Today was another nice day, so I went out to the field to play with Blossom. We had a quick run through of the seven games on the 12 ft line before moving on to the 22ft line. I feel that sometimes I just expect too much from her if im on the 22ft rope from the start and sometimes I loss her confidence. Everything seemed ok so we moved on to the 22ft line and started with yo yo’s over a pole, she was quite un confident with this today so I used a lot of approach and retreat to gain her confidence. We then moved on to circling game and Blossom decided she wasn’t going on the send.. So I thought maybe I am doing something wrong, so I played friendly game with her and then backed her out and then asked her out on a circle but again she wouldn’t go. After her doing this a few times and everytime I lifted my carrot stick she would go backwards.. I was stuck!! So after reading a lot I knew I had a 50/50 chance of doing the right thing, so I decided to go through my phases to get her going on a circle. I had to go up to phase 4 and got a little buck when the string got her, but she did go out on a circle. After a couple of laps I asked her back in and rewarded her. The next send she went on a suggestion, so I think the problem was a dominance issue as after using phase 4 I didn’t have any other problems with her with the send.
We then played with change of direction, its getting better but she is still stopping when I go backwards. But I think she is starting to understand what I am asking her to do. I will keep playing with this as I do feel it is getting better everytime.
We then played stick to me, she was great!! I then jumped on her bareback and went for a walk round the field. She was so calm and relaxed it was like a different pony, she actually stopped and started eating grass and I had to go through my phases to get her going again! I didn’t think I would ever see the day I had to use phases to get Blossom to go! Amazing day!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Saturday 16th February
Today it was a sunny but cold day, so I hooked up the trailer and put it in the middle of the field along with some other obstacles for us to play with.
Blossom was really full of herself today and had lots of energy, so I had to really work hard to keep her focus on me. Once I felt she had calmed down and was listening to me we started playing with the seven games round the trailer and getting her to put her nose on things.
I then asked her in the trailer and she went nearly all the way in just one foot still on the ramp, so I left her and then asked her out and back in again. She went straight in and then stood relaxed and licked and chewed. So I left her in there for a good few minutes and then asked her out. I felt that was a really good session with her so decided to finish on a good note so we just sat and ate grass for a while before heading in.
Blossom was really full of herself today and had lots of energy, so I had to really work hard to keep her focus on me. Once I felt she had calmed down and was listening to me we started playing with the seven games round the trailer and getting her to put her nose on things.
I then asked her in the trailer and she went nearly all the way in just one foot still on the ramp, so I left her and then asked her out and back in again. She went straight in and then stood relaxed and licked and chewed. So I left her in there for a good few minutes and then asked her out. I felt that was a really good session with her so decided to finish on a good note so we just sat and ate grass for a while before heading in.
Friday 15th February
Tonight I had about an hour before I had to leave to go to training with Aicha so I thought it would be good to get Blossom out to play with.
The trailer was hooked on to my car so we were ready to go with Aicha, so I thought I would play with this, we started with opening the ramp and Blossom was really curious and wanted to smell the ramp as I was bringing it down so I let her. As soon as the ramp was fully down she had all her feet on the ramp, then walked half way in!! I then asked her out and we played the seven games around the trailer, then moved into the field and played a bit more with change of direction. Still having a few problems with the change of direction, when I draw her in and run backwards she stops dead. So I need to work on getting her to keep moving, it may be there is a problem with how I am asking her to come in and I am confusing her and she thinks I’m asking for her to stop.
We them moved back to the trailer and I asked her in, she went nearly all the way in just one foot still on the ramp so after leaving her there a few minutes I asked her out and then asked her in again. She went straight in so I played lots of friendly game with her in zone 4 and 5, she seemed really relaxed and she even licked and chewed!! So I thought this would be a good place to stop playing with the trailer.
I still had some time left so I jumped on her bareback and went for a walk round the field, she had a few RB moments but I just bent her to a stop until she relaxed and then let her go forward again. But I do feel this is the calmest she has been with me on her which is great.
The trailer was hooked on to my car so we were ready to go with Aicha, so I thought I would play with this, we started with opening the ramp and Blossom was really curious and wanted to smell the ramp as I was bringing it down so I let her. As soon as the ramp was fully down she had all her feet on the ramp, then walked half way in!! I then asked her out and we played the seven games around the trailer, then moved into the field and played a bit more with change of direction. Still having a few problems with the change of direction, when I draw her in and run backwards she stops dead. So I need to work on getting her to keep moving, it may be there is a problem with how I am asking her to come in and I am confusing her and she thinks I’m asking for her to stop.
We them moved back to the trailer and I asked her in, she went nearly all the way in just one foot still on the ramp so after leaving her there a few minutes I asked her out and then asked her in again. She went straight in so I played lots of friendly game with her in zone 4 and 5, she seemed really relaxed and she even licked and chewed!! So I thought this would be a good place to stop playing with the trailer.
I still had some time left so I jumped on her bareback and went for a walk round the field, she had a few RB moments but I just bent her to a stop until she relaxed and then let her go forward again. But I do feel this is the calmest she has been with me on her which is great.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday 14th February
The past few nights Blossom has had some problems going to the field as they seem to be doing some sort of work at the farm and there is a few coils of the drainage pipes on the way to the field hidden behind a bush. Blossom has had some problems with these and is spooking quite badly at these going to and from the field. So I thought I would try and do some work with her tonight to try and help her overcome this fear.
I started with taking her into the field to play; I started with the friendly game and played a bit more with extreme friendly game! She was really good but was a little unconfident when I was in zone 5, we will need to work more on this. Porcupine on zone 1 and the HQ was really good and only needed phase one. But the FQ wasn’t as good to start with as she wanted to move forward instead of yielding to the pressure. But after a few attempts she was doing it really well and was starting to pivot round. Yo Yo game was really good and she went back all the way on the 22ft line and stayed straight and seemed to be very confident, but the draw wasn’t great. So we will need to do a bit more work on this to get this better.
I was dreading playing the circling game after all my problems on Sunday with this game. But much to my surprise everything went really well and I managed to get 4 laps in both directions without any problems. So I moved on to sideways and started doing some work without a fence – This is our most difficult game and has caused us the most problems through our journey so far. So tonight I just asked for a couple of steps at a time and I was so please at how well we were getting on with this she was really trying hard and she was licking and chewing lots!!
We then went back to circling game, after checking she was able to circle all the way round me in both directions without any problems I moved on to change of direction.. This was the first time we had tried this, the first two were really good but then we had a few problems with her stopping when I started running backwards. So to try and fix this problem I slowed things down and made it a smaller circle. This seemed to help and she was more confident with the draw the next time I asked on a full circle. I was so happy.
I then decided to go for a walk with her down the road to the scary pipes to see if I could help her with this problem. It was really interesting as she had lots of thresholds walking down the road; she has never showed me this side of her before. She wanted to stop a lot so I let her and played friendly game until she was confident to walk again. When we got near the pipes she leapt in the air and ran past it. I have never seen her this spooky before, so we done lots of approach and retreat and then moved on to walking past it with me between Blossom and the pipes. She then became confident enough to put her nose on the pipes. So we then played squeeze game in between the pipes, and me she needed quite a big space to start with and was still rushing through. But after a few tries she was walking through a gap just big enough for her to fit. She even stopped a few times to sniff the pipes and stick her head in the hole to check for any monsters that might have been hiding in there!!
It was amazing to see the change in her, she was so confident by the end of playing with the pipes I could hardly believe it!! By now it was 9pm so I thought I better head back to the stables, so on the way back up the road I got her to play ‘Can you put your nose on…..’ She was really good at this and managed to put her nose on the pipes, a gate, a wheely bin, a low wall, a high wall, a pile of bricks and a large stone.
We were then only about a minute walk from the stables, so I decided to jump on her and ride her back. She stood perfect for me to get on and walked up the road so calm and relaxed. When we got to the yard I asked her to back up, only one-step at a time but she was really good and tried so hard. I have tried to get her to back with me on her before and she just pushed into the pressure and lost all confidence in me. So this was a really good thing for us to achieve tonight.
Tonight I felt was an amazing night I just felt tonight me and Blossom were actually partners and I feel she is now trusting me as a leader if feels so good!!
I started with taking her into the field to play; I started with the friendly game and played a bit more with extreme friendly game! She was really good but was a little unconfident when I was in zone 5, we will need to work more on this. Porcupine on zone 1 and the HQ was really good and only needed phase one. But the FQ wasn’t as good to start with as she wanted to move forward instead of yielding to the pressure. But after a few attempts she was doing it really well and was starting to pivot round. Yo Yo game was really good and she went back all the way on the 22ft line and stayed straight and seemed to be very confident, but the draw wasn’t great. So we will need to do a bit more work on this to get this better.
I was dreading playing the circling game after all my problems on Sunday with this game. But much to my surprise everything went really well and I managed to get 4 laps in both directions without any problems. So I moved on to sideways and started doing some work without a fence – This is our most difficult game and has caused us the most problems through our journey so far. So tonight I just asked for a couple of steps at a time and I was so please at how well we were getting on with this she was really trying hard and she was licking and chewing lots!!
We then went back to circling game, after checking she was able to circle all the way round me in both directions without any problems I moved on to change of direction.. This was the first time we had tried this, the first two were really good but then we had a few problems with her stopping when I started running backwards. So to try and fix this problem I slowed things down and made it a smaller circle. This seemed to help and she was more confident with the draw the next time I asked on a full circle. I was so happy.
I then decided to go for a walk with her down the road to the scary pipes to see if I could help her with this problem. It was really interesting as she had lots of thresholds walking down the road; she has never showed me this side of her before. She wanted to stop a lot so I let her and played friendly game until she was confident to walk again. When we got near the pipes she leapt in the air and ran past it. I have never seen her this spooky before, so we done lots of approach and retreat and then moved on to walking past it with me between Blossom and the pipes. She then became confident enough to put her nose on the pipes. So we then played squeeze game in between the pipes, and me she needed quite a big space to start with and was still rushing through. But after a few tries she was walking through a gap just big enough for her to fit. She even stopped a few times to sniff the pipes and stick her head in the hole to check for any monsters that might have been hiding in there!!
It was amazing to see the change in her, she was so confident by the end of playing with the pipes I could hardly believe it!! By now it was 9pm so I thought I better head back to the stables, so on the way back up the road I got her to play ‘Can you put your nose on…..’ She was really good at this and managed to put her nose on the pipes, a gate, a wheely bin, a low wall, a high wall, a pile of bricks and a large stone.
We were then only about a minute walk from the stables, so I decided to jump on her and ride her back. She stood perfect for me to get on and walked up the road so calm and relaxed. When we got to the yard I asked her to back up, only one-step at a time but she was really good and tried so hard. I have tried to get her to back with me on her before and she just pushed into the pressure and lost all confidence in me. So this was a really good thing for us to achieve tonight.
Tonight I felt was an amazing night I just felt tonight me and Blossom were actually partners and I feel she is now trusting me as a leader if feels so good!!
Wednesday 13th February
Tonight I wanted to play with holding Blossom’s tongue again. So again I started with using the carrot stick, she was much quicker tonight finding the release. So I felt she was ready for me to hold her tongue, when I first got hold of her tongue it felt like she fought me for hours before she relaxed!! But it must have only been a few minutes at the most, it shows the difference in the time the horse needs compared to what I would have thought was enough – how interesting!! But I should add that I did give her the time she needed. We done this several more times and by the end she had worked out that if she stood with her mouth relaxed, I would let go of her tongue! . I should also add that she was at liberty in the stable so it would have been easy enough for her to leave me or fight if she had wanted too. So it was really nice that she stayed with me as well as letting me hold her tongue. Her problems with me being in her stable slowly seem to be going, she seems to trust me more now and I think it helps now that I have worked out through trial and error that she seems to like to be left in her stable for approx 10mins before I do anything with her. So I guess knowing this is setting me up for success.
Monday 11th February
Tonight I decided to start playing with holding Blossom’s tongue. I started with playing friendly all over until she was relaxed. Then I asked her to take the carrot stick in her mouth, she really moved her mouth about trying to find a release from it. But all the time she still appeared to be confident, her ears foreward, eyes blinking and her head was down. I must have spent a good half hour playing with the carrot stick in her mouth, she soon worked out that if she relaxed I would take it out her mouth – what a clever pony. Nearer the end I was able to put the stick in her mouth and she would relax within seconds. So I thought this would be a good place to stop and I will work on holding her tongue with my hand another night, I didn’t want to ask to much from her tonight.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday 3rd February
Well today it wasn't raining or windy so I thought I better make the most of it and go out and play with Blossom.
I had wanted to try playing with change of direction with the circling game as I have been watching the level two dvds and feel I now understand what I have to do now. So I warmed up with playing the seven games on the 12ft line. First 3 games were really good, yo yo she went a bit squint but after a couple she done it really well at only phase 1. Circling game wasn't very good I felt to start with because the ground was still quite wet there just wasn't enough room for her as she was really pulling on me and I felt I wasn't able to stay in the one spot. So I decided to leave that game until I was on the 22ft rope. We moved on to play the squeeze game, which she done really well between me and a fence. Sideways was the best we have ever managed!! She really was moving her legs over each other, and seemed quite relaxed doing it.
I then moved on to the 22ft line and done a few yo yo's with her, she was really good but seem to get a little unconfident when she was right the way out. So I just left her there for a minute before asking her back in. The second time she was much better!
We then moved on to circling game, I moved up the field where the ground was a bit better. But when we then started to circle Blossom would stop at the same stop everytime.. To start with I thought she was stopping there because it was behind my back, so after thanking her for checking in and re sending her I found we still had this problem even when my back was in the other direction.. I then thought the problem could have been in my send, as when I first started Parelli I had problems with circling but then found out that the problem was actually in my send. I wasn't given Blossom a clear enough signal for her to understand what I was asking of her. So I really made sure I was sending her well and she was going from the send really well in walk, trot and canter depending on my energy. But she would still stop at the same spot! This was even from a fast canter, she would bounce to a stop. I then thought the problem may have been she was un confident in that area of the field as we don't often play there. So I moved back down the field to an area where we have played before - but again I had the same problem. She would go off on the circle then just stop, everytime at the same spot. This was the same going in both directions.
I had totally run out of ideas, so decided to leave that game for the day as I didn't want to make the situation worse. So instead we played stick to me, using walk, trot, stand and back up. She was really good so I decided to go into the school and try it at liberty. This went better than I could have hoped for, we managed walk, trot, stand and back up. Her back up wasn't always straight but I was so happy with what she offered me seen as it was our first liberty session. I did loose her a couple of times when I put too much pressure on her asking for a faster trot, but the second time she trotted back to me!! I was so happy!! Hopefully I will get out to play with her at some point this week so we can try the circling game again.
I had wanted to try playing with change of direction with the circling game as I have been watching the level two dvds and feel I now understand what I have to do now. So I warmed up with playing the seven games on the 12ft line. First 3 games were really good, yo yo she went a bit squint but after a couple she done it really well at only phase 1. Circling game wasn't very good I felt to start with because the ground was still quite wet there just wasn't enough room for her as she was really pulling on me and I felt I wasn't able to stay in the one spot. So I decided to leave that game until I was on the 22ft rope. We moved on to play the squeeze game, which she done really well between me and a fence. Sideways was the best we have ever managed!! She really was moving her legs over each other, and seemed quite relaxed doing it.
I then moved on to the 22ft line and done a few yo yo's with her, she was really good but seem to get a little unconfident when she was right the way out. So I just left her there for a minute before asking her back in. The second time she was much better!
We then moved on to circling game, I moved up the field where the ground was a bit better. But when we then started to circle Blossom would stop at the same stop everytime.. To start with I thought she was stopping there because it was behind my back, so after thanking her for checking in and re sending her I found we still had this problem even when my back was in the other direction.. I then thought the problem could have been in my send, as when I first started Parelli I had problems with circling but then found out that the problem was actually in my send. I wasn't given Blossom a clear enough signal for her to understand what I was asking of her. So I really made sure I was sending her well and she was going from the send really well in walk, trot and canter depending on my energy. But she would still stop at the same spot! This was even from a fast canter, she would bounce to a stop. I then thought the problem may have been she was un confident in that area of the field as we don't often play there. So I moved back down the field to an area where we have played before - but again I had the same problem. She would go off on the circle then just stop, everytime at the same spot. This was the same going in both directions.
I had totally run out of ideas, so decided to leave that game for the day as I didn't want to make the situation worse. So instead we played stick to me, using walk, trot, stand and back up. She was really good so I decided to go into the school and try it at liberty. This went better than I could have hoped for, we managed walk, trot, stand and back up. Her back up wasn't always straight but I was so happy with what she offered me seen as it was our first liberty session. I did loose her a couple of times when I put too much pressure on her asking for a faster trot, but the second time she trotted back to me!! I was so happy!! Hopefully I will get out to play with her at some point this week so we can try the circling game again.
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