Focus, And How We Apply It

So yesterday I played with both my girls. Gwen was a rockstar, and we even got our first two strides of trot :) Chey, on the other hand, was having the worst case of RANDOM RBE Hysteria she's ever had. I still have no idea why she was overreacting the way she was, and the more I brought her in to come off the adrenaline or re-focus her, the worse she got. I was getting frustrated and confused, and after playing around with a few different strategies I finally just put her to bed. I still don't quite understand why she was having meltdowns over tasks she's done before, and done confidently. But I DO know what I'm going to do next time. And before I tell you what it is, let's go back a few years...


A month before my 10th birthday, my mother bought me a 5 year old mustang stallion. Who does that? Well, apparently my mom! But it ended up being the greatest horse I've ever had. I had him for 5 years, and he was my first Levels horse. I sold him to pursue eventing, and as he was more of a trail/cow pony, I wanted him to go to a home where he could do what he loves. By the time I sold him, I could ride and jump him with not an ounce of tack on him. Neither of us had any confidence issues, and the question wasn't if one of us was comfortable with the situation, it was how much fun we could have with it. I tortured that horse to death by putting my gloves over his ears, crawling all over him, standing on him, and just whatever I could think of. And he was the most sound, dependable horse I have ever been on. And we had FUN! It wasn't about graduating levels, it wasn't about being better than someone else, it was just living in the moment, "I wonder if we can pull this off? LET'S DO THIS!". I think that is what I'm missing with Chey. I'm so focused on passing L2 by summer, that our "play time" isn't really play, it's lessons. And I think it's taking the fun out of it for both of us. She is still very willing to do anything I ask, chases the other horses off to get to me first in the pasture, and helps me put her halter on. But it feels like when we're working on something, it's just that - work. I miss playing :) I miss goofing off and just having fun. And I'm the only thing that has changed. Damn my adult brain! lol! So I'm taking a note from 10 year old Megan, and just going out there to have fun :)


I was watching a video of one of my all-time fave Parelli Pro's, Honza Blaha yesterday, and that man can have FUN! I want that again :) I know this will make all the difference, and it will help take the pressure off of  Chey while she learns. We can still do all the L2 "tasks", or as I now refer to them as "challenges" to make it more of a game for myself :) But we can do the challenges while actually PLAYING, instead of feeling like a boring teacher from Charlie Brown saying "blablabla" to my poor girls.


Big changes are coming! I'll keep ya'll posted! :)

11/2/11

Milestones and the future =]

Cheyenne, being an RBE, is challenging me to play with horses differently than I ever had before. She is very unconfident once we leave the pasture, and it is just one threshhold after another. There is a trailhead about 1/4 mile down the road from my house, and since we've had so much trouble, I told myself I would know she trusted me as a leader when we went on our first solo trail ride :) I never dreamed it would happen so quickly!! Especially since I've only been able to play with her about once a week between school and work. Yesterday, after passing "horse-eating goats" and me finally putting my direct-line thinking aside and implementing approach and retreat, we reached the goal =) Patience, and mentally picturing us past each threshhold and riding confidently and eagerly, all my wishes came true:)

I am revamping my plans for the future. I should be done with my pre-reqs next year, and it will probably take 1-2 years for me to get into the nursing program here at CBC with so many applicants in the area. So, once pre-reqs are out of the way, I'm going down to Colorado and participating in a FastTrack course to get my 1* rating as a Junior Parelli instructor. However I have high hopes for myself and my horses, and I think I can acheive a 2* rating since of course, Chey and I will be fabulous ;). This will endorse me to start teaching, and earn money while I go through school and continue persuing and enriching my horsemanship goals. Steve Job's commencement speech has really inspired me to live my life MY way, and I'm going for it. I read a quote that said "True happiness is achieved when we stop trying to be perfect, and start being ourselves". Well, here's to shooting for the stars and taking what comes with an open mind and a hard working attitude!

Cheers!