Not much to report other than a really lovely day with the golden girly today. Played online for about half an our, encouraging yet more mental engagement, getting her to ask questions and share idea's. We started off with a game of "Touch It" again, developing it further and upping the difficulty using a pole on the ground instead of big obstacles. The idea being that we'd be building on our level of communication in order to get the message across. The message being that I wanted her to put effort into putting her nose to the floor. The next few minuets were all about feel.
Feel is something that my introverts have taught me so much about. I like to think I have a really intuative sense of feel. The horses have taught me to feel for the intention. Like Pat says, in order for a message to reach a horses feet there is a process, first of all the mind is moved, then the weight and then the feet, and i like to think that i can feel when the mind is moving, when the horse is thinking, before that thought has become an action. Timing the application of pressure and the release of that pressure just right so as to communicate as clearly as possible. Also applying the right amount of pressure, the lift of a finger, holding tension in the upper body, pivoting away, adjusting every part of my body as subtlely as possible. If im too loud in my body then Blaze isnt going to take any notice of the small obstacle lying on the floor, she'll be focused on me and the pole.
Another great view!
From an outside perspective it probably didnt look like we were doing much. Extending a finger to encourage Blaze to try, then leaning back into neutral when she drops her head. Cocking my head towards her hind to envoke some curiosity and question and then directing her focus with a shift of weight towards the pole, not once moving my feet (thats too much!). This is why i LOVE introverts! They are the best teachers when it comes to teaching you all about feel, timing, energy and release. They teach you just how quiet you can be and still be affective.
Blaze licked her lips and asked questions and then 'Touch Dooooown!" she lowered her head all the way to the floor, touched the pole with her nose and then looked at me "Was that what you wanted?"
I invited her in, we had a really lovely draw with both eyes and cuddled in the sun for a while.
We've just walked up here
Now trotting across the top
Next we played around with the circling game, asking her to do less that what she was offering. Blows her mind when I sent her out and when she walks off dragging her feet at a snails pace a shout "Woah there Blaze, slow down!" and ask her to go even slower! Like a child that does nt like to do as they are told she starts to speed up. Only slightly, we're not breaking the speed barrier here but its a start. Then i ask for even less, less still, just a couple of steps is enough and soon enough everytime I stopped her Blaze wanted to take more steps!
New game, "Tag!" Tag looks like this;
"Id moove oooooooout the waaaaaaaay if i weeeere yooooooooooooooooou...... TAG! Told you!"
Headin home. Hill number 1.
Headin home. Hill 1
I ask her to circle with a long phase one, giving her plenty of opportunity to depart from the spot of ground she is stood on, the part of ground i am going to tag with my stick and string. If she moves she does nt get tagged, she wins the game. If she does nt move she ends up getting tagged and she looses the game. So i pointed, my energy intense and body language full of tension, almost like in slow motion and stepped forward and swung my stick and string at the spot of ground under her tail, slow motion but with lots of intention and lots of intesity. TAG! She didnt move out the way and she got tagged. Blaze tossed her head, bucked and cantered off and then bucked some more, I disengaged her and she ground to halt and looked at me like "Wow! Where did that come from?"(That would be another question) She paid more attention to me next time, i pointed then took a step towards her, tagged the ground and.... she had already moved out the way. I disenaged her again and brought her in for cuddles, a reward for winning the game. I sent her back out and this time as soon as i pointed she trotted off. Stop. She is now putting more effort into 'forwards' and so i want to reward her for that. If i ask too much for forwards she is going to get demotivated and sour because trotting mindless circles is b-o-r-i-n-g!
Heading home. Hill 2
So during our little online play we had lots of questions being asked and more licking and chewing. Im definitely starting to get through to her mind more and more each day and we're starting to build on communication. We had a lovely draw and on several occasions she wanted to come in and stay with me.
Tacking up was great. She didnt put her ears back, swish her tail, or walk off. She stood still, at liberty and checked in with me everytime i offered her my hand. By 'checking in with me' i mean she reach out and put effort in to touching my hand. Just like how horses stretch out their noses to touch an unfamiliar horse, kind of like a hello. When working with introverts it can be very easy for them to tune out everything that is happening around them and ignore it. I dont want Blaze to be tuned out, i want her to be present. They can tune out for a couple of reason, firstly because they are bored bored bored and secondly because they are unconfident. They are afraid and essentialy hiding within themselves, like a shrinking violet. I wanted to check that the reason why Blaze was standing still and letting me tack her up wasnt becuase she had gone Right Brain Introvert, frozen to the spot "Im just going to block you out and pretend this isnt happening." If she had gone RBI then her mind would be frozen in fear and she would nt be able to check in with me.
She sniffed the saddle pad and the roller (i rode bareback today) and stood happily whilst i tacked her up. Such a great improvement on the last few days and off we went!
At the top of hill 2
We pushed a little harder today and dug a little deeper. I asked her to walk up a slope and then straight away trot across the top. On the way home we did 3 steep slopes in quick succession. The first was a new hill we've not done before, it was uber steep, i asked her zig zag across it instead. The second was just as steep as the first but we had to go straight up and at one point she almost came to a stop and really had to dig down deep and push off those hind quarters to propell herself forwards and up. The third and final slope was really short but the terrian is tough, its rocky and slippy and she was still huffing and puffing from the the last two slopes.
When we got home she was blowing and panting like a good 'un so i hopped off and had to walk her around the field for a while untill her breathing and heat rate had returned to normal.
Heading home. Hill 3
She was so enthusiasic on this ride, really enjoying herself. Its amazing the effect working with a horse's mind can have on a horses body. Im really noticing the benifits our online sessions are having on our ridden work. This natural horsemanship stuff really works!
Feel is something that my introverts have taught me so much about. I like to think I have a really intuative sense of feel. The horses have taught me to feel for the intention. Like Pat says, in order for a message to reach a horses feet there is a process, first of all the mind is moved, then the weight and then the feet, and i like to think that i can feel when the mind is moving, when the horse is thinking, before that thought has become an action. Timing the application of pressure and the release of that pressure just right so as to communicate as clearly as possible. Also applying the right amount of pressure, the lift of a finger, holding tension in the upper body, pivoting away, adjusting every part of my body as subtlely as possible. If im too loud in my body then Blaze isnt going to take any notice of the small obstacle lying on the floor, she'll be focused on me and the pole.
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