Learning From the Horse

I have been honored to spend a lot more time with horses this weekend than I usually do!  Friday, I went for a ride with a friend of mine.  It was Lady's first time (since I bought her) to ride with another horse as well as the first time to ride all day for both of us.  I went from 11 am to 5 pm and my beautiful girl did absolutely amazing!  We did a full 12 miles and she still had energy left over...  I was very impressed by her cooperation and willingness to go on.  We'll be working some more on this by ourselves as well as hopefully going on another ride with our friends in the future.  :D

Yesterday (Saturday) I got to play with 3 horses.  I have very rarely played with both of my horses in the same day, but I actually played with 3 horses, one after the other.

Tempestous Storm - Liberty - 15 minutes
She did very well!  I sat on the barrel for a few minutes and played with the stick and string so that she could get used to seeing me with them.  I was able to touch and stroke her on the first try!  Put the string around her neck and rubbed her with the stick.  She did a few hindquarter yields for me, which went super well - she didn't run off!  On a whim, I sent her on a circle and she actually did one!  Even got a bit of draw at the end, which is what I'm looking for!
Her Horsenality chart is almost completely in the moderate areas.  She definitely is an Extrovert and leans more towards the Left Brain side of it.  There are a few dots in both of the Introvert quadrants, but nothing extreme.  Her Positive Attributes chart is very very similar.  Very proud of this little pony!

Sioux Jay - OnLine - 40 minutes
Sue is my friend's horse, who was staying here for a day, so this was my very first time playing with her!  :)  She is a very sweet and good-natured horse - lots and lots of good things about her.  Had a few "explosions" while I was first trying to figure her out, but nothing very bad and easily resolved.  Her basic games are pretty good.  Friendly barely fazed her, so that could be stepped up a notch.  Maybe a flag or something else to make her more confident.  Porcupine was good - very bracey in the forehand though.  Driving hindquarters was quite good, but again, bracing in the forehand.  Her Yo-Yo game was excellent!  she has a nice balance of drive and draw, exactly what I love to see!  :)  Her Circling Game wasn't so good though.  She doesn't seem to have a whole lot of bend in her body, so we broke it down into smaller chunks.  1) Yielding the nose when I point.  2) Driving the shoulder over.  3) Walking on.  She was definitely more relaxed and confident and using her body more efficiently and smoother afterwards.  Also walked over some raised poles to stretch her back - nice!
I rubbed her back out some and her neck and cheeks.  She is very sweet and gentle, loves to be around people.  I think she might get worried out on the rope, which would explain some of her Circling trouble (pulling on the rope, wanting to come in, running).  I think she could do very well with lots of smaller circles and breaks in between, letting her stand until she breathes and thinks and slowly make the circles bigger as she gets more confident.  She tries VERY hard.  Good horse!
Her Horsenality chart is a bit more scattered.  Although a lot of her dots currently fall in the Right Brain Extrovert and Left Brain Introvert category, I think she is probably innately a Right Brain Introvert because of the way she shuts down and doesn't think.  Her Positive Attributes chart points to this too, with no dots in the Left Brain Extrovert quadrant at all and one in each of the Right Brain Introvert categories.

Lady Hwin - OnLine - 20 minutes
Ahhh...my main squeeze!  It was actually very interesting to play with Lady after playing with the other two, since Lady is the most advanced.  It made me realize just how balanced and responsive my horse is.  She was quite stiff from Friday's ride, so we did a lot of circles at the walk, trot, and canter so that she could loosen up and feel better as well as some sideways from different zones.  She did very very good.
Interestingly, filling out her Horsenality chart taught me a few things too.  Even though she still leans towards the Left Brain Introvert/Extrovert side of the chart, she has no extremities and is very much in the middle.  Her Positive Attributes chart is also very balanced, very very nice.  I am so proud of my beautiful horse.  :) :)

I have learned a lot this weekend with my horses, they are amazing!  :) :) :) :) :)

My Sweetheart

Back Again!

I have returned from the dead!!  :)  It feels like forever has passed since I have written here... so... Happy New Year!  :) :)
Anyways, Lady and I are still here.  I have had limited time to work with her due to an overabundance of school and homework - oh the joys of the college student!  :P  This is my spring break week and I am trying to use it and get some extra work done.
Lady now weighs between 900 and 1000 pounds, just where I would like her to be, but now with spring and summer ahead, I think I have a hard challenge to keep her there.  She has also lost a good bit of muscle mass along her back that I want to work on re-building.
Lots and lots of research going on due to that... probably a bit of experimenting is going to happen too - here's to this being a good and successful year!  :) :)
Today I didn't do a whole lot, but was so pleased taht it was okay.  We did some walk and trot circles on the 12-foot line and then I got on and we circled a barrel a few times until she blew out and dropped her head.  I was happy :)

:)
-Kit Kat and Lady Hwin

7 days ~ Day One

It has been far too long... again!  So here goes…

Background picture.  Lady Hwin and I have officially graduated Level 2 of the Parelli program.  We are capable of doing Level 3 and 4 things on the ground and more or less Level 3 things riding-wise (minus cantering).  We’ve been that way for a year… two years… nothing got better, if anything, it got worse.  Lately it has seemed to me that we had come to the point that neither me OR Lady looked forward to spending time together.  I feed, she eats, that’s the end of it.  I just can’t keep her attention… and when I try she goes right brained or finds a way out of working.  No fun…

Sooo… I have decided that we both need to learn to love again.  It’s a hard fact to face, but I think it’s true.  If there is no enjoyment from either party, what is the point?

My solution?  Not completely sure yet… but I chose to start off with 7 days of undemanding time.  In the cold.

I decided that this morning.  Went out this afternoon.  Took a chair, plopped down in the middle of the paddock, near the hay, and just sat.  I sang to myself a little bit.  The cat, One, came to hang out, so I cuddled him and kept me warm! :)

Tempest-pony decided to come see me first… she nibbles, so I had to be careful about just letting her touch me, but it worked out fine… she sniffed a bit and then just stood, relaxed.  Lady remained facing away from me for a long while.

It probably took fifteen minutes or so before she came to see what this was all about.  She came up from behind (big Right Brain Introvert signal!) and stood for a while… and then very carefully sniffed my arm and hand and shoulder… and the cat.  ;) 

All in all, I think I sat about 25 minutes in the cold.  But nothing happened to scare me away from doing it again… so I guess I’ll be at it again tomorrow.

The little things in life are what make it the most wonderful… Working on it.

Savvy On!

-Kit Marie & Lady Hwin & Tempest

Healing is Possible.

It has been a good while again since I've written about my journey with Lady Hwin, but I remembered this little blog, so I decided to come write about what we have been up to!

Which is... not much at all... we had been doing some little things for a few weeks, I was working as often as possible on her hooves (I'm doing my own trimming now! Yay!), and I got on once or twice for a walk around the corral, but nothing of much importance.
Then, last week, she came up mysteriously sore!  Her entire lower back was swollen and hot to the touch, and her gait was so off/unbalanced that without looking closer, I would have thought she was dead lame!  I couldn't run my hand gently over her back or neck without her flinching/spasming, etc...

I did some very very gentle things last Monday, despite her sore body, and she ended up relaxing and going quite left brain... which was a huge blessing, because when she is her usual right-brained self, she hides all sorts of pain, but when she goes left brain, she'll tell you what is wrong... so I was able to do some experimenting and find out what all was hurting, even the little things!  She got a very soft and gentle massage and lots of hugs and scratches that night. :)

Over the weekend, I worked at the Parelli Horse and Soul tour stop, and had the blessing and privilege of being in the company of many many other like-minded souls who want the very very best for their partners and whom I connect with quite well. :)  It was a bit hard to be away from my girl for five days, but everything went well...

And I was so, so, so happy to come home and find my horse almost completely sound!  No swelling, no heat, nothing!  She was chipper and extremely present, and her gait was as beautiful as could be!  :D  I did a little bit of play yesterday, on the new feather line I bought (!!) but today, I just checked her over while she ate...

I soaked her hay cubes today and she actually gobbled down the soft mushy stuff quite well, I was very very pleased!  I've also started her on Focus HF, a supplement that combines the SOURCE nutrients she was getting already, and adds extra hoof support, something I'm hoping will compliment the work I'm already doing on her hooves.  :) 
Speaking of hooves, her feet have been doing quite well, at least, thus far ;)  I think she is walking better and her heels have come down a good bit.  I still need to work on her toes and bring everything down even further since her feet still look a bit long and a bit too big for her legs... hehe! :)

I feel like my awesome partner is doing extremely well right now!!  I plan to keep working with her slowly, and maybe (just maybe!) I will try getting on if she stays un-sore and happy consistantly.  :)

Savvy on!!
-Kit Marie

A New Beginning

Wow... it has been far too long since I've posted anything on here... wayyy too long!  Sadly to say, the lack of posting has matched pretty well with my lack of horse-play...

Lady has been doing  fairly well, considering.  She has been a lot happier and a bit less sore, it seems... or at least, she doesn't show it like she had been. ;)  I took the plunge two weeks ago and mutilated trimmed her front hooves down to almost where I think they should be!  It has taken some getting used to for her, but I think she is doing a lot better now.... which makes me happy :)

What doesn't make me happy is her loss of condition... she has begun to lose muscle mass along her back and neck... she actually looks like she could become swaybacked!  *PANIC!*  So last week I decided to do a round of hill therapy with her... and tonight was our first shot at it.  The program is 6 weeks long and for the first week I have to daily do "5 minutes circling one way - 2 minutes rest - 5 minutes circling the other way".  So that is what we did! 
Going to the right first was a big of a challenge... the trot was very sporadic and uneven and she could not trot UP the hill, only down it... but on about the 3rd or 4th lap she was already starting to relax and snort, so at least I know she wasn't all stressed out about the whole thing, although she was clearly uncomfortable and in a little bit of pain...
-intermission with rest and grazing for the horse and ant bites for me...-
Going to the left was SO much easier... *makes mental note*  Lady was able to pick up the trot almost right away and she managed to maintain it through most of the time!  There was none of that trouble about going up the hill at a trot... and again, by the 3rd or 4th lap she was starting to relax and blow out...

All in all, I think it was worth it today... ready to get back out there tomorrow and see what happens... SIX more days!

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie & Lady Hwin

Success :)

I finally did it.  After half a year or so of musing, considering, hesitancy, study and doubt... I finally chose to trim Lady's hooves.  And in two days I managed to get both of her front feet done... a major success for both of us!  Yesterday was nearly a disaster, I was tired and got frustrated several times, which meant I had to step back and reevaluate to figure out what I could do differently.  And so, today's work went ten times better.  :)  I only got frustrated once... but for the majority of the time I kept my cool and worked calmly.  I was also better at pacing myself today and I think Lady appreciated it too!  I did little bits at a time... clipped a piece of hoof off, then I sat down to rest while she got to stand on 4 feet... then back at it for a few minutes.  Sure, it took longer, but everything went smoother and everything will be better in the long run. :)

Of course... her hooves do NOT look particularly pretty... far from it... all the nipping I did was uneven and didn't match up well, so there are quite a few jagged edges that for all the rasping I did I could not smooth out.
I'm sure there are a thousand things I could have done better... but I am quite proud of this first attempt and plan whole-heartedly to continue it.  :)  Hopefully Lady will be happy with it in the long run too and we can eventually move to trimming her hind feet too :)

Off to read on Pete Ramey's website... ;)
Savvy on!
-Kit Marie & Lady Hwin