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I'm back! I will start with the first part of my title... Figure 8's!
New Mindsets
~Shalom, Savvy Out, and God Bless~
For a while I didn't do the patterns because I just, well, I just thought they were plain stupid and they were also EXTREMELY boring (so I thought...). I had already bought the online and freestyle so I decided, Why Not? Lets go for 'em! So I did. Within FIVE MINUTES I had Sonny, mind you this was our 1st time doing it, TROTTING the pattern!!!!!! He was also pretty much doing it without my help too! YEE HAW! When he gave me that trot eight I almost cried! The next time I did it he CANTERED IT!!!!! With drop to walk/trot transitions ;). I'm SOOOO happy right now! I was pretty positive before but am now SURE that my horse is *the* smartest horse EVER!!!!
I, over the past couple of days, have learned a new mindset. I noticed that I never really changed my old "traditional" mindset... So about a week ago I made myself change the mindset I had. One thing I changed is NEVER to force them to anything but instead offer it to them. I did that the other night and Sonny doesn't like to jump all that much but I gave him the option of going between me and the jump (which was probably a 10-15 foot gap) or go over the jump. The first couple of times he went between me and the jump but then all I did was focus on the jump and he jumped it! YAY! I also got him to maintain gait (which is hard for him) 2-3 times around all because I did not nag! Instead when he passed a certain area I would ask him to canter and when he caught on he MAINTAINED THE CANTER THE WHOLE WAY AROUND!!!! That is HUGE for him! YAY Sonny! I am really liking the results I am getting with this mindset. I think I will keep it!
Work in Progress
The next part of my title is about Toby. He is definitely a "Work in Progress". He is so hard to work with but at the same time fun! You never know what you will get. Will he be a RBI, a LBI, a LBE, or a RBE today? He can also switch between all four horsenalities in one play session! Lately I have been playing with Sonny more than Toby but I have worked with him. I rode him Saturday and he did AWESOME! We worked on stopping and moving off my leg into a walk without me having to follow through with a bump or hand slap on the butt. By the end I got him moving off of a squeeze pretty consistently. Mostly though I have been spending more undemanding time with them. Which is fun!
Interrupting Patterns
I just wanted to ask a question. What do y'all do to interrupt your horses patterns? Be it if they are acting RBI or RBE or LBI or LBE. I'm curious! If my horse (Toby specifically) turns RBI I stop and wait until they lick their lips. But if they are RBE I send them in a circle and put my back against a fence so that then they have to stop and turn every half circle. Now for LBI and LBE if they are doing like dominance games with me I send them out onto a circle and make sure they are listening mighty well! Do you do any of those things? If so tell me! I am curious!
3 comments:
Regarding your question, it depends on how committed they are to that thought. If they are like "AHHH, the world's falling apart!" I would do something BIG to get their attention back and to block that strong thought. With horses like Woody (strong willed, etc.) it again, depends on the energy put toward it and how committed he is to an idea. When in Floyd with Harry we worked on getting him cantering on the ground in the round pen at Liberty. I would ask him to go with my walking faster, pointing, and getting a canter energy, then I would get BIG in order to, once again, block that "don't go" thought he so stubbornly held onto. If it something little though, like looking away when he should be focusing, I merely shift over a couple of feet until he reconnects. Sorry if thats not a clear answer, but I thought I would put in my two cents. Haha.
Yay Sonny!!!!! He sounds like he's doing really good!
~Abby~
Hey Lauren!!! Is today the day??? The day you announce the winner???? I can't wait to see who wins!!!Have you already picked a winner? Oh my goodness, I'm so excited!!! ttyl!
~Abby~
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