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

I'm Still Here!

I haven't written anything in a long while, but I wanted to post a quick update on how Lady and I are doing.  I was on vacation from August 8-16, so during that time I had a very wonderful caretaker to watch out for my baby girl, making it possible for me too travel without too much concern and return home to a happy, healthy and sane horse! :)
I have had one and a half play sessions with Lady since getting back, one full-scale play and several little things done around feeding time.  I am very satisfied with how she is looking and moving, but I am still seeing a few behaviour issues that I think we will work with over the rest of the week (and further if necessary) :)
Today I took the plung... got out my tools and dug into Lady's foot... literally!   of course, this being my first attempt, I didn't even manage to finish trimming ONE hoof!  but it was a start, and I will head out again tomorrow...
Digging really is the right word for at least part of what I did... I dug through layers of sole and dirt.  I pulled out old fungus and new fungus and 2-3 weeks worth of dead sole until I had a much cleaner foot!
Because of how long Lady's feet have grown already, I chose to clip them down and the rain we had over the weekend made the timing perfect!  Her foot was soft enough that even I could clip through it!!  It took me a while, yes, but I did it.
Naturally.... it looks rather messy now... but I am quite pleased at my effort and my horse's cooperation :)  As an added bonus... it was the right foot that I did... and I am SO clumsy on that side because of having to use mainly my left hand... so that makes me even more proud! :D

Pressing On,
-Kit Marie & Lady Hwin

Excitement!!!

I just finished playing with my horse.
I am bouncing up and down
I have this enormous grin on my face.

If you haven't already guessed what happened, I will tell you...
I rode my horse!!! :)

I really did.  For about ten minutes straight.  Needless to say, I am floating on about cloud 95 right now... hehe... :)
For the past week or so, I have been trying not to have any sort of plan or expectation when I go out to see the ponies.  I've even stopped saying that I am "going to play" because too many times I am disappointed, and thus discouraged.  Today was no different.  I went to the pasture, caught Lady, groomed her, and then went through some simple exercises so that I could get an idea of how she was feeling. :)  She seemed pretty good; she was stiff and quite one-sided and doing hindquarter disengagements looked quite uncomfortable.  As usual, some gentle walk and trot circles - with the emphasis on rhythm and relaxation - eased some of the kinks out and I had a happier, more comfortable horse in front of me.  During the time we were doing circles, I also asked for (and got!) one canter transition in both directions.  Of course, it only lasted for a stride or so, but it was very encouraging! :)
We did some patterns and little mental games and then I got the notion into my head that I should try getting on.  Now, I've still got this nagging fear that if I ride her, I might throw her out of balance again, but I decided to go ahead with it anyways.
And so... bareback, with only a halter and rope reins and a carrot stick for support, we explored the corral at a slow walk.  :)  Softly and carefully (always focusing on rhythm and relaxation!) we had a very pleasent Passenger Lesson and went through several little tasks like backing up (found a bit of a hole there!), forequarter yields, sideways and extreme friendly game.
I am proud to say that I never once had to correct or get irritated.  I managed to keep my inner joy and peace while my horse kept her sould and her dignity intact.  There was a sparkle in her eye tonight that I have not seen in a long time and a connection I have rarely felt.  :)

Savvy on (gently)!
-Kit Marie

Feeding Time

So, I guess it was about time... I had a BFO moment tonight, and it was definitely something to think about!

I haven't been sticking to a regular playing schedule lately, just going out every night to feed and check for any problems. Well... I've also quit haltering regularly - just let them into their pens and leave them alone to munch... ummm... bad idea...

Tonight I had two horses at the gate, but it might as well have been four, or ten, the way they were milling around and tearing up the ground. Their ears were back, they were trading bites and the only thing on their minds was FOOD! And for some reason... I didn't take notice of it!! Warning Sign Number One.

Anyways, I opened the gate and Lady just about plowed me under in her rush to get at the feed... her ears were pinned and she obviously had no intention of stopping. Warning Sign Number Two.

Having left Lady to her own devices, I continued into the second pen to feed Tempest. The pony not only also tried to run me under, but when I didn't back down, she turned her rear end towards me and threatened to kick. Warning Sign Number Three.

Did I finally notice...? Yes, I did... And I also realized that I need to do something, set some bounderies and restate my position as alpha in my herd (of three).

So... what am I going to do? Well, I thought it over and came up with a few ideas...
- Halter both horses before feed ever comes out of the shed
- Assert leadership by having horses back up and stand still before food is brought to them
- Train horses to wait until given permission to eat

That's a starting point, I suppose... and will have to probably work and tweak until we end up with a suitable routine, but it can be done - feeding can be accomplished with respect and refinement, with everyone's dignity kept intact. Just like I've conquered the argument with Lady about holding up her front feet (gently insisting that she wait until I set her toe on the ground instead of yanking it out of my hand), so we can conquer this argument problem too!

Savvy on!
-Kit (with Lady Hwin and Tempest)

What Horses Are To Me

Some people like to put horses on the same level as humans.  Some like to think of horses as stupid animals, fit for nothing more than the slaughter house.  Still other only own horses in order to profit from them, constantly throwing away one for a "better" one. 
There are many, many different mindsets when it comes to horses.  But I cannot claim to any of the above.

To me - a horse is the image of perfection.  God made everything perfect when he created the world and all its inhabitants, but for some reason I believe he put something extra special into a horse, something that would create an awe and a fear for them in every human being.

 

I have the following passage highlighted in my Bible - it stands out to me...

"Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
Can you frighten him like a locust?
His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He gallops into the clash of arms.
He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;
Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him,
The glittering spear and javelin.
He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;
Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet he says, 'Aha!'
He smells the battle from afar,
The thunder of captains and shouting."
-Job 39:19-25

The horse is powerful.  Man has domesticated many animals - dogs, cats, cattle, etc.  And people claim that the horse is also domesticated - that we can do with him whatever we will.  Lions and bears, those are the wild things, they cannot be tamed and thus people are afraid of them, they avoid any close contact with them because even in zoos these animals will often turn on their handlers and attack them with a vengeance.

 

The horse is the same way - they can turn on their rider and attack them with a vengeance, and they often do!  Yet, to most people, this is just part of being around horses.  Everyone who has been around horses for a long time will tell you, "you're bound to get hurt sometime or other"... I have heard this many, many times.  Horses have that wild instinct, just like any other animal and "domestication" has never succeeded in drowning that completely.

Horses are beautiful.  I have never yet had someone deny this to my face  (perhaps there are some, maybe you want to let me in on this secret?)  so I will continue to claim it with absolute certainty.  Throughout history, in writings and art and song, the horse has lived on as a beautiful creature.

 



*sigh*

Heaven is high and earth wide. If you ride three feet higher above the ground than other men, you will know what that means. ~Rudolf C. Binding

I can't go on - its a bit too emotional for me... may have to continue this post some other time... but for now, I'll leave you with a few links... :)  Enjoy :)

http://suzannesphoto.com/?load=flash - Equine Photography by Suzanne Inc.

http://www.shelleypaulson.com/eq_galleries.htm - Shelley Paulson Photography

Savvy On!

-Kit Marie

The Art of Feeding Horses

Yes, I'm being perfectly serious.  The act of scooping, measuring and mixing my horses' feed is indeed, to me, an art.  I love doing it!  and so I will describe it... hehe... >:)

Tempestous Storm
The little pony usually doesn't get feed, but lately with the drought-type weather lately, I've been giving her a bucket too, and she protests if I forget or am late.
Tempest pretty much gets hay - a mix of alfalfa and grasses.  I fill her bucket with that, pulling apart all the clumps and chunks.  I topdress this with 2 handfuls of pellets & oats and 1 scoop of Hoof and Health (from Hilton Herbs), a seaweed/rosehip supplement.  The whole mix gets a glug or two of apple cider vinegar and voila! :)

Lady Hwin
The big horse takes a tad bit more work.  With her, I start with a scoop of concentrated feed - approximately 3 cups.  I am in the process of switching her from senior pellets to oats, so  today her concentrates were a mix of the two.  I have a lot of fun making Lady's feed look pretty!  I spread out her grains all across the bottom of the pan, as evenly as possible.  Around the edge I do a ring of alfalfa/timothy cubes (pulled apart to check for trash) and in the center I put her supplements.  I do her daily SmartPak first - 1 full scoop of Source MicroNuggets (a seaweed product) and 1 full scoop of SmartFlex Maintenance (a joint supplement).  That gets covered in approximately 1/2 a tablespoon of cinnamon.  Every 3rd day or so I throw in a capsule of cod liver oil and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Finis! :)

I will usually throw some kind of tasty treat on top too - today's special was a bright green horseapple, a favorite in my herd!

Savvy on and Happy Feeding! :)
-Kit Marie (and Lady and Tempest, happily munching)

Being Thankful!

Having a negative outlook on things can completely ruin your day and even your life.  A lot of the time, I find that I live in the moment, much like our horses do.  :)  I still harbor memories and hurts, but not in the same way I used to years ago, when I didn’t have horses.

But over the last week and a half or so, I have found it very difficult to keep from being critical, judgmental, temperamental and altogether harsh.  Being a right brain introvert innately, that leaves me vulnerable to being hurt and wounded, especially by little unimportant things.  Because of this, I chose to compile a list of things I am thankful for, that make me smile and are just plain special to me.

-          My mommy.  She takes care of me :)

-          My brother makes me laugh!

-          My horses make me smile every time I look out the window.

-          My plants haven’t died under my neglectful care.

-          My amazing Savvy Forum friends!  Kate, Holly, Dinka and the rest, you are my support and my rock!

-          My room is my special hiding place, perfect for my times of extreme introversion and meditation.

-          My capability to read, write, and draw has kept me full of ideas and projects.

-          My big sister has not left me yet, even though I’ve been hurtful and argumentative and extremely sharp.

-          Lady is feeling SO much better, so much so that I can finally play with her again!! :D

There are so many more, but I can’t list them all… and thus far I already feel more positive and ready to work at fixing what I’ve done wrong.  :)

Savvy on!  Thankfully!

-Kit

I'm back!  It's been far too long since I've written, but there's been a lot happening.  I won't go into a lot of detail, but Lady has been having persistant trouble with her back, her hips and her feet over the past two months.  It has been bad enough (and painful for her) that I no longer know which horse I'll find in the morning; the one who's able to follow me slowly and happily, or the one I have to assist in hobbling across the field.  Over the last few weeks I have had to limit our playing time drasticly because no matter how little I ask for, she was consistantly offering and trying the Level 3/4 tasks we had been working on and pushing her physical bounderies again and again.  She would get this extremely determined look on her face, but it was SO clear how uncomfortable and painful it was for her.  I love my horse!
I've also had my amazing best friend to help me.  Jocelyn has been coming out 1-2 times a week and giving Lady a fully massage.  She is amazing in the area of natural health and has been a tremendous help to me.
My hoof care professionals are also responsible for helping me.  Linnie Brister and her partner, John, are barefoot trimmers and they do an awesome job of keeping Lady's hooves in the shape they are in.
Anyways, after all this I went out to see Lady this evening and she gave the most wonderful gift eVER!  She trotted 2 circles in both directions, on the 22' Line, backed up by her tail, "endured" extreme Friendly Game and played Stick to Me.  She had not felt so "normal" in a long, long time!!  She got a hug and lots of loving out of that.  :)
I know the road is still very rocky, all is still definitely not right inside her, but we're working towards it!
Savvy on!
-Kit Marie

How Beautiful....

Just wanted to recount some of the beautiful little moments I had today while being with Lady... and there were quite a few of them, surprisingly!  :D

Earlier this morning, I went out to give her hay and found her laying down in the middle of the pasture.  I LOVE being with my horse when she is laying down... so of course, I went up and snuggled with her for a few minutes... she's so big and warm and soft and I could lean against her shoulder and hug her while she nibbled her hay.  It makes me feel so safe.  :)  I climbed on top of her and she got up on command, so I sat there for a minute and scratched her before sliding down.  It felt so very very special :)

This evening, playing with Lady, also brought out a few beautiful moments.  Her Right Brain Introvert side was coming out this today, so I had to play with that, which is almost always fun!  :)
Her Figure-8s are getting nicer and nicer... and she is still offering to jump the barrel when I don't send her correctly... >:)

I played also a little bit with cantering again, and she was quite responsive.  For a minute, it seemed like she had forgotten I was there, she was concentrating SO hard on maintaining the gait, even though she didn't look completely comfortable with it :)  I was proud of her :)

By the time I had finished playing OnLine, I felt too lazy to bother with putting on her reins and riding, so I just sat with her for a little while... and then decided to be brave and not bother putting the reins on.  I picked up my Carrot Stick, asked her to come pick me up and off we went... bareback and bridleless!  I more or less just let her wander for a while and then asked very very gently, with my leg and my stick, to go over to the barrels on the other side of the arena, where we had been doing Figure 8 online just a few minutes before...  My plan was to go over there, maybe stop and rest, go around one of the barrels and come back.  It seems Lady had different plans... we got over there and she most definitely wanted to do the pattern... so... umm... we did!  She did the whole thing by herself with very little support from me, letting me focus on my riding skills, hehehe!  We walked back and I got off and gave her a hug...

As usual, I asked for a tiny bit of Liberty after taking all the ropes off, just to see how good the connection was.  All the basic games were in place and she was doing Stick-to-me fairly nicely at the trot, so I went out on a limb and asked her to circle... in the gigantic arena... >:)  And... she did.  I could feel the connection... like an invisible rope between us.  When she drifted any, all I had to do was shift my weight, cock one leg, something and she would be right back on track.  !!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Needless to say, I am totally ecstatic about the whole thing.  I am so blessed to have such a beautiful . horse and such a wonderful connection with her through Parelli.  Maybe those Level 3 auditions aren't so far-off as it seemed...?  ;)

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin

So Much Fun :)

Despite me being a bit sick yet, I went out to play with my wonderful partner today and it turned out to be the greatest thing I could have done.  :D  We played with quite a few things on the ground, after she had galloped around the arena looking for her friend... lol!  :P  I was quite happy with how light and soft she was, even with her clumsy feet at times!  For the first time in what feels like forever, we did the Figure-8 pattern smoothly at a trot!  It seems my revelation (see last post) has made a difference and Lady's turns were flawless!  :D :D
I also picked up where we had left off last time and played with some canter circles... I'm still walking around to give her more room to practice with, but am working towards being able to stand still and have her maintain gait... its coming!!  :D  I'm still struggling a little bit with how to make her trotting change-of-direction smooth and full of TROT!  She is still slowing up and then launching off again, which isn't bad... but its not what I'm wanting right now...

At this point is where I got on... and realized how clumsy my mounting process is... guess what I'll be working on... :P  I would love to be able to get on bareback, smooth as silk, and not have my poor horse grunt and grumble while I'm at it.  Hehe...
Again, picked up where I left off last time and headed down the rail at a calm walk.  Had a tentative plan in my head and ended up going through with it completely.  About halfway around the arena was where I had the barrels set up for figure 8, close to the rail.  We walked all the way over there, with only one tiny correction when she wanted to turn around and look at Tempest, but I wanted to stay by the fence.  When we got to the barrels, I asked, as politely as I could, if we could do some Figure 8s, right by the fence.  She obliged beautifully and we went through it three times before heading back the way we had come.  :)  As we went down the fence this time, I asked for a few 180s and 360s, just to see how soft she really was.. and all went well!
What happened next?  Well.... I got off.... :D  And I am ever so proud of myself for it... For once, I managed to dismount when everything was smooth and soft and perfect... on a very very good note.  :)

My favorite part... because of my timing in getting off, we walked back to the gate in true harmony.  I never touched  her rope and she kept her head under my arm the whole time.  I cannot remember a time that this has happened after a ride.. it made my day!  :) 
To finish off, I did a few tiny things at Liberty... hindquarter/forequarter yields with Driving and Porcupine and a bit of Yo-Yo... she was focused and connected... :)
I love my horse!  <3

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin


-hay bales from our spring cutting :)

 Tempest :)

 Tempest again :)

 And again :)

 My gorgeous Lady-girl :D

 Tempest exploring Lady's domain  >:D

 Caught red-hooved!

 Lady again :D

 and again :)  Love her!

Back to Normal :)

I FINALLY played with Lady today.  Really played with her, on the 22’ Line, all over the arena!  :D  She was her usual self, just the same as I remember her being… mild LBE with a touch of RBI. 

I started her off with refreshing the first four games.  Friendly was good… Porcupine was a bit sticky, but no more than usual, Driving was good and Yo-Yo was good, so I went on with my plan of doing circles.  We did travelling circles each way with me walking twice around the entire arena.  She trotted most of the time and looked pretty good (left was a lot better than right, but still…) and I very gently asked for a canter, which (!!!!)  she gave to me.  To the left it was great; she started off on the wrong lead but after about half a lap, she switched over the correct one and tucked her head neatly.  :)  With the way she has been sore and stiff (and still is) she impressed me a lot!  To the right she was definitely more hesitant and broke back down to the trot quite a few times, but she tried SO hard.  I am starting to wonder about her naughty bucks though… because they showed up while going to the right… hmm…  :)

I went on and asked for Figure-8s and here is where I learned something!  Her turns around the barrels weren’t doing so well; she kept stopping and facing me and I would have to send her off again.  I finally figured it out after about ten revolutions and changed my approach accordingly!  I let her go around the barrel and moved back to draw her towards me… and only then did I send her on around the barrel.  Success!!!  Everything instantly went much smoother and she was visibly much more happy :D

At this point, she felt pretty solid and calm, so I decided to go ahead and get on…. And just that thought made me so happy!!  I changed out the 22’ Line for my Finesse Reins, checked lateral flexion from the ground and got on, yay!!!  All I had in mind to do was walk around the arena once and then get off.  Lateral flexion while mounted was pretty good, to the left she kept her feet still but to the right she went in a circle. 

All went fairly well during the whole ride.  She broke into a trot twice, but I managed it calmly, used my one rein stop and once she was relaxed we went on.  No explosions.

I got off and gave her a hug!  The end… and it was awesome!! :D

Savvy on!

-Kit

Changes and Learning....

As I posted on Facebook earlier today, if you want to wish bad luck on me, just wish my horse lame:P  Dealing with Lady over the last week has been a neverending headache, especially when I never knew what she would look like in another hour or when I woke up in the morning.  I had dreams constantly of her getting cast in her stall, catching a leg in the gate, laying down without being able to get up, etc, etc... One day I was absolutely terrified when I looked ou tthe window and she was stretched out flat on her side, something she never, ever does.  It turned out she was just resting and she got up okay, but it definitely scared me.... :P
Ah well... hoof trimmer, vet and a few hundred dollars later, it seems she simply has an abscess in one of her front feet... so now she's all wrapped up and ordered onto stall rest for a few days until it resolves itself...
Having to take care of her as much as I have been has been incredibly difficult to adjust to... but I have to say that she's done much much better than me... adapting to very limited turnout time and being wonderful about it... :P

There is so much I could learn from my lovely horse... more than I could say, she is beautiful and wonderful in every way. :)

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin

Leadership In It's Proper Place

I really did enjoy my horses today.  I went out with the decision to be a bit more consistant than usual, to really improve some things.  Now of course, plans don't always happen the way you want them to... especially when one's horse has a mind of its own.  >:)   Lady was (as far as I could tell) completely LBE... fairly mild, but definitely LBE.  I really noticed this when I tried to do circles with her.  I was aiming for 8-10 laps at the trot before I asked for the canter, but about the 5th or 6th lap, she flew into a bucking spree and got away from me. I had to go get her from the lawn again (she decided she really really really wanted to run.... lol)....

When I had caught her again I was quite a bit firmer with her than before... I made her disengage her hindquarters and insisted on her being snappy and exact.  Guess what.... she did it... upon which I asked again for circles.  Guess what... I got circles.  Beautiful cantering circles... so round and elevated.  I could not believe how perfect her neck and head looked.  She gave me about ten to fifteen circles in this way... something she never ever does...

By this time, the poor creature was dripping with sweat, so once we got back to the arena I sat with her, playing Friendly, getting the flies off and just resting... and then we went and did about 5 circles each way at the walk, in order to cool off.

Even though I had planned on mounting and doing some FreeStyle things... I ended up just getting on and riding back to the gate and putting her away.

Even though I've said it before... I have to say it again... I love my amazing horse... :)

Naturally!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin

Those Beautiful Moments

Today I was thinking about all the different amazing moments I've had with my horse... however small and insignificant they might seem to someone else, they are special to me.  :)

Today when I had practically driven Lady catatonic trying to trim the last of her feet, it made me upset with myself, so I went and sat with my back to her.  It didn't take more than a minute or two before she started licking and thinking and then came up behind me and started nuzzling my hair... and then finally dropped her nose over my shoulder and sighed and relaxed.  So special... :)

And yesterday when we were finished playing in the big arena and were going through the scary "tunnel" back towards the gate... instead of bolting through and running away from me, she only shuddered and then looked to me for further direction.  Had I actually established leadership...?  :D

These things make me so certain that our relationship is solid... I love those moments and I love my horse.  :D

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie

Breakthrough... WOW

When I went out to play with the horses today, I really didn’t have a lot of expectations.  I kind of wanted to do a bit of riding… maybe get some Circling Game practice… approach and retreat with the saddle… I even brought out my 45’ Line just in case I wanted it.

What I ended up getting was quite interesting however… Lady was a bit hesitant when we went up to the arena – I led her from the right side.  We did some slow circles at the walk and some travelling circles at the trot, all on the 12’ Line and she did well at maintaining both gait and direction, I was VERY happy with that :)

I had set out cones for the Weave Pattern and her Figure-8s seemed fairly solid, so we did some work on that.  At first she seemed to remember the pattern from the last time, but she kept breaking into the trot.

During this time, going back and forth trying to get her to understand exactly what I wanted, something was bothering me about the way she was moving and turning around the cones.  Her steps were hesitant and short… at times she seemed completely oblivious to the stick ‘encouraging’ her!

Suddenly it dawned on me!  I had just drawn her in and given her a treat when I realized what was going on… she had gotten all “stary” and blank and she barely wanted to move when I offered her a treat.  She was being  a Right Brain Introvert!

It really doesn’t sound like much, but it was huge in my mind.  Very very quickly I changed my approach.  Instead of letting her walk and figure out the pattern on her own, I held her hand and we went over the pattern again TOGETHER!  It took a few repetitions but she ended up blowing out and relaxing and licking her lips… I think she got it… we’ll find out tomorrow ;)

Just to see what would happen, I tried doing some other things with her… I played some basic Level 1 tasks, testing her expression and our connection… we did some Touch-It which helped enormously.  Finally, I asked her to stand still while I went out to the end of the 22’ Line… and then asked her to come in to me… which is when it hit me that she really really really wanted and needed me!  She came in and put her head on my chest and just stood there, breathing and licking my hands.  The licking especially helped get her confidence back… strange, I know, but the rest of the time I was with her, if she got a little bit uptight or nervous about what was happening, if I offered her my hand to lick it didn’t take more than a minute or two before she was calm again…

Honestly… I laughed out loud when it suddenly became clear in my mind… I cried… I hugged her… I suddenly knew what she needed!   She was being exactly like me!

Of course… being a needy RBI isn’t her only side… as soon as she got confident, she went back to being LBE!   

We did some playing with the saddle blanket yet and I got on her once bareback… she decided to bite the saddle and wanted to be very very close to me all the time.. needless to say, the 45’ Line did NOT get used!

I had an awesome time, in any case... I learned a TON... wow... your horse really is your mirror!

Savvy on!

-Kit Marie

Low-Key Fun :)

And now... I finally get back to blogging! :D I won’t expand on my reasons for not writing other than to say... I was busy... :P


Anyway... I spent 1 ½ hours outside with my lovely horses this afternoon. I was beautiful weather for playing in, cool, windy, etc, etc.. you get the point. :)

My lovely Lady was not terribly thrilled about being caught. My guess is that she isn’t particularly fond of being tied up for feeding and grooming, but who knows.

We played in the arena OnLine for about 30 minutes. The first thing I noticed was when I started with YoYo and her draw was sticky... very sticky... like... stuck. I managed to fix that mostly through repetitive yoyos and squeezes (Consistency!). She was fairly low-key today, unlike Wednesday’s Lipizzaner act, so I had to adjust my approach. :)

Another thing I noticed was her one-sidedness while doing Figure-8s. Her turn around the right hand barrel was absolutely lovely! Her turn around the left hand barrel was almost nonexistent. She came mostly around and then stopped, facing me as if asking a question (unless she is on adrenaline... those days she keeps running in a circle with no intention of stopping). I’m not sure exactly why that was today, whether it was a physical thing or not... I might have to check her back tomorrow...

Since she was so calm and tolerant, I decided to ride (only my second ride since last Thursday’s tumble). All of her preflight checks were solid, so we did the Follow the Rail pattern for a few minutes. The Level 1 Follow the Rail pattern involves 180s, walk-trot-walk transitions and walk-halt-backup transitions. We did all of those and I was VERY surprised how sharp her 180s were away from the rail!

Her circles today were less like blobs than the last few times! I had to correct her trot-away-from-the-circle trick only once or twice and we ended with 2 decently round circles to finish off with.

I finally got around to filling out Lady’s chart today. Most of her dots are in the mild/moderate slots. I labeled her one extreme mark as “charismatic” in the LBE quadrant. All in all, she placed with 1 extreme and 3 moderates in LBE, 3 mild marks in LBI, 2 moderate and 2 mild in RBE and nothing in the RBI quadrant. The positive attributes chart filled out much the same, playing her as a Left Brain/Right Brain Extrovert with mild Left Brain Introvert qualities.

I also got to play with Tempest today and she did absolutely wonderful! :D It didn’t take more than minute or two until I could pet her and feed her cookies. I ended up being able to halter her, treat and take the halter off. I think she was curious and confident enough to have learned something through it...



Savvy on!

-Kit Marie

Thoughts :)

Once again, I did not go out to see the horses today. I really don’t have a good excuse... but we won’t go into that again.

Instead, I decided just to write today. There were a few thoughts that I wanted to touch on since they’ve been on my mind today... such as my first horse, my dream horse, waterfalls... and the like, wherever the rabbits lead me, there I will go! :)

Speaking of rabbits.... “Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just it time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.”

Teehee... I like “Alice in Wonderland” and one of my favorite parts of it is Jabberwocky.

“One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead and with its head

He went galumphing back.”

The other thing that “Alice in Wonderland” reminds me of is the Knight and his horse, which brings me back to horses, which is the reason why I have this blog...

I was thinking quite a bit this morning and Firefly kept coming to mind. Firefly was my very first horse, we bought her in the fall of 2005... goodness, that was just over six years ago! She was an elderly sorrel mare that taught me ever so much! Of course, I think having any sort of animal when you’re only eleven years old teaches you a lot. I didn’t know anything about natural horsemanship at that point, but Firefly was a good easy-going horse... I remember racing Major across the pasture, bouncing along bareback and laughing while the horse and the dog did all the work, again and again. Right now, at this moment, I can actually talk about her without feeling sad. I have regrets, yes, but I feel more content about the time I spent with the dear mare. :)

What about waterfalls... how in the world could a cave form behind a waterfall?? I’ve thought about that for a long time... and I just cannot figure it out! :P

Back to horses... I really should NOT do this, but I just spent some time searching the Warmbloods for Sale website... and I found one of my dreams. His name is Zenith... bay 8 yr old stallion... 16.3 hh... and he’s for sale... for 200k. He’s a registered Dutch Warmblood, currently jumping at Level 9, exactly what I dream of!! :D  Isn't he just gorgeous??

http://www.warmbloods-for-sale.com/HorseDetail.asp?HorseID=30162&UserID=8985

I should probably close off this post soon... before I start really rambling and become boring, but I started an equestrian challenge a while back, so I’ll go on with it, just so I can stay writing, maybe it will encourage me to keep this thing going...

{The last time you rode a horse and what you did}

The last time I rode a horse was yesterday. I rode bareback in my halter and finesse reins. We did a lot of things: circles, straight lines, lateral, hindquarter and forequarter yields, back up. We did a tiny bit of jumping, which was absolutely awesome! :D



I just picked up my Bible and come across my verse from last year’s revival services: Hosea 6:1-3.

“Come, and let us return to the LORD;

For He has torn, but He will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

Let us know,

Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD,

His going forth is established as the morning;

He will come to use like the rain,

Like the latter and former rain to the earth.”



I’ll close with that...



Blessings...

Naturally,

~Kit Marie 2012~

Connection at Last :)

After going through all my excuses, fears and arguments, I finally laid aside my already-neglected schoolwork, piano practice, naptime, chores and a story that was just begging for me to write it, and I went to go play with the horses.

Heavens.... I’m so glad I did! :)

Lady trotted up to the gate to meet me... bless her, she seemed so eager! We had to work on a threshold or two before we got up to the arena, but she was trying her heart out for me and paying so much attention, I couldn’t believe it! :D

I had set up a cross-rail jump for her and she absolutely loved knocking it over and then pretending to jump over it... haha... silly horse :P She leaped over the feedtrough with a good foot and a half to spare though!

After looking at the self-assessment sheet for online, I had chosen Circling as our focus, since the only task I don’t have marked off for Level 2 is “4-6 laps, trot and canter.” My goal for today was 4 laps each way at the trot on the 22 foot Line. When Lady finally settled into the idea of circling, she offered a beautiful little jog to the left, so lovely and slow and long... it was gorgeous to watch... I have the most beautiful horse ever! :)

I’m almost ashamed to say that I didn’t get my 4 trotting circles each direction... that should be the barest minimum we can do for the level we’re working with... Lady was dragging her feet and kept walking instead of trotting... especially behind my back... teehee... I guess we have something to work on... oops :P

When I got on, I think I was fairly smart... :P I made sure to test my neutral lateral flexion, HQ disengagements, FQ yields, backup and sideways. Most of it was fairly good... the last three were a bit sticky, so I’ll spend a few minutes a day getting those down pat again.

Walk-trot-walk transitions are what I’m trying to focus on right now... Lady likes to bolt at the trot, so I’m just walking and then asking for a few steps of the trot and then walking again. I’m trying to ask for this type of thing during patterns... today I did some transitions on the rail and also on the circles... maybe tomorrow I’ll ask for it during a Figure-8 pattern!

The biggest highlight I had today was when Lady offered to jump for me. We jumped 18”!!! I had forgotten how much I love jumping!!!! :D

My other highlight was after I dismounted. Lady chose to follow me around the arena while I picked up my ropes and stick, at a trot! :) She was totally connected and trotted after me and never asked for food once... amazing! :P



Tempest did well... though I spent half my time with her picking my way through the mud. Because of that, my timing wasn’t so good and she definitely could tell! :P



Shedding time is getting here again... oh the joy.... I’m already finding horsehair everywhere in my clothes and in my room... pretty soon I’ll be sleeping with it and eating it and.... *SIGH* I own a horse... what can I expect? :P



~CONTENTED Kit Marie 2012~

Lame Excuses....

I have a confession to make...


I did not go see/play with my horses today...



Why?

I’m not totally sure. On one hand, it might have been a LBI issue... I didn’t have the motivation or reason to go. After all, it was chilly and windy...

Or it might have been a RBI problem, I was too fearful, too uncertain about what I might do wrong if I tried playing with them.

Whichever problem it was, it kept me inside and even if I didn’t mess up, I sure did not make any progress either...

If it was the LBI me showing up, then I need to work on my motivation. What were my excuses? The wind? The cold? The mud? Inside chores? School? Looking at those excuses now makes me ashamed, makes me want to crawl into my RBI shell again. I wonder... if I tried, could I come up with better arguments to try and refute my sad excuse for excuses...?

The wind -> really.... in the afternoon, it wasn’t that strong, I could easily have played in that! :P

The cold -> where is my jacket?

The mud -> surely it can’t be worse than yesterday’s muck and I played in that! :P

Inside chores -> yeah, which could have been done this evening instead of writing this miserable excuse for a blog post...

School -> it was done by one-o-clock... what kind of excuse is that??

Goodness, that makes me look bad! Maybe I should go on to the RBI what-ifs...

If my problem as RBIedness (lol... what a word :P) then I highly doubt it was too bad, for I was LB most of the day. Usually my fear of messing up isn't too great, unless the last session I had ended pretty badly (which... it wasn’t all that great, but not terrible either)...



Since I often deal with both the LBI excuses AND the RBI fear, I should see if I can find some ways of overcoming them for next time... (tomorrow).

Let’s start with the RB side...
1) Make a list of all the things that could possibly go wrong... now make a list of all the things that could go right instead!

2) Play approach and retreat in my head.... over and over until I’m just begging myself to actually go outside...

3) Put on my horsey jacket and just breathe in horses... eat horse cookies, hug ropes, etc... until I’m just longing to touch the real thing.

4) Go feed the horses and go from there.

5) Sit in the pasture and read a book... Lady will eventually push me to get up and feed or play with her, if the cold doesn’t get to me first. >:P



And for the LB side...


1) Walk out to the pasture slowly... reward the slightest try with chocolate and rest...


2) Get Lady and DON’T play.


3) Read this sad and miserable post again.


4) Make a list of horsemanship goals... motivate myself.


5) Choose a very simple task and focus on that alone...



Hmm... maybe right now I should take the motivation I have and go work on my book... those are my thoughts for one evening. :)




~Kit Marie 2012~


P.S.  Here are a few OLD pictures... :)  The first one is from about a month or so after I got Lady.  The other two are from almost 4 years ago, jumping :)

Being Taught Focus.... :P

Finally got out today, despite the mud, to play with the horses. Lady came in nicely and let me catch her. She could definitely smell traces of the other horses from Friday and that brought her adrenaline up quite a bit. I had her do a few travelling circles on the way up to the arena and she backed through the gate fairly well.


Because of the soggy ground we basically did circles OnLine at the trot. She did about 20 laps each direction (though she did come back in-between) and maintained gait nicely.

While riding, I started off with circles, which now I would probably change if I could go back since we had just worked with those on the ground. She remembered the pattern from Friday, but she wasn’t completely relaxed, so we had a lot of blobs again. I wasn’t using the stick, only reins, and I’m still working on my savvy with both, so she got away with a lot :P

After about 10 circles each way I did a little bit of Follow the Rail with some 180s and a few 360s. She did alright, but her focus was more on other things... I never managed to regain it at all during the rest of the ride.

After I got off, she followed me at Liberty while I picked up all my stuff. Sweet girl :)

Focus... that was my problem today... and as always.. YOUR HORSE IS YOUR MIRROR.....



:P





-Kit

Learning...

I made it through the day :)
Since this was not only my first time having a lesson in 4 years, but also my very first time hosting anything of the sort, I had no clue what to expect at all.  Everything turned out well, no incidents or problems.  Poor Lady had to be in all three lessons, two of them riding.  :P
My personal lesson turned out amazingly well.  Consistency is the key!  We did a  lot of circles, in one of the arena corners with Gabriel as the center.  Many many many of our circles looked like blobs, since Lady tried every trick in the world to go off in another direction, or go in to Gabriel or such things :)  I learned quite well the importance of directing Lady's energy rather than constantly shutting it down.  I also found better waya s to boost my confidence level in regards to trotting.
I very much enjoyed it all... to me, the day was a success. :)

Excited!!!

Playing with my horse today was nothing short of an experience.  I went out with the purpose of finding some holes that I could focus on tomorrow in my lesson.  Lady was at the gate when I came out and she was fiarly happy to be haltered and scratched for a few minutes.
I'm finding out that Lady loves gates becuase of the puzzle they give her.  She enjoyed going out to the end of the 22-foot Line and finding a way through the muddy gateway.
OnLine I did a few trot circles and even had the confidence to ask for a canter, which she gave me for one lap on the correct lead!!!  Finally!! :D
In the arena , she was a bit too RBE for me to want to ride, so I chose to play some at Liberty.  She enjoyed running and being sassy, but she always came back to me, which shows something, I guess:)
White riding, she showed up as being very strong and was high-headed for much of the time.  There were some crazy moments, when she decided to wheel around, or bolt.  Thus far I'ive been using one of the barrels as the "center" and she has definitely learned that because she heads back to it very quickly now...
All in all, I think we had a good session today.  I nearly brought the bridle out today, but probably made the right decision in not doing so, even if it might have helped her not be so strong...
I'm satisfied and excited to see how tomorrow lessons turn out... hopefully Lady acts exactly like Lady so that I can get some of the solutions I need. :)