No Sleeping, So I'll Blog Instead.
Here's proof that I can get things done when I don't waste time sleeping. Of course tomorrow I'm going to be wishing that I had gotten some sleep, but I can only toss and turn in bed for so many hours before i just have to get up.
Spent some time at the barn yesterday afternoon. Something clicked and Lola and I had a really great day. I ended up only spending about an hour and a half with her, but pretty much every second of it was great quality time. She was really listening to me, and I think I’m finally learning how to communicate well with her. Of course we have a LONG way to go, but it is nice to feel that we are making progress!
I had planned to give her a bath again, but that never happened. I love that the Parelli program encourages people to just enjoy their horses. They make it very clear that you don't have to have an agenda with your horse all the time, and you don't have to ride. I think so most people miss out on very special relationships with their horses because they don't see past the riding. Don't get me wrong, I love to ride, but I also love grooming, playing with my horse on the ground, and even mucking stalls. All right, maybe I don't "love" mucking stalls, but I do enjoy it. It is really relaxing to me just to be at the barn.
I started out just hanging out with Lola in her stall today. We played lots of Friendly game. She's really good about letting me touch her everywhere except for her nose and mouth, so I really wanted to work on that today. I was able to really rub her nose all over without it bothering her today which was a HUGE accomplishment. She also let me put a finger in her mouth and rub her gums a little bit. She wasn't interested in having me repeat it, but at least I made some progress with that.
She got a really good grooming, and I was happy to see the rain rot is definitely going away. I did a little bit of Porcupine game in her stall, and then more Friendly game with her halter and lead rope. I probably spent close to half an hour in her stall with her. It was really nice and relaxing.
We went for a walk on the little trail loop behind Sarah's house. Lola really wanted to eat everything in sight, so I had to keep reminding her to keep moving. I don't want her to think that it is time to graze every time we hit the woods. It could get really annoying when we start doing trail rides. She did really well today and didn't seem at all nervous. Chloe kept sneaking up behind her and cutting through the woods around her, but Lola didn't see to care at all.
We detoured into the indoor ring after our walk. It was a little hot to be inside, but at least we got away from the distraction of grazing. More Friendly game, and more Porcupine game. She is getting MUCH better about moving her front end. It still needs work, but I can see improvement. We worked on the Driving game for a bit. She's actually getting very responsive to it, as long as I can hold her attention. She does get easily distracted, and if I can't keep her focused on me, I can't move her. I skipped driving her front end today. I'm not sure if I'm avoiding it because it is difficult, or if I'm waiting for her Porcupine game with the front end to be more consistent before I try to move on to driving. I did a little bit of Yo-Yo game with her. She is so good at that! As long as I can keep her attention, she's great. She knows exactly what I want. I was able to back her away from me more today than ever before. At first she looked slightly confused today when she took a step back and I didn't immediately relax and stop asking, but she figured out what I wanted pretty quickly and she backed another step. After a couple of single steps, she got the idea and kept backing until I totally relaxed. I sent her out almost to the end of the 12 foot line.
More Circle game today than we had ever done before. She's totally understanding my send, but not wanting to circle to the right as much and as willingly as she will circle to the left. I'm sure it will just take some time. I actually got her to circle at the trot a little bit today, and I even did a little circle game over a very small jump, fun! I really need to get her front end moving better so we can start working on the Sideways game next.
I brought her over the mounting block again today and played Friendly game with her while I was standing up on it. She was much calmer about it today than she has been before. I leaned over her and patted her opposite side, and she was totally fine. I even jumped against her side a little bit and she didn't move. She hasn't really done anything bad in the past when I've done this, she just starts to walk away when she gets uncomfortable, but today she stayed still.
No bath today, time ran out on me, so I let her graze for a bit, fly sprayed her, put medicine on all her many scrapes and boo-boos, a little rain rot spray, just to be sure, and I called it a day.
We are away for the weekend, so no barn for me for a few days, but I'm sure Lola will be well taken care of and happy to see me when I get back.
I really don't know how I'm going to find another barn that I'm as happy with. I really love having the place to myself most of the time. I don't have to worry about people thinking I'm crazy when we do the Parelli stuff. I have the rings to myself. We've got access to trails, and even an indoor. I have total confidence that Lola is well taken care of when I'm not around, she gets to be out 24 hours a day if she wants, and if she wants to be in, she has a nice, dry, cozy stall. Sarah is so wonderful at putting her fly mask on, and little things like that, which mean so much. The drive does stink. It is a little long, but that is really the only drawback. I do keep my eyes and ears open for info on barns, but I'm certainly not in a hurry to move. I hope Sarah continues to enjoy having her there.
Yesterday I got a new book all about the special needs of draft horses. Really interesting stuff! I think I'm going to be changing Lola's diet. There is a disease called EPMS that affects mostly draft horses, but others as well. I'm pretty sure it is the same thing my old horse, Woody has. Any way, the disease causes muscles to waste away, but it can be controlled well with a special diet including watching carbohydrates, and increasing fat levels. I've heard high fat diets were important for draft horses, and research I've done in this book, and on the web shows that this special diet they recommend for EPMS horses, can be very beneficial to other drafts as well. I think one of things I like about horses is that there is SO much to learn. I've been around horses all my life, and yet there is still so much that I'm still figuring out. It certainly never gets boring to me.
Spent some time at the barn yesterday afternoon. Something clicked and Lola and I had a really great day. I ended up only spending about an hour and a half with her, but pretty much every second of it was great quality time. She was really listening to me, and I think I’m finally learning how to communicate well with her. Of course we have a LONG way to go, but it is nice to feel that we are making progress!
I had planned to give her a bath again, but that never happened. I love that the Parelli program encourages people to just enjoy their horses. They make it very clear that you don't have to have an agenda with your horse all the time, and you don't have to ride. I think so most people miss out on very special relationships with their horses because they don't see past the riding. Don't get me wrong, I love to ride, but I also love grooming, playing with my horse on the ground, and even mucking stalls. All right, maybe I don't "love" mucking stalls, but I do enjoy it. It is really relaxing to me just to be at the barn.
I started out just hanging out with Lola in her stall today. We played lots of Friendly game. She's really good about letting me touch her everywhere except for her nose and mouth, so I really wanted to work on that today. I was able to really rub her nose all over without it bothering her today which was a HUGE accomplishment. She also let me put a finger in her mouth and rub her gums a little bit. She wasn't interested in having me repeat it, but at least I made some progress with that.
She got a really good grooming, and I was happy to see the rain rot is definitely going away. I did a little bit of Porcupine game in her stall, and then more Friendly game with her halter and lead rope. I probably spent close to half an hour in her stall with her. It was really nice and relaxing.
We went for a walk on the little trail loop behind Sarah's house. Lola really wanted to eat everything in sight, so I had to keep reminding her to keep moving. I don't want her to think that it is time to graze every time we hit the woods. It could get really annoying when we start doing trail rides. She did really well today and didn't seem at all nervous. Chloe kept sneaking up behind her and cutting through the woods around her, but Lola didn't see to care at all.
We detoured into the indoor ring after our walk. It was a little hot to be inside, but at least we got away from the distraction of grazing. More Friendly game, and more Porcupine game. She is getting MUCH better about moving her front end. It still needs work, but I can see improvement. We worked on the Driving game for a bit. She's actually getting very responsive to it, as long as I can hold her attention. She does get easily distracted, and if I can't keep her focused on me, I can't move her. I skipped driving her front end today. I'm not sure if I'm avoiding it because it is difficult, or if I'm waiting for her Porcupine game with the front end to be more consistent before I try to move on to driving. I did a little bit of Yo-Yo game with her. She is so good at that! As long as I can keep her attention, she's great. She knows exactly what I want. I was able to back her away from me more today than ever before. At first she looked slightly confused today when she took a step back and I didn't immediately relax and stop asking, but she figured out what I wanted pretty quickly and she backed another step. After a couple of single steps, she got the idea and kept backing until I totally relaxed. I sent her out almost to the end of the 12 foot line.
More Circle game today than we had ever done before. She's totally understanding my send, but not wanting to circle to the right as much and as willingly as she will circle to the left. I'm sure it will just take some time. I actually got her to circle at the trot a little bit today, and I even did a little circle game over a very small jump, fun! I really need to get her front end moving better so we can start working on the Sideways game next.
I brought her over the mounting block again today and played Friendly game with her while I was standing up on it. She was much calmer about it today than she has been before. I leaned over her and patted her opposite side, and she was totally fine. I even jumped against her side a little bit and she didn't move. She hasn't really done anything bad in the past when I've done this, she just starts to walk away when she gets uncomfortable, but today she stayed still.
No bath today, time ran out on me, so I let her graze for a bit, fly sprayed her, put medicine on all her many scrapes and boo-boos, a little rain rot spray, just to be sure, and I called it a day.
We are away for the weekend, so no barn for me for a few days, but I'm sure Lola will be well taken care of and happy to see me when I get back.
I really don't know how I'm going to find another barn that I'm as happy with. I really love having the place to myself most of the time. I don't have to worry about people thinking I'm crazy when we do the Parelli stuff. I have the rings to myself. We've got access to trails, and even an indoor. I have total confidence that Lola is well taken care of when I'm not around, she gets to be out 24 hours a day if she wants, and if she wants to be in, she has a nice, dry, cozy stall. Sarah is so wonderful at putting her fly mask on, and little things like that, which mean so much. The drive does stink. It is a little long, but that is really the only drawback. I do keep my eyes and ears open for info on barns, but I'm certainly not in a hurry to move. I hope Sarah continues to enjoy having her there.
Yesterday I got a new book all about the special needs of draft horses. Really interesting stuff! I think I'm going to be changing Lola's diet. There is a disease called EPMS that affects mostly draft horses, but others as well. I'm pretty sure it is the same thing my old horse, Woody has. Any way, the disease causes muscles to waste away, but it can be controlled well with a special diet including watching carbohydrates, and increasing fat levels. I've heard high fat diets were important for draft horses, and research I've done in this book, and on the web shows that this special diet they recommend for EPMS horses, can be very beneficial to other drafts as well. I think one of things I like about horses is that there is SO much to learn. I've been around horses all my life, and yet there is still so much that I'm still figuring out. It certainly never gets boring to me.
posted by Lisa @ 2:47 AM
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