So here it is a few months later. I sent in the video and got my level 1. Now, through a clinic, I got my level 2s! I really need to concentrate on Inky because to go very high, I'll need a dedicated horse to do it, and I could dedicate her . . . or get her really going and try to sell . . . I don't know, but right now I'm feeling the feeling of pleased.
Oh yeah, and Carol Coppinger rocks!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Horse and Soul, Lexington, Virginia
Quotes that I wrote down while at the Parelli Horse and Soul tour stop in Lexington, Virginia on February 11 & 12, 2012:
"Don't do to horses -- do with and for horses."
"When the horse changes, you change."
"It's ok for the horse to get bothered if you don't get bothered." (which, I have to say, was the thing that most intrigued me my very first encounter with Parelli, with Richard Knapp and Vinnie, when Vinnie was a holy terror and Richard was calm in response in a situation where I would have been, "Oh no you don't!" -- and I'm still very interested in that. I will say that the horse Linda was working with when she said this was scared, not dangerously aggressive, which was what Vinnie was. Vinnie, I realize now, was a LBI -- "you are not the boss of me!" -- horse -- except as aggressive as an extrovert with it)
"The more you can go with your horse, and then come back to your idea, the better."
"People say, 'I don't have time to do this.' What? You have time to be in the hospital?"
"Introverts can be harder for humans to deal with because you have to do a whole lot of nothing. One test is, are they interested in you?"
"Don't use aids to get horses to do something. Use aids when they don't do what you want."
"Before you become a good rider, become a good passenger." (and to this one I have to say, I don't think I've yet been just a passenger so I really look forward to doing more of this and learning the magic of it)
"Don't do to horses -- do with and for horses."
"When the horse changes, you change."
"It's ok for the horse to get bothered if you don't get bothered." (which, I have to say, was the thing that most intrigued me my very first encounter with Parelli, with Richard Knapp and Vinnie, when Vinnie was a holy terror and Richard was calm in response in a situation where I would have been, "Oh no you don't!" -- and I'm still very interested in that. I will say that the horse Linda was working with when she said this was scared, not dangerously aggressive, which was what Vinnie was. Vinnie, I realize now, was a LBI -- "you are not the boss of me!" -- horse -- except as aggressive as an extrovert with it)
"The more you can go with your horse, and then come back to your idea, the better."
"People say, 'I don't have time to do this.' What? You have time to be in the hospital?"
"Introverts can be harder for humans to deal with because you have to do a whole lot of nothing. One test is, are they interested in you?"
"Don't use aids to get horses to do something. Use aids when they don't do what you want."
"Before you become a good rider, become a good passenger." (and to this one I have to say, I don't think I've yet been just a passenger so I really look forward to doing more of this and learning the magic of it)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
the value of being still or silent or leaving alone
I think this blog needs another name change and another focus. Things are going quite well and I just don't feel like talking about it. Although I did have a lesson with notPierre a while back. That was fun and productive.
I have a story I want to tell. I don't think I've told it before on this blog but if I have, too bad, I need to tell it.
At that moment I hadn't ridden in, oh, about 5 or six years probably. I was doing what was perhaps the most stupid placement of my career in social work, and ironically it was at the place I would later work. Talk about holier than thou b*llsh*t. Anyway. The "thing" that day was to take all these kids to a local stable to ride. With a lot of kids they had to dig deep into the stable and they pulled out a horse that they said needed an experienced rider. I held up my hand to volunteer for that job. Before I got on I asked them what his problem was and they said that he was fine, really, he just refused to stand still so that he would move around while everyone was waiting to get on, get started, and get off.
So I got on him. And sure enough he moved one way and then another and tried to walk and jigged his head around and did anything at all except be still. And I did what I do. Whenever he was still I left him alone. Whenever he moved, I blocked him. Within just a few minutes he was standing perfectly still. One of the workers noticed and called the others' attention to him. Being still.
We had an uneventful trail ride. There was only that.
You see, you do not have to micromanage everything in the whole wide world.
You just have to know when to shut up.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
four horses
Well, five if you count Inky. Four horses to ride every week. I'll be trying to ride them, well, so that they get ridden 3Xweek which could include rides by other people. That is, for me, a lot of riding. I LOVE IT!
I also love it when cowboys call me "girl" and say they'd fight for me.
And I've almost saved enough money to join Parelli for a year and then I'll be doing and sending off a video for my first levels, and a humongous clinic is in May.
And, you know, one just never knows what all could happen when one brings a magical horse onto the place and changes the whole dynamic.
I also love it when cowboys call me "girl" and say they'd fight for me.
And I've almost saved enough money to join Parelli for a year and then I'll be doing and sending off a video for my first levels, and a humongous clinic is in May.
And, you know, one just never knows what all could happen when one brings a magical horse onto the place and changes the whole dynamic.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
begin again
I should have a photo, perhaps, of my nice orange carrot stick and it's nice savvy string. Or of my nice blue natural horseman's halter and it's nice white flecked with something 12 foot lead (with heavy swivle snap). Anyway, I don't.
But I do have those things now, because someone had an extra stick/string and someone else switched from Parelli to Anderson and had the halter/lead and was willing to trade it for a few rides on her horse. A horse, by the way, that I really like a lot.
Increase has pretty much just had a month off. There were at least two weeks I was working at both farms, and then another week before we really figured out a schedule that worked for us all, and then, well, I do not find change easy. And the whole family had to adjust. I kept telling the husband, just wait, just be patient, it will settle out.
It has been a good change. I might say a very very very good change but I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It isn't like I came from a horrid situation to a great one. I just moved from one barn to another, both good barns, both populated with compassionate horsemen. But I went from no opportunities to opportunities. I work and care for horses, including stalls and troughs, of course, but here I also have the opportunity to ride and train, and I already have the chance to begin teaching too, with hopefully more of that to come as we develop a few lesson horses. So, yeah, pretty much everything I said I wanted to do, I get to do, and with prospects for ever more. And that's awfully nice.
Anyway, Increase had her first Parelli session today. I am certainly not fluent yet but at the same time, I think I'm understanding. I've watched a good bit of the level one DVDs from several years ago, and gotten to observe a number of people play with various horses.
Inky is scary smart. And we didn't do much. But as Duke looks more and more forlorn, I'm not even looking to sell her yet. She's my project at this point, to see what I can do with her. She was great. Hopefully we'll get the language of Parelli together.
I guess I need to ask what it is I need to do to do my level one.
But I do have those things now, because someone had an extra stick/string and someone else switched from Parelli to Anderson and had the halter/lead and was willing to trade it for a few rides on her horse. A horse, by the way, that I really like a lot.
Increase has pretty much just had a month off. There were at least two weeks I was working at both farms, and then another week before we really figured out a schedule that worked for us all, and then, well, I do not find change easy. And the whole family had to adjust. I kept telling the husband, just wait, just be patient, it will settle out.
It has been a good change. I might say a very very very good change but I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It isn't like I came from a horrid situation to a great one. I just moved from one barn to another, both good barns, both populated with compassionate horsemen. But I went from no opportunities to opportunities. I work and care for horses, including stalls and troughs, of course, but here I also have the opportunity to ride and train, and I already have the chance to begin teaching too, with hopefully more of that to come as we develop a few lesson horses. So, yeah, pretty much everything I said I wanted to do, I get to do, and with prospects for ever more. And that's awfully nice.
Anyway, Increase had her first Parelli session today. I am certainly not fluent yet but at the same time, I think I'm understanding. I've watched a good bit of the level one DVDs from several years ago, and gotten to observe a number of people play with various horses.
Inky is scary smart. And we didn't do much. But as Duke looks more and more forlorn, I'm not even looking to sell her yet. She's my project at this point, to see what I can do with her. She was great. Hopefully we'll get the language of Parelli together.
I guess I need to ask what it is I need to do to do my level one.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
changes
There is a lot I need to write. I have a new job. I didn't even get fired when our van quit and I missed several days because of it and that was quite literally my first real week of work. In fact, what I have is more opportunities, which is exactly what I've been wanting and yet here I am, finding myself a bit surprised at having them.
First of all, there's Parelli. Looks like I'll be trying to level up (a phrase I use mostly because it tickles my children because it sounds like I'm a character in a video game). I'm now watching videos and working with horses and trying to get that "mother-in-law" look down. I have to say that the more I read and the more I see the more I agree with Parelli, even in areas that surprise me. They surprise me not that we agree but that they are things that are biggies for me and lo and behold, there they are in his program. Like being willing to change. Like being willing to sit with frustration, to be conscious, to not force and to let it come. I mean, I so get that in LIFE. So why not with horses. It really feels quite mystical, being willing to be open and to go in unexpected directions.
I'm already riding more and hopefully we'll also be working out my teaching there. The work is far easier (which means fewer hours -- but hopefully that will all be offset by riding and teaching), the horses and the people just as delightful. In some ways, I even seem to be home more (though I'm working more days) and the being home is a good thing.
I miss a lot of people is the only thing. I hope they'll come see me.
Inky better watch out . . . (she's mostly had time off with me being so stretched so thin lately).
First of all, there's Parelli. Looks like I'll be trying to level up (a phrase I use mostly because it tickles my children because it sounds like I'm a character in a video game). I'm now watching videos and working with horses and trying to get that "mother-in-law" look down. I have to say that the more I read and the more I see the more I agree with Parelli, even in areas that surprise me. They surprise me not that we agree but that they are things that are biggies for me and lo and behold, there they are in his program. Like being willing to change. Like being willing to sit with frustration, to be conscious, to not force and to let it come. I mean, I so get that in LIFE. So why not with horses. It really feels quite mystical, being willing to be open and to go in unexpected directions.
I'm already riding more and hopefully we'll also be working out my teaching there. The work is far easier (which means fewer hours -- but hopefully that will all be offset by riding and teaching), the horses and the people just as delightful. In some ways, I even seem to be home more (though I'm working more days) and the being home is a good thing.
I miss a lot of people is the only thing. I hope they'll come see me.
Inky better watch out . . . (she's mostly had time off with me being so stretched so thin lately).
Friday, August 5, 2011
there ya go
And so, yes, we did the show thing. I did not even try to school her under saddle considering we'd only had a few rides AND so much new was already being thrown at her in a two day time period. She did wonderfully.
Friday morning she walked onto this teeny tiny trailer. She walked off at the barn, walked through the barn, grazed through the front yard, walked across the trail bridge and the carpet, was a champion. She stayed in a stall although it was a bit confusing for her to do so I think. The only thing that really freaked her out the whole and entire time was someone getting in the loft right above her head and throwing down hay right in front of her stall. Oh, and we'll have to work on the running water thing.
She scored a 69.2 with good comments from the judge. Her body condition is, of course, still lacking, and she has a lot of developing to do.
But her going to this show changed my life. My boss tossed off a comment about Inky that not only wasn't true but was made in such a way that, well, she would never had said that to anyone else in that way ever. It made me redouble my efforts to find a different job and sure enough, I did and I should be riding more horses and we'll see where else this adventure takes me.
I've got nothing bad to say. I've had a great run at JEF, I have loved it there, love the people and the horses and everything, and I'm very sad to be going and yet, well . . . .
After all that horse show stuff, Inky got back on the itty bitty trailer, although that took her a minute. I think me working her through that helped to get me the new job. She was awfully glad to get home -- she ran up to Duke, sniffed noses, then laid down at his feet and rolled.
Friday morning she walked onto this teeny tiny trailer. She walked off at the barn, walked through the barn, grazed through the front yard, walked across the trail bridge and the carpet, was a champion. She stayed in a stall although it was a bit confusing for her to do so I think. The only thing that really freaked her out the whole and entire time was someone getting in the loft right above her head and throwing down hay right in front of her stall. Oh, and we'll have to work on the running water thing.
She scored a 69.2 with good comments from the judge. Her body condition is, of course, still lacking, and she has a lot of developing to do.
But her going to this show changed my life. My boss tossed off a comment about Inky that not only wasn't true but was made in such a way that, well, she would never had said that to anyone else in that way ever. It made me redouble my efforts to find a different job and sure enough, I did and I should be riding more horses and we'll see where else this adventure takes me.
I've got nothing bad to say. I've had a great run at JEF, I have loved it there, love the people and the horses and everything, and I'm very sad to be going and yet, well . . . .
After all that horse show stuff, Inky got back on the itty bitty trailer, although that took her a minute. I think me working her through that helped to get me the new job. She was awfully glad to get home -- she ran up to Duke, sniffed noses, then laid down at his feet and rolled.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
coming
She's had her first ride. She's had her first bath. Hopefully her first horse show will be next week. I will try to get a new halter photo soon. She is insanely curious, and calm in her excitement if that makes sense. She loves to touch you and occasionally gets clobbered from the nipping which isn't really nipping but threatens to become.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Miss Perfect
I really shouldn't have put that goal in there in that last post . . . because look back a bit about what I hoped to accomplish this year and know that NONE of it is now even POSSIBLE. sigh. Well.
But Increase changed the dynamic now didn't she.
And what I really want to say is just how perfect she is. Which makes me laugh because, you know, horses and horses and people are people and perfection is a long straight line not to be found in this old round world but still, she's perfect. She is funny without being obnoxious, curious without being pushy, smart without being mean. She has that wants-to-please thing that is so great about horses -- now that she feels like she can trust this place and her place here, and me and Ro, she's like, "What can I do for you?"
Today she wore a saddle for the first time. Today she cantered on the lunge really successfully for the first time (in that she'd cantered before but this time with some confidence, at least in one direction). Today she long-lined, just a bit, for the first time.
She also had some backsets as they say. She pulled at the tie for the first time in a long while, and she did it about four times too. But she was never upset by what made her pull or by the pulling itself or by the not getting loose. I guess that was all, really. She objected just a bit to the bit going in her mouth (which caused one of the pulls) but then again, it has been in her mouth three times so far.
She is doing so well.
But Increase changed the dynamic now didn't she.
And what I really want to say is just how perfect she is. Which makes me laugh because, you know, horses and horses and people are people and perfection is a long straight line not to be found in this old round world but still, she's perfect. She is funny without being obnoxious, curious without being pushy, smart without being mean. She has that wants-to-please thing that is so great about horses -- now that she feels like she can trust this place and her place here, and me and Ro, she's like, "What can I do for you?"
Today she wore a saddle for the first time. Today she cantered on the lunge really successfully for the first time (in that she'd cantered before but this time with some confidence, at least in one direction). Today she long-lined, just a bit, for the first time.
She also had some backsets as they say. She pulled at the tie for the first time in a long while, and she did it about four times too. But she was never upset by what made her pull or by the pulling itself or by the not getting loose. I guess that was all, really. She objected just a bit to the bit going in her mouth (which caused one of the pulls) but then again, it has been in her mouth three times so far.
She is doing so well.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
saddles on and not on
We have a goal of going to a horse show July 30, showing in hand and schooling under saddle. And no, I haven’t saddled her yet. But she is responding to everything so very well. I think, really, it is just the consistent handling. She knows where she is, that she has friends, that she has food. It has been several weeks since she tested being tied (by sitting down and pulling). She’ll work with Duke picking right beside of her and she’ll work on the other side of the farm away from him, where she can neither see nor hear him. My daughter is feeling confident leading her which is good since she will be on the ground with me in the saddle.
I haven’t ridden Rol in a few weeks. There are lots of excuses, like how hot it got there for a bit, and how hard it is to do all the work with that many horses and ride in the heat with no help, and how I have to borrow a saddle, and blah blah blah. Excuses are utterly irrelevant. I think the truth is, Lisa thinks allowing me to ride the girl is something she is doing for me, and it is but my riding her and showing her also does something for Lisa and Lisa doesn’t recognize or acknowledge that and I’m tired of the one sided stuff in that relationship. So I talk to Rol and I think about riding her but I haven’t been on her. And probably won’t be.
I haven’t ridden Rol in a few weeks. There are lots of excuses, like how hot it got there for a bit, and how hard it is to do all the work with that many horses and ride in the heat with no help, and how I have to borrow a saddle, and blah blah blah. Excuses are utterly irrelevant. I think the truth is, Lisa thinks allowing me to ride the girl is something she is doing for me, and it is but my riding her and showing her also does something for Lisa and Lisa doesn’t recognize or acknowledge that and I’m tired of the one sided stuff in that relationship. So I talk to Rol and I think about riding her but I haven’t been on her. And probably won’t be.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
not quite buying it
Parelli, that is. I mean, I'm downright hostile to their trademarking everything under the sun, and their aggressive marketing. But I'm willing to learn anything that will prove helpful and a number of things that will not. So I audited the clinic since it was free to do so.
And I'm interested in the techniques, but again find myself hostile to the insider lingo, and to useless and (worse) meaningless platitudes like "you have a 50-50 chance of being right."
Ah, but I was impressed with the clinician's handling of one unruly horse. While it may be a Parelli euphemism that the horse is never wrong, he just is, I can tell you right now that when a horse tries to bite me or strike me or otherwise attack me (which that particular horse has), that is the wrong answer and I don't give a darn what else is going on in his life right then, it is still the wrong answer. And my response to him would likely be hell no. I'll tell you, even upon reflection, I believe that horses, dogs, children, friends, bosses, even chickens, occasionally need a hell no! I sometimes need a hell no. But I willing to listen, and I'm willing to learn to say hell no in a different way too. I was impressed that Richard's response to the horse did not raise the volume but did suppress the behavior. Some. I'm not convinced. Yet.
My biggest question about the whole thing is, what the heck is the purpose? I know, I know, the relationship. That's like the NPR sponsor who is promoting a more peaceful and verdant world -- who isn't doing that? Of course it is about relationship. A plethora of insider lingo and dance steps does not a relationship facilitate or a purpose make. The purpose that I can see is the enrichment of the Parelli's and the people willing to jump through their hoops to do these clinics. I certainly would have felt ripped off if I'd paid $75 to be in the beginner "clinic". The afternoon individual sessions were much more worthwhile to the participants from my perspective. But dressage is not an end, it is a means, an improvement to the horse and the way he goes. I don't have any real interest in getting my horse to do figure eights in front of me, or in riding bridle-less. I don't care about that. I care about performance, whether that is dressage, cross country, barrel racing, or cutting. That's what I like, being good.
Another thing I was impressed with was the last lady in the afternoon and how she danced with her horse. Not that it sold me on Parelli but it reminds me of how sensitive to pressure horses, indeed, pretty much all animals, can be. Of course, they must be sensitized and not desensitized to it to actually be that way. Like mindfulness, it is a natural state but not a common one. But that lady and her horse definitely knew their Parelli dance. There are also dressage dances and cuttin' dances and lots of other dances and, as Corinthians might say, none is without signification. Which also means there is no more signification to Parelli than Parelli. I think that's what it means anyway.
Lisa had the chance today to describe all the stuff going on around JEF to several different people. I was not included in any of it. As a Parelli clinician would say, information, neither right nor wrong just is.
And I'm interested in the techniques, but again find myself hostile to the insider lingo, and to useless and (worse) meaningless platitudes like "you have a 50-50 chance of being right."
Ah, but I was impressed with the clinician's handling of one unruly horse. While it may be a Parelli euphemism that the horse is never wrong, he just is, I can tell you right now that when a horse tries to bite me or strike me or otherwise attack me (which that particular horse has), that is the wrong answer and I don't give a darn what else is going on in his life right then, it is still the wrong answer. And my response to him would likely be hell no. I'll tell you, even upon reflection, I believe that horses, dogs, children, friends, bosses, even chickens, occasionally need a hell no! I sometimes need a hell no. But I willing to listen, and I'm willing to learn to say hell no in a different way too. I was impressed that Richard's response to the horse did not raise the volume but did suppress the behavior. Some. I'm not convinced. Yet.
My biggest question about the whole thing is, what the heck is the purpose? I know, I know, the relationship. That's like the NPR sponsor who is promoting a more peaceful and verdant world -- who isn't doing that? Of course it is about relationship. A plethora of insider lingo and dance steps does not a relationship facilitate or a purpose make. The purpose that I can see is the enrichment of the Parelli's and the people willing to jump through their hoops to do these clinics. I certainly would have felt ripped off if I'd paid $75 to be in the beginner "clinic". The afternoon individual sessions were much more worthwhile to the participants from my perspective. But dressage is not an end, it is a means, an improvement to the horse and the way he goes. I don't have any real interest in getting my horse to do figure eights in front of me, or in riding bridle-less. I don't care about that. I care about performance, whether that is dressage, cross country, barrel racing, or cutting. That's what I like, being good.
Another thing I was impressed with was the last lady in the afternoon and how she danced with her horse. Not that it sold me on Parelli but it reminds me of how sensitive to pressure horses, indeed, pretty much all animals, can be. Of course, they must be sensitized and not desensitized to it to actually be that way. Like mindfulness, it is a natural state but not a common one. But that lady and her horse definitely knew their Parelli dance. There are also dressage dances and cuttin' dances and lots of other dances and, as Corinthians might say, none is without signification. Which also means there is no more signification to Parelli than Parelli. I think that's what it means anyway.
Lisa had the chance today to describe all the stuff going on around JEF to several different people. I was not included in any of it. As a Parelli clinician would say, information, neither right nor wrong just is.