Well the last few nights I have been in Aberdeen with work so haven't been able to play with Blossom!! I have been using the time away to do more studying! I bought the natural solutions for spooky horses, so I watched that. Blossom isn't a spooky pony, but I thought it would be worth a watch. It wasn't quite as good as I expected, but it was really good to watch how Pat used approach and retreat to gain the horses confidnce..
It made me think more about what I do with Blossom and I do expect more from Blossom when approaching obstacles than Pat did at the start of his session with the horse he was playing with. I think this will make me more aware the next time I play with Blossom, and hopefully I will be able to reward the slightest try instead of asking for more! I guess my problem was, I wasn't able to see that slighest try before and thats why I have been asking for more..
It really gave me a lot to lick and chew on. Hopefully the next time we go out to play Blossom will respect me more as a leader if I give her more time with obstacles and reward her slighest try.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday 25th November
Today I had loads of new ideas to try to do with Blossom, but I had to make sure I didn't ask for too much so she would lose her confidnce as she has become more confident recently - its great to see.
We started on the 12ft line and had a run through of the seven games, we had some problems with the sideways game and this was still using a fence. I think this may have been because we asked a bit more of her yesterday using this game. We worked on this for a bit until she seemed more confident, think I will need to do more work on this as this has always been our problem game.
We then moved on to playing with the hula hoop, I started with playing friendly game rubbing her all over with it. She stood perfect and wasn't bothered by this, I then asked her to lower her head and put it through the hula hoop which she did. She even had a wee nible of it while it was around her neck. I then moved on and asked her to a foot in the hoop, it took her a few minutes to work out what it was I was asking. But as soon as she put her foot in it she instantly dropped her head and relaxed it was so cool!! We then moved on and done figures of eight around cones (the same exercise from saturday) It went really well, so we went back to the hula hoop. As soon as we got to the hoop she went and put both feet straight in. So I thought I would try my luck and ask her to back into the hoop, she was slightly unconfident but as soon as she realised this was what she had to do, she done it then totally relaxed again. We then done some work with squezing over jumps, she is still quite unconfident with this so we done lots of aproach and retreat and by the end she was doing it great. We then moved on to backing up over a pole, I had tried this with her before but she totally lost her confidence and wouldn't do it. So this time I started with asking her to come to me walking over the pole, then I asked just her front feet to come over. Then would asked for her to back away over the pole, then come back to me. I done this several times until we were doing yo yo's on the 22ft line over the pole - she was great!! We then went back to the hulo hoop and as soon as she got to it she put both front feet straight in and stood relaxed! So I thought this would be a good place to stop for the day.
We started on the 12ft line and had a run through of the seven games, we had some problems with the sideways game and this was still using a fence. I think this may have been because we asked a bit more of her yesterday using this game. We worked on this for a bit until she seemed more confident, think I will need to do more work on this as this has always been our problem game.
We then moved on to playing with the hula hoop, I started with playing friendly game rubbing her all over with it. She stood perfect and wasn't bothered by this, I then asked her to lower her head and put it through the hula hoop which she did. She even had a wee nible of it while it was around her neck. I then moved on and asked her to a foot in the hoop, it took her a few minutes to work out what it was I was asking. But as soon as she put her foot in it she instantly dropped her head and relaxed it was so cool!! We then moved on and done figures of eight around cones (the same exercise from saturday) It went really well, so we went back to the hula hoop. As soon as we got to the hoop she went and put both feet straight in. So I thought I would try my luck and ask her to back into the hoop, she was slightly unconfident but as soon as she realised this was what she had to do, she done it then totally relaxed again. We then done some work with squezing over jumps, she is still quite unconfident with this so we done lots of aproach and retreat and by the end she was doing it great. We then moved on to backing up over a pole, I had tried this with her before but she totally lost her confidence and wouldn't do it. So this time I started with asking her to come to me walking over the pole, then I asked just her front feet to come over. Then would asked for her to back away over the pole, then come back to me. I done this several times until we were doing yo yo's on the 22ft line over the pole - she was great!! We then went back to the hulo hoop and as soon as she got to it she put both front feet straight in and stood relaxed! So I thought this would be a good place to stop for the day.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday 24th November
Today Myself, Kris and Hazel booked drummohr indoor school for a couple of hours as the weather wasn't great.
I started with warming Blossom up using the seven games on a 12ft rope, she was really good and listening to me more than I thought she would have with the distraction of the other ponies. Hazel then set us a challenge, I had to stand in a hula hoop with Blossom in front of me then back her a way from me then send her around the cones doing a figure of eight. I had never done this before so I found it quite difficult - it took a few attempts going round the cones until we both got the idea. It was good fun though. The next challenge I set, I've not got a great imagination yet so my task was to get your horse to put a foot in the hula hoop. Again I had never done this before, so it was going to be a challenge for us. Blossom didn't really understand what it was she was to do for this task, she would be standing in front of it and then look at me then try and come to me so I would just drive her away from me in zone 1 until she was back in front on the hula hoop. I didn't know what to do to help her so I cheated - I put the rope around her leg and lifted her leg into the hula hoop. Well I set the task so I guess I get to make the rules too.. Hazel went next and backed Bruce into the hula hoop, I never thought about doing it like that so that gave me an idea to try that with Blossom another day. Kris set the next task, you had to stand in the hula hoop and get your horse to back through the cones so they finished on the opposite side than they started then bring them back to you. For this task I had to put Blossom on the 22ft rope so she could go far enough back to do the task - this was going to be a challenge in itself. It went better than I expected it too, instead of backing through the cones we kind of went back straight then sideways through the cones so we were on the other side. I was really happy that we managed to even to do that, it didn't look as good as Kris and Hazel's but for my level I was really happy that we could do that!!
We then moved on to riding, Kris let me try her bareback pad on Blossom. It was really good and I felt more secure riding with that on than I do bareback. I started with just walking round and then asking for lateral flexion, she was really good and stayed calm so I would ask for a few strides of trot then back to walk again. I then done a little work on my 9 step back up, she was good and would give me a couple of steps backwards. Once she gets more confident doing this I will start asking for a little more. Kris then got me to do a a bit of carrot stick riding, working on direct and indirect reins - Poor Kris was trying to help me with this but I was getting myself all confused!! By the end I got the idea direct was moving the front end and indirect was moving the back end - I bet I have got it mixed up again!! Hazel then tried to help me get Blossom moving sideways with me on her. I had to turn my foot where I wanted to go, look were I wanted to go and apply some pressure with the other leg. Hazel and Kris were great helping me with this.. Hazel had Bruce on my right the direction we were trying to go and moved him sideways and Kirs was on the other side with Iona moving her sideways towards Blossom to encourage her to go sideways. She managed a few steps, which I was so proud of her. Hazel then offered to work on sideways on the ground with Blossom and give me a go of riding Bruce. He was so light and easy to ride, and moved sideways with me just looking in the direction I wanted to go. It was great to feel what it is meant to be like and gave me a fell for what I want Blossom to be like.
Overall it was a great day out and I learnt loads!! It gave me so many new ideas to try with Blossom and let me know what areas need more work and what we can do now.
Thanks Kris and Hazel for all your help!!
I started with warming Blossom up using the seven games on a 12ft rope, she was really good and listening to me more than I thought she would have with the distraction of the other ponies. Hazel then set us a challenge, I had to stand in a hula hoop with Blossom in front of me then back her a way from me then send her around the cones doing a figure of eight. I had never done this before so I found it quite difficult - it took a few attempts going round the cones until we both got the idea. It was good fun though. The next challenge I set, I've not got a great imagination yet so my task was to get your horse to put a foot in the hula hoop. Again I had never done this before, so it was going to be a challenge for us. Blossom didn't really understand what it was she was to do for this task, she would be standing in front of it and then look at me then try and come to me so I would just drive her away from me in zone 1 until she was back in front on the hula hoop. I didn't know what to do to help her so I cheated - I put the rope around her leg and lifted her leg into the hula hoop. Well I set the task so I guess I get to make the rules too.. Hazel went next and backed Bruce into the hula hoop, I never thought about doing it like that so that gave me an idea to try that with Blossom another day. Kris set the next task, you had to stand in the hula hoop and get your horse to back through the cones so they finished on the opposite side than they started then bring them back to you. For this task I had to put Blossom on the 22ft rope so she could go far enough back to do the task - this was going to be a challenge in itself. It went better than I expected it too, instead of backing through the cones we kind of went back straight then sideways through the cones so we were on the other side. I was really happy that we managed to even to do that, it didn't look as good as Kris and Hazel's but for my level I was really happy that we could do that!!
We then moved on to riding, Kris let me try her bareback pad on Blossom. It was really good and I felt more secure riding with that on than I do bareback. I started with just walking round and then asking for lateral flexion, she was really good and stayed calm so I would ask for a few strides of trot then back to walk again. I then done a little work on my 9 step back up, she was good and would give me a couple of steps backwards. Once she gets more confident doing this I will start asking for a little more. Kris then got me to do a a bit of carrot stick riding, working on direct and indirect reins - Poor Kris was trying to help me with this but I was getting myself all confused!! By the end I got the idea direct was moving the front end and indirect was moving the back end - I bet I have got it mixed up again!! Hazel then tried to help me get Blossom moving sideways with me on her. I had to turn my foot where I wanted to go, look were I wanted to go and apply some pressure with the other leg. Hazel and Kris were great helping me with this.. Hazel had Bruce on my right the direction we were trying to go and moved him sideways and Kirs was on the other side with Iona moving her sideways towards Blossom to encourage her to go sideways. She managed a few steps, which I was so proud of her. Hazel then offered to work on sideways on the ground with Blossom and give me a go of riding Bruce. He was so light and easy to ride, and moved sideways with me just looking in the direction I wanted to go. It was great to feel what it is meant to be like and gave me a fell for what I want Blossom to be like.
Overall it was a great day out and I learnt loads!! It gave me so many new ideas to try with Blossom and let me know what areas need more work and what we can do now.
Thanks Kris and Hazel for all your help!!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Friday 23rd November
Today we had the vet comming out to do the ponies teeth. Blossom was a total Star! She stood perfect for the vet and let her do everything she needed. She did have a sharp tooth at the back, which most ponies need sedated for but Blossom stood so well she didn't need any! I was so proud of her.
When I went back to the farm it was -1 degrees, but I decideded to go out and play with Blossom anyway. We had a quick run through of the seven games on the 12ft line and then moved on to the 22ft. We managed a few yo yo's only using phase 2, it wasn't totally straight but I was happy with what she gave me for our first tme doing this. We then moved on to transitions on the circle, she didn't understand to start with what I was asking her to do so she would stop and turn and face. So I would thank her and re-send her again, it took quite a few attempts at this until she worked out what I was asking. But by the end I was getting transitions from trot to walk to stand then stand to walk to trot. I was so proud of her!! We were both starting to get really cold, so decided to finish for the night.
When I went back to the farm it was -1 degrees, but I decideded to go out and play with Blossom anyway. We had a quick run through of the seven games on the 12ft line and then moved on to the 22ft. We managed a few yo yo's only using phase 2, it wasn't totally straight but I was happy with what she gave me for our first tme doing this. We then moved on to transitions on the circle, she didn't understand to start with what I was asking her to do so she would stop and turn and face. So I would thank her and re-send her again, it took quite a few attempts at this until she worked out what I was asking. But by the end I was getting transitions from trot to walk to stand then stand to walk to trot. I was so proud of her!! We were both starting to get really cold, so decided to finish for the night.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday 21st November
Today it hasn't stopped raining!!
By the time I got over to bring the ponies in they were cold and wet, even with there rugs on. So there was no way I could go out and play with Blossom. I did make the most of the situation though and used this as the oppertunity to play friendly game with a towel. She really enjoyed this as her face was all wet, she really liked me giving it a good rub. The rest of her body was dry, but I still gave her a rub all over with it. She seemed to really enjoy this. Its nice to see her starting to relax and allowing her self to enjoy things.
By the time I got over to bring the ponies in they were cold and wet, even with there rugs on. So there was no way I could go out and play with Blossom. I did make the most of the situation though and used this as the oppertunity to play friendly game with a towel. She really enjoyed this as her face was all wet, she really liked me giving it a good rub. The rest of her body was dry, but I still gave her a rub all over with it. She seemed to really enjoy this. Its nice to see her starting to relax and allowing her self to enjoy things.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday 20th November
Tonight I went out and played with Aicha first, as I really want to try and get her more confident with the friendly game. (check out Aicha's Blog if you want to know more)
So by the time I got round to playing with Blossom it had started to rain quite heavy - so instead of going out and getting soaked I played with her in the stable. I had intended doing so work on leading her. This is where I do tend to have most of the problems with her, she is fine leading from the field etc. But as soon as I start doing things faster she starts to loss her confidence and tends to turn her hindquaters so she is facing my side. This was a rel problem when I was doing games with her, so I would like to do more work with this so when we start doing games this shouldn't be a problem for us.
But instead we played more friendly game with her rug and grooming brushes. She was really grumpy when I entered the stable, so played approach and retreat until she was curious about what I was doing - this seemed to work well for her. Once I had permission to touch her, I still had to back her up a few times and move her sideways as she was stomping her feet at me and nipping a bit. She relaxed quite quickely and seemed to enjoy being groomed, she had itchy bits in the inside of her front legs. Strange place I thought!! By the time it came to rugging her she stood perfect for me and even moved over instead of me so I could check the other side. This is the best result we have had so far.. I just hope it continues.
So by the time I got round to playing with Blossom it had started to rain quite heavy - so instead of going out and getting soaked I played with her in the stable. I had intended doing so work on leading her. This is where I do tend to have most of the problems with her, she is fine leading from the field etc. But as soon as I start doing things faster she starts to loss her confidence and tends to turn her hindquaters so she is facing my side. This was a rel problem when I was doing games with her, so I would like to do more work with this so when we start doing games this shouldn't be a problem for us.
But instead we played more friendly game with her rug and grooming brushes. She was really grumpy when I entered the stable, so played approach and retreat until she was curious about what I was doing - this seemed to work well for her. Once I had permission to touch her, I still had to back her up a few times and move her sideways as she was stomping her feet at me and nipping a bit. She relaxed quite quickely and seemed to enjoy being groomed, she had itchy bits in the inside of her front legs. Strange place I thought!! By the time it came to rugging her she stood perfect for me and even moved over instead of me so I could check the other side. This is the best result we have had so far.. I just hope it continues.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday 18th November
This weekend I had lots of new ideas of games to play with Blossom to try and advance what we can already do and make it more fun for both of us.
But Blossom came in from the field on Friday night with only 3 shoes!! So was slightly lame without a shoe. So instead I re - clipped her, she loves getting clipped - it really seems to relax her. and just play lots of friendly game with rugs, brushes etc over the weekend.
Hopefully I will be able to write something a bit more exciting soon!!
But Blossom came in from the field on Friday night with only 3 shoes!! So was slightly lame without a shoe. So instead I re - clipped her, she loves getting clipped - it really seems to relax her. and just play lots of friendly game with rugs, brushes etc over the weekend.
Hopefully I will be able to write something a bit more exciting soon!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The last few days I have been in Aberdeen with work, so I haven't been able to do anything with Blossom. So I have been using my time away to read my level two booklets ( old level two) they have given me some good ideas of what to do with Blossom and also what to do when things go wrong.. My parents are getting me my new level two for my Christmas, so until then I just need to use the old pack and the success series.
Hopefully the weather will be good at the weekend so we can go and play - got some ideas I would like to try with Blossom!
Hopefully the weather will be good at the weekend so we can go and play - got some ideas I would like to try with Blossom!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sunday 11th November
Today was our first day on a 22ft rope!! And it went surprisingly well, we didn't do very much as it was so cold. And I was still getting used to having a 22ft rope- its quite different to the 12ft!
Basically just played the seven games getting used to the longer line. Blossom seemed to prefer the 22ft line when circling, she seemed to relax alot more than normal and we even got a few changes of speed on the circle.
Also done a bit more work with her in the stable with her rug. She was alot better than she had been the day before, so hopefully what I am doing will make a differnce..
I hate the cold dark nights!!
Basically just played the seven games getting used to the longer line. Blossom seemed to prefer the 22ft line when circling, she seemed to relax alot more than normal and we even got a few changes of speed on the circle.
Also done a bit more work with her in the stable with her rug. She was alot better than she had been the day before, so hopefully what I am doing will make a differnce..
I hate the cold dark nights!!
I passed my HGV test!!
Well saturday morning got off to a good start!! My test was 10.30am and I was quite nervous. But everything went well on the day and I passed, with only 5 minor faults!! It was such a good feeling, as now I don't have to rely on my Dad to take me places. Can't wait to go somewhere now..
I went out later that afternoon to play with Blossom, but decided my energy was way to high!! So instead we just spent some time together, I gave her a really good groom and got all her itchy spots for her. She gets really itchy on her shoulders!!
I then played some friendly game with her with her rug.. She is fine once the rug is on, but bites and stomps her front legs when I am doing up her front straps. When I first got her she did have a sore on her shoulder, so I think this could be the reason for this behaviour. She had seemingly been kicked in the field but they didn't bother getting the vet out, and just put a bit of duct tape over it to hold it together. It did look as if it had healed when I got her, but there was still a hard lump under the skin. But after a few weeks off having her it burst open and the infection came out. So Im guessing she must have been in quite alot of pain and her rug would have been hurting her - so she is now expecting it too hurt every time I put it on her. She is getting much better with this and if I keep being polite Im sure this behaviour will stop.
I went out later that afternoon to play with Blossom, but decided my energy was way to high!! So instead we just spent some time together, I gave her a really good groom and got all her itchy spots for her. She gets really itchy on her shoulders!!
I then played some friendly game with her with her rug.. She is fine once the rug is on, but bites and stomps her front legs when I am doing up her front straps. When I first got her she did have a sore on her shoulder, so I think this could be the reason for this behaviour. She had seemingly been kicked in the field but they didn't bother getting the vet out, and just put a bit of duct tape over it to hold it together. It did look as if it had healed when I got her, but there was still a hard lump under the skin. But after a few weeks off having her it burst open and the infection came out. So Im guessing she must have been in quite alot of pain and her rug would have been hurting her - so she is now expecting it too hurt every time I put it on her. She is getting much better with this and if I keep being polite Im sure this behaviour will stop.
Friday, November 9, 2007
My First Parelli Course!!
Well I went to my first Parelli course, on the 3rd/4th of November at Bankhead Farm. I have to admit I was quite nervous about going as I really didn't know what to expect or what people would think of me and Blossom. Well I shouldn't have bothered getting worried as all my worries went away as soon as Shelley greeted us!! She was so friendly and helpful and made me and Kathleen feel so welcome!!
That night me and Kathleen were invited into the house for a few drinks and to meet some of the other Students on the course, they were all so lovely and we had a good chat and got to know each other a bit better. Me and Kathleen were both Shattered so left a bit earlier than everyone else.
Well I'm glad I had an early night as Kathleen had me up at 6.30am!! I forgot how early she got up.. The good thing was Blossom got a nice early breakfast and I was able to spend some undemanding time with her, while I poo picked and gave her fresh hay and water.
The course started at 9 am and we had a quick introduction and met the other students that just arrived then we headed up to the school without horses. We started by playing the first 4 games with each other, instead of with horses. This really helped both me and Kathleen as we found out things our horses weren't able to tell us. Then we got the horses to play with.. Blossom had already got the first 3 games really good, so I worked on trying to get her to pivot more than just moving her feet away from the pressure. By the end she was really getting, she was better with HQ yields than the FQ but I'm sure that will improve with practice. Her yo yo game was also good and moved backwards with phase one or two - but still needs a bit of work on coming back in as she tends to fight this a bit more. I also found out that she doesn't come back in totally straight due to lack of confidence and doesn't want to show me both eyes, but its getting better every time we do it.
After lunch we started again without horses and worked with partners with the other games. By doing this I found my send to the right isn't as good as it is to the left. Which is very interesting as Blossom is less confident with me on her right side... We then got the horses and worked with the rest of the games. Blossom was very good at these ( but we have been working really hard with these at home) The only slight problem I have is Blossom comes in too close to me, so I now need to work on keeping her out of my space and only letting her in closer if I ask her in. I think this is going to be quite hard as I like getting cuddles from her - but its for the best for both of us so we will need to work on it. I knew from working with Blossom at home that she does tend to lose her confidence more with her saddle on, so Victoria said it was ok for me to put her saddle on her. I quickly worked through all seven games with her with the saddle on and found that she had the most problems with the squeeze game, so we set up two barrels and got her squeezing through them. She was quite confident in walk, but as soon as I asked her to go through in trot she lost her confidence and really rushed through. Victoria helped me with this by getting me to stop Blossom before she got to the barrels, get her to relax then squeeze through. This really seemed to work as by the end of the session she was much more confident and was squeezing through a very tight space in walk and trot in both directions. I was so happy with our progress!!
The next morning Shelley offered to take us into the play park with our horses to try a few of the obstacles before the course started, this meant me and Blossom had to be up and ready to go by 7.30am. But it was well worth every minute!! The play Park was amazing, there was so many obstacles I didn't know what to do when I first got in - there was just so much to choose from - logs, barrels, tyres, bridges, hills, drop jumps and so much more!! But luckily Kathleen was with me and started setting me and Blossom challenges, some more difficult than others.. We found that Blossom really enjoyed the hills and loved to be standing on the top above everyone, and also crossed the bridge by herself the turned and faced once she was over to wait for her next instruction!! I was so impressed with how confident she was and how curious she was becoming! The biggest challenge for us though was jumping.. We started very similar to what we had done yesterday with the barrel, using barrels and a tyre jump that were in the field. Once Blossom got the confidence to jump there was no stopping her and she loved ever minute of it. I didn't want to stop, but the course was due to begin in 15mins so I thought we better go and meet back up with the others. To my delight we got to come back out to the field again with Victoria. Since we had such a good morning I took Blossom's saddle with us and after working through the seven games and getting her confidence up - I saddled her in the three stages. The best bit was she didn't try and bite or walk away, which is a serious achievement as this was a serious problem before we started Parelli!! I found that she was less confident jumping with her saddle on so done a lot of approach and retreat, this really seemed to work as she was jumping amazing by the end. Still a bit of work needed to get her confidence up on the right side, but that will come with work.
The afternoon started with a saddling demo from Victoria, then I done the mounting demo for the others. Which was very embarrassing - I don't know how I can ride in front of thousands of people at World Championships, vaulting on in gallop but get embarrassed mounting in front of five other riders and spectators - I must be mad!! I then done some work on follow the rail only using one rein, which was good fun as it really made me use lateral flexion to stop. I then went into my natural hackamore and worked on direct and indirect reins, which was good as it really made me and Blossom think more! We then finished off with pushing passenger only in walk though and then an emergency dismount!
Overall I thought the weekend was worth every penny I spent, my only fault was it was over too quick. Hopefully there will be another course or play day organised soon!! I can't wait!!
The best bit is I passed my level One Assessment!! My red string should be with me soon!!
So I can start working on level two now with Blossom and really start having some fun!!
Would like to say a massive Thank You to everyone involved in the course, especially Sue, Shelley, Kris and of course Victoria!!
That night me and Kathleen were invited into the house for a few drinks and to meet some of the other Students on the course, they were all so lovely and we had a good chat and got to know each other a bit better. Me and Kathleen were both Shattered so left a bit earlier than everyone else.
Well I'm glad I had an early night as Kathleen had me up at 6.30am!! I forgot how early she got up.. The good thing was Blossom got a nice early breakfast and I was able to spend some undemanding time with her, while I poo picked and gave her fresh hay and water.
The course started at 9 am and we had a quick introduction and met the other students that just arrived then we headed up to the school without horses. We started by playing the first 4 games with each other, instead of with horses. This really helped both me and Kathleen as we found out things our horses weren't able to tell us. Then we got the horses to play with.. Blossom had already got the first 3 games really good, so I worked on trying to get her to pivot more than just moving her feet away from the pressure. By the end she was really getting, she was better with HQ yields than the FQ but I'm sure that will improve with practice. Her yo yo game was also good and moved backwards with phase one or two - but still needs a bit of work on coming back in as she tends to fight this a bit more. I also found out that she doesn't come back in totally straight due to lack of confidence and doesn't want to show me both eyes, but its getting better every time we do it.
After lunch we started again without horses and worked with partners with the other games. By doing this I found my send to the right isn't as good as it is to the left. Which is very interesting as Blossom is less confident with me on her right side... We then got the horses and worked with the rest of the games. Blossom was very good at these ( but we have been working really hard with these at home) The only slight problem I have is Blossom comes in too close to me, so I now need to work on keeping her out of my space and only letting her in closer if I ask her in. I think this is going to be quite hard as I like getting cuddles from her - but its for the best for both of us so we will need to work on it. I knew from working with Blossom at home that she does tend to lose her confidence more with her saddle on, so Victoria said it was ok for me to put her saddle on her. I quickly worked through all seven games with her with the saddle on and found that she had the most problems with the squeeze game, so we set up two barrels and got her squeezing through them. She was quite confident in walk, but as soon as I asked her to go through in trot she lost her confidence and really rushed through. Victoria helped me with this by getting me to stop Blossom before she got to the barrels, get her to relax then squeeze through. This really seemed to work as by the end of the session she was much more confident and was squeezing through a very tight space in walk and trot in both directions. I was so happy with our progress!!
The next morning Shelley offered to take us into the play park with our horses to try a few of the obstacles before the course started, this meant me and Blossom had to be up and ready to go by 7.30am. But it was well worth every minute!! The play Park was amazing, there was so many obstacles I didn't know what to do when I first got in - there was just so much to choose from - logs, barrels, tyres, bridges, hills, drop jumps and so much more!! But luckily Kathleen was with me and started setting me and Blossom challenges, some more difficult than others.. We found that Blossom really enjoyed the hills and loved to be standing on the top above everyone, and also crossed the bridge by herself the turned and faced once she was over to wait for her next instruction!! I was so impressed with how confident she was and how curious she was becoming! The biggest challenge for us though was jumping.. We started very similar to what we had done yesterday with the barrel, using barrels and a tyre jump that were in the field. Once Blossom got the confidence to jump there was no stopping her and she loved ever minute of it. I didn't want to stop, but the course was due to begin in 15mins so I thought we better go and meet back up with the others. To my delight we got to come back out to the field again with Victoria. Since we had such a good morning I took Blossom's saddle with us and after working through the seven games and getting her confidence up - I saddled her in the three stages. The best bit was she didn't try and bite or walk away, which is a serious achievement as this was a serious problem before we started Parelli!! I found that she was less confident jumping with her saddle on so done a lot of approach and retreat, this really seemed to work as she was jumping amazing by the end. Still a bit of work needed to get her confidence up on the right side, but that will come with work.
The afternoon started with a saddling demo from Victoria, then I done the mounting demo for the others. Which was very embarrassing - I don't know how I can ride in front of thousands of people at World Championships, vaulting on in gallop but get embarrassed mounting in front of five other riders and spectators - I must be mad!! I then done some work on follow the rail only using one rein, which was good fun as it really made me use lateral flexion to stop. I then went into my natural hackamore and worked on direct and indirect reins, which was good as it really made me and Blossom think more! We then finished off with pushing passenger only in walk though and then an emergency dismount!
Overall I thought the weekend was worth every penny I spent, my only fault was it was over too quick. Hopefully there will be another course or play day organised soon!! I can't wait!!
The best bit is I passed my level One Assessment!! My red string should be with me soon!!
So I can start working on level two now with Blossom and really start having some fun!!
Would like to say a massive Thank You to everyone involved in the course, especially Sue, Shelley, Kris and of course Victoria!!
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