April 9, 2008

Sundance
Yeehaw! We retook 2 of our tasks for level 2 and he did AWESOME!
We are going to retake our liberty task Friday, I will be practicing today at my friends house in their pen. We did play with our liberty in our larger pen and Sundance was very enthused and fun, the taping will go great tomorrow.

Bebe
Yesterday was an How Interesting day! Great for my emotional fitness and problem solving skills. Here is a sheet I created for me, I like to do this to help me with my next session...

Bebe's Right Brained Analysis
What did he do in the session that was right brained?
I asked him to do something like walk with me at liberty and he ran around about 3-5 circles with head and tail up, then came in and stood by me and liked his lips for a couple of minutes and did all of this two times. (All the while I was just standing there in a neutral position with very low energy.) He has never done this before, I had done nothing that I know of that would have made him frightened. I am guessing I could have come on too strong by not doing some things online before I did anything at liberty, the lawn mower was also going so that could have caused some right brained behavior.
Solution: Make sure I do some puzzle solving; slow games that make him feel confident online before I go and do something at liberty.

Sometimes when I ask him to trot or canter he goes into a right brained state.
Solution:Do as above, prepare him. If he starts to get right brained do some backing and sideways to get his brain working.

If he walks around me he will keep on asking and asking questions and if I redirect him and ask him to keep on walking he goes slightly right brained.
Solution:Don’t let him sneak up on you; every time he asks this question ask him to change direction and maybe he will get tired of changing direction.

At the end of the session I would ask him to go from a walk to a trot and I would eventually have to use a phase 4 to ask him to walk, then he perks his ears up asking questions like I popped out of know where.
Solution: He will most likely be in the right brained state when displaying this behavior; do not let him get in this state in the first place.

I have a packed rest of the day so I can't get into too much detail!

Hope you enjoyed! xoxo

April 8, 2008

Sundance & Bebe
I did not have much time yesterday to work, but I did get a few things in with both of them...

• Friendly Game
• Driving Game
• Feet Up
• Yielding by Tail
• Needle Prep

They both did excellent! :)

xoxo

April 6, 2008

Bebe

I decided to play a little with trailering, he did very well. He was slightly right brained in the beginning because some of my family members were target practicing with their rifles, but after a little puzzle solving he was left brained in no time. I left him in there with some feed while I cleaned our messy barn and mingled with Sundance.

We headed over to the arena with a goal, officially pass Bebe in a level 2 task (7 games with an obstacle). I didn't think he would pass but he did very well, he even side passed over the barrels a few times without knocking any of them over. He was excellent, I left the session there. I am glad I stopped when we did, now he has a fresh taste in his mouth and will be even more positive about the next session.

Sundance
Sundance and I played in the arena yesterday, we worked with...

• Departure at Canter (Now ready to tape)
• Departure at Trot (ditto)
• Departure at Walk (Already been taped)
• Change of Direction: Online & Liberty (ditto)
• Downward transitions at Liberty (very close)

He did very well, and was very fun to play with! Today should be fun too.

Afterwards my brother wanted me to go on a ride and I did not want to ride Bebe or Sundance, they had already done enough. So I put my dressage saddle and cradle bridle on my Dressage trained 26 year old mare and hit the trail, all the while playing with side passes at different gaits and vertical flexion. I had forgotten how fun she was to ride, what a joy!

xoxo

My Opinion regarding Normal VS. Natural

Question (from fellow enthusiast)-
Just out of interest, what would be an example of the things you teach in a lesson? How do you determine what is Parelli and what is not? Where are your lines drawn?
K*

Parelli is not a way to train, it is a way of life. Once you go through this program there is no other way to be with a horse. I teach how to tack a horse, brush, and lead horse; the basics. But not in a normal way, for example: Give the horse time to except the girth, it doesn't matter what side you mount the horse on (as long as they're safe, you shouldn't be riding in the first place if the horse is not safe), let the horse get familiar with tack before you put it on their back. When riding I tell them not to just kick horse, go through different steps such as squeeze then kiss. Be soft in the mouth and ask nicely. It is all fairly natural stuff, I can't teach anything else.

I actually don't really like the term natural, It should be referred to as 'Common Sense Horsemanship'. It all makes so much sense, you are in true harmony when you learn this information. It IS the horse, you become one of them. There's not necessarily a definition between natural and normal. Normal isn't at all necessarily wrong either, it is usually a lack of knowledge of the inner horse. You CAN get results through traditional ways of training and being with a horse, but it did not give me the results I wanted. What do I want? I want to be just like the horse, communicate the way they do, have my horses want to be with me, do what is possibly the best for them (tack, not constricting movement). I want my horses to WANT to be with me. I want to truly understand them and want them to truly understand me. Before finding Parelli, I was just doing what I knew and what everyone else did. I didn't know what I was doing was not bringing out the best I could in my horse, there was something more. There is something more! This is that something that a lot of horse owners are looking for. Most people don't know that a relationship like that exists and that you can actually accomplish that success without force, the partnership without dominance, the willingness we want without intimidation, and harmony we long for without coercion.

Mariah Helms

April 4, 2008

Sundance & Bebe
I decided to fiddle with some Level 4 tasks, playing with a horse on the ground while riding a horse. I this was only the second time I had done this, I felt confident about it myself... Sundance had to get used to the idea that the stick I was using was not directed toward him, after that he was fine with it. Bebe had done this once before, he was not sure at first but afterwards he was doing just fine. Bebe was circling around me at the trot, then we did a cool yo-yo type task... If Sundance walked back Bebe would walk forward, then if Sundance walked forward Bebe would walk back, we even did some side passing together. I can't wait to start seriously into Level 3, it's going to be so much fun.

I found some great quotes of Pat's in my Level 3 Booklet:

"Savvy is knowing where to be, when to be, why to be and what to do when you get there at any given moment, and in any situation with a horse." -Pat Parelli

"Savvy is what becoming a horseman is about." - Pat Parelli

I want to be savvy, it's what I strive for, and hopefully will be.

Sundance

Later that afternoon I hooked on the 22ft line and played with..

~ Departure at the canter.

~Change of direction.

~ Preparation for downward transitions at Liberty.

We will be videoing our re-tasks for Level 2 soon, good thing I do not have a lot to do.

He was a little rusty because of all the mud but other than that he was great.

Bebe

It was starting to thunder by the time I started with the Beebsters but we still got to play...

~Stick 2 Me (Sticking to me and doing what I do no matter what I do.)

~Needle prep

~Holding feet up

~Yo-yo

He was 100% great, couldn't ask for more from my willing little gelding.

xoxo