Wam Walks

Sonny and I love going for walks. Last night it was warm and calm and the perfect night for a walk. Unfortunately, there isn't any neat/interesting/pretty scenery around. So we just walked up and down the road.

In the beginning he was a little worked up and so focused on grass. It was understandable, he hasn't been outside in a few days. After some eating I disengaged his hind end until he connected with my elbow and played some stick to me and that really god him more focused on my. All the way back to the barn he checked in with me :). Love nights like that.

How Much You Care

I haven’t been posting a lot lately, but I have spent a lot of time thinking. Sonny and I have been progressing so much these past couple of weeks and I couldn’t figure out why, until today.

A few nights ago we had a really good ride. Of course we played with carrot stick riding but also really focused on forehand, hindend, then sideways. I haven’t asked much for sideways without reins and it went SO well! We got a lot of good steps and some licking and chewing.

Tonight was fantastic. He was all ears; more happy faces than ugly faces is always an amazing night. His sideways is improving, slow hand carrot stick transitions were awesome, and even his upward transitions were right on the money. He was responsive and happy about it! On top of that, I got him to roll three times, which means he totally gets what I am asking. The best part is that the last roll didn’t require much wandering around! I am blown away by how fast he caught on to laying down and how amazing it was for him to do it without a ton of steps tonight! I couldn’t be happier!

Blurry, but cute :)

When I first read Kristi Smiths’s blog, Your Needs are My Needs, I thought I understood it. LBI’s need incentive and rest and I really didn't apply it much more than that. Tonight it finally clicked. Lately Sonny and I have been doing a whole lot of nothing. We have been taking walks down the road, soaking up the sunshine, eating grass, rolling, and not much else. This is not because I think we need undemanding time, but mainly because the weather has been so nice that I want him to have the chance to get out as much as possible. Before I have talked about spending undemanding time with him because he needs a break and we need that relationship building time, but this undemanding time has been completely different. We didn’t need to, but I wanted to do it for him. We have been going on walks, sunbathing, and spending a lot of time grazing because I care about him…and he notices. The more I put effort into doing things for him, the more effort he puts into doing things for me. And when I say doing things for him, I don’t mean what I used to think: things like giving him time to think because that means a better face. When I think about it, I am doing that for me; I want the better face so giving him time to think benefits me. I am starting to believe that all this checking in with me stuff and all the happy faces is a reflection of him realizing I am putting effort into doing things just for him, so he is asking what can he do for me in return. Kristi didn’t title her blog My Needs are Your Needs, but Your Needs Are My Needs. Because in the end, you’re horse doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care.

Just Checking In

Sonny and I had a great walk today! Even though it was windy and cold, the sun was shining and that hasn't happened in a long time! So we took advantage of it and got out of the barn.

My handsome man <3. 

We went for a walk down the road and stopped periodically to eat. It was very relaxing and great to spend some undemanding time together out in the sunshine.

Even though that is a crop field, this is pretty much how
everything looks right now...flooded!  

What really stuck out to me today was how Sonny kept checking in with me. During one lesson Juli pointed out how Rydel will check in with Melissa and how that is a good thing. I never thought about it before then, but now I am very aware when Sonny checks in with me. He does it a lot when I clean his stall or sometimes while we are playing, but have never noticed him do it while being outside. Today he checked in with my constantly. He checked in with me as soon as we got outside, while he was eating, while he was walking, and everything in between.

I was going to take a picture of him but he went to
check in with me and I caught him in action! 

I was blown away when he stopped eating grass to come over, say hi, then go back to eating grass. My LBI hasn't been outside in months and stopped eating to come check in with me. WOW! I am so impressed! I hope that means the dynamics of our relationship are changing....for the better! I will be interested to see if he does the same thing the next time we go for a walk! 

You Get Out What You Put In

The past few days Sonny and I have been doing a whole lot of nothing. But... everything means something and nothing means nothing. I really felt the affects of that today when we had a short play session at liberty.

Liberty is by far my favorite savvy; there is something special about not having anything but a bond connecting you and your horse. Especially an LBI, who would much rather be rolling, eating, or not moving at all. To think that Sonny would rather stick with me and do things together rather than stand over by the gate is extremely rewarding and a huge compliment...especially when the arena you are playing in is bigger than a dressage arena which provides a huge amount of area to get away from me if he wanted. Sonny and I never 'officially' started liberty like we did online and freestyle. Since I have never had a round pen, what liberty I do is very minimal and mostly just small things. But, today was definitely very special.

Rather than go off and roll when we first got to the arena, he stuck right with me even though he was at liberty. We started with small things like sideways over a cone or played with our new 'Up' trick. We were really connected today, like he was reading my mind but not in the way that he was assuming things.

There was a small jump set up, only like 6 inches high. Sonny is an expert at getting out of doing things that require energy, so I haven't asked him to jump at liberty since we haven't mastered him offering to jump online. So I started to walk him up to it and was going to go sideways in front of it, but we were so in tune! I just leaned my body and he went sideways so he would be in front of the jump. It was like we were completely in sync. I pointed to the jump, he trotted right over it then came back to me with BOTH ears forward! I was blown away! Not only did he happily go over the jump when he could have so easily went around it, he came back to me respectfully and happy! WOW!

I really believe that today was a direct result of all the time we have spent together just grazing recently. Not only did it give him (and me!) a break physically and mentally, it strengthened our bond and helped him put more effort in the time we spend playing together. Now I will put more effort into making it easier for him to put more effort in. I see a lot of undemanding time in our future!

Long Walks on the Beach

Okay so maybe we don't have a beach in our backyard, but Sonny and I both enjoyed a long walk today!

Lately is has been rainy and cold so the horses haven't gone outside in a while. Today it was fairly warm and sunny so I thought it would be a perfect time to spend some undemanding time with Sonny, like I promised here. We were going to walk across the hay field and down the lane, but he ended up doing a lot more eating that walking. I don't think he cared ;).

We spent over an hour an a half out there and I definitely felt the difference. On our way back to his stall, he was very connected to me and moved when I did, even though there was food everywhere. It is disappointing that it is now getting cold and will soon be snowy, but I am going to try to make more days like this before the weather stops us!

Walking and eating.