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Goodbye Stoneleigh. After getting frustrated for weeks that I hadn't been accepted onto the course, I have now decided to take it as a sign that 2009 is not the year for me to go. Recently my health has declined and for the next few years I have to be realistic and expect ups and downs. I would be absolutely devestated if I had spent weeks preparing for the course only to turn up and only be able participate for a few hours a day because I'd overdone it. It's really is a shame but I feel it's for the best; I will get more out of a Parelli course once I can comfortably afford the fees, I'm in level 3 and when I'm feeling stronger.
I've put out a few feelers to friends and instructors so I can make sure that I spend the course money to benefit my horsemanship as much as possible over the next 12 months. I'm determined that I will still have a fantastic year!
I had a good session with Lily today playing the friendly game and there was a lot of licking and chewing which is always nice to see. Well, hear because Lily is a sly-licker being an introvert and all. :)
For a little while I won't be around much because I am getting another puppy tomorrow! Making sure the chewing, piddling and pooping in the house is kept to a minimum will be my priority. His name is Dillon, he's a red, sable and white tri-colour Papillon and he's a sweetheart. I'll post pictures soon. I'll try and keep updating though when I get given a break I'll either be out with the ponies, doing my uni work or sleeping so internet activity will be limited.
Hope everyone's well |
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Warning: LOTS of photos in this entry! :)
Today I had such an awesome afternoon with the ponies. The weather was beautiful and although I'm still unwell I once again had to get my Savvy fix. Turns out that it's not flu but a relapse of my condition which is a little concerning but I'm not going to let it stop me from going to see my partners! So out I went to the yard.
Benji caught me and we played friendly game with the carrotstick because he's been a bit unsure of it alately. He did plenty of licking and chewing so I moved on and introduced the technique of moving Benji towards me for mounting featured on the September '08 Savvy Club DVD and he understood it better than I thought he would! He got plenty of carrots and fuss for that.
 We then moved on to sideways and he was very responsive but kept trying to put his head over the fence, seeing as the fence is pretty high he looks a bit awkward when he does that. I'm sure as he gets more confident going sideways he'll stop doing it because he does seem a little anxious when he does that. I'll just keep asking for a few steps at a time and give him plenty of praise for it.
(Click on images for a bigger version)
Friendly game is getting better!
 Circling game to see how exuberant he was feeling today...
 Turns out very exuberant. He was getting a little Right-Brain here and I couldn't understand why until I saw this photo...
 That is not a neutral position that I'm stood in, it looks predatory as if I'm assuming he'll make a mistake and I'm too ready to correct it. I didn't even realise so now I know I'll make a concious effort to look friendlier when he's doing the right thing!
 I'm in a predatory position again and watching him like a hawk; silly me. But, I had to post this picture because he looks like a little fairy with his little prancing legs! Hehehe.
 Lead by the leg. He found it rather boring but it's a must-learn for ponies just incase of injury; you never know when you'll need to be able to lead from other parts of the body other than the head.
 A rather willful and resistant yo-yo. They do say you tend to have one yo better than the other yo. Seeing as he backed up at phase 1 and judging by his "you and what army?" attitude in this picture; I might know which is my better 'yo' at the moment! ;)
After pre-flight checks, cinching up in stages and playing 'no, you come to me for mounting, little monkey' I hopped on. I checked my brakes and played the friendly game with my carrotstick because this was the first time I'd ridden him whilst carrying it. He was fine and seemed a lot more obediant because I was carrying the stick, how interesting.
Look at the little dangly bit under his ropehalter; his neck is so small that I can't make my two reins any longer without him being at risk of tripping over them, you should see how long our leadrope is on a 22ft line made into a hackamore - it's so funny.
 We then moseyed round and I practised plenty of lateral flexion it has been less than 100% and I was determined to get our one-rein stops softer. At first he didn't feel the same way...
 He just didn't want to yield at all. Then after some passive persuasion in the proper position; he kept up his responsibilities and started acting like a partner...
 I was so proud of him for being more cooperative and willing; although he's 13 I'm pretty sure he's had less than 100 hours of being ridden (I'd have to check with his owner, Nat, though to be certain). Thats only 4 full days, not even a drop in the ocean to the 365x13 years he's been alive. You could say he's being rebacked after not being ridden for so long, I'm also asking completely different things of him than he's been asked before and he's doing brilliantly.
So we moseyed around the field!
"I've been a good boy so I've taken you to the Candy Shop. Feed me, missy!"
 I really like this picture, he looks so healthy and laid-back.
 Then we had a bit of a trot around the field. I was really proud of myself for having the courage to do so because I haven't trotted him out of the grass school on my own. It looks like I'm slipping to the right on this picture but it's because I felt his ribs bending out so I was guiding him back to keep 'following the rail.'
 He once again got a lot of carrots and fuss for being such a good partner today!
I then went to go see Lily and play catching game/stick to me with her.
It must be said that my mum did an fantastic job at taking all these photos.
 I really like this photo, Lily has managed to keep some topline even though she's barely ridden. She looks so pretty here. :)
 "Strike a pose"   Lily's dishing the gossip on the happening of the yard whilst I'm not there but we had to keep it low-key.  Benji suddenly got interested in me again so he walked back over and it looked as though he was looking round me and saying "Oh, so you're here too?" and Lily's saying, "Hello! Didn't see you coming."
I'm a real sap at times and after seeing this next photo, I really teared up. After working so hard on gaining Lily's respect and trust these past few months, this exact moment really showed it's affect on Lily. Makes is all worthwhile and then some. We were just playing stick to me as usual but I made an effort to match her energy today and it really intrigued her when I walked backwards. I recommend clicking on this image to see it properly, her expression is just what I wanted.
 Okay so you've seen pictures of my shrinking violet but you've yet to see her Hyde dual-personality. She's such a funny little mare and I love her to death even when she's frowning so much you can't see her ears, lol.
 I hope you enjoyed reading this entry as much as I enjoyed making it! Please comment. :) |
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| Hello, BFO. It's been a while! |
Since my last blog I've been going through the motions up and down which has been a test of my emotional fitness. AND I've got flu, woohoo!
I've been going up to see the gruesome twosome frequently but we've done little more than friendly game and undemanding time because my head wasn't in the right place. Today is such a beautiful day that I resisted my brain trying to convince me to get back in bed; I needed my Savvy fix!! I wrapped up warm and headed out to the yard very slowly as I can hardly move.
When I got up there both ponies were vying for my attention and Benji shoved his nose into his ropehalter. We moseyed down to the grass-school where I sat on a bucket whilst I squeezed, circled and figure-8'd him over/around/sideways in front of some jumps. He was responsive, stretching well and moving nicely but our draw wasn't as good as the drive so I thought he needed some time for bonding. I brought him in and he rested his head on my lap whilst I stroked his neck. He wasn't his usual nipping, cheeky self and I was glad; I think he knew that I'm poorly and couldn't handle boisterous behaviour.
As we moseyed our way back up to the field I was walking vvvverrrryyyyy slowly so I sent him out in circles around me and considering that was the first time I'd asked him to he was very good. I then stood and evolved our circling game by asking for transitions. Last time I asked him for transitions online he wasn't ready and we went a few steps back. This time I felt that we were a lot better prepared though. So as he went past my shoulder I got my life up and asked him to trot. He yielded his hindquarters and did his deer-in-headlights face which usually indicates he's going right-brain. Then I remembered what Darin had said earlier in the week that it was possible he could be acting right-brain. Recently I have panicked and brought Benji in if he went right-brain because I didn't want to make things worse. So when Darin gave me a new perspective on the situation I had a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious); without realising, I had been teaching Benji to go right-brain if he didn't want to play anymore. Whether or not he is pretending to be right-brain or he actually is right-brain in a situation I need to remember that me shutting down isn't going to help either of us; it's not what a good leader does!
So! Back to today, I had remembered Darin and I's conversation and I looked at Benji and he looked as if he was saying, "Warning: I'm about to explode!"... If ever I did see a bluff that was it. I said back, "Cool, go explode out on the circle then!" and he was like "Wait... Whaaaaat?!"
I left him out there to think about it and after a few minutes of sulking (proves the point that he wasn't right-brain that time because there was no explosion, not even a little one... How interesting!) I asked him to trot and he did a fantastic transition and then went back to walk at phase 2. I was grinning like a cheshire cat!
We then had a grooming session to finish off and it was interesting asking him to lower his head so I could brush it whilst sitting down etc. and I found out he loves the back of his front legs being rubbed and his forehead being brushed. I feel a lot more perkier than I have done for a little while and feel a lot more Savvy. Yay! :) |
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| Lately I've been feeling so unmotivated about everything but especially Parelli. Since starting it I'm pretty certain there hasn't been a day gone by where I haven't been expanding my Savvy and right now I just don't feel up to it. I've been avoiding the SC forum, whenever I watch the videos I either feel disheartened that I can't even get out of this start of level 2 rut or I don't feel anything. Last week I was going into overload writing up articles, playing and planning my sessions so perhaps my mind is telling me I need a bit of a break to recover. We'll see. Today I hope to have a bit of a brainstorm and see where I'm at, where I'm going and where I've been in the hopes it might pick me up a bit. |
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Rain, rain go away! :(
At least all this horrible weather will give me a chance to blog more about my aims, what can be improved and watch more Parelli vids, read articles etc. |
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After a very miserable and unsuccessful play with Benji yesterday, I couldn't have gotten any success out of it because of the elements and circumstances. My little rainmac was blowing about which was scary, it was raining heavily and windy, my coat didn't protect me from the elements so I was cold, my face was scrunched up to avoid the weather because I'd forgotten my visor, Benji kept freaking out then slipping on the grass and the rope and savvystring both got heavy and muddy so I wasn't able to be accurate, the mares were winding him up because they were hungry. I couldn't do much about it so I came home feeling incredibly unSavvy. Then I decided that I wouldn't let the weather get the better of me and I am investing in better waterproofs including waterproof trousers for the winter. Well, it is England afterall!
We all have our bad days so I tried not to beat myself up about it too much and learned from it instead. Now I think as Autumn is drawing in I will have to play in the mornings as that is when the best weather is.
Today was much better, I decided to keep it short, sweet and simple so I had time to play with both and give them more grass. Lily caught me so I brushed her mammoth mane and picked her feet out, she's too sensitive with her hind ones so I friendly-gamed them for ages with a positive response. I then played friendly-game on the move with CS and SS; she snorted and hopped about the first time I threw the SS over her but then she soon settled. I found it really helpful to get my legs in time with her front legs to keep her from getting her legs sticky because I knew horses like sychronisation. Boy, it was hard keeping up with her, I was taking leaps to keep up with her long, lovely legs! After a few minutes she started blinking so we stopped and I kept the savvy string over her 'til she relaxed and then gave her a treat. Second try she did a lot better so we then hung out and she was very affectionate. I hadn't realised until today that Lily has a small light blue line around her eyes, she's so pretty! :)
Benji came to me no problem and I gave him a lot of treats to semi-apologise for yesterday and for him to associate being caught with something good. We then played friendly-game on the move too but I thought after yesterday it would've been too much too soon with the CS and SS so I used the end of the 12ft line. Benji just constantly wants to put me in zone 1 in order for him to relax and that just isn't practical so I made sure than 85% of our session was me stood in zone 2 or 3. It went pretty well so I gave him another treat and a fuss and turned him out.
Today I set it up for success and felt much more Savvy as I left the yard, hooray! And look forward to plenty of pics over the winter of me looking like a doofus in a waterproof overall. It's okay, I know I'm too cool, haha.
I've also updated both Benji and Lily's pages, go look now! :) |
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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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