growing

Monday Iceman and I worked on circles some more. Now he is even better. He was very willing to trot and even wanted to walk after loping just a few circles. It has boosted my own confidence in my abilities that I can make a difference and I can accomplish impossible feats. Now I am just worried about the riding final and what to do for free style. I would like to jump, but I am not the best jumper.

Better

Saturday I  came out to ride. This time I had Iceman stand still for 10 seconds before we went anywhere. From there it was our best ride to that point. We worked on circles. CIRCLES ARE WONDERFUL!! After going around for a while at a lope, he was more willing to slow down and he trotted a circle!!!!!!!! I was so excited. While we were loping, he was happy to stay at a nice slow lope. I felt like he did not need to run, but that he just likes to move. I noticed that I have to keep my focus on where we are going or else we go off course. Most of the time he follows my body movements and where my focus is. He is better at matching me when we are going in circles in comparison to riding in straight lines.


Movie Raquel and Iceman
Some things I noticed about myself after watching this video is I do not think I always give him time to ask a question or figure things out for himself. I noticed this particularly while we were weaving through the ground poles. I don't think I gave him a chance to follow my focus.

Loping
In this video, I noticed my stirrups were too short and I was bouncing around at the beginning. But what I like about this video is how nicely Iceman was loping. He was not trying to run off with me, it was a nice slow lope. He even responds positively to my request to slow down to a trot.

Improvement

Last Friday, I decided not to give up on Iceman or on myself. I took Iceman into the arena and then let him go. I wanted to watch him and see how he reacts with other horses and by himself. I also brought treats with me and I occasionally approached him, to play the friendly game with him and to give him a treat. He was more willing to let me come up to him in the arena compared to his pen. I observed that he is NOT a dominate horse, he is curious, and he is often a loner. At the end I did put him on line and played with him for a few minutes.

Frustration!

Last week was really difficult for me. I felt like I was failing and that I could not get through to Iceman. I was tired of feeling like I was fighting with him. I felt like I was more of an annoyance to him then anything else. I knew he did not trust me or care to be with me. I really just felt like a failure and that the two of us would not be able to accomplish anything. More then anything I was frustrated with myself for not knowing what else to to and because I knew that I was the one who needed to change and I could not figure out what Iceman needed from me.

Saturday Ride

Saturday's ride was the best yet! We worked a lot on speed control, and we are finally beginning to get it!  I was able to get him to trot a figure-eight pattern. Later I was able to have him trot for a little ways going straight before he went into a lope. It has taken lots of effort and consistency, but I can see small improvements. We are getting better! My faith in myself and my abilities has been strengthened.  I was really worried that Iceman might prove to be too big of a challenge for me, I can do this!

Another Ride

In class on Tuesday we started to work on jumping and preparing to jump. I knew Iceman had no problem jumping but we needed to work on few things first before we went over anything. Brother Twitchell wanted us to be able to two-point over some ground poles first. Should not have been too difficult except that Iceman doesn't really trot. If anything he wants to lope EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME! As class went on, I finally able to keep him at a walk for a little bit. As soon as I asked him to go a little faster, I felt like I lost his mind. He was connected with me at a walk, but when we went faster, I felt that he had left me behind. BUT! we made some improvements. I remembered that on the ground, he does a good job of matching my pace, so I tried to relax myself even more when I released pressure. This helped a lot.

We did the same exercise on Thursday, and we never did get a trot quite right. The walk became much easier and free moving. I believe that Iceman does not know the difference in energy when asking for a trot and a lope because as soon as I would bring up my energy he would jump into a lope. I need to work with him on the ground some more to make sure he can notice my energy changes, and I need to try to make my cues even smaller. 

Tight Places

The first time I attempted to tighten the cinch on Iceman, he became very nervous and danced around. I thought it might be because he was the only horse in the green barn, but later I learned that this behave is due to being very uncomfortable with tight "places". Brother Twitchell and I developed some strategies to help Iceman with his claustrophobia. For instance, playing with the cinch around his stomach, driving him through tight places, and being able to drive him with a lead around his foot and work up to being able to drive him with the lead around his girth are all activities we can play.
The next time I worked with Iceman, I decided to stay on the ground. From my prior experience with him I knew he loved to move, so I did my best to move a lot to try to gain his respect by doing a little of what he wanted to do and felt most comfortable doing. We played all kinds of games- jumping (I knew from before that he liked to jump), weaving through patterns, I asked him to back up into the holding area on the south west corner of the arena, speed control, and getting used to the lead around the foot. While we were playing I came to learn a few things about Iceman- he is very willing to do what ever I ask, he is a very long horse, and he is a right brain extrovert.

A Change

So Gwenevere's back is still sore or something so I can't her any more. I only got to ride her once, but I am happy that I was successful in my goal of riding her bareback. Now I am working with Iceman. The first time I worked with him was a bit rough. All he wanted to do was lope and I wanted a walk. Syliva helped me realize that I was not giving him enough of a release when he did slow down and my body was tense. So my body position was encouraging him to keep his speed instead of slowing down. Once I tried to relax things got a little better.

A Good Day

Gwene and I are good friends. I am amazed at how far our relationship has progressed. She will either let me come up to her in her stall and put her head down for me or she will come to me. Before she would take a few steps toward me and then walk away or she would not want to leave her stall. Today we spent about an hour on the ground. We worked on lots of different things- weaving through obstacles, exploring what a popped ball tastes like, went over the jump with the poles crossed on barrels, we went over the bridge with a scary green ball piece next to it, and we went into tight places to name a few. There were lots of people, horses, and dogs in the arena today and they did not bother Gwene at all. At the beginning of the semester I would have been nervous to have her in there with all that commotion, but now it does not bother her at all.
When I went to take her home, I decided we would go on a walk instead. It was so beautiful outside and I had time so I couldn't resist. I learned that Gwene does not know what to think of sheep, but is okay with cows. We walked all over the back part of the LC and I think the next Saturday if it is nice, we will play outside for more of the time. I really enjoyed being out of the arena and exploring with my friend.

Rodeo

On Tuesday we were going to work on a cloverleaf pattern. I really wanted to ride Gwene bareback again just to be sure it was not a fluke ride. I had Randy help me again, and she did fairly well. She moved away from me some but Randy and I thought we should just push her through it. When I went to swing over she bunny hopped some, so I got off. I decided I would try the saddle, both Brother Twitchell and Sylvia said that the girl who donated her came in rode her with a saddle no problem after she had not be ridden in several months. I put the saddle on her, I did my best to let her get used to it, but she dance around a bit. Finally we were set and I went to play with her on the ground to make sure she was okay with everything. She did fine, so I started working on the pre-flight check where you put just your foot in the saddle, then your stand. I got that far with no problems, but I decided to call Sylvia over to stand with me. I got on just fine, and Sylvia was going to fix my stirrups when she went off. I have no idea how many times she bucked or any idea what it looked like but my thoughts went like this --- This is okay, I"ll just ride it out---Umm she's not stopping---I need to get off---I dont know how to get off---emergancy dismount---I CANT REMEMBER HOW TO DO THAT--- (then i just let go of everything and closed my eyes and somehow did not end up hung up in my stirrups) ---dont get stepped on!! - ( I curled up into a ball and just tried to hide inside myself until I could not longer hear her behind me).
As I looked up I saw her still bucking and running to the other side of the arena. Randy brought her back to me, and for the rest of class I worked with her on the ground with the saddle still on. She did really well. She would come back to me and we even went over the jump going to the right. For some reason she does just fine going to the left over the jump but not the right. But that day we accomplished that. Later I asked her to go over it going right again and she did no problem.
It is possible that the reason why she bucked is her back is hurting and that was the only way she knew how to tell me it hurt. It could also be that she was being dominant, but she has not been that dominant with me before, so it would be very surprising if that was the culprit to her behavior.

FINALLY!!!

Last Thursday I was finally able to accomplish my goal and ride Gwenevere bareback! I was told I could use a saddle, but this is something I really wanted to be able to do. I warmed her up and did the pre-flight checks with her including putting weight on her back and jumping around. I had Randy help me, because I could not get her to stand near the mounting block. But I did get on -we rode around and she did great! I learned that when I turn if I turn my whole body it will help open to my horse which direction I want her to go in and it made a noticeable a difference. Being able to ride Gwenevere bareback and confidently was a huge confidence booster for me- I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

Hope and Realization

This is a post from the discussion board from the first week of pre-flight checks. 


Working with Gwene has proved to be a challenge for me. I have learned a lot, and one of the most important things I have learned is to be clear with my cues and instant with release. 

It was very helpful to have Brother Twitchell work with her. Gwene does not understand some of the preflight checks and is unsure of what is being asked of her. I finally got on her today for a just a minute. 

After she freaked out the first time I tried to get on her, I had the paradigm that she would never let me up there without a saddle. But seeing Brother Twitchell get on her helped me get over that. Because of the things Gwene and I have accomplished I know she can learn and be better in other words I will be able to ride her bareback. I need to not compare where we are to other people. 

I want to be able to ride Gwene comfortably and confidently bareback. This is going to take time and me doing my best to understand what she needs and to know when to ask for more and when to back off. 

Mounting....sorta...

So getting on Gwene has turned out to be quite an adventure. The first time I swung up, she shimmied right out from under me. From there we worked on me just being able to touch her back, to putting some weight on her. I worked on her from both sides and she did get better. She did stand next to the mounting block so I could lean on her, but she was not consistent with this behavior. I never did get on her the first day. The next class period Brother Twitchell worked with her for a while and that really helped. It was good for me to see that she can do things that to me seem impossible. I learned that I need to push her and then go back to something she understands. For example, she is really sensitive about her stomach and her elbows. So I need to rub there with rhythm and consistency but then go back and rub her neck or another area she is okay with.