We got mixed up LOL.

Today the farrier came to trim the horses so of course I had to get Gingy and Marsy out.

I didn't really get a chance to do anything with Marsan because I was so busy with Gingy LOL.

He was quite wild this morning and it made me laugh to see his antics. He would have this grumpy look on his face then all the sudden his ears would bounce back up and he'd be smiling. He was pretty hungry because we didn't feed them til after the farrier came, so it was really hard to focus him on anything. The whole time it was like he was saying treat, Treat, TREAT! I don't think there was anything else on his mind.

I was kind of confused and I didn't have a plan, so we probably had 20% consistency and 80% variety going! He got rather grumpy about that b/c he really likes it when he knows what I'm asking and he wasn't quite sure this time. I ended giving him sever p3 and 4s that he probably didn't deserve. I was struggling to get effective with him and in the end I think I just kind of let go and messed around. Actually if we hadn't mixed up and without a plan, it would of been perfect! He did some circles and squeezes up and down a little ledge, also nice sideways towards and away, driving in zone three was pretty good, lead by the tail wasn't too bad either. He did okay with the farrier, but several times he got us all to think that he needed some squeezes or that maybe we should stop for minute(he was probably thinking "Made ya move, hehehehe").....hmmmmmmmm how interesting....

I certainly learned a lot and it was really pretty funny watching Gingy and all of his LBI expressions today. Ha did I just say that Gingy was funny, no it couldn't of been me! Actually I really didn't notice all of the "mistakes" I just saw how silly he was and how confused we were. I think I chose not to worry about challenges to much and just have some fun.

A winter walk!

I took Gingy on a winter walk! It was sooooooo beautiful outside I just could not resist(wish I had pics). The trees were ladened with snow and there were a few icicles glistening brillantly among them. It was early morning and very crisp! We intended to go sledding that afternoon so I took him to spy out some hills.

The snow was pretty deep, but that didn't discourage Gingy, he was pawing and snuffling around every chance he got looking for some grass LOL. He sure had a lot of energy and after awhile it seemed like he was leading me instead of the other way around LOL. Needless to say, we did lots of squeezes and some falling leaf too.

I happened to stop him at a tree so he offer to touch it and after that I had him touch some more trees. It was sooooo nice of him to offer because then he was very willing to do some more since it was his idea.

At one point I had to tie to a tree so I could cross the fence between our two pastures to look at a hill. While I standing there looking I heard his squeaky voice, so I hurried back. As soon as he saw me he let out this big winnie! It was soooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!! He was just standing there looking at me, then SQUEAK! LOLOLOLOL I think that was the best part of our walk.

When we left the pasture I had him do a few circles on the road since he had so much energy and he did them with just a few corrections! To think we've come from a half circle to a whole one, and from there to three whole ones!

A little hang out time to sooth my demotivation

Yes, I'll admit it now, I am not frustrated, I am not distressed(greatly), I am demotivated. I don't really know what to make of it, I just don't really feel that excited about playing ponies right now.

I still love seeing their faces every morning though and I like to just come down and be with them. Perhaps this is just another phase of my learning, I guess I'll take it that way until I find otherwise. To be honest I am not very happy with anything right now, everything that I held dear and important has changed or is it me!

Today I came down and I just didn't feel like playing so I haltered them both up and took a chair out to the pasture. They grazed for about fifteen minutes I put them back in the pen. It was nice to do just that little bit, but all the time I felt a pressure of trying to know what to do(should I graze them then play, just graze them, etc.).

I'm not very distraught over this confusion, however I do want to get it resolved as soon as possible.

Allow me to muse for a moment.....

As I've been writing this I've began to consider a some reasons for this sudden disinterest in the ponies. Possibly I feel so much pressure to do it just perfect that that pressure is wearing me thin, I wouldn't be suprised to find this theory well backed. The pressure to be socially correct this horses(interpret everything right, be clear, be a leader!), has always gotten in the way of our fun and play. It's possible that I have come to a place were other things sound more fun, I've lately felt the need to broaden my horizions and look into other hobbies. These are, I think factors in this demotivation.

My main goal now is to simply....do the things I want to do and not worry about whether I'm getting it all right.

Playtime finally!!!!!!!!

Whew! It's been awhile since I last posted, I've just been so busy(not really in a rut anymore! yay!). Finally today I had enough time to go see the ponies.

At first I just kinda hung out with them and then I decided to do something with Gingy. He was so light the whole time I played with him! I'd only been playing with him for fifteen minutes when he gave a nice soft response going sideways. I wanted to keep going, so I decided to stop right away! I didn't really want to stop being with Gingy so I took him out to graze after that nice sideways. The treats certainly have kept him motivated, he kept asking for once, but I didn't have any with me this time :( Oh well it's good to change it up a bit now and then. I was just so happy with how connected he was! While he was grazing he was still fairly light, I had to remind him to yield his hqs, but that was all. Wow, I was just soooooo amazed at how well he did today!

Marsy was very LB today, although at first she was more RB. Her mane has needed some attention for a long time, I liked it wild, but it was getting really really bad. She was a little nervous about the comb and hair spray, but I've been playing friendly game with those objects every time I play with her so today she didn't mind at all. In fact she wanted to eat grass and when I told her not to, then she had an attitude LOL. Eventually she let me get the main tangles out(we still have a long way to go in that area LOL), so we moved on to other things. I'd been hoping to see what she would think about going down the road since last time we did make a little progress with that. She didn't mind at all which was very interesting since last time we stopped when she actually looked at the road instead of hiding her face! I thought maybe it was just that we were moseying, but everything I asked for she did in a LB way. When I asked her to circle going to the right she didn't really want to. After being persistant and patient with her for awhile she finally did one good lap and she also blew, we called it quits there. I find it very strange that there have been two times including this time that she has gone almost all the way down the road without being bother at all and two times that she wouldn't even look at the road.....
I really enjoyed watching her change from slightly RB to totally LB. I felt like a strong knowledgable leader today, maybe that's why the changes were so fun and easy to see.

We played in the pasture :)

I really didn't want to, but at the same time I knew Gingy would love it....so we did!

It was tons of fun, I did get a bit exasperated at one point, but that's okay. I had the cones and stuff set up for point to point, so that's just what we did. It kept Gingy engaged and I felt good about the connection that we had. He reminds me of myself sitting at the computer surfing the web, then my mom says something and I don't really hear her, then all the sudden I realise I should of listened! That's exactly what he did, silly pony! He would graze and I would come attention and start asking him something and then all the sudden he'd see that p4 looming up and jerk into action! "Sorry mom, I skip right to it"

He caught on really quickly to point to point just walking there; this isn't the first time I've done this with him. I decided to up the challenge and do falling leaf, it took a couple of stops for him to start maintaining gait, then he put some serious effort into it :D I was sooooooo happy with this!

He is still laying his ears back a lot on the send and a little on the allow, however as soon as I call him to attention out there he is literally all ears LOL. I expect that in good time I'll understand what he is trying to tell me, but I want to keep in mind that "slow and right beats fast and wrong" thus I don't want to go rushing into trying to discover why he is doing this. This seems to keep me in balance even though my wayward feelings tell me I am not being progressive enough LOL. I know now that relaxation is what I need and want and you don't get that by driving yourself crazy trying to progress!

Pattern update! Remember how I was working on sideways with Gingy? Well, I did that today first thing and he gave me this awesome perfectly balance sideways with a lick at the end! Wow, patter and consistency are amazing teachers!

One of those phases...

K, I'm gonna come right out and say it, I've been frustrated.



I had that big burst of understanding and everything and then....well I don't really know what happened, but I got in a rut.



I'm rather confused I guess, I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of tasks with goal that is so broad I can't begin to decide what I want to do when.

However, due to many previous experiences with "ruts" I know you just have to keep playing along. So of course that's what I've been doing all this time, I just found it hard to post about it all when all going perfectly!

I took the ponies to a friend's house last weekend and while we had fun, I think I did at one point offend Gingy. He really is more sensitive then he lets on too and when I rather callously haltered him, he withdrew mentally. I let him be and went off to play with Marsan, Marsan actually was the calmer of the two at that point. I took her on a walk with my friend's horse and they both were super calm. No, she was not introverted as far as I could tell.

Just the other day I was playing and as far as I can remember, it went okay. Still I felt like I was in a rut and it just wasn't very enjoyable.

Yesterday I played with them both and I rejoiced in all of the things they did for me. That is part of what I lost sight, I started ignoring our progress! I got to ride Marsan for twenty minutes yesterday and it was wonderful. Yes! We made it through all of the pre-ride checks! We've done this before, but that was under the experienced eye of a parelli instructor. This time we did it on our own!!! With Gingy I kind of just pittled around LOL. I know I should of had a more clear plan, he still did really good! I was trying to help him get his hq yields equal to his fq ones when going sideways and this time I did use the fence. He got it really quickly. So then I asked him to trot on the circle for a whole lap, he did pretty good, however there was a catch. He had to trot up a hill and he just couldn't quite bring himself to do it LOL. Eventually he made a good try and I let him stop there. We did some other things, among them sideways towards, which was quite good :) Oh yes, I used treats this time, so he could stay motivated and I could stay learning. He did keep pinning his ears when he was out on the cirlce and I'm wondering why, however I'm sure that if I just keep with the program that will be resolved.

Through this rut I have learned something important about myself. I tend to be high on progressing with everything and not high on being positive, so to bring things back in to balance I think I need to not worry so much about progress. I want to still have a plan, however I don't want to start worrying about ten steps ahead of where we are. I guess this self challenge could also be characterized as not staying in the moment and enjoying it for all it's worth. I came to this conclusion partly because when I do relax and focus on the here and now, then thing work out much better.

Gingy and I are havin' fun and gettin' savvy!

Just like the title says we are getting there and I can feel it. I feel like I'm leading at a new level! And Gingy is really starting to follow my feel!

When I played with him today we did the circling pattern and then some :) He seems to understand the pattern pretty well and his circles are a lot better! I think I'll do it one more time(cause that makes seven!) and then we'll start improving, I hope we can start some cantering now.

After doing the pattern I went on to sideways. I wanted to try and get him to be more equal between hq and fq yields since his hqs almost alway lag waaaayyyy behind LOL. I think I tried to get quality and distance in the same sitting and that created a little communication problem. While trying to get quality and speed(LOL) I also tried to get him to understand that we were going somewhere sideways and when we got to that certain object he could stop. I got the object stopping thing and then proceeded to be a little shall I say "in the dark" about why I was pushing him out so far and yelling at his hq all the time LOL. So yeah we got a little confused!!! That's okay though I had a lot of fun learning from him today :) He is a pretty hard teacher a lot of the time, but when he stops glaring and smile at you then you know you really made progress. I sure love ol' Gingy!

I did a little with Marsan too, just coudn't resist. As usual she was a little withdrawn and I'm starting to think that she might be doing that because I've let her do it. I might need to provide some ways to keep her thinking so she doesn't need to go there. I got her going on the figure eight, of course she wasn't thinking it through enough to draw towards me well. It only took to sets of transitions before she slowed herself down and thought her way through the draw. So I just drew her all the way in, although I didn't get the big release I was expecting, hmmmmmmm. After that I massaged her legs and she licked a little after getting kind of tense, however she seemed to retain a lot of her tension(hmmmmmmmm...). Her mane needs some work but her confidence needs a lot more work first. She wasn't quite sure about the detangler and the brush, so I did some approach and retreat with that. I don't think I waited enough for her to relax because it was after I ended the session that she finally licked and blew. I've sure had some trials with Marsan and she wasn't the easy levels horse I meant to get, but she is what I really need. I love Marsan for how different and tentitive she is, she is my little girl.

Wow, what a learning experience!

I got to play today and it was super! I actually had enough time to play with both of them which always makes it more interesting since I see both sides of the introvert!

Playing with Gingy was sooooooooooo fun, especially since Mom came down and watched us. I love it when we have an audience, somehow it's easier to relax that way. Gingy did super from the start. He haltered nicely and he wasn't grumpy today. From there we did a little z3 driving, point to point sideways, and the squeeze game. I also asked him to do his feeding time pattern(squeeze into the stall, then back and wait). He did it like a dream even though he hasn't done it for two months! After that I took him into the round pen and we did the circling pattern. We got all confused at first and he started taking advantage of coming in all the time, so I had to set that straight. I might of confused myself if I had of thought about it for too long, but I felt like he just needed a change. The fifth time he came in at the same place, I just said thank you and sent him on his way. He wasn't grumpy about it and after that he maintained gait all the way through. When I brought him in I was a doubtful about whether that was the right time to release, but then he started licking and blowing so I guess that was a good time :) I think he really liked it that I rewarded him at the slightest try. After that he felt soooooo good and I would of liked to keep going, but I decided I should stop on a good point and I didn't want to keep Mrs. Marsy waiting LOL.

I learned a lot from Marsan, she always causes me to have to rely on my intuition because she is so hard to figure out!

She was pretty slow and introverted at first, at least thats the way it seemed. I kept leading her though half wondering if I was pushing her. She wasn't coming back into the world, so we took a break. While we were just sitting there Marsan wandered off to eat some leaves lying around(silly pony). I wanted her to engage in what we were doing instead of just plodding through it. I decided to play "me and my shadow" for awhile and we took turns leading each other. At first she was all introverted so I lead for a little while, then she got it. After she came back to the reality I took her out to see about saddling up(that was my plan in the beginning). We had a little trouble with picking her feet and that is something we'll have to work on in the future. I used the bareback pad this time since last time she acted like the saddle was hurting her. I think the reason the saddle hurt her last time was because I didn't have a therflex pad under it. This time with the bareback pad she made quick work of four laps with change of direction trot and walk mixed in. We stopped there and she licked up a storm LOL.

Wow! That was quite a session!

Some thoughts....

I haven't gotten to do much playing, however I've been busy thinking. I think I could do more playing than I have been, it just feels like the time for thinking. Since it's a clear feeling and a good one I've been determined to see where it leads me.



As I've previously posted I do want to start "feeling" for things instead of sitting down and trying to make them into a logical equation. I guess the reason for all of this is that true horseman have feel. Not only that I'm so intense and detail oriented, that trying to set up one of those logical equations often leads me to think to hard about it. Thinking hard is good, but it was getting to the point that I wouldn't take any risks(never really a good thing). Besides not taking any risks(which keeps you from learning things), I would get all sidetracked because of all the little details involved in the issue and therefore completely lose sight of the issue as a whole! I just need to start letting myself go and trying to think everything through down to the last little varient was a way of holding on.



Since I've been letting go, I've seen some great changes. My horses obviously feel more at home with this new kind of feel, before I felt like there was a lot of tension and that is ebbing away now. Allowing myself to just feel for a solution, take the chance it not the right one, then go for it, is opening up a whole new world. I was having trouble finding an effective p4 with Gingy. I tried everything and I had that good ol' mind going. In the last week of trying to let go, I've found that Gingy needed me to project a p4 feeling. Then it didn't matter so much what I did(he still doesn't respond well to being wacked!) as long as I had the p4 feeling inside of me and I projected it to him with body language. Now I know why Linda can do so little and have a LBI jumping out of his skin, it's because of her intensity.

As I said before I'm loving the concept of patterns. It's very fun to think of more and more patterns as a way to help my horses be more engaged in what we're doing. I like how over seven sessions you start having an understanding, instead of trying to rush it in one. I'm finally seeing how at first you just want them to try and the you gradually refine! This is all coming clear through letting go and using patterns!

I'm starting to feel like playing again, so I'll keep ya posted.

We just hung out today....

I wanted to ride Marsan origanally....but it didn't turn out that way. I'm just kinda umotivated and tired at the moment(typical LBI right LOL). I thought I'd just mess around in the house, but I just had to go down and see them(gotta love those furry faces). Once I got down there I found that they were both in a pretty good mood, that's always a plus. I thought about going with my origanal plan and then I decided to just enjoy the sun and hang out(ahhhhh).

The were both feeling pretty LB and they took turns trying to shove me off the barrel that I was sitting on. So I just swung my arms and that got the message across. After a while I was feeling so sleepy that I a couple of our saddle blankets out and laid there in the sun(on the other side of the fence LOL). It was soooooooo relaxing and they were both very curious! Gingy tried to stick his whole head through the panels and that made me laugh. Marsan had that "I'm really puzzled by this" look on her face.

Tonight when I fed them they were both really good. Gingy kinda got the short end of the stick because while he was being a good boy and backing away from his bucket, Marsan came in and snatched a piece of his hay. Of course he sent her away. She always gets kind of concerned at feeding time, pawing, letting her whites show, and lunging fiercely at the hay when I throw it in. So I've been sending out and away from her food, I try to be gentle and assertive on that point as best I can. Tonight was the first night she backed straight up instead of wheeling away and charging back. She must be starting to get the pattern! Yay!

I can't believe how much patterns in general are helping me be a better leader. For instance I've been doing a little lateral flexion on the ground with Gingy about every time I play with him. Mainly because he used to not give to the pressure very well. Now sometimes I still do that and when I do he gets more engaged like "I know what we're doing". Now I run my hand down close one finger at a time and by that point he's already soft. We've progressed this to lateral then and indirect rein and back to lateral flexion. It seems like by having different patterns that my horses know, when I pull one out they are more trusting, confident, willing, and obedient. I just love what patterns are doing for my partners even if I still don't totally understand it. I'm starting to get the feel of how to set them up for success when I want to teach something new by using patterns.

It's just all so awesome!!!!!!

Another demo!!!!

Yep, another demo this time I had a little crowd! I got to do it for my homeschool group and they thought it was pretty cool.

I told them how there are seven games that help classify what your doing in the task at hand and show you how to work out the problems. By explaining it I actually got it a lot more clear in my mind!

Gingy was such a good pony he gave me some nice online today and the interesting thing is that he was a lot less grumpy.

I meant to make this session four of our pattern and I did try to touch on it, but trying to explain everything while doing stuff with him was stretching it a little LOL. I do some circling game and he offered to do the pattern for me. Mainly for the sake of the audience I just asked him to maintain gait, direction, and look where he was going until I changed something. The first few times I had to assert that me coming out of neutrual meant he better get going. My, what a difference it makes when you slap the ground where they were instead of trying to slap them! Now he understands that it's his responsibility and he's not grumpy when I come out of neutrual.

He kept asking me if he could come in when he was out there showing off his interesting circling game. I told them about how much better it was for a horse to forsake his responsibilities and come in to you then for them to start pulling on the line or just stop without expression. When I brought him because he kept asking I really felt the partnership. That was because first I asked him to be a good partner for awhile out on the circle and then he asked like a partner if he could come be with me! I see how partnership runs both ways, sometimes you have to give up your goal for the sake of your horse's feelings and needs.

Wow, what a revealing demo!

Hooray for my pony! The savviest teacher in the world!!!!!

Session three :)

Wow, it was sure cold this morning and Gingy really felt that!

I came down itched him for awhile then haltered and did some warming up. I'm still working on my sideways, so I tried some separating, isolating, and recombining. His sideways is sure getting a lot better I took him in the RP to do some sideways with the poles and it was awesome. He went sideways across the pole fairly straight and then I even got him to understand that he needed to come sideways back across the pole. All of that when I was ten' away! I thought it was pretty nice!

He's been getting kind of grumpy the last two days I've played with him and I'm still not totally sure what he is trying to tell me....
He might be getting fed up with my ineffective phases, I know it's driving me nuts at least LOL.

We did do that pattern again, but first I had to do an extra warm up on the circle. He had lots of energy because it was so cold this morning, so he went off immediately bucking and galloping for his life! Then he came in and I took that opportunity to take the 22' line off so he didn't trip himself! He had a good run and eventually he settled down into a trot, then came in again. After that I felt like he was ready to focus again.

After his run he was actually pretty slow. Once again he figured out what we were doing and once again I had to reassert him not changing gait. I think the way I was asserting him staying in the trot was good. I still felt like I micromanaged and got to big when it was time for him to stop. So that's probably what he's griping about LOL. Once I figured that out though, I started trying to give him a subtle phase one and then get big only if he failed on that. Wouldn't you know he pretty much stopped failing to stop LOL. The only times he had trouble were when my communication was messed up, so that's a little something to think about. I took to long to reward him again though and that really irritates me that I didn't just floor the brakes and bring him in! He keeps looking for a reward and much as I hate to rely partly on treats, that might be another way of making it enjoyable for him while I learn how to do this.

Sticking with this pattern has definitely been revealing to me and I've even found some relaxation in doing it. When I say relaxation I mean that even though I'm seeing him start to get grumpy I'm able to just take that as feedback and keep going. This pattern couldn't stress consistency to me anymore than it is right now. I was trying everything I could think of to get Gingy maintaining gait but I never stuck with it long enough to get "some" results.

This has been so cool realizing that I can just learn and ask Gingy to forgive all of my silly mistakes. He always does and then he tells me the truth and nothing but the truth LOL. Now I understand that he's not telling me the truth because he doesn't like me anymore he's telling me so we can go forward. That understanding between us is helping tremendously!