2014 Goals

So it appears I never made a horsemanship goal list for this year! Last summer my eyes were opened up while I had my internship at the Northwest Natural Horsemanship Center, and how I have been limiting myself to only following one method of horsemanship. Since then my horizons have expanded, and I have found so many amazing natural horseman that have so much quality information to share. It's really changed my approach to playing with my horses, and has been a refreshing change of pace from the seven games. While I still practice PNH, I've also given myself permission (why was I limiting myself before?) to pursue my eventing goals, and honestly just play around in the pasture however I feel like it. So I'm pretty excited about my goal list this year :)

1) Audit another Buck Brannaman clinic when he comes in July

2) Audit at least one jumping/eventing clinic at the Washington State Horse Park

3) Volunteer at least once at the WSHP for a clean-up or working day

4) Begin my monthly challenges (more on this soon!)

5) Canter Gwen and ride her bridleless

6) Load Cheyenne into the trailer at liberty from 20+ feet away

It's a short list, but I feel like it's going to make it more likely for me to cross everything off this year. My goals with Gwen are big as well, because with her everything takes so long to accomplish. She is by no means a stupid horse, she just challenges me every step of the way, especially when it comes to riding. We have to do 90% ground work, 10% riding right now in order to keep progressing while maintaining her willing attitude. It will get better with time, it's just something I definitely can't be in a hurry for. Take the time it takes so it takes less time. 

If anyone else is planning on attending the same clinics, please let me know! I always love meeting new horsemanship friends :) What are everyone else's goals for this year? Have you already accomplished some?

Hurry Up and Wait

I woke up today to three inches of snow magically gone, sunshine, and 55 degree weather! Early Spring miracle? I think so ;) Now that the ground is more solid, I decided to throw the round pen back up. 

Cheyenne has been on "winter break" for a few months, and so we started with some easy stuff today. Figure 8 on the 22' line and STM at the walk, trot, and... canter! What?! Yes! You heard me!

I've discovered I've been an avoid-a-holic when it comes to cantering with Chey, both in the saddle and apparently online as well. When I was starting her under saddle she had a very difficult time finding balance at the canter, so after a while I just stopped asking for it. Apparently that transferred to our ground work as well, and now that I've realized this, it's time to change it up! She is so great at mirroring me while playing STM, so we warmed up with walk, stop, back up, walk, trot transitions. Tracking left I asked for the canter with her between myself and the round pen. I cantered in my own stride, and tapped her with the carrot stick until we got a stride of canter, and then we stopped for a reward. About the third time she started to really get it down! Going to the right was a bit more sticky. It took longer for her to pick up the canter, and we had a lot more sour faces, but once she gave me a few good strides she got lots of lovins', and it was onto something she knew :)

Chey soaking it all up :)

I've learned with Chey I really need to pause more often between tasks, or even during them. When I say "game over", she needs to chill for more than five seconds. She is normally an RBE, and when I play with her my LBE side comes out, and I thought before that changing it up and constant go-go-go is what she needed. However I've noticed that gets her pretty amped up, doesn't give her a chance to think about what just happened, and she begins assuming more and more. I've gotten better about noticing when she needs to take a break and think, and when to keep moving, and it has made a huge difference in her confidence, and my personal attention to detail. 

Another thing I've been avoiding is carrot stick riding. Or anything to do with my carrot stick, really. Between the stick and the rope, I find there is too much in my hands and I'm more distracted with organizing myself and less effective with whatever my horse and I are doing. But it's something that is way over due, and so we worked on carrot stick riding combined with "don't make me pick up my reins". It went okay.. I was bareback, and the wind is pretty strong today. Combine those factors with my sloppyness with the reins and stick, and a hyper mare that likes to counter bend and randomly take off trotting because she's feeling her spring-time-spunkies, and you're gonna have a bad time ;) I ditched the carrot stick and we worked on transitions and quality of the back-up to cool her down, and to give her a chance to end on something familiar and on a good note. She was such a gem!

Checking in with me on our ride :)

What I learned today: I need to stop avoiding cantering, as well as carrot stick riding. Cheyenne's STM is worse tracking right, and I need to learn to be more efficient at juggling my tools. 

On a completely unrelated note, this is Lena, my mom's mare, looking too darn cute

Fired Up Friday!

Welcome to this week's FIRED UP FRIDAY!

Most of us tend to get caught up in our goals.. this could be passing the Parelli levels, progressing to Prelim in XC, running a quicker pole pattern, etc. Goals are fabulous and they keep us going. Many of us don't need to be pushed to progress, compete, and up our game in general. But what we also need to keep in mind is our inner child. Have fun with your horse! They get burnt out just like us, and sometimes we look over the signs when our tunnel vision kicks in and says "I need to get a 65% at the Ice Breaker Dressage show, I better train hard!". 

This is what your horse will say when Serious Sally walks into his field!

Let's also look at it this way, with a perspective we can all relate to. You're at work, and your company is trying to beat your competitor across town in sales. Manager A comes in and just stares over your shoulder while your working. Then she starts to nitpick. "Sit up straight. Why did you wear that outfit today? How are your numbers? You need to be utilizing the strategies I emailed you. Have you followed up on all your voicemails?". She means well, and she wants to see you succeed, but she does it in a critical, goal oriented manner. She might even say it with a smile, but that doesn't help your anxiety levels every time she comes around you.

Next, Manager B comes waltzing up to your desk. "Heeeey! How are you? {gives you a hug} Is your head cold getting any better? Your numbers are looking fabulous, and I even emailed you a list of strategies to help keep them soaring. Let me know if you need anything, and by the way, love your shirt!".  She has a genuinely positive attitude, takes a personal interest in you, not just your performance, and you feel more at ease and confident every time she comes around.

Seriously, who would you rather work for? More specifically, who would you go the extra mile for? I'm pretty sure we would all pick Manager B, and so would your horse. Like Pat Parelli says, they start feeding off of your engergy before you even enter the pasture. We need to make down time a priority and take advantage of our horse's play drive. When I was young I did what now would be considered the extreme friendly a LOT. I tied my sweater over my horse's eye balls, put my gloves over his ears, did summer-salts between his legs, rode him backwards, you name it I probably did it at some point. When I look back, I realize how much better my relationship with my horses was, and what a big impact goofing off had. He was definitely desensitized to anything and everything, he was confident in new situations and with new objects around him, and that little guy put his heart and soul into everything we did. We had an amazing bond, and our main priority was fun. 


 

I love seeing people making leaps and bounds with their furry friends, and it's so cool to watch them continue to climb the ladder and accomplish their horsey dreams. However I keep reading about horsewomen and men hitting a wall, finding a decline in their rapport and relationship, and feeling totally lost. Don't ever forget the value of play for yourself or your pony. Stop taking everything so seriously, and just relax. If you're not smiling and laughing when you're together, find a way to make that happen, and if nothing else you'll walk away from having the time of your life with your bestest buddy :) 

Fired Up (Black) Friday!

Hello everyone, I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and Black Friday! It's a great time of year to harass family and get fat on great food. It's also a great time to curl up by the fire (or space heater) and get lost in a good read :)

 

I ordered a book called Centered Riding by Sally Swift off of Amazon and it came in Wednesday, just before my drive East for Turkey Day. I had started reading it during my few weeks at the NW Natural Horsemanship Center in between tasks, and decided I had to get a copy for myself! It's a fantastic book that opens your eyes to so many great techniques for relaxing your body so it can move properly with the horse, balance, focus, and even how you can apply it to jumping! Regardless of the discipline or sport you chose, if it's on horseback, you want this book! I can't wait to finish it, and have even found a few instructors in my area that will be giving clinics next year and I can't wait to audit one!

I hope this book gets you fired up and inspired to go have some horsey time and to incorporate something new into your routine. If you've already read her book or  have taken Centered Riding lessons, I would love to hear your thoughts and how it has changed your results in the saddle!

Happy Holidays!

Fired-Up Friday!

It's Fired-Up Friday, and I have some awesome inspirational videos for you all! Motivation comes in so many forms, and as much fun as the 7 games can be, variety is the spice of life :) 

Also, here is a great article on equine leg protection from The Chronicle of the Horse. The reason behind some horse boots have always baffled me (seriously, what is up with those fluffy dressage boots?!) so I started looking for some better answers than what I was getting talking to other riders. I'm excited for a rating system, and some boots to come out in the future with improved support!

Here we go!

Teach your horse to give you pony kisses!

An absolutely gorgeous, beyond inspiring performance by Clemence Faivre and her horse Gothan

Here are some great stretches from the great people at Evention TV

And, for the grand finale, I introduce to you Mr Frederic Pignon,  a guy who truly knows what it means to play with his horses! He's an ever-smiling Frenchman who, even when a horse gets away from him, keeps his cool. I love seeing an accomplished horseman give a performance and everything doesn't go to plan. It shows that no matter who you are, you are still working with a creature with a mind of their own, but if you keep a positive and playful attitude, there is no such thing as a "bad" play session :)

I hope these videos and article gave you something to think about and some new ideas to take with you next time you see your four-legged fuzzy friend! Happy Friday!

Clemence Faivre - photo from classhorse.tv

Hybrid Halter

This morning, as you may know, Kalley Krickeberg revealed her new product, the Hybrid Halter. It is half web halter, half rope. There is already a lot of controversy about it, as there is when anything new comes along and challenges someone's "normal". 

What I personally like about it is that it should keep the nose band knots in correct position much better than a normal rope halter, and no matter what happens during your play session (or in the event of an emergency), you know you won't have to struggle to remove the halter. For me this is fantastic since Gweny likes to get carried away and go balls-to-the-wall bucking and rearing and pull on my rope when she feels good when doing COD or cantering on the circle game which tightens the rope halter like nobody's business. One woman pointed out that these would be great for highlining and camping with your horse since they can't get their foot caught in it like they may be able to in a rope halter. I personally have never had that issue, but if you have a horse that is accident prone this may be a good alternative. Also, I personally like the look of web halters a little bit better, so the aesthetics aren't bad either. A little goofy looking, but still nice. 

The cons I see are that it is a heavier halter so playing with a horse may not be as effective as a rope halter. One Parelli student pointed out that the rope behind the ears was helpful with the porcupine game when asking your horse's head to come down. The yo-yo game is the first one that comes to my mind that might be interesting since the halter is in fact heavier, so I'm thinking you would have to put more energy down your line for the horse to feel the phases. Another aspect that concerns me for the yo-yo game are the metal connectors on either side of the nose band; they look as if they'd slap your horse in the face? That may be a game I'd skip with this halter. 

Either way, I say don't knock it until you try it. I don't think it is the "perfect" halter, but I definitely wouldn't pass up the chance to try it out with one of my girls. It will be interesting to keep an eye out in the next few months for reviews from natural horsewomen/men, and I have a feeling there will be a modified halter down the line that will address whatever issues they find. If the price ever comes down (I'm sorry, but $70 for a halter is ridiculous), and if they make one in a warmblood size, I would be really interested in getting one for Gweny. 

What are your thoughts on the halter? Have you already ordered one? What pros and cons do you see? I would love to hear your opinions!

Pride

This one can sure be a hard pill for some to 
swallow........ "If you get bucked off or kicked or bitten,
you obviously did something wrong, and that's just too
bad. The horse, on the other hand, is never, ever
wrong." Ray Hunt

Pride is something I've always struggled with, along with a few other predator mind sets. I was taught, as most of us were, to jump right back on when a horse bucks you off. For confidence reasons this is incredible advice, however what they show you when they get back on to demonstrate, is to be crazy rough and rude to the horse. The typical image I saw from many riders was hopping on, see-sawing the horses mouth until the bit looked like it was right under their eyeballs, kicking them while see-sawing sending contradicting messages, and riding them in a tight circle while cracking them on the butt with the end of their reins. There is no communication in that, there is no valuable lesson learned, it's just a large child throwing a fit on top of a horse. Thankfully when I saw this it wasn't on my personal horse, rather a horsey friend trying to teach a young girl how to handle the situation, but very very wrongly. When watching that, even as a child, I was confused and sick to my stomach. However, it did teach me that a bad attitude was okay in the saddle.

Riding bridleless as a child improving attitude and communication

I have been doing natural horsemanship since I was 10 years old, so I was fortunate enough to
learn better alternatives to handing horses early enough to correct my methods. However, four
years of learning to have a bad attitude when things didn't go your way is something that has
taken me a very long time to change. I've worked really hard at adjusting my mindset, and I
continue to improve it every day. One of the best ways to overcome a problem is to admit it, so
here are attitude issues I struggle with, from both my LBE and LBI points of view:

1) PATIENCE, patience, patience

2) Knowing when to walk away vs. throwing a fit just to prove your point and making the
situation worse

3) Not taking what happens personally, but as data

4) Boredom. This might have you thinking "What? That isn't a behavioral issue!" but it is a
mindset that makes my attention to detail and my horsemanship sloppy, which can potentially
lead to a frustrating situation due to lack of communication on my part.

5) Melting down. I usually have a pretty good head on my shoulders, and I've worked insanely
hard at my emotional fitness. However, when it comes down to having a time line (i.e. being at
a clinic/workshop/trail ride at a certain time) and something goes wrong while trailer loading
(bad prior and proper preparation), Cheyenne feeds directly off of my emotions and gets
emotional herself, and I can go from my normal calm state and turn into a blubbering somewhat
hysterical mess. It's not pretty, and I'm far from proud of it, but it is a work in progress. It's better
to be late and arrive with a mentally and emotionally stable horse and human than to be on time
in a ball of stress and anxiety, and then have to safely unload the ball of stress and anxiety you
created in your horse trailer.

The lesson I'm focusing on today, for myself, is to let go of pride and embrace humility and all 
the beauty of a learning experience. I need to throw pride away before I even walk out my door
to the pasture, and take ownership of my state of mind and my approach when doing anything
with or around my babies. I have come a very long way since I was that 10 year old girl taking a
hold of a Parelli halter and lead rope for the first time, and I know I have grown into a good (and
hopefully one day, great) horsewoman. But there is always room for improvement, and
admitting it is half the battle.


"The horse is never, ever wrong."