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 »
When I first started freelancing, I had to commute barefoot on hardwood floors 20 feet to my desk, uphill both ways. A few years later I found a shortcut — I bought a laptop that weighed slightly more than a farrier’s anvil and kept it on the floor by my bed. On those days when [...]
Filed under: Auditions, On-Line | Tagged: level 2 parelli, parelli audition, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
In four lessons, River and I have made huge strides in our bond and in our progress as partners. We have practiced figure 8s, weaves, circles (with obstacles to jump over!), and sideways over a pole, interspersed with rest breaks while we audit Jan and Salsa’s lessons. We start the lessons by feeling our horses. [...]
Filed under: Lessons, On-Line | Tagged: horse lessons, parelli natural horsemanship | Leave a Comment »
In which I publish another video of the hilarity that ensues on the path to my red string, and share an insight I had about backwards, sideways, and journeys.
Filed under: Auditions, Liberty, On-Line | Tagged: parelli natural horsemanship, progressive | 1 Comment »
River gets sticky and tends to lag on-line, not just walking 12 feet behind but kind of dragging on the halter at times. To instill a new pattern of cooperation — walk with me, not against me — Erin taught me how to teach Stick to Me on-line, with an eye toward future Liberty. Rocky [...]
Filed under: On-Line, River | Tagged: parelli natural horsemanship, stick to me | 2 Comments »
In which Salsa shows that he’s ready for provocative and progressive play.
Filed under: On-Line | Tagged: horsmanship grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship, parelli patterns | 1 Comment »
On Tuesday, I took Salsa out for an hour before hitting the road for a business trip. I applied the lessons I have learned recently from Pat’s segment on “the power of infinity” (Savvy Club DVD January 2011) and from playing with River, who did not already know to maintain gait and direction at canter. [...]
Filed under: Feel, On-Line | Tagged: natural horsemanship grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship, parelli patterns | Leave a Comment »
Erin’s mailbox is across the street from the main entrance to the ranch. It’s a busy road, the main thoroughfare for this part of the county, and it has a wide variety of vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. In the spirit of putting principles to purpose as I am back on my progressive journey after [...]
Filed under: Language, Leadership, On-Line, Thresholds | Tagged: horses grass valley, natural horsemanship, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
In the past couple of months Rocky and I have had only 6 or 7 sessions, not counting the turnouts in the arena where I spend a few minutes with him before returning to the office. We are proving that the Parelli method works even if you can’t live in a tent with your horse [...]
Filed under: Gratuitous Pictures, Gratuitous Videos, Learning Experience, On-Line, Trail | Leave a Comment »
In which I share a revealing video of my first attempt at filming my audition for a Parelli Level 1 On-Line Savvy assessment.
Filed under: Gratuitous Videos, On-Line | Tagged: level 1, parelli audition, parelli natural horsemanship | 2 Comments »
In which I learn to help Rocky get calm and focused in the front arena by applying lessons I learned at the Fresno “Parelli Across America” event.
Filed under: Leadership, On-Line | Tagged: horse training, parelli natural horsemanship | 3 Comments »
In which I report on a good horse day, and as I write, realize that I did quite a few things right tonight.
Filed under: Health, Language, Leadership, Love, On-Line | Leave a Comment »
The attitude of juh-wuh? This one means “trust, but be ready to correct, no more one than the other.” Trust your horse to do his job, and if he makes a mistake, help him: answer his question, bring him in for reassurance and try again, ask for the gait again, or whatever is appropriate for [...]
Filed under: Feel, Health, Leadership, On-Line | Leave a Comment »
In which I reveal a success with Salsa and a road trip with Rocky.
Filed under: Language, Leadership, On-Line | Leave a Comment »
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Dick Francis Novels
I re-read the entire collection of Dick Francis novels at least once a year.
