Respect and leadership are my current priorities. Before I went outside, I thought about Rocky’s right-brain introvert horsenality and what happens when an RBI becomes confident. I thought about what I have to change in myself to provide leadership and earn respect, without damaging our rapport. My goal: “do less now instead of more later.” [...]
Filed under: Freestyle, Liberty, On-Line | Tagged: horseback riding, parelli natural horsemanship, penn valley | Leave a Comment »
For most of the 4.5 years since I bought Rocky, he’s been training me more than I’ve trained him. Today, I realized the balance has shifted. Today, he walked through a water obstacle because he trusted me and I told him it was safe. Today, he asked for some time to get over a threshold [...]
Filed under: Freestyle, On-Line | Tagged: horseback riding, parelli natural horsemanship, penn valley | Leave a Comment »
I rode Rocky bareback tonight for a few laps around the arena in each direction. No bareback pad, no saddle blanket with surcingle, no breeches with leather or grippy seat. Just his bare back and my yoga pants. Honestly, are horses coated with Teflon, or is it just Rocky and me? What a slippery perch [...]
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I rode my friend’s Halflinger on Thursday in a beautifully groomed covered arena the size of … well, probably a rodeo arena, but I’m not exactly sure because I’m not familiar with the various sizes that arenas come in. Certainly long enough to challenge my ability to keep a horse in a straight line when [...]
Filed under: Freestyle, Leadership | Tagged: horseback riding, horses grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
I recently remembered two essential things: I have an English saddle. The English saddle fits Rocky pretty well. We are building each other’s physical strength with 5 or 10 minutes of walking on Sundays and Wednesdays, mostly around the ranch, with a little bit of playtime in the arena. It takes about an hour all [...]
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12 January 2012 Rocky and I joined up at liberty and walked around the outside of the covered arena for several laps. He started out with a good trot and gallop around the ranch with the minidonks but after that was definitely asking for direction, so I tried this. Each lap, he was more relaxed [...]
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Yeah, that’s me, up on my Atwood Ranch filly, all casual and relaxed. Of course inside I’m going SQUEEEEEEEEEE! I did the whole progression, with direction from Erin: stand and “pet” her with my legs, jump up and down in all zones, heave myself (with a boost, LOL) over her withers, lie flat on her [...]
Filed under: Freestyle, Lessons, Love | Tagged: horseback riding, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
“The longest I ever cantered a horse on this pattern was an hour,” Pat said. He was referring to the series of figure 8s — infinity signs — that make up the barrel racing pattern of the Parelli Games. Here is a quickie video I took with my cell phone, to show you the pattern. [...]
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Tuesday around 11pm, Dan, Jan, and I got our horses out and headed for the arena. Jan played with Salsa while I warmed up Rocky. I asked Dan to be our cow, but he wasn’t sneaky or fast enough to be very challenging, and then Rocky got excited about driving and almost nipped Dan’s hoodie. [...]
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In which I recount a small ride around the ranch and what I learned about the natural power of focus.
Filed under: Freestyle | Tagged: parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
In which I describe just the merest hint of all that happened today in riding Rocky, his first day (serviceably) sound since the abscess.
Filed under: Feel, Freestyle, Language, Leadership, Learning Experience, Lessons, Love | Leave a Comment »
In which I reveal in agonizing detail what I did with my horses today, although I took pity and separated it with a jump link.
Filed under: Freestyle, Language, Leadership, On-Line | Tagged: parelli natural horsemanship | 2 Comments »
In which I record today’s sessions with each horse, and include several pictures.
Filed under: Freestyle, Language, Leadership, Love | Tagged: horseback riding, parelli natural horsemanship, trail riding | 3 Comments »
In which I ask the gold hotline a freestyle riding question and get confirmation that I am internalizing the principles and applying them to day-to-day horsemanship.
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In which I reflect on recent freestyle riding practice.
Filed under: Freestyle | 3 Comments »
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Dick Francis Novels
I re-read the entire collection of Dick Francis novels at least once a year.
