Into 2006... Lots of Changes & Some Good Ideas!

I moved into a new barn just before New Years - a big, new barn with an indoor arena and three round pens --- woohoo!! It was a much needed move - as much as I liked the other place, they just didn't have the facilities I needed to progress... at all, and especially in winter. Glad to be at a new place -- and the best news is that this barn is Parelli friendly! Barn owner and a few other people do PNH and they have playdays and clinics (with a L3 student/trainer) on a regular basis -- more good news!

Still on an up-and-down journey with Cloud. Lots of good things happening with this move, and a lot of progress made, but this is also the barn where I got dragged across the arena on my stomach (sand surfing), where Cloud jumped out of the round pen (causing $300 worth of damage I might add), where he crashed through numerous gates, where (when riding outside) he tripped and fell over on top of me (or at least, nearly) and where we had a severe carting accident and he broke my cart, harness and a $400 gate panel. Fun. This is the barn of lots of damages, as I recall.... :-(

BUT we also made some huge progress. This is also the barn where we started moving into L3 groundwork, where I started teaching the lay-down and bow cues, where I got some *fantastic* instruction from great teachers, where we did a couple of fantastic playdays, where our relationship improved a TON and he started whinnying every time I whistled (love that!) and lots of other good stuff. Basically, we've moved into the period of 50/50 ratio of good to bad, which is pretty darn typical of L2!

Looking through some of my posts for the early part of the year, I stumble upon this gem... I can't believe I lost it - it's such fantastic advice and progress! Take a look...

"I just moved to a new barn, so Cloud has a lot of places that cause him to spook. I needed to find a way to plan in advance for those spots so that I could better handle them. And then I came up with this idea.

First, I re-viewed the new L2 DVD's about 7 games w/ an obstacle, right and left brain behavior, &c. Then I wrote down all the places we go: The pasture, in between the pasture and the barn (including the round corral), the woods, and the barn/arena. Finally, I tried to think of all the obstacles/things we could play with if things went wrong, and I figured out a few things we could do with them. I put all that information onto 4x6 cards and bound the cards together.

The front page looks like this - directly from the L2 DVD's and Program Guides:

If my horse suddenly looses focus, this is what I should do...

Right Brain Reaction:

1. Stop the reaction

2. Redirect his energy

*Use consistancy

*Game #1: more retreat

Left Brain Reaction:

1. Don't do what isn't working

2. Find something different to do

*Use variety

*Game #1: more approach

The inside ended up looking like this:

IN THE WOODS I CAN FIND...

Logs:

R.B.: Stand next to/near/straddling log.

L.B.: Sideways in front of/behind/straddling log; Yo-Yo or squeeze over

Stumps:

R.B.: Stand on or near stump.

L.B.: Sideways - HQ or FQ next to stump; Circling - alternate passing in front of and behind stump.

Of course, I included not only the woods, but everywhere else we go. I don't know if this would be of any use to anyone, but it certainly helped me. I'm not one to think quickly on my feet, so having something I can keep in my pocket and reference if I need to is really nice. Feel free to steal the idea or make fun of me!!"

This was the perfect solution for me to be able to have a plan in advanced without being stifling for my horse or myself (we don't like constricting plans!). And as I remember it worked really well - made me remember what to do in certain situations -- and it was really cool! I'm really proud of myself for this part of my journey!!!