Right Brained Extroverts

Today I decided to play online a little bit with Annabelle, I've been trying to not do too much with her. I feel as if I have become much more conscious of what things should look and feel like after playing with some other horses. Immediately when we got into the arena she exploded, reading and bucking and kicking out. I haven't experienced this in a long time. I felt her feeling a great amount of unconfidence. So I took things slow- approach and retreat. It's like I was starting over in our relationship again. The one thing I did differently was I allowed the blow up and pretended it didn't happen. She realized that I put no thought or energy on the blow up and she calmed down much quicker then ever before. Once I was able to get the 7 games and some blow outs I took her back to the pasture because I had plans for Ariat and I. For the first time ever she didn't leave me right away. I led her to her water tank and she drank and would normally either slowly walk away (much better option) or canter away calling to her buddies (my least favorite option). But today she looked over at them and turned her head back to me, with her head lowered, calm, and relaxed. I couldn't believe it, I was so happy. She walked away, but only to pee, and she came back!! I was thrilled I gave her multiple treats. 

Ariat was good tonight. I was able to get a half jump over the barrel. A somewhat slide stop during our stick-to-me game. I am having a really hard time with the canter leads. (I've never had to help a horse with canter leads because Annabelle is so athletic). He will pick them up 50% of the time and almost always gets them after I send him over a jump. Riding I have the same problem- I can get the front leads and not the back. But he is better from day one so I must be doing something to help him understand leads! He's a pro now at picking up the cone. AND I'm really excited about this..I have taught him to speak- I hope this is always a good thing lol. But I can get him to talk for a treat :)

Video's of Ariat and I

YouTube links of Ariat and I. He was so good! Super exciting :D

Click for links:

On Line
Liberty Video
Carrot Stick Riding
Bridleless Riding

Ariat

Ariat is such a cool horse! Ahh he's so much fun. He's a pro at picking up the cone and handing it to me now. I taught him to bow tried to teach him to lay down but turns out he's afraid of the hose! So we did some friendly game with the hose (I was using it to get him wet and allow him to want to lay down. He LOVES jumping so I tried a barrel laying down away from the fence then stood it up and he jumped it first try no problem! I love our circle games he has no brace and has the cutest face looking at me the whole time. :) I will hopefully get some videos of the two of us soon and all his progress in just a couple days. I really want a left brained extrovert now hehehehe. 

"It's not just horse training"

I titled this post "It's not just horse training" because it was a time today when I stood up for myself in front of some important people. I'm not just "training" these horses, I am helping them become happier and understand my communication so they can become more centered and emotionally, mentally, and physically happier. As well as improving my horsemanship, and the ability to maintain a positive and progressive relationship with a LBE, which couldn't have come at a more perfect time in my life!
Nothing has really changed with Annabelle's foot- I suppose that is a good thing because it's not getting any worse. Played with Ariat today and had a blast, he is such a cool horse and has so much to offer and teach me I love it. Did a little bit more riding today after playing in the obstacle course (he loves the obstacle course). Much better on line today verses yesterday. He was a lot more engaged and I suppose I was more interesting, I brought more energy and fun to the table. He tried to ignore me with the grass but he couldn't help himself he was interested in what I was going to ask next. I had a harder time challenging him on line, (I'm not used to these Left-Brain Extroverts). I found it easier to challenge him in the riding- a lot more licking and chewing and making him actually THINK. That was pretty cool, practicing carrot stick riding everything was really good until I asked for the canter. I had warmed up and was able to use mostly body cues to canter following the rail so I wanted to see how it was with the carrot sticks and I had to throw my sticks and hold on to the reins to feel more confident he just wanted to canter really fast. So I allowed him to for a couple seconds and then brought his canter down and slower. Unlike Annabelle he's not unconfident the faster he goes so I didn't feel the need to shut him down right away. I ALLOWED, including allowing myself to canter fast confidently haha.
Really, REALLY lovin the new job, so excited for all the opportunities this move has brought me. As scary as it is...

Also- A lot of people have been asking me for the Savvy Times article- I have not seen the final copy yet. So when I do I will let everyone know how they can read it. Just be patient with me :) Internet at the house is up and running finally! So I should have better videos and pictures to show everyone.

Ariat

Today I got to play with a new horse Ariat. He came to me before I opened the gate. I was told he can be very emotional so I was mentally prepared for anything. As we started walking towards the obstacle course arena I asked him to stay with me and he was much more interested in the grass and didn't care one bit about my carrot stick hitting the ground next to him and then tagging him. So to get him there it took some time lol. Walking by the trailers was the only time I felt him getting emotional and scared. I let him smell it his curiosity was fighting his fear and then he ran the other direction. In the obstacle course he wanted to check everything out his ears up and ready to play. He has a very high play drive. He loves walking himself places by holding the rope and thinking he's pulling me. It took some time for him to realize that I was going to do things very differently. But as soon as he realized his true self came out. It was amazing to watch the change so quickly. Horsenality was fairly easy to figure out (LBE) so that made playing really fun and easy. He loved all of my ideas, when asking him to walk through two barrels he decided to jump them. And I thought that was a pretty good idea. :) I am pretty close to teaching him to pick up my hat- I know today was the first day. But he is so smart and understood exactly what I wanted! Riding he is a ton of fun also! I really enjoyed cantering (these four words never come out of my mouth) I was so surprised that I even wanted to canter on the first day everything felt so right and he had good flexion. I do have a riding video but I can't post it until we have Wi-Fi. I'll keep everyone posted! 

Also hurray for my article making it in the Savvy times!! I'm hopeful that it will inspire someone, somewhere in the world!

Possibilities

Today I have realized that the possibilities are endless with the knowledge I have gained from Annabelle. It is helping me in ways I would have never imagined. Feeling blessed <3 

Chip the horse

After talking to people and letting them know I wanted volunteer hours they didn't hesitate to give me things to do. One of the first things on my to-do list was Chip the horse. He doesn't have that much experience and is considered green. Naturally the challenge excited me so I got started right away. She didn't know his history so I pretended like he didn't have one. Almost right away I could tell he was left brained. Doing things mostly completely opposite of Annabelle. Like coming to me, having these gorgeous circle games with no brace, not being able to go more then a couple seconds without playing with something, and being social. I saw some introvert but some extrovert. He didn't mind moving his feet and its harder for him to stand still verses to go forward. I played all 7 games the first day and got on bareback with my halter. Day two I did 7 games and practiced stick-to-me at liberty. Then I did some riding- right off the bat I could tell he was a show pony at one time in his life. He had the 'kick to go and pull to stop' luckily having no brace really helped me teach him about what my legs and body meant and he naturally wanted I follow it. Yesterday I kept my reins on- built my confidence at the canter an then used two carrot sticks with the reins off. We were in the arena for a while then we went to the obstacle course then on a trail ride. I only had to use my reins once so today I took them off. In the arena first then the obstacle course. He is SO much more relaxed its amazing. He finally found someone who understands him. I'm really happy. And I'm on to the next 'problem' horse at the barn. I still plan to play with Chip to continue filling the holes in his foundation (mostly on the ground) and hope to get some really nice liberty going. :D

Now for Annabelle's foot update- personally I don't believe it's terribly bad and that I need to shoe her this instance. But I also don't want to be wrong. So I'm being careful with it for now. I'm doing a soak in apple cider vinegar and water. Then wrapping it in a diaper with coconut oil I will only be wrapping for a couple days because I don't want to wrap for too long and then when I take the wrap off it cracks the rest of the way. PLEASE if you have experience with a crack similar to this one let me know what you did. It's not through the hoof wall and you can't even tell on the bottom of her foot that its there. 

Worrying too much

I hate worrying- it is probably the worst feeling someone can have. For the past 2 weeks I've been doing really light stuff with Annabelle and when the farrier was out last Friday she made a big deal about Annabelle's crack in her foot. We are guessing its a stress fracture. It randomly popped up and I'm guessing the climate change is made it get so big. I have has plans to re-tape my whole level 4 since the last ones I taped I had camera issues and the videos would be all choppy. I also start my new job tomorrow so I am naturally worried about that. I bought some apple cider vinegar to soak her foot in that to prevent any fungus growing in there and bought coconut oil - after much research that is what I decided to go with. I will be posting pictures- probably with a daily blog. I have to remember that everything is going to work out and worrying does me no good! On a happier note I have some lessons lined up for some non-parelli kids to learn the 7 games. Plus another horse added to my list to help (along with Chip). I was asked today how much I am getting paid to play with all these horses, and it felt really good saying that I volunteered, the kid almost fell over! Then she asked me how much $$ for Annabelle. When I told her she wasn't for sale she offered me her cheese and crackers and a whole $117.47. Kids are so fun! Chip did really really good today. Still don't know what button to push to get a normal trot- so far I only get the sitting show pony trot. He is so fun at liberty- I'm still trying to get used to the whole no brace thing it's just amazing to me!  

Experience of a lifetime

Today I was at the barn for about 5 hours in the morning- came home expecting to be done for the day. Around 6pm I had this dying urge to go back I had no idea but I trusted it and went back. I've been playing with Chip in my spare time and since Annabelle has a stress fracture on her foot I'm not doing too much with her. I grabbed Chip and started online- I found myself moving through things faster for this what I thought was an introvert. But I was going with the natural flow of him. (Proud of myself for this). I did a little liberty since its SO good and fun with left brained horses :p he was bucking and running around being so exuberant and playful. So it got me thinking- once he was in a place of learning we practiced our draw and a few other things. His circle game is unbelievable he has zero brace he bends his ribs out and keeps his ear and eye on me. I got him ready to ride keeping the playfulness he showed me. In the past 2 times I had rode I felt him get unconfident quickly. So I've tried to take things slow for both of our confidents sake. Today I took a different approach and boy the results I got! I haven't been able to get the trot without holding him back (duh Allison he's not introverted). So I let him canter- putting my trust in him and myself. It was gorgeous! He has this huge big flowy canter it's so powerful but smooth. The no brace thing is so hard to get used to. I never realized how much brace Annabelle has. His transitions were 'floaty' he would just float down into the trot and then down to the walk. I was blown away. I had the experience of a lifetime. I had to tell myself that I could ride a horse like him over and over and over again. He was so much fun!