Prince: The small things that make a difference...

July 5 2010

This morning I wasn't really in the frame of mind to do a lot with any of the horses. I knew that I couldn't mentally and emotionally go out there and be the leader that they needed me to be but I still had to go out and see them. Prince, Knightly and Twosox were lying down when I got out there. So I went over and spent some time with Twosox and then I went over and sat with Prince. I am so very blessed to have Prince. He is always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on or when I just need some time to think and pray, he is always there. Today Prince was the both. I sat with him for over an hour and it was exactly what I needed. Part way through Prince fell asleep with his head in my lap. It was one of those moments that I will never forget. 

After Prince got up he still wanted to be with me, and I still wanted to be with him. So I brushed him and scratched his itchy spots. I was feeling a little bit better by the so we did some little things, porcupine, driving, friendly etc. Then we went over to the water trough and I climb up on Prince bareback and bridleless. We really didn't do a whole lot, I didn't really want to. So we stood there for a while and then we did some direct rein/pivoting on the hindquarters. Prince was amazing! After that I decided to ride up to the riding ring and then let Prince eat on the side stripe of grass. 

Prince did really well. We had a little bit of a misunderstanding at the corral gate but we figured it out and continued on. Prince offered to trot up the last part of the hill so I took it. It was amazing to feel all that power under me! Very cool! Then we went over to the pedestal and climbed up on that, we went over to the barrel and stood there then we walked over to the little gate. Prince stood so well as I untied it and when I need him to move over, back up or go forward a little bit he did it all perfectly. Then we walked out the gate into the side strip. What was really neat was that Prince didn't even start eating. Even after I dismounted he didn't eat. When I went to walk away he stayed with me and followed me. I actually had to lightly send him away from me before he would start eating. 

I brought Twosox and Ruffian up as well and let them all eat together. Once the bugs had gotten really bad Twosox and Ruffian decided they wanted to go down to the shelter. So I let them out of the riding ring. Prince didn't come though so I had to call him and what was really special was that he came as soon as I called him and he trotted all the way over to me! It was so wonderful. He stayed with me for a while and then we went over to the gate because the bugs were really bothering him and we went down into the corral. It was another one of those special moments that I shall never forget :)

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Going outside my comfort zone...

July 2 2010

This morning mom and I went out to play with the horses a little later than normal. The horses weren't in so we headed out to find them. They were on the road coming home. The deer flies were getting pretty bad. One interesting thing was that Ruffian came to see me! Normally he doesn't do that. I guess our play time yesterday was pretty good.

We all went back to the corral and I then saddled Prince at Liberty. Then we did some sideways down the fence while I kept my feet still, Touch it, and some other things. Then I haltered him from my knees and then we went up to the riding ring. We did circles first. Prince did about 15 circles to the left and the last 3 were really nice. Going to the right it took about 1 circle and he found the rhythm, relaxation and connection, he trotted for 3 circles and then I brought him in. It was really amazing.

Then we did figure eights. This was session three and already they is a huge improvement! At the end Prince trotted 3 figure eights and he definitely knew the patten. I still had to come out of neutral a couple times but it is so much better. The best part is that the look on Prince's face was so cool! He was totally interested and was having fun. It is amazing how when you give your horse the responsibility they have a lot more fun :)

After that I got up and rode. We started off with something new, skipping. Prince did well for the most part but he was a little bit unconfident about the carrot sticks going over his head so I stopped that and played friendly game with the two carrot sticks and savvy strings. With in about 5 minutes I was able to do the extreme friendly game with both carrot sticks and Prince was fine. It was really fun being able to solve that puzzle. I tied the savvy strings back together again and this time Prince was much more confident, not perfect but it is getting there. For the first day it went really well.

Then we did Follow the rail. This is where I went a little bit outside my comfort zone. I asked Prince to trot faster then we normally do, to the point where I knew it would be outside my comfort zone but not so far out that I would loose my confidence. Now ever since Prince has found a nice slow trot on the circle Online he has been offering that while we are riding, which is fine except that it could be very easy to just stay there and never push the envelope open. I didn't plan on doing it today but it just happened. So Prince and I did a lot of trotting. The best part was that I was perfectly confident! It was incredible. If I had of done that even a month ago it would have... well lets just say it would have been like someone pushing me over a cliff. It just goes to show you that if you take the time it takes, it will take less time. We got some really nice trotting Follow the rail. Prince did so well and was really in tune with me. We also did transitions and lots of them too!!

Then we took a long rest. Prince took a nap and mom and I chatted for a while. Then we played around with sideways, direct and indirect rein. I am still playing with teaching Prince the difference between each and how my body is different... being really clear. After that we did circles. Now I didn't have my carrot stick with me so I just used my reins but Prince was really leaning on them so I switched to my carrot stick. Prince kept wanting to go to the center so we really had to play with that. After a while we got some nice circles and then we went and took a rest. Then we went the other way. Again, it was really interesting being able to solve the problem while I was riding. It did take a while but we got it figured out. And since then I have figured out a new strategy that I want to try the next time. I think it will be better because I am taking Prince's idea and making it mine and then switching back to my original idea again. Kind of like tit for tat :)

One really neat thing too was that Prince told me when I was not being fair. There was a couple times that I didn't go through my phases right and Prince bucked a little bit. Nothing big but just enough to say "Keri, that wasn't fair" :) He did it once when I was asking him to do an indirect rein and he got stuck and I didn't help him soon enough and instead I went up my phases, when I should have used a little bit more rein and he would have gotten it. And the other time was when we were doing circles and he broke gait and I wasn't fair with my phases. It was nice though because I knew that I wasn't fair and he just confirmed it for me :)

We ended on a really good note and I got off, loosened the saddle and then we went to the shade and relaxed. Then even after I let him go and the gate was opened he stayed with me for at least half an hour and so I scratched him and he cooled off, he was pretty sweaty. After a long time though I had to leave. He followed me over to the gate but still didn't want to leave. So I just softly sent him and he slowly went down the hill. It was a really good play time all in all. Now that I have thought it all over I know where I can do better next time and what I can do different. It will be interesting :)

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Unbelievable

July 1 2010

After I played with Ruffian I played with Prince. We had an amazing play time... and had a lot of fun! I wasn't sure what to start with seeing as there were a couple things that I wanted to play with but I decided to start with our Figure eights to get Prince connected to me before we did circles. They were even better then yesterdays. Prince was fabulous!

Then we did circles. We hadn't done circles in almost 2 weeks so I wasn't sure how Prince was going to respond. But he blew my socks off and was relaxed, rhythmic and was connected. Going in both directions Prince was marvelous. After that we did some little things. Jumping, sideways etc. Just for fun I picked up all four of Prince's feet from the same side [one at a time of course ;)] As I was doing that I remembered when that used to be something that we couldn't do. Prince didn't trust me enough to let me hold his feet, let a lone from the same side. But now it is something that is so easy. Prince was soft and let me hold his feet no problem. I guess that is one good thing that came from me starting to trim the horses last November.

Then I asked Prince to smell his tail and guess what?? He did it for 10 seconds on both sides with absolutly no problems! He was soft and really light. I shall have to get it on video :) It was really cool! 

The last thing we did was I taught Prince to bend his head when I lightly pinched his neck, a needle simulation. Prince caught on really quickly. It was such an amazing play time from start to finish. I can hardly believe that it is July already. This year has gone so quickly. If the rest of the year is anything like the first half has been, it shall be amazing year. 

Naturally, 

~Keri

Ruffian: Figure eights, jumping and more!

July 1 2010

This morning I slept in. I was very tired. Exactly 10 minutes after I got up I was outside with the horses. I decided to play with Ruffian first as he was there at the gate and looking like he wanted to be haltered. So I haltered him. Since this was the first time we have playing in... well a while. We started off slow. We did some Touch it first. Ruffian seemed really quiet and introverted. I half expected that because if I don't play with him for a couple days he will do the same thing, just not as extreme. So we continued doing Touch it until he relaxed and started being more of his normal self. The after a little while Ruffian started being more himself. So we then did circles, sideways, Weave and some other things. 

After that I decided to do Figure eights, circle game style. I wasn't sure what to be prepared for, with Ruffian it could be anywhere from an extreme LBE to a RBI... so I just took it one step at a time and today Ruffian was definitely being his normal LBE self. It took a long time before Ruffian started doing his side of his responsibilities. I definitely have been learning a lot about how important it is to stick with it! Don't give up when thinks don't work out at first, keep with it. The darkest time is before the dawn! This is exactly what happened today. It got worse before it got better but when it started getting better I was able to read the little signs and then it all came together and Ruffian did a really nice figure eight. 

I just want to encourage all of you reading this, don't give up on something just because it doesn't seem to be working. Stick with it, trust the process... don't stop! Be patiently persistent in the proper position. As Mr. Ron Pyne said at the last clinic I attend...  "If you stay with it long enough, you will have a breakthrough"

Naturally,

~Keri

Happy Canada Day!

Just wanted to wish all of you a Happy 143rd Canada Day! I hope you all had a great day.

Prince: Mental intensity!

June 30 2010

This morning was my first play time with Prince since we left and I have to say, it was an amazing one! Prince was fabulous to say the least and we had a very fun play session. I started off with just scratching him and spending some time just hanging out after I haltered him. Then we did some Touch it with me in zone 5. After that I asked Prince to jump the logs that were in the turn around (where we were playing) Prince walked up to them and jumped right over them no problem. So then I asked him to draw towards me and then jump the logs, which he did really nicely. 

The whole time we were playing I tried to look at everything as a game, even going to phase 4. One thing that Mrs. Parelli talked about at the Celebration was when you are playing with left brain horses you really have to see it as a game and when you have to go to a phase 4 get mentally intense first. I knew that already but you know, sometimes you need a reminder ;) I think it worked. Prince was riveted to me! He had two ears and eye on me the whole time and put a lot of effort into what I was asking. 

I particularly wanted to play with Figure eights, another thing Mrs. Parelli talked about. She said that there are two ways to do Figure eights, as a driving game and as a circle game. Doing them as a circle game gives the horse more responsibility and causes the horse to fall in love with you being in neutral. Doing Figure eights as a driving game you are micro managing the horse to much. Up until now Prince and I were doing figure eights somewhere in between a driving game and a circle game.  

So Prince and I set off. At first Prince would run right around the marker and keep going. So I shut him down and then sent him again then went back to neutral. At first it was messy but slowly I could see the changes happening and then Prince got it. He trotted around the ends and cantered through the middle and he was thinking his way through it, asking questions and he wasn't pulling on me which meant that he knew the patten and that I wasn't micro managing him. So yeah. It was really neat. 

After that we went back to the logs. My plan was to ask Prince to jump them from a stand still but first I wanted to make sure that he could do it from a walk and from a trot. Prince could and so the last time I sent him really softly but with intent and he walked up to them, stopped and then when I asked he jumped it! He did really well. After that I sat down on the pile of logs and we just relaxed. As I was sitting there this though crossed my mind... to people that watch me play with my horses, who ever they might be and when ever. It would probably look like I do a lot of the same things over and over. But to me it is a totally different. For example, with the jumping. it may have just looked like I was asking Prince to jump the pile of logs three or four times but to me it was different. I was looking for something and being particular but making sure that I set up for success. But people wouldn't know that, only I knew that. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't have done it if lots of people were watching but I guess it is just something to think about :) 

Prince stuck around for a little while after I unhaltered him and then he moseyed home with the other horses following. I am so glad to be home and with my family and horses again.

Naturally,

~Keri

I am back!

Mom, my sister and I got back home Tuesday around 3:00. We got to my aunts house around 1:00 Tuesday morning and my dad and brothers came to pick us up from there. I had a wonderful time and would do it all over again in a heart beat but I am also very glad to be home! Home sweet home!

The horses did well while we were gone. On Monday evening Prince got out... through the manger. But Dad and my brother were able to get him back in no problem. He was just on the front yard eating... where else would a LBI be ;) I went to see the horses right after we got back. They all came over and I spent some time hanging out with them... I noticed that being away from the herd does have its effects... I have to re-establish myself as head boss ;) They were all really good expect some of them forgot where my personal space was. It wasn't anything major and I could have just left it but I am particular :) So I went around and just played with porcupine games and some driving games and of course friendly ;)

The Parelli Celebration was fabulous to say the least. Everything was amazing. I learned a lot and I got to meet Mrs. Parelli... she even knew who I was! I will have to post some pics later. One major happening was that I won a green ball! I couldn't believe it! I didn't do to well with the "Game show enthusiasm" part... being a RBI it does come easy but hey... I was in front of over 1000 people... :) I haven't blown it up yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I have lots of fun ideas of what I am going to do with it. It will be fun!

Yesterday I played with Prince and trimmed Twosox. I am so glad to be back with my horses. It wonderful. They are so special to me. I came away from the celebration even more inspired and very excited about my future. I really want to go down to the Colorado and study under Mr. Parelli himself when I am old enough and hopefully someday be a Mastery Student. But for now I am going to enjoy every minute on my life now.

Talk to you all soon!
~Keri