Obstacle Course at Jool's

Jools was attending a Western Ribbon Day today where they had to go through gates, under things, turn inside squares etc. She said we should enter because she reckons Parelli horses do really well. I would love to do something like that so I might do next time!

So she suggested we use her practise arena today instead.

Well firstly there were chickens to chase, (we rounded up some cows and herded them into a new paddock the other day!), poles laid in a square, paper cups hanging from baling twine to go under, a rope gate to open and close, a dirt filled tire, sacks on the ground and all sorts of other interesting things around the place.

We tried everything online first... he kept going out of the square while disengaging the HQ.

Then he was not too sure about going under the cups.... REALLY? he says to me!
Lets try the other eye...
Oh ok then. Yay Garbo.
Sniff out the signs.... after chasing the chickens again!
And we had a play with Jool's 'flag'. He was so much better with it today.

So then I got on bareback, one rein, and rode it all!! Cool fun. He was better not going over the edges of the pole square with me on funnily enough.

Then we had a play at liberty in the round pen - but it confirmed to me he is lame on front left I think. I have booked him in to see Tommy Berhns Chiropractor but he's not up till May 27 so I hope it comes right by then.

Russell Lessons

Well I had 2 lessons with Russell today.

First at 8.30am with Maraschino at home. We started with seeing how he was upping the energy with the rope tossing over his neck and back...he was ok and then Russell stepped in, to show me how to not get the slap with the end of the rope each time and his energy must have been way more than mine because Maraschino took off backwards at quite a rate. Russell kept on tossing that rope until he calmed, licked and chewed of course then came over to me for a hug. lol.

I did some more and on the other side which was harder. He said I should increase this until you can do it so that the rope and popper make a cracking noise on the ground before the next throw. Also alternating - three on the back, three round the front legs and three round the back. That way they don't have time to get too worried about each thing....

Jane - Maraschino (while Russell and I were talking next to the tire) offered to stand on it - he put one foot up a couple of times and looked at us as if to say "Shall I?"

Then we did the same thing - rope tossing but with him going on a circle and not stopping - so that they get used to extreme friendly while moving (raincoats while riding etc). He did that pretty well.

Russell then asked how he was at walking forwards with his head down - perfect he was... Russell said "ok no need to go over that".... :-). The reason we are getting so vigorous with the rope over his back is that he said one day that will be me going over his back so I need to be sure he will be fine. And to do it with plastic bags on the end of the carrot stick etc as well.

Then we did walking forward moving the HQ, backing up, then moving the FQ (all in same direction, then starting over (meanwhile I walk in straight line even while backing). He said it gets them to put their weight back.

Then we did lateral flexion - and then lateral flexion to a stop while walking in Zone 3.. ok - me walking in Zone 3, Maraschino walking forwards, me approach his HQ and rub on his back and ask for lateral flexion at the same time, to a halt. This gets them used to stopping while being ridden etc. Very cool. Russell noted he didn't really have any opposition reflexes or braces with any of that...

So all looking good so far with Mr Maraschino.

Then I took Garbo to Jool's as we were sharing a lesson there with Leigh Munro. Man I am a bit sore in the legs today after being on Garbo for over 2 hours I think....!!

Well we did Counter turns today with one rein riding!

It's all about only having one rein and not swapping sides to turn the opposite way to the side the rope is on. The aids to turn therefore are, eyes, hips bellybutton, leg, REIN, then back up with carrot stick.

BOY - This really made me realise I am doing Rein first for the turn and not eyes, then body, then leg (outside), then rein. We practised at walk doing weave for what seems like an eternity - Garbo was just starting to get it then we changed to Figure 8 (because Russell said they get used to the pattern)... blah... all out the window again.

I am going to really really concentrate on this just at walk for some time till it is indelible in my mind. What you do for rein is lift till you feel the snap (up) and then lean it on the neck - but don't cross over the mane.

We tried a bit of figure 8 doing the same thing but at trot... Garbo is still a bit stiff.... then back on the rail for a bit more....

Then we finished up with sideways (how to improve and refine it (don't lean)..so that they can bend their ribcage the correct way...

What else....backing up then turning the FQ, we did that on the ground too.....

I think that was it!

Phew.

Stag in the carpark

Check out this view....

Well we went for a short ride - the horses were a bit on edge - and we think there must have been deer all over the place as there was a stag in the horse park when we got back!

Bronwyn said she heard a boar the other day on her ride!

Garbo has not been himself for about three weeks now - I am going to get him some B12 tonic tomorrow and some mycotoxin binder... and I have put him back in the track - I think the middle grass has more 'alternative' grasses perhaps more susceptible to fungus - although we have not had a problem before -but - then again this is a major drought.

Road ride

Garbo has been a bit jumpy lately when I bring him in - looking over towards the orchard like there are boogie men in there. I think it may be a reaction to either the grass after the rain, or from the hay cubes. I actually stopped the hay cubes and he came right - then gave him one the day before yesterday, and voila yesterday he was spooky again. They smell funny - and Coco is a bit more on alert and less relaxed - however Maraschino has not had any reaction what so ever.

So for now I'll keep on with eliminating the hay cubes and see how we go.

The human in my gets so annoyed at him when he's all spooky at nothing - because it really is nothing - however I do know that fungal/endophyte reactions can cause horses to hallucinate and it effects their vision alot too - so I need to work on my emotional fitness on that one.

I took him for a walk in hand past the spooky area (even though Linda's last blog post said not to do that) - athough I waited as long as he needed at each threshold - funnily enough the first one was about 20 feet from the washbay and yards. Once we got to the long grass however I noticed the thresholds decreased, and he was happily eating grass by the time we got back to the same area after a walk up the road. I decided a distraction and some transitions and turns online would help us both so that's what we did. On the way back he spooked at the fence (that he has walked past a thousand times) but after that he was happy just eating (next to the orchard).

I took him back into the wash bay and he was 100% relaxed so I saddled him up and jumped on and off we went up the road again. George came too for the company but Garbo led the way - and I think he would have gone further than Stanley's place (the dogs all started barking at us), but we decided the road was a bit too iffy down there (too many more crazy drivers past that point).

I rode him back (and yes Maraschino was very good both times), and he happily then went into his yard for dinner. Once he's in the yards at night he's fine (when he's jumpy) so I don't know what he thinks is waiting in the bushes, that suddenly disappears when food appears!

I might ride up the road again today - I was going to go to Jool's but I have a headache (think I pulled some back muscles yesterday weeding the last of the dock) so it's a quiet day for us here today - lovely sunny weather and gorgeous cool air. Well it's still 21 degrees.

Play day

Jane came over this morning for a hors play day. Garbo was again not really wanting to leave the paddock - so we started very slowly and Jane haltered Maraschino and I caught Garbo. The ground is still really hard and also I think Garbo has had a reaction to the new hay cubes or the chaff. He has been really panicking being in the yards. We decided it could be a mixture of that and the fact the ground is so hard and we had been doing a bit of canter lately and decided we would not do much more than walk today.

We didn't even go to the wash bay for a brush - just direct to the obstacles I had laid out we had barrels, a tarp, and a car windscreen sun shield, and the green ball. Plus I also had carrots.

So Garbo and I just had a nice relaxed touch it session and Jane had Maraschino touching and exploring everything too. Very calmly and very politely - it was a pleasure to watch - and so much fun being able to have two horses being played with at the same time. Coco, of course, was tagging along right behind Maraschino's tail.

At the end of the session Jane managed to ask Maraschino to put his front feet on the tire and he did it - clever boy - first time ever too! I missed the photo and we agreed that was enough for him for the day. He did so ell - over the tarp, the windscreen shield (which made funny noises he found out) and the barrels and ball.

Then Garbo had to have a go too of course and show Maraschino (and us) how it's really done!

Then I jumped on Garbo and we went for a nice walk, and a figure 8 or two and then Jane got on. I think Garbo had decided that anyone else getting on means trouble, so he didn't have a very happy look on his face initially which Jane read very well so she just sat there and patted him, eventually he yawned loads and blew a bit and then she asked him for a walk. She had a lovely walk around and a wee trot back to the spools (and me) and that was the morning gone!

It went so quickly. We have decided we are going to try and organise a play session each 6 weeks - somewhere.... while it's too far to take our own horses, we learn so much with others - and we all trust each other to play with our horses. and lunch is always good too!

Got confirmation from Parelli they received my audition today. They say it will take 3-4 weeks.

Bareback again

Doesn't Bronwyn look happy - so does Critey.

It's been a while since I rode bareback so today I thought I would. It was all a bit of a rush getting to Jool's on time - I had to go and buy some apples and carrots and on the way three loose cattle were at the end of our road, and about to walk onto State Highway 16, drove back up the road to ask Stanley if they were his, he said they were the people at the end of the road, they were out - luckily just then I think someone from the council arrived and we were able to leave them to it.

So when I got home Garbo was lying down asleep - but hooking the float up woke him up but he was dragging his feet a bit - a bit tired from Monday's ride most likely. I waited until it was his idea to walk forwards again and then loaded him straight on the float basically.

Gave Maraschino a handful of grass and off we went.

Bronwyn came too and she rode bareback too - next time I am going to lend her my spare hackamore. We had a great time.

We did some liberty afterwards and got a nice back up (first ever) at liberty so I was pretty pleased with that.

Forest ride

It was so windy today that when I got the float out Garbo started chasing the others. I wonder if it's excitement - he seems to do that quite often when he sees me get the float out (or worse still after getting the float out that I might hater Maraschino first!).

My plan was (for a 12.30pm ride) to play with Maraschino after grooming Garbo, and then leave. Well - I soon realised while grooming Garbo the wind was spooking him alot. His head was high, he couldn't stand still, and when I tried to put him in his yard he tried to jump out when I walked away to get Maraschino - so change of plan!

I realised I needed to actually play with Garbo to calm him down before loading and that I quickly needed him to realise it was ok (because he was with me). So we did some Figure 8! I figured the change of direction would get him thinking again. Then we did some fast circles.!

Luckily over by the float the house was acting as a wind shelter so loading was fine and off we went.

At the beginning of the ride Garbo went off on his own little cross county course - he is so funny.

Garbo was great - at one stage he did try to get in front of Critey, and I did some partial disengagement (if any dressage queens had of seen what we were doing without a bit they would have been green with envy) - Garbo looked amazing - and he calmed down a bit. Then again near the end when the track was really narrow he started trying to bite Critey's bum again so I asked Bronwyn if Critey could perhaps walk faster?? Garbo doesn't like to dawdle! That fixed it! He was happy then. We could hear the wind high in the trees above us but it was calm in there. Nice!

Afterwards he had a big roll in the sand and off we went home again (after nearly a whole hay bag before and after the ride). When we drove down the road I could see Maraschino and Coco eating happily in the middle (and not close to the gate) - Maraschino had only called out about twice (having grass probably helps!).

Oh - I tried out my new iPhone trail app - we went 3.9km and average speed was 3.5 km/p/h. 55 minutes!

Circle game update

Ok - so this is what we have been working on.... staying out, backing up nicely - amazing what a treat at the end of the back up will do - he now offers to back up! AND - he doesn't run back in when I turn to walk back to the end of the rope. Yay.

And - staying out - not really staying in canter for much - but you know - he does half a lap each time... guess he needs to get fit hey. He also still curves his body the wrong way (in) especially on the right rein.

This video really makes me laugh.

Level 3 Online Video

I haven't put this up on You Tube because I don't want to take the music off....

Garbo had fallen over two days previous so his canter was a little stiff and he didn't stay in gait hence the more driving than normal in the Circle game.

Anyway - I have sent it off..

Fingers crossed.

ps our circle game has improved alot since this video.... and our back up - it's back to being nice and polite and subtle. Funny how they yo-yo. Actually I look at this now - only 4 weeks ago and cringe at my 'barking' ! Yikes!

Ok - my critique (4 weeks on)..... too higher phases needed on yo-yo, didn't maintain gait in canter, didn't stay out on canter, sideways could have been straighter..... rest ok - actually the lead by tail and leg very good. :-)

Falling leaf finally

I re-watched Linda's Savvy Club DVD 35 on falling leaf, then again without sound, and headed out to practise. She does it the way I was trying to do it - and doesn't disengage the HQ's the way Russell showed me and it looks much easier.

So we did some circle first and we used the pole and he stayed in trot, went up to canter when asked but the most he got was 3/4 of a lap but then would go up a transition again when I asked, and we did this for about 10 laps all up I guess. Got to be making him fitter if nothing else!

I managed to get him to stay out on the 22ft too. And keep going over the pole. And the changes of directions therefore were also good being that he was out further. We have come a long way in the last few weeks. I kept on with my plan of rewarding him while he is out.

Then I tried the falling leaf - and I got it! In a very basic form - and I had to bump him if he went past me a couple of times but he stayed away from me and I managed to get the changes of directions on both sides quite well.

Staying out

Our yo yo out had become a little fuzzy - Garbo was taking it as phase one of the circle game so once a little way out he would go crooked and then head off in the direction he thought I was going to send him. It was quite funny deciding which way I would send him and have him guess.... he usually got it wrong but he tries so hard to get it right.

So today we worked on backing out - then I would drop the rope and walk to him and give him a treat, then I would back back holding my finger up so he wouldn't follow me in, and then either ask him in or send him on a circle. Then I would stop him on the circle (this aid is still unclear even to me to be honest) and walk to him and give him a treat.

If he caem in I would scratch him but no treats.

Boy did he get it quick!

At one stage I was walking back in (it got to a point where I could turn my back and walk away without him following me back) and I would look at him and he was backing away even further.

What a clever boy.

Still not alot of luck with the cantering circles - but we are getting there - well working towards it slowly anyway.

I am trying to achieve it without getting him stressed, or even harder, without him getting confused.

Lesson with Russell Higgins PP

I had a lesson booked with Russell for 5/5.30pm tonight and at 5pm I got a call saying he was running late. He had only just left the lady who had the other lessons.... and that was a good 2.5 hours away in peak traffic (not so much in normal traffic) but at 5 o'clock - heck I even avoid that stretch at all costs, at that time of the day.

I was already at Jool's so I saddled Garbo up (he was more than happy eating the arena grass for 3 hours!) and had a short ride. He was a bit distracted - we have never ridden much at 6pm before... Russell arrived at 6.50pm - and lately it's been getting dark at 7.45pm so we didn't have a lot of time (so much for a two hour lesson).

He asked me if I had a list - I didn't really but I wanted to work on Garbo's canter on the circle. He keeps in real close which makes it really difficult for him, then he turns to the outside instead of the inside! Making it triply hard!

As suspected, Russell suggested I do falling leaf. He seems to love that, as well as bow ties with riding. I tried but could not get my hands co-ordinated to pass the handle end of the carrot stick only under the rope (without changing the direction the carrot stick is facing).. so Russell offered to be the horse, and after one length of the arena I kind of had it - but a Russell Horse is 1000 times slower than Garbo and trying in real life with Garbo just resulted in Garbo crowding me and me trying to block him going past me with the carrot stick, which in turn made him canter - so reduced my time even more.

Russell had a go while I was doing something with the savvy string, just with the 22ft rope and basically threw the end and the coils of the 22ft towards Garbo and jumping at Zone 2... Garbo just about had a freak and of course - cantered on the 22ft a few laps - but to me it was not calm at all. Guessing that comes - but from then on Garbo was hiding from Russell, behind me and not letting Russell into his space at all.

By now it was dark - after having a break with some sideways refining, and we packed up. Garbo was a real star and loaded into a pitch black float, in a pitch black paddock - and it was so dark I didn't realise the personal access door and the tack box door were open - so they had been swinging open on and off the whole way (in reality most likely only on the downhill bit of our road and Jool's driveway).

Russell had suggested I reward Garbo for cantering on the circle by getting him to canter in to me while he was still in canter (not after he goes back into trot), but talking with my friend who has seen us together since we started Parelli - said that he has always loved coming in to me, so perhaps now it's time to start rewarding him for staying out - and stopping him on the circle, and not bringing him in, but go to him with the reward.

What a great idea!

Three horses to play with now

We had my brother and his wife coming for dinner and I had two hours to play with three horses, pick up three horses poos, feed them and have a shower, cut up fruit for the fruit platter and get the potatoes, beans and snapper ready for cooking. I did it in 2.5 hours - luckily they were 30 minutes late!

So first was Maraschino - he has a habit of chewing on the carrot stick at each rest period, and this photo shows him just after he was chewing it and he dropped it!

Anyway - he does the most lovely circle and bends in on the circle, eye on me at all times, and we even did some change of direction at walk today too. We started with transitions with the carrot stick today and also a bit of driving from Zone 3. Plus friendly game of course, and lots of waiting for my RBI.

Then I played a little with Garbo - just on backing at phase one again (without head up) and staying at trot on the circle. It was just a brief play.

Then while I had Garbo in his yard and Maraschino tied up in the wash bay I haltered Coco and tied the halter up quite high this time. In between scratching the scratchy spots!

He was a bit frightened with me being anywhere less except in front of Zone 1 when I have the stick and or rope. He was even quite scared during yo you - so I had a brain wave - I got Maraschino back out and did them together, just some leading and then some yo yo - this seemed to increase Coco's confidence alot.

After I took the halter off I made sure he didn't rush off, and scratched him - it's like the pay off - the scratches - he loves them so much - he almost agrees to anything lol.

How's that for puzzle solving!!??

Major breakthrough

Coco is such a brave little guy - he has been backing up to us for scratches and getting braver with his front end too. Yesterday we brushed all of them (the big boys tied up and Coco loose) and while the big guys were still tied I played a round a bit more with the halter over Coco's neck (after being on his back no problems) and I timed it so that I would move it and just as he thought about stepping away I would itch under his tummy on his itchy spot - and he would wait.... kept doing this for a while and then put the halter on his nose and held the ends while I itched some more, then let go, itched some more - did that about three times, then did the knot up... he was a little jumpy but not too bad.

So off we went!! We just had a little lead up the paddock, a teeny yo yo and lots of carrots and back for halter off and more scratches (and an apple)....

Today the halter slipped down too far down his nose and he got a bit scared, so I need to make it smaller...

Cool huh!!

Level 3 Online Audition

Hana and Jane arrived at my place at lunch time and Garbo decided he didn't want to be caught today and ran off chasing the others. I had originally caught Maraschino first with the idea I would play with him first but Garbo followed along badgering him, so I thought - ok your turn first then - and he ran away - what games he plays with me! You could almost hear him giggling. When I walked back to the wash bay he saw we had visitors and the curiosity of course got the better of him!

I had a quick play with Maraschino after they all got a brush since we had one person for each horse... and he was very good. Backed into the yard like a pro.

Garbo loaded fine and off we went with the pedestal and ball in the back.

Arrived at Jools and set up the arena and parked the float next to it. I had a wee trial run and of course Garbo proved me wrong and did the weave perfectly, and everything else, so I said - ok lets film before we lose it.

We started on the pedastal, got all 4 feet on, then he backed off it and back on again (offered that) - actually I think he was saying "errrr you missed it - scuse me I am on the pedastal - where's my carrot??"

... then we went to the ball - he sniffed it - didn't push it - oh well.... sideways along the fence at trot both ways - one way was better than the other....

A couple of half circles from the fence, then trotting along the long side with a transition, to the cones for the weave, he did it perfectly.....

then jumped the barrel, added in some circles somewhere there.... he was a bit sore I think so didn't stay in canter for long (after slipping over the other day), change of direction x 2, then trot to me... yay.

Rest...

We also did sideways over a pole, and backwards squeeze through the barrels.

Oh I forgot - we started with Extreme Friendly - he couldn't have cared less really - added in lead backwards by the tail and the hind legs (both at once)

and then trailer loaded, and a yo yo on the 45 - phew - not quite sure how we fitted all that in to 10 minutes but it was a rap!

He's such a good horse!

Thanks to my two amazing friends Hana and Jane for helping today - your photography and videography skills were amazing - not to mention the ginger cake and just 'being there'. Thanks guys.