The Blaze Gang's Parelli Journey: Think with me!

We're the Blaze Gang

Welcome to our blog! I'm studying Parelli Natural Horsemanship with my two ponies, Gingo and Marsan. Both of them have flashy white blazes, hence the name. However, our name is more than just a play on the ponys' markings, it reflects what we are trying to do. We're blazing a new trail, one we've never traveled before; we are becoming true partners. Hopefully some day we'll be a trio all playing to together at the same time. This blog is dedicated to documenting all that we learn and all of our adventures too.

Sep 30, 2009

Think with me!

Did the figure eight the other day with Marsy and it really stumped me...but only for a little while :)

For quite some time Marsan has been having trouble giving me two eyes on one of the draws. I just could not figure it out, because no matter what I did she would always brace her head away. Yesterday it was finally clear after a ton of experimentation!

She wasn't thinking like a partner I don't think she was thinking at all. It seems like there were just a lot of braces in her mind and since I never changed anything she had no reason to come out of her withdrawal. So I did some transitions whenever she proved that she wasn't thinking and she started licking and chewing up a storm. Amazingly then she was able to give me a couple of nice draws where she was thinking with me. When I did eventually bring her in she was blowing and licking hard. It was just awesome to find the solution and understand her a little better. Now I know that I might be doing to much waiting and I need to keep her more involved so she can't go there.

Part of how I figured out that she wasn't thinking was realizing that neither of her draws on the figure eight were good. On the other side even though she did it if I were to change something like ask her to draw longer or stop her, she either would be jerky about switching gears or she just wouldn't do it.

I might need to tweak a few things because I think I might of made a little to much noise. I think this because sometimes she would just come to a complete stop without checking in. Although, as time went on she did this less and less, so it could be she did that as she came back to me, so to speak.

No matter what I learned a ton from that session and it was totally AWESOME!!!!

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Grace(me!)

Hi,

I'm 15, I live in Divide Colorado on our ranch, with Mom, Dad, Caleb, and Gabe. We have four horses, five cats, and one dog.

I have been playing with natural horsemanship for as long as I've been into horses(since I was four), but I only just discovered parelli 2 years ago. It has already proven to be an interesting, fun, sometimes painful journey, but I feel very proud to have come this far without quitting.

Besides horses I have a lot of other interests, such as soccer, gardening, human physical fitness, and especially human and horse psychology.

When I grow up I want to help people find healing through horses and also help horses find healing through humans. I think this is called Equine Assisted, Psychotherapy, but I know there are a lot of different programs out there, so we'll see.

I love Jesus Christ and that has also been a good journey in my life, one that will definitely never end. Everyday I learn to trust him just a little bit more, but that has been a really big challeng in my life. I love to learn more about him through my partners and to me that's one of the most important things about my parelli journey.

Savvy out,

~Grace~

abbreviations for this blog.(star* will indicat something on this list).

All abreviations will be marked with a star*

p = phase(I.E: p1 phase one).

-The different and increasing levels of intensity you use to ask a horse to do something.

pnh = parelli natural horsemanship.

-The natural horsemanship program is founded by Pat Parelli.

Z = zone(I.E: z3= zone three)

-The different areas on a horses body.

(LBE = left brain extrovert.

LBI = left brain introvert.

RBI = right brain introvert.

RBE = right brain extrovert.)

-View the parelli horsenality chart, by clicking the link in favorite links.

cs = carrot stick.

-A slightly flexible orange stick used as an extension of the arm.

sc = savvy club.

-A club created by Pat parelli for like minded horse people.

22' = twenty two foot lead rope.

12' = twelve foot lead rope.

Ss = success series.

-A series of DVDs created by Pat and Linda Parelli.

ss = savvy string.

-A six foot string that can be attached to the carrots stick, used to further communication with your horse.

RP= round pen.

-A circular pen usually 40-60 feet in diameter.

lvl(s)=level(s).

FE= figure eight.

W=weave.

-A pattern in which the horse weaves through various obstacles.

C=circle

CoD=change of direction.

HQ=hindquarters.

-The back end of the horse containing it's two back legs(it's in zone 4).

FQ=forequarters.

-the front end of a horse starting at the shoulder and ending at the nose.

essential equus

Essential equus for the horse is all about assessing movement ability, then massaging and stretching to work through the problems you find. For the human it is about the same thing; it's like pilates, so you use exercise balls and other stuff to stretch yourself.

They have a four part program, which will teach you how to assess your horse's movement, massage and stretch your horse in order work through issues, assess yourself as a rider, then work on your issues through stretching.

They are hoping to develop their own homestudy program so everyone can learn how to do this, so look at their website(listed in my favorite links) to learn more.

Nistar Classic Gingo.

Gingy is a sorrel welsh B pony, seven years old, LBI/LBE. We've been playing together for about 2 years. I sure can't believe how far we've come or how much I learned with this smart little fellow LOL.

Initially, I wanted to hurry up and get him rideable, but it didn't end up that way. Instead we've learned to have a lot of fun on the ground. We've done a lot of online and now we are slowly starting to intigrate liberty, which is really cool!

Gingo has taught me so much. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from him has been that horses are teachers at their best. When I don't quite get something, all I have to do is watch him to find out what it is I'm missing. Of course reading him has been tough because he is such a complex little bugger, but that's the fun of it all.

The thing I love most about Gingo is that he is so subtle yet expressive. If you treat him right he can show a whole new world to you and that is exactly what is happening for me through him.

Damarsan

Damarsan is a solid POA, 13.2 hh, she is 21 years young, and RBI/LBE. Damarsan and I haven't been together for very long, but I can tell that she is very special in her own way.

Marsy is difficult to get to know, in fact I'm pretty sure I don't know her very well yet! As much as I struggle to learn more about what she thinks and does it has been slow. If anything she is definitely teaching me to slow wayyyyyyy down.

I find Marsan to very intriguing because she is so different from Gingy. Marsy is not very outwardly expressive, yet she responds to the slightest change in feel or attitude. This is why she is so hard to work with sometimes.

Because we still don't have a really good understanding of each other's personalities, I cannot say that we exactly have great relationship, but we are getting there.

Sugar Time

Sug is a good ol grade pony, 12.2 hh, 2o something years young, LBI.

Sug was my first ever partner and she was just what I needed at the time. Since she is such a LBI she was and is always very reliable. I had to stop with her because she is getting to old and simply cannot go all the way through the lvls physically. Right now we are experimenting with massage and stretching(essentiall equss) to help her with her because she does have a lot of trouble moving the way she used to.

What I learned through Sug is mostly in the past, now I like to give her treat and pet her sometimes. When we were both younger I did everything possible with Sug. We tried jumping, racing, bare back and bridle-less even LOL. The one thing we did a lot of was just hanging out. I would bath her or just groom her and let her eat hay. It gave me time to think and she got all prettyed up in the process.

Sug will always have a special place in my heart because of what she did for me when I was young. We had a very special bond together back then and I think we still do now.

Cherroke

Cherroke is my Mom's horse and we've had him almost ten years! When I started parelli, he started a new journey too. He started to get really curious about what I was doing with Gingy and Marsan. He used to be very nervous around me and pretty much everyone else, he has always been passive and unwilling to be expressive. Now he actually follows me around and watches intently when I play with the other horses. He is still really passive, yet he is starting to be a little more expressive. He is teaching me a lot about how horses ajust to their enviroment. I haven't actually played with him, still just by watching me play with my horses he is learning new things. I also like watching him interact with the herd. He is the alpha, that's why I get really intrigued by him. Watching him deal with Gingy, has taught me a lot about how I need to deal with Gingy LOL.

I hope someday my Mom and I will have the time to really give him the attention he deserves. At present though he is learning from just watching.