It's supposed to get real cold and windy tonight and tomorrow. The horses have started to shed and the pen their hay is in isn't very sheltered from wind if it gets bad. Because of this I decided to put their winter blankets on this evening. I was worried about Moon and Copper's reaction since they both haven't worn one yet, but they proved my worry unnecessary. I brought in 2 at a time to feed, groom and blanket. Everyone did great, standing nicely for me, and Moon and Copper didn't get bothered at all the way I thought they might. Moon wasn't completely sure but I'm happy with how she did. I love when my horses surprise me in a good way! Plus now I can sleep tonight knowing they won't be standing huddled up shivering against the bad weather.
Other than that I haven't done much with the horses the past few days. They do seem to be getting slightly better when I'm out there with my stick and bag at feeding time though. Friday I was able to rub Moon and Buddy on one side of the withers at liberty again. What I liked about that was that Moon wasn't standing frozen, she had a better look about her and was blinking. It just felt more relaxed. This horse is a challenge for me but in a good way, she's teaching me to be a much better horseperson!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Small successes
I have to remember to notice and be happy with small successes at first, rather than thinking, "I'm still not there...". In this case "there" being the fact that I still can't strongly wave the bag around or walk up and rub the horses all over without them getting bothered. When I think about it, it's only been a few days and I really just need to take the time it takes. Plus I know, even if it's a small difference, things have progressed at least a little bit.
I spent a few minutes with Moon and Buddy yesterday rubbing them each a little. They'll stand for it but are still worried, tense, and not very confident at this point.
Remembering that, today I tried not to be so direct line in wanting to rub them right away. I spent some time wandering around waving the bag softly. Buddy's very quick to follow and check it out. I went too quickly to touch him at one point though and he had to leave. We played some more until he was following again and then did lots of approach retreat until I could rub him again. That took a while, but in the end he was doing alright, just wasn't sure of my intentions at first.
Moon will sometimes stand but it's more of a frozen in fear rather than calm. I played around a bit then asked her to yield her hindquarters. She did and that helped get her unstuck and able to follow me a short distance. I didn't try to touch her today, just played with being able to bring the bag close to her without causing a big reaction. With lots of repetition she was able to check out the hay on the ground even as I was near her with it.
Copper was around through all this and is getting brave enough to check it out, and everytime he does I retreat more which is helping.
I even spent time with Shadow and she did great. It wasn't a problem for me to wave it back and forth and even walk towards and around her with it, she was much more interested in the hay. Both her and Copper I have not tried to touch yet.
I finished the session by going further away from everyone and flapped the bag harder and softer, harder and softer for a few minutes.
It doesn't feel like I've gone far but at least no ones running around with high heads anymore. I'll just have to take the time it takes and it should take less time, right?!
I spent a few minutes with Moon and Buddy yesterday rubbing them each a little. They'll stand for it but are still worried, tense, and not very confident at this point.
Remembering that, today I tried not to be so direct line in wanting to rub them right away. I spent some time wandering around waving the bag softly. Buddy's very quick to follow and check it out. I went too quickly to touch him at one point though and he had to leave. We played some more until he was following again and then did lots of approach retreat until I could rub him again. That took a while, but in the end he was doing alright, just wasn't sure of my intentions at first.
Moon will sometimes stand but it's more of a frozen in fear rather than calm. I played around a bit then asked her to yield her hindquarters. She did and that helped get her unstuck and able to follow me a short distance. I didn't try to touch her today, just played with being able to bring the bag close to her without causing a big reaction. With lots of repetition she was able to check out the hay on the ground even as I was near her with it.
Copper was around through all this and is getting brave enough to check it out, and everytime he does I retreat more which is helping.
I even spent time with Shadow and she did great. It wasn't a problem for me to wave it back and forth and even walk towards and around her with it, she was much more interested in the hay. Both her and Copper I have not tried to touch yet.
I finished the session by going further away from everyone and flapped the bag harder and softer, harder and softer for a few minutes.
It doesn't feel like I've gone far but at least no ones running around with high heads anymore. I'll just have to take the time it takes and it should take less time, right?!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Approach and retreat
I had another good session with Moon and the plastic bag today. It was short but fun. I repeated the same idea from yesterday, using approach and retreat with her at liberty in the pen. Almost right away she was following me. Within about 10 minutes I was able to have her stand still while I went over and rubbed her withers and back with the stick and bag. She seemed more confident than yesterday and it felt great!
I also spent a few minutes doing the same thing with Buddy. He's inately more left brain and did pretty good with it too, I rubbed one side of him in the short time we played.
I was so worried about this bag and expected it to be such a problem, but am feeling much more confident about it myself now too. :)
I also spent a few minutes doing the same thing with Buddy. He's inately more left brain and did pretty good with it too, I rubbed one side of him in the short time we played.
I was so worried about this bag and expected it to be such a problem, but am feeling much more confident about it myself now too. :)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Confidence...
This time of year I have trouble getting motivated to go out when it's cold, but after the short time I spent with the horses today, I'm glad I did. The mare I'm using as my levels partner happens to also be my most challenging horse. She's inately right brain and anything new or different is a big deal for her. On top of that, I'm only at a level 1/learning level 2 skill standard. We've really got some room for improvement! This past summer we managed to overcome some saddling and riding fears which felt great. My goals for this year will be gaining confidence. Confidence in new toys/things, confidence in our saddling/riding, confidence in new places, confidence, confidence, confidence!
I've started carrying my stick & string around with me whenever I go feed the horses, just as another way to have it seem more a part of me and not a foreign object I only have now and then. Lately I've added a plastic bag to the end of it. 3 of my horses didn't take long at all to be fine with that, but my mare wasn't having any part of it! So today I decided to wander around her pen while waving it around. I ignored her while making big loops back and forth a ways behind her, (she had put herself in a corner). Anytime she even made a try to look at me I would step further out of my little looping pattern and then return, approaching and retreating. Surprisingly it didn't take her long to end up looking at me and then pivoting to face me, the whole time I kept retreating when she would look my way. Even better, she started taking a step forward (yay!), I retreated more, until she followed me for one lap of the small pen. I ended by standing off to the side with my feet still and moved the bag toward her withers and away again, to the point of being about a foot from touching her. I decided this was a good place to quit when she begin licking and chewing and trying to look at the bag, rather than standing completely tense with her head way up which is what I usually see with her. The cool thing was this happened within minutes, when I wasn't even expecting her to relax enough to even look at me at all today. Even though it's a small thing, it felt great, and I'm a bit more excited to see just how far we can go. I'm really trying to keep the balance of being a good leader for her and helping her gain confidence, while also not having her feel like her life is in danger everytime she's with me. So here's to more confidence in 2010!!
I've started carrying my stick & string around with me whenever I go feed the horses, just as another way to have it seem more a part of me and not a foreign object I only have now and then. Lately I've added a plastic bag to the end of it. 3 of my horses didn't take long at all to be fine with that, but my mare wasn't having any part of it! So today I decided to wander around her pen while waving it around. I ignored her while making big loops back and forth a ways behind her, (she had put herself in a corner). Anytime she even made a try to look at me I would step further out of my little looping pattern and then return, approaching and retreating. Surprisingly it didn't take her long to end up looking at me and then pivoting to face me, the whole time I kept retreating when she would look my way. Even better, she started taking a step forward (yay!), I retreated more, until she followed me for one lap of the small pen. I ended by standing off to the side with my feet still and moved the bag toward her withers and away again, to the point of being about a foot from touching her. I decided this was a good place to quit when she begin licking and chewing and trying to look at the bag, rather than standing completely tense with her head way up which is what I usually see with her. The cool thing was this happened within minutes, when I wasn't even expecting her to relax enough to even look at me at all today. Even though it's a small thing, it felt great, and I'm a bit more excited to see just how far we can go. I'm really trying to keep the balance of being a good leader for her and helping her gain confidence, while also not having her feel like her life is in danger everytime she's with me. So here's to more confidence in 2010!!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Introduction
I have been a fan of horses for a while now, and would love to try as many horse related sports and events out there that I can. Parelli is helping me continue to put the horse first, while learning how to give them a great foundation. With this I will be able to go on and do all the fun stuff available to us! I'm currently studying level 2 with my 4 horses. Can't wait to see where our journey goes in 2010!
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