Quick play

Just a short play today, Linda came over and helped with playing with the trailer. It all went very well, not as much pawing from Tia so hopefully she is getting more confident in there. I did have to get quite firm with her outside of the lorry when she decided she was going in when I has asked her to back up, she was very light on the halter after that!

Bareback pad

Got the lorry from Cathy on Saturday.... ready for loading practice with Janine, which all went very well. While we were chatting about what our goals were and how to achieve them, Rocky and Tia were very curious about the lorry, we had to keep sending them away, all good signs.
Lots of practice first to see how light we could be, touching the halter to ask for a step forward from Tia, It wasn't long before Tia had got this, but being an lbi she couldn't see the point so I had to go to phase 4 a couple of times!
Tia had no problem going on the lorry, it only took going on and off a couple of times before she decided to stay on there. Off we went again, played with squeeze with a barrel and stopping with zone 3 at the barrel while Donna and Rocky had their turn.
Janine had a set of parelli cards with her which we had turns in choosing, each card had a task to do with 3 options to earn points, the harder the task got the most points. The first one was to yo-yo your horse from zone 1, through a gate and back. Not too bad! Tia did OK but as Janine pointed out she was going back very slowly, more like a stroppy teenager! OK phase 4 coming up next time!
Back to the lorry again, no problems going in, so this time I asked for her shoulders to move over and then her hindquarters.... at this point Janine had to remind me to breathe! Yes it was me that was rbi, Tia was fine! Off we went again, played squeeze with the barrel and gate, then circle game and finally I asked her to stop at the barrel with zone 3, she'd got it after the first one, stopping at the lightest shake of the rope.
Back to the lorry again this time, with Janine playing with the partition while I held the rope with a small amount of slack, as if Tia was tied loosely. This was really worrying me so Janine had me sit down so all I could see was Tia's head, with Janine giving instructions when to give or not. Off again, played with driving from zone 1, Tia really doesn't like this, I was having a real battle to keep my hand on her face, again I had to use phase 4 a few times, we eventually got 10 steps backward.
Back to the lorry again, this time Janine held the rope while I played approach and retreat with the partition. I find reading Tia so hard and had to rely on Janine to tell me when to retreat. It's a very fine line with Tia between confidence and unconfidence. This is going to take me a while!
The last task was to squeeze Tia between the lorry and myself, stopping when zone 3 was level with myself and asking her to back up again, while sitting down! I lost points for not defending my space! but at least we completed the task.
A great lesson again, with lots to think about.

Today Donna and I went out to play again. All the things Janine had got us to do yesterday were better today. We decided not to do any loading practice as Janine said for safety we really needed two people. Things were going really well so we decided to get the bareback pads out. It wasn't long before Tia let me put it on her back, after a few more games we went over to the mount block, Tia positioned herself just right, bless her, but I don't think I was ready and she read that from me so when I put a little bit of weight on her back she moved which made me more nervous so I just rubbed her instead, still a good day though with lots of progress.

Todays lesson with Janine

was fabulous as usual. First we revisited things from the previous lesson, foot placement and being able to touch everywhere. Then we went onto simulations for direct and indirect reins, for some reason this took me ages to get the correct hand position... so glad Tia wasn't on the end of the line then. Simulation for change of direction, just a little bit different to what we've been taught before, so that was ok.
While playing with the circle game and change of direction, Tia was giving me some attitude with a little kick in my direction, so I was trying very hard to use as little energy as possible... it's a fine line between not enough and too much. She picked up the change of direction the first time we did it, I've soooo got to up my game! She keeps outsmarting me!
Direct and indirect rein wasn't too bad but really felt awkward. But when we tried indirect rein from zone 3 it all made sense to me... and Tia, she very quickly started stepping under just from the feel on the halter.
Squeeze game at walk and trot was fine, then I had to stop Tia with zone 3 against the tyres, first try she just squirted through, but she got it the second time and I was able to go and friendly her in zones 4 and 5.
The last task was to ask Tia to straddle a pole, we've never done this before so I wasn't expecting a lot. She stood at the side of the pole lovely no problem there, then I had to use porcupine to ask her to move 1 foot over the pole. The first step was tiny just as close as she could be, then she buried her head in my arms..... and I realised how hard she was finding this. I gave her a rub and a minute to realise she wasn't going to die, then asked for one more try, she stepped over the pole with 1 front foot, such trust deserved a handful of treats and that's exactly what she got and lots of rubs and scratches. All great practice for lorry loading. A week to play and practice before Janine is back again.

ET

First day of the Equine Touch course over and I feel exhausted... thought I'd come home and study the manual, but no I had dinner and fell asleep on the sofa!
Very interesting, lovely venue, fabulous food and great people who can ask for more.... that would be me then, wish I could get in my head the techniques and breathing at the same time!
I know this is going to help Bonny and Tia so much so I'm hanging in there and hopefully everything will become clear by Sunday. Fabulous bay mare that we've been working on, I think I must have a thing for bays!!!

Finally...

got my butt outside and had a play with Tia. Since coming back from holiday I've been struggling to get out, I'm not sure what is was, housework, weather or was I just making excuses again! Cathy has been playing with Tia while I've been away and yes it shows, Tia gave me a lovely calm figure 8, which was great, also nice and calm on a small circle while I played friendly with her.
We didn't play for long as I have a cold and was running out of tissues!

Pedestal

Todays plan was to pick Tia's feet up then do the drunken dance around her and play with driving game and the pedestal. We had to play catching game first because Tia didn't want the halter on.
Picking up her feet didn't take as long as the last time but she still kept moving away when I asked her to pick up her right hind, I must be doing something slightly different, must remember to ask Cathy to watch me do that. No problems at all with the drunken dance....
Driving game is getting better and better even on her right side.
Pedestal was reaaallly good. The last time we had played with it Tia was starting to paw at it so I knew it wasn't going to take too much longer. The moment we stopped at the pedestal she started pawing which I rewarded with a treat and each time she made a little more effort she got another one. Tia put her hoof flat on the pedestal for a millisecond, so we went off to play with driving game again, now she was offering to paw on everything we stopped at, clever horse! We went back to the pedestal for one last try, I was running out of treats!!! when she almost stood on it with one foot I was going to take her away but she wanted to stay and work this out, just a second later she was standing up there with both feet, I just managed to grab another treat off Donna before she got off. So pleased with my baby. Great place to end the session I think.

Equine Touch Conference

Had a fabulous weekend with Linda, met some lovely people especially Liz and Kaye, and ate some scrummy food. Now we have met the "team" I feel much happier booking on the course, hopefully in November.
Loads of interesting talks, intelligent worming, horse welfare, Ben Hart with his own take on natural horsemanship, osteoporosis, pilates... I even came home and ordered a dvd on this! the 2 I didn't enjoy will remain nameless!

Lesson with Janine

was great. Tia and I needed to go back to basics to improve sideways... yes I know it's driving game that really needs some work first!
We started off with simulations, not ones I had done before. Laying the cs down in front of you, just holding the popper and flicking to get the cs to land behind you, progressing to catching the stick. Next was using the 12ft line, letting the rope slide through your hands and putting the pressure on slowly with each finger, progressing to power position so you can't be pulled off balance.
First task with Tia was to rub her all over with hands or cs while she stood still. I knew this would be difficult for her, so I set it up for success and used my hands, Tia being her lbi self kept trying to repoisition me to rub her itchy spots! very funny but not what was required, so this task took some time to achieve, I had to keep repositioning her with out moving my feet. We did manage it eventually. Next was to pick up each foot and place it back down where I wanted it! sounds easy but I knew it wouldn't be! again this took a while especially on her right side, she genrally doesn't like me to be on that side. Massaging legs first Tia would pick her foot up nicely and it wasn't till her right back leg that I really started to have problems and had to change from asking her to stand still to going with her when she stepped away. I didn't think about if it was ok to change but Janine was happy that I did, cos it helped Tia understand what I was asking her to do. Ta da! we got it done in the end but my back was killing me!
Next was to rub Tia on her withers then walk aroud the front of her to the other side and rub again. Tias responsibility was to stand still, which of course she couldn't do to begin with. Bumping the rope as I walked helped and eventually I could run round at the end of the line while Tia stood still. I will get fitter one day! All this was to teach Tia that I could put her feet where I wanted them and it was her job to stand still until asked to move.
Janine asked if there was anything I wanted to work on... sideways and yes I told her I knew it was really driving game, so she had us driving from zone 2/3 to differant obstacles. Not too bad on her left side, we had been doing this the day before, but from her right side she planted her feet and went rb, not blinking couldn't move. I called to Janine and explained and she asked if it wasn't me that had gone rb!!! ooohhhhh yes I had because I was expecting problems! Janine said I needed to improve my focus to prove to Tia that I was a good leader and had me following her around keeping my eyes on hers and driving Tia when she was in my way, that was fantastic, Tia just walked with me so calm and moved away so easily. (Bugger I know all this... why doesn't it stay in my head, why do people have to keep reminding me!)
We went on to sideways Janine suggested I use the window wiper technique and I don't have a neutral!!! yes Cathy is always telling me that but I think I've eventually got it and how necessary it is. Sorry Bonny I nagged you all the time!
So side ways is improving and just needs more time with driving game.
It was lovely to see Janine again, she was lovely and soft and firm with Tia when necessary. Just what I would expect from her, she should become a great Parelli Professional and I hope I can continue to have lessons with her and Cathy. With them both supporting me just think what Tia and I can do in the future.

Not posted for a while...

but Tia and I have been having a ball since Cathy came over last week.

2 weeks ago I came out to find Bonny had an enormous lump on her side, obviously from a kick but I was concerned if there was any broken ribs, so another vet bill on its way!!! No broken bones so that put my mind at rest and I've now separated them again.

Jaime the podiatrist came over last week, they all have infections in their feet so have to have salt baths every day. That's fun... not! Bonny will stand in the bath which is great but none of the others will so they have to be scrubbed instead. work in progress that is!
I couldn't possibly write everything here that Jaime told me because he was here all day! We have to change the feed they are on to Pureeasy and stop feeding carrots (too much sugar) Thankfully we are not over feeding them, but he was concerned about Bellas weight! strange that Cathy wasn't, in fact she thought Bella had lost some weight!

Cathy came over last Friday, we worked on the circling game.
Cathy was laughing so much at the faces Tia was pulling at me behind my back! Cathy taught me how to flick Tia every time she told me to (eyes in the back of my head) now I can feel it every time Tia breaks gait behind me ;o)
Cathy played with Tia for a little while, got her cantering, and showed me when to put pressure on and when not to because she had become unconfident. It's a fine line that I will have to watch very carefully! After the session Tia was following us around like a little puppy.... I think we blew her mind again!

We've been playing with circles since then, Tia doesn't stop behind me anymore and I've only had to flick her once because she broke gait. Yesterday we had change of direction both ways, travelling circles, sideways and squeeze all flowing one to the other. Fabulous!

Not so good day!

Found myself becoming very direct line today, no matter what I was asking Tia to do! So I thought I better just sit and do nothing for a while... of course I couldn't even to that, so I got the camera out instead. Pics will be added over the next few days.
The one good thing that we managed to do was front feet on the rubber mats and trailer ramp, Tia discovered she got lots of treats for that!

Fabulous day

Thought It was going to rain again, but while we were poo picking the sun came out and now it's really hot. The bad thing about that is now the horses are covered in flies! can't win can we! always something to complain about!
Tia managed to corner Rocky and really laid into him, Donna was in a panic, but he seems ok, just a few bare patches and a couple of cuts that are only surface. I did feel sorry for him though he was really shaking. We put Rocky and Bonny in the back field so he could calm down in peace.
We had a great play session again, I haven't asked Tia for circle game for a few days so I thought we'd better get back to it as Cathy will be here again soon. Tia went off on the circle and wait for it... walked the whole lap without stopping once :o) I was secretly doing the happy dance, while giving her a rest. Asked again in the opposite direction and yet again 1 full lap without stopping, she got a big treat for that! Trot still hasn't improved but I'm happy, I know it will come eventually.
We played with the ball a little, she's happy to put her nose on it but not any other zone, another thing to work on then. We played with squeeze again, I made the gap smaller which she could walk through fine but not when the horse eating hula hoop was on the ground! left it there because I was getting too hot!

Rain, rain go away!

We managed a short play session in between the showers today.
We moved Rocky and Bonny into the back field today which totally upset Tia and Bella because they couldn't see them! oh well play with the horse that shows up... Tia was rb, very spooky so we played by the barn to begin with. Donna was checking through the self assesment sheet when Tia wandered over and nicked the paper out of her hands, Tia wasn't going to give it up so I had to rip it before she started eating it! Very funny, especially Donnas expression as I handed it back to her... almost in one piece!
We opened up the trailer, Tia was very interested with that but very careful not to put her feet on the ramp! I gave her sometime to explore before we went off into the barn and played with touch it, she's such a cool horse, happy to explore most things. We went back to the trailer, I asked her to put her foot on the ramp which she did after a couple of minutes, so I gave her a treat and went and sat down for a while. I could see that had been a big thing for her, she spent ages just licking my hands.
Went to the squeeze game, Tia walked through in both directions really calm and disengaged beautifully. No point in doing that to death, so I thought we'd have another go at figure 8 at walk... coming from my left she goes through with just a point of my finger but the right is where she got stuck, but she was asking a question so I redirected her till she did one without stopping. I was so tempted to then ask for it at trot..... but I didn't!
Went over to the pedestal and asked her for a try there, eventually she managed to touch it with her foot :o) she's never done that before! so again we went to the trailer. Without me even asking she put both feet on the ramp and was really curious about what was in there. I backed her up then asked her to walk over the ramp, which she did no problem. That was it for the day.
Funny to watch Bella and Tia while we were putting things away, Bella loaded herself in the trailer and Tia stood on the ramp watching her :o) Why do I never remember to take the camera out with me?

A good day

Session today was really good, started off with stick to me when I stood on the hula hoop that rattled... Tia spooked so I thought we better play with that for a while. Walking away from her while I shook it she soon calmed down but wouldn't touch it. The funny thing was the other horses came over to investigate the noise!
We were playing with the tasks Cathy had set for us on Monday, squeeze and circle. I set the squeeze up so Tia could get through easily, which she did no problems in either direction. After a little rest I changed the tyres so one was lying on the ground, she had no problem right to left, but the other way she had to walk around, that's fine, gave her a rest again then asked her to go through again which she did really calm in both directions :o) all the time I'd been trying to watch her expression for unconfidence, the only thing I noticed was her ears go back as she moved off, now I'm not sure if that's unconfidence or annoyance! 50/50 chance here, so I went with annoyance and gave her a treat after the last try. That changed the look on her face, she was much quicker to go next time I asked.
Circle game...when I yoyo'd Tia out she assumed we were going to circle so I had to spend a little time just playing with yoyo. Sent her off at walk, 4 times she stopped to look at me, each time I asked her to go again politely, the last time I upped the phases and got a full lap before she stopped, which I accepted and asked her in. When I asked her to trot, again I got the shake of her head and a stroppy look on her face, we did eventually get 1 lap at trot in both directions. I gave her a treat and finished there. This morning when I let the dog out and went to check on the horses, Tia came over straight away and spent ages at the gate even after I'd come back in the house.... I hope that's a good sign for later.

Lesson with Cathy

went really well. But I was missing all the little signs that Tia was giving me that she was unconfident! We were playing with squeeze game through 2 stacks of tyres, Cathy said to be clear and give her time to disengage her hindquarters before I asked her to go again.... I was rushing and swapping stick and rope far too soon! Next we moved 2 tyres so she had to step through them to get through, this was when she started to get unconfident...and I didn't even notice! first of all she jumped over, much higher than needed, then bunny hopped over and the last time she got stuck she couldn't go over at all! we did a resend and allowed her to go around the tyres, lots of licking and chewing and yawning from Tia, me too I was thinking, why didn't I see that she was unconfident, it was so obvious! when we moved to the other side of the squeeze she was even more unconfident and had to go around nearly every time.
Next we went onto the circle game, again Tia wouldn't maintain gait at walk, Cathy showed me how to flick the string behind me then to the side and finally in front to give Tia plenty of warning that it was coming. Cathy did have a play with Tia herself and she was no better for her than she is for me, which I was pleased about! Cathy confirmed that Tia is saying why should I? then when we up the phases she gets unconfident. While we were chatting about things to do and everything that had happened, Tia was looking very sleepy, alot for her to think about too.
I've got 2 weeks to play with these 2 games till Cathy comes over again.

oh wow!

Tia didn't want the halter on today, but was quite happy to stick around so we played at liberty instead. I sent her off on the circle with just a suggestion, she walked round and bunny hopped over the barrels, then turned to look at me so I allowed her to come in for a quick scratch then sent her off again and asked for a trot which she did with just a lift of my hand and a smooch, wow!!! lots of head tossing, and I asked her in again this time I gave her a treat. She has so much play drive, so now we have a lbe! Stick to me is better at liberty than on-line! I tried trotting with her but she becomes very exuberent, lots of head tossing and all four feet leaving the floor, frightens me to death I must admit. Another light bulb moment... I'm not playful enough for her! flippin heck! where am I going to get that from? and how do I learn to become big enough so she doesn't start dominating me?
A great play session that's left me with loads more questions... again!

No play today.... I'm still licking and chewing over our break through yesterday!

Circle game with a purpose

I found last night that Tia needs a reason to circle... after struggling yet again to get 1 nice lap at trot we went off to play with other things. When I sent her to the barrels she just put her nose on them and looked at me, with a question, so I sent her off in the opposite direction and she was more than happy to jump over!!! light bulb moment... give the games a purpose!
When I asked Tia to put her foot on the green turtle again she was very hesitant, but eventually she did manage to touch it with her foot, without going introverted, so I was happy with that, gave her a treat and we went off to play with something else.
I spoke to Tracey and she confirmed that once she knew what was required off her Tia then became lbi and started "asking why should I?" Nice to have everything I thought confirmed.
We put Tia in with Bonny last night and as expected Tia is Boss Hoss! Rocky soon calmed down without her and Bella took over as leader of their herd of two.

Farrier has been.

Played with Tia last night to get her ready for farrier coming. Still having problems with circle game and figure 8... I think she's testing my leadership! Do I need to be firmer and clearer or have more patience!!! not sure! 50 - 50 chance I know. I'm hoping to speak to Tracey to see how Tia was with her, and what she thinks is the problem.
Tia was a star for the farrier, but she did go introverted when he was doing the last hoof, I had to ask Mick to slow down and give her sometime, which helped a lot she soon picked her head up and started blinking again. I also noticed she went introverted when I asked her to put her foot on something.... I'm going to take it slowly but keep asking.

Lbi

Went to play with Tia on Sunday afternoon, we were playing with the circle game when it suddenly occurred to me that she was lbi, she couldn't see the point of trotting the circle!!! so I upped my phases, by tagging the ground 3 times and she was off with a shake of her head and a sod off look on her face, I laughed it was so funny. She was asking questions, so when she eventually did 1 full lap at trot we went off to do something else. I can see that I've got to go and study the horsenality dvd again! We also got falling leaf and sideways, with lots of rest and a few treats in between. A quick go at liberty, showed me yet again that she was lbi, head down to graze straight away, so the game of tag was on, it only took a few minutes before she latched onto me, following me around the field. I was happy with that, gave her lots of scratches and left her to graze.

First play at home

After spending the last 2 days doing undemanding time and playing friendly, I thought tonight we'd have a little play in the menage.
Tia was a star, she came trotting over then stuck her nose in the halter. She hasn't been in the menage before and there's lots of toys in there, so we took some time just getting her to put her nose on things. The pedestal was scary and the big blue barrels, but after the 3rd trip round she was touching everything especially when she realised treats were on offer! I asked her to pick up her front feet which she did with the lightest suggestion.... wow, this is going to be so much fun!

Monday morning

Lucky for us that Cathy could rearrange her day, to help get Tia home. On the journey there we came up with options, just in case Tia still wasn't happy. Leaving her there till we could sort out the problems, calling out a Parelli pro, using a bigger lorry, sedating her. ok armed with new options we started again.
It was a lovely sunny day, Tia was dozing in her stable and quite happy to see me I think. I asked her to go on the lorry which she did no problem, but always had to have her head facing out. Lots of on off till I felt my emotions coming up so Cathy took over. We played with the partition and realised pretty quickly that was making her even more claustrophobic, so we took it out completely. That was better but still not right. 1 1/2 hours later we took a break, had some lunch and decided what had worked and what hadn't. Tia had now got to the stage were she didn't want to come off because the ground was uneven and she knew she would be asked to go back on again. We started the next session with putting her in the lorry then closing the half doors, much like a stable, she was ok with that. Cathy went into the lorry with her and had me slowly lift the ramp, approach and retreat, only to about chest height. While I was doing this Cathy was holding the line and simulating what it would be like if Tia was tied, she couldn't cope with the pressure on the rope at all!. uummm how interesting! Cathy said she wouldn't be happy to travel with her untied so now it was decision time... I didn't want to spoil how far Tia had come so went with the option of having her sedated, just enough to get her home safely. Cathy called the vet who was happy to come and do this for us. When we got home Tia came off the lorry quite happy and started grazing straight away. We knew we'd made the right decision for her. Quick trip back in the lorry to pick up Bella and get the stables cleaned out, and off home again, unfortunately in the rush hour traffic! Wow! what a weekend!

This morning was great, Tia was waiting eagerly for me in the stable. We took them for a graze in hand, then straight into the arena for a play. It only took 45 minutes till she was calm, which was a great improvement on yesterday. We also managed to play in the scarey area with Cathys help, yesterday she was rearing in that area so Cathy had me keep a close eye on her to spot the first signs of unconfidence, head down, ears back, then her head and neck would bend round me and if blocked she would rear! lots of small circles, when she started bending, with a firm walk away is what helped. Oh and lots of space. Cathy said when riding, disengaging will be what is needed.
It wasn't untill half way through the session that I realised Tia hadn't needed to go to Bella, wow! she is looking to me for comfort already!
Donna had a migraine so went for a lie down in the lorry, while I watched the others play.
I wasn't going to join in with the liberty session but changed my mind last minute, why not, lets see if I've been doing things right. Tia is a little unconfident when we first go in but I set her doing figure eight and half circles while the others came in with their horses. Cathy was calling out instructions, whilst guarding Bella, because we knew thats where Tia would go for safety. I took off the line and started walking away, Tia followed but I soon lost her, when she realized she was alone she went to Bella but guarded by Donna and Cathy she was sent away, she cantered off doing bronco bucks, heading for the gates. It wasn't too long till she spotted me standing in the middle, as soon as she looked over and gave me both eyes I started walking slowly backwards then crouched down and she just wandered over. Love this little girl already! I walked away again but she stuck to me like glue! I didn't get to see donna and Bella's seesion because I was hugging and scratching Tia, telling her what a special girl she is. :o) Everyone took a turn, some really special moments. That was it for us I was so tired we just hung out for a little while then went to let Tia and Bella graze for a while.

Loading Tia was a whole new experience.... learning curve! We knew we'd pushed our luck the last 2 times she'd been loaded and now was expressing her opinion "NO"
She would go on everytime asked, but was not happy, when we tied her head, she started rearing! I couldn't watch and had to let Cathy get her out again. We decided to leave them both there and go back in the morning.

Tia is here

Tia arrived at lunch time on Friday afternoon. She is so big!
We very quickly put Bella in with her as they were checking each other out under the fence. They walked away together like old friends, even drinking from the water bucket together! great sign as they were both going to Broomfield today.
Cathy loaded them both in the morning, no real problems. Donna and I went in the car so we didn't have to drive the lorry back till tomorrow night. Tia came off the lorry quite RB which was no surprise as we know we're asking a lot of her. She wasn't happy in the stable, lots of kicking and little rears, but she settled down eventually.
Our first session frightened the hell out of me and I did think I'd bitten off more than I could chew! Cathy said that thought was normal, everybody did it! Maybe I can do this after all... so glad Cathy was there or I think I might have sent her back, lol.
We found that a lot of what I thought was her saying "NO" was actually "I can't" rearing, mini bucks and head shaking... disengaging helped a little but moving to a different place was what really changed things for her. We managed to play all 7 games in the morning, with lots of trips to Bella for comfort.
The afternoon session was different again... it was me that went RB when Marie was warming up her horse using lots of pressure, causing it to bronco buck, rear and gallop around. I wanted to hide behind Cathy never mind about Tia! Cathy suggested doing little things like getting Tia to put her head down with porcupine game. We also managed to find a few itchy spots which Tia really enjoyed and she even started to groom me as well :o) We spent the last hour hand grazing around the arena. I love the way she's starting to check in with me, just a gentle touch with her nose, think I love this horse already!
Mentally and physically I feel like I've done 3 days already... but I'm so looking forward to tomorrow.

1 more sleep till Tia gets here :o)

Bonny is doing well. I can see from the dust etc. on her back, that she is getting down so hopefully she is on the mend. They were all a little bit mad yesterday afternoon, running around, then grazing, then running again! I think it was Bella and Rocky mainly but Bonny was keeping up with them.

Back from hols

We've been back a few days now, Bonny is off the bute and now we're waiting to see how she does. Donna said she has been fine while we were away, so fingers crossed that she doesn't have to stay on bute long term. I've now decided to retire Bonny earlier than expected but she deserves it. Tia Maria, Tia for short, will be here on Thursday! Now that Bonny is looking better I can look forward to starting a new journey with Tia.
Went to The Festival of the Horse yesterday with Donna, Linda and Joy. I was quite disappointed with the Parelli event, not at all like the celebration. Pat did a lesson with a girl named Laura and her horse Reveal, that was very interesting how he dealt with the horses displaced behavior whist on the circle. But for me the rest of the day was far too advanced. Flying lead changes and game of contact.... which turned into a bit of a farce, rider having to leave to go into another competition and then the saddle being required as well. Fair play to Linda with all the disruptions, I thought she coped really well. But it would have been so much better if they had chosen a savvy club member to help with contact, there must have been someone that would have really appreciated a lesson with Linda on that subject.

Vet came to check Bonny, he gave her a pelvic exam, no problems there. She didn't do so well on the flexion test, she fell on to her bum and almost flipped backwards, good job I'd got a firm grip on the rope! The conclusion was to have her on bute for the next 2 weeks, then check her again. Maybe that she has to be on bute long term...

spent some undemanding time with Bonny this evening, found lots of itchy spots :0) She ate all the bute up no problem, mixed it up with lots of apple and apple sauce.

Bonny got down again today for a roll and couldn't get up again!!! I wasn't out there but Donna was, she came in to tell me when Bonny was struggling. We called the vet out but managed to get her up with the help of a towel under her bum long before he would have got there. The vet suggested putting her on bute for a week, which Donna is going to give her while I'm away. But I'm so worried that she will get stuck when nobody is around.

Had a short play today with Bonny, stick to me at walk and trot. Then a little bit of liberty, which was lovely, stick to me again and weave around the cones. When I asked her to do figure 8 she lost confidence again and trotted back to the gate, but when I walked towards her she came back to me with a lovely soft look on her face.

I was helping Donna with circle game with Rocky, she asked me to show her how to defend her space when Rocky came in from behind, so I sent him out, expecting him to be a little bit freaky as it was me not Donna, but he just walked the circle lovely, not coming in at all!!! lol

While I was out poo picking yesterday I saw Bonny get down to roll, but when she tried to get back up she couldn't... she was probably down for a few minutes, each time she failed to get up she had to lie back down to free her tail. It broke my heart to see her keep looking at her back legs, trying to work out why they wouldn't work. After about 8-10 attempts she used her front legs to spin around so she was facing down hill and finally managed to rise. I'd seen her struggling to get up on Sunday too! Oh god is this the beginning of the end? I so hope she gets to enjoy some retirement.

Not feeling it today

When I went to check on the horses this morning, they weren't far away, I stood at the gate and waited.... Bonny looked at me and wandered over :o) she's never done that before! But she soon put me in my place when I went to spend some undemanding time with her, staying half way down the field and turning her bum to me. oh hum, I left her alone because I didn't feel like I could deal with her today. Watched Donna play with Bella instead.

uumm how interesting!

Separated Bonny again this morning, catching her was a little difficult with 3 of them running around and always managing to keep Bonny at the back so I couldn't get to her...that was fun!
Did some undemanding time with her before we played, she stayed about 8ft away. I took that as a good sign. We only played for about half hour, but it was good, figure 8 at walk was fantastic, I didn't need to move my feet at all. 2 front feet in the turtle which has water in at the moment. Finished there on a good note. I would have liked to ride but as we're trying to re-build the relationship I decided not to, maybe tomorrow.
I put her back in the field on her own, we then separated Rocky and Bella as well for an hour. They were all really cool. All 3 back together again now and Rocky seems much calmer, not using Bonny as his security blanket.

So much for holidays!

Well after a week off Bonny hates me! or it seems like it, she won't come anywhere near me and her bubble is enormous! I've stopped flushing her mouth out because she definitely won't let me near her if I've got that syringe in my hand.
Talking this over with Cathy there could be a couple of reasons for this,
1, she doesn't need me anymore since coming home.
2, Rocky isn't giving her any peace, driving her around and using her as a shield from Bella, so she could be in pain, hence the grumpy old woman look.
So I've put Bonny in the next field and upped her supplement. She seems quite happy, just grazing on her own. Rocky, on the other hand looks miserable and Bella couldn't give a toss ;o) I'll let her join the others over night and see how she is in the morning.

Sunny Saturday

Glorious sunshine again.
Bonny and I have had a few days off after the course, today was much the same, but I wanted to wash her legs because they were almost black from the rubber in the arena. But Bonny and Bella had other ideas, so the catching game was on! It didn't take long they only went to the bottom of the field and waited for us. It was lovely to see Bella trot up to Donna to be caught, then Bonny walked to me, really nice. I washed her legs, cleaned her ears and put her fly mask on, then turned her out again.
I'm still mulling through all the info from the course, deciding what to work on first.

Last day

The last day and the sun was shining.
Only 4 of us could make it for the hack out, so the pressure was off, thankfully.
We started loading, Bonny was quite relaxed which surprised me after the eventful trip here. The other 2 people left before us which helped me focus on what Bonny needed to get her into the lorry. Cathy helped get her in when we ran out of time, which was great. We took it very slowly to the car park, pulling in whenever we could to allow the traffic to pass. I was so relieved to find Bonny still standing when we got there, although she had rubbed her tail raw in one spot! first aid spray and vet wrap sorted that out. Margo lent me her tail wrap for the journey home. Bonny was a little sweaty when we got her off, but that's not so bad. She was quite rb fixating on some cows in the next field. It probably took me 1/2 hour to get her calm enough to tack up. There was no way I was getting on her at that time, so Cathy and I started off on-line. It was so hot walking up hill... I was quite relieved when Cathy stopped us all so the others could go for a trot and canter. Bonny was fine when Evie and Mickey went, because Aero was with us, but when Evie and Aero went she was not happy at all! Lots and lots of disengaging and I had to ask a couple of walkers to wait while I calmed her down before they tried to pass us. Bonny didn't calm down till her friends were on their way back! We then started back for our picnic, Bonny was really rb wanting to go as quickly as possible... Cathy had to take her and she soon backed off and relaxed. uuummmm how interesting! Cathy said that was the real emotion coming out that she had been holding in! Once we got off the hill she was calm again but her walk is really fast, I have trouble keeping up with her.
We stopped for lunch in a nice spot, the horses were allowed to graze on the lush grass, Bonny was trying to eat my sandwiches as well! After lunch Cathy suggested I get on Bonny and just do nothing. But Bonny had other ideas, as soon as I got on she was off, thankfully only walking but still not acceptable. Lateral flexion was really difficult it was trying to bend a plank of wood, but I managed to bend her enough that she was doing small cicles then she would put her head down to graze, then she would pick her head up and walk, with purpose, off again, lateral flexion doing small circles and down went her head again, this went on for a few minutes before I decided that was enough and jumped off. I think if I'd stayed on any longer my confidence would have been shattered again, it's taken so long to get this far. I know that Bonny is confident in me as her leader in the field but she obviously isn't when we're out in the big wide world! oh hum still lots of work to do.
Margo and Jane went off for a ride while Cathy and I just enjoyed the sun at the picnic spot. Back to the car park and started loading again. This time I managed to load Bonny mostly on my own with just a little bit of coaching from Cathy. Yay!
Bonny arrived home again still standing, she must be getting the hang of balancing herself, plus Cathys very careful driving.
I can't say I enjoyed the hack but I did learn a lot!!!!

Day 4

Fabulous day today even though it rained for most of it. Got a ride in the arena in the morning, squeeze between barrels, L-shape and weave. Cathy told me a different way to do the weave by asking for sideways between the cones, got to work on that.
In the afternoon we played hacking games, leapfrog and there and back again. Bonny was fine at leapfrog but there and back again was challenging for her especially when Evie walked or trotted away, I had to disengage her a lot to stop her following. She got quite emotional when there was a lot of noise from the other group and the saddle was slipping, or should I say we both got emotional! I jumped off sorted the saddle out and calmed down before getting back on again. There and back again was great when it was our turn to ride away from the others, Bonny walked then trotted straight to the gate at the other side of the arena.
We then went into the wood to play on-line while the other group had their turn in the arena. Lots of squeezes and dogs barking. Great fun! I took some pictures today with Cathys camera so just got to wait for her to send them to me and I'll post them here. Really looking forward to the hack tomorrow :o)

Day 3

Half way through the course and I'm flagging, feeling really tired. I soon forgot all about it when we started playing. No heat in Bonnys leg at all but she is stiff in her right hock from the arthritis so I'll keep giving her double movefree+. She has settled down now with her new field friends, Evie and Aero, and even pushes Aero around. My little rbi is going up the pack ;o)
Today was practice figure 8 and it was taped! not proud of the video but figure 8 has improved a lot. We've been playing with lots of squeezes and Bonny hasn't bothered about any of them. 2 large tyres that have been stood up are great for playing with, I can send her through them from about 6 foot away now. Bonny had both front feet on the tyres that are laying flat as well, that surprised me cos they are a lot higher than our pedestal. Elaine asked if we could play follow the rail, which was great for us cos one of my goals was to do that today. We could come off the rail at anytime to play with the squeezes set up in the middle. Lots of hindquarter disengages and lateral flexion. Cathy asked us to call out when we felt the inside back leg leave the floor, I couldn't get this I've got to have to work on that when I get home.

Day 2

The weather was better, sunshine and wind!!!! boy was that wind strong! I came home with a red face but I'm sure that's wind burn not sun.
Bonnys leg was still a little warm, so again she had double supplement in her dinner.
As the weather was dry we made the most of it, playing on-line in the field and in the arena. Cathy split us into 2 groups, introverts and extroverts, that's people not horses! It took the pressure off when we did go into the arena, just the 3 of us. I achieved my goals today, to go into the arena, and to sit on Bonny in there.
Happy wind blown bunny.

Cathy's here!

Not sure what happened to last week... it went by in a blur!
Cathy is here and day 1 is over. Bonny loaded into Cathy's lorry in about 1/2 an hour with the final attempt by Cathy, she just needed that extra bit of pressure that I wasn't giving her. We made it to Ashover eventually, with only a couple of wrong turnings! It rained nearly all day!
Big panic by me when we got there as Bonny was down in the lorry. Cathy just opened the ramp and let her find her own way out. She was a bit shakey and has a graze down her face but hopefully she will be fine. We turned Bonny out with Evie, they just walked away together like old friends. We went to play in the afternoon, thankfully Cathy let me play in the field Bonny and Evie was in, which was interesting as Evie kept wanting to take Bonny back. After permission from Cathy one flick of the carrot stick kept Evie away for the rest of play.
Obviously Bonny was rbi, being in a different place and other horses around, so we took it nice and slow. She couldn't come to me when I first went in so I went closer and asked her again, she still couldn't so I went to her and gave her a treat. Evie was totally ignoring me but I know she was aware of everything that was going on. when I turned and walked away Bonny followed me at liberty which was nice, till Evie trotted over and took her away again! so funny. As it was wet and with Bonny's fall in mind I didn't want to play the catching game so I waited till they stood still and walked over to Bonny again, she followed me and I got the halter on much quicker this time. There's poles, tyres and a gate all set up in the field so we played squeeze, yo-yo through the tyres, stick to me, sideways over the poles. Bonny was great really trying to do everything I asked, including when I asked her to put her nose on one of the tyres I pointed to it so she put her nose on my finger, how cute! she got a treat for that. lots of walking over the poles to help her stretch out her back legs. For a rest, I kept taking her over to the gate where she could see the other horse playing in the arena, lots of approach and retreat cos they were very scarey! by the end of the session she was falling a sleep there. So proud of my baby.
I gave Bonny an extra scoop of movefree+ and some of the alphabute in her dinner hope that helps with any pain she might have from the fall. Hope to get some pics if it stops raining for long enough!

2 for 1

No play on Saturday, Bonny had toothache! We had to rush to the tack shop for some pain relief for her, got some great stuff from global herbs.
As it was so hot I thought I would give her a bath instead of playing, spa day Cathy calls it ;o) but no she wasn't happy about that, she didn't want her legs touching and definitely didn't want to be rinsed off! and I had to flush her mouth out with hibi-scrub.... I was thinking she'll hate me now! when I let her go she stomped off to the dustiest place she could find and rolled, and rolled, and rolled! After lots of snorting, stamping and rolling she came back to mug me for treats.... do you think she still loves me?

Sunday, very hot again, so we had a very short play session. Only a little bit of trotting to check she was moving ok, then lots of stick to me, sideways over barrels, dragging the tarp behind me, playing with hula hoop and standing on the pedestal. Bonny was just plodding around so I thought I'd jump on bareback, now it's been a while since I rode bareback, I'd forgotten how different it feels. While I was trying to fix my seat Bonny was trying to bite my foot and I found myself really tense, squeezing with my legs uummm how interesting! when I relaxed Bonny stopped walking straight away, love my horse :o) Threw the rope over her head a few times then got off. With the heat from Bonny as well, I was so damn hot! lots of treats, then I let her go back to munching the grass.

Vets turn today

Why do these things all need doing at the same time? Vaccs and dentist, Bonny has a loose tooth on the right and a large gap same side. Poor baby... vet had to rasp it as well cos it was sharp and angled into her mouth. She felt the pain even though she was sedated! I've now got to shred her veg and wash her mouth out once a day so the gum doesn't become infected. I wonder how we can make a game out of this?

I was right!

Farrier came today, Bonny couldn't stand still to have either back hoofs trimmed. Mick was very good with her, trying not to hold her hoofs high while he worked. Her back right hock is the bad one, she doesn't flex the joint. So glad I went with my instincts and didn't ride yesterday. The vet is coming tomorrow to do teeth and vaccs, I'm going to get her to check Bonny, lets see if she can suggest anything.

All on our own

I went out with a plan today, to be a little more particular about sideways over something and to get 4 feet on the pedestal. We started with a board on the floor, with a little bit of effort Bonny managed to get all four feet on it so got lots of treats and a long rest. Next we went to the pedestal, now Bonny doesn't have any problem putting her front feet on anything, so she was straight up there, waiting for a treat, which she got obviously. It took about a minute to get her to put her back feet on as well, with lots of focus and only a little bit of pressure on the rope.
Next was sideways, I set up 5 square barrels in a line. When Bonny first saw them she snorted and gave them a wide berth, then walked straight up to them and tried to put her foot on one of the barrels, uummm no problems there then, so I asked her to sideways over them. 3 times no problems at all. 10 minutes into playing and we'd done everything that I'd planned!
We started some circles but she was looking a little bit lame, so stopped that straight away and did stick to me instead, that's going well, I can be about 4ft away from her now. Push the ball is good too.
Walked Bonny out down the road on my own, surprisingly I was feeling really nervous about this, but we did lots of approach and retreat and it wasn't long before Bonny was walking with her head down and picnicing wherever she could. The first time Rocky called to her she spooked so we came straight back, after that she didn't bother and didn't call for him at all! I think she's starting to think of me as a leader! yay
Donna had her hands full with Rocky when Bonny and I walked out on-line. She chose to have him on-line so had to do lots of circles and figure 8s to keep him thinking. But of course as soon as she stopped he started to panic again.uuummm that's going to take some working on!
No riding but for me it was a good day.

oh sunny days

It was nice and sunny today, so much so, Bonny didn't want to do a lot at all... infact she would have preferrred to just doze thank you very much! I did manage to persuede her to do circle game at trot, she wasn't impressed, kept trying to escape out the gate. To give her a break we went and watched Donna practising getting on Rocky. He was doing a strange thing with his mouth...neck stretched out and head tilted to one side. He only did it when standing at the mount block, introverted behaviour I think. Donna was getting more and more annoyed cos he wouldn't stand still, obviously his strange head neck thing was worrying her too, so I suggested she didn't get on and said she could ride Bonny instead. A few lateral flexions and hind quarter disengages later Donna was much happier, although Rocky was working himself up into a sweat cos he was on his own! could this be jealousy? He doesn't bother at all if I go and play with Bonny when Donna isn't there, he just waits by the gate for us.
Bonny was a little sweaty when I took her saddle of so she had a quick bath, not all over just back and legs... now she has white legs again. I did mean to get a picture but I totally forgot, maybe next time.
riding 1 hr = 3hrs

No fun all week!

Been feeling bad all week, migraine and all that goes with it... ugh!
So tonight I was able to spend some time with Bonny. She was so funny, showing me where all her itchy spots were and letting me massage her ears...that was a first!
Then she was trying to mug Donna for treats and managed to wipe her mouth all over Donnas jumper, so funny! Donna you really must learn to defend your space... ;o)

I've booked a place on Cathys next course in Derbyshire... should be fun, but I'm soooo nervous.

It's all coming together

Due to my lack of confidence, I have never hacked Bonny out... that is till today! All the work we have put in with Cathy as finally paid off. Everthing felt right so after walking out on-line I jumped on and off we went! Cathy taught us to keep a check on how confident we felt with a scale of 1-10, anything below a 5 is fine, above that don't do it till you felt you could push yourself a little and only if you're at 6-7, above that is a definate no no! I can honestly say I was at 7, and I knew I could get off at anytime. Bonny was really eager to go so we had to do a few circles in the field entrance first till she stood still. Donna and Rocky came too on-line, first stop was at our gate, then a side street and finally to a small layby where we turned to come back. Bonny picniced at each stop which was good, but when we turned she wanted to stop again which wasn't a safe place for us, we got into a little argument and I was just about to jump off when Donna suggested she went in front and bonny just followed her!!! we did this 3 times till Bonny stopped arguing and turned lightly. When we got back home she got loads of treats.
riding 1 hr = 2hrs

Todays the day

that I thought I'd set up a new blog for journaling about our Parelli journey, seeing as we can't play due to the awful weather.
Pic was taken last year, I'd just taught her to stand on the pedestal. we've come along way since then.

Last Sunday we had a lesson with Cathy Sirrett, working on confidence for everything really. A couple of friends, Linda and Jo, came over to watch, that was a big thing for me, I hate people watching me. Cathy taught us some new exercises to do on-line to help Bonny's mobility. I only managed to practise this once this week due to life getting in the way, lol
Had a lovely ride, including trotting which was a fear of mine not so long ago. It wasn't untill Cathy suggested that we go in that I realised how much I was enjoying it and I didn't want to get off!
Cathy advised I keep a log of how many hours we ride so I'm starting this from last Sunday.
riding 1 hour = 1 hr