10. September 2009 by Edie.

Today we started in the lodge de-briefing yesterday.  Then we went out to the dreaded “seat-builders.”  Actually, this is the second time this week we have been on them and I don’t think I mentioned the first time.  They are kind of like mechanical bulls and are VERY helpful in identifying your riding “issues.”  I am happy to say that I have apparently improved immensely since my first time here in 2006 - Kathy seemed to think I was doing very well getting my legs under me and staying on my balance point - a challenge when you’re built like I am!  Part of it is due to my own efforts, but I must also credit Jeff Aberle, my chiropractor, for helping me to straighten out this crooked pelvis!  We get into teams of four for this: one rider, two “drivers” to put/keep the seat-builder in motion, and one inspirational “hand-slapper.”  You need to vault onto the seat-builder and aim for that person’s hand in the air with your leading foot.  It’s basically what I call an “Indian leap.”  Kelsey - I  believe you’re the new expert in this!

After the seat builders we went out to the small coverall, where Kathy did demo’s with four horses with different “puzzles” to solve.  The first was a horse with shimming/saddle fit issues.  The second was a horse that needed his back muscles developed.  The third was an RBE that liked to turn his head out away on the circle (and arc his entire body the wrong way on the circle) and the fourth was another RBE with opposition reflex to lateral flexion. I took a bunch of notes on Kathy’s solutions to these “puzzles.”  Very interesting demos and I learned a lot.

After lunch, we were supposed to meet at Arena Grande for a quick pattern review and then we were going on a trail ride.  I had HotShot ready a bit early (I know, don’t have a heart attack - so NOT me!), so we trotted up to the trailer, got the clippers, and went into the Big Top to “borrow” some juice!  He is really getting his winter coat already, and was getting serious whiskers and bridle-path mohawk to match, so I gave him a quick hair-cut.  Some ominous clouds were then rolling in, so we took the clippers back to the trailer and rode down to Arena Grande, where they “called” it and said we couldn’t ride this afternoon (even in the indoors) because of the lightening that was coming up.  So, I went up to the playground honeycomb and squeezed in about 10 minutes of condensed riding before it started to pour - I had my raincoat on, so it was fine, and I got Hotshot un-tacked before it was too bad.

Then, they showed a bunch of videos and movies in the lodge. The temperature has suddenly turned pretty cold, so I’m going to head back to the condo and take a hot bath. Then I think I”ll head over to Nello’s.

Tomorrow night they’re having a hoity-toity reception for us Gold Savvy Club members at The Springs in town - drinks and hors d’oeuvres, etc. from 6-8pm. This is in preparation for the first Savvy Summit on Saturday, which I’ll be attending as well.  I have no idea what to expect, but it looks like the next two days will be pretty busy, so I probably won’t get a chance to post until sometime Saturday night.  Talk to you all then - cook just rang the dinner bell - gotta go!

Edie

Posted in 2009 ISC | 2 Comments »

10. September 2009 by Edie.

Today was Day #3 of Riding With Purpose.  We started in the lodge “de-briefing” yesterday with John.  I had some logistical lease-issues to deal with regarding Libby, so I took care of those this morning (won’t go into it on this blog - but suffice it to say, it was an emotional morning!).  We reviewed our pattern work:  John said not to forget to “go back to neutral” if we need to lift our reins or use our carrot stick.  He reminded us to balance correction with trust on the patterns.

He said “towards the end of the course, our expectations increase.  Think about “so this is what I wanted?” Stop and re-evaluate your expectations.  Be in the moment - where we are at.”  He said “Pat and Linda don’t get frustrated, because of attitude and emotional fitness.  Trust the process.”  He said that horses’ time-lines can make us frustrated (one of the few things the horse is in control of in our relationships with them). He said he has hardly ever seen a horse that Pat was riding have trouble with focus, because Pat is so focused.  He said “consistency is a great teacher, but variety is the spice of life.”

Then, we once again went to our “personality remudas.”  I wasn’t sure whether to go to the RBE or the LBE one, but we were told to stick with our original choice for this one (our innate personality) and that we would have another chance later to go to another, so I went to the RBE group again.  Avery began by laughing at the number of (new) people who forgot to bring their notebooks - SO RBE of them!  She talked about how, even if we DO take good notes, no one else can ever make sense of them anyway (true!).  She once again talked about our biggest strength (dreaming) and our biggest challenge (focus) and said: “How are you going to realize your dream if you can’t focus?  How can you hold yourself accountable for your results?  You need to break down your dream into smaller steps to make it attainable.  You need to have a PLAN.”  Sometimes, we dream SO BIG that we get overwhelmed and can’t get there - we need to isolate, separate, and re-combine!

(Uh-oh:  just saw the vet drive in - that’s never good!)

We again talked about the way the different personality types see themselves and others (using the horsenality chart):

RBE - (us) “Am I OK?” (others) You’re OK.”:

RBI - (us) “I’m not OK.” (others) You’re not OK.”

LBI - (us) “I’m OK.” (others) “Are you OK?”

LBE - (us) I’m OK.” (others) “You’re OK.”  or:

“I’m not OK and you’re not OK - but it’s OK!”

After the remudas, we did an interesting exercise in  horse (and our) psychology, measuring our horse’s and our fitness in 5 areas:

Leader

Themselves

Herd

Environment

Learner

This was interesting - HotShot and I came out pretty darned confident in all areas, but Libby needs a bit of work!

This afternoon, I had to run my trailer battery to the service station in town to be charged because I was DUMB and left the lights on in the trailer - duh!  When I got back, I went to the Big Top, where Emily Thompson was in the middle of a Walter Zettl lesson with her beautiful black Arabian mare “Porsche.”  Emily is the daughter of Dan and Gretchen Thompson, both Parelli Professionals and they are GOOD (I did a clinic with them in 2004).  She doesn’t have a choice but to be excellent!  Some of Walter’s comments during Emily’s lesson:

“When I say don’t let him go away, that means, keep a little contact.”

“Each horse needs a different tempo to find his balance.”

“You must keep quiet - every movement influences the horse.”

“There are always three steps to a transition: 1) flexion (inside), 2) straighten, then 3) control with outside leg.”

“Just close your fist like you would squeeze a sponge out.”

“We don’t ride the walk for the walk, the trot for the trot, the canter for the canter  - we are ALWAYS preparing for the NEXT transition.”

When her horse started blowing, snorting, he said “This is a very good sign - the horse is letting out stress.”

“Don’t let him cheat!”

“We have to be force-less, but under control.”

“When the outside leg is too far back, it pushes the horse sideways.”

“Careful - don’t wrestle - hold onto hiom with your seat - pretend there is a $100 bill under there.”

“As the neck gets shorter, I must get the reins shorter so I don’t have to work with my arms - I can work with my wrists.”

“The outside rein is for tempo, bending, and flexion.”

“Half-halt with the outside rein for downward transitions.”

“Traviere (sp?) - (2-tracks) - the aids for this are almost the same as for the canter - so half-halt with outside rein to keep him from canter-depart.”

“Look always where you want to go - or you will miss and swing to the right or left.”

When the horse was bent around the inside leg: “Sit into the inside - sit “into the motion” for half-pass and turn on the haunches.”

“The rider controls the whole horse with their seat.”

After Emily was done, Walter said “Who is the next victim?” and in came Linda and Remmer!

Linda was riding with two sticks (not crops, not carrot sticks - very interesting).  Poor Remmer had to stop and try to pee about three times and FINALLY he did - Pat then came and started cracking jokes about “Pee-sage” and Pee-affe,” - funny!  I think Remmer was too shy to pee in front of everyone - it took forever!

Walter told Linda to “always ride forward down into the walk (downward transitions).

Remmer was “off” today and Linda stopped after only a little while because he was not right.  Walter said “I’m sorry for you, my Dear, and of course, more for the horse.”

This was Walter’s last lesson - he was off to somewhere else this week and couldn’t stay.  I was bummed that Out West Saddlery was out of his books and I couldn’t buy one to have him sign. Hopefully there will be another opportunity.  I would LOVE to have his DVD set “A Matter of Trust.” (hint hint for Christmas, Honey!).

After dinner I cleaned my pen and took care of other chores, then the campfire singers started up:  Dave Ellis, Sam Caporn, and the Killens, a local husband/wife singing duo.  Also, Kiki Ebson, one of my classmates, joined them with her keyboard and accordian.  Her roommate Shannon was telling me that Kiki is famous in California and fronts for some big-name singers (Christopher Cross, Tracey Chapman) and I can see why - she’s REALLY good!  Apparently, she is joining the Killens tomorrow (Thursday) night at “Nello’s,” a local eatery, from 7-9p - I’m going to try to make it.  Pat joined us a little later and it was good fun and singing along.  I left around 9:30p for home and walked up the (very) dark hill alone - and my little flashlight was acting up, but I haven’t met any bears yet - thank God!

Edie

Posted in 2009 ISC | No Comments »