Circling at a Trot

Well well well. We worked on 30 circles in each direction, and honestly i should have done it away from the rest of the horses. They really kind of get in the way sometimes. lol Not Nigel though it the 2 kids Poncho and Lidlebit that are just like toddlers. Funny farts. anyway she was a superstar. She did them clockwise with 14 corrections, that is the more difficult way and she needed 8 corrections going counterclockwise. Such a good girl. So we were hanging out after that and she ended up with the rope between her front legs and did a bit of a freak out and ended up pulling away and got away and of course was running around with the rope, then i was the one who had a freak out. Thank goodness for Sue she knows how much i panic, lol. Keri and Rose are the calm ones, they keep me a little more sane and dont worry about what is going on,they know she will stop at some point. lol. over all it was a good day and now i know i need to work on the rope all around her legs.....just in case it happens again.

She is home

So Freya got home Saturday morning early. Kate was right on schedule. The other horses seemed to miss her but she could care a less, she is such a mare lol. Anyway, today with the help of some friends got the one side of the barn cleaned out meaning all of the wood and nails. The sneaky butt heads broke into where we had some nice hay and well broke a few bales, so i wanted to get that cleaned out so they could get in there and clean up there mess. Another job done. In the next couple of days i have to build a bunny stall and pen for Bert and Ernie, they are so cute and the newest members of the family. With some help from Mike all will be good. I also need Mike to help me with a teeter totter for the kiddos. Busy busy busy. I also with the help of the same friends managed to get my veggie garden cleaned out and planted yesterday. Wow that's all i need. This motivation is incredible.

Clinic Day

First off i am going to say how much i wished that we could have video taped today. It was beyond my dreams the play time i had with Freya. INCREDIBLE I hope that my fellow naturalist agree. I totally believe it was worth it. I had so much fun and my confidence although not 100% is well on its way. I have a new play thanks to Sue. I am now going to work on My level 2 online and then my level 3 online and forget about my level 2 freestyle for now. I want to trust her and i think that is a lot of my confidence issues, or at least i hope. Now thats not to say i wont continue with my approach and retreat for my level 2, it just means i think i have decided not to put so much pressure on myself to get on her, its going to be hard, but if i can put in the work it shouldnt take any longer then it would have for me to get my level 2 this year, fingers crossed. Anyway, what i think i accomplished today, is the snappiness i was looking for and a much better understanding of what and how to be a better leader. I felt incredible. And miss Freya responded so well. We can now do porcupine like never before. Just by touching the hair on her nose. Mind you again it is not perfect. One step at a time. We also worked on Sideways which i never do, and again she got it. Circles we did well she did with Ron 30 circles to the left with 7 corrections which was brillant for her and then i did aprox. 15 going in the other direction with 1 correction. I had a blast and thanx so much to Sue for hosting and to Miss Keri for taking pics for me and Rose for being the best support for me and explaning things in my language and i have to say thanks to the Vandergrats for trailering Freya on Such short notice. To Ron for making me feel so good about what i am doing. He had me in tears at the end of the clinic. He told me that i am doing an amazing job and he thinks i will go far. He said that basically i had all of the theroy and that i understood the fundementals but had to put that to practice more. It is funny. I do not think i am doing as great as i should be but the comment made me feel like ok maybe i am doing ok. I hear my friends say it but when it comes from a stranger it justifys things i guess.

Progressing

Freya has just amazed me till no end. I guess the both of us have changed so much. We did some travelling circles today at a trot, now she wasn't perfect but ooooooo just so amazing. She also did some circling at the trot, and to my amazement she jumped the big log in her way, she didn't try to avoid it. I am trying so hard to work on my confidence on her back. I think that will be a never ending challenge. I have decided that i will lay across her and let her walk around, or at least walk away from the mounting spot so that i can get off of her anytime i want. And when i get comfortable with that i will take it to putting my leg over her. I think i should get hypnotised so that i remember nothing about the fall or the kick. Maybe then i will have my confidence back.

Trotting circles

Another great day with Freya. The kids and i headed out to Sue's this morning to have a play date. My kiddos and her kiddos, and my horsey and her horsey ;). Sue had played a little with Freya the day before and said that she had done some travelling circles, which excited me so much, today i really just wanted to c if i could get the bareback pad on. Its been awhile, she couldnt have been any better then she was, She was like an old pro. Sue said that she needed a little more work on the porcupine game, so i worked on that quite a bit as well as stepping it up and working on circles at a trot. She was amazing. She did 4 rotations each way and i was so tickled pink. After playing around Sue decided to get on and make sure that the steering wheel and brakes still worked and of course they did. Sue was making it sound like i was going to get on and ride a bit so of course i tried my hardest not to let her down, but i could not get myself to do it. I really dont know how i am going to get over this fear i have, i certainly hope that Ron can help me. I pray every day that this will be the day i do it, and it never happens. I am heading back out Tuesday afternoon to do some more work, so with any luck, i will do it.

What a good Day

Today we met at Sue's house, but what was extra special was that we all had our own horses to play with. I had Freya trailered out to Sue's this morning after rounding up Poncho and Lidlebit. The 2 of them decided to escape, crazy brats. So once we got there, i just let Freya graze a little and off to work we went. She was amazing, other then the tarp, she would not get on it. I know what i am going to work on when i go back, hahaha. We played some games today. We backed up through some barrels, and worked on sideways over a log, which she didn't really do. She has no problem walking over the log, but i could not get her to jump them, something else to work on. Anyway, she did do sideways along the fence, not brilliantly but good enough for me since we don't work on that enough, but what really impressed me was the circles. I think she has come so far in her circle games. Last week she offered to trot in circles and this week she was trotting around and did 4 circles, with the help of the round pen. Wow, she was just so good. Ahhh i almost forgot, she stood on the pedestal which really is nothing special, but she yielded her hind end and pivoted which was so cool. I thank god everyday for sending me her, even though i still have a fear of her. I hope that will go away a lot next Friday.

The Reason

The reason i love horses so much. Yesterday, i just went out to get a tire to put up a tire swing for the kids. I was amazing. I had all of the horses come and say hi to me so of course i have to say hi back. The only problem with that was that i stayed out there with them for 45 mins. lol, so much for getting the tire swing up and finished earlier. Anyway i had my hands all over Freya and then i tried to ignore her and give some attention to Poncho and Lidlebit and she wouldnt leave me alone, it was so cool. I then decided to give them some more of my undemanding time and went and sat on the mounting block, well.........what an experiance. There i was sitting all quiet with my head down and not touching anyone and i had Poncho, Freya and Lidlebit huddled around me, like they were waiting for their orders, i tried to call Mike for a pic but he had already gone into the house. So the next thing that happened.....You are never going to believe it, Freya touched me. OMG she actually touched me first. So i then again had my hands all over her. She had her head so nice and low that i was able to take the burrs out of her forelock. Wow. I was so distracted with Freya that i didnt realize that Poncho was playing with my foot, well my shoe to be exact. I just remember watching him pull my leg into the air. He bit the end of my shoe and almost my toes and tried to get away with it. So of course i shoed him off and startled him, and there is Freya just waiting for more love. My horse wanting love. AAAAAAhhhhhh that was so cool.

Finally caught up

O my, what a great day. It really couldnt have gone any better for Freya and I. Wow. my mare is pretty special. After having a rough play day with her 2 weeks ago, it was so incrediable today. My girl for the first time did circles and did 4 of them at a walk and offered too trot a circle. Circles have been a problem for us for a while. I could not believe it. She stood on the bridge that i made with her front feet, and i made it into zone 4. The milestones we have crossed are huge to me. I was a little dissapointed in myself for not sitting on her again, maybe next time, i will have a little more courage. I cant figure out how to get over this fear of coming off of her again. She is just to big and i of course am all my kiddos have. :(

Back to Sue's

Well here we are a week later. Today i hung out with one of Sue's crazy arab's. Dina. cute little thing but a bit too high for me. I like my warmbloods they are a lot quieter then them arabs. She was a good girl though, This little on really just needs to be hung out with a lot and a lot of friendly. Nothing too exciting. Keri and Rose had their 2 boys picked up and they got to play with them at Sue's and i guess they did some riding in the afternoon. Which anyone can read on Keri's blog i am sure. I usually dont hang out for the afternoon cause i dont have a horse their to ride or really play around with. Maybe i should man the camera when that happens. lol I have a beautiful pic of Prince and Keri that i am sure she will share with our readers as well, They are so cute together that if someone sees it 2 times they will love it just as much

Playday at my house

So yeah we had Sue L. come to our play day here. That meant that everyone had a horse to play with. Keri had little Pony boy Nigel, Sue Solf played with monster Poncho, and of course i had Miss Freya, and Sue L played with a baby Lidlebit. what fun it was. Sue L did amazing with Lidlebit, she totally saw the dominate baby that we all see. lol. Keri had a great day with Nigel and played with him so well, he is such a passive and sweet pony. Sue S. made terrific progress with Poncho. Come the end of playing Poncho wouldnt leave her alone. He followed her everywhere. Freya and i had a not so good play time. Its funny Sue L. asked me over lunch what was the difference between today and any other time and all i could say was that the diffence was her. I am not used to playing infront of anyone else and i truely believe that was our issues for the day. I couldnt seem to get along with Freya. I think it comes down to showing Sue L. what i had accomplished in other words trying to show off and it backfired. Our connection just wasnt there. There will be better days to come. I however did end on a great note of actually getting on her. aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh it feels great sitting on her. I just have to get that fear out of me somehow.

Playday at Sue's

Well i had another great play day. We gathered today at Sue's house and i played with Sage and then spent a little time with my pal Eeorya. What fun. I could not believe how good Sage was considering she is a bold little girl. She is just so unsure of everything. She responded so good to my energy levels, she is very sensitive. We worked on a lot of friendly and then a lot of yeilding the hind end and front end or i should be correct and say quarters lol. She was so good and i hope that i did a bit of good for her. She had some issues with the string and carrot stick in the beginning but soon turned it around and was fine with just about everything, maybe not fine but she tolerated anything i did. So when all was done with Sage i took out Eeyora and she is just the coolest little donkey in the world. What can i say just look at that face. Priceless.