It's a game!

     I was really snowy today, but I went out anyway.  The other day I put in some undemanding time with the horses, but today it was just too cold and wet to sit around for thirty minutes LOL.  Gingy was pretty excited about playing which was nice.  This time I made a conscious effort not to release on a brace and to be more assertive overall.

      We ended up doing liberty because my rope got so soggy trying to play online.  I took Gingo's halter and lead off of him at the tack barn because I didn't want to get it any worse than it already was.  I was a little worried that he wouldn't follow me past the hay barn and back into the pen(this has been hard with a line on in the past).  He did and I never had to give him a p4* 

      Once in the round pen I backed him and sent him, just to see what he would do.  He walked for awhile and then proceeded to find some wood to chew on(naughty pony!).  Once I was sure he was stopped I slowly turned around pointed, as if to send him, then I focused on slowly approaching.  It didn't take much and he was off again, but he stopped two steps later LOL.  This went on for awhile, so I changed it by pointing the other direction when he stopped.  Eventually he got the idea and took off in that direction.  After that his new strategy was to come in every time I sent him back out!  I made check-in time shorter.  Pretty soon he was jumping with energy because I had mine so low.  It wasn't easy to be so lazy!  But, now we both have something to be proud of.  In the end he did a whole lap of walk!

     I've been over this with myself before, "it's a game, not a competition!"  But, maybe today has added a new layer of understand to that subject or at least refreshed it in my mind.  I tend to view the parelli pathway as a labyrinth of tasks that I have to check off, but somewhere in my mind I know that's not whats it's about.  Today I felt like I was actually playing with Gingy!  Lately I've been too keyed into trying to find the "right" response to his behavior and it's making life rather boring for both us.  I felt like I was simply going through the steps and not living in the moment.  Today I felt alive and interested in what we were doing and I think that's how Gingy felt too.