On-Line

On-Line

Parelli Level 1/2 On-Line Savvy Audition, Take 5

Posted on February 15, 2012 by horsegirlonajourney

Some of you might remember one of my earlier attempts to capture my on-line audition. (Hint: Flies.)

This past weekend, I made another attempt:

I learn so much from these.

For one thing, I did what I tried not to do — I started out too intense, stiff, not playful. I could feel myself being that way, and could feel and see Rocky mirroring it. I tried to just keep on doing things and breathing and trying to ease myself down and bring him with me into the easier place. That was good practice. I’m sure I will be on the spot again some day, maybe even at a demo or a show, and will need that practice of centering myself.

I also tried staying on-line instead of letting Rocky go free first. I wanted to try to capture his fresh-from-his-pen exuberance in the audition. We’ve been playing at liberty a lot recently and it’s been crisp and clear and cold, and he wanted to frolic. I think we would have been fine frolicking on-line if I had been able to loosen up right away. Instead, I think I insulted him, and what he gave me, he gave with a tail flick and pursed lips.

And yet, things did improve. We both relaxed and our partnership became more evident to our observers. He gave me contact on the circle, and did his best for sideways. He trusted that I could see he was stiff and would not demand too much, and I didn’t. Our best of the compulsories was the trotting figure 8. He offered a great one, with a flourish in the middle, and I brought him and took off his halter. At that point … well, if you watched the video, you saw what happened next.

This morning I opened the latest audio CD and listened to an interview about auditions with Parelli Professional Kristi Smith. She talks about how the audition process has evolved from a task-based focus to a relationship-based focus, and gives some tips for capturing that relationship on film.

The further I progress in my journey, the more certain I am about my goal of becoming a one-star licensed instructor so I can teach newbies enough to get started and then pass them on to higher level instructors for further study.

I was thinking just this morning of Pat’s saying that the better a horse goes backwards and sideways, the better he does everything else. When I feel like I’m “going backwards” with horses, or that things went sideways because they didn’t go as I planned, I remind myself that the more “off track” experiences I have that result in my returning to my “track” with deeper knowledge, skill, and understanding, the better guide I can be for others.

Categories: Auditions, Liberty, On-Line | Tags: parelli natural horsemanship, progressive | 1 Comment

Don’t just do something, stand there!

Posted on December 18, 2011 by horsegirlonajourney

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.

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Rocky sorta kinda always wanted to stick to me, and in fact looking back, I can see that Rocky taught me how to play Stick to Me game — at Liberty, no less. I didn’t teach him nuthin’.

With River, I’ve had to learn how to be particular about her finding the sweet spot, able to flick behind instantly when she lags or to use the stick in front if she surges forward. The stick, not the lead line, as at Liberty I wouldn’t have the lead line.

We did well the first two sessions but on the third, I felt like I was getting after her constantly, and that every walk turned into several flicks or a turn to the inside hindquarter yield. I didn’t want her to think that being with me means being flicked all the time. Embiggening my phases just made her less willing, so I had to think about what else I could do. I thought … well, she’s lagging, so what if we walk v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Not just step and pause, but actually moving our feet in slow motion.

She loved it. Her ears came forward, she looked at me, she matched her steps to mine, and I slowed us down even more. Then we rested and licked and chewed. After that, I could alternate among stealth walk, normal walk, jog, and trot, and she would stick to me.

We had varying success in the fourth session yesterday. We are taking today off. In the next session, I want to combine Stick to Me with Point to Point. I’ll hide cookies, apple slices, and other goodies around the ranch — guess I better put the donkeys away first — and we’ll practice all our gaits and find treats everywhere we go.

That should work on two levels. One, she won’t get so obsessed about the idea that I might have cookies on my person that she can only think about mugging me and not about anything else. Two, she will find new interest in Stick to Me because we’ll put the principle to a purpose.