Day 251

During the past week, I signed back up for Parelli Connect after reading a bunch of articles from their blog archive. As I've said, recently I've been feeling a little lost with what to do with Harry and Brie. I didn't really have a goal or a purpose with either of them and that was not making any of us feel too great, so with Parelli Connect, I have a bunch of goals that I want to meet and they give you guidance through reading and videos on how to get there. Now my goal is to basically build trust and further our relationship in order to add performance on top of that in the next show season. This goal was really established after reading this article on enhancing performance naturally. It discusses how so often competitors get so caught up in the competition that the horse suffers through lack of guidance or becomes bored or strung out, which I think is what is happening with Harry. In a way, building up to your best performance is like baking a cake -- it can look really nice on the outside, but can taste terrible when it comes down to it. The only way to really perfect it is to make the best batter and only then is it worth it to decorate.

Source

After thinking about all of that, I approached Harry in a very different way today. Instead of throwing on the jaquima as usual and having him longe, I put on the rope halter and lead line underneath his first bit, along with the saddle. Then we went into the outdoor arena because there was construction in the indoor. I figured between the two distractions, the construction might be scarier. Instead of longing him, I took a long time playing with him. I played the Friendly Game and rubbed him all over and then tried to swing the rope at him, which he was not having anywhere past his shoulder, so we need to work on that. We played the Yo-Yo Game, which he loves. Then we just did some follow the leader and I walked backwards and forwards around the arena in zigzags and through the poles and once he realized that I didn't want him to longe, he snorted and just went along with what I was doing. Once I felt like he was calm enough, I got on.

He was a little scared because it was very gusty out, but I made sure to do my best to keep a loose rein and not let myself tie up with him because that makes him very anxious. So with a loose rein, we tried to calmly go around the arena. He was going a little fast and tap dancing because of the wind, so every time he started to get anxious, instead of pulling back and making him stop, I let him go in a little circle and went into it very calmly and he followed. We didn't have the best performance across the board, but he was calming down, so that's all I really cared about.

Meanwhile, my mom and brother were riding Brie and Nina and my mom wanted to go outside to walk around, so we all went. Nina was voted trail leader and she stayed in the front while Brie was in the middle and Harry was in the back. I made sure to keep a manageable rein on him and he was totally fine! Then my mom wanted to venture out along the road, not very far, just down the neighboring field and then come back. We were all a little hesitant, since we never have really gone outside of the property with them, but we put on our brave faces and guess what...everyone WALKED! Even Brie! Harry didn't get scared of anything, even a sports car that zoomed by! We were so amazed and proud and it was just the best feeling. No one got crazy, even on the way back. It was such a beautiful ride and I think it really did something for their confidence as well. 

Day 217

My mom has to have surgery next week on her spine, so she's trying to take advantage of as much time with the horses as she can. Today she rode all three horses and tomorrow she plans on doing the same thing. I hope that everything goes well for her in the surgery and there aren't any complications.

After looking at some stuff on Parelli Connect this past week, we went in with the intention of playing as many of the Seven Games that we know. I was more focused on getting Harry to play the Friendly Game because he had such a hard time with it last week. My brother and mom were playing the YoYo Game when Samantha's mom pulled in and started talking to my mom. Harry was making wonderful progress, coming in closer to see the carrot stick and letting me pet him with it when my brother called my mom and I over in a panic.

As we came in, he showed us a gash on Nina's nose that we hadn't seen when we came in because of the dirt covering it. It looked pretty gross, but not very bad. He took her out of the arena we were playing in to go into the wash rack and wipe off the dirt. My mom followed. I played with Harry a little more and heard some banging and my mom came in to ask me for help.

Nina was having a fit in the wash rack when you tried to touch her nose. I put Harry on the cross ties and went over to look at it. They were just trying to press a compress onto it to make sure that it would stop bleeding. It looked a lot worse once it was cleaned. The cut is about three inches in length and about half of a fingernail deep, but it's not bleeding. After much calming and talking, I can get the washcloth on her nose for about a minute before she starts thrashing around again. My mom took the hose and just let it run over her nose (which Nina still didn't like) and then I poured some hydrogen peroxide in my hand and pushed it onto Nina's nose. I got it all in one try because the length of her cut started to bubble white like cuts do when you put peroxide on them, so now it's disinfected. We put this blue stuff we have on it (I really need to learn what it's called) and only after then did I remember that I should take a picture.

Not a very good picture of the cut, but still. Maybe I'll get another shot tomorrow.

After inspecting her stall, my brother found that she must have cut her nose on her feed bucket. It was kind of shoddy looking before and I have mentioned it to Paco when Harry was living in that stall, but he never changed it. Well Nina must have cracked it and then went in to eat and sliced her nose on it. I'm just thankful it's not on her eye or her entire face or something worse like that. I am worried though that it won't grow back together and that there will always be a separation. I don't know if she needs stitches or what. Someone suggested butterfly closures, but she'd need to be sedated anyways for us to do that, and if that's the case, stitches might be the better option. We'll see how it is tomorrow.

Once we found out the bucket was the cause, my dad took down all three of the horse's feed buckets (their waterers are steel automatic) and put in new ones. Much better.

We all rode after that. I rode Brie first and she was kind of limping. I guess it must be time for her to have another arthritis shot. I was trying to get her to walk because of the limp, but she didn't want to. So after a while of struggling with getting her to walk, but a little bit of calming down, I let her corto the rest of the ride and she seemed content. Then my mom switched with me and I got Harry.

This largo is the kind that we've been looking for. He is so ready for show in a couple of weeks, I can't wait! He was absolutely flying in his largo without breaking gait (only a couple of times in the counterclockwise) and had a very nice, high-stepping, collected largo. Hopefully I can get some pictures and a couple videos tomorrow!

In the end, I ended up riding Taco a bit for Jane, because it was muddy out and she didn't get to let him out in the round pen to longe, so he was being a bit naughty for her. It took a couple of laps to settle into his tweaks, but he worked nicely for me after that. He likes to break into a canter though. If I were training him, I'd definitely have to work on that, even though his canter is gloriously smooth, it's unacceptable in show. At the end of my ride, John asked if I would show Taco. I sure hope that he was serious! I would love to! And it would give me an excuse to get a different show jacket =]

I really hope that Nina is okay. Please keep both Nina and my mom in your thoughts!

Day 151

Well, we haven't heard back from the vet yet on those X Rays, so hopefully no news is good news.

Today we found out that Brie is just a magnet for bad things lately! She had a small gash on her hock, looking fresh, and low and behold one of her boards in the stall was split and she must've rubbed on it and cut herself on the part that was pointing out. We told Paco and he'll have it fixed. We cleaned the wound with some warm water on a rag, then put some iodine on it and finally put this blue paste for cuts my mom found in some vet magazine. It works fantastically! I'll have to get the name of it for you all.

Harry...well, he wasn't exactly bad today, but he wasn't good either. He was having an off day in the most literal sense of the word. He couldn't find his rhythm in his gait, no matter what we tried. Circles, different hand positions, different seats, but nope, he just never really settled into a nice clean gait. Always pacing. I hope that this was just a one day thing, because tomorrow is our last practice before we go to the Michigan show next weekend, and I want to keep up placing highly with him!

I would like to be somewhat productive this summer, so I'm signing up for this Parelli Connect thing online. I'm not sure if I told you all, but last summer I could've had an internship with Parelli in Colorado! I kind of wish I would've taken it, even if it was unpaid. But then again, if I had, I wouldn't have made it so far with Harry! Remember the wild beast he used to be? I'm so glad he's turned out to be so sweet. I'd rather have him be a sweet, not so great show horse, than an uncontrollable blue-ribbon winner! And I like to think I did a good job of taming him, thank you very much.

Oh, so remember when I was on the Equestrian Team? I quit back in October basically because of the facilities not being up to my own personal standards. I just found out that they've decided to move locations to a WAY better stable (one that I suggested way back when) and I'm joining again when school starts. I'm so excited! I missed jumping, and now that I know for sure I have to stop with Brie, it'll be nice to get it somewhere. I plan on starting lessons by the end of the month again, if not sooner!