending more time off adrenalin and I am beginning to really love him off adrenaline...then he becomes a thinker. It's like he really has a thinking cap on! We turned and I drove him home from zone 3. This is big for him as he's so used to being led, and led close. As a race horse he had no choices, now he has choices and it's blowing him away. With his thinking cap on he then did the softest ever yo yo through the gate into his paddock! Past his feed bucket without looking, very interesting, with me only wiggling my finger! He really offered it to me! I was so impressed but wondered if this was a fluke so I brought him back and we did it again. This time I barely wiggled my finger and took him past the point he stopped last time....the same response, ears forward thinking cap squarely on and he yo yo'ed all the way down the 22" line without even stopping! WOW and double wow I was so thrilled and I think he thought he was pretty hot stuff too! Yesterday Danny arrived.....is it bad....I have given him another name......I call him Scout...he looks more of a Scout to me.....we shall see. He arrived and was busy looking around and calling and then he found the food and he settled nicely. I played with him yesterday afternoon and he did a few things that were, how interesting, moments, He tried to crowd me on the circling game, that didn't work, he then tried to sniff manure as if I didn't exist...that didn't work. Then he offered heaps and I thought, wow this horse can teach me heaps and then I can practice on Star. See I am trying to get better at serpentines and falling leaf exercises.......Star will take the lead with falling leaf, when I ask for a change of direction he's already doing it with a rear to match as he pivots on his inside hind! Very speccy to watch but he's taking over. So we have to stop and break it up cause he's going "Oh yeah I know this one it goes like this" He's very sensitive to my energy too now so I have to be careful that I am not prjecting onto him too much, whereas Scout (aka Danny) needs to have my energy at times...well that's what my gut tells me I need to do. I've decided to play with Scout first and then with Star second and then I can practice and then teach! Star is getting so cocky but still won't squeeze over a jump...so tonight we are going to practice that. Oh yes and long range sideways...... It's changed a bit at home, having 3 horses feels lovely....gives me plenty of work but plenty of joy. The adage 2's company and 3's a crowd doesn't ring true here though, 3 is just right! I hope I can do my best for Scout and be the leader he needs cause I think he will help me more than I can help him. This morning was lovely to get up and go out and tend to all 3 of them, I forgot to mention that a friend, Jan who was at the clinic, came over yesterday and watched as we played. She also brought the horses a great big bag of apples and they adore them! So this morning the horses got a treat of carrots and apples and a cool crisp morning and they all looked very happy and peaceful. Then I had to leave to come to work! Drat!!! Oh well got to get some $$$ so I can go to a 6 week camp!

Scout arrives!

Well last night I wanted to watch more of my level 2 pack, Bruce is working late and so I get to have my feet up and watch Parelli tellie! Bruce is taking an interest as long as there is nothing better on. I am thinking about getting another television so I can watch what I want and not get huffed at! I do however spend time with him.....I might still tell him about what's been going on with the horses...he's going to suffer if he doesn't become as fascinated as I am!! LOL....no not really. Last night I was amazed.....and I had the "how interesting" thing going on. It was time to come in and Star as doing his usual, gotta get to the night paddock and get to the buckets etc...well I decided to play off line and see where that took me. Nothing demanding just some light stuff. I then played the cactching game cause when it was my idea to go get dinner it wasn't his. So I reversed the psychology. I played well I think. I got caught and walked away, he followed, then I sat down. He stopped, looked at me, two ears, two eyes as if he was asking me if I was broken! He looked shocked. Then he walked over to frisk me for carrots....didn't find any and I thought he would walk off back to the gate. Nope he stood over me......then he nuzzled me on my arm and face...then he just put his head right down near mine and looked me right in the eyes. Well I cried........ I thought if this horse that "had" such disdain for humans including me can do this then we are on the right track. We have made a significant breakthrough. This morning he met me at the gate with such enthusiasm it was breathtaking. Jazz too said god morning to Bruce as he left for work, and came up to the gate to say hello. When we got her she was so scared of men, however I think she sees Bruce as her guadian angel as he always has a carrot for her It's happened with Jazz as well. She was always very social, some days her bubbble was huge and then others it seemed to be gone. Then I noticed that she cannot stand pressure, it's even uncomfortable for her some days for me to be facing her. I know now that I have eyes on my head, shoulders and belly button and I need to be aware that even if my pressure from my head eyes is off her if my other eyes are still looking she is still uncomfortable. Sounds cooky but I think this is ver true. So there you go. We are travelling this journey at times painfully slow, sometimes quicker than I can handle. My comfort zone is being tested so are theirs. One thing I know is that this feels more natural to me than anything else. I said to Bruce only last night, this feels so effortless to learn and simple (sometimes strange) to put into practice but one thing is for sure I don't regret one day or dollar. I am hungry to be a better horseman, to be the bet I can be that's what motivates me. To see a horse asking questions, to see them looking at me with a different look, to see them accepting me slowly as their leader is all the motivation I need. I am preparing for the arrival of our third horse this weekend. All being well he will arrive on Sunday. I am going to let him settle in and then turn him out with 3 very big and dominant mares. Will be interesting as the alpha mare is a control freak and will have him understanding herd life very quickly. I am so looking forward to this valuable lesson.

Hot summer and Level 2 pack!

Well I have been a sook with the hot weather. Can't stand it really. So we have had a quiet few days. One thing I have done is gone out in the middle of the night and found them to give them a midnight carrot! I got my level 2 pack and in that I saw something interesting. So I decided I would try it. Break up the pattern of getting carrots around certain times and give them a treat when they least expect it! Jazz was so shocked! She nickers to me when she sees me anyway but at 1am she was most appreciative! Like when you really want a tim tam but you don't have any.....I get that feeling a lot!! Must add them to my shopping list! Star was bemused by this and has since looked at me like I am from Mars! Let me tell you what happened last night. Had a busy day at work and thought I would spend undemanding time with them. So I have moved the paddocks they are in to give their usual ones a break. I call them into the smaller house paddocks each night. They each get a paddock and I can keep an eye on them. Well last night I just closed the gate over in the paddock they were in and didn't lock it with the chain. BIG MISTAKE!!! Jazz decided I was too slow and so opened the gate and then decided to go look and see if the other gate to her paddock was open. Nope so she then decided seeing as the gate to the stables was open that must be where I wanted her to go. So off she went (at speed)!! With Star having a nervous breakdown RBE moment. I thought, I will catch him and then put him in his paddock and go get her. Nope that was not on his plan!! He took off past me, tail up like a flag and carrying on like a pork chop. Didn't follow Jazz to the stables...oh no...he shot up the drive and out the gate and onto our access road....sparks flying cause he's shod he made his way to Jazz and then did an impressive slide stop wearing about 6 weeks off his shoes and then stopped. As this thought crossed my mind he put it in to action! I thought, thank god he hasn't gone towards the main road....and he thought...I mght just go up the road and see what's there.....so there am I in my shorts and gumboots sprinting up the drive to head him off at the pass! Disaster averted I got him to think about herbing down the drive...tail still up RBE in full swing...very spectacular to watch. Whew, he actually turned and looked at me after about 20 metres as if to say where to now?? I turned back towards the gate, that by now was safely shut, and walked away from him....he followed me!! Cool I thought till he let out an almighty snort and then I knew he was really having a hard time with all this...so I walked back to him friendly as and put my savvy string over his neck and he allowed me to put him safely into his paddock. Meanwhile MissJazz was having her own RBE moment which was fun to watch. She, not to be outdone, was tail up, head cocked on the side and prancing around like a mare of 10 not 24!! So with them both safely away I had a chance to rethink my laziness and thank my lucky stars that nothing happened! This morning I was up at 6am it was dark, foggy and raining....hard to find the horses but eventually I did and they remembered the 1am carrot and so draw was not an issue...I actually nearly got mugged!! If it wasn't for my trusty savvy helicopter I think I would have been mugged for sure! It was like Linda says...Hand over the treats and no-one will get hut! They were both like that LOL!! SO tonight I am going to play level 2 stuff....have watched half the first DVD in level 2 and it looks awesome...I have savvy arrows as well, lots of them. Also on the weekend I have another RBE coming to stay for a while, he was at the Level 1 clinic and was too much for his owner, he looked suspiciously like my horse and so I thought he looked ok. At this stage I am his custodian until May when we'll work out where his future should be. If nothing else having 3 horses to play with will keep my super busy!!

Valentines Day - all is excellent

Ok well last night was awesome! Star has major issues with zone 1, not to mention he's so clever I just think I am getting ahead of him with my savvy and then I get stuck! We played last night with Christine giving me some excellent tips and advice. I just had a bad night, nothing jelled in my head...I was unco! Ever had one of those nights/days!!! LOL well I did. Never mind it will get better as I think it's getting really hard cause we are on the verge of a major breakthrough! That's what Christine thinks and I tend to have to believe her cause I am staying positive. OK the float....well....he went in after 1.5 hours. It's not about the float either...it's what's happened to him associated with a float! He showed last night like an unfurling rose all the little things that he has issues with. Couldn't cope with friendly game around the float, couldn't cope with loading with the human on the right side and then got better and better. It took a long time for him to get over his tailgate threshold, with zone 1 being the only part to get into the float for about 45 minutes. Then all of a sudden we had a breakthrough and we got all 4 feet on tailgate, then we did friendly, asked him to yo yo back and he was stunned. He licked his lips and chewed for about 2 minutes...he looked at us with that kind eye after that...he didn't get tense either with friendly after that either...it was great. Eventually after about 20 minutes he was offering to go on....we had to ask him to wait..!! He was so impatient and so confident! It was wonderful to see the old Star come back not the scared one...who would have thought that a horse built like a sherman tank could be so very scared....but he was. In the end the send was from 2 metres from the ramp and he went on of his own volicion, no coaxing no nothing and he went on with confidence. I can only say that this method preserves the dignity of the horse, is conscious of their needs and keeps us safe! I have so much to do with the float, friendly game, squeeze game and I reckon keeping him out of it now! I learnt also how to do serpentine on the ground and also fallen leaf patterns, he is so clever that he now anticipates and I have to watch that he's not taking over!!! Also, spoke to a friend of mine who rides normally and she asked had I ridden him yet. This is a horse that has had major RBE issues and many other things going on. When I said no, she said what a shame....when I told her I was doing it all on the ground, half pass, turn on the haunches, shoulder in, turn on the forehand, backups etc she went quiet. I said to her, I want to get this right on the ground so when it comes to riding it will all fall into place.....I want to get to a place where I can ask for lead changes on the ground...which is not far off with the new exercises...and then when I am on him all will make sense to us both. I am building this horse into an athlete. I went to put on a canvas I had bought him in August 07 the other night as it was so cold at our place. When I went to do up the front it was too small accross the chest I then put on his favourire light parka type rug which he allowed!! When I got inside I looked at the photos I had of him when I got him.....the changes in the past few months are amazing.....He has muscled up, looks better conformed and is so wonderful looking. I don't need to ride yet and will take my time making sure that he and I are safe before I worry about that. All I can say is that I know I have a good horse when my instructor keeps saying she wants him For that I am flattered and it only makes me more determined to make this partnership work and keep it natural. Have a great day.

Feb 08 - The Float!

Well the farrier came this morning. Half an hour early and took my play time away.. I was going to play for half an hour so he would be ready and happy to be handled by someone new. I played catching game, told the farrier I would be a few minutes and then threw in....I haven't seen this take more than 2 days and walked off laughing. He's young and he's getting used to me! I got caught in 2 minutes...I time it now! It's a lovely feeling We yo yoed through the gate...... interested farrier looking on....what's this ....he has a helper.......oh dear....I could see it from Star's eyes...I get my human and then I go with her and then....ooohhh there are two more there....male ones.....we had a little RB incident which was calmed by going backwards....boy does this work wonders with him!!! Then the farrier introduced himself all over again...Star was happy......Farriers side kick was a little too eager so I asked him to please give my horse a chance to meet him and say hi before he gets on......I asked what his qualifications were...why there were two of them and what he was going to do...all before they got close to Stars feet. I got a suitable explaination and then allowed them to get on with shoeing star. Well he stood there like a LBE...he even went to sleep.... Last time it took us some time to get him happy...me playing...farrier looking at me like I was from Mars.....now he can see the difference...he commented on how calm and relaxed star seemed. I found out too that another horse had hurt him, pulling back and wrenching his shoulder.....I said "Oh well not all horses are the same......what;s it like to shoe a Parelli horse in training and his comment was "I SHOULD BE DOING MORE PARELLI HORSES THEY ARE SO WELL BEHAVED!" I was so proud of star and of me...he trusted me enough to not be going RB at the slightest thing. Even the offsider who was helping started asking questions. It was great and we all enjoyed the experience and even better stars feet are back on the road to recovery. His feet were terrible and very thin...I do shoe him.....I have read about barefoot...one day we will get there...but for now we have shoes on and we are working on getting normal shape into his feet.....some farriers are so good at being bad they make a mess of horses feet and it takes months to get them right again.... I learn as well, my farrier teaches me and shows me whats going on with his feet, I ask lots of questions too so we all get something out of this. The moral of todays story is....from my eyes...if your horse catches you, is happy to be with you and accepts your leadership then everything else gets easier. I haven't been this happy around horses for years! This afternoon we are having another lesson with Christine...we are going to play some more with the float. Should be interesting. He tried to get in through the human door the other night! I had to laugh...I didn't have the float on the car....I opened the side access door so he could investigate...he gave me a look when I sent him as if to say...you want me to go in there? I didn't realise he was going to try! Up went the hoof and I watched in amazement....we then went off and played around and nearby the float....there was plenty of lip licking I can tell you. I can see he might even say this afternoon..."Would you just put the back down so I can get in this thing? I am sick of playing with it!"

Feb 08

Quiet night tonight...am too pooped to play! One interesting thing though of note. I take the feed out...mixing up the times so they don't rely on being fed at the same time every day. To start with once upon a time Star would charge me and be aggressive, almost saying "Hand over the food human and you won't get hurt". I started making changes and asking him to wait. This was met with disgust from him. Now I feed with savvy as I have been shown, I use my savvy string and create a "force field" around me and my feed, I use it like a helicopter over my head. This isn't scary for him but more makes him uncomfortable....I then get to mix feeds in the paddock, with him watching some way away. If he moves in for the big lunge like he used to I use the savvy string over my head to drive him away and when I am done I walk away without looking at him. I am told I am recreating the natural pecking order in the herd. I am showing ALPHA behaviour and therefore re-asserting my level in the herd as numero uno. Jazz is quite happy and got the gist of this straight away and waits happily for me to leave before she goes to her bowl. You know what though! I have two happier horses for it! I think I have only progressed like this as I have an insatiable appetite for learning, have immersed myself in this program as I am getting results and am driven by the passion of being the best human for my horses. I like distance learning and seeing the results and I am really looking forward to starting studying Level 2 Ground skills as I know with them will come Level 1 riding at some stage when he is ready. Finally...just remembered this. Played for some time last night, was putting his rug on afterwards, was a bit windy and a freak gust blew up and blew the rug over my head and his...now I didn't react, he just stood there and waited for me to get it off us. Now would a normal TB do this? I was amazed and so proud of him and at that point in time I knew that this is the best thing I could have found.