Prince: Struggling to adjust...

November 12 2010

Today I was having a really hard time with trying to adjust to being back home with Prince and having to play in our much smaller riding ring and not being able to advance with the patterns and tasks we were having so much fun and success with over the last couple weeks. I didn't even want to think about playing with Prince because I knew that I would have to think about really changing the whole way we have been playing. It is frustrating but I know that God has placed us here for this time and I want to be content with what He has given me. He knows best.

I seriously debated not playing with Prince today but I was able to gather myself up enough to do a little bit with him. The horses were in the field and so mom and I decided to just stay out there and play. Prince and I played at Liberty and then rode bareback and bridleless.

While played at Liberty we started with some w/t/c/back up stick to me and then did some sideways from different zones, hindquarter yields,  Figure eights at the walk around two rocks, Touch it, jumping a log while drawing at a trot and some other fun things. Prince stayed with me the whole time and was really interested. We both had fun and it was nice to switch things up a bit and get my mind off of what was depressing and frustrating me.

Then I mounted up bareback and bridleless but of course armed with my trusty carrot stick and savvy string ;) We did some basic things like sideways, back-ups, indirect rein without reins, and lateral flexions (can't forget those!). Then we put it all to a purpose and we rode over to where mom and Knightly were standing, took mom's coat and then went and hung it up on a tree branch for her. Prince did really well and responded to my focus really well.

Mom then challenged us to back a Figure eight. Of course me being the type of person that if somebody challenges me to do something, in regards to my horsemanship/ Parelli that is, I am always willing to try. We may not get it right away but we shall work towards it. I love a good challenge!! They make we think!

So off we went. Before we started though I thought back to one of the Horseman's Apprentice episodes where Mr. Parelli was teaching the Mastery students how to back a horse in a circle. I couldn't remember all of it but I remembered some of the main points. At first it was a little messy but when we were coming around the second marker things really started to click! Both Prince and I seemed to just get it. When I changed my focus Prince would turn as he was backing up and we would continue on. It was really amazing! I, of course, missed the middle a little so we have to reposition ourselves but I was pretty happy with it for our first try!

We ended there and took a little nap for a while. Then we went and played with Ruffian!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Small things...

November 11 2010

Well Prince and I played for the first time in our riding ring in over three weeks. We kept things simple and small. We played with our forequarter and hindquarter porcupine yields, getting them back up to where they were at the lesson. Prince did well. He finds one side easier and so we focused more on the other side. Sometimes I still have a hard time seeing if Prince is putting enough speed into it but it is getting easier and I think we are getting it. 

Then we played with sideways at a trot. Before we try it by using the porcupine game we are going to get it through a normal sideways game (driving game style). I decided to try sending Prince out at the trot, ask him to trot around me and then when he was almost up to the fence I would push him sideways. We got couple nice steps of sideways at the trot so we quit on a good note. One thing that I noticed that Prince has improved on is that he can now go sideways, confidently at a faster pace at a walk and stay straight. So that is an improvement!! 

Up next was backing up in a circle. Prince caught on fairly quickly but it still took a bit of time for him to figure it out. At first he was a little to far away for me to properly help him if he got stuck so I brought him in closer so I could help him if he needed it. We got one lap which was pretty good. I am aiming for 1-2 laps with me in neutral... it might take a while but we will continue picking away at it. 

One thing that I found hard to do was to go back to neutral or a phase 1. Then let Prince stop or make a mistake then correct or help him. So I have to be more aware of that. Because if I don't then Prince will not learn and I will be micromanaging at a phase 2. 

We ended with the first step for us towards holding Prince's tongue. First I need to get him to accept my fingers in his mouth. Right now he doesn't like it so much. So I just kept them in there until he stopped trying to get them out and then I took them out and repeated the whole process. Prince caught on pretty quickly and by the end he was accepting them. Not totally but we are getting there!!

Then we just hung out for a bit before I let him go. It was nice to keep it simple and play with some smaller things that we can do in our riding ring. 

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Trail ride!

Well, I am a little late posting this due to being really busy... but here is what Twosox and I did on November 8th 

 November 8 2010

Wow! What can I say?! Twosox totally surprised me today. Mom and I decided to go on a trail ride this afternoon. I decided to give Prince a day off and take Twosox. My plan was to play strong and then just walk Twosox on the trail then depending on how things went I would decided whether I wanted to mount up or not. 

Twosox and I played really strong. Especially in the area of friendly game. We played with the ball in all zones, bouncing it, rolling it, I put it on top of his back and then pushed it over him. I also dragged things around, behind him, under him etc. Twosox wasn't not to sure about the tire dragging behind him so we played with that for a while until he could walk confidently beside me with it dragging he hind him. 

We also did w/t/c transitions on the circle, changes of direction, sideways, hindquarter disengagements, Figure eights, and touch it. Once I felt that Twosox was ready to ride I mounted up and we did some Follow the rail, walk-trot transitions, direct and indirect rein and or course lateral flexions. 

Since mom wasn't quite ready to ride yet Twosox and I headed down to the front yard and I let him graze for a while then I decided to see if we could walk up to the end of the road. I wasn't sure how many threshold Twosox would have but he didn't have any it was really amazing! He calmly ate the grass on the side of the road and even when cars when by he was calm, cool and collected! 

Once we were ready we headed off. Since it is hunting season we decided to take a different trail instead of riding down the old railroad track like we normally do. To get there though we had to do through town... right down main street to be more exact. So off we went. We decided to walk the horses through town and them mount up once we had gotten to the trail. Twosox only had one threshold which was just as we were coming up to the where the street we were on meets the highway. Twosox didn't spook but just stood there looking at the traffic and then we were able to go forward. On the way over we had to go through the park and over the covered bridge (with the river going under it, which also included a water fall on the one side... very noisy!!) Twosox didn't look twice at it though and we marched right on a cross the bridge like it was nothing! What a horse!

Once we got to the trail we mounted up. Twosox was incredible!!!!!!!!  He was so calm and relaxed, he didn't spook, followed my focus and direction and was over all totally blew my mind away! Even when mom and Knightly trotted up on a head Twosox didn't get worried but kept at the same pace that we were at and we eventually caught up. We did do some trotting. Again Twosox was so amazing. He also has an incredible trot. It is so smooth and he keeps the same rhythm the whole. We had trotted before in the riding ring so it wasn't like I haven't ridden it before but we hadn't had the chance to just go! So this was our first time really just trotting for a long period of time.

Twosox's transitions were smooth and his go equaled his whoa. If I asked him to stop and stand still he was fine with that but he was also willing to trot. It was really neat. At one point we had to cross over a big puddle I wasn't sure how Twosox was going to do I allowed him to stop at the edge and then gently asked him forward and we walked across it.

Coming home we rode over the highway and across the bridge and then through the park. I think the main thing that kept surprising me was how Twosox trusted me as his leader. What ever I asked him to do he did it and was confident in doing so. We let the horses eat in the park for a bit and then walked them through town. Another cool thing that happened was we had to go between some buildings and a row of vehicles. Twosox followed behind me and even when cars went by he was fine. Even when some people came up to see him (one being on a bike) and give him some grass he was curios but not afraid!!

We made it home safe and sound. Twosox stayed with me after I let him go and didn't even want to go find the other horses. It was a special way to end a really amazing day!! I definitely want to do that again sometime soon!!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Coming home!

November 6 2010

Prince came home today! But before we brought him home we had one last play session and ride! We started by playing in the arena. Prince had so much energy! All he wanted to do was canter everywhere so we did some circles with changes of direction then we did Figure eights at the canter. I had to play around with how much energy I needed to have in my body to match his and some other things but at the end we got one complete Figure eight at the canter and Prince was pretty light also!

After that we went out and played on the 45ft line in the field. We played with transitions, change of directions, and traveling circles. We did a little bit of each and everything went pretty good. Then we mounted up!

Prince and I didn't ride long because there were only a couple things that I wanted to do and I wanted to keep it easy. There were 4 things on our Level 3/4 Freestyle self assessment that I was pretty sure we could do but since I had never tried them I couldn't mark it off. Mainly they had to do with doing w/t/c transitions with two carrot sticks plus guiding your horse at a walk with your finger tips.

We started off with the transitions and they went extremely well. Prince went into the canter beautifully and the transitions were really smooth also. We got a couple really nice transitions and then ended. I am amazed at how our cantering has really improved in the last two and a half weeks. It really has been wonderful to have the space to advance and play!

Then we played around with guiding with my fingertips. We have played around with it a bit before but nothing major. Prince caught on really quickly and we even rode Figure eights. The funny thing was that Prince was responded to my focus, I didn't even need my leg (!!!!!!) so I didn't want to use my fingers because he was responded so well with out them! But when I needed to correct him I would lightly touch him on the withers and go through my phases if needed but Prince barely ever needed me to go past a phase 2.

After that we rode the Clover leaf one last time! I am going to miss riding that pattern! But hopefully in the spring when we go back (Lord willing) we can pick up where we left off. We also played with sideways with two carrot sticks. Prince had a bit of trouble at the beginning but that was mainly my fault ;) But then we both got it right and went sideways in each direction, with me using just my body, for over half the arena width which is about 50ft!!

I decided to go through the gate a little bit differently, we opened it and backed through it. Prince wanted to go forward a lot today so it took a little extra longer we did yo-yo's back and forth through the gate then we did walk-backup transitions all the way from the gate over to the trailer which was on the other side of the field.

We took a break for lunch and then loaded Prince up into the trailer and went home. The horses weren't in when we got home so we went out and found them. At one point Prince went off on one of the other trails but mom and I took the one that was the most dry. Then a couple minutes later Prince comes running up, nickering and stops right by me! It was so sweet! We then went the rest of the way to the field together and that was where the horses were. It was so wonderful to watch them reunite! I really think Ruffian missed Prince! Especially when he saw Prince the look on his face was priceless!!

Here are some pics...

Going to find the horses!

It's an oreo!

One of my favourites!

Together again!

Victory lap!

Classic Porcupine game!

Awww..... Best Buddies!

Prince and I are going to take a couple days off and just spend some undemanding time together and then slowly get back into the swing of things. It has been an physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting two and a half weeks, yet it has also been absolutely incredible!! 

 Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Audition time!

November 4 2010

Yes that is right, today Prince and I did our Level 3 Freestyle Audition. I have no idea if it will pass or not but I guess we shall find out soon enough. After yesterday I felt that our lead changes were good enough to at least try. Everything went well. We played really strong and it made a huge difference! We started with some canter stick to me on the 12ft line with drop to trot lead changes (with a change of direction). I was really particular about Prince picking up the canter quickly and he did really well. 

Then I saddled up and we did some circles in the field on the 22ft line. Prince cantered between 5 and 6 circles each direction with slack in the rope and over a tarp! At first he would break gait when he crossed it but pretty soon he started maintaining the canter while crossing it. 

We also played with some changes of direction with simple lead changes. Prince didn't miss a single change and the whole time, in which ever direction he was cantering he was always cantering on the correct lead.  We then went into the arena and did some jumping, sideways using the porcupine game and a couple other small but important things. 

Then it was time to ride! I had to plans for my audition, one which was starting in the arena and finishing outside of it and the other was starting on the outside and working out way in. We ended up starting in the arena because I wanted to practice our simple lead changes before the actual audition but I also had a plan so that if they went really well we would just continue on from there. 

So off we went... we had to restart it only once because Prince was having a bit of a hard time picking up the canter and the left lead. So we started again which turned out really well in the long run because as my mom was getting ready to film it again (our battery on the camera was running low so we had to get a cord) we practiced out jumping. Prince wouldn't jump the smaller log so our only option was the big log, which I have never jumped before. The first time Prince straddled it... oops! Hehe then the second time Prince jumped it but hit his hind legs a little but I rewarded him for that anyway because he did jump it. 

Then when the camera was ready we set off. I actually wasn't nervous from the time that we started playing Online, but before I was pretty nervous. I am so thankful that I wasn't nervous as we were doing it though. It helps though that I have been video taped a lot before so that doesn't make me any different.

Anyway. There was a couple things that didn't go exactly as planned but all in all everything went well and I am pretty happy with it. Even if I don't pass I know that Prince and I did the best that we could do and we had fun! I never would have thought that three months after I started cantering I would even be considering sending in our Freestyle audition so no matter what the outcome I am so proud of Prince and I will happy with even the feedback! When it came to the jump Prince cleared it no problem and I rode it pretty well I think... ;) 

Needless to say Prince got a long rest and got to each grass for a long time. Then when it was time to leave I hopped on him again and we rode up to the pasture. We are planning that Prince will come home on Saturday. I am excited for him to be home but I know that we will both miss the space to play and the big arena! We are invited to come back in the spring so that will be something to look forward too!! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: A bit better?

November 3 2010

Today I came out with a better idea of how I was going to prepare Prince Online so that we would have more success while riding and getting our simple lead changes better. I felt way more prepared!

We started our session out a little bit differently today though. I decided to back Prince by the tail all the way from the little gate where which we are now using to get in and out of the pasture, and back him all the way down to the driveway, across the field and over to the gate of the arena. Anyone who would have seen use probably thought we were crazy but it was so much fun! At first Prince it wasn't as easy but Prince figured it out pretty quickly. We have never done that much backing up by the tail. Normally we got maybe 10 or so nice steps and then stop. But this put a purpose to it which was a lot of fun. Once we got there Prince got a long rest and got to eat grass for a while as I got our saddle and tack out. 

Once Prince was saddled we went out into the field and played on the 45ft line. At first Prince was cantering but it didn't look very smooth so we kept playing with it until he cantered a some nice circles with rhythm, relaxation and connection. It didn't take long but it made a huge difference in our riding. 

We then went into the arena and did some canter stick to me and lots of transitions!! We also played with our halt-canter transitions because if Prince is going to get the simple lead change he is going to need to go into the canter easily and without resistance. They got really snappy and happy so we quit on a high note!

Then we mounted up! We started with Figure eights at the trot. It was beyond amazing because Prince listened to my body and I only had to make 1 or 2 corrections with my carrot stick!! It felt amazing! I remember in the spring when I was struggling with this and it felt that we would never get Figure eights where Prince would listen to my body and I wouldn't have to use my reins/carrot stick. But through a lot of trial and error, and with a bit of frustration we now have it! It is really amazing! And the best part is that we aren't staying here though, it can and will always get lighter, and with more speed and distance!

Next we played with our simple lead changes. First though we made sure our trot-canter transitions were working. They were pretty good so we went onto the lead changes. It took a while but the last couple ones we got were really nice! We both seemed to just get it and they came together nicely. Of course, they weren't perfect but they will get better and better as time goes on and we continue to practice.

The next thing we played with was our Question box. It went really well at the trot so I decided to try asking Prince to canter it. It was no doubt interesting. I think that Prince got a little confused so we kept playing with it for a bit. But it wasn't getting much better so I decided to stop and leave it for a time when are more ready. But I am glad that I tried :) 

We went back into the arena and we did one more simple lead change, this one was by far the best and then we ended with circles. I wanted to play around with jumping but it was still a bit to muddy so we left that. Our circles were pretty nice and got even better. The last one looked like this... 

It wasn't perfect but I was really happy with it! I know it will just keep getting better! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Eventually I will learn right?

 November 2 2010

Once again I failed to prepare Prince enough for the task that I wished to accomplish. But I think that this time maybe, just maybe, I will have learned the lesson! 

Today, one of the things that I wanted to play with while we were riding was simple lead changes, one of the only things that Prince and I can't do that needs to be done for our Level 3 Freestyle Audition. Well, I don't know if we can't do it but we haven't tried because we have been working on the ingredients for them. 

Prince and I played on the 22ft line in the arena but since the ground was hard, it was frozen so it was hard for Prince to canter on the circle a lot. We were able to get some nicer circles. Prince some how cut his upper lip a little bit so we had to wait until it stopped bleeding before we continued.

So where I realized I made the mistake was I went right into the Bowtie pattern after we did some sideways, indirect rein and pivots etc and what I should have done was done some cantering a long the rail, making sure Prince could do that. But alas hindsight is 20-20 right? :) 

What happened was Prince got confused and then it started loosing interest in what I was asking him to do. He wasn't in a learning frame of mind when we started so he gave up trying. Totally understandable! I would have done the same :) 

I realized what happened and so we went to Follow the rail and did lots of transitions. Once Prince was able to canter in both directions and on the correct leads then we ended. We then went out and rode the Question box Prince did really well with that. So I definitely know what I am going to do next time to better prepare Prince! 

Naturally,

~Keri