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After having such a positive day with Lily yesterday, I was worried that it was purely a fluke. Today my farrier was coming to do Benji's feet so I sat and watched all 3 of them first to see what had changed. Lily was my shadow(!!), Benji and Molly were down the bottom of their field. I stepped under the fence into the chestnuts' field, whistled and Benji lifted his head up, neighed at me then came trotting up and stopped infront of me. I haven't had a problem with Benji's catching for a long time but it was just so nice having both of them showing an interest in me.
To get up to the top gate for the farrier was a bit of a mission through the electric tape, down one field to the gate, through the gate then up to the top of that field and Benji was tense at the prospect of leaving Molly so we did some point to pointing and driving from zone 3 which was much better than last time. We then got upto the top quicker than I'd allowed time for so we spent some UDT grazing whilst I just sat down, made sure Benji didn't get tangled up in my 12ft line and listen to my iPod. He didn't stray far and kept checking in with me every so often and I interpreted that as him starting to have confidence in his little human when his environment was different.
Farrier came, hadn't seen him for a good while and he couldn't believe that I still had 'that coloured one', a new one and how little spending money I have left at the end of the month for myself. I said I was much happier that way and that all I needed was a bathroom, bed, kettle and wifi up there and I'd never leave! He sees many horse-mad women a day but he looked at me like it was the first time he'd heard that one. ;)
Upon turning Benji out once I'd moved out of the field he turned his attentions to Lily and I was thinking "uh oh, here we go again." but at long last he finally started reacting the way I had imagined he would yesterday. I swear he thinks he's a stallion and was rather offended when Lily showed him about 1% interest.
Now Lily's back I will be solely responsible for poo-picking her field, usually Diane and I alternate between picking the chestnuts' field but I can't ask her to do Lily's too. Arran told me the more UDT I could spend with Lily online the better so I got her to catch me and picked the field with the fork in one hand and her line in the other. There's numerous differences in her that I can see already but probably the most prominent for me has been that she licks and chews now (before she'd just hold her breath, didn't realise 'til yesterday.) and when I am in zone 2 or 3 she will, for the most part, let me stand and stroke her there without her tensing up and trying to put me in zone 1. Before if I tried to do that she'd get very tense and either walk off or become introverted but now she'll turn her head round and look at me, touch the back of my hand with her muzzle etc. which is a huge thing for her. After poo-picking I practised turning her out and getting her to catch me again as Arran taught me and she gave me two eyes one time! I noticed today that if I approach Lily and go to touch her shoulder, if she looks worried she will relax quicker if I stroke her shoulder with the back of my hand. How interesting.
I keep getting scared that I will do something wrong and we'll go back to square one but I try to banish those gremlins. Arran's coming to give me a lesson on the 18th to make sure that we're still on the right track so until then I intend on spending atleast 30minutes UDT online a day with her.
I realised where I went wrong last time with her which caused her to lose trust in me. She'd always been hard to catch previously but I had made it worse by putting the task before the relationship. I just wanted to get through level 1 because I knew the further into the programme we got, the easier things would get but without realising, I had put too much pressure on her and she started to see me as a predator rather than partner. Never again. This week is the turning point in our relationship and from now on it's going to get better. |
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My name is Lucy Middleton, I'm 17 years old and from the United Kingdom.
I started Parelli in January 2008 and it has been an incredible journey so far.
Pre-Parelli I did the best with what I knew but now I know better; I want to do better!
This is my blog to document my progress as a natural horseman.
Want to 'follow' my blog, fellow blogspotters? Add my url to your list on your dashboard to stay upto date!
View my profile
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I am owned by this gorgeous piebald cob mare, Lily. She's an interesting character, fun to play with and is a great teacher.
There's more about her on her own page.
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It's not about disposable horses; it's about relationships for life.
It's not about quick fixes and artificial aids, it's about savvy; true understanding and expertise.
It's not about winning and others losing; It's about win-win: you and the horse need to feel good.
It's not about me me me; It's about changing the world for horses, becoming a person of knowledge and influence, and sharing what you know.
It's not about fear and doubt; It's about unconditional love and trust.
Love for the empowerment of others and trust that you'll never ask the horse to do something that would hurt or diminish his dignity.
Reveal your horse. Discover your potential. Live your dream.
-Parelli
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Profile designed, made and coded by Lucy Parelli Student.
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