You Never Know

I went downlake last week from Nov. 10 through the 13th to play with Kjarda a few more days before winter really hits.  When I first got down there on Wednesday, it was way too late to do anything, so I just went and said hello to her, brushed her and gave her some treats.  The happy part was she was nickering to me as soon as I got out of the car.  Sweet feeling.

In my last blog I said I was going to try the Figure 8 with the technique of doing less to get more.  As it turns out . . . we didn't do the Figure 8 even once!  Sorry to disappoint you.  But you never know what you will be doing the next time you see your horse.  And Figure 8 patterns was not something that we were in a mindset to do. 

Thursday, because I had not done anything with her for almost three weeks, I started with some leg stretches, neck flexion, tail rotations as taught in Jec Ballou's book about fitness and strengthening exercises for horses.  Kjarda loves that stuff.  She loosens up, licks and chews, shakes her head . . . good reactions.  After that we went into the round pen, which has deep sand in it, and played at liberty until she was breathing decently hard.  She gave me some spins, changes of direction, transitions and walked around me in a close circle.  It was all really good . . . but she wouldn't trot in a close circle.  Before she left Stehekin in October, in a small area like a round pen or her corral, she would trot around me in a close circle.  This time when I would ask her to trot, she moved all the way out to the rail.  I was disappointed as it appeared we had lost some connection there and I'm not sure why.  But we went on to the riding part of the morning and we did some nice walk, trot, shoulder-in, canter warm-ups.  By the time we quit, she was nice and sweaty, very responsive and tired.  It was a good loosening up day.  I walked her out for about 10 minutes, let her graze a little and put her away.

The next day was a stunning fall day.  The temperature rose to 50+ degrees.  Stacy, Liz and I went on a trail ride up in the hills.  I think we could see all the way to Wenatchee and the mountains west of Leavenworth.  It was really beautiful.  All our horses were mares and they were all very frisky and even a little feisty.  Unfortunately, the ground had frozen or had snow on it which melted in the warmth of the day and made the track rather slick, so we couldn't do any cantering.  But we got in some trots and worked them out pretty well on the uphill.  Of course, they came down much friskier than they went up!!!  Kjarda did well loading both coming and going.  That was nice. 

Friday night, because I had been so disappointed about Kjarda not wanting to stay close at the trot, I sat and watched Parelli on-line videos that dealt with left brain introvert horses.  I had heard this many times from Linda Parelli, but evidently I needed to hear it several more times . . . with left brain introverted horses, you have to wait.  So I went back up to Stacy's on Saturday with that in mind.  I was going to work in the round pen on-line and at liberty as needed, but do more waiting for Kjarda to respond in hopes that she would voluntarily, willingly, come to me and trot in a close circle.  We played for two hours doing various on-line and liberty exercises . . . transitions, backing, spins, changes of direction, sideways away from and towards.  It all went well and Kjarda seemed pretty connected.  She did the walk around close just find, but . . .again, when I asked for the trot, she moved away.  So I waited.  She made ovals, coming close in front or behind, but going away on the sides and sometimes she just stayed away.  Finally at the end, she did a few trot steps while looking at me and not entirely having the intention of leaving, so we stopped and I rewarded her with some soak time and then some graze time.  I didn't have another chance to play with her, but I believe we left on a good note . . . something for her to build on until I can go back down, which may be almost two months from now, depending on the weather. 

Kjarda has always been an aloof horse.  She is a challenge, but I believe a lot of it is my high energy, extrovert personality clashing with her lower energy, introvert personality.  I get frustrated and I know she knows that, and then I get "all prickly" as Linda once called it.  I have to work on that.  I will do more studying and watching Linda with Remmer this winter, as he and Kjarda are a lot alike.  I am only recently realizing how much so.  I'm glad to have that resource . . .

Until next time, thanks for following.

Issue 53

Today I watched the October 2010 Savvy Club DVD.  I was particularly interested in the segment with Linda on the Figure 8.  I have been trying to figure out the best way to play that pattern with Kjarda since we started.  But with Kjarda, once she has done something well, she doesn't want to be bothered with it.  So, I have been wracking my brain to figure out how to get her to want to canter the figure 8 on the 45' line and give me a flying change.  As of the end of the summer, I had finally come to the conclusion that starting with less ends up with more.  And watching the episode today with Linda was the confirmation that I was on the right track.  I'm excited to go downlake next week and see how Kjarda reacts to the "new" me and my approach to this pattern.  Stay tuned!

How it Began

Four and a half years ago myself and five of my students went to a Parelli tour stop in Yakima, Washington.  By the end of the event, we had all decided to share in the purchase of a Parelli Level 1 pack.  That was the spring of 2006.  By October of that year, we had all submitted our Level 1 assessment videos to David Lichman.  One of my students passed immediately.  The rest of us (me included!) had to do a couple of resubmits.  But we all passed on the second try. 

The Parelli method has proven itself to be the best and most fun training system I have tried.  I have always done natural horsemanship, having started with John Lyons' earlier round pen method in 1998.  I started quite a few horses that way with great success.  But these were all horses that I did not own and was only preparing to be used as trail horses, or sold to others.  I purchased my current horse partner in 2000 when she was 18 months old.  She had responded well to the round pen work and we likewise did really well together.  By the time she was five she had passed her Introductory Driving, Draft, English and Western tests in her breed evaluation with blue ribbons, also earning her Silver Medallion award.  It was after that that I learned about Parelli, and even though we had achieve this much, there was something lacking in my attitude and our relationship.  So when I started Parelli, I started over at Level 1 with the halter and lead rope.  I didn't use a bridle again until the following summer, except when I was driving her.  At the age of ten, Kjarda passed her Advanced Driving, Draft and Western tests again with blue ribbon scores and earned her Gold Mediallion award.  I think I want to do the Western test again and also do the English test.  I know we can get a better score on the western test, even thought we got a blue ribbon.  But we didn't have the flying lead change yet, and that will be in place next year.  I'm excited.  I'm learning that with Kjarda.

I am still learning a lot about myself . . . I am a direct-line thinker, impatient, and get angry . . . I never thought I had a temper, but now I know.  Kjarda is teaching me to be humble, to wait, to work through problems, to take more time.  Even now, playing in Level 4, I still get impatient . . . but not as often.  Kjarda is so patient with me and very forgiving.  She is a great partner!  I know where I stand with her at all times and I still have a ways to go.  Sometimes I think she acts like a left brain introvert when she knows I am hurrying too fast just to get me to relax and take more time.  Unfortunately, I tend to get impatient . . . that's one of the areas I still have a ways to go.  She acts like a left brain extrovert when I push her too hard to teach me to be more gentle and, again, to wait.   

How We Got Where We Are

Kjarda and I started our Parelli journey four years ago.  Our first summer in Parelli Kjarda was 6 years old and pregnant and we passed Level 1.  It took another two summers to pass through Level 2.  We have been playing in Levels 3 and 4 for the past two summers and are mostly in Level 4 now, except for Finesse where we are playing in Level 3, but only for a few more weeks.

You may be wondering why we only play in the summer?  We live in Stehekin, Washington, where the horses must go downlake for the winter.  I play with Kjarda during the winter, but only get to do that once a month or so . . .just enough to remind her what we did all summer and keep her thinking until late spring when she comes home again.

What is Kjarda?  She is an 11 year old Norwegian Fjord mare.  I've had difficulties figuring out her horsenality because she is all over the board.  However, I'm beginning to settle on her being left brain extrovert with introvert tendencies.  I originally thought her to be a left brain introvert because she has more whoa than go, but that's only by her choice.  She has plenty of go when she wants it and when she realizes I mean business.

I regret not starting this last year when we first started doing the patterns.  I may fill in the blanks as I think of things, but I want to start with today.

We are working on the bull's eye pattern, Level 3 Finesse.  I finally had an aha moment that was strong enough to entice me to start this blog. 

Kjarda figured out the reward in the middle of the bull's eye pattern after the first day.  We are on day four and it has become evident to me that the center is her focus.  The pattern is becoming useful for teaching me to be consistent with my position, and that I need to keep a strong inside leg and outside rein to keep her from diving into the center when we get close.  It will be useful for teaching Kjarda to wait for direction and to respect my commands, that she must wait for me to invite her to the center where she can stop and rest.  Also, she cannot break gait from a canter . . . she has to stop exactly at the center. 

I am also learning to wait.  When Kjarda has done something well, I am learning to take time for her to rest and "soak."