i've been really focusing on passing our level 4 online and at liberty. being goal orientated has not helped my horsemanship lately.i had to go back and remind myself to respect myself as a student.
then i had to remind myself to do this for my horse and not to him. when i start to get so goal orientated, direct line, billy starts to feel like i'm doing things to him and the line between work and play get's real blurry. i'm sweaty. he's sweaty. i'm breathing hard. he's breathing hard. and the savvy hits me like a ton of bricks... which leads to me just stopping. just put my stick and string down, give billy some rope and take a seat for a little while as he grazes around me. ripping up the grass, chewing and ripping and chewing. just the sound of that calms me and helps me to engage my brain again. this journey is not just about me. it's also about billy and helping him to be the best he can be. along the way he will teach me to be the best i can be.
Awesome point Mindy.....how do you go about doing your plans for the day with Billy? I sometimes feel like I go out without purpose, which is not the same thing as direct line thinking, or is it?
ReplyDeletei rarely go out without a purpose. billy is very left brained most of the time and if i approach him without a plan he knows it immediately and just tries to take over. so even if my plan is to just hang with him, i make sure i have an idea of what i want our time together to look like. that does not mean that i'm stuck with that plan however. if i want to just hang out, but he is offering touch it, putting his feet on things, looking at me with those eyes and ears, then i'll change my plan and we'll go around and play touch it for awhile before we just hang out.
ReplyDeleteusually the way i make a plan is to go over the level i'm playing at. when you do the auditions there is a check list of things they would like you to be able to do with excellence. i scan that, at all 4 levels, and make sure i don't have any holes in our foundation. i'll pick one or two things that we can't do, sit down and make a plan (that includes watching the videos in the vault and watching videos on youtube) break things down so they are more teachable and then head on out hoping to touch on a few things while we play.
some days things just don't go well... but that's when i decide "today we are going to do the weave, on the 22' feather lines at the walk and the trot." and then i head out there to do that, not listening to what billy may want to do. he may want to play circle game, or touch it, or he may not be connected. if i chose to not listen to his idea, THAT is when i've become direct line. i've decided THIS is what we are doing and i don't bend to his idea. THAT is my definition of direct line :)
i have found that besides being able to bend, having a plan is one of the most important things for billy and i. he can be a real stinker if i allow him to take over! LOL