Just outside my comfort zone and short conversations

I've been gone for awhile again haven't I :( Well, I hit another one of those unconfident phases.

Guess what this time I made a big change!

Instead of deciding that I just wasn't confident enough to go down and play, I went and tried. It was hard to come to a point where I felt like I could just try, I still managed to do it though. This is different from pushing myself down there because I made sure that there was a back up plan if I proved to be to far out of the "learning zone". I came to the conclusion that I needed to just go down and try, then I could come back up. Which leads me to the "short conversations" part.

That is exactly what I've been doing, having SHORT conversations with my LBI(not quite ready to try this with another nervous being LOL). Now that I think about it, this idea has been right in front of my nose all this time(of course LOL). I would push myself for up to four hours trying to get it all perfect. I would have success and keep going, I even thought that I was stopping at the right time. Thought is right, something always felt strange after those sessions, even if I did manage to end at a slightly successful point. The session just always seemed to get really exhausting after about the first thirty minutes. Today looking at this week's e-news I saw the Q & A, the suggestion was about getting that understanding about the task/exercise your trying then stopping. By stopping then instead of four hours later, it gets you both stimulated in a good way so that your horse and yourself can't wait until next time. I see that by exhausting us I was causing my horse to get disconnected sooner every time, since neither one of us was really looking forward to another 2-4 hours of frustration and boredom. Now I'm starting to think a lot about how much I can possibly learn in just thirty minutes. My mind has become a lot more open to all the little details and somehow I was able to learn and have fun at the same time with hardly any effort(effort meaning I didn't have to get all frustrated!). The best part is that Gingo has become a lot more interested in playing with me now that it isn't like going to work! We talk a little bit, we come to an understanding about the exercise we are doing, and then we either just hang out or call it a day. I know that as we keep going we will be able to go for longer and longer with the same quality and intrigue, for now though a short conversation is all we need to have fun and learn a ton(hehehe I rhymed).