Me with 3* NZ Instructor Jackie Chant and UK 1* Trainee Instructor Katie Salisbury
Me and 2* UK Instructor Sally BrettWEEK FOUR: FINESSE
Monday:
Orientation at 2.30 again today but in the morning I sort Solly and stable out and then go and walk around the Stoneleigh park site. It took me about half an hour and by chance I come across a wonderful garden area. It is peaceful and full of wonderful plants here, if I had found it before I probably would have spent some quality reading time here over the weekends! Hey ho, I will know for next time.
The GardenSo, up in the classroom in the afternoon, we have two new UK 1* Instructors to help us this week: Sally Brett and Katie Salisbury, both lovely ladies and inspirational.
The outcomes for me and Sol this week are: Relaxed with willing obedience and for me to go with the flow.
The outcomes for the weeks course are:
1) Shaping and balanced with relaxation for horse/human
2) Lateral manoeuvers
3) Lead Change Ladder
Our leader this week is again Jackie Chant, who is passionate about Finesse and is a superb teacher.
Our classroom session involves lots of theory as Finesse is a very technical subject. Things like:
mental - into and techniques
emotional - not to get direct line / 80:20 with relaxation
physical - lots of simulations
Online leads to liberty, OL & L lead to Freestyle, OL, L & FR lead to Finesse.
We then go through what Finesse means to us, things like lightness, refinement, fluidity, seat/mind connection etc.
Then we go through what Brace means to us, things like force, tight, resistence etc.
Then we go through what Leadership means to us, things like having a plan, focus, strategies, patience etc.
Our play session today was between 5pm and 7pm and we went up to the hill field (which me and Sol love being in). It was a session of trouble shooting, finding what neede working on and sorting out that whatever was needed we needed to go back to where relaxation lives to be able to progress.
Sol and I really enjoyed being in a big field with a slight hill in it. We started on just looking around the field slowly, around the edges a bit and then we played around with transitions and circling. He offered me canter and quite a lot of it, so it was lovely to let him be able to stretch himself after being in the stable for the last three weeks. I used the 45' line and he was using most of it...yeehaa ;-) then we included some barrel jumps and I started to really have some fun. The field reminded me of home and it was big enough to not have to worry about using the 45' line to it's fullest.
The hill field ;-)
Sol jumping barrels in the hill fieldTuesday:
Today's classroom session covered things like:
The Parelli formula of Rapport/Respect/Impulsion/Flexion and how to use this well. We also learned some posture exercises like going online in a circle and then asking the horse to put some sideways in on that circle, walking forwards straight online and asking for forwards/sideways manoeuvers. using poles on the circle to help them lift their feet and backs. Using jumps on a circle to again help them keep their responsibilities. We then saw pictures of one of Jackie's horsres and how she used posture exercises to completely change her body shape, from a thin ewe neck with large butt muscles to a horse that had good overall mucles and a relaxed head, soft topline and tracking up beautifully.
We then got to see a good demo from Angelika and her horse April and Sally and her horse Bertie. Angelika was online showing us the posture exercises in a straight line and circle and Sally showed us the fluid rein on Bertie.
We then took these concepts to the paddock and Sol started to move sideways with the circling game, we've done this at home a bit for relaxation BUT I hadn't been able to get to any shops over the weekend and I didn't have my banana for breakfast so I got a bit shaky and hypo-glycemic and had to sit down and watch everyone else. Never mind, the concepts are in my head and I have all week to get them better.
In the afternoon after lunch, I was feeling much better and we got to learn more about the Suspension rein and how to use it and with the simulations on Big Red/Seat Builder we could practise this before taking it to our horses.
Then we had three workshops in the all weather arena:
1) Freestyle
2) Fluid Rein
3) Suspension Rein and manoeuvers
I chose to do the Fluid rein as I haven't really got to grips with this and I've never done it with Solly. A friend lent me her Confidence bit and Parelli bridle which was fabulous. I bought a Confidence Snaffle whilst there but they were out of stock so they will send it to me as soon as they come in, then I can continue with Sol's bit/relaxation training. The workshop was great but hard work for me. Sol really didn't understand about relaxing INTO the bit, in his past he was kept up with a martingale so it's taken him a LONG time to realise he can relax down, even with our circling online. So I had to keep doing the fluid rein in rising trot until he realised what I wanted. Near the end of the session he started to offer to drop his head and it was good to be able to stop and rest ;-)
Wednesday:
In the classroom we were reminded to remember what stage of training we were at:
Teaching/Controlling/Reinforcing/Refining and to be appropriate with our phases. To teach at walk, then at trot and then again at canter and to remember the energy we teach at, either low, medium or high.
We then learnt more about Longitudinal Flexion for stretching, posture nad strengthening and engaging. We took on board that the Fluid Rein was for Confidence and friendly game in Z1, to stretch the topline with the drag and also to lengthen the stride adn engage the HQ's to make the horse lighter with more drag with energy. I learned that you can use the Fluid Rein for warming up or cooling down a horse as they learn it's about relaxation and to really understand how it 'feels' when the horse is engaging his HQ's when relaxing down and into the bit and to not stop the F.R until he learns this.
The Intructors said that Sol needed to learn to relax into the bit and then as he's inately a LBint to move to the Cradle Bridle (or other Myler bit similar) to stop him becomming heavy on the bit as LBint's tend to lean on a comfortable bit too much! how interesting.
We also learned about the Suspension Rein and Fixed Reins more which was great. We then had a great talk about all the types of bits/bridles PNH recommend and why they recommend them in the order they do.
Our morning play was working on relaxtion with the sideways/straight/circle manoeuvers which Sol is really getting more now. When I ask for the sideways on the circle his head starts to lower and he blows out more which is a great sign of relaxation. We then moved onto the other topline/relaxation manoeuvers which were lowering of the head and backing up and then lowering of the head, move slightly to one side or other and ask for a sideways move. Sol and I have done the head down/backwards move and he's pretty good at it now. I need to apply this manoeuver every day though to really help him to stretch his back upwards as he can have opposition reflex when backing up and he goes hollow in his neck/back. The other move was difficult for him. When he lowered his head he could move it slightly to the side okay but any 'pressure' 0f the CS to ask for a sideways or try his head immediately shot up again. I asked Instructor Angelika to help me with this and she really helped me to see how to break down the task and take it in little chunks and then to rebuild it...isolate, seperate, recombine.
Angelika helping Sol with head down/sideways movesAfter lunch we had some simulations with the fluid rein on Big Red and also some lessons on the 'Retarding Seat' which helps us communicate downward transitions/stop moves. It was good to try these things again without our horses.
Our afternoon riding session involved me again on the Fluid Rein. I decided it was best to stay with this until me and Sol got it better as without this the other workshops would not have gone so well. Again Sol tried everything in his repetoire to try to understand what I was asking with the Fluid Rein, moving his head from one side to the other, moving it up, snatching it down, moving his body this way and that BUT I tried to stay consistent with the rein and released when he did the right thing of head down and a bit forward in relaxation. It was hard to time as he only gave a nano-second of each try so Angelika and Jody helped me by telling me exactly when to release ;-) The other workshops included one of the Suspension Rein and downward Transitions and also one on Snaky bends, lifting the rein to do a turn and making sure the outside/Fixed rein was like a CS as it's this F.R that makes the turn, not the other one. When you get better with this you should be able to release the inside rein and the outside rein will keep the turn with your body manoeuvers. How cool!
Our afternoon riding session involved me again on the Fluid Rein. I decided it was best to stay with this until me and Sol got it better as without this the other workshops would not have gone so well. Again Sol tried everything in his repetoire to try to understand what I was asking with the Fluid Rein, moving his head from one side to the other, moving it up, snatching it down, moving his body this way and that BUT I tried to stay consistent with the rein and released when he did the right thing of head down and a bit forward in relaxation. It was hard to time as he only gave a nano-second of each try so Angelika and Jody helped me by telling me exactly when to release ;-) The other workshops included one of the Suspension Rein and downward Transitions and also one on Snaky bends, lifting the rein to do a turn and making sure the outside/Fixed rein was like a CS as it's this F.R that makes the turn, not the other one. When you get better with this you should be able to release the inside rein and the outside rein will keep the turn with your body manoeuvers. How cool!
The Confidence bit and PNH Bridle Shelley from Ireland lent me, very nice bridleThursday:
Todays quote was "Knowledge is only RUMOUR until we feel it in our MUSCLES"...pretty cool quote.
The classroom session went through the theory of Flying Lead Changes, to be able to do these we need Balance, Relaxation and Exuberance. We watched a fab newer video of Linda with Remmer teaching a class in the US of the Lead Change Ladder and how Linda took Remmer through Fluid Rein, point 2 points and impulsion patterns before going through it as Remmer was very lethargic LBint to start with.
The Lead Change Ladder is:
1) Canter - Walk Transition
2) Swinging Shoulders
3) Serpentine Pattern/SLC's
4) FLC (take the walk out of the serpentine)
We also took on board that we could work on each individual step carefully to be able to put them together at a later date. Work on walk first, trot next and only then on canter when the rest is in place. To 'Drip Feed' the info to our horses, putting a little bit of the info into each session and then leaving it and play around as normal. This really helped me learn the focus of not focussing on the obvious and to just put bits of learning into our play sessions and building it up slowly so as not to over face ourselves or our horses. If drip fed to our horses the FLC's will come naturally out of knowing the steps well.
Todays play sessions again were about Fluid Rein but I also worked on the Suspension/Fixed rein bits too and our downward transitions were going very well and Angelika really helped us figure out how to do downward/upward transitions on the serpentine pattern.
Friday:
Today was an early start, straight into saddling at 8.30am and to ride at 9am. It was a FUN Friday with Team games and today started out well but I just don't seem to like the team games yet. I think maybe it's because I am unconfident ridng around so many good riders. I take the whole morning as a spectator just following the team and feeling pretty low.
So, the actual Team Game tasks were:
OL = sit in chair and circle in trot or canter 4 laps without stopping
yo-yo from Z4/5 between two set lines
L = tarp task, stand on for 7 seconds, tarp on horse for 7 seconds
circling transitions in a roundpen, cones signify where to transition
FR = walk and then back through a Z shape made with poles
sideways between zigzag cones
F = circling around a barrel in Finesse 4 times
yo-yo's between cones 4 times in trot or canter
Everyone had a lot of fun but it did remind me a bit of a competition and I find that hard. Hey ho, must work on my emotional fitness in large amounts of company ;-)
After lunch we gathered in the classroom for our weekly certificate and to talk about our highlight for the week was (mine was being able to help Sol find relaxation with Fluid Rein and to know how to take that back home now), and also what we were going to take back home with us from the whole month. For me there was just too much to say and too early for my brain to diagnose what I'd learned BUT now I can see that it was everything we've ever known in PNH:
Lightness, Balance, Fluidity, Subtelties, Impulsion, Finess, Freestyle,Timing, Feel, Inspiration, Relaxation, Fluid Rein, Suspension Rein, Fixed Rein and so much more that was given to me at a higher level through this course. It was a truly life changing experience and one I hope to be able to bring home and expand on with never ending self-improvement. It will take a while for it all to trickle to my conscious/unconscious but I know things will come to me and I will remember it all when the time is right for me to know.
Friday at about 4pm I completely clean out Solly's stable and bandage his tail for travel. being a bank holiday weekend we are leaving as late as possible so th t Leanne can drive without traffic jams through the night. We load our horses at 5pm and they all load well. Solly again is in the middle compartment. We say our final goodbye's to everyone there, especially the Instructors who have been true inspiration and fun the whole month.
We travel well but Solly seems impatient and claustraphobic. After being in a 10'x10' stable for the last month without being able to touch another horse it must be quite hard for him to be inbetween two mares on the way home. He starts tossing his head a lot (Leanne has a cctv watching the horsey part of the lorry), he breaks the light fitting above his head and then he starts to double kick the back wall of the lorry. Elle and I go to the back to find that the partition between Sol and her horse Lorraine has come loose and Sol is kicking at it to get it off his HQ's BUT this is then putting it onto Lorraine. Elle manages to get the partition back in place but soon he is kicking up again. The partition seems bent and the clip that keeps it in place won't go back properly SO we quickly decide to stop at the next service station. Leanne has a fabulous emergency kit and she does Solly up with Sedalin gel to sedate him as he seems very anxious. We wait 10 mins and then in the middle of the service station we unload the horses (in the dark) and reload them with Solly at the back (more room for him to drop his head down) and also with two partitions between him and Lorraine who then goes into the centre position. Sol's sedation takes on quickly and the whole way back to Edinburgh is uneventful. When we stop again at a service station he is very dopey and the other horses are sleepy too so thank goodness Leanne came prepared. I think if I ever have to travel that sort of distance again I will either travel down in stages with our own trailer, get a horse haulage company to do it for me and always make sure my vet gives me a couple of syringes of Sedalin Gel ;-)
After arriving back in the dark to Edinburgh (Leanne's home) we turn the horses out into small pens that her sister Kelly arranged for us, water and everything. I rug Sol with a sweat rug and his thin rain rug as it's colder here than Stoneleigh and also because he'd been sedated I know he may get chilly out in the pen. I'm so glad I bought those rugs now although this is the only time we'd used them. Us girls then totally flaked out in the lorry for a few hours sleep. Leanne was a SUPERB driver and did SO well to get us back during the night with my boy playing up. She is a total star.
Saturday:
Mark gets to Edinburgh with our trailer at 11am. I get all my stuff out of the lorry and transfer it all to our trailer and car, then I go get Solly, take off his rugs and load him. He travels back to Glenshee without a hitch (for which I'm totally grateful).
When we get home I immediately get Solly out of the trailer and put him in the home paddock, he follows me at liberty to the next open gateway and there Stormy see's him and comes trottin over. Next comes Holly to see Sol and over the next hour Sol trots and canters about the field checking in with the mares with Stormy following him like a little kid that just got his best mate back in the playground. Holly makes sure Sol follows the rules and puts him in his place a few times but generally all is fine and he seems to really enjoy stretching his legs, being amongst his herd and being free again ;-)
Todays quote was "Knowledge is only RUMOUR until we feel it in our MUSCLES"...pretty cool quote.
The classroom session went through the theory of Flying Lead Changes, to be able to do these we need Balance, Relaxation and Exuberance. We watched a fab newer video of Linda with Remmer teaching a class in the US of the Lead Change Ladder and how Linda took Remmer through Fluid Rein, point 2 points and impulsion patterns before going through it as Remmer was very lethargic LBint to start with.
The Lead Change Ladder is:
1) Canter - Walk Transition
2) Swinging Shoulders
3) Serpentine Pattern/SLC's
4) FLC (take the walk out of the serpentine)
We also took on board that we could work on each individual step carefully to be able to put them together at a later date. Work on walk first, trot next and only then on canter when the rest is in place. To 'Drip Feed' the info to our horses, putting a little bit of the info into each session and then leaving it and play around as normal. This really helped me learn the focus of not focussing on the obvious and to just put bits of learning into our play sessions and building it up slowly so as not to over face ourselves or our horses. If drip fed to our horses the FLC's will come naturally out of knowing the steps well.
Todays play sessions again were about Fluid Rein but I also worked on the Suspension/Fixed rein bits too and our downward transitions were going very well and Angelika really helped us figure out how to do downward/upward transitions on the serpentine pattern.
Friday:
Today was an early start, straight into saddling at 8.30am and to ride at 9am. It was a FUN Friday with Team games and today started out well but I just don't seem to like the team games yet. I think maybe it's because I am unconfident ridng around so many good riders. I take the whole morning as a spectator just following the team and feeling pretty low.
So, the actual Team Game tasks were:
OL = sit in chair and circle in trot or canter 4 laps without stopping
yo-yo from Z4/5 between two set lines
L = tarp task, stand on for 7 seconds, tarp on horse for 7 seconds
circling transitions in a roundpen, cones signify where to transition
FR = walk and then back through a Z shape made with poles
sideways between zigzag cones
F = circling around a barrel in Finesse 4 times
yo-yo's between cones 4 times in trot or canter
Everyone had a lot of fun but it did remind me a bit of a competition and I find that hard. Hey ho, must work on my emotional fitness in large amounts of company ;-)
After lunch we gathered in the classroom for our weekly certificate and to talk about our highlight for the week was (mine was being able to help Sol find relaxation with Fluid Rein and to know how to take that back home now), and also what we were going to take back home with us from the whole month. For me there was just too much to say and too early for my brain to diagnose what I'd learned BUT now I can see that it was everything we've ever known in PNH:
Lightness, Balance, Fluidity, Subtelties, Impulsion, Finess, Freestyle,Timing, Feel, Inspiration, Relaxation, Fluid Rein, Suspension Rein, Fixed Rein and so much more that was given to me at a higher level through this course. It was a truly life changing experience and one I hope to be able to bring home and expand on with never ending self-improvement. It will take a while for it all to trickle to my conscious/unconscious but I know things will come to me and I will remember it all when the time is right for me to know.
Friday at about 4pm I completely clean out Solly's stable and bandage his tail for travel. being a bank holiday weekend we are leaving as late as possible so th t Leanne can drive without traffic jams through the night. We load our horses at 5pm and they all load well. Solly again is in the middle compartment. We say our final goodbye's to everyone there, especially the Instructors who have been true inspiration and fun the whole month.
We travel well but Solly seems impatient and claustraphobic. After being in a 10'x10' stable for the last month without being able to touch another horse it must be quite hard for him to be inbetween two mares on the way home. He starts tossing his head a lot (Leanne has a cctv watching the horsey part of the lorry), he breaks the light fitting above his head and then he starts to double kick the back wall of the lorry. Elle and I go to the back to find that the partition between Sol and her horse Lorraine has come loose and Sol is kicking at it to get it off his HQ's BUT this is then putting it onto Lorraine. Elle manages to get the partition back in place but soon he is kicking up again. The partition seems bent and the clip that keeps it in place won't go back properly SO we quickly decide to stop at the next service station. Leanne has a fabulous emergency kit and she does Solly up with Sedalin gel to sedate him as he seems very anxious. We wait 10 mins and then in the middle of the service station we unload the horses (in the dark) and reload them with Solly at the back (more room for him to drop his head down) and also with two partitions between him and Lorraine who then goes into the centre position. Sol's sedation takes on quickly and the whole way back to Edinburgh is uneventful. When we stop again at a service station he is very dopey and the other horses are sleepy too so thank goodness Leanne came prepared. I think if I ever have to travel that sort of distance again I will either travel down in stages with our own trailer, get a horse haulage company to do it for me and always make sure my vet gives me a couple of syringes of Sedalin Gel ;-)
After arriving back in the dark to Edinburgh (Leanne's home) we turn the horses out into small pens that her sister Kelly arranged for us, water and everything. I rug Sol with a sweat rug and his thin rain rug as it's colder here than Stoneleigh and also because he'd been sedated I know he may get chilly out in the pen. I'm so glad I bought those rugs now although this is the only time we'd used them. Us girls then totally flaked out in the lorry for a few hours sleep. Leanne was a SUPERB driver and did SO well to get us back during the night with my boy playing up. She is a total star.
Saturday:
Mark gets to Edinburgh with our trailer at 11am. I get all my stuff out of the lorry and transfer it all to our trailer and car, then I go get Solly, take off his rugs and load him. He travels back to Glenshee without a hitch (for which I'm totally grateful).
When we get home I immediately get Solly out of the trailer and put him in the home paddock, he follows me at liberty to the next open gateway and there Stormy see's him and comes trottin over. Next comes Holly to see Sol and over the next hour Sol trots and canters about the field checking in with the mares with Stormy following him like a little kid that just got his best mate back in the playground. Holly makes sure Sol follows the rules and puts him in his place a few times but generally all is fine and he seems to really enjoy stretching his legs, being amongst his herd and being free again ;-)
Sol, free at home at long last....telling Fortune about his travelsWEEK THREE: FREESTYLE RIDING
Monday:
Hang out in the morning and then lunch. Orientation at 2.30pm in the classroom. This weeks 'Focus' is on:
Riding with a Purpose
Advancing our Fluidity
CS Riding
Group Riding FUN!
The first few days were hard for me but the week advanced well and although I didn't ride with 2 x CS as I wanted to I now know how to take that concept home and get there with practise and focus.
My outcomes for me and Sol this week are:
To be better balanced, have a more independent seat, to have a better mind/seat connection and to start riding more with 1xCS. These outcomes have been realistic and I've accomplished them whilst keeping our relationship nice ;-) Good outcome.
Tuesday:
We made sure we knew our pre-flight checks in the classroom today, for the horse and human. We also talked a lot about Comfort Zones.
Jackie also talked about the three C's... Control, Confidence, Competence for us and our horses
In the am we went into the great big all weather arena here at Stoneleigh. We did some basic stuff in our groups, my group was about mounting with Savvy. Then we were asked to ride with one rein and one CS. LF and whilst riding the rail to DHQ's, throwing rope over head and changing the rein and to focus across the arena and ride a straight line across.
It was interesting but I got frustrated as all the good stuff we've been doing at home wasn't working! Duh, I should have realised that with so many different horses Sol's attention wasn't focussed on me and to be honest my focus wasn't on him. I was worried about getting near the other horses or being kicked so I couldn't relax and things just went from bad to worse! ;-(
In the afternoon we went back to the all weather arena and I went into a workshop to do Point 2 Points. We've been doing this for ages at home and it's a nice pattern...thought it would be a nice way to start the week, on something we know well but could improve on. Well it didn't go well. The horses were all supposed to be 'short' but they were all going faster than Solly and we had a HUGE problem focussing or even getting anywhere without being impulsive ourselves, Sol seemed to be feeding off the other horses energies. I decided to just to a circle pattern with Alison Jones advice and try as we did I just couldn't get a circle, it was more like a diamond shape. My focus was shot and Solly was having difficulty with having horses around him. I stayed no the circle but was very upset by the end not having done the pattern and also for loosing the plot a bit.
I realised afterwards that I needed to help the horsenality that showed up that morning, he wasnt' going to be the same as at home but as I very rarely go out with so many other horses I didn't realise and I got a bit upset with myself....well this is a journey and we were told there were going to be big ups and downs like a roller coaster...for sure it was a down moment but it's a lesson learned and the week got better because of it.
Piccie's from today:
Trying out the Parelli saddles (and me bareback on pad for a laugh)
Louise, Pippa, Elle and Me ;-)
Louise, Pippa, Elle and Me ;-)
Sol in our warm up session ;-)
BIG RED ;-)Wednesday:
Today's classroom session was on Implusion and Patterns for long and short horses. Our morning simulations were about using our 'core muscle' to get our legs onto a log whilst sitting on it and how to use those core muscles to stop us being pushed off the log....the same as the last Savvy Club dvd, which was a lot of fun to actually do.
Our morning play was Passenger with a trusted friend to play with our horse whilst we rode. Most people did it bareback but I decided to do it with the saddle as I've never done this before and was quite a challenge for someone like me to give up the 'control' of the horse. Elle was very gentle, no sharp turns or anything and I actually enjoyed it. I realised that Sol has got quite a BIG movement, especially in trot, and that I may have been stifling that movement with my own butt in the saddle, how interesting! -)
After lunch we had a go on 'Big Red' or the 'Seat Builder' and I had trouble vaulting on it today...probably too much lunch. lol. Our simulations with Jackie Chant were about being the middle of a 'conga horse' and learning to walk more balanced and to be able to move the HQ's and FQ's more fluidly.
In the afternoon there were three workshops, 1) Cloverleaf 2) Weave 3) Ride the Rail.
I chose to do Ride the Rail after yesterdays disaster day. This I knew would give us a good solid pattern and we could use the small roundpen outside for more focus and then try the inner circle of the outer pen for more fun but return to the small one if he got impulsive or unconfident. The whole day went pretty well, so much nicer than yesterday and I begin to relax more with him. Here are some piccie's from today:
Passenger lesson
Passenger Lesson w/Sol standing on the pedastal ;-)Thursday:
Today we thought a lot about whether we had 'Respect, Impulsion and Flexion' issues. If we know where the issue lies we can fix it easier. We also kept in our minds; 'Isolate, Seperate and Recombine' & 'Observe, Remember and Compare'. All these sayings are very important to figuring out what to do next with our horses. We had a good Saddle Shiming demo with Jackie and a couple of the students horses in the morning and just before lunch we did some more bareback passenger lessons. Today I had the courage to go bareback with my pad as Elle is a very experienced and gentle horsewoman and I trusted her to help me with this task.
I found out whilst doing the passenger that Sol's back hollows when he's not happy about doing something but does it anyway. When he's a willing partner his back is rounder and he's easier to sit to, he has self-harmony so that I can be harmonious with him too. To help him to round his back I am going to try to be disciplined in backing him with head down a bit everyday like Jackie Chant showed us in a course with her last year.
In the afternoon we did some 'core muscle' simulations which were great and fun too and then we all had a go on 'Big Red' again for more work on this subject whilst moving our legs and hands independently. It was fun playing around on big red again.
Riding in the afternoon I went back to Riding the Rail which is really going well, I hardly have to use the reins, rely more on the CS and he only get's unfocussed if someone else's horse gets too close to his 'bubble'. After a good session Angelica decides to make it more of a group ride and asks us to do the patterns 'follow the leader and leap frog'. Follow the leader is good and leap frog is when the last person on the ride trots to the front of the ride and leads until the next rider leap frogs. It's a great pattern and can be fun. Solly does his leap and then finds himself a bit 'jammed' inbetween a horse in front, one behind and then the leaping horse at his side AHHHH. He has a 'hissyfit' and leaps to the right, bucks and puts his head down with his ears right back. I manage to stop him from throwing me off and decide to go back to riding the rail on our own to get our focus and relationship back. I have to really swing my CS around to keep him feeling safe from the other horses and also to stop him from trying to launch himself at the other horses with such a nasty, ears back, teeth showing, sort of face ;-( BUT this did give us some time to get our patten better and it really helped us keep our confidence. The next game went well, we positioned ourselves around the honeycomb (4 x 50' roundpens surrounded by one large roundpen) and each horse had to weave around the other horses back to their original position. Sol did well and I made sure he didn't try to dominate any of the other horses, he did it in trot too which was cool, freestyle without using much rein at all! yeehaa.
Here are some piccie's from today:
Bareback passenger lesson
Bareback Passenger
Bareback Passenger Friday: Today we had Freestyle Parelli Tournaments in teams. These were the tasks: 1)Fig 8 around two round pens with transitions at cones. 10 points for using reins, 20 for using CS(s).
2) Stand on Parelli Pedastal. 10 points for two feet, 20 for all four feet.
3) Yo-yo down a lane of cones. 4 x yo-yo's in walk for 10 points, 4 x yo-yo's in trot for 20 points.
4) Figure 8 around two cones in any gait. 10 p0ints for using reins, 20 for CS(s).
5) Sidepass between two dustbins, putting your CS in the dustbins at the start of each 'round. 10 points for going one way, 20 points for doing both directions.
6) Weave around 8 cow flavoured barrels. 10 points for reins, 20 for CS(s), any gait you choose.
All the games went well and everyone had a good time. Solly managed to stand on the pedastal with his front feet, three times, but it was too much for all four feet for him ;-)
I decided to keep our relationship in tact after such a good day yesterday and declined to play the games as my emotions get in the way and this affects dear Sol. We went around with the group, getting him used to the other horses and doing some games ourselves along the way whilst walking (sidepassing, walk yo-yo's, turns on the FQ and HQ's too) and this was a good decision. The games looked real fun but my lesson this week was to look after our relationship and to do what's best for Sol rather than going and doing things because I wanted to. It was a good decision.
Here are some piccie's from today:
Sol going up the 'tyre staircase' in our warm-up session 
Sol coming down off the staircase, done with slow deliberate steps ;-)
Rolling, just after I cleaned him too...oh well, that's horses for you 
Me withUK Instructor Alison Jones
and me with Swiss Instructor David ZuendWednesday 19th August
I'm so sorry that I've been absent from the blog this week, you must be wondering what's happening...Well all is well, I've been out of my comfort zone again and back to where things are going well and there are so many pictures and so much to write now that I am going to leave it to the weekend to write it all up. I'm very tired and by the time I get back from sorting out Solly in the stable/grazing then I shower, eat and then it's darkish and all I want/need is some shut eye. SO, I hope you can wait until the weekend to hear what's been going on, I promise to catch up with you all then. Thanks for your patience ;-)
Shells and Sol
xx
Shells and Sol
xx
Sunday 16th August
The end of the second week has come around and although it doesn't seem to be flying past it's hit me that we're half way through the course/month and I hope my brain gets into gear more. I've found it hard to diagnose and theorise about what we've been learning (there are some very good theorist students here) and that makes me feel I've not been learning BUT I know I have inside. I'm a feel sort of student and I know that when I get home things will surface that I thought I'd forgotten.
So, this Friday we got to experience the Parelli Games. We got into teams of 4-5 students with horses and did some online tasks and got awarded points for lightness, horsemanship, showmanship & teammanship. It was a lot of fun and we got points for stopping tasks to save the horse/human relationship so we didn't do things we couldn't do but were encouraged to push our comfort zones a bit. We had 4 liberty tasks and 2 online tasks and Solly did VERY well.
I've realised though this Liberty week that we have a lot of fun being free together but I have to now take this feeling and lightness into our online play too and I also need to stretch ourselves with longer distances now. Sol and I are having fun and I hope it continues through our two ridden weeks.
On Saturday we did mostly grazing and moseying about. Everyday I ask for some play and willing obedience as this stops him getting so fidgety and mouthy with me.
Today, Sunday, I have already grazed him for 4 hours this morning online, played a bit and had lunch and a shower. I will take him out again for 2-4 hours this afternoon depending on how I feel. We had fun out in the playpark today and for the first time I did three seperate sessions with my 'massager' (desensitizing to clipper sound) and he was very good with it. Eventually I think he actually liked the massage it gave him ;-) Here are some piccie's from today and some of the fabulous international instructors we've had the pure privilage of being around. Angelica, Gigi and Sigi all got awarded their 3* on Friday so it's been a great week for the instructors too.
The 'massager' on Sol's withers
Solly grazing on the 22' line
Solly learnt how to use the triple pedastal like steps ;-)
Me and Instructor Angelica from Italy
Me and UK Faculty leader and Instructor Carmen originally from Australia
Me in the classroom with instructors Gigi from Italy and Sigi from Austria
Me and UK Faculty/Customer Co-ordinator and Instructor Jody from the UKThursday 13th August
Well another two days have gone by and it's almost the end of our second week here...almost half way through the full course. How time flies.
Yesterday we started to do more with slack ropes preparing for liberty and doing COD's. Then we got to do more liberty in the roundpens incorporating those COD's. It was a lot of fun and Solly did really well, he circled well and also did his COD's nicely. He was, as normal, a bit sticky going from a circle to the left to a circle to the right but did very well with it all. He's settling down nicely now and he's a lot of fun at liberty. We've been going into three workshops to make the classes smaller and we handle this well.
Today, Thurs, we've been learning more about the Parelli Games and Savvy Spotlights and have incorporated this into our Liberty sessions. Our am session was fun in the international grass arena (very posh and big. lol) and in the end for fun I ended up standing on two upright barrels with Sol circling me at trot and then I pushed one of the barrels over, stood on one and got close circling at walk with him jumping the other barrel. Cool and it made it all fun. Working more with the 45' today which was good.
Pm session we were learning to help others get their horses back when they leave at liberty and working as teams to do some Parelli Puzzles. Again Solly was a star and stuck to me throughout the pm session until the end and then he moseyed off so slowly it almost wasn't him running off at all! lol.
Here are some piccie's from the last two days and our play session to move his feet before class time starts.
Couldn't get all 4 feet up...yet, but back feet are good too
We tried out 3 different trailers today and he did very well with them all
So glad Sol was comfortable enough to roll, he really really enjoyed this ;-)
Jumping is superb here, he's jumping everything, and so well too ;-)
Even jumping the tyre pedastal, cool horseyTuesday 11th August
Well it's WEEK 2 of the Masterclass. This week is 'THE TRUTH' - LIBERTY and I've been looking forward to this week as Sol and I enjoy Liberty a lot.
Monday was orientation again, two new people joining our crew which is nice and after lunch we get to go and meet up in the classroom above the PNH office for a talk on the subject 'Prey/Predator' and then in the afternoon we get to play with liberty concepts but still online. I found myself becomming way too direct line and so stopped playing with Sol to regain our relationship. It's funny as I knew this course was going to stretch me but I kept thinking all day, 'but I'm good at other things, why can't we do those'....but of course I wouldn't be learning anything by doing those! lol. Funny how things go through your brain just before you realise what a banana head you are! ;-)
Tuesday am I wake up at about 4am with the dreaded 'Tummy Bug' AGAIN. I can't believe it. It's a very debilitating bug that had me on the toilet a lot. After a while though my tummy felt weird but I'd not eaten anything so slowly my tummy dried up of things to upset it. I kept drinking lots of water and by the pm I ate a banana which gave me some strength to carry on the day. I decided NOT to take Sol out to play in the afternoon with everyone else, someone from PNH checked in on him as he was on his own in the stable block and I managed to spectate the whole liberty pm session which was great.
The theme for the pm's workshop was 'Liberty Weave' and everyone made a human roundpen and everyone and their horse tried it out. First online, then stick 2 me to make sure of the connetion and then finally from a distance. Everyone did really well and I missed being there with Sol as it would have been fun to see how we did. BUT I really needed some time off and regain my energy levels so I did the best thing today.
After the class I sorted out normal things in the stable (water, hay, bedding, poo picking) and then took Sol out for 45 mins grazing as he'd been in the stable so long. During this time he wanted to move his feet (don't blame him) and I got him doing some nice circles in trot and canter whilst I walked around the grazing paddock. Hopefully this used up some pent up energy he may have had and then I tucked him up in his warm, dry stable and said good night to him.
Fingerscrossed tomorrow I will have an energetic and happy day without any tummy upsets ;-)
Everyone having fun before the liberty workshopsSunday 9th August
The weather has really changed, from torrential rain to really really hot! Our instructors told us to chill out over the weekend so that we're ready to learn for the next week. This is very good advice but it's just too much temptation to NOT do some play with all those obstacles in the playpark and a few of us did some small bits of play with our h orsesto keep give them some mental stimulation.
Saturday I took Sol for three two hour session in the playpark roundpens. This is where he can graze and walk about without being on a lead and I could just hang with him or talk to other people or read my book which was nice. After the first session of grazing we went and nosed around some of the obstacles: the bridge, carwash, large log jumps and tyre pedastal. The tyre pedastal he wasn't sure of and kept jumping the whole thing and it was quite big. After I stood on it he got the idea and stood on it for me. The carwash was diffdcult for him, he was sceptical apart from in Z1 where he tried to bite the plastic and flapped it about having fun. BUT when he went through it he ran really fast through Zones 3, 4 & 5. I stood and played friendly game with it for quite a while before leaving it and he was much better in the end. I will play around with this each time I go out now to reinforce that it's okay.
Saturday night was bad as I got the 'stomach bug' that was going around. It kept me up quite a bit overnight going to the campsite toilets and back regularly but it seems to have gone today and a friend took me down to the local Tesco's to get some fresh fruit and veg as I felt this would help with all the nutrients I lost last night.
Today I was feeling very weak so did the 'horesey' chorses (poo pick stable, more water and hay etc) and then took Sol out to a roundpen for some freedom. I just hung out with him and relaxed. It has been stonkingly HOT today and we've all got suntans today. I need to trim his toes but don't have the strengh today, hopefully tomorrow evening I may have time and energy...if not it will have to wait to another day.
Here are some piccie's from the weekend:
The Carwash
Spooky carwash back zones
The Bridge which he jumped from the side, feet on and off again, very agile
The Tyre obstacle, I would like to see if he can walk up and down it like stairs
He even had a bit of fun pushing the ball about, not afraid of it at all today
The LARGE tree jump, this is pretty big and he just flew over it! cool ;-)
Having a roll in the roundpen, he must be chilling to feel safe enough to do thisFriday 7th August
Here is Thursday and Fridays view of what we did:
Thursdays Theme: Leadership/Squeeze Game/Longreins
We had a fun demo with Gigi, Jody and Angelica (all PNH Instructors and part of the UK Faculty this week) were they showed us some weaving in Z3 on the 22' line, moving all zones from all zones, over barrels and trailer loading/unloading, using different length ropes, using one rein with driving in different zones and using long reins using the patterns to establish communication. Using the principles and lessons we've been working on all week this was a lovely demo showing us all where we can move to and refine what we know now to what they were doing.
With Solly I worked with the 22' line and one rein driving from Zones 4/5. We've not done much of this and it was harder to work with other people/horses around but I can see what to do more now. When we walked from the stables to the arena the rest of Thurs and Fri I used one rein driving in Z5 to do it. We were loosing mind connection a bit as Sol firstly got unconfident and then wanted to be with 'the herd'. Our horses aren't allowed to touch (for safety reasons) and he's a very tactile horse, wants to put his nose on everything, so it's hard for him not to want to go sniff noses with the others.
We also worked on a game called peek-a-boo where we stand in Z5 and rub or tap our horses flank until they give us the right eye and then the left eye. Sol hadn't done this before either so it was interesting. We then moved this game on so that we actually got a DHQ from Z5 by tapping. Learning to move our horses into a walk (later a trot or canter) from Z5 was interesting too.
In the afternoon we got some simulations of conga horses with long reins. The instructors showed us how to do it first...
Sigi, Gigi, Jackie and Michael showing us longreining with a simulationWith my personal simulation, when I was the human, I found the horse was happier when I moved my body how I wanted them to move theirs and also that I stopped too quickly making the 'horse' feel claustraphobic. This is interesting and I feel sometimes I need to learn to stop with more finesse. We then got to play with our horses and Sol and I were much better with the two reins even though the outside rein was over the back and we were basically working with one rein. How interesting! I did have a pattern which made my focus much better, we worked no fig 8's which we've been doing at home and I was very pleased with him. We've also been going from one arena in one place to another grass one which has been changing our environment a lot. Sol is taking it all well, I need to get a much better focus and a plan for the session ;-)
Friday's Theme: Inspiration
First thing today we went and watched an inspirational demo with Carmen and her lovely grey horse and Angelika and her chestnut. Showing us what can be achieved with just the things we'd been working on the last week. Communication in all zones, one rein driving and long reining, energy, squeezes and phases. Fab to watch and very inspirational.
Then some of the students had some fun with Gigi and Sigi using a 45' line as a skipping rope and asking some students to skip in it. We all had a good laugh with this and it must have been quite hard to skip and to turn the rope too.
Friday's Theme: Inspiration
First thing today we went and watched an inspirational demo with Carmen and her lovely grey horse and Angelika and her chestnut. Showing us what can be achieved with just the things we'd been working on the last week. Communication in all zones, one rein driving and long reining, energy, squeezes and phases. Fab to watch and very inspirational.
Then some of the students had some fun with Gigi and Sigi using a 45' line as a skipping rope and asking some students to skip in it. We all had a good laugh with this and it must have been quite hard to skip and to turn the rope too.
Skipping
All the students waiting for the demoAfter the demo we all got our horses, got ourselves into groups of 4 people/horses and played some Parelli Puzzles in the large grass arena. This helped us get use our skills for a purpose and it was a LOT of fun. Solly did very well, circling at trot 4 times L&R whilst I was sitting on a chair, yo-yo game from Z3 6 times at walk, Squeezing over a barrel about 10 feet away L&R and finally playing the friendly game whilst walking along in Zones 3 and then Z5. He wasn't too bad in Z3 but I needed to go slower with the friendly game in Z5 but with Instructor Sigi's help we got it okay. When we left the arena I practised this all the way back to the stabling area to help him be more confident with it and to help me learn to be slower with it. FUN. A great way to end a great week of learning, we all had a lot of fun and set us up for a weekend of relaxation and some needed undemanding time wtih our precious equines.
Me and Solly with Austrian Intructor Michael GrohmannWednesday 5th August
Well sorry it's been a couple of days since blogging but yesterday, our first real day of learning, was a very hard one for me and Solly. We found ourselves, as many others did too, completely out of our very safe comfort zones and it's taken 24 hours to feel a bit more grounded and focussed. We both went a bit introverted and we had trouble learning anything...of course with me it ended in tears with a couple of calls to my support team at home...hubby Mark, who sorted my fears and troubles out in the calm, easy manner he always does. Thanks Mark, even though you're miles away you always find a way to help me out ;-)
So, I did learn things yesterday but it wasn't really until today that Sol and I could apply those things in a focussed manner.
Yesterdays theme was: PHASES & ENERGY
We worked on getting our ph1 much lighter and our old ph1 was now a ph2, pretty cool. Solly really tried hard and as he was becomming quite dominant like when I first bought him it was good to get this under our belt. Now he goes off well and I know not to release this until his head is down, relaxed and without those ears back. He can do it, I just wasn't allowing him to 'find' that phase.
Next we worked on getting our energy up and with this and the phases started playing around with asking for less with the fig 8's and weave patterns.
The stable blocksTodays theme was: ISOLATIONS & PATTERNS
We were learning to not just do a pattern but sort out the ingredients of the pattern more, if the fig 8 wasn't working well, don't just keep doing it, figure out what part needs to be sorted (Principle games: Friendly, Porcupine, Driving) and fix that until good and THEN go back to the pattern. This really helped with getting Sol's FQ's and shoulders from barging into me, we worked on those ingredients first. We did this by doing some moving the HQ's and FQ's from Z1. Sol had Big trouble doing this as when I put the stick up to his side he 'escaped' a lot. SO, what I had to learn to do was just 'suggest' he moved with my body language and then reinforce the move with my CS by MY side, not his!! How interesting. Once I'd sorted out Sol's dominance I then had to be light to get lightness.
We also worked on me allowing Sol to keep his end of the responsibilities when doing patterns:
Don't act like a prey animal
Don't change gait
Don't change direction
Look where you're going
This was a VERY interesting thing to do. I learned to really focus on what part of Teach, Control, Reinforce, Refine that we were working on, on that minute/day. If I taught him well at the start of the day (maybe every day for a while) then can I get to where I can trust him to do the fig 8 ON HIS OWN and only help him when he needs reminding of his responsibility? A very cool concept, like being totally neutral in the circling game! I found also that if I did trust him to do it, it didn't take long for him to actually DO IT. And to remember that once he did a really good TRY of moving through the fig 8 X and going onto the other side then to STOP/QUIT.
We learned a lot about responsibilties, lightness and feel today and I think we both enjoyed ourselves. Hopefully our confidence in a strange place, with new people will soon grow and we'll be shining more like our normal selves ;-)
Due to us being focussed on learning and it is a HUGE focus I haven't been taking many pictures, only of when we're standing still. I will try to write again soon, there is so much to soak in, I'm sure I'll be licking and chewing LOTS when I get home and figuring out a lot of stuff as I go along, it's not always obvious what I've learned until the next day when it's reinforced by doing it again. bear with me...it's a huge journey.
We were learning to not just do a pattern but sort out the ingredients of the pattern more, if the fig 8 wasn't working well, don't just keep doing it, figure out what part needs to be sorted (Principle games: Friendly, Porcupine, Driving) and fix that until good and THEN go back to the pattern. This really helped with getting Sol's FQ's and shoulders from barging into me, we worked on those ingredients first. We did this by doing some moving the HQ's and FQ's from Z1. Sol had Big trouble doing this as when I put the stick up to his side he 'escaped' a lot. SO, what I had to learn to do was just 'suggest' he moved with my body language and then reinforce the move with my CS by MY side, not his!! How interesting. Once I'd sorted out Sol's dominance I then had to be light to get lightness.
We also worked on me allowing Sol to keep his end of the responsibilities when doing patterns:
Don't act like a prey animal
Don't change gait
Don't change direction
Look where you're going
This was a VERY interesting thing to do. I learned to really focus on what part of Teach, Control, Reinforce, Refine that we were working on, on that minute/day. If I taught him well at the start of the day (maybe every day for a while) then can I get to where I can trust him to do the fig 8 ON HIS OWN and only help him when he needs reminding of his responsibility? A very cool concept, like being totally neutral in the circling game! I found also that if I did trust him to do it, it didn't take long for him to actually DO IT. And to remember that once he did a really good TRY of moving through the fig 8 X and going onto the other side then to STOP/QUIT.
We learned a lot about responsibilties, lightness and feel today and I think we both enjoyed ourselves. Hopefully our confidence in a strange place, with new people will soon grow and we'll be shining more like our normal selves ;-)
Due to us being focussed on learning and it is a HUGE focus I haven't been taking many pictures, only of when we're standing still. I will try to write again soon, there is so much to soak in, I'm sure I'll be licking and chewing LOTS when I get home and figuring out a lot of stuff as I go along, it's not always obvious what I've learned until the next day when it's reinforced by doing it again. bear with me...it's a huge journey.
Sol in the Main Arena at Stoneleigh
Sol offering to stand on the pedatal, I didn't ask at all! Cool
Austrian PNH Instructor Michael Grohmann playing with Solly...
after this I realise Sol is inately a LBint
Sol and Michael
after this I realise Sol is inately a LBint
Sol and MichaelMonday 3rd August / Update on journey so far
Well here is an update of what's been going on:
On Saturday I played with Sol, loaded him up and drove (with Mark) to my friend Leanne's in Edinburgh. It took just under 3 hours and it went very well. Put him in a round pen overnight after giving him a lovely wash...he looked really good. His behaviour so far is very good, very curious but listening to me which is a bonus! Me, Leanne and Elle all went out for a meal with Savvy Scotland friends locally for a wonderful send off. Thanks for that, it was lovely to see you all again before going away.
Sunday at 11am we were all loaded up with equipment and horses in the lorry and we set off for our overnight stay in Warwickshire. Solly wasn't too bad to load and I was very proud of him going in. He was a little unconfident during the drive and we could see him playing with his rope and tossing his head a bit on the cctv. He also managed to get his head down too low and scratch his forehead coming back up, even though his rope was very short! We stopped off after 4.5 hours (as HGV drivers have to) at Weatherby service station. The picture below is the HUGE lorry we're travelling in, superbly luxurious and Leanne (girl on the left) is the one who it belongs to and who drove us the whole way beautifully ;-) Thanks Leanne, you're a great driver and made driving a 40' truck look easy.
We arrived at our destination of the village of Woolscot in Warwickshire and set up the roundpens again and let the horses chill out. They were all pretty tired from the journey, it took us about 7 hours to get this far.
Monday 3rd and I get up at 6am, poo pick the pens, groom Sol, go for a walk and by 7am the other girls are up, have some breakfast and then get ready to travel the half an hour to Stoneleigh.
So, we arrive at Stoneleigh, get our horses into their 10'x10' temperary stalls with a good thick bed of shavings. I put in two car tyres to put my water buckets in (stops him knocking them over) and a haynet of haylage and leave him to rest and get into his new routine.
Then we go and find the campsite, which is basically a large open field with some trees and hedges in. VERY basic but works. I put up my tent and unpack all my gear from the lorry and sort some of it out. By this time it's lunch time so we sit out on chairs and chat and relax a bit.
We leave the campsite as orientation is at 2.30pm at the Parelli offices. There we get to know which instructors are there for us over the next 4 weeks and what to do, what not to do etc. All pretty easy. Then we all get up and say a short piece about us/horse/journey and what we would like to get from this first week Online. We next went outside to the grass infront of the office and played a couple of introduction games (carrot stick and ball 'name game' games) which were a lot of fun.
Our instructors are: Michael/Austria, Filiz/Swiss, Jackie Chant/NZ, Angelika/Italy, Sigi/Austria, Jody/UK, Carmen/Australia, Gigi/Austria.
So, after orientation we still have a few hours to 'play' with our horses. Today is just a large mosey, graze the horses and play lots of friendly game. Solly is high headed but again he is trying hard to listen to me and my energy. He does really well and it surprises me how well he is and here are some pictures of him out there:
I'm not sure if I'll be able or in the mood to write everyday but I wil try. Tomorrow (Tues) is the first full day of tuition so I will try hard to take notes and write it up on here.
Parelli Masterclass
