Puppies, Extreme Cowboy & Pond Splashing

On Friday the first of the puppies went to their new homes. I am happy they are going to loving homes, but they are really adorable and I will miss them. There are a few in particular that I have become very attached to. Timer was one of my favourites who is just a cuddle bug, and he left Friday – a few tears crept from my eyes as I passed him over to his new parents.

My other favourite – Gem, leaves on Saturday this weekend so I’m hoping I’ll keep it together for her. Gem comes bounding to see me and wants to shower me with kisses.

On Saturday I headed out bright and early to Mount Albert for the Extreme Cowboy Clinic hosted by Cindy at her farm, Pine Forest Stables. Susan Caldwell was teaching the clinic – ranked 3^rd overall in Ontario Extreme Cowboy she knows her stuff! Wow what a rush – if you haven’t tried Extreme Cowboy I recommend it! I practically had ants in my pants the whole clinic and couldn’t wait to try everything.

I love extreme cowboy because I think it’s the ultimate test of horse & rider – without any advantages to specific breeds… it’s pretty much a level playing field… except I discovered my 17H tall horse, Cupid, was at a bit of a disadvantage for quick mounting and to bend over and pick up things. It doesn’t matter if you have a fancy warm blood with a floaty trot, a quarter horse with a peanut roller frame, nor a mustang with a bit too much pudge in the mid section.

It all comes down to how brave are you? 

How trusting are you of each other? 

How accurate are you? 

And how good is your communication together?

During the clinic Susan had some fantastic exercises – we practised turning in the Daisy pattern without letting our horse’s shoulder bend too much (we focused on hind quarter control), we practised bridges, car wash, noodles, jumps, a rope gate, and a whole bunch of obstacles that I have no idea what they are called – but they sure are a lot of fun!

Susan impressed me -she focused on riding with your body, using your outside aids, helping us find relaxation and suppleness in our horses, and telling us that if our horse is being tense at an obstacle to walk away, find relaxation and responsiveness in our horse and then to try again. She also promoted simply dismounting and trying obstacles from the ground if the horse was unsure. These are all things I promote in my own way and mimic many other natural horsemen I admire.

I asked Susan if she uses natural horsemanship, and she said “no I just use horse psychology and what works for the horse.” I replied “that is natural horsemanship” – Susan is a great example of a person who is using natural horsemanship by a different name, but she’s definitely natural!

Tip to share: If your horse won’t stand still, try getting them to work more quickly then they want to. For example canter circles, sideways and things that are hard (i.e. not just walking). Then try offering for your horse to stand still.

This way you are trying to get standing still to become your horse’s idea to stand still because moving is too much work. You help the horse find comfort in standing still. This was something Susan asked me to do with Kahleesi because she was having a hard time standing still – and I definitely agree because this is something we commonly do at home and it works!

Kahleesi and Cupid impressed me with how willing and awesome they were with the obstacles, the only one that we had to work on for a bit was the gate – but in the end Kahleesi was able to do the backing up version (more difficult), and Cupid was being confident with the gate too… next we will need to try a real gate – we do have one at home in our obstacle challenge, and you can expect to see it in the extreme division of our obstacle show on August 29^th!

Sunday our students decided not to show at Pickering Horse Centre because of iffy weather. Instead Sabrina and I went for a trail ride – Kahleesi and Zoey’s first time going through the water. They were both awesome and walked through the creek with no issue, and then had a blast splashing and dunking themselves in the pond.

Tip to share: It’s a great thing to take time for trail riding – it helps give your horse some mental stimulation, builds their confidence to so many different things (fallen logs, birds flying, dogs barking, going through narrow spaces, etc), and it helps build their fitness.

On both Saturday and Sunday after my other activities, I helped Sabrina put some miles on her young filly, Valentina. We progressed to having Sabrina ride her first follow the rail trots around the whole arena in both directions - and her first canter transitions while online! She is progressing so nicely in the saddle without any scary behaviour - just calm, accepting, and trustful in the saddle.... and that's saying a lot coming from this playful filly that used to think it was fun to rear and buck on the line only a couple months ago! 

Tip to share: when starting a young horse, first show them you can ride with them - don't worry about steering so much, just get our their way (without being dangerously out of control). Then as you gain their confidence that they can move with you, you can start influencing where they go. Follow the rail is the easiest pattern to start with because the horse use's the rail as a guide, and you only need one rein to make any correction to keep the horse on the rail.  

Now, I have a lot more ideas for the Obstacle show we are hosting Saturday August 29^th – don’t miss it! We are building a lot of new obstacles for the show. We also have our first PHH show this Saturday. 

So what are you waiting for? Go try Extreme Cowboy and Trail Riding this summer!

  

My most insane weekend yet!

Wow what an incredible weekend with so much to learn and do. It started Friday evening we hosted a riding workshop with Parelli Professional Maureen & Todd Owens on Rein Positions for Power, Control and Performance. We had a beautiful night of riding and learnt to finesse our skills of the indirect and direct rein positions as well as some other exercises for back up.

One of the biggest learnings of the night for me was the notion ‘it will only get better if it becomes important to you.’ I thought this was a great way of looking at things. For example if your horse walks off at the mounting, or doesn’t stay on the rail while riding, or any other bad habit your horse develops – it won’t get better unless you make it important to fix and are consistent with the correction.

After the clinic ending around 9pm we then gathered up all the 17 dogs (includes 14 puppies) and took everyone to the vet for their vaccinations and deworming – what gong show that was getting all the dogs together, into the car, and into the building. All the puppies were really great for their needle and we are so thankful Cavan Vets keeps such regular late hours!

The next morning we loaded up and I did double trailer trips of horses to the NHA show at High Spirit Farm. Another beautiful day! The obstacles were fun and I was super proud of our team – someone from PHH took first place in every single class! The highlight of the day for me was my liberty round with Kahleesi – she was so amazing and really getting connected to me.

Tip – when training for liberty, think about using both a carrot and a stick approach. After the horse has done well and stayed with you through a task give them a treat. Likewise if they leave or don’t respect your cues then quickly make a correction and get them focused. Horses need to understand that being with you can be awesome, and that ignoring you is disrespectful.

When doing liberty, don’t hold a treat in front of your horse and have them follow the treat – because then the horse isn't really following you, they are following the treat. Instead use treats as rewards for doing what you want – not a bribe.

Overall the show was a fantastic day and I am very proud of everyone. Check out the video https://youtu.be/0dXluuGluxk 

After we got everyone home from the show and unpacked (around 7:30pm) I headed up to Sabrina’s for a lesson. I coached her on Zoey in the western saddle and worked on some centered riding to improve her sitting trot and canter. Then we did a session with her young horse, Valentina, who is just starting under saddle. We did another passenger lesson (where the person up top does nothing). After some passenger riding, Sabrina started to use her body and reins to ask Valentina to go, stop, back up, and turn. They are doing great!!

On Sunday I was up bright and early and loaded up to go to the obstacle course in Uxbridge – but unfortunately Kevin forgot about us so the gate was locked. We made the most of the situation though and went to the Durham Forest in Uxbridge for a trail ride. I learnt that Kahleesi needs more miles leading trails because she can be unsure, but Cupid is a natural and very great at leading. Even though Kahleesi was unsure about leading, she still was responsive and trusting of me and led a large portion of the trail.

After our trail we scooted back to Pontypool, switched over the tack and horses, and then loaded and went to the Sky Haven Jumper show. Wendy & Thetis, Franny & Shania, myself & Quartz and Cailey & Sabio competed in the 2’3/2’6 division. I also did one class with Dreamer just as a warm up for the mini prix and he got 3^rd – what a brave western guy taking me to every jump boldly. Wendy rode very speedily and picked up champion. Franny had some great rounds and finished reserve champion. Cailey rode some beautiful turns and placed 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th. Myself on Quartz progressed amazing and placed 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th. This was Quartz’s first time doing jumpers since the winter – when she was so scared she couldn’t even complete more than 3 jumps in the ring – now she was actually having clear rounds and placing!    

The Mini Prix was a lot of fun and I placed 1^st with Thetis, 2^nd with Dreamer, 4^th with Quartz and 5^th with Sabio. Thetis showed me just how much heart she has and whipped around the jump off in a speedy 18 seconds. It really showed me just how much horses will try for you once you win their heart – all of these horses did so well because of natural horsemanship and understanding how horse’s think. We didn’t use ‘force’ to make our horses jump.

Check out the video

https://youtu.be/jcTDPp1nVK0

We then got home and unloaded everything – wow what a fantastic and busy weekend!! 

Jumper Jackpot - a quick look at this fun day

Last Wednesday I competed in the Jumper Jackpot run by the Hamilton Hunt Club. 27 entries competing through two jumper rounds in an attempt to go double clear to proceed to the jump off.

When I got the show I went to put on my show jacket and realized I had accidentally taken my hubby’s suit jacket instead… well that wasn’t going to work. Luckily jackets were excused so I rode in my show shirt. Not a great start to the day!

The course was challenging – set on grass after a day of rain so it was a little slick. All my horses are barefoot and I have never wanted shoes before, but that grass did make me think we may do better with some corks grabbing into the ground.

I brought both Dreamer and Thetis to the show – originally I was supposed to ride Thetis & Sabio, but Sabio ended up having an abscess and was still a bit ouchy so that wouldn’t be fair to compete him. I tried Dreamer after I knew Sabio was sore – I had already paid for two entries so I wanted to see if another horse could go. In our practice session we were clearing 3ft easily – it turns out Dreamer can be quite the jumper!

When we got to the show and I saw the triple combination, a one stride combination, and a triple bar oxer, I thought Dreamer might be able to survive the course, but it wouldn’t be ideal to have that be his first jumper show. Instead I withdrew my second entry. It actually worked out really well because Thetis had a buddy on the trailer, and Dreamer had a great experience of coming to the show, riding around the warm up ring for a while and then getting to relax.

Thetis was slipping a bit on the grass, but she was showing me how she tries her heart out for me and was still managing to leave all the rails up. We rode our first round less than perfect with a few chipped strides but Thetis was good to me and left every rail up.

In the second round we had our act together a bit more and nailed our striding a lot better as we were figuring out the class. Out of the 27 entries, only 10 combinations went double clear and advanced to the jump off. My goal was to turn as tight as I could without slipping on the grass – and leave the rails up!

We rode a clear round with a nice time – only 3 seconds away from first place. We finished in third place and won $500. It was a really fun day, so I have a feeling I’ll be back there next year!

Next time I will make sure the right show clothes are in the trailer!

Check out our highlights https://youtu.be/LZ3POzevGuM

Centered Riding Certified, Parelli Learning, Adult Camp, and Wining $500 in the jumper jackpot!

I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t updated you all in a while (I’m sorry!) – I’ve been up to a few things these last couple weeks. Let me catch you up to speed with my latest learnings and happenings.

June 17^th I flew out to Maine for part two of the Centered Riding Instructor’s course. It was 4 very intense days. Every day we did some body work (exercises with no horses to practice our riding position), riding, and teaching. I met Margreet from the Netherlands, she was assisting teaching the course. She is a Level IV centered riding instructor and does Sacral Cranial work on horses – which is pretty amazing to watch. I’m planning to have her up to our farm on the August 22-23 weekend so let me know if you are interested ($200 for the weekend).

One of my biggest epiphany’s during the course was learning to sit trot. Instead of thinking rise and fall with my hips, I learnt to think and feel a diagonal motion in my hips. Try taking your right hip to your left shoulder and vice versa. When you do this in rhythm with the horse you can sit a lot better in the saddle. It makes sense… the horse moves right & left so why wouldn’t I?

At the end of the course it was really rewarding to earn my Centered Riding Level I coaching certificate along with another 4 out of the 5 other women. Now I can keep growing and learning and hope to move up through the levels over the years.

The weekend of the 27^th of June I took Cupid and Kahleesi to the Finesse clinic with Todd Owens – Parelli Professional. I had a really nice ride on Kahleesi in the morning and learnt some exercises to help supple her. In the afternoon I rode Cupid and he showed me what a calm and collected guy he naturally is.

I was lucky to have a private lesson with Kahleesi on day 2 to help our impulsiveness. To do this we really slowed it down and went back to basics of a good mount. Then I had a private lesson with Cupid and we did some neat porcupine game with the rope around his belly to ask him to yield from pressure in different ways.

I was reminded about a lot of excellent theory on natural horsemanship. One of the biggest messages I took away was

‘Never release on a brace.’ I love this because it reminds us that as natural horsemen we aren’t just trying to accomplish a movement or a task, but we are trying to get our horses emotionally and mentally connected and calm. Never releasing on a brace means always release when the horse’s mind is completing the task, not just his feet. If you release when the horse is bracing and tense, then you will teach your horse to be tense and bracing.

The July 4^th weekend we had adult camp at PHH. What a fantastic weekend with so many people! We did some centered riding body work exercises, centred riding exercises in the saddle, ground games, riding obstacles, and jumping. We had a few new people and experienced people, so it was nice to have everyone together as well as splitting into groups.

Some tips from the weekend –

• ·         Forget about your waist… it’s not a joint, instead ride from your hips and allow your hips to move, and let them fold into two point position.
• ·         Get particular in your ground work – if you want your horse to be snappy with transitions and other cues, then you need to be particular from the start… otherwise how is your horse supposed to know when to be responsive and when you don’t care?
• ·         Ride with a purpose – when you ask your horse for trot, canter, or anything, have in mind what your horse needs to do for you to reward them and move on. It’s important to have a plan and a goal, otherwise if you are simply trotting around aimlessly your horse can lose motivation and you may find it hard to progress. For example when you ask for trot, maybe you want to achieve stretchy trot, a fast trot, or get 3 laps in the ring before you move on – whatever your goal is, have it in mind so you know when to move on and can reward your horse in the right moment.

On Wednesday July 8 I went to the Hamilton Hunt’s Jumper Jackpot and placed 3^rd out of a tough 27 riders, missing first by only 3 seconds… it was a super fun and exciting experience… I’ll write more later about that one after I have the video ready to show you (but I've given you a snapshot from show day up top!)– stay tuned J 

Tonight we have Todd Owens coming to PHH for a Rein Positions clinic for Power, Control and Performance, tomorrow I’m headed to the NHA Obstacle Challenge show, and then Sunday I’m headed to Kevin Alcock’s for play day on the obstacles, followed by a jumper show at 2pm in Bethany at Sky Haven…. Crikey it’s going to be busy and a lot of fun!

My mid life crisis = more tips and learnings to share

You may have noticed that a lot has been happening in 2015 for me – two horses training for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Makeover, NHA trade show demos, flying to Maine for the Centred Riding Instructor course, participating in Cowboy Dressage with Don Halladay, riding with Beth Underhill at Can Am, etc. Well I’d like you to prepare for a whole lot more.

I guess you could call this my midlife crisis…. Well sort of. I turn 30 this year, and I’m feeling the pressure to start the next chapter of my life with kids…. I’ve heard it many times before ‘if only I had just done x before I have kids,’ or ‘once you have kids you have no time for yourself.’ I’m sure you’ve heard it all before too, so I’m making this year a big year with something happening pretty much every weekend – it’s a year about me and my learning before I embark on a different chapter of my life.

I’m trying really hard to give you a post every week to keep you in the loop and share my midlife crisis learnings with you.

So here’s what happened this past weekend.

Last Friday I finished my last FEEL session. James and I did it together and did different obstacles that represented challenges in our lives. We allowed the horses to do the obstacles and reveal insights to our challenges. It was a really neat exercise of getting in tune with the horses and recognizing our own feelings and energy. 

Saturday, Esther Johnson, my centered riding level 2 coach, came to teach me 4 hours of back to back private lessons. We started with Kahleesi and worked on building the foundation skills needed for excellence.

Esther has a lot of western and trail experience so she is helping me with my riding as well as preparing for the Trail class for in Kentucky. I was reminded of the importance of keeping centred and balance through the basic movements of forehand & haunch turns, leg yields, and shoulder in.

When we were starting the movements I was shifting my weight too much, and Esther brought awareness to my body and leaning so that I could have better balance. By the end I was being much more subtle in my cues and Kahleesi was being responsive.

We also did a fun exercise of loping a half circle, then halting and doing a 180 degree haunch turn (so that I changed direction) and then loping off while still finishing the turn. This was setting Kahleesi up for the correct canter leads and improving our up & down transitions – lots of fun!

Cupid had his first session with a bit. I had been riding him bitless to gain his confidence and self-carriage. I like to get out of the horse’s mouth and build trust, communication, and freestyle riding before adding a bit and collection. I find if the horse can ride on a loose rein and no bit first, then they are usually calmer and better prepared to start riding with a bit.

We worked on stretching circles, maintaining bend and straightness. We even dabbled in a little shoulder and haunches in. During this lesson I was reminded about how keeping soft elbows, shoulders, and wrists are so important to maintain collection. It can be hard to keep my joints elastic and flowing as I hold feel on the reins, but wow what a difference it makes when I remember to stretch and give in time with my horse’s stride.

Try feeling your horse’s rhythm next time you ride. You will feel the horse has a natural up and down movement. On the ‘down’ movement, remember to allow your joints to stretch and give with the horse so they can have their natural movement. If you are too still or static with your reins then your horse is restricted by your hand when they need to stretch down.

Watch the video of highlights and tips:

On Sunday I taught a few natural horsemanship lessons in the morning – the horses and students were fantastic. Then we rounded out the day with Summer Camp Staff Training 2015. We had a great time with a lot of the horses out practicing different exercises. We have an excellent line up of staff and horses for this year.

There are a handful of spots left, and juggled things a bit to offer two more mini camps during the last week of August. Kids can sign up for a 3 day (Mon-Wed), or a 2 day camp (Thurs-Fri). More information at: http://partridgehorsehill.com/summercamp15.html

Thank you for reading!

Check out this video of Kahleesi's progress so far:

The first Horse Agility and Obstacle Challenge Show from the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)

On Saturday May 30^th, Natures Run Equestrian hosted the first horse agility and obstacle challenge show by the NHA. A lot of work went into the show and the show series – deciding on classes, judging criteria, obstacles, organization, etc. The NHA really wants to promote a fun and supportive place to show horses using different obstacles.

Partridge Horse Hill (PHH) took a group to the show. The morning started with a bit of glitch when I slept in past my alarm, and then one of the two horse trailers popped a tire! Somehow we managed to arrive at the show before it started, our optimistic and resilient attitudes shined through as we were still full of positive thoughts throughout the day. 

The day started beautiful and sunny, and the horse agility classes got to compete outdoors in lovely weather – except at the end when the rain started. Luckily NRE has an indoor arena so we were able to move everything indoors after the first Essentials class and continue with the show.

I was very proud of the PHH students and their success. They were very supportive of each other. Kim brought Shawna, Yvonne with Allure, and Laurie with Cheyenne all for their first offsite show – it was also Allure and Cheyenne’s first offsite show. They all participated in the starter and first level of Horse Agility which are friendly introductory classes. Then they rode in the Essentials division for the obstacle challenge which is a walk/trot division. Everyone was very nervous but the nerves settled after a 1^st place for Kim in the first class, 2^nd for Laurie, and Yvonne finished up with reserve champion. All that hard work and practicing paid off.

I brought three of my off the track Thoroughbreds to the show – Kahleesi and Cupid are the two I bought only about 3 months ago for the Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover for Kentucky. This was Cupid’s first horse show and Kahleesi’s second show. I also brought Thetis who is my Parelli certified Level 3 horse. Despite Cupid and Kahleesi being very inexperienced I still entered by horses in the most advanced classes because of my level – we did Intermediate (for Cupid & Kahleesi not Thetis), Advanced, Liberty (two classes), and the Extreme division. I also took Thetis in one Exciting class (Finesse) so that I could try a class with no bridle.

In the intermediate we competed against other people and I was very happy at how my horses excelled and completed tasks like a pivot on the pedestal and sideways over the pole with relative ease. I was so proud of my horses and how calm they were in the ring. This was a milestone because Cupid and Kahleesi at the trade show in April were very tense and upset in the ring by themselves, and during the show they showed me just how far they've come in their training and now are completely different horses.

Even when it started to rain and everyone was hiding indoors or in their trailers (so no horses were around the ring) they were still very calm and connected to me which made me so proud. One of the things I’ve been using to build the motivation are treats. I don’t use them as a bribe, but when they do something well I give them one cookie (I use roughage chunks that are a health tasty treat). This helps give them another reason to try extra hard. 

 

For the most advanced classes of the day I was the only one entered (Advanced, Liberty, and Extreme division). This was a bit odd to compete against myself using my 3 horses, but it was the experience my horses needed. Cupid and Kahleesi have a lot to learn before Kentucky and it was great they could have a good show experience.

Because the show was running late I offered to drop my classes from 10 obstacles to 5, and reduce my gamblers choice from 3 min to 1min to help speed things up – which kept my horse’s experience short and sweet. As you can expect I was both champion and reserve champion of that division, and 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in my classes.

This raised an interesting reflection – was it wrong or right for me to compete in classes where it was only me entered?

Keep in mind there was another class with only 3 people, and one other class with only 1 person (some people left because of the rain) that did run.

My thoughts are that I had paid to trailer my horses there, had supported everyone else, waited my turn, and shortened my classes to make it quick, so it was reasonable to want to do my classes too- but what do you think?

In any event I was proud that my horses could complete the most advanced classes despite their inexperience, and thankful for the chance to give them show experience offsite. 

For liberty I left the halters on Kahleesi and Cupid because it was their first time, but my goal for the last NHA show is to feel confident taking the halter off so we are completely at liberty (instead of just no lead rope).

A quick tip:

- Remember your horse needs a pay cheque. Think 'why is my horse showing up to work?' This doesn't have to be food, but food can certainly help when used properly to build that extra motivation. 

Watch the video of highlights from the show:

Oakridges Hunter Show - aka Kahleesi's first time showing!!

We had a lovely weekend with all the sunshine.... a lot happening around the farm and with the horses. 

On Saturday I moved Sola and Symba to their summer home where they can explore and enjoy several acres with grass, trees, hills, and natural obstacles. Its the perfect location for yearlings to goof around while they grow up. I brought Lumen and Rose to be their adult guardians.... it's going to be a bit of a juggling match as I bring the adults home for lessons but then take over another adult to keep the babies company but I'm hoping it works out okay.... take a look at these happy horses !

https://youtu.be/Ep5K5UFE9Wg

On Sunday we went to the Oakridge's Horse Show. I decided to take Kahleesi to her first show ever because she did so well at the Cowboy dressage clinic last weekend. We arrived at the show and she was so calm and blended in perfectly. 

We rode in the hack division alongside fellow PHH coaches Danica with Dreamer, and Caileigh-Anne with Quartz. In Kahleesi's first hack class she was a bit scared of the outside of the ring so we rode about 20ft to the inside so she wouldn't be so close to the rail. We also struggled with our right lead and needed to do a flying change to get it. As we went through the hack classes she got more confident on the rail and eventually we were able to follow the rail around the ring. We also were able to get our right lead and managed a 3rd in the Show Hack! She also placed 5th and 4th in two others. 

In the cross rail division she was awesome and jumped everything nicely and held her canter, managing to get all her leads. She stayed calm and trusting me being in the ring by herself. I was super proud of her. The cross rails were a big class and we were a bit too wiggly to place over fences, but managed a 4th and 5th on flat. I couldn't be happier with the experience for Kahleesi - prior to the show our first course of jumps practicing was the day before, and we had only started canter work the week prior, so she is progressing super nicely. We also moved up from the cradle bridle do just a Myler level 2 bit.  

It was Danica and Dreamer's first offsite show together and they did very well - even got one first! Caileigh-Anne showed Quartz for the first time and is helping to build up this mares confidence - our first couple schooling shows we did with her she pretty much would go in the ring and then 'freeze'. Caileigh managed to ride through the hacks and do all the gaits, canter in the group, and do all the courses and jumps which is a big accomplishment for Quartz - she also managed some 5th's and 6th. 

Cailey and Sabio showed hunters for the first time together and jumped everything confidently placing some 4ths and 5ths in the 2'3 hunters. Wendy and Thetis showed offsite for their first time together and did a great job telling Thetis this was a hunter show and not a jumper show - managing a first and reserve champion in the 2'3 hunters. 

More photos of the show here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157633723410155

Well done to everyone!

https://youtu.be/rdRKsWKSpYk

While I was pony playing, construction for our indoor arena continued - James was helping removing posts from the building site area Highland Games style:

https://youtu.be/S5R4cN7cjIs

FEEL - Session two.... aka super creepy!

My second day doing Facilitated Equine Experiential Learning (FEEL) with Pat was really freakishly interesting.

We started with an exercise of drawing a picture of how we felt in that moment. It was to get us connected to our right brain - the feeling, image side of our brain. That night I drew a picture that represented time and space. I had swirls the represented different things. Me in the center with the swirl going around the whole page.  Then I drew other swirls that represented different things pulling my energy... so I drew a swirl for work, for the farm business, another for friends, one for family and a swirl for my own personal goals and interests. Some of these swirls I drew as if they were compacted... like they would like to expand and take up more time and energy but they were forced to be less. 

Then we talked about true and false self. False self is when you basically dwell on bad things or question why things are happening to you. This was interesting to me because for the past few months I keep getting flashes and bad memories of my dog Whinnie dying and how I didn't save her. She went out for her evening pee but didn't come back. I went searching for her and looked almost everywhere. I thought I heard a bark and looked at this one neighbor's house a few doors down where we haven't talk to them or met them yet so I didn't go down to investigate their backyard because it was dark and I didn't know them. 

The next morning Whinnie was found drowned in their pool.... we didn't know them or know they had a pool. Immediately I felt so awful. I probably had heard my little girl calling for help and I didn't go down their driveway simply because I didn't know the people. I have forever been tormented by this memory. 

Pat talked about authentic self and false self, along with a similar experience she had in her past. What she took from her experience was how she could thank the wonderful dog for teaching her to be more safety conscious and that she'll never let something like that happen ever again. It was a dramatic experience and Pat encouraged me to thank Whinnie every time I have those memories... and that certainly has helped. Of course now with our three dogs its like Fort Knox and Pat is right that I can thank Whinne for how careful we are with our dogs (and one day children) now and have our video surveillance system, GPS trackers, and fenced yards because of our experience with Whinnie.

Next was time to play with the horses and I was using Allure again. This time before I went to get him I stood at a little distance while Allure was eating from a hay bale with his friends. I thought about him and sending my energy to him, asking if he wanted to come play.  I just visualized playing together and projected my energy to him.

Super creepy that right in that moment he turned and looked at me and just walked right over. This is extra interesting because he is not a horse that I normally interact with - normally I take one of my TB's out to ride so its unusual for Allure to think to come and greet me. 

Next we were playing outside in the round pen doing some more exercises including walking from point A to point B. The first time walking from point A to point B I was trying to feel how I would when I feel little and not confident - normally when that happens I feel knots in my stomach so I was walking from point A to point B thinking knots in my stomach. 

Super freakily Allure followed beside me with his body around me and his nose inches from my stomach. Then I grounded myself and did some breathing exercises to get into my authentic self which is a more present form of myself and just walk from point A to point B. Allure then followed behind me and just relaxed.

It was totally crazy and really interesting that how I was feeling and thinking really did change how Allure interacted with me because the speed and where I was walking was the same... the only difference was how I was feeling and thinking. 

Next, I tried asking Allure a question. I thought of a picture of how the farm is going to look when all of the construction is done and I was asking Allure "what do you think?" He rested his nose very close to my shoulder and just hung out there. Then when I asked him "I think you are saying you like that idea and that is all you have to say?" and he put his head down and very deliberately brought his nose down almost like he was rubbing his knees but he wasn't actually rubbing his nose he was just making a movement.  It was the only moment in our whole session that he did this particular behavior. There's no denying that I had questions in my mind and he was responding right in the moment. 

The last thing we did was inside the house and we choose a card from a special deck of cards. I choose based on the picture and then read the back of the card which has a message.  

I was immediately creeped out because it started with "Amidst the swirls of life"..... which is exactly what I was drawing at the beginning of the session.  More creepy because its the only card in the deck with that message. There is no denying the connection between the image that I had drawn and now the card that I had chosen (see the picture with the message 'rejuvenate'). 

Wow. I am a very logical, math, numbers, science type of person -so getting in tune with my energy and feelings is a bit weird, but I am definitely seeing how FEEL is really on to something. 

I'm not sure what to expect in my next session but I'm definitely keeping an open mind.  

A weekend with Cowboy Dressage

This past weekend I got to spend two days learning Cowboy Dressage with Master Parelli Professional Don Halladay alongside other fantastic Parelli Professionals - Todd and Maureen Owens and Randee Halladay.

It was extra exciting because I brought Kahleesi, my off the track Thoroughbred mare that I am training for the retired racehorse contest being held in Kentucky later this year in October. It was Kahleesi's first time going off property with me, and my first time trying Cowboy dressage.

Kahleesi was fantastic and really surprised me with how well she can learn and 'click' with me. I've been working on getting her to stretch and relax for a few rides with a bit, but this was the first time I tried the cradle bridle with the Myler C2 bit. She really loved it and started to stretch and take contact the best she has ever done.

We practiced many different things on day 1 including shoulder and haunches in, leg yields, transitions, backing up a hill, etc and Kahleesi was really good. On day 2 we put a purpose to these patterns and tried riding a couple Cowboy dressage tests - just simple walk/jog tests but it was great to put a purpose to all the exercises we were learning.

The only thing Kahleesi was truly scared of were the speakers - so we will have to work on exposing her to more things and sounds, but by the end of day 2 she was doing much better and able to ride near them... on day 1 we were doing some pretty fancy half pass away from them -but she was never really bad or scary... she just didn't know if the boxes were going to eat her.

My two biggest learnings from the weekend I would like to share with you are:

• Get the foundation: be accurate and precise in the foundation movements like moving the shoulder and haunches (forehand, haunch turns, sideways) so that when you go to do the more advanced movements like haunches in and shoulders in or a half pass that your horse really understands what you are after. Go slow and get it right. 
• Have a purpose: it's really important to have a goal, vision, or purpose to what you are doing. It makes life interesting for you and your horse. Learning the movements is one thing, but working towards a whole pattern makes it more fun for the horse. 

I've got lots more learning to share, so stayed tuned over the summer :) 

Doesn't Kahleesi look lovely? Cupid is my other TB for the makeover contest, so it will be his turn next to try a clinic!

My First Encounter with Facilitated Equine Experiential Learning

My first experience with facilitated equine learning aka FEEL, I wasn't sure what to expect.

My instructor, Pat, took me through a lot of the basics and understanding the science behind the energy and different meanings behind emotions. 

She also reviewed some horse signals which I found very interesting because I kept an open mind. 

We decided to use Allure because he seems to have a knack for wanting to connect with people. 

We started with some reflection and heart to heart connection. This is difficult for me because I wanted to do horse training and interact physically with the horse, but this is a process where your interactions are from emotion and energy.

It was hard to let myself be vulnerable and learn something completely new. The most interesting part for me was when we were doing the heart to heart connection and I was simply asking and trying to push my energy from my heart to his heart and boom just like that he bent his neck and turned. He looked right at my heart with his nose.  The connection was there and then is if to say "okay now I'm done" Allure then walked away. 

We also did an exercise where I was asking a question or I was supposed to get one question but my mind was racing and I was thinking things like "am I asking the right question or what question should I ask?" So I would try asking a question and think maybe that's too difficult and I would switch around and it was interesting to watch Allure because he he would walk away as my mind would start to flurry and when my mind settles that's when he came back me. 

It was a really interesting experience and I'm continuing to take an open mind into my next session. I'm doing weekly sessions for 4 weeks, so this is going to be pretty exciting :)