Coaching with David Lichman

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take advantage of David Lichman's "Hitching Post" long distance coaching. I got Mark to film me and Iona playing the Circling Game and doing some ridden Point to Point. Right on cue, she pulled lots of grumpy faces when circling and did her little bucky kicking out thing during the riding. So I figured out how to put it on a DVD and sent it off to David for help.

Watching the DVD, and particularly thinking what to write to send with the DVD got me thinking about where I'm at in my own head as far as me and Iona go. I will share with you, with David's permission, what I wrote to him, and his replies. My email and later questions are in blue, David's replies in brown.

Hi David-

Thanks so much for offering this service. I am looking forward to your input!

I am about to send you a 12-13 minute DVD of my impulsion problems with my Fell pony, Iona.

We passed L2 in 2006. Have been rather busy, and a change of location has meant less opportunity to ride her out (she's bored with my 160 acre property already!). As you can see, she is quite short, although we have enjoyed many long canters and gallops in our time. These have been mostly, but not all, in company. The impulsion problems come and go over the years to some extent, but I never really solve them.

I am struggling with the eternal question for the LBI owner - when to go to a big phase 4 and when to wait-wait-wait. No big phase 4s on the video, but I am more of a stick person than a carrot one, so there have been plenty. Also, I guess a big part of my interest in PNH has been to improve my horsemanship, not just to progress with this particular pony. Although I am not a perfectionist, I think I have tended to be too thoroughin covering all facets of the many tasks I have been presented with in the ever-changing Parelli Levels program! The result may be that my very smart pony now feels like a child genius who has been asked to repeat the 3rd grade a couple of times...

I would like to have progressive fun with Iona, but am losing confidence in my ability to reach an agreement with her these days. Help me get the handbrake off without destroying her spirit!

I will include this link to a description of a recent session where we concentrated on circles, so that you can understand how I'm thinking, in case that is useful. If you feel it's not important, that's fine.http://pingalley.blogspot.com/2010/03/flying-changes.html

Kris Hughes

It didn't take David long to get back to me. I'm sure that it would have been even quicker if I had uploaded the video to the internet, but I found it easier to mail a DVD. Here's what he wrote -

 

Hi Kris,

First of all, this should be a lot of fun. Mainly because you are so close!!! You already have cantering, and with a good expression at that!!

Ok, so here are my suggestions. I'd love to have seen the running off, because I think I can help you with that also. It looked like in the early circles she made some half-hearted attempts at leaving... tossing her head as if to pull the line from your hands. I'll save that for another session; I have a suspicion it's related, and the information I'm giving you now may eliminate it, or it may be that you must address it first. I won't know until you try.

1) Try not to use the big wave down the rope as a correction on the circle. It's to much against the forward you are looking for.

2) I don't think the change of direction on breaking gait is working. Disengage and try again. Same thing for snotty look on departure. Disengage and try again. Remember #1 in there, don't put impediments to forward in any of this... meaning the wave down the rope.

3) Need to fix this NOT on the circle. Go point to point on the ground, and have a TON of food waiting at the target point. I'm expecting she will drag you there. The whole thing seems pointless to her; let's give her a big point that she'll appreciate. If Iona is not so food motivated, then do this before her regular meal, when she's hungriest. Point to point with a treat on the fence or barrel. Every time to start, and then vary the reinforcement schedule. Use "encouraging energy" as you run along side to the second point. Build up to a trot to the barrel.

4) Add in an obstacle... a pole or a tiny X jump. So that you can initiate a send... go along for the allow, negotiate the obstacle in the way and arrive at the destination point together. At a trot, same as without the obstacle.

5) Next - in your mind - substitute the obstacle with a new one... a little turn. Turn and run to the barrel. Build up to an arc to the point... then half circle to the point, etc. No stopping at the point unless she's trotting. Build up the entire exercise, over time, to a canter.

6) Fix this strong before riding. Then ride the same exercises starting at #1. If you get any resistance to forward - hop off and send and re-establish leadership on the ground. Then hop back on and try again. Also, check to make sure you aren't bracing with your legs in the stirrups.

Also... I'll throw this out there... is there a high speed internet connection anywhere you can play? I can watch live via web cam, for free on Skype, while we converse via cell phone (if you have a hands free earpiece...).

Hope this helps, and please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you further...

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to help!

dml

Whoa! A webcam and a cellphone!?! Too high tech for me at the moment, but I'm sure it could be good...

Well, when I got this we were in the middle of a big wind storm. Tumbleweeds just about pushing the fences over and there was no way I was going out to play. As soon as I read the email, I noticed that I had a lot of "yeah, but" spots. "I've done this before" "I don't want to go back to NOT doing circles" I didn't really want to think about it. However, after a couple of days in the house with the wind howling, and chatting to Mark about it, which really helped me understand that I had more questions, I sent David another email in preparation for actually giving his ideas a try. David interspersed his replies into my text this time, so I will just copy and paste it like that.

Hi David,

Thanks for your input! We are now having a spell of bad weather here, so I haven't been able to try things out yet. However, in the meantime, a couple of questions/thoughts -

1) "the forward wave" I have had my doubts about this one, as I feel it causes confusion. However, it sometimes appears to result in some very positive exuberance and play. I think this happens more when I am really assertive with it and have good timing. Perhaps it has turned into a form of nagging now.

I don't believe you need to shut down zone 1, when you are trying to bring life up. It's a mixed message.

2) Dinsegage and try again - any thought on same direction vs new direction? I am also interested in why this might have a different effect than changing direction.

It's more polite. "Nice try - let's try again." should be in your mind. The change is more punishing.

3-4) I believe I understand these instructions. Treats/piles of hay are fairly effective with Iona, and I think I do pretty well with "varying the reinforcement schedule". I think where I get stuck is how to be progressive over the medium and long term. We do pretty well building something up over the first few sessions.....it's a week, month, year down the line where I'm clueless.

You can always go back and rebuild. That's what I am seeing. Not enough positive reinforcement. The horse always asks, "What's in it for me, NOW?" The variable reinforcement schedule helps get you through the gaps when there is no primary reinforcer, but it doesn't last forever. It's the chance there might be one that keeps them motivated. And when there is an occasional jackpot - large amounts, or special treat (i.e. sugar cubes) that just elevates the desire more... like a lottery or slot machine.

5) Am I right in thinking that after the half circles we move to a full circle, then eventually laps?

Yes, exactly. You can fix it it up with a moving circle, so she doesn't have to pass the barrel on a circle very close. Move the circle so the second lap ends her there. Or if you are clever... move the circle so you are on the barrel for the second lap. Bonus = improving draw.

6) Will check on the bracing thing. Not doing longer rides for the past year, and mostly bareback, seems to have caused me to have really bad leg position/control.

I'm pretty confident on the saddle fit - it's a really wide Balance Felix fitted by their person back in the UK. We tried a bunch - this is the one Iona liked. Theraflex pad shimmed to the best of my ability. Possibly a little short for me. Ponies are always a slight compromise. However, I was a bit bigger for awhile and she wasn't bucking then - and does the same sometimes bareback. Jerry Williams will be staying with us in May, doing a clinic, I will ask his opinion...

I would like to stick to email/video for now. In order to be fair in what I pay you I will need to keep the time we spend down, anyway. I'm looking forward to going out and trying your suggestions. I'm sure the first session or two will be fun, just not sure where to take it from there!

Thanks for your time!

Be happy to have a look either way. Sometimes it's faster if I can see what you need, and offer it right away, with any corrections needed. Today I spent 5 minutes on your email. I'm reading and typing as fast as I can!

Thanks

dml

Today I finally managed to play with Iona. Not surprisingly she loved doing Point to Point on line, from one pile of hay and carrots to another. Even so, as we played I thought of a whole bunch of new questions. I will post them here, along with our progress and David's replies when I receive them.

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Impulsion

How it's been going...

My recent sessions with Iona have not been brilliant. Rapport, Respect, Impulsion and Flexion have all been wobbly. I seem to break one component trying to fix another. I've been doing my best to do lots of different activities and spend undemanding time, and well as trying to progress tasks I would like to improve with her. So mostly the rapport is pretty good. She will often follow me around or volunteer to help with herd movement at liberty - stuff like that. I see her acting like a partner. But we are still snarled up with respect and impulsion, and so naturally some forms of flexion (like ribs) are not happening either.

Last week I got Mark to video me. I played with some circles (lots of grumpy faces, etc) and also did some riding. Just a basic session of Point to Point. When I asked for trot there was the usual kicking out and little bucks, etc. I have sent these to 5* instructor David Lichman, to see what input he will give me.

When I sat down to write him a note to send with the DVD I realised that my approach to PNH has always been about learning stuff to further my horsemanship skills. Perhaps I have prioritised this over actually focussing on Iona's journey. I'm so interested in experiencing every task and technique from every possible angle that I sometimes fail to consider how Iona feels about that, and hold back a more linear form of progress that we need as a team. That was a huge realisation! So now I need to make some adjustments to myself to get us out of this.

And then today...

We started with some Friendly Game with the "clippers" which was actually a battery powered shaver thingy of Mark's. Well, it buzzes and it's what I have. We've had a few sessions with this before. Very sporadic and haven't made a lot of progress. My observation is that she is not much more "afraid" of it whether it is turned on and buzzing or turned off. Iona just doesn't like small unfamiliar objects, and it's easy to increase her scepticism rather than decrease it, by making too big a deal out of it.

If I were to rate her "fear" on a 1-10 scale, I would say that today we started at a 2 or 3. Probably she was only a 5-6 or something at the first session. However, with Iona it's sometimes a case of  "I am sceptical. Why should I mess with that? If you ask me to then I will act agressive, or maybe shut down. I don't DO curiousity!" So it's difficult to get her to follow an object, for example. I have tried things like just leaving the shaver running beside the grooming kit while we groom or play, leaving it running beside a pile of hay. trying to play Touch It with it, rubbing her all over with it. It's often been difficult to find a good note to end on, however, the two or three sessions we've done have probably chipped away at the scepticism a little.

Today my intuition told me that a slightly more direct approach might work better. Denise was also watching us, and strangely, the fact that I was giving her a commentary on what I was doing and how I was reading Iona, actually helped my focus and assertiveness, and my flow. As usual, it was hard to get her to follow the shaver in my hand, even turned off. She just leans on the rope, so I had to keep turning and turning to unstick her feet. We weren't progressing. So I was bolder and just started rubbing her with it. As usual she's fine behind the drive line, but has trouble in front of it, especially along her crest or toward her poll and ears. This brought on some threatening me with her ribs and shoulder, but I just bumped her hard, with rhythm, in the ribs with my elbow until that softened.

At this point I was able to play approach and retreat with the areas of her neck she was okay with and expand them. She had some mildly RBI moments, but I felt that they were mild, and she wasn't going to explode, so I quietly hung in there until she would blink or breathe, and encouraged her to do things like lower her head. So the "retreat" was more like a change in my energy, rather than removing the stimulus. It worked, and I felt we made a lot of progress in a fairly short session.

We went out to the playground to do some circley things. I'm now pretty happy with the trot laps and trying to progress to more canter laps. How to make it her idea? I sent her out and she took off at a slow walk. So I decided to just leave her out there walking for quite a few laps. It doesn't require much effort from her, but there is no release/reward, either. Eventually, I asked her to trot a little, then canter a few strides and brought her in. We did that a couple of times. If it was good, I threw in a treat. Then we did a few transitions and changes of direction, but always ending with canter before I disengaged her. Her attitude was pretty positive and I was careful to look for a good canter with enthusiasm to finish with. I then unclipped the line and wandered over to help Denise with Dakota for a little while.

On the new Levels DVDs - in L2 there is a wonderful segment on 7 Games with an Obstacle, where Pat introduces the Figure 8 to a new horse. He starts with the horse just circling both markers; then he sends the horse out between the markers, but still just circles both; next he adds in a change of direction through the markers, but still it's just circling; then finally he moves from a circle to a couple of full Figure 8s and back to a circle. I knew Iona would love this, and she did. Of course, as soon as she saw the markers she started trying to do Figure 8. "I know this! I don't like it very much, either. Hey! What are you doing? Huh! You're messing it all up. I like it better this way. Look, I'm gonna do some proper ones now, okay?" It really blew her mind. She could see that I was being very particular about her going out and around those markers, but where was the Figure 8??? We really had a lot of FUN with this.

After another break we also tried mixing up Figure 8 and Weave, which is on the same DVD chapter. That wasn't as great, but I can see how it will help our success in another session.

By now I had the bareback pad on and took her out to a large odd shaped area of the pasture that is currently fenced off, to do Follow the Rail. It's 15 or 20 acres and has about 6 or 7 corners, so I figured it would be more stimulating than the playground. It also has some grass! Our last few FTR sessions have been all about bucking and throwing a tantrum. However, I decided that the bareback pad was a good choice anyway. I know I am "softer" in it, because I don't want to get chucked off! I did decide not to ride with my carrot stick, though, because if she's bucking and I'm trying to push and maybe steer or keep her head up, I just don't have enough hands. My plan was to make it a bit of a corners game, and just walk, then ask for trot shortly before each corner, then reward her with a rest. The first "side" was quite short, and she immediately saw my plan. (Smartie!) She liked the plan! Same with the next side. The third side was almost 1/4 mile long. Her impulsion was great, so I decided to play around with walk/trot/back-up transitions. No problem. We got to the 3rd corner with hardly a correction, in canter, not trot! The whole thing went like that. The only thing she wasn't up for was direct rein turns in trot. I'm pretty sure that she sensed that these would lead on to Bow Tie type simple changes in canter, which she has objected to lately. Today was not the day to pick a fight with her, when her impulsion was otherwise fabulous! If I can get the impulsion established more dependably, then we will re-establish picking up canter leads, I'm sure.

I hopped off, and we had quite a long walk back to the tack room door. I took the pad off and brushed her, gave her a drink. She just wanted to hang out there with me. I had a little sit down on a bench while she just stood by me. Eventually I suggested that I might turn her out. I don't think she really cared one way or the other.  

Flying Changes?

It's been a busy few weeks since I last wrote anything. Petra's lesson series is up and running, and I think all the students are enjoying it. I will try to get some pictures of the action up, soon. We've continued to have quite a bit of mud and snow, so playtimes have been pretty limited. However, I have spent a lot of time watching the new Parelli Levels material, and taking notes, which are already proving a big help. I've got them in a little book, so that I can take them out with me and apply them.

Today I played with Iona all afternoon. We started with the inevitable circle laps. I still believe that these are going to prove to be a key that unlocks many good doors for us. I had 10 laps trot and 6 laps canter on my list, but I decided that if I could get the 10 laps trot, that would be a good session. We played in the large visitors' pen, which is where I usually put Iona when she's in - just to groom her and maybe let her eat hay. It's a funny shape, but at the widest part is big enough to circle on a 22' line. So it gives us a little support, but still gives her some areas to run away to (!!) so that she can express herself.

So my plan was to build up the laps, with rests and maybe some other tasks in between. 1, 2, 3, 5, then 10 laps. My notes from the new DVDs only go through Level 1 so far, but I've been throwing them into my play sessions just for self improvement, and to help new ideas stick. We started off with a little driving the FQ. That went okay, so I started the circles. Lots of running off at first, however, I was proud that I managed to hang on most of the time. She likes to run into the shed. Silly, because there are two poles in there which are just great for wrapping the rope around and disengaging her, etc. My L1 notes said "Horse leaning on halter - do HQ yield." So we did quite a bit of that, whether she was leaning, running off or just looking out on the circle. It's surprising just how long it took me to get that 1 lap each way! I let her rest, and sat down on a barrel and looked at my notes.

"Pressure motivates, the release teaches" they read. My gut instinct is that I need to use an effective phase 4, or she won't get motivated, and I won't get an opportunity to release and teach. She got pretty arguementative, pulling faces and kind of halfway charging at me on the send. I persevered and we finally made 2 really nice laps left. Gave her a treat and right came a little easier. I walked away again and read my notes some more.

"For the horse, with the horse, not to the horse." Well I figure I am doing it for her, trying to help her learn to hold up her responsibilities, etc. Not so sure about "with", though, and I'm sure it feels like "to" to her sometimes. That was probably a fair assessment, as when I sent her to do 3 laps she left immediately for the shed, yanking the rope from my hands hard. So I did some HQ yields, etc and smiled and sent her off again. She then did a lot of coming in and stopping. I just stayed firm and friendly and kept sending her again. When we got our 3 laps I asked for  a little bit of canter before I asked her in. The canter was very nice.  Read my notes.

"Recognise the slightest try." Well, I would look for a chance to do that. Naturally, she thought cantering was probably a pretty good idea now, so I thanked her for offering and reminded her to stay in trot. I got to thinking about some of Karen Rohlf's theories about having better self carriage in ourselves improving the horse's posture, and about visualising what you want your horse to look like, rather than settling for them just doing a sloppy trot. Interestingly, it seemed to make a difference right away. There was some slight leaning toward the gate and stuff, but it went better, and again I asked for a few strides of canter before we took a little break and went the other way. Now she was a little hyped. However, the thought of cantering improved her trot. She did offer it a few times, and I think my new version of "neutral posture with better self-carriage" had a little more energy which confused her a little. However, she then went into a beautiful, very engaged trot. Nice long strides and really picked herself up. She held that for several laps before I asked her in. I gave her lots of praise and treats, and what really surprised me was that she hardly licked and chewed at all. I think this may be because she really enjoyed those laps as much as I did. After that the 10 laps came pretty easy, and we were outta that pen!

I saddled her and we headed out to the playground. Something isn't great about how the saddle is fitting, though. The pad kept squirting out the front. A problem to be solved another day, though. We just readjusted a few times and lived with it. I put her on the 45' and we did some Figure 8s. The circle session did set us up for success, I think. She cantered pretty willingly, and if I'm not mistaken did one or two flying changes. I say that because her little legs go really fast, and her leads are not terrible pronounced, so it's very hard to spot in the moment, and hard to tell whether there was a quick trot stride in there somewhere, but I'm pretty sure she did it. The uncertainty made it a little anti-climactic, but I praised her and fed her treats and got off it!

Follow the Rail was a bucking session again, though. It's about wanting to go to the gate. The herd always seem to be hanging around when we do this, and I'm convinced that this is a factor, but so be it. Since I had a saddle, the bucking didn't really bother me, but it makes me sad. I did stick with it, and things improved a little. We got several nice right leads, which have been problematic again recently.  I ended on the best note I could, when we had at least done a full circuit of the playground in trot. However, what was missing was harmony and rhythm. I think when she is so under-impulsive I get a bit tight and desperate for her to just go. I don't quite understand why the groundwork doesn't improve the ridden stuff, We have been here before and I am tired of it. I need to find a way to make the ridden strategies more like the ones I used on the circle laps....

I unsaddled her and we had a little session in the roundpen. I probably shouldn't  have bothered as we were both a little tired. We just did walk/trot transitions and a few laps of each gait each way. It wasn't brilliant, but probably a better place to stop than after the riding. I'm not sure. She didn't seem in any hurry to leave either the roundpen or the playground, which surprised me. Looking back, I know that I forgot to carry some of the good stuff I learned in the On Line session into the Liberty. Next time!! 

Fun-demanding Time

MUD. After the demo we had more snow. First we had the wet, rainy kind, then the drier powdery kind. With the ground already pretty well saturated, we ended up with really terrible mud. Yech! Except for one day when it had just snowed, I haven't been able to do much with the ponies. That one day was glorious, though. The powder snow was fun to play in, so I took Bruce and Iona into the playground and took turns with them - first doing a task with one and then a task with the other. I ended up getting some nice Liberty Figure 8s with Iona, and some great clowning around from Bruce. (I was encouraging him to clown around. Sometimes it's better to ask the question he wants to hear!)

Oh, yes, and they've been helping with the chores. The first week of each month is Sand Clear week. Bruce would rather not eat this, and not only tips his own bucket over, but then tips everybody's bucket over checking to see if anybody didn't get some. Tiresome. So he has to be brought into a pen and fed from a special untippable bucket which fits in a tire, which sits on a piece of plywood, so that if her throws the food around I can pick it up. Apparantly Sand Clear tastes better this way, as he then eats it up!

I have been finding this such an extra hassle at feeding time. and more so with the mud, as it just means another potentially muddy rope. So I decided it was time to see whether we could do this at Liberty, since he can see what needs to happen. That was no problem, so I was very pleased with that bit of progress.

I've been putting a few hay nets out on the track the past month or so, to encourage the herd to move (I change their locations around each day). With the mud, there is no way I would want to go out in a vehicle, as even if it didn't get stuck it would tear the ground up. However, seven sections of hay is heavy, so since Bruce was in the yard every morning anyway, I decided to get him to carry them. He's done this before, so it's no big deal. The first day he decided to bolt for home with the nets, about halfway across the pasture. Something in the distance had worried him. I must have had those nets balanced just right, as not a single one fell off. I think this deflated him a little, so I easily got him to come to me and we set off again. The second day he realised that once we got to the feeding station he was going to get to stand and stuff himself with hay, so he became quite motivated. Iona's taken a turn on some days, too, now. This is one job they definitely see a purpose to!

Today, I couldn't stand it any longer. The weather has been quite nice (hence the mud) and I really needed a pony fix! So I grabbed Iona's halter and line, and a stick, and walked out to where the herd were loafing under some trees. We messed around a little - I squeezed her through a puddle and over a log, then decided to get on and just hang out. I figured that it would get boring pretty quick, but the herd decided to go for a walk, so I got a half mile or so ride. Just being a passenger. The mud is pretty slippery, so being a great passenger was the thing to focus on. Iona has a tendency to trail her hindquarters and then have them slide out behind her, so I experimented with what I could do to get her to step under herself more.

I also played with whether I could get her to do lateral flexion just by thinking about it. No reins or stick. Amazingly, she did it several times. I just kind of looked down at my foot and thought about what I would do with the reins to ask for this, if I was using them. It was enough for her to feel, obviously. Gee, do you think I'm probably "shouting" at her most of the time, if she responded to that?

I did pick up the reins when we went down a small muddy bank. I watched the other horses. Petra's horses ran down it, jumping a suspicious looking patch of snow. Bruce kinda slid down it sideways. All he needed was a snowboard - he's such a goofball! I didn't really want to  try either method bareback, so I asked her to line up and "do it properly" which she did.

We got to a place where there was grass to pick at. It was very interesting being part of the herd. A couple of times I saw Hunter or JB suddenly do a snappy departure for a new location and I wondered what had prompted that. Observing more closely, I realised that their movements were totally directed by Bruce. His phase one was so subtle I had missed it. It was about the equivalant of a human raising an eyebrow without even looking up at the other party. Boy, his phase four must be pretty memorable if his phase one is that effective and light! And the others have to really be paying attention to him, even though they're searching for a nibble, to notice it. I guess they must consider his thoughts to be pretty interesting! I gotta think about how to be like that.

Eventually, everybody started to turn around. I knew they hadn't been up that way for awhile, and that once they got that unfamiliar ground behind them they would probably start galloping. With the mud, I decided I would save that joy for another day, so I hopped off and let Iona go just in time to see the Browns take off with Hunter and Dakota in hot pursuit, and Bruce at the back, galloping for a bit, then stopping to do a handstand now and again. Iona soon caught up. 

The Big Day

What a lot of preparation our Intro to Parelli day took. Petra, Mark and I seemed to work flat out for the whole week leading up to Sunday. We got stuff printed, put up signs, took a trip to the dump, cleaned house, held a practise, picked up a port-a-potty, sent and answered endless emails, wrote press releases, drafted in extra help from Mark's son Clay, Petra's son Jani, our friend Denise....had lots of support from Sara and Linda - who also rode in the demo, of course, answered zillions of phone calls, borrowed 20 chairs, totally re-arranged the living room, groomed our horses, moved the stock trailer (and the playground fence!), dragged barrels and saddle stands all over the place, stacked straw bales on the flatbed trailer to make seating....and had a wonderful day!!

It was a slightly sedate demo, as the ground was wet and slippery. Iona did really well after all my worries. I felt that I got the rapport/respect balance better as the week went on. I tried to make every day different for her, but was very consistent about bringing her into the yard and giving her a hay net and then doing at least one session of something no matter how busy I was. That seemed to help her, and she started to look to come with me, rather than the herd, after feeding time. We didn't have as much impulsion on Sunday and we had during the last few days leading up to the demo. Maybe we just "peaked" a little early! LOL!! Or perhaps it was due to me trying to keep things extra "soft looking" for the crowd, as during the week I realised that she needed an effective phase four. Maybe I didn't really find it on Sunday.

However, we finished up with a bridle-less weave where I hardly used my carrot stick, and when I went to turn her out with the herd after we were done, I don't think she really wanted to leave me. THAT was worth more than any amount of showing off, as far as I was concerned! 

As the day got closer we began to realise that we were going to get quite a few people turning out. We thought about 40. It was more like 60!!! Good thing we had thought out our parking strategy! We had people from most of the local towns and some from 100 miles or so away. I was amazed to discover that the lady down the road has a daughter (now in graduate school) who is a long-time Parelli student. Lots of people also had their first real taste of PNH, and lots have decided to sign up for Petra's lessons here, which is great! She has filled her Get Started group and nearly filled the Progressing group as well. These are scheduled for some Sundays over the coming months and it looks like they will spill over into the Saturday, too, in order to meet the demand. WOW!

After our outdoor demo, Petra showed some segments from the LIVE Celebration DVD. A few spotlights and Linda's talk on Horsenality. It was great to see people's faces as they watched these, and then were given Horsenality charts to fill out for their own horses. Petra had also arranged for her friend and student, Soraya, to give a short talk. Soraya is both a 4th Level dressage competitor and a keen Parelli L3 (or L4?) student. She was lovely and very down to earth with her presentation, and showed us some little clips of her riding both freestyle and in competition. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her, as she only lives about 30 minutes away. I could use a friend with some Finesse Savvy, for sure!

Here are some

Images from the Day

Petra and JB

Linda and Ducky

Me and Iona

Sara and Sis

Yesterday, Today and ....

I've been thinking about whether I had the balance right with Iona. For years I thought she was purely a "stubborn, dominant, lazy" Left Brained Introvert (although at that stage the terminology wasn't around). When the Horsenality model arrived, I realised that some of her behavior was actually fear based "Right Brained Introvert". So I went through a period of taking care of that part of Iona, now that I knew about it. I'm sure she really appreciated my new level of understanding,  but it possibly made me a more hesitant leader, and that is not what a dominant horse needs. I did a little Horsenality chart on our recent problems, and all I saw was extreme LBI behavior. Oh. I guess that's where we are again.

Played with Iona yesterday. I audited a group lesson with Kime Conkright on Sunday, and she said something that really impressed me about how there is always a chance for a new beginning when you go get your horse to play. She was suggesting to a student that playing for a bit, then putting the horse up for awhile, getting her out and playing again, etc. might be a good strategy. I thought it might be worth a try with Iona this week. Things are going to be hectic getting ready for the demo on Sunday, and at the same time I want to spend a lot of time with Iona, both playing and sharing undemanding time. So yesterday, one session was just grooming her, and the moving her around, etc. that this involves. Even that was hard work. I had no draw, she didn't want to look at me, or put her halter on or be led. Yech!!  Then I left her while I did some other things.

Came back and we played the Circle game. I am trying to increase how many laps of trot or canter we can do. This may be one of the reasons we are having these big disagreements lately. I believe that Iona is "ready and able" to do this. I believe, in fact, that playing with this is going to teach each of us some things we now need to learn about Rapport, Respect, Impulsion and Flexion. However, because I'm still searching for strategies and because Iona is so dominant, this is causing her to "up the ante" and revert to some old behaviors. Like refusing to go forward, charging, threatening to kick, bucking... Yep, she did all of those. Happily, at least it doesn't scare me, and I don't get angry anymore. Frustrated, occasionally, but I do my best to manage it!

We went out to the playground and worked on Weave. This went a bit better than it has been. I think NOT doing Figure 8 and Weave on the same day helps. She finds this too predictable and boring. Perhaps if I can mix them up. I did mix some circles into the weave session, and that worked pretty well. I didn't stay at this too long, though. Too boring for her. Yes, I know it's not the Pattern that's boring, it's the way I'm presenting it. I think I try to go too fast, when actually, being more particular might be more interesting and provocative.

I left her in the roundpen while I went and did a few things. I came back with a bareback pad and hackamore. She did a great job of finding her bareback pad and letting me put it on, although once again I lacked the patience to really wait for her to sniff it. (I am beginning to suspect that this is a huge mistake, by the way!) She was very grumpy and didn't want to do much in the pen. I persisted and insisted as politely and passively as I could. I never hit her, but she did run into my stick a few times. We spent a lot of time discussing circles and Stick to Me, but very little time actually doing them. I tried to end on a good note, and decided to go ahead and ride.

That didn't go very well except as a rodeo event. I wanted to do some Figure 8 at trot around two barrels. Again, I think part of the trouble is boredom, (she could do this years ago) but the lack of respect and impulsion was not appropriate. So lots of bucking. I got to work on my independent seat and emotional fitness. Yea!! Eventually....finally....we got going and did the pattern with a nice trot and a pretty good attitude. We quit for the day.

Throughout the day's sessions I felt nothing but love for Iona. YES, I was frustrated! After all we are supposed to be riding in a demo on Sunday!!!! and I'm not sure it's going to look that good. However, I was also very firm with her. I was fair, I was friendly, but I was as dominant as I could figure out how to be without being mean. And I spent the evening wondering whether I could stand another day like that, as I didn't really know whether it had done any good.

Today my plan was to groom again, put on the bareback pad, do one short roundpen sesssion and then take her out to the big pasture for a passenger lesson-mosey-grazing-thingy! I usually bring any horses I want to play with in from the track just as they finish their bucket feed. I was trying to catch up on a few chores while they ate, and before I knew it Bruce and Iona were starting to leave the feeding area for goodness knows where. I was some distance away, but thought it was worth a try, so I shouted "Iona! Wait!" She did, and when I got there and called her she came right over and put her nose in the halter. Hmmmmm.

I was very particular with her about how she led, how she went through gates, but also particular to reward her (treats) when she did these things well. She mostly did them really well. Grooming was nice. Then I hung out my washing. Came back. Had reasonable draw. Decided to see if she would go with me at Liberty to get her pad on. We walked toward the saddle stand where I had put it. That's near a wate hydrant. She's always thirsty, so I filled a bucket and she had a drink. She found the pad and sniffed it. sniffed it again when I was in position to put it on. So far, so good.

I thought I'd just carry on at Liberty, and although she was slow, we made it into the little back yard and into the roundpen all at Liberty. I really tried to match her slow walking speed, and I think that helped our Rapport. In the roundpen session the bad stuff did come up again. However, I tried to be particular. I didn't find that I had to be as dominant as yesterday,  and after a bit things went well.

We then walked through the arena, out to the track, through two gates, to a mounting block where I lined her up, messed up my mount, had to get off, reposition her, got on again - all at Liberty. All at Liberty! Nothing on her head at all, just me, my pony and our orange stick. I just let her eat for awhile, then did a bit of passenger - eat - passenger - eat, first walk and eventually trot. Her lateral flexion was fabulous, she maintained gait at the trot very well after a bit. Let her eat a bit more and we called it a day. Oh, that is, after doing the whole untacking and turning out song and dance also at Liberty.

They say you have a 50/50 chance of choosing the right strategy, and I guess that what I did yesterday must have been right, if today was anything to go by. I wonder what she'll do tomorrow.