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 128

I didn't go out yesterday because I went to the dog show! Yayyyy doggies!!

Today. Was. FABULOUS.
Mainly because Colin came out today and Ray wasn't there. We chatted and he showed us three new stallions that he brought up from Florida. The poor things are so skinny! We're determined to get some weight and muscles on them. He promised to let me ride one, Cache, once he's settled in and has a bit more weight on. I'm super excited, Cache looks like a train coming down a track. So much power! I know I can be bad about getting pictures and videos up, but I promise I'll get a video of me riding Cache up as soon as I do!

So we rode all together and when he was done riding Cache, Colin came back in the arena to watch my brother and I ride. He immediately took to my brother and pretty much gave him an hour long lesson on Nina, giving him tips and tricks on how to ride her better so that she's more relaxed, more balanced, and gaits tighter. Unfortunately I didn't hear any of those comments because I was working on warming up Brie. I got around the arena a couple of times before my mom demanded a switch with me so that I would ride Harry.

What a handful. I know that I should be light on his mouth, but it's just so hard when he pulls and tries to take off! So, like a bad owner, Colin saw me struggling with Harry today. As soon as he was done working with my brother, he asked if he could ride Harry, and I obliged. First thing he pointed out was that Harry has a really unnecessary fear of the wall and we're going at it the wrong way. We use our inside leg to apply pressure and the outside rein to try to get him over to the wall, while Colin said that we should just not fight with him like that, just make him go straight, and instead of reversing into the arena, we should reverse onto the wall. Another pointer that he had regarding my fighting with Harry was instead of pulling on his bit constantly trying to get him to slow down is to just turn him into a wall or a corner and he'll have no choice but to stop.

Colin set a few goals for us with Harry:
1. Extinguish the fear of the wall.
2. Get him to relax while not wanting to take off.
3. Make him STOP when we want him to stop.

I think I've mentioned before that Harry has a tendency to tap-dance when he gets nervous. We've been told lots of different things to stop this and none of them have really worked. Colin suggested just keeping pressure on him at all sides when he starts tapping until he stops and then immediately release pressure and he'll start to get the message. It's worth a try.

He also mentioned that trotting is a good thing for the horses. We're all so concerned with gaiting all the time that they never get the chance to relax, and he said that giving them an opportunity to lapse into a natural trot is relaxing for them, and that when we ask them to gait from a trot, they'll have relaxed and then be ready to work really well in a gait. We can give that a try too, though I'm a bit skeptical about that. All we can do is wait and see.

But now Colin will be around more often, or so he says. I really am looking forward to having him around. It's nice to get some new pointers and tricks every once in a while, because thinking of ways to deal with issues gets a little exhausting on your own!