The day before Salsa became River’s travel and quarantine buddy, we took the Flip outside and filmed the seventh session of level 1/2 Figure 8. As you can see we did several games and patterns at various levels.
Music provided by my friend Reggie Hall. All appropriate permissions obtained.
Filed under: Love, Salsa Caliente | Tagged: horses grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship | 2 Comments »
The day before River’s quarantine was to end and she could join the other horses in the biggest pen, she developed an abscess on her right front and popped a splint on her left. This means that when she has to lift her right foot for bandaging each day, she has to put her weight on a sore left leg. And when normally she’d be able to keep her right foot up a bit so the abscess can drain, she’s keeping most of her weight on the right to relieve the left.
“When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear.” ~ Mark Twain
We discovered this on Thursday, when our farrier arrived on his regularly scheduled day at the ranch. I kept myself together in the barn, but when I returned to my office, I was swept into a maelstrom of of anger, blame, despair, and fear.
Anger, directed at myself: Why didn’t I have our trimmer come right away when we saw how long she was, after the Atwood farrier changed his appointment and she ended up coming here without her scheduled trim? Did her overdueness for a trim cause the stress on that splint bone?
Anger, directed at the weather (warm + wet = hungry, horse-eating spores) and at the region: It seems like this area gets a more than its share of abscesses. But I’m comparing it to the desert where I had Rocky — and I wouldn’t really prefer a higher rate of enteroliths and sand colic instead.
Despair, that I must be incompetent, to bring home a perfectly healthy, sound horse and have her double-lame within a fortnight. (Rocky was “serviceably sound” when I got him, too.) Frustration that just when she’d have been allowed to run and play and be all over the ranch with all its interesting obstacles and toys, she has to be confined to a 20 x 12 area until who-knows-when.
Through it all was a strong current of fear for her. This eased as I got more data about splints, and learned that her particular case is relatively mild and won’t affect her later in life if we dedicate to her care these first few weeks (duh!).
But after researching and talking to the vet, Erin, other horse people, and friends, I concluded that it’s better to go through this now, rather than send her out to a taste of freedom and then have to bring her back on stall rest. And frankly, there’s no blame or should’ve or could’ve. It’s just something that happened, and it can be dealt with.
“The degree of one’s emotions varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts.” ~ Bertrand Russell
She’s not quarantined anymore so she can have Rocky for company, not just Salsa; the boys take turns playing biteyface and scratch-me-scratch-you with her through the pipe panels.
There is a LOT of stimulation here, and River has a view of most of the ranch activity from her stall and backyard. Mini-donkeys, miniature pot-bellied pigs, dogs of all sizes, Erin playing with the horses here for colt-start and development, Erin’s students taking lessons, tractors and pick-up trucks taking the manure away to an organic farm, Leslie mixing up supplement buckets, the barn radio — and that’s all just in the morning!
I’ve been experimenting with when and how to doctor my brave and tolerant filly. I’ve found that it’s best to ice and rewrap the left leg first, so it feels its best when I need her to lift her right foot for care. She likes soaking her right foot in a shallow, wide feed tub full of warm water and Epsom salts, while licking a warm mash (oat pellets spiked with a small handful of Senior) out of a tiny rubber feed tub, and then playing with the tiny tub.
I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. ~Winston Churchill
It’s best to have a helper although I have done the whole routine alone, too. A helper is wonderful for distracting her — she loves having the inside of her ears scratched, and it’s impossible to bandage a hoof and slip it into a medicine boot while keeping one hand in her ear. She loves anything to do with her lips and mouth, like the treats in the small tub, or playing with a cone or a brush.
It’s also good to wait for the evening feed to do this all, and preferably after dark. This gives the half gram of bute time to get into her system, and it gets her at a time she’s relaxed and a little bored. Salsa is usually still in his stall munching hay rather than standing outside her fence playing with her, and she’s usually dividing her time between the manger inside her stall and the water trough in her backyard. I put on some music and brush her, then go do things with Salsa, then come back and remove the wrap, then go play with the dog, then come back and scratch her, and eventually over the course of an hour she’s had a lot of positive interaction interspersed with ice pack, wrapping, soaking, bandaging, booting. (And I just this second remembered that I have a Photonic Health red light, which I shall put into my barn coat pocket right now for tonight’s treatment.)
The time between soaking and wrapping the abscess is the hard part, because the foot is clean and I don’t want her to put it down before I wrap it. However, she shouldn’t have to stand very long on that other leg, so tonight I’m going to try bringing her into the barn aisle after I scrub the mat (which will be almost spotless anyway, thanks to Leslie’s diligence about the final sweep out each night). It might be too exciting for her to be out there, but we’ll see, and if it is, we’ll just hang out a bit and then go back into the stall.
I’m still clumsy about it and trying so hard to have everything within reach and organized, but of course she is young and in pain and hopping around the stall trying to get that right foot down, and I don’t blame her. I have been expressing myself verbally (*ahem*) but not tightening up my abs and getting all tense, and while I get too intense in my focus to have conversation with other humans while I’m doing this, I am doing my best to create an atmosphere of concentration-focus not predator-focus, and to do for her rather than to her.
I don’t know how successful I’ve been — but I am trying hard, and learning, and exhausted when it’s all over. I don’t think River is holding a grudge, as at the end, she will press her head into my belly and let me drape my arm over her neck so I can scratch her on both sides at the same time.
River has an indestructible spirit.
Filed under: Health, Learning Experience | 3 Comments »
River is home and settling in nicely. She’s very thoughtful, and if she misses her huge grassy pastures, she is compensating by being deeply interested in all of the activity here.
The RV, garage, miscellaneous household items, and house in these pictures are the neighbors’. Their deck parallels the paddock behind our barn.
Since Saturday night, River has discovered the hotwire along the fence and that midnight visits from her new people typically include a cookie.
Here she is tasting our water for the first time.
Here she is meeting Centella, the Andalusian filly almost exactly River’s age, through the fence. They can’t actually touch noses due to the electric wire so it doesn’t quite break the quarantine. (Click the photo to enlarge it, as the fillies are in almost the exact center of the image, far away from the camera.)
We got to see the new Atwood babies in their pasture Saturday morning, before we loaded River into the trailer to come home. The foal on the left is Gelato and the foal on the right is Hudson.
This is Paris, the first baby of the year, learning about grass.
As the day turns to evening, River explores her new backyard.
On her patio, just outside her stall. The stalls are always open so the horses can seek shelter if they want, but no one is shut inside a stall except on vet’s orders.
River and Salsa are separated for eating, so he doesn’t overdo it and founder. The rest of the time they get to share the space. Here she is exploring his patio while he hangs out in the backyard. The black marks on her butt are from her leaning on the aluminum in the trailer.
Filed under: Gratuitous Pictures | Tagged: horses grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
I learned in session five why our infinity pattern broke, after we did so well in the first three sessions. Session four was pretty bad, and session five looked to be getting worse. But then I realized that when I switched the lead rope from hand to hand and pointed between the cones, I was also projecting my energy ahead of zone 1. Salsa is sensitive and smart and he would stop and look at me, like, huh? You’re clucking (phase 2) and then raising your stick (phase 3) but there is a wall extending from your hand that goes for about a mile, so I can’t possibly keep trotting forward between those @#$%^ cones.
Principle #7
Horses teach humans and humans teach horses.
In the middle of session five, he finally got through to me. If he broke gait on one of the circles, I sent my energy behind him, in zone 5. We got a lot smoother after that. It is still challenge to get two full figure 8s without a brace or a gait change, but that’s not the point. The point is that we are checking in with each other and have actually managed to communicate. (And I suppose the 50 percent reduction in brace is pretty good, too.)
Principle #3
Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea.
Today we had the magical sixth session. For consistency, we practiced the figure 8, hindquarter yields, sends, allows, grazing, and circles. For variety, we did the session out on the lawn (because the arena was full, but hey, it worked out great).
We also attempted our first creek crossing using a squeeze game pattern (send, allow, turn and face). Salsa has followed me easily down one bank, across the bed, and back up the other bank, with and without water in the creek. But sending him from one bank to the other was an eye-opener. Instead of send, allow, turn and face, he did more of a slide, snort, scramble, and soar up the other bank. He landed and took two steps and immediately thrust his head down to graze.
Principle #2
Don’t make or teach assumptions.
Because Salsa is usually pretty accepting of things, it was a surprise (and kind of fun) to learn that he is not as excited about crossing the creek first, without a human to follow. I don’t know how he would be if I sent another horse and then sent him, as I did not try that today. We played around in that area for a while, sometimes including the creek in our squeeze game, other times just playing near it.
He also had no problem getting in or out of the trailer. But he got anxious about being up into the furthest corner of it, and we did a lot of approach and retreat before he followed me into that first slot without hesitating. I also played with the stud divider that blocks that first slot off from the other three, closing it just a little and then opening it and taking us out. Each time, closing it a little more. Until eventually both Salsa and I were standing at liberty in the slot, stud divider fully secured, pretty much relaxed.
This is important because he is going with us on Saturday to be River’s trailer-and-quarantine buddy. We can’t have them both loose in the trailer on the way home, so we are putting Salsa behind the stud divider. He can still move around and they can touch noses if they need to, but they will be separated enough for safety. We can’t use a regular divider because he can walk right under those.
Filed under: Love | Tagged: horses grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship | Leave a Comment »
All through childhood, my chant at every birthday candle, fountain, and other wish-appropriate occasion was “please let me someday have a horse and enough money to take care of it.” I remember putting a lot of time and effort into trying to find a phrase that encompassed that idea without using “and,” as I worried that “and” indicated two wishes, and I did not want the wish-granting beings to think I was trying to sneak an extra one in or go over my quota.
I considered just wishing for money, as obviously I would use it to care for horses, but that seemed greedy and non-specific. Pretty much everyone wants more money, so it didn’t seem special enough to use for a wish. It also entailed the risk that money would arrive but not in the quantities required to transform it into manure.
I also considered alternating the wishes: money with the birthday candle and a horse with the penny fountain, for example. But that had the same risks as just wishing for money. Even worse, it could backfire and result in a horse that I would have for a little while but then would be taken away because I didn’t have the means to take care of it.
Apparently the “and” did not negate the wish, for here I am, three months shy of 40 birthday candles, renting a home on the same property where I board my herd of three.
“What makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, and it may take months or years for wish to come true, but it’s far more likely to happen when you care so much about a wish that you’ll do all you can to make it happen.” ~ Mr. Rogers
I don’t let myself regret the detours and delays that kept me from starting my horsemanship journey for too many decades. (I bought a house in Los Angeles in 2003; why oh why didn’t I buy a horse instead? I moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 1999; why oh why didn’t I wonder if there was any such thing as horse-zoned suburbs that rented apartments? I took hunter/jumper lessons in Golden Gate Park in the 1990s and it was horrendous; why oh why didn’t I look for a facility and an instructor that were a better fit for me?)
As we learn from Disney’s version of The Lion King, you have to put your behind in the past. Can’t change it, can only learn from it, and move on.
But I do want to tell anyone who, like me, believed that horses were something that happened to other people, that you do not have to wait until you are divorced or fed up or — gasp — old to get your first horse. You don’t have to marry and have kids if you don’t want to (and if you do want to, it’s worth spending time at Parelli events to find someone compatible with your horsemanship dreams). You don’t have to buy a house (it’s not the “investment” that the American Myth says it is), you don’t have to own property or live in the country to have a horse, and you don’t have to “stick it out” in normal lesson barns until you get your own horse to start Parelli.
I don’t want to save “just one person” from the delay and frustration and sorrow of believing it will never happen for you. I want to save you all.
Filed under: Reflections | Tagged: natural horsemanship, Parelli grass valley, parelli natural horsemanship | 3 Comments »
Cute Overload recently posted a photo of a pony almost as cute as Salsa. Tewtelly redonk, but true!
What do you think, should I send in this one of Salsa?
Filed under: Gratuitous Pictures, Love | Tagged: pony | 1 Comment »
I took Salsa out for his second session of figure 8 pattern and circle game and wow did he impress us all.
The very first time I asked for a full lap of trotting circle, he gave it, jumping the pole with enthusiasm. He didn’t break gait, didn’t change directions, and looked where he was going. He also more relaxed in his halter and more aware about how my staring at his hiney means he can disengage and come in. When I asked for two laps, we went through a few one-and-somes but got to two full laps much sooner than it took us to get the one lap on the first day.
You’ll choose a Pattern to play, say the On Line Figure 8, and you’ll play that Pattern until your horse gets it. Could be for 5 minutes, could be a half hour. Depending on the Horsenality™ you’ll do the Pattern until your Left-Brain Introvert gets more motivated, your Right-Brain Introvert gets more trusting, your Right-Brain Extrovert gets more focused, your Left-Brain Extrovert gets more obedient. The 4-7 times are the different play sessions. So 4-7 days in a row or if you don’t play every day, it’s 4-7 play sessions ~ Savvy Club Q&A vault, discussing the Parelli Patterns blueprint for developing horses (and humans)
On the figure 8, when he broke gait, it only took a cluck-cluck to remind him to trot, no carrot stick necessary. He braces more on the figure 8 pattern than the circle but several times crossed through the middle with only my changing which hand held the rope and guiding zone 1 a little — no need for stick to back it up.
I added variety with some obstacles he already likes and is confident about, like all four feet on the pedestal, although backing until just his hind feet were on the ground was a challenge for him. I also set up a squeeze with upright barrels — taller than he is — and his challenge there was just the turn and face and wait. He wanted to turn and face and come stand by me. This was wonderful, as when we first rescued him he didn’t want to be near us at all.
I ended with the figure 8s and missed two opportunities where I could have released but didn’t catch the subtlety in time. The third time — a complete figure 8 offered, with only one little place of broken gait but it was while he asked a question — I brought him in and scratched him for a long time. Then I removed his halter in case he wanted a recess to gallop around or roll. Instead, he stayed with me, licking and chewing, relaxed, soft eyes, little ears pointed forward or slightly to the side at me.
The difference is as much in me as it is in him. That is, the progress I have made has opened the door for him to understand and enjoy the games and patterns. I’m more clear in my signals (believe it or not!), and more importantly, I’m more confident in what I’m asking for and whether he is into it. I stay with a request longer rather than panic that I’m insulting or hurting the horse and stopping lest I ruin the relationship. I know what it’s supposed to look like now, and can persist, and adapt, and experiment, and make mistakes, until I get there.
Do your thinking at night and your feeling during the day. ~ Pat Parelli
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.
Cutest pony feet straddling a pole
I started with a walking figure 8 and had him go until he changed direction with just me switching my rope hand, without supporting with the carrot stick. Then we took a break on the pedestal as a reward, followed by some sideways at the fence — we are up to the goal of five strides before resting, and achieved it.
Back to the figure 8 for trotting the pattern. He did his usual trick of bracing against the halter, swinging his body to the outside so he’s trotting a little sideways and leaning on me like a Labrador on a leash between the truck and the lake. He also broke gait at the point of the circle opposite of me.
So I kept asking him to trot and kept asking him to figure 8 and kept asking him to trot and kept asking him to figure 8 and kept asking him — and wouldn’t you know it, he lowered his head a fraction and blew out and organized his trot a smidge. Eventually.
I remember Pat saying to start with games 1 through 3, then the level 1 on-line patterns, then back to games 4 through 7. (See Parelli Reference.) The figure 8 pattern helped me see what I could do with circle game to help me communicate more clearly and Salsa enjoy the game more. I took us to another part of the arena and asked for one good lap at the trot, not breaking gait, and I was not persnickety about whether he had his head up or not because it’s the first time I have persisted this long. And lo! He began to check in, and he began to trot more of the circle before breaking gait, and once he started checking in, he didn’t have his nose to the outside anymore. Eventually.
When he got his one lap we took a rest and a stroll, with the stick and string in a rhythmic motion (not pressure) around him. For our final lesson, I put a pole out and asked for circle the other direction. Even though it was just a cavaletti pole on the sand, no risers, he chose to jump it like he was playing steeplechase pony. He did a complete trot lap a lot sooner in this direction than he had to the left, and that ended the school day. We moseyed out for a grazing snack and then hung out watching Erin developing a pair of Peruvian Pasos and eventually meandered down to the pen he shares with Rocky during the day.
I keep saying things like “persist” and “eventually” as if it was so much trouble to take the time that it takes. But the entire session lasted about an hour, and did not include treats, just scratches and rests and brief-but-interesting interludes of doing things he’s already confident in.
I bet $1 that next time I take him out for trotting figure 8s and circles, he gets it in half the time. Genius.
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 a six-month workalanche, I have decided that Rocky and I will check the mailbox and deliver the mail to the barn. Occasionally some mail arrives for one of the cottages on the property, so we will have to make a mail stop at each door, just in case.
I think it might take more than seven sessions before I’m ready to cross the street to the mailbox. But we made more progress today than I expected.
Rocky was patient while I brushed him, picked out his feet, and put on his EasyBoot Gloves and his Professional’s Choice SMB Boots, which I recently remembered that I have. He looked sharp with the black wraps around all four shins, and the black boots in the front.
We walked down the ranch road to the side gate, playing a few games along the way to remind him that he can walk in all that velcro, and then ambled down the side lane to the dreaded busy road. He was alert but not panicky about this, and we stopped to graze for a while next to the front fence. When he tried to go forward past the fence line, I yo-yoed him back from 12 feet away in zone 2, totally taking for granted that we can do that.
When enough motorcycles and trucks with tarps and cyclists with florescent green windbreakers had gone by, and Rocky and I worked out a rule that if he spooks he has to go backwards, not into the hotwire fence and not into me and definitely not into the fence and then me, we turned to our right and began walked along the verdant bank between the road and the fence.
All of the horses in our turnout paced us on Rocky’s right and I walked on his left a little bit in front, so if he did go suddenly forward or sideways I was not in the way.
Up to that point, we had not done anything new. He’s worn those boots and splint boots before, although not at the same time, and he’s walked down the lane and across the busy road to do the loop walk, veering left from the lane-meets-road interaction.
We have about 15 feet between fence and road, although not 15 feet of usable space due to ditches and shrubbery. Between the lane and the main drive is the seasonal creek, which did not have any water in it today but certainly had soft mud and enough of a ditch that he had to walk through it or hop over it.
The teenage boys across the street were taking turns riding a mini-bike in the shape of a Harley or Honda cruiser, and were going slowly enough down the road that it was excellent friendly game for Rocky. (They have horses over there too; I don’t know if that was the maximum speed for the little kit bike or if they were being polite.)
At the drive, I asked him to back away from the road, and let him graze for a while. Occasionally the head went up and the eye wide and staring, and I did the “don’t go there!” rope wiggle to keep him from retreating inside. We were both alert — him at the surroundings, me at him — but nobody panicked fully and he did look to me for guidance from time to time.
We walked back to the lane, paused to graze, spooked (backwards!) at a backfiring Harley, then repeated the route to the drive and back. the last time, Rocky rushed the creek, scrambling in a half trot half jump, so I had him do just the creek one more time, over and back, in a sedate manner.
Then back up the lane, through the gate, onto the ranch, a squeeze game in the creekbed near the lawn, and finally more grazing. I stripped him and put him away with a good feeling about having been provocative and progressive without pushing him too quickly past any thresholds.
He’s still holding himself a little aloof, as he has since the flank rope day. But by the end of today’s session he was softer with me and stayed at his gate watching me go back to the house when we were done.
Maybe tomorrow I will back him through all gates and sideways him down part of the lane on the way out and part of it on the way back, but only step onto the strip between lane and drive to graze, and then come back in to familiar territory. To mix it up while also spending more time in his comfort zone.
Filed under: Language, Leadership, On-Line, Thresholds | Tagged: horses grass valley, natural horsemanship, parelli natural horsemanship | 1 Comment »
But he learned more from the river than Vasudeva could teach him. He learned from it continually. Above all, he learned from it how to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinions. ~ Herman Hesse, Siddartha
River will be joining our family this month, as soon as I can get the paperwork and payments processed. Her AQHA name is AR I’ll Be Powderific, and she is by I’ll Be Smart and out of Powder River Smoker by Powder River Playboy. None of this meant anything to me, or mattered, until I fell in love and realized that every single thing about this filly is wonderful and fun, including pictures and “stats” about her relatives.
She is an innate LBE with a medium spirit, about 14.3 hands, a “long yearling” who turns two for realsies in April. She is curious about everything and checks in often when she’s not sure what a person is asking, and she is quick to provide her own ideas when mine become unclear or boring.
I’ve known since the Parelli Reno Celebration 2008 that if I ever got another horse, it would be from Atwood Ranch Naturally (or some other Parelli-certified place, should that come to pass, although with Atwood Ranch Naturally only two hours from where we live, it would still make sense to go there).
My reasons for this decision are many. Obviously, partnering with a sound horse who has had the least amount of human-related trauma and baggage possible is an amazing and sensible dream.
But I also get to support two horse businesses that align with my principles, and to grow a relationship with of them, in a very tangible way. I get to put my money where my mouth is — horses are being given away free in this economy, and I chose to enter a purchase contract where I feel I’m getting an unbelievable bargain and value, while the business earns some return on their investment and knows that I am financially as well as emotionally committed to this horse.
And I get to be a part of history, as Tom Atwood wins his gamble of “going Parelli” in such a public way. What other major brand, so visible in professional and competitive equine pursuits, would be so thorough in revamping the entire horse operation and co-brand the marketing and then have to wait a few years for the foal crops to grow up enough to win respect and visibility?
It’s a big deal from a business perspective that a fish as big as Atwood Ranches would leap into the PNH pond so visibly, what with so many people willing to heap vitriol on PNH. (I’m not talking about criticism or disagreement based on information and knowledge of whatever parts of PNH the person disagrees with; I’m talking about the judgments and gossip based on assumptions, defensiveness, misunderstandings, willful ignorance, rumor, and the need to be “right” that people spew online and in person to anyone who accidentally stands still long enough to hear it.)
I didn’t expect to be able to do these things for another few years, but my grandparents — always supportive of my love of horses, proud when I was able to scrape it together to get Rocky — have made it possible to take the leap of faith now.
Grandpa passed away in his sleep just before Christmas at the age of 96. He was a Purple Heart veteran of WWII who went on to be a police officer in the San Francisco bay area for 25 years. During the racing season he daylighted as a security guard at the Golden Gate Fields racetrack. He retired from the police force the year I was born but kept the racetrack job until he was 75, when they couldn’t make any more exceptions to their age limit for guards even though he was fitter than most of the 50-somethings he worked with.
Grandma passed away almost 10 years ago in her late 80s. She was one of the first women to graduate from University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in mathematics in 1937; it was a time when women were not allowed to take the CPA exam to become full accountants, but she didn’t let that stop her from pursuing her education, her passion for numbers, or her career. She worked at the local plant nursery as a bookkeeper, kept a sensible household budget, and always made wise investments, managing their modest salaries into a comfortable retirement and a legacy to their descendants.
As a child I got to spend an entire weekend or school break with them a few times a year, and grandpa would get a pass that allowed grandma to take me into the stables at Golden Gate Fields where we could watch the horses being groomed, bathed, medically treated, walked, fed, wrapped, hot-walked, cooled off, and all the other things that make up the racehorse’s daily routine. Just being around the horses, existing in that space and time, was transcendent.
I took my grandparents’ love and willingness to get horsey for granted, back then. And if they didn’t want me to spend my inheritance on horses instead of investing it wisely, it’s their own fault. 
A character in Longshot, one of my favorite Dick Francis novels, refers to the racehorses as “great elemental creatures.” Not a day of my life passes without a sense of awe and wonder that I should be this lucky, to have the privilege of partnership with my own herd of elementals, and to undertake this lifelong journey with them.
We all end in the ocean, we all start in the streams, we’re all carried along by the river of dreams in the middle of the night…
Filed under: Love | 2 Comments »
“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. The production values are horrible but it’s only 35 seconds and you can see how the pattern differs from rodeo barrel racing (while also teaching horses the pattern so they can zip through a rodeo lightning-fast but without panic).
Pat explained how sticking with the pattern longer helps horses relax and become more confident. We see it happen during the 16 minutes of video, where he canters One Smart Peppy around the barrels on a loose rein, adding the variety of a slide stop at X twice, to keep Peppy from zoning out or getting bored.
The segment ends with a cool example of how this pattern can lead to rather dramatic performances, but because I hate spoilers, I shall tell you after the jump if you want to know before you watch or if you aren’t a Savvy Club member. (Hint: It involves balloons.)
Pat ends his session by asking the students, “What did you learn about Patterns today?” The first, heartfelt answers are that we don’t stick to a pattern long enough and that we’re too boring for our horses when we do the patterns.
I learned last week when I played with Rocky on the 12-foot line and then the 22-foot line and a flank rope that I haven’t been sticking to patterns long enough. In some cases, it’s because the circles put too much stress on Rocky’s ankles. But in other cases, it’s because the moment I see him look uncomfortable — even if it’s a “don’t wanna” rather than an “ouch” — I stop. And thus I am neither particular nor provocative, and what’s more, my genius Appaloosa has figured out that if he bobs his head and looks at me, I’ll let him come in.
If you’ve spent enough time to develop a relationship with an Appaloosa, you know that they have the best smug smirk of any horse.
I was inspired to play with the ropes after I saw Jake developing the yearlings up at Atwood Ranch Naturally, and how the different horses and horsenalities reacted. The medium-spirited LBE filly couldn’t be bothered to be bothered by it, but the high-spirited LBE gelding had a definite opinion and was not afraid to express it with some spectacular kicking and farting. (Boys. I’m sure he just wanted the excuse.)
I started with the rope where the saddle girth would go, then gradually moved it back toward Rocky’s flank, having him follow the rail at the walk and then the trot. At the walk, no problem. At the trot, he decided it was squeezing him to death and that he should come off the rail into a circle and then if that didn’t work, buck a little, and if that didn’t work, shoulder-in toward me with a high head. I kept my energy steady and I can defend my space now with a look and the barest twitch of the carrot stick, and it didn’t take long before he resigned himself to wearing the dang thing. It took longer for him to relax and blow out and be willing to engage with me in a game of touch-it. A brief game, as we had come to a good place, and I wanted to end the session before I got him worked up again.
So, as I re-start my Parelli journey today with the DVD viewing and reflection on my last session, I have a plan for Rocky’s week:
Filed under: Freestyle | Tagged: follow the rail, freestyle patterns, parelli natural horsemanship | Leave a Comment »
The message boards over at the Bay Area Equestrian Network came up with some text codes for horsefolks. Here are some cute ones:
It got me thinking of what PNH student text codes would be like, and I came up with these:
The Savvy Club message boards already use BFO – Blinding flash of the obvious and DH – Dear husband.
I like (and sympathize) with the humor of BAEN’s “BBM – Bastard just bit me,” but after three years of horse ownership and Parelli, I wouldn’t think to phrase it that way. I would probably send the following picture with something like “MAW – My attention wandered,” because I like the pun and because it’s entirely my fault that I got bitten:
Here’s the culprit:
Got good text codes? Share them in the comments.
Filed under: Language | Tagged: natural horsemanship, Parelli grass valley | 2 Comments »
Yesterday, Jan and Dan and I went to Atwood Ranch Naturally to choose a sound partner for continuing our horsemanship journey. We want a horse who will be sound, who will be happy in a family setting, a mix of playing at home and going out on trails, demos and playdays and friendly competitions. A sound horse with a medium spirit, innately LBE or RBI. Of course we want a sound horse with a natural foundation, no abuse or neglect to undo, no unknown traumas or history.
Did I mention, we require soundness?
We got a tour of the amazing ranch with its miles of pastures on an abnormally warm and sunny day — northern California does not tend to be that springlike in January. We met all of the weanlings, yearlings, broodmares, “ladies in waiting” who will join the broodmare bands when they’re old enough, and the 24-year-old stallion they call Target but the pedigree calls Colonel Doc Bar Chex.
Jake Shoemark played with 5 or 6 long yearlings and two-year-olds while we watched from a dias, like the Emperor and his cronies at the Coliseum, with all of the power in our thumbs up or thumbs down. I learned a lot from watching him play with the different horses, and seeing how he changed his strategies from one horse to the next, and one moment to the next.
Then I went down to play with the one I liked best, had Dan and Jan join me eventually, and never even needed to play with the others. She’s a medium-spirit LBE with an excellent mix of sweet and sass. Small but not as delicate in person as the photos suggest. I didn’t get on her back because — well, truthfully, it was because I was shy. Now that I’ve mailed a deposit I’m not quite as shy — I own about 10 percent of her as soon as that check arrives, right?
I will also go through a “tier two” series of soundness tests, playing with her on hard ground and uneven ground and doing the flexion thing and all the other tests on the checklist. I will get an outside vet to do a check, even though I’m pretty sure that Atwood Ranch staff and full-time, on-ranch vet would not have missed something, nor would they have any reason to hide or lie about their horses’ physical fitness. Yet when soundness is the only dealbreaker, a fresh perspective can’t hurt.
Now the emotional bingo begins. I am spiking wildly between it’s her! I know it’s her! and she’s gonna be lame, and then I’ll have to Look, and I HATE SHOPPING. (If I can’t just click once on Amazon and have it arrive in two days, it counts as shopping and I hate it.)
Then my calm, sensible, practical nature says so what, if she’s an unsuitable match for any reason including soundness, it will do everyone good to know it, and I will check the others until everything works, and there won’t be any driving around all over the world looking at horses that all have something wrong with them. Blech.
And my intuition says that’s all ridiculous, she’s totally sound and a perfect match, get yourself organized for bringing her home.
Filed under: Love | 3 Comments »
I mail the check tomorrow and bring her home in the next few weeks. There’s some legal paperwork and all that too.
A perfect day; I am nine years old and dreaming, I suspect. But if that is true, as Arwen tells Aragorn, “then it is a good dream.”
I am posting this from my phone in bed, unable to do anything as sensible as sleeping, and wanting to scream it from the rooftops.
Filed under: Events, Love | Leave a Comment »
Rocky and Salsa have moved temporarily to the front pen so their pen can be used for a guest. I’m still buried in the workalanche, with major projects due January 14 (today!), January 20, January 21, and January 27. Hence, February 1 for re-starting the Parelli program. But yesterday I took advantage of a canceled conference call to go outside and take some photos with my phone.
Click any of the photos to see them at full size.
This is Cotton, a polo pony who is here for a few weeks to study with Erin:
Cotton napping on the poncho
Note that Cotton took down the friendly-game poncho and ripped it to shreds before his nap. Here’s what it used to look like:
Poncho for Friendly Game
Rocky ambling to his new lodging with Leslie
I climbed up into the tree for these shots in the new pen:
Rocky and Salsa in their temporary pen
Something very interesting happening off-camera
Salsa meets the new neighbors
Filed under: Gratuitous Pictures, Love | Tagged: natural horsemanship, parelli natural horsemanship | 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.
