| One on one with Benji |
Although I have been spending time with Benji I decided he needed 80% of my attention today because I have been spending considerably more time with Lily. Since Lily has come back Benji had been very safety conscious and tense, I couldn't understand why until today.
We were just chilling and working on FG with the 12ft line in zone 3 when it started to rain really badly so we put out butts to face the way of the rain and he looked over to Molly. I thought "ah, maybe he wants to go stand by her!" we were about 15 metres away so we edged towards her. She was stood by their saltlick with her muzzle on it, licking it verrryyyy sllllooooowwwwlllyyy. Benji stepped over into her space sideways (looked very fancy, probably to avoid getting his face rained on!), put his ears back, bit her slowly on the shoulder and then as she moved away he bit her bum to reinforce his first point and then licked the saltlick. Then a little lightbulb went on above my head and I realised all the time I had been watching Molly and Benji interact prior to today; they had been struggling with establishing who the leader was now Lily's home and having many dominance games. Now Benji is initiating dominance games and winning he is back to his usual cheeky self. Who would've thought the smallest pony would be the boss hoss!
I was very glad because I couldn't understand why he'd become a LBe borderline RBi. I know he will still get his ocassional RB moments because, confident as he is, he is still a prey animal. With Benji it's quite hard to tell when he's RB because he gives very subtle signs such as starey eyes. That is unconfidence and if I put too much pressure on him then that is when he'll panic.
We hung out even more and after assessing the situation and his mood I decided that good games to work on would be 1 and 3. I would like both ponies to be okay with me being in all zones rather than just zones 1 or 2 so I thought it'd be cool to see what his driving from zone 3 was like. I only used the end of the line to drive him forwards rather than the CS because I didn't have it on hand and it was much less fumbly. I had to ask him for only a few steps at first to make sure he understood but after that we moseyed allover the place and I didn't correct him for going where he wanted to go for him to build confidence in me being in zone 3. He was very good and he didn't even care that we were wandering away from Molly which is much much much better! I even got a little confident and followed in zone 4 and he was very laidback about it. We went out of the field for a little grazing and he was like "Molly who?". After such lovely positives we hung out for a little more then I turned him back out.
I began building my pedestals today which I'm excited about. We had two old tractor tires just lying around so I've put them together on a little hill and have started filling them with muck. After there's enough muck the top few layers will be sand and soil. Some people have mentioned that they needed plywood because their horses dug holes in the sand but we'll see. I put them together because I thought they'd be a cool jump too and encourage the ponies to jump in the middle because it'll be the area where the tires appear smaller and less wider. I can't wait to use them.
Lily was RB today because of huge tires being rolled everywhere so I sat with her for about 15 minutes and worked on her relaxing when I halter her. She did very well too. Quite a savvy day I reckon! :) |
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Hey hun,
I just found your blog and you're an inspiration to me. : ) I had some health problems in high school and I've kinda been where you are. I was always sick, but somehow God healed me and my angel of a horse gave me hope.
Hope you have a lovely day!
Emily
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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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posted by Lucy at 
Hey hun,
I just found your blog and you're an inspiration to me. : ) I had some health problems in high school and I've kinda been where you are. I was always sick, but somehow God healed me and my angel of a horse gave me hope.
Hope you have a lovely day!
Emily