Fall Fun

Sorry I have been so quiet this summer! I am only able to get out to see my girls on Saturdays, but I feel we still have accomplished a good deal. Two weeks ago Cheyenne astounded me and found the courage to walk by the mini donkeys, mini horses, and mare-eating goats for the first time ever! She stopped to look around a few times, but never went stoic like she typically does before she panics and insists that we head back to the pasture. We enjoyed a two hour solo trail ride, and I'm hoping to use that trail a lot more often since we have a new goal of doing a 25 mile endurance ride next year! :)

One of the horse-eating ponds on the trail :)

At the end of the trail, enjoying the view :)

After our trail ride I noticed she had dry spots above her scapula and ruffled air down either side of her spine. After some help from a Parelli Professional on Parelli Connect I learned that her saddle is pinching her withers and too wide on her back. I decided it was time to do some saddle fitting, so last weekend I spent all my horsey time measuring the withers and back of Cheyenne and Gweny, and to my surprise Cheyenne has extra wide withers (I'm guessing because her withers are nearly non-existent so it's really sitting more on her shoulders) and Gweny's are medium wide (her withers are taller but narrower). My western saddle fits neither of my horses, and so I think it's time to sell a few saddles and buy two newer, well fitting saddles :) 

Today was pretty random. I had no real plan, and just decided what our game plan was while haltering. With Cheyenne I suddenly felt a spark up my ass to finally try a spin at liberty, so off to the round pen we went. We practiced online for about 10 minutes having her do her spin around a cone so she had a reason to spin (to circle the cone) and then I felt she had enough of a general gist of the exercise to throw the halter off and try it at liberty. She needed a little reassurance after the change of direction to keep turning, but she really hung in there and just blew my socks off :) We did it a few more times just to solidify what she learned, and called it a day.

Our first spin at liberty

With Gweny I am embarrassingly not as far as I should be. Yes she is LBI and challenges me constantly for dominance which slows progress, but with only getting to see my girls once a week, and Cheyenne being my much more advanced horse, it's easy to put Gwen on the back burner. Alanna Farrell, my Parelli Instructor helped me out with my impulsion issues under saddle via video coaching and just doing more point-to-point and having a true destination in mind made a huge difference in our riding. She started to see me as more of a leader since I had a game plan and stuck to it, and in one ride offered me more than she had in all of our other rides combined. Today however I had a different game plan for her ;) We did something I have been putting off for far too long, and that is change of direction. She picked it up so quickly! When I taught Cheyenne I had to use the fence to stop her so I could turn her around and finish the change, but with Gweny she just needed a little driving game with the carrot stick, and she was off in the other direction! I think a big factor was that I am a lot clearer now with my ques than I was when I taught Chey because I was learning as well, but it made me feel great that a mare with dominant, argumentative tendencies didn't put up a fight when asked to change directions, which is a dominate request. We did it a few times both ways and called it a night :) I am so blown away by these two incredible girls, and I can't believe I'm the one who gets to learn and play with them. I feel so honored and so lucky to have them in my life. One great day in the pasture makes the other six days of the week seem so much better.

Gweny taking a well deserved break 

Springtime Funtime

The last few weeks have been full of mini adventures with the horses :) For mother's day my mom and I did a mini photo shoot with her and her Friesian x Mustang mare, Lena, which was a huge blast! I also hopped on Lena that day and was her first official passenger! She did so good and took it all in stride. As the summer continues I'm hoping to help my mother start her more under saddle and get her more solid so she can become my mom's next trail/dressage partner :)

Last weekend Cheyenne and I had a great break through under saddle! Or, mote accurately, I had a break through ;) She was great online, and was calm, cool, and connected. However when I swung into the saddle her energy spiked, she came alive, and our connection flew right out the window. I'm still not sure if it was my energy coming up unknowingly, or if by accident I have conditioned her to bring her life up under saddle and to expect a faster pace. I started with some figure eights around the cones to get her more focused on my aids which (kind of) worked, then decided to play Follow the Rail and ask for a walk/trot transition every 15 strides. Our down transitions were extremely rough and I felt like I had to be very firm with my reins to get a response. Obviously this still wasn't engaging her mentally, so we started having an up, down, or backing transition every four strides. Bam! Instant success! She started paying attention to my aids, and by the end of the ride I could ask her to move down from a canter to a trot with just my seat aids :) I have learned it's necessary to take the ideas behind the patterns I've been given and start thinking for myself and start tweaking the patterns to find something that works for the horse I'm on in the situation I'm in; there is no cookie-cutter solition. Chey was SO relaxed and responsive by the end of our ride, and I couldn't have been more proud of her :) I was even able to canter on a completely loose rein and steer with just my seat/leg aids 80% of the time :) Progress!

Yesterday my back was hurting pretty badly, so we just had a day to hang out together, be mellow, and enjoy the sunshine :) Honestly I feel like we have the best time when we just sit around and do nothing lol. 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday weekend! Have fun, and don't forget to go play with your ponies!

Lazy Days

The weather always seems to know how to get in the way of a good pasture day ;) With high winds all weekend it was hard to really get anything done, so tonight was pretty chill. The girls got their apple flavored wormer, brushed down (still so much hair!), and Chey got to go for a mini ride. It will never cease to amaze me how sensitive and responsive that girl is, despite the fact she has been more of a pasture ornament lately. I always try so hard to keep her that light, but I feel like after a long break it is easier to do, like a clean slate. 

I finally was able to talk someone into moving the horse trailer into the pasture tonight as well! Now it's in a spot where I'm able to start playing with trailer loading again. If you didn't read my post about my 2014 horsemanship goals, loading Cheyenne at liberty is a big one :) I am really excited to get going on it!

Again, nothing too exciting happened tonight, but here are some pics of our down time tonight :)

Flowers and Sunshine and Ponies, Oh My!

Spring is here! And I was finally home for a weekend and able to clock some time with my girls! Oh, and try out my new rope, aka the best horsemanship tool ever invented for ground work ;) It's the 32' Round Pen Lariat from Kalley Krickeberg's Horse Education Company. It can be used as a line for groundwork, or take the snap off and use it as a lariat. What really drew me to it was the simple fact that goatheads (those pokey demon weeds) can't get stuck in it unlike marine rope, and it coils up nicely which will be awesome when I'm ponying Gwen on trails, because the coil can just sit over my saddle horn and keep itself nice and tidy without me having to worry about it. It will also work great as a tie line when I take the horses camping :) 

I tried it out the first day I got it, and obviously had to teach myself how to rope ;) My pup was victim numero uno, and I had a total blast trying it out. The horses weren't as amused with it as I was at first, but they began to not care after a few swings and did really well. I took them both out to a small hill in our back pasture to get some energy out, and this rope was fantastic.. the coil takes the place of my carrot stick as a driving tool, and in my opinion is much more natural to use than wielding a stick around. The coils were easy to keep together, but if they did come undone, I only had 32' instead of 45' of rope to deal with, which is why I chose this one over Parelli's 45' line. I just simply don't need that much line, and I'm pretty sure I'd end up in trouble with that much slack around me! 

 

Gweny was not amused..

I hopped on Cheyenne, and she did great. We started off with fifteen strides of walk/fifteen strides of trot to help get her up and down transitions smoother, and to get her focusing on me. I threw in a little figure eight pattern here and there, and she settled down pretty quickly. Down transitions were terrible at first, and I ended up using way more rein than I'd like, but by the time we were done we had it primarily off of my seat aids. I was going to grab Gweny and practice ponying her, however my neighbor's bull got into our pasture and so I decided it was safer to just put Chey to bed and call it a day. But hey, short and sweet sessions have always been great for her, so I'm not complaining :) It was a successful day, and it felt so good to get back on a horse. 

Chey and our new 32' line

Gwen was so great online.. Typically it's a huge ordeal to get her to canter, and she just short of offered it to me! Granted she's been getting alfalfa/grass mix and has been feeling cooped up lately, but it all played in my favor, and we had a blast. Under saddle I have to take things very slowly with her, and we are still working at getting a willing trot and smoother up transitions. However when I saw her canter, my jaw dropped. Most of the time when she canters she can really get going, but this time she gave me a beautiful, collected lope, and it looked like one of those rocking horse canters you typically only dream of. My dressage instructor growing up had a thoroughbred mare who had such a canter, and one stride covered what felt like a quarter of the arena. I felt like I was watching that mare instead of Gwen, and it makes me that much more excited to get back on her! We have been focusing more on ground work, but holy cow I can't wait to ride that canter! I'm pretty sure I'm going to go find a long trail and just canter her everywhere.. that mare is going to have some great muscle by the end of this summer ;)

Gweny feeling good and being a Little Miss Sassy Pants

I'm hoping next weekend is in the upper 70's so I can bathe them and get their tails looking nice again. I love Spring time so much! Horses are feeling good, I'm feeling refreshed, and we have an entire year of trails, clinics, and good times ahead. What more could a girl as for?! I hope everyone else is having a great Spring with their ponies!

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

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." 

On the Straight and Narrow

Marijke de Jong is a horsewoman from the Netherlands that teaches "straightness training", and I absolutely love watching her work with horses. She had a horse who favored his right side and found bending/tracking to the left for any maneuver to be quite challenging, which made him difficult to ride or work in hand. Marijke began reading training books from some of the old masters and found that a horse's natural imbalance had been recognized for hundreds of years. Through reading these old books she found a polite way of communicating straightness and balance to her "problem" horse, and developed a training method she now teaches today. 

Inspirational photo from Marijke's FB page

There is something to learn from everyone, to limit your masters is to limit your learning. I personally look for horseman and women who have a light hand and a psychological and emotional understanding of the horse, and soak up any and all information I can that in my opinion is a polite and effective method. It can be scary to branch out from a training method you've been following for over a decade, afraid to trust yourself and not a proven master of horsemanship. However I believe once you have a good foundation and understanding of quality techniques, finding mentors is much like reading food labels. You find a product (or trainer) and look at the ingredients. Are they all natural, or are there more preservatives and chemicals than food in there? Trust your judgement, and broaden your horizons. No one person has all the answers. Plus, for me at least, it can get a bit boring, no matter how amazing the information. My LBE side kicks in, and I need a change of pace. I'm still learning and advancing, and I'm adding more maneuvers to my mental card file, more arrows to my quiver ;)

Below is a video of Marijke demonstrating her straightness training in a Parelli halter. I love watching all her cues, and how soft she is with the horse, and the horse's willingness to perform, to play. I think this would be really fun to try out, and would do wonders for my girls, especially Cheyenne, who naturally carries herself in a "bad banana" posture.


Marijke de Jong - Straightness Training 

Higher Expectations

"When working with horses, expect a lot and accept a little. If the horse knows you have a high expectation, they're going to pay attention to you. If they know you're going to expect them to try hard, they're going to be focused on you, and you're going to feel that connection more. If you have low expectations and do a lot of rubbing and petting, that's all fine and good, but you loose a little something when you don't have a higher expectation. Focus on a goal. Even during struggle and strife, when you get through it, you will actually feel more connected, you understand each other to a deeper level, and that special thing occurs." ~ Kalley Krickeberg

I often see videos or pictures of incredible horseman, and to be honest, it sometimes looks a little rough. Especially when they're working with a high spirited or fearful horse. They obviously know what they're doing, but I often wonder why that take that approach. There are many ways to skin a cat so to speak, but not all the ways are right. But these are incredible natural horseman, and when you watch the segment to the end, when it is all said and done, there is an incredible bond between horseman and horse. And I think the above quote explains just that. Horse training isn't all touchy-feely, kittens and rainbows, warm and fuzzy experiences. There is going to be learning taking place, and sometimes that means controversy. It makes me think about when I was growing up, and when I disagreed with my parents, specifically my father. He sometimes told me things I didn't like, or that I maybe didn't want to hear, and it would lead to an argument. I would get upset, but once I cooled off and my emotions subsided and my brain decided to kick in again, the majority of the time I realized he was right. Yes there was a moment of us butting heads, but when it was all said and done I was back to being a daddy's girl and in the end I had a lot more respect for him. Conflict isn't always a negative thing, as long as it is navigated correctly. 

Ray Hunt working a young horse

I also love the main message of that quote, which is to expect more of your horse. It creates a higher connection between the two of you, and you achieve things you didn't think you could accomplish before. It's just like handing your horse to your Parelli instructor and watching them do things with your horse you've never done before. When Cheyenne was about 4 years old I took her to a L2 clinic with PP Marc Rea. We had done some sideways but not a lot, and at that point it was often slow and stumbly. Marc asked to use her for his sideways demonstration, and right off the bat he had her trotting sideways at the end of a 22' line. I had to pick my jaw up out of the arena sand after seeing that. It really showed me the power of intention and what simply expecting more out of a horse can do. It was so simple, but to me it was a huge "mind blown" experience that I'll never forget.

Horses conflicting with each other - It is all part of communication

So, the lesson for today kids, is to expect more out of your horse, and to push yourself and your horse out of your comfort zone more often. It's something I personally really needed to read, and something that every great horseman seems to preach. I tend to get really bored when working in the pasture, but it's my fault for staying within my comfort zone and not upping the ante.  Often your horse will amaze you at what they're capable of if you just present them with the challenge and allow them to shine.