something for the weekend

this is a wonderful blog post about Horsenality™.

you can watch this video to better understand Horsenality™.

here is a blog post about lunging vs. the circling game.

love this!

wonderful author.

this is a beautiful book.  one of my favorite horse books.

before i got billy blaze this video was a HUGE inspiration to me!  i still go back and watch it often, to stay inspired :)

patience

patience: n.

1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.


2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.


3. quiet, steady perseverance; even tempered care; diligence; to work with patience.

sometimes when billy is learning he gets unconfident.  he needs TIME to figure things out and work through them in his own mind.  the key to unlocking his mind is WAITING.  it's really that simple.  i show him the pattern, read his body language, note if he is starting to feel unconfident and if he is, then i just wait.  we stand and he thinks and thinks and thinks.  i mirror him and wait and think too.

when he sighs, blows out, has rollers in his nose or licks and chews then i know that he is ready to move on.  these are all signs that he is ready to be my partner and try again!

if i choose to hurry up and push him through something and don't wait for the lick and chew and the thinking to occur, i pay for it.  most likely he will become afraid and switch right over into the right side of his brain, survival.  he will think about getting out of there, or freeze up.  OR he will become very dominant, using the left side of his brain and his ears go back, he tries to push me with his shoulders and moves right into NOT thinking and moving his feet not to get away but to run me over, or stubbornly NOT moving his feet.  any or all of these things can occur and they can occur in swift order.  it's when people put their horses into these situations that you hear the old adage, "he 'suddenly' blew up and bucked me off!"  or "she 'suddenly' spooked and ran away!"  there is a series of events that happen BEFORE your horse "suddenly" bucks you off or runs away with you.

learning to "read" your horse in every situation can save you the pain of falling off, being run over or stepped on.  it's when we understand our horse and allow them to BE a horse that the partnership begins.

learning to have patience while my horse is learning, has catapulted us beyond anything i ever thought possible.  this has lead us down a path of understanding and quiet diligence.

thank you parelli for teaching me

patience: quiet, steady perseverance; even tempered care; diligence

 

lightness part 3

lightness: n.

6. Delicacy or subtlety in craft, performance, or effect.

billy has taught me just how much a horse understands and how often we spend our time YELLING at our horses.  "a horse can feel a fly land on them" is a common analogy told by horse people.  then we go out and YELL at our horses to get something accomplished.

billy has taught me that the louder i yell the louder he has to get, to be heard.  if i whisper, he is more than happy to try what i'm asking.

when i am communicating with him, sometimes, i have a lot of movement going on in my body and in my ropes and stick and string.  billy will just stand there and LOOK at me as if to say, "just TELL me what you want woman!"  then i laugh, get quieter and more subtle and off he goes to jump the barrel or stand on the pedestal.  ahhhhh... gotta love;

lightness: Delicacy or subtlety in craft, performance, or effect.

lightness part 2

lightness: n.

3. Ease or cheerfulness in manner or style.
4. Freedom from worry or trouble.
5. Lack of appropriate seriousness; levity.

billy has taught me so much about being playful and silly.  i always thought horses were serious stuff, hard work.  there was very little room for laughter.  you must never let the horse get the upper hand.  you must never, ever let the horse win.

then came billy blaze and all his silliness.  he is constantly coming up with something new.  he thinks up things all on his own, then shows me just how smart he is.  he responds to laughter, as most horses do.  they know when we are feeling joyful.  they can feel that energy.  they know when you are angry, they can feel that energy as well.  i dare you to try to get your horse to work with you when you are angry.  it just doesn't happen.  that's when things go south and we lose the respect/trust our horses are willing to give us.  if you start feeling angry, smile, and walk away.

if we can be joyful around them they will give us more in return.  they will try harder, jump higher and show a true happiness in their work.  thereby making them a better partner.

if we can allow our horses to show their true selves to us it opens a whole other path to understanding them.  horses are funny.  they have a wonderful sense of humor.

lightness: lack of appropriate seriousness; levity.

lightness

lightness: n.
1. The state or quality of having little weight or force.
2. Ease or quickness of movement; agility.

just when i think i'm being light and gentle, billy shows me exactly WHAT being light actually is, what it looks like,  how it feels.  i really think about what i'm asking for each time i lay my hands on him or pick up my rope.

i work on myself every time i leave the barn.

i make sure i PLAY with billy.

what is he thinking?  how does he feel about what we are doing?

so many things to notice and read.  i am constantly adjusting our session to address whatever comes up.  some days what i consider to be light he feels is too hard.  when he is telling me this he will become obstinate, heavy, unwilling to move.  he'll push on me as hard as he feels i'm pushing on him.  in this moment i need to take a step back and think about what he is telling me.  if he is resistant, then it means i am asking the question incorrectly.  the heavier he is the lighter i need to be!

lightness = the state or quality of having little weight or force.

the lighter i get the lighter he gets.

before and after

this photo shows how much billy's posture has changed.  the one on the left was taken in may 2011 and the one on the right was taken in the winter of 2011.  it's amazing to me how much he has learned and in that learning, has changed his very appearance.

billy blaze comes into my life

my allergies had gotten worse.  i couldn't get within 10 feet of a horse without having an asthma attack and feeling like plucking my itchy eyes right out.  it was awful.  i had gone almost a year without a horse and was paying for it.  what was i going to do?

i was doing some research on line and stumbled across the Curly Horse.  they were touted as being hypoallergenic.  they had curly eye lashes, curly fetlocks, curly hair on their bodies, curly, dread lock manes and tails.  they have ultra soft hair coats, more like a bunny rabbit than a horse.  you just want to push your face into it and snuggle.

my heart was still healing from the loss of my farm and all my horses.  we had to re-locate and finding a place to keep my Andalusian gelding proved to be difficult.  it wouldn't have been if the horse couldn't jump upwards of 7 feet and didn't have a problem jumping out of every pen i put him in.  i found him an excellent home, gifted him to the gal and said my goodbyes.  that happened about a year before i stumbled on the Curly Horse.  my handsome hubby said i could get another horse IF someone gave me one.  after all i had given away my last horse and he had also been expensive...  my heart sank a bit because who was going to give me a Curly Horse?  hypoallergenic and rare.  i decided i would just work really hard for the next year, squirreling away all my money towards the purchase of a Curly Horse.  in the mean time i would find the breeder i wanted to go with and get to know them and their horses.

i called around and emailed several.  of all the breeders i tried to contact only one even made the effort to reply to me.  not one of the other breeders even emailed me back.  they definitely didn't call me.  this breeder did both!  we visited a little bit and during our visits it came out that i wasn't planning on purchasing right away, but would be saving my money and making plans.

"if money is a problem i have the perfect horse for you!"  she said.  "he's a bay yearling colt that has a few faults.  other breeders have told me he's too ugly to have in their barns.  they told me he has a ewe neck, a straight shoulder and a hammer head.  if you are interested i'll give him to you for a dollar."

[caption id="attachment_27" align="aligncenter" width="640"] LEFT: the day after i brought him home, May 2011 RIGHT: September of 2012[/caption]

i could not believe my ears!  someone was willing to GIVE me a hypoallergenic Curly Horse for FREE! (well for a dollar... but basically, for FREE!)  talk about karma!

i asked for a few pictures and loved what i saw.  billy blaze was just an awkward yearling that needed some lovin and some gymnastic exercises and he was going to be beautiful!

my hubby and i drove the 8 hours to pick him up and the rest.... is our journey.  the journey to find myself, my heart and become a horse-woman.

ray hunt