Ahh.. moving into L2 was so much fun - but it doesn't solve all the problems we'd had in L1. In fact, it seemed to add some new ones.
After my BFO, the balance shifted, and we started having fewer and fewer bad days -- but we still had a lot of them. Catching issues continued - habits once formed are hard to break - but I had learned to look to myself for answers more frequently, and stop blaming my horse... finally!
Here's a post I wrote in October of 2005 detailing some of our struggles:
"Does anyone else have this problem?
I'm starting Level 2 with Cloud but we still have a bunch of problems. Mostly, I still have problems. Nothing tremendously serious, but that I get TOO DIRECT LINE. You know, like "everything is going so well! I'm going to do this, this and this today" and then completely forget that this is a partnership. (*Oh, yeah*) Well, often to my great dispair, MY HORSE IS MY MIRROR. Literally. If I'm direct line, he avoids me. So there have been days when I can't catch him. I was so frustrated with this to begin with, but I am getting better.
This is not really what I'm asking, but rather: "Does anyone else have those days when you feel that all the other horses in the pasture respond better than yours does?". I have really struggled with that. On the days that Cloud dosn't come to me (and there have only been about 4), EVERYONE ELSE IN PASTURE WILL COME TO ME.
In a way, it is really flattering. I have made a complete impression with all of the other horses and they all love me. They see me coming and they all crowd around me and ask for kisses and scratches and they'll follow me all around the field. In another way, it is TOTALLY ANNOYING. Because every horse comes to me except my own. They all love to be with me, but Cloud still has those issues.
Now, I understand that a good reason for that is that I don't ever ask anything of the other horses, except to out of my way, when I need them to move. And I ask Cloud to move here and there and circle and back up &c, &c, &c. But in a way it is a good reality check and excellent FEEDBACK. And it rarely happens to begin with. Besides, this is a LEARNING PROCESS, and I am learning. So that's a total A+++.
I didn't really want to tell a story, but rather to find out if other people have similiar issues. DO YOU ALL??"
Ah, the Savvy Club Forum during the reign of Richard! :-D Fond memories... lol!
This is a good example of me finding healthy ways to vent my frustration and to help myself problem-solve (which, under the reign of Richard, was quite a challenge, if any of you recall!).
Oh, and it's also a good excuse to sneek some photos into the blog! The horses in the photos are some of Cloud's pasture buddies (and my good friends, too) during this time period.
Later on, in December, I had another breakthrough - this time better documented:
12/4/05: Couldn't get Cloud to catch me.
12/5/05: Wondered why I couldn't get Cloud to catch me.
12/6/05: Realized I had gone out to pasture with a "Game plan" instead of with the plan to spend time with my horse. I had wanted to accomplish "X, Y and Z" and my horse wanted nothing to do with it.
12/7/05: Came up with a new game plan: Go out and spend a lot of undemanding time. If I don't accomplish anything else, at least I'll have spent some time with my horse.
12/11/05: Applied my game plan. WITH FABULOUS RESULTS!! My entire attitude had changed, so Cloud wanted to spend time with me. He came to me and stayed the whole time. Not only that, but all the other horses in pasture saw my changed attitude and came to spend time with me. I actually had to keep shooing them away 'cause they didn't want to leave! Ran through the on-line tasks for the L1 assesment: We're ready!!! Also worked on my preparation for saddling plan. He accepted the friendly game with the pad and was confident with the cinching simulation with the 22' line. Altogether, it was a GREAT DAY!!!
Very cool to look back at my progress and see how far we've come -- to think that THIS was worth celebrating! :-D
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