Coaching from Kelly

Trailer loading and Try: Although Try is always willing to go in to trailer (obedient), she is not motivated nor energetic about going in there. Kelly fed her horse dinner in the trailer. With grain in there, Try will go on her own. Also Try pinned her ears when I swung carrot stick and string to be sure she would do it quickly with the 10 minute time limit.

No trailer to use to play: use pedestal as a resting place. LBI's love to put their foot on things and be up high.

Note: assessor Kristy has LBI.

Be aware of my rope handling: helicopter flick of the wrist.
Sideways towards do from farther away i.e. end of 22' with belly of rope on the ground like liberty.
See if can lead by one tail hair

Try may be innately more of an extravert but made to be an introvert through her western pleasure background. I want to release more and more of her play drive. Western pleasure could have made here grumpy, pissy. Note: she used to be a machine showing no curiosity or play drive around me. The touch-it game was a revelation.
Kelly said she is lovely horse or words to that effect.

Weave: Try doesn't appreciate my cueing her front end (??back end)--problem area is the end of the weave pattern--how about having a barrel there with a treat? That way she sees a clear end to the game coming instead of the prospect of endless, mindless repetitions.

Circling game: standing still is bad--get it moving, travel the circle, go to tree and wrap, run and turn away--chase. cookie. Spins, falling leaf, improvization, variety. More imagination, and fun for motivation.

Send Kelly some freestyle and liberty footage. LBI definately prefers them to online--insulting to have that line on their head.

Liberty: LBIs love to mirror--I'm moving my feet, you should too.

My focus remains shaping my behavior to be a better partner for LBI Try. I have been researching the topic, found about 40 ideas, suggestions etc from dvd/savvytimes/hot line etc. Then organized them into clusters hoping that would help me come up with a “program” for myself. Came up with about 5 clusters:

1. Ideas centered around my energy and her energy
2. Use of reward to motivate
3. Variety
4. Remaining neutral rather than nag/micromanage
5. All about me: my attitude, negative self-talk etc. (The new mastery manual is great for this.)

In doing this I realize that variety is something I can plan but the rest requires constant conscious awareness of what both Try and I are doing, thinking, feeling. This is not so easy to accomplish. I am remembering an acting class game used to heighten awareness of self and another that I want to try. This I think will require s l o w I n g down everything and waiting in between to allow the analysis to happen on a deeper level as there is so much to be aware of all at the same time.

passed online level 3

Passed!!!!! L3 Online

great obedience

for L4: need motivation and exuberance--key is variety
was subtly micromanaging circle game

Thursday, June 11 Emotional Day

Read the latest mastery manual on emotional fitness 5 times and went thru it with Bethanna in place of riding lesson.

Try: times when she lacks emotional fitness:
Online: change of direction and canter--hates circling
Freestyle: turns at a canter that are not part of a known pattern (my miscueing??)
I thought it was important that the faster she goes the more adrenaline and that I want to find a way to help her, relax. ??faster and slower game??

Moi: Most important: I realized my emotional fitness: I get frustrated, feel guilty, like a failure, etc and that energy does nothing for our relationship and wears me out. I did not realize how much negative self-talk I have been indulging in. When something doesn't go right, I figure its my fault for not knowing what to do or being accomplished enough, etc.

Visualization/mantra to change--post.

Finding Neutral Savvy Times May09

Giving the horse responsibility

Circling game

1. biggest test of responsibility on the ground espec w/introverted horse.
2. circling game: its the horse's responsibility to keep going in the gait you have asked for while you are in neutral
3. Neutral means relaxed, could be talking to someone etc anything but concentrating on the horse or waiting for him to make a mistake
4. A horse can feel intension as pressure
5. adjust only when he doesn't uphold his responsibility to maintain gait and direction
6. fascinating for horse as compared to mindless micromanagement of longing

Freestyle

1. The best way to teach a horse responsibility is through freestyle.
2. use patterns giving progressivly more responsibility
3. when you put him back on pattern, you have held him accountable for straying, but the moment he is back on the pattern you drop the reins and trust him again.
4. 4-7 session for horse to learn the pattern and to realize that I am giving her the responsibility.

The more you use your reins, the less they use their brains.

Finding Neutral

1. On the ground neutral means keeping your feet and emotions still
2. Riding means not moving your hands or feet or changing the E in your seat. But doesn't means you relax as that should tell your horse to stop
3. the opposite of neutral is micromanagement

Allow the Mistake

Reminded not Reprimanded

1. Remind by picking up reins, putting on course then going back to neutral
2. My attitude is crucial--not critical
3. 4-7 sessions

It won't be long before I'll find myself riding a cloverleaf, and Try is actually making all the turns and asking if she should stop in the center--but not actually stopping until I agree.

Thursday, June 4

Putting the Relationship First by Linda Parelli, Feb Savvy Times

• Anyone can MAKE a horse do stuff--can relationship be so good horse OFFERS to do things?
• Not putting relationship first if worried about getting all compulsories into 10 minutes.
• Its not about the ... if meeting goal is imp Try will feel it????
• Focus first on her confidence, motivation, calmness play.
• take the time it takes, take care of the little stuff

1. wait for horse to come to you
2. does she halter eagerly
3. don't push her if reluctant
4. give her what she needs now--relaxation, rest, play???

• gain rappore by being appropriate for her horsenality, know what is important to her.
• help her to feel safe
• gain trust by not pushing or forcing, give her choices and allow her to make decisions
• retreat if loses confidence
• not tricking
• repeating til relaxed
• being consistent
• its a game
• do the opposite
• be subtler
• not repeating over and over
• enjoy the challenge
• encourage her to use her energy
• give her constructive things to do patterns
• be progressive.

from dvd Lois and Clyde with Linda

1. Slow way down, LBI are thinkers
2. made you move
3. reward strategically
4. get away from grass--eat to make you mad
5. match the energy--bring E down til he gets interested in you
6. train yourself to manage your energy
7. no whacking--flick w/sense of humor
8. its a game
9. ask him to go slower than he wants
10. do opposite of what he expects

LBI quote from savvy club

I really like this savvy club contribution this a.m.:"And over the last few days / weeks, we hade an enormous break through! It feels to me, that she’s finally “letting her guard down”, really starting to trust in me, work with me. Don’t get me wrong, we had a great relationship before and were envied by quite a lot people for that, but I wanted more; she is a really strong LBI, so people often mistake her calmness and confidence as a good relationship, but I knew better… "hmmmmmmmmmmm

LBI quote: Linda Parelli savvy e-news

Welcome to the land of "Why should I? What's in it for me?" This horse reads people like a book. She knows what you want and she's not going to give it to you, unless you treat her right. Even though she appears stubborn or lazy, she's not at all lazy in the mind! Reverse psychology is where it's at, oh, and treats! Trail riding is perfect for this horse! It is great that is where you do most of your playing! Being in an arena will be challenging for her. You will need to find ways to keep it interesting for her and keep your sessions in there brief. Use incentive: treats, grazing, rest, scratches, etc. Give her time to think. She's not a slow thinker; she's just got to stop thinking resistant thoughts before she can be more in tune with you. Variety is important; it makes life interesting. Use more drive than draw. Teach her some tricks. This is fun for both of you and is a good way to make her feel clever. The Parelli Patterns will help you to spark your imagination and to stay progressive. This program will allow you to progress to the next level one Pattern at a time, instead of holding you back until you are able to complete all tasks. This will help you to keep variety in your mare's routine.

Why can't the circling game be fun?

Ideas:

1. Vary the rope--22/45
2. Vary the location
3. Have fun yourself
4. traveling circles--inc straight line for horse
5. obstacles
6. goal thinking on the circle
7. transitions within the canter--slow, fast
8. use her ideas
9. reward the play drive/exuberance/temper tantrum
10. circle to some clover
11. go part of a circle and rest
12. go circle to barrel with a treat
13. my attitude non adversarial
14. my energy, how light is light but effective phase when necessary
15. sometimes let things go i.e. too fast/too slow trotting behinds; other times be more particular.

Other

• Diamond gets the same way when we do a "boring" circling game. I've found with him it helps to go over obstacles while moving in the circle-poles, barrels, tarp...whatever. AND if the horse REALLY doesn't like circling-have pit-stops throughout the circle. When Diamond really hated the circling game(he used to flat-out refuse to circle after one lap) I put two upright barrels positioned parallel to each other, so that on a circle my horse would pass to the outside of each of them. On each of the barrels I put a treat. Pretty soon Diamond realized the faster he moved on the circle, the quicker he got to the treat and we were TROTTING in the circling game even when I was just asking for a walk!
• Gotta agree with the others. I put a treat on the top of three barrels in the round pen, then sent Tango out on the circle. She did her usual head tossing snotty face until I got her to stop at a barrel. LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!! It only took one for her to get it. I added a verbal Whoa, along with a complete relaxing of energy and danged if she didn't coming to a sliding stop at the next one. I took one barrel out, leaving two and used the Whoa sometimes and kept her going another. I was tickled that she didn't anticipate stopping but waited until I brought my energy way down and said Whoa. My next step was to take another out, playing with just one barrel and I started to mix it up more. She loves puzzles so I didn't get any snotty looks after that. Cones, barrels, small rubber dishes - anything will work! I've learned to slow it waaay down and make it a brain teaser.
• I used the traveling circle game to get to a cone ( I scattered them all around the arena ) then stopped him at each one for a rest and a treat! I used a change of direction followed by a halt to keep him interested in the trot, but as I got more savvy I decided teaching him to stop at a cone for a treat was probably the way to go for my LBI so I taught him to canter on a circle that way, it was so easy and now he offers me a canter! Wish I'd known that when trying to get a few steps of anything faster than a slow walk LOL!
• snappy departures to THAT patch of grass there (no more than a full circle away) - change of directions, quick - get to that dandielion right THERE and you get to eat for 20 seconds!

Circling Game - Levels 1-4

Level 1

1. yoyo back, stop, wait, then send
2. 2-4 laps walk, trot not breaking gait
3. disengage HQ GAME OVER

Level 2

1. 4-6 laps af the trot and canter on the 22' line
2. change direction at the trot
3. traveling circles
4. obstacles - maintain gait

Level 3

1. 6-10 laps of canter
2. walk/trot/canter transitions
3. 45' line: change direction at the trot, walk trot canter
4. simple change
5. s shape and falling leaf
6. obstacles--hills, tree

Level 4

1. 10-20 laps 45' line canter
2. flying change
3. flank rope w/12' line
4. back 1-2 laps 12' line small circle
5. decreasing and increasing circles
6. spin and go using rope to teach