It's Rides Like These

Today I had a really, really good ride with Sonny. We have always had trouble with freestyle, but I feel like something really 'clicked' today. 

It started yesterday, when I rode in my new bareback pad for the first time. Love it. I don't know how i lived without it? Anyways, when I first got on Sonny yesterday he was slightly obnoxious; he was pulling the leadrope out of my hands, diving down to eat grass, blasting around as fast as he could, and overall just not being a very good partner. Like usual, I put my hands of my ears and "la la la la" pretended that it was okay. After a little bit I thought to myself 'would an alpha mare allow this?' Of course not! So why was I? I then made it a point to be a good leader and the change was immediate. 

Purple! 

I was more particular about every single thing I did. When I wanted to him walk (even if he was eating grass), he needed to start listening to phase 1 or else he got a quick 2, 3, and an actual 4, not just a 3.25. Before I knew it, he was walking off when I smiled with all four cheeks. He doesn't even do that in the arena, let alone while he is eating grass. Huh, how interesting! 

So today I started off online with the bridle on. He is getting really good about seeking the bit; even after I take it off he tries to grab it again :). But there is still some unconfidence with it on. He knows how to respond to pressure on it, but chops every once in a while. So today I just left it on him while I did everything: grooming, while he ate grass, while I played online, and for the first time in a long time, while I rode. I am still not 100% positive this was a good idea; I could have easily blew his trust/confidence. But, I thought back to level 1. When you first introduce the carrot stick, you take it everywhere until it becomes a part of you and your horse. You do the same with the 45' line in level 3. So I thought I might as well apply the same theory to the bridle. I won't use reins with it until he is confident, but until that point I want it to be just like a second halter. 

Grooming while the bridle is on.

Once I got on, he walked off when I smiled with all four cheeks, even though he was eating grass (insert huge grin here). I had set up four cones as a question box in the middle of the arena. I started my ride off with that to get him interested. The first thing I did was move his hindend around to face a different direction in the box. I realized when I put my leg on, he marched his big butt right around without moving an inch forward and I didn't use reins or have to use my carrot stick. Whaaaaaat? (insert shocked face here). Since when is my horse so responsive? Of course I went on to test the other direction, his bad way. Again, he marched right around without even thinking a hair forward. Now I was really blown away. He always associates leg with some kind of forward and I always have to use my stick to remind him that it doesn't. So today it finally clicked that leg does not mean go. Win :). 

I went on to play with the question box, the clover leaf pattern, and follow the rail. All of the above were better than ever before. It obviously stems from our new found knowledge of left not meaning go. For the first time ever, I could guide him at a trot and canter with my leg without going faster. Before, he would be fine at the walk, but in the trot and canter he would just blast forward whenever I put let on. Today he put effort into the question box without being rude and diving towards it. The clover leaf pattern was next to perfect; I could use just my eyes, belly button, and leg to do an entire clover leaf at the walk, and only minimal carrot stick at the trot. Then, for the first time ever, he actually put effort into following the rail today. For some reason that has been a huge problem for us. Today I could do entire laps at the trot in the huge outdoor with only 1 correction per lap. Wow! We even started follow the rail at the canter and made it down one long side without any corrections. That is HUGE for us (since normally he just blasts around and pretends to be a race horse/cutter/reiner/bronco). 

It's rides like these that reassure me that we our on the right track and our freestyle will be exactly where I want it to be if I keep up the perfect practice. It is really easy to see someone riding (um, Kalley Krickeberg, anyone? Her spotlight at the Tour was truly unbelievable) and be discouraged about where you are with your own riding. But, the last two days made me feel confident that we are on our way! Before you know it, we will be exactly where I envision us, it just takes time and perfect practice. 

Sorry for the book, but I was just thrilled with everything tonight. I am so excited with where we are and where we are going. Good, better, best, never let it rest! 

 Oh, how I love him. 

Grinning Ear to Ear

Another fabulous day to add to the "Horsenality Movement"!

Yesterday I started to pay close attention to his faces with everything I do. For instance, I haven't been allowing him to come into my space until he has at least one ear forward. Although I would prefer two eyes and two ears, anything is better than both ears back. Usually he doesn't have them back in a super ugly face, but it isn't anything pretty, either. If at least one ear isn't forward, he doesn't get to come within a few feet of me. Guess what doesn't happen a few feet away from me? Treats. I don't get mad and only back him up if his ears are back and ugly, but he doesn't get scratches or treats unless he has a better face.

Along with that, I have been much more conscious about his face's during the games. For instance, I never realized just how many times he asks me questions out on a circle. I always am so neutral (in fact, too neutral!) that I pretend like he isn't there. Without putting pressure on him or changing my energy, I tried to really recognize all the times he either a) keeps an ear on me b) gives me two eyes and two ears or c) does anything except have both ears back. This was really eye opening to me. I get discouraged very often when it comes to his faces (especially when I see my friend's horses lock on with their eyes and ears constantly). But, I fail to take into account all the great things my LBI offers me. Today, especially.

My goal was to work on my slow hand transitions, from all gaits. Interestingly, he loves to come down from a walk to a trot from my slow hand, but not to a halt, back up, or even trot from a canter. My theory is that when I was first playing with the slow hand, it was easiest for him to go from a trot to a walk so that's when he was reward the most. So today I worked on all sorts of different, and snappy, transitions from my slow hand. I asked in the same spot, but not every time. Within about 3 circles he came to that spot, basically half halted himself, and then shot two eyes and two ears at me "Stop or keep going?". Bam, game over :). Not only was he rocking the questions today, he even continued into my space with two eyes and two ears. That makes me all smiles :).

Ignoring my big, fat, finger, doesn't
that face just melt your heart?

After a few good changes of direction and coming into me with a happy face, I moved on to the bridle. We haven't played with it in a while, which is my fault. I need to make it more of a habit to help him overcome his confidence issues with the bit. Today I put it on him and was standing there playing with instagram (just got it for my droid) when I noticed him yawning. Not one yawn, not two, maybe not even three, but more like four yawns later, I was totally in shock! I have been pressuring him to sigh or lick and chew for months now, and the minute I turn away he lets out the biggest release. Huh, imagine that ;). Maybe he isn't the one that is so tense anymore? Definitely food for thought! (That is Sonnys least favorite kind of food). 

Love this little booger so, so, so very much.

Liberty, and Justice for All

If you have ever been around an LBI, they definitely don't like to be told what to do. In fact, I believe that Sonny spends his nights in his stall strategizing on how to do the exact opposite of what I want. Okay, not really, but sometimes it does seem like that. Linda always talks about how much reverse psychology works; I believed it after the first time I told Sonny to not get on the trailer and he did.

I tend to be a very controlling person; I am a perfectionist and what everything exactly the way I want it right now. If you keep up with my blog, you will know that lately I have been on a serious "horsenality movement", trying to understand my LBI to the best of my ability. A major part of my "horsenality movement" is to be able to be the best partner I possible can for Sonny.

We had a great time playing yesterday online. He gave me some really happy faces and I kept it short and sweet. I went back down last night to load him up and take him over to Stephen's. Stephen was running late so I had about 20/30 minutes to kill. I wanted to take him out for a walk around the barn, but I changed it up. Linda said to change things up, do something unexpected. So, I took him at liberty.

I didn't do a whole lot. We walked around the barn, through the grass, out to the front, then back in. He never left my side. Even through the grass and past multiple other horses. When we got back in, there were a bunch of horses in the aisle, so we had to stand and wait for such a long time. He was still at liberty (I had my savvy string around his neck for my safety net) and stood right with me. He never tried to move and was happy to just stand there with me. Which totally blew my mind, because even when I have the halter on I have to remind him every two seconds to stand still. And that's when he isn't dragging me around the aisle vacuuming up all the hay on the ground. The feeling that you get as you weave in and out of people and horses and go through arenas and grass and gates and your horse stays at your side, well that's one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. Without a halter and rope, its like we had something tying us together so much stronger than my 12 foot line. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

I've always had an idea that Sonny loves liberty. It is definitely his favorite savvy, and not because he thinks he can get away or get more food that way. It's because there's justice for all. Justice is defined as "the quality of being fair and reasonable". Not saying that I am not fair online or while riding, but what better way for him to voice his opinion to me than by what he can say at liberty. There have been times when he has shouted at me online and I was oblivious. He doesn't even have to raise his voice for me to hear him at liberty. Liberty requires us both to do our part, and recognize each other's needs. At liberty, we are equals.

Therefore, I am going to try to start applying that same concept to all other savvys. I want there to always to be mutual respect, great communication both aways, and most importantly, the partnership. The more I trust him (and vice versa), give him a bigger responsibility, and don't make assumptions, the happier he will be and that will build an even better partnership for us.

When you take the halter or bridle off, you are left with one thing. The truth. And the truth is, I am so lucky to have such a great partner.

The love of my life <3

Visible Progress

After learning so much about LBI's at Equine Affaire, Sonny and I have made so much progress. Looking back at my play session on Friday, I knew I was still missing something. The intensity was a huge factor, but I just wasn't all the way there.

Sunday I went out with the intentions of really making him happy and having him want to be with me. What makes an LBI happy? Food and rest. So we took it out of the arena and out to hay field. I let him eat for a while, then slowly started playing with intensity. I made sure I had my LBI face on, and got to it! Again, I went back to the basics: yielding the forehand and hindend, simple sideways and easy circling game. I didn't want to bore him, but at the same time I was trying to observe the way he reacted rather than push, push, push him to do things. Like with Friday, I saw huge results with my slow motions but intense mind. I was very impressed with the circling game. After only a short time playing, he really got interested when I made things a game. I made my send on the circling game a game: don't make me pick up my stick or else I'm going to tag you! Right away he caught on and I had a forward, happy, trot without him even trying to stop and eat until I asked him to. Win!

I let him loose for a while and played lots of friendly game while he ate. Rather than be boring and just clip my lead on and walk him back to the barn, I played the catching game. The first few times he would come up to me and walk for a bit, then get distracted with all the grass and fall behind. Normally I would push him to stay with me. Instead, I moved slower and become more intense. I played stick-to-me backing up rather than pushing him to walk with me. Before I knew it, he was right there beside me back to the barn.

We had to go through a gate to get from the hay field to the "holding area" outside the barn. The area is small and grassy and basically just an area that is fenced in so if a horse gets loose in the barn there isn't anywhere for it to go. Since Sonny was at liberty, I expected him to go eat grass while I shut the gate. To my surprise, he has turned around to face me as I closed the gait and waited. I walked away from the gate and he followed me, and again stood there with me rather than eating grass. I rubbed his face and his neck while he preceded to sniff me up and down and up and down. It was like he was meeting me for the first time all over again. After a few minutes of standing there and rubbing his head and neck, he shook his head, let out a big blow and licked and chewed. After he had finished I walked him back into the barn, where he stood at liberty while I cleaned him up.

I was so thrilled with the day that it gave me goosebumps. I feel like I am slowly but surly making progress in the LBI department. I hope to continue to fulfill his wants and needs and become the perfect partner for him!

Light Bulb

At Equine Affaire on Thursday I had a few major "ah ha!" moments. They went something like this:

(One of my favorite movies!)

They came to me in Linda's first demonstration on horsenalities. Of course I focused on the LBI, Christine's mare, Z. I have always felt like I understand LBIs because I can be one, too. But after Thursday, I feel like I have a whole new outlook towards them.

One of Linda's ways to show the different horsenalitlies was through the circling game. When she got to the LBI, I knew she would slow her down in order to have to speed up. She did, in fact, do that, but she did a few other things that really caught me off guard. She started with the yo-yo game. Z was looking pretty out of it, so when Linda asked her to back she didn't respond (a real shocker). So after going through her phases, Linda popped her on the nose with the end of the 12 foot line. That woke her up and got her attention! I was fairly familiar with the act, tagging an LBI isn't uncommon. I have heard Linda say many times to tag an LBI around the flank. Even though it was great to see it in person, the way she did it was what made me have my "light bulb" moment.

When I play with Sonny, I always try to match his energy. Being an LBI, I go really slow. But that's not all there is to it! Linda explained that not only do you have to match them physically, you need to match a horse mentally as well. "Light Bulb!" Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! It made so much sense to me I wanted to run down to the area and give her a hug right then. When you mirror a horse, you aren't only mirroring the outside of them, you have to mirror the inside. Although Sonny is really slow on the outside, his brain is constantly moving full speed. When I go play with him, I go so slow mentally that I am just boring him to death! As Linda put it, I need to be physically slow, but mentally intense.

You can see how mentally intense she is! 

I was so excited I had to go play with him right away. I made it out Friday night and it went so well! When ever I used my phases, I tried to imitate how Linda projected her energy. She moved so slow, but had this smirky/half-evil/I'm-gonna-getcha look on her face. You could tell, even from the stands, how she projected her energy to make her phases a game.

One of her milder faces ;).

Sonny caught on immediately. I just did simple things like moving his forehand, but I played around with my energy and my intensity. I started off with my old and boring/mindless way, then increased my intensity without increasing my speed. It is more difficult than it sounds, but man did it work!

I wanted to keep things short and sweet. Another thing I took away from her demonstrations is that I need to be more aware of what makes him happy. Being in an arena is not one of those things. So I just played the basic games and tested them with my intensity. After only a few minutes he perked up, become responsive and interested! After moving his forehand around with almost only my intensity, he licked and chewed like made then let out at least 5 or 6 yawns. I took that as a "Oh thank god you finally understand me!" and ended on that :). 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Linda for opening up my eyes!

What Really Matters

Lately I have been trying not to ride so much because I don't want to ride too much and have Sonny get bored with it. But, I have a freestyle lesson tomorrow and thought that I would ride once Saturday to play with the question box before my lesson. The ride wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was wanting. Our geometry with the question box was awful, our upward transitions were almost nonexistent, and if he didn't want to turn, not only would he sometimes ignore phase 4 with my carrot stick, he would take off in a canter! It made me so upset that we aren't where I would like to be with freestyle and it bummed me out for the rest of the day.

Today I went down with the intensions of having a little fun before I went to work. I didn't have a whole lot of time (about 45 mins), so I was just going to get him out of his stall for a bit. Things ended up going so well! He gave me great faces, transitioned from phase 1, had some great slow hand transitions, the spanish walk went well and I even got another flying lead change! Woo hoo! Throughout our time together we were both happy and having fun. When I was on my way to work I was thinking of how nice it would be if things could go that well everyday. 

They can. I can't except perfection ever, let alone overnight. All I can do is enjoy my journey to being the best me I can be, like I talked about here. I keep going through these phases of losing sight of what really matters: the relationship with my horse and the journey at the present. Even if I would have gotten on Saturday and, voila, he was a super trained level 4+ horse, would that have given me what I was looking for? Of course not. If he was perfect from day 1, what would I do after that? There wouldn't be any learning, any challenges, any getting to know each other, and most importantly we wouldn't have anything to build our relationship off of. 

From now on, I am going to tattoo the saying 'The Journey' on the inside of my eyelids (just below the 4 responsibilities as a horseman), to constantly remind myself to not get caught up in perfect and fancy things, but to enjoy all of the little things that I sometimes overlook.