Improvement Needed!

Rode Gizmo after a week off because of weather and Easter holidays. He seemed exactly where we left off with no improvement like usual. Can't seem to move forward on him. I'm attending a clinic at the end of April and those always help. If it wouldn't be for those I'd probably be still riding in hackamore! Backing is slow but happening, direct turns are still going to to a soft phase four of using rein and sometimes he turns on a phase two, indirect turns are good some days and not so good on others, transitions are pretty good in arena, not as good on trail, figure 8 sucks! My next session I will do passenger lesson for a bit to remind him of how harmony feels then we will do figure 8's. I'm feeling the need for improvement right about now! Haven't done much online lately because I cannot ask for circles online and then expect him to move very much in arena. I've got to keep the edge on him or I'll tire him out. When I do online though, he is very responsive to me. We just haven't made too much progress getting to a higher level. One thing to add is that his saddling at home is sooooo good. When I take him to places, because he goes a little right brained, he seems to be a different horse. I need to really pay attention to this at new places and get him with me more before I saddle him. I need to take the time it takes so that it takes less time. He'll probably see me more as a leader also. Oh, forgot to mention that we are improving on follow the rail. He will try and come off sometimes, but I definately see progress on that pattern. Yipeeeee!

Carrot Stick Riding

Played with Gizmo a little before riding and he got straddling the pole almost instantly. We did it on a small pole first because I haven't done it in a while, then we progressed to the telephone pole size log. Got it, we moved on to figure eight. Online first, then I took off the lead rope to see what I had. He have me 3 revolutions at the trot at liberty. Not bad, huh? Very proud of that. Our liberty really doesn't exist because I have no round pen. Sometimes I play with it in the pasture. His sideways with speed along a fence would have probably made Pat Parelli fuss me. We rode with carrot stick today because I don't do enough of it. I'm always doing the pattern follow the rail and million transitions. It seems to me that I do that an awful lot and we still don't have it, ha! Gizmo was introverted today. It is funny to me how he changes. We did indirect turns that led to direct turns. He did very nice but very slow. He went into the canter from the trot, but I asked for it while we were walking. More practice on that! Lately I've been asking him to lope for longer periods, like one full lap around the arena, today we went one and a half and I cut through the middle and kept him in the smaller circle. He didn't have any problems with it. He didn't turn with my body today like I thought. I had to go to the phase 4 of the carrot stick almost everytime. I'm figuring he was so introverted today because I saw him and Can Do in the pasture for about 30 min playing dominance games. They were doing a lot of cutting up and running. He was probably whooped from that. Who knows!

Gizmo's Week

We played online and Gizmo was sooo introverted, however, I did get the trot on the figure eight. It was such a beautiful, cool day and the sun was so warm. I was actually feeling kind of lazy myself. His change of direction going from the right to the left needs a little improvement. I really like how he is letting me halter him and bridle him. He is seeking the bit with his lips. Guess I'd do it too if I liked molasses. This was all in preparation to ride. I cannot do too much ground work as far as circling game when I want to ride because he fizzles out. I have to save that energy for the saddle. After saddling, I took it very slow. I wanted to do a follow up from yesterdays ride.We did phases at the walk and trot seeing how little I could do to get him to turn when I wanted. At first, he was not so great, so I picked up the carrot stick. This seemed to bring him more life just knowing that I had it. Soon after, his life came back down. Not sure what that was about! It was just a small bit of life anyway. After making some turns around the cones, he started to turn with just my body. I only did a couple and got my happy butt off of him. Didn't want to drill him. I'm hoping that this will make my ride better for tomorrow, right Linda! Forgot completely to do backup, but did some indirect turns leading into a direct turn and he did it, very slowly I might add! Oh, I forgot to mention that we worked on fig. 8 at liberty. He did it! I need to incorporate more liberty into my program.

LB or RB?

This week is Can Do's week. We played online with maintain gait on circle. She gets it a little quicker than when we first started and when she maintains the trot, I stop and then we move on to something else. Her sideways needs improvement. She wants to bring her rear end towards me when I try to drive it away. I think I caused this problem because this summer I taught her to stand next to me for mounting. We also did figure 8's. She is hilarious. I really have trouble with her LB/RB. She changes in a nanosecond. I love watching her trying to figure it out. She definately goes right brained when obstacles are involved and she is so clumsy. When she asks me a question I bust out laughing. When she knows she's getting a treat she snorts like a pig, which she must have been in a former life. I really must have overdone touch it with her feet, because she wants to stop at everything and touch it with her foot. Then she gives me one of those looks, "Look at me mom!". Also, she knows that when I say "good girl" she must be getting a treat I may have overdone that one also. I love her!!!! When riding, we always start with passenger lesson. She has trouble with go, which suprises me. She stops every couple of steps like she isn't sure of what I want. We will practice this. Her follow the rail stands at she won't follow the rail. She seemed to be really worried by the orange trees today. I handled this by backing and asking her to go forward again. Then we did some indirect turns. She did those pretty good then it was time to quit. I am bringing her to my next clinic with Maurice.

Reading Horses

After watching a savvy club dvd at our camp this weekend about patterns, I've decided to actually log (like they tell us to do) how many days in a row that we do it. And really stick to it (like they tell us to do)! I'm guilty of starting and never completing this. I am very scatterbrained but i'm working on it. Today I helped Can Do with fig. 8. I used concepts from Mickey and think I may have made points with her. We did both sides and I got tons of licking and chewing. I tried to keep my body calm and to give a phase 1 of a phase 1, as sometimes that is all she needs. Very sensitive sometimes! Her ears are what really needs work. She lays them back frequently then pops them up as fast as they went back. Hard to read for me because before I can correct her they are up again. I will continue with this schedule and see what happens. We also worked on not changing gait and look where you are going. She is very clumsy. I laid down some pilings about 6 in in diameter and sent her in a circle. At first she went down to a walk and made it through. She did this a couple of times. I tried to be non reactive with her but kept my "you need to keep going" posture and look. Low and behold, she started to walk the first couple of poles and trot coming out on the last couple of poles. Not long after that she really tried hard to keep the trot. She did it! I stopped her and gave her scratches and rest. Then we did the other side. Same experiences. Feelin very savvy! We then went to freestyle.

One Funny Horse!

Gizmo is a riot! Today when I went to get him (he was at the gate) the phone rang and it was my son's school. So as I talked to his math teacher (who had bad news), Gizmo proceded to do a spin in front of me for a treat. It was hilarious.Gotta love them LBI's. After that we played sideways on a log and the circling game. His circling game was a bit boring (my fault of course) so then we moved to fig. of 8. It was so so. He would not maintain gait. We then saddled up and moved on to the arena. We started with a passenger lesson at a walk, which he has done lots of times. It went well even to the degree of trotting and our first canter passenger lesson. Hardly took anything for it to happen. We didn't do much because I didn't want to make it work for him.We did lots of transitions and he respected me entirely. Then we moved on to follow the rail and 4 corners. Gizmo did not stop great in the corners at first. It took a little repositioning and then I let him relax when he was lined up with the fence. I did feel like he was trying for me and we ended on a good note of moving around the haunches for a half circle in both directions. I have noticed that when he does not understand me he shuts down. I have to keep that in mind sometimes when I feel him not responding. Is he being a LBI or is it unconfidence in what I'm trying to ask him to do. It is definately me and my actions and I know this!

Can Do

Played online today. We havent' done that in a while due to the dew on the ground. My ropes get so heavy and I don't think it is very productive. My handling skills with the 22' rope were in need of practice, has it been that long? We played with backing by the tail, hind end towards me, touch it, circling game, which led to fallen leaf, and figure eight. Her fig. 8 needs lots of work. She can't make it around the barrel without stopping and pinning her ears. I worked on sending her around the barrel and using the carrot stick to lure her to me for a treat. It helped, but it doesn't fix the problem. I need to do this more consistantly with her. She flips between right brain and left brain dominant in a nano second. Are all horses challenging? or do they have some that just go with the flow? It seems to me that they all have some kind of hang up somewhere, could we just combine all positive quallities into one horse and make a super horse, lol!