November 16th Playtime

November 16 2009

Twosox and I had a great play session today. He was a million times more confident then he was last time we played. I was only planning on playing around with the tarp but we ended up doing more then that. But that was totally fine. To start off with my mom wanted me to show her how I get Prince or Twosox farther away from me when we are doing Touch it on a longer line [22ft or 45ft] So I stood at the fence and sent Twosox 22ft away to the tractor tire. I was actually surprised at how well Twosox did. We haven't really done a lot of that. I mean we have done Touch it from 22ft away but we haven't done a lot of it while I kept my feet still and sent him all the way out to the end of the 22ft line to touch something. It was neat!!! Twosox asked me a question when he got there and he offered to put his foot on it... or at least try. He couldn't get his foot on the top because it was to high. After I had brought him in and let him lick and chew I sent him over to the pedestal, again keeping my feet still. This one was a little harder for Twosox because he had to go straight in front of me and in doing so put me in zone 5 but he did really well and was confident the whole time. I then asked him to put all four feet on. He had a little bit of trouble with that so I had to move closer to help him. But in the end he got it.

While Twosox was standing with all four feet on the pedestal I went around and set up different obstacles. Twosox stood there the whole time and for Twosox that is really good. Normally he would have climbed off. Right near the end the tarp that was behind him got caught by the wind and scarred him. He jumped like 6ft off the pedestal and then turned and looked at me. I walked up to him gave him a rub then asked him to go stand on the pedestal again. He went right back up and stayed there while I finished setting everything up.

We then went and played with the different toys. It was a lot of fun. A couple times Twosox got a little worried so we just kept with it until he was confident then we moved on. When I asked Twosox to jump the barrels he flew right over them. I am not sure if he was a little unconfident though because he jumped really high. We then walked over to the tarp that was hanging down from the tree. Twosox was doing fine and was confident but then a gust of wind came a just the wrong time and the tarp moved. Twosos stopped and stared at it. So we walked away and did some sideways with out a fence, and then went and did some Figure eights. At first Twosox was not connected with me so we kept with the pattern until he started getting connected and then we stopped. After that we did some Stick to me, circles, traveling circles and I backed Twosox out the small gate. I wasn't sure how Twosox would do backing through the gate because it is not very wide and there is a hill on the other side but he did really well and was confident the whole time.

Then we went and I asked Twosox to back onto a tarp that was on the ground. Twosox wasn't to sure about it at first but then he figured it out and was able to back on to it confidently. There was only a gentle breeze now so we went over to the tarp that was hanging from the tree. I couldn't believe how confident Twosox was with it!!!! He walked right under it like he had done it all his life!!!!! We did it three times and each time he got more confident. The last time he walked right straight under it and the tarp even touched him in zone 4/5 and he was fine. It was AMAZING!!!!!

The last thing we did was picking up his feet. Twosox did really well and let me hold his feet with out to much problems. We are hoping to have the Proffessional barefoot trimmer come out soon for a one on one lesson day. Should be fun!! I think that we will trim Twosox first because he will most likely be the most patient... him being the only right brain horse in our herd.

I was really proud of how well Twosox handled everything today. He was so brave!!!!

~K

November 13th playtime

November 13 2009

We took Prince and Knightly our to our friends farm again. We had a really good time. The horses loaded up nicely and then we were off. When we went to take the horses out Knightly unloaded okay but Prince was really agitated. I think it was because the other horses were running around but for what ever the reason he was worried. More worried then I have ever seen him to be exact. I didn't want to just unload Prince and go play because then there was a good chance that Prince wouldn't be as confident loading up when it was time to go. So I switched my rope to the 22ft line and we played in the field just outside the arena. I was the last thing on Prince's mind so we did a lot. We did sideways, falling leaf, Traveling circles, and lots more. Then when I left that Prince was paying more attention to me and was calmer we went back to the trailer. He was fine going in but he had a harder time coming out. So that was what we played with for a while, until Prince could back out confidently.

By this time Prince had worked up a sweat. We did a lot!!!! But it took a lot for him to realise that I was still there. After that we went into the arena and I saddled Prince up. He stood nice and still the whole time. Then we went and played!! We did Stick to me down to the other end of the arena then I set up two barrels for Figure eights. At first Prince was doing the pattern but he didn't seem totally connected. So we kept with it until I saw a change then we stopped. At the end Prince gave me some REALLY nice Figure eights!!

After that we did some sideways at a trot.... with out a fence!!! That was cool!!! Prince was really connected with me by this time. So I hardly had to do anything in my body and he would figure out the puzzle!! We also did some Jumping and pushing the ball. Prince was SO good at pushing the ball!!! We went all around the arena and Prince would either push it with his legs or his nose!! It was fun!!! At one point Prince almost crushed the ball... oops.... I quickly stopped him from doing that!!

We  were then ready to ride so I got on. We did quite a few patterns through out our ride. We did A million transitions first. Prince did really well. We did walk, trot, halt, and back up. In all kinds of ways. It was really fun!! After that we did some sideways. We went sideways half way across the arena then stopped. It wasn't totally straight but it was almost!! We took it slow and I didn't even need ot use my carrot stick!!! Prince was so in tune with me!! We also did sideways over a log. Normally for us getting started is the hardest part but today it was easy!!! We didn't go all the way to the other end of the log because the bigger log was there but we went part way then went off the other way.  Everyonce and a while we would do a little point to point. Prince was really following my focus. I hardly had to redirect him once we were started!! It is an amazing feeling having a horse so in tune with you, and I am sure I have felt nothing yet!! :)

I didn't have any really big plans for riding so we kind of took it easy. We kind of did a Obstacle course. We walked over the tarp, put all four feet on the pedestal, walked between the two tractor tires that were planted standing up and lots of the other stuff. After I could tell Prince was getting a little bored. He started getting less responsive so we went and did some Figure eights. At first they were just at the walk but then I felt like trying it at the trot so off we went. At first Prince would keep breaking gait but after a little while we trotted two complete Figure eights!!!! I was SO proud of Prince!!!! That is a first for us. It is really easy getting him motivated when we are doing something like Follow the rail but when it comes to Figure eights he is a lot harder to keep motivated. We took a LONG rest after that. Prince had a good lick and chew also.

After that we rode the Weave. We did both walk and trot. Prince was so good at the trot!! At first he wanted to keep breaking gait so I figured out that what we would do was trot the Weave then walk around the ends. That way Prince got his rest and then he would be motivated to trot through the Weave so that he could walk around the end barrels. That seemed to work really well. Prince started to get the Pattern so we stopped while it was at it's best. I also played around with a supporting rein while we were doing the Weave. That actually worked really well. It was fun!!

The last thing we did was pushing the ball. THAT WAS COOL!!!!! It is amazing how well it transferred over from the ground to riding. Prince caught on really quickly and we were off pushing the ball all over!!!! Prince is really started to like that big green ball!!! :) I can't get over how huge it is though!! I can't even lift it!!!

After we were done riding I un-saddled Prince and just before I let him go we played a little bit with Change of directions. Since there was LOTS of room and Prince wouldn't have to run into fences the whole time it made it easier on both of us. My mom and our friend watched to see it they could pick anything up and my sister video taped it. We figured out that when Prince was circling to the left and I asked him to change direction I asked for it when he was right at my shoulder and Prince gave me some REALLY nice change of directions. But when Prince was circling to the right and I asked him to change direction I let him go to far behind me so that when I asked him to change we lost the connection. It was really interesting!! So now I know what to play with!!!

After lunch I took Prince into the round corral and we played at Liberty for a short time. We did some yo-yo's and a little bit of circles. Just some transitions. Our Change of directions aren't soild enough Online for us to try them at Liberty. It was still fun though!! We also did some Stick to me and leading by the tail. Then from there we went into the arena and I asked Prince to stand on the pedestal with all four feet. While he was up there I sat on the pedestal and rubbed his legs, then I crawled under him!!! Prince just stood there and didn't move. Then I went back under him the other way but when I was right under him I just stopped and rubbed him and waited a little while when I went all the way through. Prince was still at Liberty and he didn't move at all!!! Then I haltered Prince. I needed to go get my helmet so I left Prince on the pedestal and went to the other end of the arena and got it. Prince just stood there looking at me and waited till I got back. We have been playing with ground tieing but I didn't know it was that good!!!

I then got on bareback. I just had my savvy string for a rein and I had my carrot stick. Prince was SO light!!! It was amazing!!! We did some Point to point, sideways, one rein back up, extreme friendly game while I stood on Prince's back [That was a first for us!!! It was a little harder to stay balanced while I was swinging my carrot sticka nd savvy string around but some how I managed!! :)]

My mom was ridng Knightly so when she was ready we did a trail ride simulation. Prince and I led and mom and Knightly followed. We did it a long the rail and everyonce and  while we would be a Direct rein or a Indirect. Prince amazed me with how light and responsive he was!! Especcially since we only had one rein and a carrot stick. It was SO much fun!!!!! Prince followed my focus really well and we even did a little bit of trotting. It was really smooth!!!

Then we had to go :( Prince loaded into the trailer really well and he unloaded well also. So that was nice. All in all it was a REALLY fun day!!!!

~K 

November 12th playtime

November 12 2009

                                                         
I was planning on catching Prince and playing with his feet this morning but Ruffy was right there when I went out so I decided to halter him and play around with his feet and such. Prince and Ruffy were up in the riding ring when I went out. Ruffy was very sleepy!! That was a big help!! ;)

Instead of going down the hill the “normal” way I asked Ruffy to back all the way down.... I wasn't sure how he would respond but he did it perfectly!!! I was so proud of him!!! We didn't go down completely straight but it was good enough. Then we backed all the way into the corral too!! Ruffy had a big lick and chew over that!!!

Then I picked up all four of his feet, cleaned them out and simulated a trimming session. Ruffy was perfect!!! I hope when I have to start trimming him he will be that sleepy!! It will make my job a million times easier!!

Since Ruffy was very sleepy and we had played some I decided to climb on him and just do some friendly while I was sitting on him. The corral gate was closed so he couldn't go anywhere. It was really fun!!! Ruffy is a very comfortable ride!! At first I wasn't planning on going anywhere but then we were in the way on my mom and sister cleaning some manure out of the corral so we had to move. Ruffy was so light and responsive. We did a couple direct reins, back up, lateral flexion and then lied down on him. He was a little bit worried when I was lying flat out on him but he soon relaxed then I got off.

I sat down on the ground and asked him to lower his head so I could take the halter off. Ruffy lowered his head softly and kept it there nice and still while I un haltered him!! Ruffy is such a cool horse!!!

Prince session

This afternoon I went outside again and played with Prince a little bit. I didn't go up to the riding ring because we were babysitting so I had to keep an eye on my little brothers and the boy we were watching. My plan was to play with Prince's feet and such but I wanted to make sure he was in a good frame of mind first. We didn't do a whole lot. Just some 1 rein zone 5 driving. We did sidepasses, Touch it, yo-yo's and some other stuff all from zone 5. I couldn't believe how well Prince did!!! He was so in tune with me!!

After that I picked up all four of Prince's feet. I held each one for longer then I normally do, I put myself in different positions, moved his foot around some etc just to get him desensitizes to all that. Prince did really well. His left hind foot was the hardest but other then that he stood quietly. He has come so far!!!!

After that we just spend some time hanging out together then I let him go. Prince stayed with me for a while then left. I am so proud of how far Prince has come with his feet. He is no where near perfect but he is a lot better then he was.

~K

November 11th playtime

November 11 2009

Twosox and I had an interesting playtime this afternoon. We started out in the corral and I played around with Twosox's feet. I kind of simulated trimming his feet. He did very well. Stood perfectly still the whole time. That was REALLY nice!!

After that we went up to the riding ring to play. We started off with some Stick to me and circles. Twosox was doing really well on the circle. We did some Change of directions and Transitions also. He  was in tune with me the whole time. Then something happened that changed our whole playtime..... my mom put the scary Twosox eating tarp down.... a couple months ago we tied a tarp in the tree so that it would kind of be like a carwash. Well Twosox was positive that it was going to eat him. Since he was on the circle he started getting really rather impulsive so I quickly spotted two barrels and we switched to Figure eights. I must say our Figure eights have never been to good!! But of course Twosox has never been so scared. We kept doing the Figure eights until Twosox relaxed and started paying more attention to me. It took a while but finally Twosox started lowering his head and his movements softened. So I kept with it until I knew he had relaxed some then we stopped.

I have never seen Twosox so scarred. We were taking a rest and then Twosox lowered his head, I thought “Good! He is relaxing “ Then I looked again and Twosox was going catatonic!!!! If there is one thing that scares me, it is a horse that is going [or gone] catatonic!! It is because I feel that I don't have enough savvy to deal with it... or prevent it. Since Twosox hadn't gone totally catatonic I softly started moving him around just so that he wouldn't go there. We started doing squeezes between me and the tarp. It was like a 25ft gap between me and the tarp and Twosox was still really worried about it. So I kept backing off, and making the space bigger until Twosox could confidently walk through it. Then I slowly made the space smaller.

Then we went and did some Stick to me. Twosox was glued to me!!! He would do exactly what I did! It was neat!!! We were going along the fence and then I noticed that Twosox's head went up. So we stopped and backed up. Twosox lowered his head. So we stopped there and had a big rest. Twosox fell asleep and totally relaxed. Very good sign!! I kind of ignored Twosox for a while because I was helping my mom with Knightly. It turned out good because that way there was no pressure on Twosox.

After a while we went over to the gate and I let Twosox go. It was a very interesting playtime to say the least. I know exactly what I will be playing with next time I play with Twosox!!! It will be interesting to see how he responds!

~K

November 10th play time

November 10 2009

WOW! What can I say!! Prince and I had a really fun playtime today. We started in the corral by doing some Zone 5 driving with 2 reins. We then went up the hill to the riding ring and did some Touch it and Figure eights. I was amazed at how well Prince did at the Figure eights. Normally he is not connected with me but today he was mirroring my body and they were amazing! Then we went and played with Weaving at a trot. At first Prince would trot a couple steps then break gait so we kept with it and after a little while Prince got it and we trotted one side of the Weave!! I think that the hardest thing for me is keeping Prince motivated while we are doing Zone 5 driving but it is getting better!!! We also did some Sideways and Yo-yo's in Zone 5!

After that I untied the reins. Prince was being a little mouthy..... okay a lot mouthy! ;) So I decided to play around with his mouth a little. I put my fingers in his mouth. He did not like that. So after a little while I decided to use the carrot stick. Prince didn't like that either but slowly [and very slowly] got used to it. I wanted to continue with that but still had some other things I wanted to play with and my mom needed my help. So I decided to try something that Mrs. Parelli said in the Level 2 kit. She said to out a savvy string into your horses mouth like it was a bit and then tie the ends together. Then go play that way your horses mind is on what you are asking him to do and not on the savvy string. My problem was this..... I didn't want to put my blue savvy string in Prince's mouth but I needed to have a Savvy string on my carrot stick. So I put my normal Savvy string in Prince's mouth. He didn't have as much of a problem with that as he did with the carrot stick and my fingers but he still didn't really like it. Then I put my blue Savvy string on my carrot stick. Since it wasn't muddy or wet I wasn't to worried about it getting dirty.

So off we went. At first Prince was thinking about the savvy string in his mouth but pretty soon he stopped thinking about that and started thinking about what I was asking of him. We then did some circles. This is where it gets really cool!! My blue Savvy string is about 1ft longer then my normal one and it has the leather popper at the end. I sent Prince off on the circle at the canter. He cantered for a very short time then broke gait. So I went through my phases [Long phase one, quick 2,3,4] and did Prince ever get moving fast!!! I definitely got the message down to his feet!!

He then cantered three laps, not breaking gait once then I brought him in for a rest and a lick and chew!! After a rest I then sent him out the other direction. Prince very easily cantered three laps that way too!!! I thing I found my effective phase 4!! :) The really neat part was that from then on Prince would stay in the gait I asked him to be in. So when I asked him to trot, he would trot, and when I asked him to canter he wouldn't just canter ¼ of a circle then break gait. He would canter until I asked him to slow down!!! So that was cool!!!!

After that Prince got a long break and I also took the Savvy string out of his mouth. I think he had forgot about it!!! hehe Then I got on and rode. Our bareback riding has come A LONG way since I have been sick and haven't felt like saddling Prince up. He is so soft!! I asked Prince to climb on the pedestal and while we were standing there I asked him for a Lateral Flexion. I wanted to see how if Prince would move his feet and if he did how I light I had to be to get it so that he wouldn't move his feet. The left was really good. Prince thought about moving his foot but then didn't. On the right side I made sure to be really soft and Prince really nicely bent his head around. So that was cool!!

Then we did some Follow the rail and Point to point. Our Follow the rail has gotten SO good!!! I don't need to correct Prince at all!!! We are also playing around with trotting longer distances. My seat has gotten A LOT better since I have been riding bareback more!! I can now ride Prince's trot for longer distances and it doesn't get uncomfortable!!!

We also did some Sideways with a fence. I decided to use a fence because I wanted to help Prince get his hind quarters moving WITH his forequarters. So I didn't want to have to be worrying about that and Prince drifting forward! Prince did very well. He was light and tried to do what I was asking. When we got a couple good steps of sideways we stopped and rested. Then went the other way. After that we did some yo-yo's. Prince remembered from last time and was even better!!! We did a lot of trot to back-up yo-yo's. Prince was SO light!!!

While we were doing Follow the rail we refined our Direct and Indirect rein even more. Prince has gotten a lot more responsive ever since we have been doing Follow the rail. The next thing we have to conqueror is Figure eights. I have kind of put it off a little bit because I know they will be bad.... or just not good. So that is one area that I haven't followed the Patterns to the letter. Oh well. I guess we will have to get on them soon. Maybe on Friday when we trailer our horses out for the Play day.

I was very proud of Prince and how well he did!! Being sick has improved our bareback riding that is for sure!!!!

~K

Catch up time!!!!!

Sorry for not updating this in a while. I finally have time now to post all my playtimes. There is almost a month!! Yikes!! Times flies!!! Hopefully I can get then all posted today, we shall see though.

I apologize in advance for all the post there are going to be :)

~K

Update:

Hi all,

If you have been wondering why I haven't posted in a while it is because our internet has been out. We are on Dial-up for now, until we get our high speed back. I have a Open office document that is at least 8 pages long with all my play sessions typed up. I will post that when we get our internet back on.

One exciting thing that has happened is that yesterday [November 18 2009] a Professional Barefoot Trimmer came out for a One on One lesson with me. We were hoping to get all the horses trimmed but in the end we only got Twosox done. But I am pretty that I will be able to trim the other horses by myself. I just need to get a right handed knife [the store sent me the wrong one] so once I get that I will trim the others.

Anyways I have to go. Hopefully I can post again soon!!
~K