• We began with our little knock-over-the-cone game. Every time I set it up and trotted off, she'd knock it over, roll it around and then come to me to collect her cookie.


• Then I asked her to bend her head around to her stomach ( think girth line) on both sides.


• Then she had to move her HQ away from me in a very quick circle while keeping her FQ relatively still. ( both directions) with only my schwiegermutter look and snapping my fingers to guide her. :) She is amazing at this task.


• We then brought out my hula hoop and played loads of approach and retreat before laying it down and at the end of the session, I could get her to place all four feet in the hula hoop and then back out of it and then come back in without touching her.


• Then! I ran around with her, we chased each other a little and then went back to the cone and worked on our yo yo at Liberty. We seem to have pretty good draw! Not too shabby.


• After running around some more, I brought out my Tiger and my Ladybug chased her very first Tiger.
  

She picked it up very quickly after she got over her RB Introversion and knew that she had to figure it out. She came out of it and yawned a lot, blinking and then she got to it.

- Mommy whips out the Tiger-

- Lady : -Sniff, snort, sniffsniffsniff cautious nudge.- "What in good heavens is tha--"..-

-Mommy stuffs a cookie into Lady's mouth.-

-Lady: .... O.O; "WHAT?!"-

This repeated about five times and then she realized what she was getting cookies for and that was THAT!

At the end of the session she was standing in a hoola hoop and eating the tiger.

See ya later!

Naturally,

Katie Hufton

Today was the second official play day of the South Charlotte Savvy Club.
We had a great turnout and it was quite the diverse crowd. I think we had at least one person from each Level and one horse from each quadrant of the Horsenality chart.

The weather was perfect, it was a beautiful, hot day but the clouds always seemed to be in the right place to give us the right amount of shade and at the hottest point of the day, we were blessed with a little cold sprinkling of rain.

Everybody got there around 1 and the ones who brought horses unloaded and then we had lunch down at the boat house, everyone was talking and I really enjoyed the conversation. The sandwiches were great, too!

After lunch everyone warmed up with games and then we all jumped in the lake.
Doc really loved the water and he was splashing and having a great time!
It was wonderful watching Stef work with him. She is so savvy!
Johnny was pulling Sue around with his tail.. Kind of like water skiing.. but with a horse! I think people in Alaska could hear her laughing.
Liz was riding Starsky in the Cradle bridle and they were cantering circles around everyone.
They really do look like the perfect match, very in sync with each other.
Sarah was on Bebe and Mariah was on Sundance.
It was Sarah's first ride in about two years and she really had a blast with the Beebsters.
And of course our wonderful hostess, Mariah Helms on Sundance. ( Affectionately called Fabio)
having all kinds of fun.
Stef even helped Mariah out with her Level 3 games on a 45 ft. line with Sundance and gave her what Mariah refers to as her new secret formula.
And of course Christian Helms was swimming around everywhere and riding Breeze, making sure everyone was having a great time.
Unfortunately, we only got to hear Taco serenade to us one time today. But once is better than nothing!

Thanks to Mariah Helms for planning and hosting such a wonderful "mini-vacation" and thanks for everyone who showed up! It was really a perfect day. :)
Can't wait until next time.

Yours naturally,

Katie Hufton

I'm going to spend the weekend with my friend, Mariah!
I'm so excited to see Fabio and the Beebsters.
I think we're going to leave soon. I just need to remember to stop and get some Lance crackers!
And possibly a camera...
Tomorrow, she is hosting the second meeting of the South Charlotte Savvy Club and I know it's going to be just as wicked-awesome as the first one!
I predict that I will learn lots and have a blast. :) See you guys when I get back!

Naturally,

Katie Hufton

Earlier tonight I posted on AND's forum regarding Parelli's Horsenality and how I used the chart.
Before writing this post, I had never really put a voice to my beliefs and when I finally did, I really liked it and so I'm sharing with you guys.
Check it out! :)

"My personal view of the horsenality chart is that it's not a complete, detailed set of step-by-step instructions and it isn't going to explain every horse, every day.
On it's own, that is.
( Which is where the Parellis and their instructors *AND* [big and!] personal experience come into play.)
It is more of a general guideline meant to introduce people to the idea that there is more to the horse that meets the eye.
A key to unlock the door of horse psychology.
If a person has this key to refer to, it makes the the subject of eq. psych. notably easier to comprehend. It gives people something to look for when reading body language and it makes this vast and difficult subject a little more approachable. In other words; I see it as a starting place; a 3D explanation to add on to, develop inside your mind and add more and more details to as you progress and learn as a horse(wo)man.
That is how I have seen it and it really did help me understand Lady and open my mind up to take note of when her behaviors changed.
When I first got her, I wasn't overwhelmed. The horsenality chart helped me to not overreact.
Stephanie Burns says something in a Parelli Level 1 DVD along the lines of
" When you have an experience that you don't know how to respond to because you haven't been exposed to the particular situation before, or have never been taught what to think, feel or do when said situation occurs, you usually feel tense, scared, upset, angry, frustrated. etc."

The chart helped me mentally prepare myself and so when we ( Lady and I) had our first "incident", I automatically went to the chart in my mind, Classified it as what I thought it was and I knew to respond in a calm, cool and collected manner.
It wasn't just an act either! I was calm and I felt comfort.
Because I was prepared for that experience!

Now of course, my understanding has deepened and I don't look to the chart as much anymore and hardly use labels.
It's all just learning what she as a unique being responds to at any given moment.
But the chart itself and the theory of horsenality taught me how to take the time to LOOK for how she was seeing the world at that point in time.

I am no longer just going out there and assuming that she's 'the usual'.

Pat Parelli says that the Horsenality is made of four things: Innate characteristics, Learned behaviors, Environment and spirit.

I look for that in Lady every time I see her.

I am constantly gaining a deeper understanding of her innate characteristics as she shows me more and more of her 'true self', if you will.

I'm also gaining a deeper understanding of her learned behaviors, deducing where they came from to as best I can and how to tell them apart from her innate chars.

I watch her to see how she's reacting to her environment, if anything is spooking her or has caught her interest, if there is anything around that might explain for how she's acting ( For ex. sometimes there are people in the corn-field beside her pasture and when they are, she'll trot beside the fence line back and forth and just tree them until they leave, or until I come out there.)

And lastly I look to see if she's feeling good! (spirit) And if she's in a "let's go" kind of mood I go back to environment and look for something there that might be causing her spirit level to be up or down from her "normal".
If nothing is worrying her then I move on to other factors like health, weather, socialization, etc. Or maybe she just feels good! Or some days she's just lazy as all get-out.

My point: I know what I'm looking for now and I know how to respond accordingly. And it all started with that simple chart. Did I make any sense at all? Sometimes it is difficult to explain what's going on inside my head! I hope I did an okay job of it. Hahaha! Thanks for reading my NOVEL. Sorry! "

What do you guys think? Well explained? Makes sense? Agree or disagree? Feedback, lovies!

Thanks!

Naturally,

Katie Hufton

A friend of mine from the Parelli Savvy forum introduced me to a website and forum a few weeks ago called the Art of Natural Dressage forum.
Today I signed up, posted a good sized introduction and proceeded to wade through their sea of knowledge.
I learned quite a bit about their philosophy and methods and I have decided to try a few things with Lady.

I really love Parelli and the amazing things the system does for humans and horses everywhere.
But my theory as far as Horsemanship goes has always been this:
Look around, hear lots of different theories, opinions and ideas. Set your own goals depending on what you want to do, what your horse's natural talents are and what the pair of you enjoy (which are the facts). Combine the theories, ideas and facts to make tasks remembering to use the philosophy of keeping it natural. Do what you love and take it as far as it'll go!
Keep your eyes and your mind open. Just because something is not advertised as Natural do not turn it away. If you're truly interested in it and want to do it, find a way to make it Natural and respectful of the horse. I know it is possible and if you are determined enough you can do anything.

Now I am going to share an excerpt from the forum on one of the games I am going to try with Lady. It sounds like such a blast! (Mariah, I so thought you would be interested in this to try with your babies or at least I know you'll find this very intriguing.)

Playing: chase the tiger
'Chase the Tiger' is one of the most popular games to play with horses on this forum and is developed by several forum members, so it deserves a spot of honour in the groundwork section indeed! See for wonderful examples the movies of HelenMai and Esprit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5CwweChzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qtZFqAVssQ

Here is also a great video I found on YouTube of Chasing the Tiger through a maze! How creative and awesome! This one is of Lucy the Spotted Draft. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZl49Z9Fr-k&feature=related

Chasing the tiger
Chasing the tiger is nothing more or less than letting your horse chase a plastic bag/piece of clothing or something else that you hold in your hand or have tied to a stick/whip/pole. A lot of traditional trainers also use sticks/whips with plastic tied to it, but then in order to let the horse flee away from it in order to make them run. You can compare it to the rope that is flung to the horse in a join-up, or even a lungeing-whip that is cracked in the air in order to 'scare' the horse so that he becomes faster. These training methods reinforce the horse that the human is the hunter and the horse is the prey, and therefore subordinate to the human.

Training
We do it the other way round. First you teach your horse through rewards that he can put his nose against a plastic bag that you're holding in front of him - and reward a lot for that! Then you just walk a step away from your horse and ask your horse if he wants to follow you and touch the bag again. Then slowly take longer distances, or let your horse touch the bag longer while walking, before you reward. If that's all okay, you can tie the bag on to the end of a whip and start running away from your horse, animating him into a trot or canter while holding the bag in front of him. When you tie the bag to a longer driving/lungeing whip, you can lunge your horse around you like this, let him do the more energetic moving while you're in a safe distance (and a bit less tired ).

Why
The most important reason to do this, is that most horses just love it. They love the fact that they're the hunter instead of the hunted and that they can chase instead of be chased. Because for horses, chasing each other is very natural too, only a lot of horses never chase others because the others always chase them. So giving them the opportunity to change place really can give them a boost of self-confidence. Chasing the tiger is also a very good way to conquer fears. Clickertrainers already know that targeting a scary object with the nose easily convinces horses that that object isn't that scary after all. Chasing is makes it even more harmless, as obviously the previous scary object is now running away, and therefore scared of the horse. So let the horse be as wild as he wants to be with the bag (or other object) and reward him for that behavior. Touching the bag with the nose is very good, but stamping on it with a front foot is even better, as it means that your horse dares to come closer to it with his body. Another reason why Chasing the Tiger is a great game, is that it teaches horses to move freely and at higher speeds eventually, even the more timid horses. It also offers a wonderful opportunity to 'make' horses more independent of you, especially those horses who don't play wild games on their own because they don't like to leave you. The last reason is that lungeing in Chasing the Tiger-style, with the horse following the bag with his nose stretched out down and forwards, is a very good way to loosen the back. With horses who tend to lean a bit too much on the front legs when moving, you can also hold the whip with your targetbag more at knee-or breast-height. Essentially you can play Chase the Tiger with anything: with wooden planks that you drag through the sand, or a jacket tied to a rope so that you can drag it behind you, or a tennis ball or piece of cotton tied to the end of the whip. Start easy, with an object that isn't that scary according to your horse, and gradually you can make the game more interesting by taking more scary materials (plastic, wild colors) and by asking your horse to follow it at higher speed. Experiment! And everybody with new ideas for this game, place them in this topic!

Follow a Tiger towards collection
For the Tiger-experienced horses, Chase the Tiger is also a very good way of introducing them to good self-carriage and collection, as Marleen shows in her video amongst others. For stretching the neck/back, you can keep the Tiger really low on the ground so that the horse follows it in a forwards-downwards posture. However, when he gets better at that, you can also start lifting the tiger a bit at knee/breast height of your horse and instead of just pulling it away from him (which would stretch the neck out again), move it away and then a bit towards him and then away again in for example walk or trot. Most horses will respond to that by raising the front, lifting the neck while looking down (the ramener-pose) in order to kick the heck out of the tiger with the front feet - using natural collection exactly for what it was originally meant for in the wild. That way you not only can let your horse experience that collection is fun (and useful ) too, but you can also get more jumpy, upwards movement that you can put on a cue during the CtT game, and then develop and refine further as haute ecole movements (Spanish trot, passage) and jumps (terre a terre, rear, courbette...? ). That way your horse introduces himself to higher collection that you can use in the focused work again, while even more important, he also learns that moving in such an extravagant, flashy, impressive way is fun.


How interesting!
I seriously can't wait to apply some of this knowledge to my sessions with Lady!
If any of you would like to check out the AND forum, visit this site: http://www.artofnaturaldressage.com/ It is free and easy to join and start reading.

Naturally,

Katie Hufton

WHOAH.



I went out into the pasture today to find my lovely Ladybug laying down in her new flymask, sleeping like a log. And so I decided to walk into the pasture and see what she'd do. She woke up but she didn't get up.. I walked closer.. Still no movement. I walked right up to her, sat down and she went right back to sleep. I was all.. WHOAH! It was awesome. We sat, I rubbed her neck and we just hung out. I started worrying because she hadn't gotten up yet and I was thinking maybe she had hurt something. So I got up and walked off to get her a carrot and about halfway to the barn, here she came trotting after me all: " Where are you going? I was comfortable!" I got a few pictures. Her fly mask makes her look like a giant bunny rabbit. Check it out! :))













Having a wonderful time!

Naturally,

Katie Hufton

Lately I have been questioning my ability to correctly decipher and chart my Ladybug's Horsenality.
After reading a recent question and answer segment with Linda Parelli in an e-newsletter; I got the inspiration to do another chart and really take my time with it.
I came out with similar results as before (first blog entry).. Lady just seems to be bi-polar with Introverted and Extroverted tendencies.

She had equal marks in LBE and LBI (six).
Two marks in RBI and three in RBE.
*note* She does not exhibit these behaviours all at once, but they seem to occur in a pattern depending on the day, the situation, my actions/ emotions/ intentions etc.

I am wondering if as we progress she'll move more into LBI or LBE or if she'll stay the way she is.

This has been a very interesting subject for me to chew over!

Here is the aforementioned Q&A with Linda Parelli in the Savvy Times e-news (06/05/08)



QUESTION:
I have a six-year-old Quarter Horse mare who is a Right-Brain Extrovert. When I play with her on the ground, she has a lot of "go", is very sensitive and is very willing to move around, play, jump, run, etc. She is playful and mouthy with toys, but very respectful with me. When I get on her, her Horsenality™ changes. She has very little "go" and will often stop dead from the walk or trot for no apparent reason. If I put pressure with my legs, she will swing her tail and pin her ears back. I would like to get her going at a good pace at the trot and eventually the canter, but I am not sure how to get the message to her feet! Hope you can give me strategies to do to help us both through this. I am currently working through my Level 3 with another horse. -Chantal

ANSWER:
Hmmmmm. This does not sound like a Right-Brain Extrovert to me, but more of a Left-Brain Introvert with some Extrovert tendencies. Perhaps she has shown you a lot of unconfidence and even fear which puts her on the right side of the chart, but at the core she is really a Left-Brain Extrovert. So maybe you have gotten her to reveal her true self on the ground, but not under saddle.
So my question is... can you do a Horsenality Profile on her just when you ride her? That might reveal a totally different Horsenality, behaviorally speaking. And say it does reveal more Left-Brain Introvert tendencies; are you then approaching her in the right way? The most important thing that the Horsenalilty concept will teach you is how to flex your approach according to the different behaviors that horses present, at any given moment. As Pat says, there are four moments in every second, which makes most of us way too slow for our horses! But that's what mastery is all about. When you see someone who is so good with horses that even horses think they are good... that's what they are doing
So... I've not given you a step-by-step answer, but you should discover way more by thinking about her Horsenality and behavior in a specific situation.

I highlighted the things that really stood out to me and applied them to our situation.
In my first blog post I had taken the initiaitive to chart her when her behaviours changed and pinpointed what I thought caused the changes. I'm looking back on that now and realizing I had it then! I think she has made progress even since then because she is no longer going severely RBI when I touch her legs, she seems to enjoy any rubbing/ itching I have to offer.
I will continue to chart frequently.

Thanks for reading!

Naturally,

Katie Hufton