I got my youngest student ever last night, except for when Jason was little. She is 4 and half years old, and she is beyond adorable. I don’t remember kids being that small at her age. Her name is Riley. I had her play with Miyagi, brushing her, then I taught her the friendly game, yo-yo and figure 8. Her hands are so small they barely grip all the way around the rope. Miyagi is a great teacher too. She knows just enough to do what Riley will ask of her, as long as she asks the right way. And she is just “pony’ enough that Riley will have to work for it.
She has NO fear of horses, and even though Cha’cote was afraid of her at first, he eventually let her pet him, as she was persistent. He was at liberty in the yard, and the quiet way she had about her near 3 foot stature, must have looked sneaky to him. He sniffed her head and backed away or turned a bit away from her a few times. But there was no way, no how, this darling girl with long brown curly hair was giving up on her idea. Her mother and I watched, and I described how sometimes it is best to leave children alone, as long as everything is safe, and let the horse teach them. I gave her a pointer to face away from him and side pass in toward his shoulder and to scratch him hard and not tickle him. She took it from there. You could see how her lateral thinking skills were developing, rather than being so direct lined as she was when she first arrived. Cha’cote is a great teacher of that! Either you approach right, or your leaving empty handed. She left with a whole heartfull.
By the time her mother and I were done chatting, it was past her bed time. But you would never know it. She was playing in the dirt, checking on the horses, and otherwise a flash back to my youth. I told her mother it was beyond clear her connection with horses, and THAT won’t be going away. She is a 4yo horse crazy girl! She has the incurable disease. And it is nice to see that her mother not only recognizes it, but is indulging it to the best of their financial ability. So as true to myself as I can be….. We are working out a working student kind of thing, so she can come over weekly to ‘just be” with the horses. That way, I get a little help with everyone, and everyone just might get some attention around here, and one darling girl gets to live her dreams.
Savvy On
Michelle
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
"sacking out" or dare I say...."toweling" out....
So last night I played a little more with the rope around cha'cote's girth and even taught him to porcupine his FQ's toward me with the girth rope....he he....
Then I got a big striped beach towel and began to treat it like a saddle pad. he was fine with it on his back, neck, rump and even face....as long as it was coming from behind. If it was coming from infront of him...holy cow....he was convinced it was going to kill him. after about 20min of desensitizing, he accepted me walking towards his face from in front of him, then rubbing his face with said towel. Yeah! he even was taking a few steps with the towel on his back, without any signs of bucking. WHEW!
I think it is time to do another horsenality chart on him. While I think he will always inately be an RBI, he seems to get QUITE confident with himself now at times, and tries to play a little dominance stuff with me. Since I am his only friend, I try to oblige him, but only as long as he knows I am still the leader. Not him!
I think I am having the trimmer out next week. I have fallen behind on EVERYONE. I can easily do Miyagi & Spirit completely and Rose & Snookie's front feet with the grinder. But the back feet and all of Cha'cote will be too much for my back and neck......there is just no way. I have never done Cha'cote's backs and want a professional to get them started for me. they are not over grown, and mostly still in a really nice shape, but desperately need to be done for sure. And there is NO way he will let me near him with the grinder. Rose and Miyagi self trim pretty good, but Snookie and Spirit.....ugh....nope. I hate to spend the money, but I just can't do it all myself all the time. I try to do a horse a week for my backs sake, but off schedule again. UGH!
Last night I gave Snookie a special bath in medicated shampoo and leave in. Her top line is so flat now that the dirt and oils and hair, don't fall down to the ground even when she rolls. She definately is enjoying our 1/1 time and so am I. She is such a good 'ole gal. I took pics of her last night. But they just don't show what my eye sees up close.
Savvy On
Michelle
Then I got a big striped beach towel and began to treat it like a saddle pad. he was fine with it on his back, neck, rump and even face....as long as it was coming from behind. If it was coming from infront of him...holy cow....he was convinced it was going to kill him. after about 20min of desensitizing, he accepted me walking towards his face from in front of him, then rubbing his face with said towel. Yeah! he even was taking a few steps with the towel on his back, without any signs of bucking. WHEW!
I think it is time to do another horsenality chart on him. While I think he will always inately be an RBI, he seems to get QUITE confident with himself now at times, and tries to play a little dominance stuff with me. Since I am his only friend, I try to oblige him, but only as long as he knows I am still the leader. Not him!
I think I am having the trimmer out next week. I have fallen behind on EVERYONE. I can easily do Miyagi & Spirit completely and Rose & Snookie's front feet with the grinder. But the back feet and all of Cha'cote will be too much for my back and neck......there is just no way. I have never done Cha'cote's backs and want a professional to get them started for me. they are not over grown, and mostly still in a really nice shape, but desperately need to be done for sure. And there is NO way he will let me near him with the grinder. Rose and Miyagi self trim pretty good, but Snookie and Spirit.....ugh....nope. I hate to spend the money, but I just can't do it all myself all the time. I try to do a horse a week for my backs sake, but off schedule again. UGH!
Last night I gave Snookie a special bath in medicated shampoo and leave in. Her top line is so flat now that the dirt and oils and hair, don't fall down to the ground even when she rolls. She definately is enjoying our 1/1 time and so am I. She is such a good 'ole gal. I took pics of her last night. But they just don't show what my eye sees up close.
Savvy On
Michelle
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sobbing tears of sadness.... =(
Well, I have been tending to Snookies wound for well over a week now. It is healing sooo slowly. After she ate her special old lady food, leg hosed and doctored, I started to groom her. Then I started to cry. It really hit me how bad she looks. She had taken this year very hard. She has lost alot of weight, and her 'pooper" is really sunk in. I laid my cheek on her forehead and cried for about 10min stroking her face and muzzle. I realized I will probably never ride her again....and that just makes me more mad about that damn car accident. She was still healthy and realtively fit for a senior, and due to my pain and depression, I wasn't able to keep her in a decent condition. And I never got to ride her again. I could just hit someone right now. She was such a lovely horse in her prime. Shiney like a new copper penny. Now just a dull orange. I am going to have to buy half the feed store suplements to see if it is even possible to get her back in good weight. The food she has been getting, isn't doing it. So I need more, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, vitamin/minerals, flax seed, rice bran, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and senior suplements. That will cost a small fortune! I think I need to find a way for my mom to be able to feed her mid day for me too. right now, all I can do, is an extra feeding when I get home after work. I toss a ton of hay in the am, her extra feed @ 6pm, then feed everyone around 10pm. to give her time to digest her treat. So, I will hit up the feed store tonight, and see how deep in the negative my check book can go!
Sad day,
Michelle
Sad day,
Michelle
oooh, saddle prep w Cha'cote
Ok, lets not get too excited here, but I finally had the guts to put the rope around his girth area and SQUEEZE....EEEEEK. not big fuss made, but he was 'uncomfortable' at first. I did lots of sliding it around, tightening and releasing when he breathed out. I even got close to the flank area! I plan on trying the bareback pad tonight and see what happens. I hope he is not a fool about it. I tried to get a bit more provocative with him the other night, he got more dominant with me! Hmmmm, how interesting! This morning he was, leaping around in his corral. Normally I am not up that early. Acording to my husband he does it almost every day. All I ever get to see is him asleep in the corner. Here's to a saddle pad...cheers!
Savvy On
Michelle
Savvy On
Michelle
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Pat Parelli Passed me with a 3++
Woo Hoo! After “fighting for my life” defending my position to Pat himself…..he went home and did as promised, he reviewed my audtion. I figured he was not going to do it on tues, his first day back home, so I ran home after work, pulled Cha’cote out and taped a ‘supplemental’ video showing the power of neutral in circling game. Pat did say it was THE #1 thing needed done well to pass L3, and I didn’t show it. Not that we can’t, I just didn’t. I wanted to tape it quickly and get it on youtube before he had the time to sit down to review it. I figured, if Pat Parelli was going to take HIS time to review it, I didn’t want it to be a WASTE of his time. I got an email late wed from Ann that he had reviewed it, and she would get me the results the next day. Thurs came and went, Friday came and went….and at this point figured I would hear nothing over the weekend. TORTURE….I tell ya! But sat late afternoon I logged on to find the results! The extra video helped, but of course that wasn’t the whole story. There was a huge discrepancy in my orig score and his score. Well here, you can read for yourself:
Hi Michelle,
Pat, Hillary Rose and I reviewed your audition for your On Line.
Congratulations, Pat assessed you at Level 3++!!!! We apologize for
the discrepancy between Hillary's score and Pat's. This has been a
great learning experience for Hillary, and Pat will be holding another
training with everyone who scores the auditions, to make sure everyone
is on track with his vision. We hold these trainings periodically,
and your audition brought to light that it's time to do another one
:^) Thank you so much for speaking up, and for voicing your concern.
This is how we are all able to get our "good better, and our better
best"!!!
Your video of your neutral circling game was very helpful, and was a
necessary part of being able to give this score, so thanks for being
so proactive in getting that filmed and sent in!
Great job with everything that you are doing, and we hope to see you again soon!
Naturally,
Ann
I could just about DIE now! Just goes to show: No one is perfect, it is OK to question things, and sometimes…..SOMETIMES, you just might be right! If feels good to be acknowledged for my strengths and even got a few 4’s. With Cha’Cote! The mustang!
The whole story is on the savvy forum, online section, thread ‘I taped my OLL3 with my mustang”
I give a blow by blow, section by section, side by side comparison of the two score cards, my remarks on each section and why it did not make sense to me, and rightly so. Now I can move on. I don’t know if I will ever be able to pass Freestyle L3, much more L4, as it just hurts too much to ride, But one can always DREAM!
I have SAVVY!
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Pat, Hillary Rose and I reviewed your audition for your On Line.
Congratulations, Pat assessed you at Level 3++!!!! We apologize for
the discrepancy between Hillary's score and Pat's. This has been a
great learning experience for Hillary, and Pat will be holding another
training with everyone who scores the auditions, to make sure everyone
is on track with his vision. We hold these trainings periodically,
and your audition brought to light that it's time to do another one
:^) Thank you so much for speaking up, and for voicing your concern.
This is how we are all able to get our "good better, and our better
best"!!!
Your video of your neutral circling game was very helpful, and was a
necessary part of being able to give this score, so thanks for being
so proactive in getting that filmed and sent in!
Great job with everything that you are doing, and we hope to see you again soon!
Naturally,
Ann
I could just about DIE now! Just goes to show: No one is perfect, it is OK to question things, and sometimes…..SOMETIMES, you just might be right! If feels good to be acknowledged for my strengths and even got a few 4’s. With Cha’Cote! The mustang!
The whole story is on the savvy forum, online section, thread ‘I taped my OLL3 with my mustang”
I give a blow by blow, section by section, side by side comparison of the two score cards, my remarks on each section and why it did not make sense to me, and rightly so. Now I can move on. I don’t know if I will ever be able to pass Freestyle L3, much more L4, as it just hurts too much to ride, But one can always DREAM!
I have SAVVY!
Michelle
Sunday, August 15, 2010
3..2..1..DRAW! We got good DRAW!
Wow, one thing that shines in this hole day is that I have awesome draw with Cha'cote! This is the rest of the video. I edited out 10+ minutes of me talking. Like I said, I had no idea the camera was rolling! Got some zone 5 liberty passenger in here too!
Enjoy and
Savvy On
Michelle
Enjoy and
Savvy On
Michelle
Cha'Cote's first liberty circles in arena
Well my proudest moment to date! This is Cha'Cote's first time ever going any where besides from the wild to the BLM. From there to his last home, and from there to my home. He was a champ! Took some convincing to get him to let us shut the door on the trailer....but finally he did. Short 7 min drive to where my friend boards. We opened the door. He stuck his head out, and stood there. I was terrified he would rush out and bail on me. Nope! Such a good boy. Then he trusted me to lead him thru the barn. then we went into the arena. I showed him all the walls, played a teeny bit online, then went LIBERTY. I was shocked he went straight to circling me and not leaving, and then a great draw. Looked over my shoulder and my friend was gone. So I shared my excitement with a total stranger and asked her to watch. I was afraid it wouldn't happen again and wanted a witness to tell my friend. He did it again. 'bout 3 circles. So we chated a few min and my friend came back. i was hoopin and hollering, and started to show her. she grabbed her video camera, and he did it AGAIN! She started grooming after a couple of min and I thought she turned the camera off. I didn't know she was this sneaky, but she set it down and left it on. So this is me playing at liberty with Cha'cote for the first time. there a few more videos to come....sorry...so excited I am posting it ALL!
Cha'cote's first friend and gallop
Hey Ho! I am soooo happy! Finally took Cha'Cote on his very first outing. Here is the video of his very first gallop in 6ys, and his first friend Mick. We picked Mick because we knew he would be gentle, but we also knew he would not let up and make Cha'cote play and run. Mick is my firends 3yo paint gelding. Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Blinding **FLASH** of the obscure! Huge FEAR breakthru
WOW, I just realized that I had a major breakthrough this weekend, biggest that I have had in the last 2.5yrs. OK so you know I have been suffering from a fear of failure since trying to come back after my accident. In that time, I had no confidence in myself. I let my daily failures get the better of me and felt as though I would never be good enough again. When I sent in my OLL3, I honestly did not expect to pass. However when I received my results of Pre3, I was devastated. But in looking at it, the scores did not make sense. It was not for the reasons that I thought it would be. So luckily I found myself at the Fresno event, arguing my case to anyone who would listen. And while it didn’t make sense to anyone else either (and now I know why, will write about that one later) I found in all of this that “I” was defending MYSELF. Usually I am putting myself down, unable to accept others compliments or their evaluation of my skills, feeling I was unworthy of any accolades. I found myself this weekend saying again and again “I am better than this score, why can’t they see that”, and the truth is, “I” am the one who couldn’t see it. Next thing I know, I am standing face to face with Pat Parelli himself, begging for him to explain to me what it all meant. I got an explanation, and walked away understanding. While I do NOT agree with the system. It is what it is, and if I want to pass, then _X_ needs to be shown. I did not show it. Long drive home, waiting patiently for Pat to review my video himself…..not going to there right now….saying to myself (my friend was just a sounding board at this point, I hate to say I can’t recall a single word she said)…..
“Ya know what? I don’t care what my score or result is. I am not re-doing it. I know I am a solid L3, and I am not going to torture my horses, not even one more time, taping this dang thing. We are ALL sick of it. In my book I passed, and I am moving forward to my OLL4 and LIBERTY4 auditions.”
Funny the confidence you find in yourself when you are fighting for your life. All I needed was to hear myself trying to justify this or that, and now I finally believe in myself.
At the tour stop, Linda had people stand up who had passed L1 (officially or self assessed) and a lot stood up. Then she asked for L2 grads and quite a number of people sat down. Then L3 grads, and just about everybody sat down. Then L4 grads. I stood there, in my own little world for a moment, and was watching Linda look for people on the other side of the arena, giggling with the crowd at her missing some joke or something. Then I started to look around and I too could not see anyone standing. I heard someone yell out from behind me to Linda, but she couldn’t hear them, so I yelled out her name (I have a big loud voice) and she turned around, glared me right in the eye, and said, ‘Just you? Congratulations!”
I instantly realized at that moment that 2000+ eyes were staring at ME. The whole room went white, then black, and I have no recollection of what happened in the following 5-10 minutes. At the time, I felt like a liar. But I know better than that. Official status is for our ego, our real status is measured by our horses. I hold their opinion higher than Pats. And even if I fail my audition, by Pats hands, My horses know I am a L5, and that is fine by me!
Savvy On
Michelle
“Ya know what? I don’t care what my score or result is. I am not re-doing it. I know I am a solid L3, and I am not going to torture my horses, not even one more time, taping this dang thing. We are ALL sick of it. In my book I passed, and I am moving forward to my OLL4 and LIBERTY4 auditions.”
Funny the confidence you find in yourself when you are fighting for your life. All I needed was to hear myself trying to justify this or that, and now I finally believe in myself.
At the tour stop, Linda had people stand up who had passed L1 (officially or self assessed) and a lot stood up. Then she asked for L2 grads and quite a number of people sat down. Then L3 grads, and just about everybody sat down. Then L4 grads. I stood there, in my own little world for a moment, and was watching Linda look for people on the other side of the arena, giggling with the crowd at her missing some joke or something. Then I started to look around and I too could not see anyone standing. I heard someone yell out from behind me to Linda, but she couldn’t hear them, so I yelled out her name (I have a big loud voice) and she turned around, glared me right in the eye, and said, ‘Just you? Congratulations!”
I instantly realized at that moment that 2000+ eyes were staring at ME. The whole room went white, then black, and I have no recollection of what happened in the following 5-10 minutes. At the time, I felt like a liar. But I know better than that. Official status is for our ego, our real status is measured by our horses. I hold their opinion higher than Pats. And even if I fail my audition, by Pats hands, My horses know I am a L5, and that is fine by me!
Savvy On
Michelle
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Power of Neutral video
Well long story will get to later, but here is my "extra" video for my OLL3 showing my neutral. I hadn't played with him for 5 weeks, pulled him out, no warm up, NOTHING, just straight to this. he was too upset to canter, but the point is my neutral in the circle game anyways. the rest was really to make sure i got my draw back. I was upset that he didn't come to me the first time and was not going to leave it at that. when done we did a liberty walk in zone 5 about 30feet then onto the pedestal from zone 5. of course the camera wasn't on!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Wild to OLL3 in 6 mos video 6mos in 10min
Well it has taken me all day, but I got all 6 mos into a 10min video. WHEW!
Probably too long, but I am submiting it anyways to parellitube for the "relationship" contest. Wish us luck!
Cha'Cote is a 10yo BLM Mustang gelding. I got him on 1-1-10, as a wild, ungentled, unhalter broke renegade, who in 6ys outwitted 3 owners, and now is pardoned from prison, and close to being set free in a herd setting. Snookie, Rose, Miyagi and Spirit will teach him LOTS!
Probably too long, but I am submiting it anyways to parellitube for the "relationship" contest. Wish us luck!
Cha'Cote is a 10yo BLM Mustang gelding. I got him on 1-1-10, as a wild, ungentled, unhalter broke renegade, who in 6ys outwitted 3 owners, and now is pardoned from prison, and close to being set free in a herd setting. Snookie, Rose, Miyagi and Spirit will teach him LOTS!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Complete and utter torture!
It has been two weeks and 3days since I sent in my audtion, and it is no less than pure torure waiting for the results. As a gold member, it says 3-4 weeks for results. Every hour checking my email, I swear, I don't know if I could take a full 1week and 4days more of this. There are only 2 more hours till the parelli office closes for the day, where I will sigh and sink into my seat a bit further for the last hour of work, till I sulk my entire drive home. Where I will then forget all about it until thier office opens tomorrow.
E ghads, waiting sucks!
Wait ON,
Michelle
E ghads, waiting sucks!
Wait ON,
Michelle
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Cha'Cote OLL3 Audition ~ Pass 3++
Well, we finally did it....we taped OLL3. Me and Cha'Cote! Not to bad either.....doubt I will pass....but we shall see....I am sending it in tomorrow.....wish me and my not so wild anymore mustang good luck!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Played so hard we killed the BALL!
What FUN I had with my babies last night! Saturday it was hot, AND I had to clean my house for the in-laws coming in from out of state soon, and by the time it started to cool off….it was time for fireworks over the lake. Silly but my little town celebrates 4th of July two saturdays before. Sunday started off with removing this 20yo cactus out of my front yard and transplanting it to a pot, then, awful heat again. Finally I got to play a little after 8. Still hot, but at least no sun.
I started with Cha’Cote. It was the first time playing with him on the 45’ line. He is really starting to get “interested” in sniffing things and touching things. We played with two balls, hula hoops, passenger driving in zone 5, yo-yo to the end of the 45’ line, and proceeded to the circling game. He did really great after a few…..”eeeek! I’m wild” moments. His yo-yo transitions from walk/trot/walk/trot got awesome from a new farther distance. He has stopped having thresholds going to the left. And cantering is coming along, he still can’t handle much without getting emotional about it. SOOOOOO…..much to my moms discomfort, she is going to have to park her car some where else. She is smack in the middle of the largest flat area I have for circling. I think it is about 40’ but it does not cross the drive way.
Now for Rose. I stayed on a 12’ line, being lazy I guess, but I kinda wanted to work on being able to be effective in phase 4. We had a blast! Lots of toys, and lots of noise. I put more pressure on her in the send TO the toy. Kind of a HURRY up and go play. I have noticed her FAVORITE toy is the barrel. I even had her roll it with her front legs while going sideways. It is really helping with my precision too. Then we played circling game stick to me style, on the 12’, cantering. I had her hauling A$$, one circle, and nearly a slide stop at the barrel. Kick it around a little, change direction, Haul A$$, one circle, screech to stop at the barrel. She loved it. Cantering became fun for her in my yard…..who knew! I think I am going to switch back and forth between the 12’ line and the 45’ line with her. Although I will say, I am getting quite handy with the 45’.
Can’t wait to play again tonight….although Rose killed the big ball!
Savvy On
Michelle
I started with Cha’Cote. It was the first time playing with him on the 45’ line. He is really starting to get “interested” in sniffing things and touching things. We played with two balls, hula hoops, passenger driving in zone 5, yo-yo to the end of the 45’ line, and proceeded to the circling game. He did really great after a few…..”eeeek! I’m wild” moments. His yo-yo transitions from walk/trot/walk/trot got awesome from a new farther distance. He has stopped having thresholds going to the left. And cantering is coming along, he still can’t handle much without getting emotional about it. SOOOOOO…..much to my moms discomfort, she is going to have to park her car some where else. She is smack in the middle of the largest flat area I have for circling. I think it is about 40’ but it does not cross the drive way.
Now for Rose. I stayed on a 12’ line, being lazy I guess, but I kinda wanted to work on being able to be effective in phase 4. We had a blast! Lots of toys, and lots of noise. I put more pressure on her in the send TO the toy. Kind of a HURRY up and go play. I have noticed her FAVORITE toy is the barrel. I even had her roll it with her front legs while going sideways. It is really helping with my precision too. Then we played circling game stick to me style, on the 12’, cantering. I had her hauling A$$, one circle, and nearly a slide stop at the barrel. Kick it around a little, change direction, Haul A$$, one circle, screech to stop at the barrel. She loved it. Cantering became fun for her in my yard…..who knew! I think I am going to switch back and forth between the 12’ line and the 45’ line with her. Although I will say, I am getting quite handy with the 45’.
Can’t wait to play again tonight….although Rose killed the big ball!
Savvy On
Michelle
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Who wants to be alpha? ~ not these Lazy Loafers!
Well, I saw a little more of herds alpha/pecking order dynamics last night. It was late, and I stepped out back for a cigarette when I saw Spirit in an odd place. Sure they are on a hill, but he looked a little short to me, and I wondered if he was laying down. I could see Miyagi facing him, so I walk over for a closer look. As I approached, I saw that he was laying down, AND Rose was laying next to him, with Snookie standing over her. It dawned on me, right then and there, what lazy, loafing, taking advantage of the alpha, the other members of a herd happen to be. As far as my herds dynamic goes, Snookie is Alpha and Rose is second in command. Miyagi is alpha over Spirit. Rose and Spirit fight like a couple of kids, till Snookie makes them stop. Miyagi used to be the Alpha of a 20 horse herd. 16 mini’s and 4 big horses, she is one little horse you may not want to reckon with. Alas, she cannot break the impenetrable force field of the Snookie Dynasty, so she settle’s easily into terrorizing Spirit. So this is what we have going on in the world of horse behavior at my house.
Most people think that the Alpha is mean and everyone else in the herd fears them. Some have even used that as a reason for not wanting to do particular styles of NH, as they don’t want to be hated like the Alpha horse is hated. They would rather be the #2 horse. Who BTW in my herd is quite evil. In the 9yrs now that I have had my horses home, I have witnessed nothing but the contrary to their beliefs.
I have seen Snookie take a very lame horse, at snail speed, and force them across the pasture to the water tank, and splash them with water until they drank. I have seen her first be terrified and then motherly to a yearling rescue mini, and allow her to do things she allows NO one else to do…..touch her bucket! I have seen her panic when the herd is not close enough to her, or being trailer loaded without her. I have seen her deny a horse food and water until SHE felt like letting them have it. I have seen EVERY single one of my horses fret when she is gone. I have watched them look to her for when to be afraid and when not to. I have watched horses copycat everything she does, from rolling to scratching to sleeping, including spit out a grass wad when Snookie was being wormed and they weren’t. She has a larger responsibility than those other lazy herd members care to be responsible for. Sure they would like to boss everyone around, and be the first to choose what pile of hay to eat. But I saw last night, what they would have to give up, the price they would have to pay, if they ever dethroned her. Those lazy turds were sleeping like foals, and trusting Snookie and Miyagi to keep them safe while they did so. Both are respectively in their teens, and far from young things that need to lay down to sleep often. I have never seen Snookie lay down to sleep. She does however suffer from narcolepsy, so she is known for her comical episodes of slowly falling onto her face, where she can stay for up to 10min. Every one is used to it, including my frantic neighbors, and luckily no one takes advantage of her while in precarious positions. So there you have it, lazy loafers, making the others do all the work!
Savvy On
Michelle
Most people think that the Alpha is mean and everyone else in the herd fears them. Some have even used that as a reason for not wanting to do particular styles of NH, as they don’t want to be hated like the Alpha horse is hated. They would rather be the #2 horse. Who BTW in my herd is quite evil. In the 9yrs now that I have had my horses home, I have witnessed nothing but the contrary to their beliefs.
I have seen Snookie take a very lame horse, at snail speed, and force them across the pasture to the water tank, and splash them with water until they drank. I have seen her first be terrified and then motherly to a yearling rescue mini, and allow her to do things she allows NO one else to do…..touch her bucket! I have seen her panic when the herd is not close enough to her, or being trailer loaded without her. I have seen her deny a horse food and water until SHE felt like letting them have it. I have seen EVERY single one of my horses fret when she is gone. I have watched them look to her for when to be afraid and when not to. I have watched horses copycat everything she does, from rolling to scratching to sleeping, including spit out a grass wad when Snookie was being wormed and they weren’t. She has a larger responsibility than those other lazy herd members care to be responsible for. Sure they would like to boss everyone around, and be the first to choose what pile of hay to eat. But I saw last night, what they would have to give up, the price they would have to pay, if they ever dethroned her. Those lazy turds were sleeping like foals, and trusting Snookie and Miyagi to keep them safe while they did so. Both are respectively in their teens, and far from young things that need to lay down to sleep often. I have never seen Snookie lay down to sleep. She does however suffer from narcolepsy, so she is known for her comical episodes of slowly falling onto her face, where she can stay for up to 10min. Every one is used to it, including my frantic neighbors, and luckily no one takes advantage of her while in precarious positions. So there you have it, lazy loafers, making the others do all the work!
Savvy On
Michelle
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Cha'Cote Trailer loading video #3
This is about his 7th session trailer loading. And he hops right in now! It was my first time sending him from the right side, so it was his first time to turn around that way.....scared the bageezers out of him!
Just one more time……famous last words!
So I was unable to play with Rose or Cha’cote all weekend do to the horse show, fathers day which spilled into Monday. Finally last night…..time for ME and MY horses.
I started with Cha’Cote, a good curry, bath, fly spray……then play. Right now is basically just getting him back in tune, but he honestly feels better than before the break…..confidence wise. Circling kinda fell apart, but not bad. I was able to do some…passenger walking in zone 4-5. I don’t know if I could call it driving. Sometimes I was directing, but mostly just following him. He had gained A LOT of confidence with his feet. He stepped on the hula-hoop last night for the first time, and he didn’t come out of his skin. He touched the kitty litter bucket with his legs (skeptically though I might add) he pushed the ball with his nose and legs, side passed over the log onto the pedestal, and then we went to the trailer.
He of course put the front feet in strait away. I asked him to get out and instead he hopped right in. He is definitely more comfortable going in, now that he can turn around and walk out. I sent him out, and then I sent him in again. No hesitation, he jumped in. Practically ran in. So we did it about 10 times, until he could walk in confidently, in a way that it appeared to me that he was thinking his way in. Viola, I sent him in from the fender, and from about 10 feet away from the trailer. He has finally given the trailer his stamp of approval. One more and we are done. Aren’t those the famous last words? I should know better. No sooner do those words run through my mind, when something happens to make wish I could eat those words. This was no different. I sent him in, he went in…….and then trailer door came untied and started to swing shut. He came unglued. He scrambled and as he did, he got closer and closer to the floor of the trailer, apparently looking for a trap door in the floor. I managed to get a hold of the door, opened it and encouraged him to come out. He did, and then bolted. Mini learn burn to follow. I got the door tied open again, and brought him back to the scene of the crime. He was such a good boy. He went back in twice with no hesitation. Lots of lick-chew. We left and played a little bit more of sniff this, touch that and ended with some undemanding time. So now we have to play the friendly game with the door, go for some short rides, un-load and re-load at an unfamiliar place……then see if we can do it with Spirit in the trailer. That way, Jason and I can take the boys to a schooling show together. Can’t wait. Next one is July 10th. Will try to video it tonight.
Now for my session with Rose. I purposefully have not let the herd out in the front yard while I didn’t have time to play with her. I want her to know that when she comes out, it is to have fun with me. There is no grass left to speak of anyways, so nothing more than trouble and the hay shed to get into. I started by letting them all out, and leading her by the mane from the hay shed to the front yard where her halter and 45’ line were waiting for us. I we started with our assignment of me sending her to something, then letting her figure out what to do with it once she got there. From that I am to take her Idea and ask her to do more. We did lots of that. Lots of kill the cones, sidepassing over things, and her rolling the ball under her bely, then backing while keeping the ball there. At the end, I taught her pick her leg up when I do. So I think I will do some mirroring with it in the next session. I did some zone5 driving into the trailer and made her hug the big tractor tire. I bought some pool noodles and forgot to use them…..and I am in the process of collecting milk jugs for a toy. I was going to put some rocks into the barrel that has a hole, but noticed that it was inhabited by yellow jackets, so we left THAT idea….and THEM alone! We played a few games with Snookie, mainly for me to show her that Snookie is not a safety zone, and she will have to find interesting things to do with her if she wanders into Snookies bubble. Lesson is two fold. Since Snookie is NOT a fun and games gal and the alpha, Rose started thinking twice about getting too close. And since Snookie would really rather not be bothered, she learned it is better to stay out of the play area or she may become the next victim of experimental play things. She is so bonded to Rose now, that I can’t wait for the day for her to jump in the trailer during one of Rose and I's trailer loading practices. So far she just runs around us in a total RBE panic while we play with the trailer, thinking that I am going to take Rose somewhere without her. The panic is lowering in intensity…..thank god…..but still. Poor old gal. I know she misses TigerLily something fierce. As do I. She was the BEST horse ever. RIP my lovely girl.
So I need to build up my play ground, and come up with some new ways to play with the toys we do have. I can totally see now, how I have been INCREDIBLY boring for my partner.
Savvy On
Michelle
I started with Cha’Cote, a good curry, bath, fly spray……then play. Right now is basically just getting him back in tune, but he honestly feels better than before the break…..confidence wise. Circling kinda fell apart, but not bad. I was able to do some…passenger walking in zone 4-5. I don’t know if I could call it driving. Sometimes I was directing, but mostly just following him. He had gained A LOT of confidence with his feet. He stepped on the hula-hoop last night for the first time, and he didn’t come out of his skin. He touched the kitty litter bucket with his legs (skeptically though I might add) he pushed the ball with his nose and legs, side passed over the log onto the pedestal, and then we went to the trailer.
He of course put the front feet in strait away. I asked him to get out and instead he hopped right in. He is definitely more comfortable going in, now that he can turn around and walk out. I sent him out, and then I sent him in again. No hesitation, he jumped in. Practically ran in. So we did it about 10 times, until he could walk in confidently, in a way that it appeared to me that he was thinking his way in. Viola, I sent him in from the fender, and from about 10 feet away from the trailer. He has finally given the trailer his stamp of approval. One more and we are done. Aren’t those the famous last words? I should know better. No sooner do those words run through my mind, when something happens to make wish I could eat those words. This was no different. I sent him in, he went in…….and then trailer door came untied and started to swing shut. He came unglued. He scrambled and as he did, he got closer and closer to the floor of the trailer, apparently looking for a trap door in the floor. I managed to get a hold of the door, opened it and encouraged him to come out. He did, and then bolted. Mini learn burn to follow. I got the door tied open again, and brought him back to the scene of the crime. He was such a good boy. He went back in twice with no hesitation. Lots of lick-chew. We left and played a little bit more of sniff this, touch that and ended with some undemanding time. So now we have to play the friendly game with the door, go for some short rides, un-load and re-load at an unfamiliar place……then see if we can do it with Spirit in the trailer. That way, Jason and I can take the boys to a schooling show together. Can’t wait. Next one is July 10th. Will try to video it tonight.
Now for my session with Rose. I purposefully have not let the herd out in the front yard while I didn’t have time to play with her. I want her to know that when she comes out, it is to have fun with me. There is no grass left to speak of anyways, so nothing more than trouble and the hay shed to get into. I started by letting them all out, and leading her by the mane from the hay shed to the front yard where her halter and 45’ line were waiting for us. I we started with our assignment of me sending her to something, then letting her figure out what to do with it once she got there. From that I am to take her Idea and ask her to do more. We did lots of that. Lots of kill the cones, sidepassing over things, and her rolling the ball under her bely, then backing while keeping the ball there. At the end, I taught her pick her leg up when I do. So I think I will do some mirroring with it in the next session. I did some zone5 driving into the trailer and made her hug the big tractor tire. I bought some pool noodles and forgot to use them…..and I am in the process of collecting milk jugs for a toy. I was going to put some rocks into the barrel that has a hole, but noticed that it was inhabited by yellow jackets, so we left THAT idea….and THEM alone! We played a few games with Snookie, mainly for me to show her that Snookie is not a safety zone, and she will have to find interesting things to do with her if she wanders into Snookies bubble. Lesson is two fold. Since Snookie is NOT a fun and games gal and the alpha, Rose started thinking twice about getting too close. And since Snookie would really rather not be bothered, she learned it is better to stay out of the play area or she may become the next victim of experimental play things. She is so bonded to Rose now, that I can’t wait for the day for her to jump in the trailer during one of Rose and I's trailer loading practices. So far she just runs around us in a total RBE panic while we play with the trailer, thinking that I am going to take Rose somewhere without her. The panic is lowering in intensity…..thank god…..but still. Poor old gal. I know she misses TigerLily something fierce. As do I. She was the BEST horse ever. RIP my lovely girl.
So I need to build up my play ground, and come up with some new ways to play with the toys we do have. I can totally see now, how I have been INCREDIBLY boring for my partner.
Savvy On
Michelle
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Video..Her Idea/My Idea experiment in FUN
This is an experiment. basically the first half was me pretty much letting her do what ever she wanted. Once she started, then I asked her to do more of what she was doing than she wanted to, after I did the one thing she wanted to do more than anything.....go in the back yard....I decided it was time for her to do some of my ideas. when we got to the weave, twice she really came at me ears pinned, something she had never done before, and I told her THAT is not acceptable. She really didn't want to go to the left, so instead I let her go to the right, and asked for more than she intended to give. Once she tried to bully me and acted like she was going to dive bomb Snookie, I let her run smack into Snookie. DORK! Lucky for her Snookie didnt' kick the crap out of her. Most of this video, which is long and mostly for my viewing purposes, is her idea. I don't know if I did OK or not. I know I felt better at the end. She got a hard lesson learned for getting herself tangled in the rope a few times, and I left it up to her to get out of it. And once done, and halter off, she stayed with me for a long time. Usually she takes off squeeling and leaping. So I will do this a few more times to see how things progress with it. She did not like sharing ideas with me. She seemed like she felt as if it was her way or no way.....HMMMM sounds kinda familiar.....
Savvy??
Who Knows!
Savvy??
Who Knows!
Rules, Restrictions, Guidelines ……where’s the fun?
Since when did I become an adult? I was in the pool with my son the other day, and of course as all 11yo kids will do…..we had to have rules for who wins the game of, don’t fall off the raft while squirting each other with water guns. It was a short list, and true to history repeating itself, as soon as my son lost, the rules changed. Some how, if you fell off of your raft, but managed to keep any part of your body ON the raft, you didn’t lose and it was immediate grounds for the all important re-do. I knocked that kid off a number of times, while managing not to fall of my self (something I needed no help in doing) and each time, my son whipped out the fine print, and alerted me to yet another rule that kept me from claiming my well earned championship. Kids are so flexible, and quickly find a way to win, or at least not lose. So why can’t adults?
I spoke to Maggie today, no time for lesson on Sunday, BUT she was kind enough to talk me through a number of things I could do to bring back the fun. Like I said the other day, it was a foreign word, but with her translation, I felt like a moron for not seeing it myself. Sometimes, the obvious solution goes completely un-noticed. She gave me ideas and concepts and real tangible blue print. Nothing I have never heard before, in-fact I have heard it a 1000 times. Just like when I had all that trouble getting Snookie in the trailer. Over 100hrs I put into it, ultimately paid $500 for Ann Kiser to get her in the trailer in 5min flat. Of course it was the most important 5 min of my horse journey to date. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I just wasn’t doing it right. I think today was another pivotal moment. Anything that she said that I had heard before, no matter how basic low level the concept, I didn’t get defensive and say, “well I know that”. I stayed open to her interpretation of concept, because I knew I was missing some crucial ingredient in the formula, and you never know what it is, so you better listen with all your ears, heart, mind and soul. I saw fun through her eyes, and thus was able to see it through my horses eyes. On many levels, I am irritated at my self for missing it. In fact I say some of it myself all the time, and yet it is so easy to apply a technique or concept at the wrong time, or completely forget it all together.
I feel like I have seen the light. And I feel like it is all right at my fingertips now. I have hope. I have been reviewing my footage of my auditions and practice sessions, and looking at those of others. Of course we all compare ourselves to others and feel we don’t measure up. But honestly I haven’t been. I see other L3/4 students and admire so much about them, and remember how I used to look that good too. Yet I couldn’t put my finger on the missing ingredient. The ingredient that makes the difference between a person with a horse and a horseperson. The star factor. The it factor. The ability to go from playing a game with your horse and winning the game with your horse, and still have your horse feel like a winner. The ability to change the rules, go with the flow, make it up as you, and not get stuck in a battle. Rather than find a way to be flexible, I was battling, giving her something to brace against, and tucking my tail between my legs, and running away feeling like a failure. I will take her advice, and go home and play with my horse. I will converse with her, rather than brace against her, and tonight she will write the play, then and only then, I will direct it. I will let you know how it goes.
Savvy On
Michelle
I spoke to Maggie today, no time for lesson on Sunday, BUT she was kind enough to talk me through a number of things I could do to bring back the fun. Like I said the other day, it was a foreign word, but with her translation, I felt like a moron for not seeing it myself. Sometimes, the obvious solution goes completely un-noticed. She gave me ideas and concepts and real tangible blue print. Nothing I have never heard before, in-fact I have heard it a 1000 times. Just like when I had all that trouble getting Snookie in the trailer. Over 100hrs I put into it, ultimately paid $500 for Ann Kiser to get her in the trailer in 5min flat. Of course it was the most important 5 min of my horse journey to date. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I just wasn’t doing it right. I think today was another pivotal moment. Anything that she said that I had heard before, no matter how basic low level the concept, I didn’t get defensive and say, “well I know that”. I stayed open to her interpretation of concept, because I knew I was missing some crucial ingredient in the formula, and you never know what it is, so you better listen with all your ears, heart, mind and soul. I saw fun through her eyes, and thus was able to see it through my horses eyes. On many levels, I am irritated at my self for missing it. In fact I say some of it myself all the time, and yet it is so easy to apply a technique or concept at the wrong time, or completely forget it all together.
I feel like I have seen the light. And I feel like it is all right at my fingertips now. I have hope. I have been reviewing my footage of my auditions and practice sessions, and looking at those of others. Of course we all compare ourselves to others and feel we don’t measure up. But honestly I haven’t been. I see other L3/4 students and admire so much about them, and remember how I used to look that good too. Yet I couldn’t put my finger on the missing ingredient. The ingredient that makes the difference between a person with a horse and a horseperson. The star factor. The it factor. The ability to go from playing a game with your horse and winning the game with your horse, and still have your horse feel like a winner. The ability to change the rules, go with the flow, make it up as you, and not get stuck in a battle. Rather than find a way to be flexible, I was battling, giving her something to brace against, and tucking my tail between my legs, and running away feeling like a failure. I will take her advice, and go home and play with my horse. I will converse with her, rather than brace against her, and tonight she will write the play, then and only then, I will direct it. I will let you know how it goes.
Savvy On
Michelle
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