I hadn't intended to try riding bridleless during our session but everything felt right so I decided to just give it a go and it was awesome! Aspen felt calm and connected and was doing her best to read me and be responsive. We even tried cantering and jumping!
There's also some clips of our progress with backing on a circle, a little bit of sideways toward me, and some flying changes on the 45' line on the figure-8 pattern.
Holy amazing day today! :D Wowza!!
Got our first circle going backward today - Aspen navigated all the turns on her own without me moving my feet at all!
The FLCs are coming smoother on the F8 - had to get her life up a bit and warmed up to get the focus going on cantering through the whole pattern. She's also really stepping up her game doing the single down barrels - got two in a row today!
Got on bareback, had the lead rope hooked through my belt loop and had my CS and neck string on. Got some responsive HQ and FQ yields and then some great circles and F8s. Got brave and took the halter off for our FIRST bridle-less ride - and she was awesome! We need to work on steering a bit - she was really drawn to Matt who was taking pictures for me so there was a lot of drifting toward him but overall she was really good! Got some jumps and all three gaits! Totally awesome!! She was also feeling really confident with me up there and let me lie back on her and get up and kneel on her back today - both first times for those too. Lots of licking and chewing! Very happy!!!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Such a beautiful day - not too hot, not too windy, and not too rainy! :D I started the afternoon off with Aspen by letting her graze and spending some undemanding time with her while I ran through my flash cards for Fast Track studying.
I really love this sweet horse - I always want to throw my arms around her or bring her home and snuggle with her on the couch while watching a movie.... but then remember she's 1200lbs of prey animal and snuggling on my couch is probably not her idea of fun or comfort! I try my best not to treat her like one of my dogs and just let her be and be with her without constantly looking at her or touching her or doing something. Be still. Something I'm trying to do more of in other areas of my life, just to be still and listen, and to simply be by being present in my mind and body.
Aspen really offered a lot today on-line. We warmed up by cleaning up the sideways game at the walk, on the fence with my feather line. She really lags her hind quarters and isn't doing a true sideways so I want to help get that a little better on the fence before playing with it much more off the fence.
We moved onto using the Game of Effort with our canter circles. What a smart horse she is! I'm seriously considering putting her on a talent show for her uncanny ability to count! She knows exactly how many laps she needs to do before she's met her goal and can stop. Getting great expression and draw and lots of effort with the canter laps. I even got one send today with her leaving at the canter! Wow!
Jumped the barrels standing upright twice - her first one she knocked one down and the second jump she aimed for it and cleared it powerfully so we just quit there. Asked for the F8 at the trot, she offered it at the canter, and got her FLC's both ways! Holy cow this horse was on fire today!! Good fire - not crazy fire! :) :)
Hopped on and used Steady Rein for stretching at the trot and then asked for the canter once each way and quit when I got blowing out and stretching and less rushing. Overall a great ride even though it was short!
I turned her out in the field to graze when Emma arrived so I could help her with her horse who is hard to bridle, lead, steer, or stop. Within a few minutes we had the mare bridling with her head down and seeking the bit with a treat and keeping her head down so we could take it off - even Emma got to try it and was successful! Also taught Emma how to use lateral flexion for stopping her horse and a better way to steer a little. Once the mare could yield to the halter for lateral flexion turning her became much easier :) Definitely want to keep up the bridling exercise and the LF for 7 days and see how awesome she gets by the end of it!
Went back out to the big field to get Aspen, brought her in, groomed her and hung out while Emma and I ate some cherries. Aspen was begging like a dog for the cherries - tried giving us her cutest face to get a cherry and when that didn't work began doing the Spanish Walk! lol When I put her back into her pen I watched her for a while and for minutes (maybe 10?) she licked and chewed and yawned... how interesting?? Wonder what she was thinking about or if there was some hidden adrenaline anywhere?? Perhaps going out on the back pasture to graze by herself had got her blood up a bit, other than that she was totally bottom-lip-hanging-calm today.
Hanging out while I study for the Fast Track!
Emma & her mare, Bobette.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Samantha Thorning
with
Aspen,
(On Line, 15 mins) Warmed up with circles and changes of direction.
Samantha Thorning
with
Aspen,
(Freestyle, 30 mins) Had a great short ride on Aspen, lots of relaxation
right away, a few jumps, some great canter and then to top it off a
great stop and backup with no reins! :D
Hi everyone! :) Here are my quick and dirty levels auditions that I submitted last week on the 4th! Had to get them done to send in with time for evaluation before my Fast Track. I don't think it's really a sample of our best work together but overall I am really happy with how hard Aspen was trying to please!
We hauled from Dillon to Bozeman (100 miles) to meet up with Jenny, my 3* PP, who offered to video these for me. When I got there for my lesson and taping it was 90 degrees and raining off and on - talk about muggy! We battled some bugs and a super itchy Aspen who just wanted to lay down and roll as well as the inevitable new-environment-syndrome (aka spooking) at times. But we got to play with the pedestal for the first time EVER and Aspen was so proud of herself when she got up there! Great expression and question ears :) We also cleaned up the weave at the trot - which I've been neglecting some. I think we did really well with some tasks and in others - such as sideways in my freestyle - I was surprised that it kind of fell apart. I guess that's why it's a challenge - we ride and play with live animals not 4-wheelers that are the same and consistent day in and day out.
It was a great day of learning and really put my organization and mental tact to the test once the camera turned on! Just knowing that someone is filming you and you're going to be submitting it for evaluation was like taking final exams in school all over again! Silly nerves! So anyway, great to check out my emotional fitness in that regard.
Since I've been back from Bozeman I've only just gotten to ride Aspen once - which was yesterday - and we had a great time together! Played OL first, the weave was really good - so awesome to have such drastic improvement after some help with Jenny, and we got flying lead changes in the F8 pattern. I wasn't asking for the canter but she offered it and was maintaining the pattern so I just let her go for it - WOW! Where was that piece of awesomeness on audition day?? ;)
Riding was super fun too, I'm really noticing a change in Aspen under saddle. I feel more of a connection to me - like she's not just tolerating me on her back but she's noticing and feeling me on her and trying to work with me. We did some walking weave with my CS and then I did a passenger lesson at the trot using Steady Rein to help her stretch. Once we had that we worked on some JUMPING! So fun and she was a super star! And then ended with our canter work which was mostly relaxed and head down/level the entire time. Ahhh - I just love this!!!!!!!! I love having fun with my horse and I really feel like she enjoys it too! :D
I love your comments and support on my videos and blog posts - sometimes they show up here, sometimes in my video comments section, and sometimes on my Parelli Connect page - and it always makes me happy to know that others are out there appreciating my journey and experiencing some of the same struggles and triumphs with their own horses.
And by the way....Only about a month left before Fast Track!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Samantha Thorning
with
Aspen,
(On Line, 90 mins) I brought the puppies
and their pen with me to the barn today not thinking that it would
cause every horse to go RBE when they saw it. Aspen was all kinds of
worried and snorty over it, so for about 20 minutes we played with
approach and retreat with the use of a forward/backing in a turn
pattern. Pretty soon she got real calm, started thinking about the
pattern and less about the puppies, and was able to just chill out.
I
brought her into the arena with plans to improve both of our skills
with the 45' line. She was totally awesome and has a great backup and
sideways to the end of the rope with my feet staying still. We did a
few laps of F8 and then went into the pasture and played with traveling
circles, changes of direction, and backing all the way up to the arena
and through the gate from 45' away. I am SO excited and impressed with
how much blowing out and stretching was happening while doing circles at
the trot and canter on the 45'. :) :) Can't wait to play with it
again tomorrow!!!
It is starting to feel like Fall a little bit around here. This morning was clear and crisp and it actually felt kind of nice to be able to wear a big, comfy sweatshirt for a while. I have a roommate who has a friend staying with us for a day or two. The three of us decided it was such a perfect morning that we'd all walk down to the coffee shop together with all 6 of our dogs!! Oh the stares we got from passersby! haha Such a happy, tail wagging bunch. A delightful way to start off a fresh day - friends, dogs, and coffee!
It warmed up a bit by the time I got out to Aspen's and she met me at the gate again today, impatiently waiting for me to arrive! Poor thing has another mysterious injury... I don't know if it's a cut of some kind or an abscess that broke out on her coronet band. I didn't have anything handy to really clean it out and it seems tender to the touch but she's sound. Another thing to keep an eye on! :(
She has our routine down pretty good, I halter her, mosey through the field toward the arena doing a little grazing along the way, then into the arena and straight over to her grain pan where I brush her and get her ready for our play time. So today I decided to hide the grain pan in the arena :) Boy was she confused! She made her beeline for the area I normally feed her in and when she found no grain she was so surprised! She started sniffing all around, looking in the wheelbarrow, in my brush box, trying to find it. She gave up and rolled for a while to get the flies off and then continued her search for the grain. Finally found it hiding behind one of my markers for the weave/figure-8 patterns. :)
On the ground we played with sideways without a fence - which is coming along SO great, some figure-8's at the trot, and then more on a better quality circle. She offered some really nice canter circles, though did get to bucking in some of them. Was all LB - couldn't tell if it was flies or just feeling playful. I asked for some rapid changes of direction which really got her blood up - she can really move when she wants to! So playful when we do these - it's a beautiful thing to see!
I got my new girth finally so I can ride again and got on with the idea of having zero brace. I wanted her not to resent my presence on her back and eventually she started listening for some of my ideas. :) We did a little follow the rail at the beginning which included going over a very small jump, maybe 12" high. She trotted over and "landed" in a canter!!! Now, I know ideally she should have maintained gait and not started cantering BUT it was our FIRST canter since she's been back!! It was SO nice and felt SO good!!! It would have felt better if I had a saddle that I could really balance in. Mine just jostles me around everywhere which is such a pain in the butt. I am looking to buy a Frank Baines Enduro or a Parelli GP Saddle if anyone has one for sale!!!
Aspen has a lot of brace in the halter when I'm riding so we played with some more softness there. She was bracing harder to the left today, but by the end was improving a little. She's really got the 9 step backup down, now we just have to work on straightness and better posture through her neck and head during the backup.
For me I really want to improve on maintaining the correct position on my balance point when riding and using a TON of focus and 4oz or less of physical pressure on my horse. I want to use my BODY and LEGS before my hands when riding. And I want to come up with better plans for our rides and become more particular without being critical. I'd also like to figure out why Aspen braces in her neck so bad when I dismount and put my hand on her mane.
For Aspen I would like to see her soften to the halter when I'm riding and have more rhythm and relaxation when we move up into a trot. I'd like for her to be a more willing partner when I am riding and look for the right answers like she does when we play on the ground.
The next two days at work are going to be crazy with our Labor Day Rodeo going on in town so I most likely won't see Aspen until sometime next week. :( Lots of time however to review my DVDs at home, learn some new knots, and develop a better plan for riding.
On September 16th I have a lesson with PP Jenny Trainor and fellow Parelli student Melanie Martin-Dent and her husband. I am so happy that they will be coming to Dillon as I don't have a trailer yet - I can't wait to have Jenny's input on many of the things I need help with!
And...I do have one more piece of exciting news but that will have to wait until next week. Check back to see what it is!!
