Friday the 13th - Cheyenne

Trail ride! She did AWESOME! Took us 1/3 of the time less to get to the trail head than it did last time, and that was a couple months ago! She was really heavy on the reins until we got more into the "valley" where the ponds were and where the ground was somewhat flatter. It also turned into trails that were deep sand, and I used that to my full advantage ;) I kept her in the thick stuff and trotted a bit, and soon she just calmed down and I was able to put my reins down and enjoy the ride :) We even had a nice RELAXED canter for the very first time out on an old farmer's road, reins down and feeling good =] Once she relaxed she turned into a total rockstar. For being an RBE, that mare has a lot of guts. She didn't like the mud, but she went through it anyways. The ducks flying around in the ponds really bothered her, and she would turn into a statue and stand and stare. This only lasted for a few seconds each time though, and she was game to keep going. On our way home we went by a few horse pastures, and she started freezing and whinnying, but once I got her back on the trail by ourselves she was better. At the end of the trail, right as we got back onto the residential road, there was a horse eating llama that she was convinced she could not walk past. Mind you it was 100 yards away in its pasture, but it was definitely a horse eater. I got off and walked her past him and by the first house, then road her the whole .2 miles back to our house. The second she stepped into my driveway you could feel her whole body relax and her whole demeanor change. Overall she did AMAZING! By far exceeded my expectations for the day, and for our nice relaxed moments it was the best feeling in the world :) It's been WAY too long since I had a nice relaxing trail ride like that, especially on my own. She just needs more miles on her and more experience. It's still really frustrating when she tries to invade my space when I'm on the ground walking her by houses and she starts feeling insecure, and when she gets so heavy on the reins at times, but I know that's just patience and persistence on my end reinforcing proper behavior. It's just going to take time. But for now, I'm tickled pink I got to go on a 2 hour surprise trail ride today, just me and my pony :)

Pictures on per Parelli Connect page :)  http://www.parelliconnect.com/horses/4901

Friday the 13th - Gwen

Took Gwen outside the pasture for the first time today to test her thresholds. She did GREAT! Cheyenne would freak out and start screaming for her and running up and down the fence line, and at first that made Gwen really insecure. However we got an amazing system down that when I walk, she walks, and when we stop together she can graze :) She picked up sooo quickly! Soon we were doing the squeeze game over brush, yo-yoing through thick grass, all while being calm and level headed :) By the end of the day I was so excited, and so pleased with her performance :) How relaxed and easy going Gwen is really makes me raise my expectations for Cheyenne. Gwen has really had a fraction of the experiences Chey has, and yes Gwen can rear or explode when she gets insecure, but today we had one rear when Chey was screaming, and Gwen quickly recovered from it and stayed level headed the rest of the outing. It was so impressive, and it makes me wonder if I've become "okay" with Chey's RBE Hysteria and just started expecting it and managing it instead of asking more of her, asking her to be more centered and use her brain more. When Chey freaks out, she literally stops thinking and purely reacts.

But again, I was extremely impressed with Gwen. She has so much potential! I have to approach her completely differently than I do Chey, and she can be extremely stubborn, but I think once I figure out how to successfully motivate her and have us work as a team, she is going to be invaluable :) Not that she isn't already ;p

Video Inspiration

He may not be Pat Parelli, but you gotta have respect for anyone who can stand on two jumping horses while controlling 8+ more...

Fun with contact

 Did Follow the Rail with Chey today, and played with "strong elbows, soft hands". I've never done much work with collection with Chey, but she did really well. She has a tendency to want to look out when she has connection, so we worked on that, and when I felt we had a good circle, we stopped to process. My old dressage instructor, Diane Royse, used to tell me "when they are rounded properly, the weight should be on your outside rein and you should be able to pet your horse with your inside hand". I put all that to use today, and she did really well for day 1. I don't want to mess with contact too much until I can afford the GOC DVDs because I don't want to start bad behaviors I'm not aware of, but I'm happy to see she understands it so far.

It was interesting to see when tracking to the right she picked up contact better at the trot (typical for most horses), but tracking left (her hard side no matter what the task) she picked up contact easier at the walk, and understood it better.

On a side note, you know it's time to expand your tack room when you add an extra bridle to the hook and it falls right out of the wall! =p

Megan Michelle Photography

Select photos of mine are now for sale :) Check them out! More to come as the year progresses


http://meganmichellephotography.smugmug.com/ 

Level 2 Online Pre-Audition :)

Here's a video I took a few days ago to see what we look like from an outsider's perspective. I think we are ready to go!! I noticed from the video however that when we do sideways I can probably do it from the end of the barrel instead of having to be right up next to her to give her some space, any feedback and/or comments are always appreciated! :)

Bridless video

http://youtu.be/yqCPhZU10b0