All Things In Moderation
I'm referring to the comments, which are now being moderated due to sp@mmers. As this is a family-friendly horsemanship blog, we do not welcome offers from well-end*wed females looking for l*ve, nor does my horse require any sort of products to extend him in any way. Those who leave a comment to this effect on this blog will be given a Phase 4 they won't soon forget. Thank you, though, for reading, and for caring enough to make us aware of your presence.

The horse and I are on vacay until next year. Have a Merry and a Happy, and I'll see you in 2010.


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NON-PNH FORUM POST
The post I wish I could have written. A bit of background: I've been nosing around online for a used Natural Performer saddle (size Large 17", medium fenders, chestnut or medium oil is my dream) for an affordable price. In the process, I came across several postings on other forums about Parelli.

One of them almost made me lose my Emotional Fitness.

I just really get frustrated sometimes with the ignorance that abounds, and it irks me when people speak authoritatively about Parelli when they actually (as evidenced by their misinformation) know nothing about Parelli or the program! These are the people responsible for the spreading of misinformation and the bad press that sometimes follows us Parelli folks around (not to mention the Parelli-trained horses that some people think need to be "fixed" and "un-Parellied" because they don't understand that it's not the horse, it's the PERSON who isn't responding correctly).

If it upsets me this much, I can't imagine what it must be like to actually BE Parelli and know what is being said.

Which is why I'm not a Parelli, I'm just a student of theirs. :-) Then again, their EF must be well-developed by now.

Anyway. The forum thread I was reading had to do with a girl who had just bought a horse from someone who had Parelli'd it, and it had behaved perfectly for the owner, but now she had it home with her and was having problems. So she came to a random horse forum seeking help from a Parelli person because she can't afford the DVDs.

Of course, she unwittingly started the typical "natural vs normal" war that seems to occur on these forums, and generated several pro-Parelli endorsements along with the usual venomous anti-NP trashing and Parelli-bashing. I was happy to read the Parelli respondees and their patient polite responses, but I blew a gasket when I saw a post that lumped Parelli in with the other NP trainers, calling it a generic training method that only works with some horses but would never work for an Arab, and saying Parelli and Clinton Anderson are pretty much the same if you can just ignore the philosophy stuff.

(Why, I ask, would you want to ignore the philosophy?)

This is what I wish I could have posted, had I wanted to bother to join a forum so obviously out of alignment with my own principles (and I might have a bit of my own data about Horsenalities wrong--it was written in passion; were I to post it, I'd research to make sure I had it right!):

Responding to the comment that CA and PP are generic:

Please exclude Parelli from this list, as Parelli is not generic. A huge part of the Parelli method involves isolating the individual horsenalities to help the student understand how to teach the horse. This is in reference to the comment that "Parelli won't work for some horses"—meaning the spookier ones or the ones with more energy like Arabs. This is not true. The other natural methods may be less effective than Parelli only because they tend to use one technique for every horse, whereas Parelli insists on determining the horsenality first—RBI, RBE, LBI, LBE—then adjusting the techniques accordingly in order to be as effective as possible.

For example, an LBI is motivated by food and "what's in it for me". Treats used as incentives—NOT BRIBES and there is a difference—will work with an LBI and encourage him to respond. The use of subtlety in cues, raising the horse's curiosity, and keeping him on his toes with a lot of variety will engage the horse's brain and keep him focused on and interested in you. They need quickness in the questions we ask of them, and they get bored easily. When they get bored, they act up. They can be a challenge because the human must be thinking one step ahead and have a plan in place, otherwise the horse will take over and recreate a new plan.

An RBE, however, is an entirely different animal. This is a high-energy horse very geared towards a flight response. This horse seeks safety and strong leadership. The human must match the horse's energy and go four ounces further. RBI's, on the other hand, need gentleness, softness, slower requests and a LOT of time to dwell in between. Patience is paramount with these horses, because they have serious trust issues and a lot of fear. I've worked with an RBE Arab who would be completely focused on me for quite awhile, then suddenly just lose focus. The moment she lost focus, she was a mess again.

All of this is found in the very in-depth Liberty & Horse Behavior study materials.

The philosophy and psychology Parelli's methods teach are what makes the program so effective! Until you understand WHY pressure motivates and release teaches, or WHY a RBI will react differently to a scary situation than an LBI (for example), you cannot fully understand the horse. Until one understands the horse, one will not be effective with him. No matter how well the person can keep their balance in the saddle, or how many Olympic/Rolex jumps and obstacles the person can get the horse over.

There was a post I saw on a blog today that claimed 90% of Parelli followers only do groundwork and never get in the saddle, and wondered why. I did respond to that one.
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FOURTH RIDE
I did the honors today of giving Mona her fourth ride. This is a BIG bay Arabian two-year-old filly—she's probably already 15.1 hh with legs for miles. She's a beautiful horse with a lot of exuberance, and a sweet personality. It's hard not to fall for her.

But as she is not mine, and will be going home as soon as she is "ready", I have to keep some perspective.

Today, we learned that blue tarps blowing in the wind are nothing to worry about. We also learned that if a wagon goes by with a flat tire, it sounds like fluggedy flump, fluggedy flump, fluggedy flump, and even though it sounds scary, it isn't. We learned to pay attention to the leader during (un)controlled catastrophes. (Any "old-timers" remember that task from the earlier Level One assessment?)

I did the usual warm up, with emphasis on the Extreme Friendly Game (Lite version). Because of the wind and everything flapping around us, I wanted to be sure flappy flying things didn't bother her before I got on.

Nothing of note to report. Accepted the saddle like an old pro. I rode in my own Circle Y today with one shim because she is narrow in the withers and a bit downhill. It fit her quite well and solved the slippage issue I'd had with the BM's saddle. (The scary thing is, the Circle Y is the saddle I've been riding Cheerios in, and he's much wider—as soon as my inheritance comes through and I find one slightly used, I'm buying a Parelli Natural Performer or the earlier version; perhaps this is why he has trouble cantering?).

I played with her mouth a lot to prepare her for bridling. She's been bitted once. Not by me. The girl who did first ride tromped up to her, shoved the bit into her mouth, THEN asked me if she'd ever worn a bridle. When I went to bridle her the other day, she wasn't having any of it. So, I worked on trust, touching her tongue, rubbing her gums, rubbing the noseband of the hackamore on her mouth, and holding the hackamore like I'd hold the bridle so she gets used to the method.

I waited until the BM was done giving a lesson before mounting, and had the BM nearby to help. Like before, I had the BM lead Mona while I did a passenger lesson. Youngsters are so wobbly! They don't know how to balance a rider yet, and it's disconcerting. But she did well. We walked and trotted. Once she learns how to carry me, she'll have a beautiful trot with those long legs.

Then I tested rein positions, and I was IMPRESSED. She picked up Direct, Indirect and Lateral Flexion LIKE THAT. With NO encouragement from the BM on the ground! She also figured out Back Up pretty fast. Just a step or two was all I asked. She's getting it.

I think what surprises me is that I'm really good enough to teach her that, and have her respond to my focus, my leg/body, and my soft rein guidance.

You mean... maybe I really can do this?



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MORE YOUNG HORSES
KAT
My apologies in the post delay; busy lately! Lots of barn visits; lots of phone calls to settle the last bits of Mom's Estate; and I got a part-time job FINALLY. It starts tomorrow. Evenings, telephone research. Plenty of daylight horse hours left wide open for me. It's a start, and I'm thankful for it.

So the update. Kat had a third saddle desensitization session only I went back to the BB pad because I wanted to begin preparing her to have me in Zone 3 above her eye, and see if she was ready to accept my weight. I don't ride English, I ride Western, so I'm doing it all bareback at first. (Just like Pat and Jake did on the SC DVD.)

Not much to say about it. Same stuff, different day. Although it took a LOT less time for her to allow me to blanket and pad her—minutes rather than hours. That is progress. We were done with the games/warm-up and ready to get tacked up when another rider wanted to borrow the round pen. It was a good time for a break, so I allowed it. I let Kat graze, hung out with her, bonded; then I decided to test out her Sideways down the fenceline. And this is where I learned the real reason why I "bother" doing Parelli.

She went Sideways beautifully then began to go very RB. Then I realized my foot was snagged.

Then I realized that one of the electric fence wires (the grey kind) was down, and had been curled up beside the fence—hidden in the grass, neither of us saw it, and I unwittingly sent my horse right into it!!!

Kat wasn't caught, but she thought she was. Basically she'd snagged a bit of it, dragged it sideways with her, and pulled out the coils into a big mess, which I'd gotten my own foot tangled in.

I took leadership, and she turned and faced. She was breathing hard, but waiting. I looked carefully at the wire, assessed the situation. Kat just waited. I calmly detached the wire from around my leg, then told her I was going to pull the wire out from under her, just stand still and you'll be fine.

I extracted the wire, moved her back a step off of a piece of it, and then got rid of all of it. We both heaved a huge sigh of relief. It could have been a disaster. But it wasn't—because thanks to PNH, I had a young RB horse who LISTENED and overrode her instincts, and I knew what to do.

I've also learned that just because the ground was clear during the past 364 days, it doesn't mean it's clear on day 365—always check to make sure it's clear before sending your horse that way (or yourself).

After distracting her with a few more games, I took her back to the round pen and although the other rider was still riding, I just went ahead and did my blanket/pad anyway. Yep. Outside of the pen, without a net. Then, tacked up, I let Kat graze until the rider was done.

Then I got the mounting stool and just did approach and retreat in Zone 3 on both sides, stepping up and down and rubbing her until she figured it out. The last thing I did was rest my upper body on her back and rub her thoroughly. She handled it well and let out a huge sigh. End of session.

MONA
Mona had her first ride with another rider. Then she had an unscheduled vacation while other horses were played with. It was suggested I have a different girl ride her, with me assisting. Since I'm doing this for the BM, I have tended to let her decide the procedures, figuring she knows her boarders' riding and training abilities better than I do.

That's about to change. I've learned something valuable. While one girl has been a working student with a prominent cross-country eventer (who has won the Rolex and a World Championship before) and spent the summer breaking two-year-olds, the riding ability is there, but the actual horsemanship is lacking. (I was told by her that the Eventer, who shall remain nameless, gives all the youngsters Ace before they are saddled the first time. I'm sorry. To me, that is the equivalent of giving them a roofie and date raping them. I am thoroughly unimpressed, and if it were me, I would not want to listen to a single thing the man said. Ribbons and championships aside).

Another girl has been riding for 11 years, but knows very little about how to teach a horse new things. Yet another spent two years in a very prestigious Equine program near here, but changed majors because the program directors not only belittled Parelli, but after inviting another well-known NH trainer to give a demonstration, they laughed at HIM. While he was demo-ing to their students!

These girls all have paper credentials and associated prestige; so they should know their manure, you'd think.

Well, this is what I've learned. Their horsemanship will tell you a lot more about their true knowledge than their mouths will.

And that's true for me, as well. I'm not saying I'm exempt. Or perfect. But I know my horsemanship, even in its growing stages, speaks for itself. And the funny thing is, the others are starting to look to ME for information. (Except for Ms Rolex Student. But her goals are different from mine.)

On Sunday, the 11-year rider (J) and I were to work with Mona on riding. I collected Mona in my usual manner. I played with her in the pen to see where she was mentally and emotionally. J watched, asked intelligent questions about why I was doing what I was doing, which I answered. Mona got to the ready point, and we proceeded to saddle her English. I circled her a bit, following PNH procedure.

Because she'd been bridled before by Ms. Rolex, I thought to test and see if Rolex had done the job well.

Nope. Mona didn't want anything to do with the bridle. I realized that bridling would have to be a separate session and left her in the halter. I tied up the 12-foot into reins, attached the 22, and J mounted up. It went fine. I held the end of the lead line as a safety net, and to help Mona find the answers when J asked her to respond to rein guidance. She rode Mona around a little bit, then we found a good stopping place.

The next day, J and I repeated the procedure for Mona's third ride.

Instead of bridling her, I opted for the hackamore instead. It makes sense: she's used to the Parelli halter and lead rope—it's the same thing with reins added. J mounted up, and we walked and trotted. Well, they walked and trotted—I stood in the center at neutral holding the popper. After a bit, J felt confident enough to take her around without my holding on. Mona was OK with that, but wasn't really responding to J's attempts to get her to go or turn.

I had one of those moments: you watch, you suggest, and you stand there getting antsy because you're just SURE if it were you up there, you'd be able to get her to do it.

So we switched. We swapped out English for Western. Mona saddled like an old pro. And I got on.

And yes, Virginia, I was right. Kicking her wasn't working (of course not). I did the PNH procedure. Sit up, energy up, squeeze gently but with increasing pressure, cluck, swing rope around myself... Mona leaned forward, I released and rubbed. Repeat: Mona leans forward, lifts leg, release and rub. Within about four of these, Mona understood to walk off when I did that. And we're walkin'...

Next, I tested Direct Rein. Of course, I used focus with the eyes, then my body, and reins last.

Mona TURNED. A little wobbly, but she did it. Pretty soon, I had her doing slow, wobbly S-curves across the round pen.

J watched the whole time. Suddenly she's full of questions for me. (I like that.)

We found a good stopping point when Mona sighed. I dismounted, and stood there with Mona resting her chin on my shoulder as I softly scratched her. I wish this was my horse. I wish they were ALL my horses, because I truly love them all.

I've realized that 11 years of being able to ride doesn't mean you know how to use your body to ride. Like most, J adopts The Position, and expects the horse to know what to do, or to be able to steer with the reins or legs while staring forward. The concept of looking where you want to go, not just with your eyes but your whole body, is new to her.

Parelli is amazing. From it, I have learned more about horses, horsemanship, riding, and myself (and other people) than I ever thought I could from a "video-driven horse training method".

J told me she'd been Googling horse methods, but there were so many out there, she was confused, it was hard to know which ones worked. I admitted that when I first heard of Parelli, I was skeptical—I thought it was a pyramid scheme, or one of those things that promised more than it delivered. Thankfully, my skepticism was quickly dismissed; seven years of being an obsessed PNH student proves it's not a pyramid scheme, it's a Godsend.

Perhaps we have a new convert in J? I can only hope.

CHEERIOS
Rode him and worked on everything. My main objective was to get us to L3 standard—we've been lazy. I've been letting him get away with being sloppy, with easing into a trot, easing out of it. I want smooth transitions and snappy departures. I want him to RESPOND when I ask for Sideways. I mean, snap to attention, Yes Ma'am, and go Sideways, straight and smooth, and don't stop until I ask.

It's been more like "Sigh...." one reluctant step or two Sideways, then angle out so he's walking at a diagonal.

I fixed that.

He was a bit miffed because I actually dared to get firm with him. He got firm with me and ran my knee into the electric wire and fence post on the way out the gate. The bruise is pretty huge and ugly, but it missed my knee cap.

He's used to being in charge. He's LBI. He's not used to me taking leadership. But we tightened up a lot of things in that session.

So the next session I played at Liberty with him, and taught small new things. Like lead from the mane, tail, lip, ear. Just the beginnings. I switched gears. Nothing huge to report—it's all preliminary right now. But I think, pending the next week, we'll be taping on the 30th.


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KAT X 2
The last three sessions with Kat have been focused on saddling. During the first session, the barn manager started out working with her. I observed. I kept track of the many things I might have approached differently and made mental notes. When she got to the saddling part, I watched some more. I could see that the BM was becoming frustrated, because Kat moved away when the saddle approached.

So I stepped in to assist.

The first thing to change was the saddle approach. My BM is a believer of natural ways and resistance-free training; however, she hasn't had the benefit yet of the details the Parelli program has taught me. Such as, a less-threatening way to carry a saddle when approaching a horse, and allowing the horse ample time to investigate it before tossing it on the horse's back. My BM was still in full-on "grizzly bear" approach, and working with a pretty moderate RBE.

I stepped in and did my thing with it. Eventually, we got the saddle ON her. Then we called it a day.

The next two sessions, I worked exclusively with Kat. During the first session, I used the saddle pad and m bareback pad, because it's light, and it has a cinch, so perhaps I could get her used to having something around her without the added weight. During the second session, she "graduated" to a light English saddle. The girth on the lowest holes was two inches too short, so we stopped there. Both sessions took three hours of extreme patience and approach and retreat to get the saddle pad on a calm horse, then the BB pad on a calm horse, then the saddle on a calm horse. (All after playing the seven games with lots of Friendly beforehand.)

Despite the owner's urgency in getting this done, the BM and I both agree that it might take longer for Kat to be ready to ride than Mona.

Because there was nobody around Wednesday evening, I opted to play with my own horse for a change (because I can predict him better than the others). I've had two amazing sessions with him in the past two weeks. During the first one, we rode in the bridle (old PNH kind) for the first time in ages, and worked on Finesse. I was thrilled when he offered a lovely collected half-pass (I think that's the term, trotting forward on the diagonal) with barely a suggestion, and moved sideways easily.

The second session started with a short Liberty session in the round pen. Change of direction is still iffy, need more work online for that. But he went Sideways without a fence!!!! YESSSS!!!!

After Liberty, into the arena we went. I'd planned to try out the 45' line, but there were novice riders in the arena, so change of plans. Ride instead. I warmed him up on the 22' before saddling. Now, this is what I love, and yes I'll admit it's an ego-boost. I dropped the line, and he stood perfectly still while I saddled him in the arena. I was hoping the novices were watching. They are new to having their own horses, and asking me all sorts of questions for advice on how to catch their uncatchable mare, why does the gelding move backwards when I kick him to go, that sort of thing.

I'm hoping that witnessing rather than being instructed will inspire them to want more knowledge. So having Cheerios be all blasé about being saddled, proving you don't need cross-ties or a chokehold when you have a good relationship, well... it makes me proud and it's a good example. He behaved beautifully, and we "showed off" our graceful communication with carrot stick riding, finesse, etc. I hope they watched closely.

I hope they ask LOTS more questions next time.

I think we are just about ready to tape FreeStyle L2 Audition.

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BRIEF UPDATE
Had a training session with Mona a week ago; today, I played with my own horse for a change. The barn manager was at work, there was a new horse in the paddock, and Mona and Kat were out with the herd. I need to find out the new logistics before proceeding this week.

Mona's session last week was interesting. She did the first five games pretty well, but then she got scared during Circling, pulled free, and ran off with the 22' line trailing between her legs. If Cheerios had done that, he'd have ignored the rope. It freaked out Mona. So after she cantered all RBE around the paddock a few times bucking at the rope while I prayed silently for her to sloooooow down, she stopped and froze.

Poor thing was terrified. I felt so bad. But it was let go or I would be a nine-finger today. Every time she shifted, the rope touched her legs, and she freaked. It took two bolt and runs before she settled down and let me collect the rope from her legs. The funny thing was, once I had it in my hands, she relaxed.

From there, of course, the plan changed.

Instead of teaching the last three games, the new plan was "desensitize her to the rope" aka LOTS of Friendly Game. I taught her to give to the pressure on her front legs. The rears weren't happening. She kicked out when the rope barely touched her. Probably not in the right mindset at that moment. At first she panicked when she felt the rope, and tried to bolt, but I disengaged her and had her stop.

I know I did the right thing. A bit later, she lost confidence and bolted off with the rope again—but this time, she got about 30 feet away, slammed to a stop, and turned, faced and waited.

WOW.

She needs a lot of work to be less sensitive to that.

Didn't even get to Kat that day.

So today, I focused on my horse, and it was awesome. My feel and timing HAS changed as a result of playing with these other horses. I saddled up and bridled him—first time bridled in ages—and we went out and played a little with Finesse, Carrot Stick riding, point-to-point, and OMG HIS SIDEWAYS IS FINALLY KICKING IN.

In fact... I was so excited. I thought as we were trotting along in a nice, collected little jog, I wonder if I can trot him sideways on a diagonal like all those fancy dressage ponies.

I thought it, I did it in my body, and...

So did he.

WOWWWW. I mean, WOW. My roping horse just did a beautiful little whatever it's called!

Level Three, here we come.

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TRAINING LOG 08.06.09
Two horses on the docket today: Mona and Kat. Since these are the horses with deadlines, they get priority sessions. First up was Kat.

My initial challenge was getting her from the pasture with Mona to the round pen on the other side of the barn. Sounds simple, right? Not with a RBE with separation anxiety. A whinny duet commenced, complete with panicked left-behind Arabian tearing around the pasture, and panicked Pintabian trying to run over me.

Oh, yes, I was being very mindful of the thresholds. But for Kat, her threshold is five feet away from Mona on the other side of the fence.

Actually, let me rethink that. It just occurred to me that it's really away from Mona with a human on the end of the line.

I had a plan, though. We'd successfully gotten Mona to the round pen in the same condition the first day; and since our round pen session, she was much better. I think I made a mistake with Kat the previous day, and went in with a new plan.

Instead of being firm, I'd try mirroring her.

It started with her being so upset she was half-rearing at the round pen fence trying to get out. I just ignored that and kept mirroring her behavior like Linda did on the Dec 2004 (I think) SC DVD.

Guess what.

It worked.

Pretty soon she tuned into me, and both stopped whinnying. When it was "safe", I entered the corral and continued mirroring. At some point it changed to becoming leader. I don't know how to describe it. It was more of a knowing. I got her through games 1-4. She is having major trouble with friendly stick and string. This is why I think she might be a difficult horse, not ready to ride in a week or so. She cannot tolerate string on back; how will she tolerate a saddle let alone a rider?

The last thing we did once she'd sighed hugely and put her head in my lap was to work on gate entrances. She rushed the gate. I sent her back and forth until she went in calmly, stopped, waited, and came out calmly. Then I released her to the pasture.

Mona was up next. She whinnied a bit, but was much more manageable on the trip to the pen. I mirrored her, too. They need work to get over the separation thing. Eventually, she forgot about Kat, hooked onto me, and we made it to Circling. She became curious. She was very light and responsive. She got the concept of circling. I hung out with her, even squatted to remove pressure.

She tolerates things better. I think she'll be rideable much sooner than Kat.

That was the day.

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