Wednesday

Try
Today Try was in a bad mood again. Discussed getting Karen Bullock to check Try out for pain in hip/spine/left hind leg. Grooming and rain rot treatment.

Devon
First ride in 2.5 weeks. He seemed confused. Warmup, walk/trot/canter. Still working on downward transitions--cueing working well from trot to walk but not my sitting. Canter was beautiful wonderful--glorious gait, self-carriage--I felt like a light passenger. BA had encouraged just riding for fun and I did enjoy the warmup and canter so much. I felt guilty when I lost position in downward transitions.

Later--call to Dan re transitioning Try to semi-retired from parelli levels pursuit for sure and TBA any other activities she doesn't like.

Try Transition: Who does Try want to be?

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Occasionally—slow, successful already learned Parelli tasks

·        Play with obstacles—hunt my purpose game—low keyed/no pressure

·        Set up obstacles games riding in different places

·        Pressure or other fix for tension/emotion/bad attitude.

·        BB/BL at a walk/jog variations of place/pattern

·        How much suppling?

·        How much fitness?

·        Dwell time and grazing

·        Field trips and trail rides

·        Dawn

·       Continue with Kathy if possible continuing to study how to make Try happy

·        Get help from Dan in transitioning

·        Maintaining good ground manners/connection/partnership

·        Purpose oriented: will to some extent put in effort but maybe not exuberance but not hate it. With Kathy my intent is clearer giving purpose.

·        Dressage—detail oriented/competition driven no. Health and fitness yes if possible. How to be creative—put it into practice/obstacles and dressage on the trail/creativity

·        2-3 hour session with Dan last summer—

o   Perfectly pleasant/bonding/tuned in for 1.5 hr liberty in the field--Try stays tuned in because of variety and rest and establishing connection.

o    Try won’t like repetition of something she’s got right nor maintaining without clear purpose/variety.

o   Get it done and be done.

·        Crabbiness as a habit

o   Good to address it to prevent it as a habit or break a habit

o   Western pleasure could surely create a lifelong habit of crabbiness

o   Fix it in a relaxed manner with as little drama as possible

·        Go out and ride, fix it riding

·        Try’s semi-retirement

o   Physically I want her to be as fit as is healthy for her while giving her a break from drilling and boredom. Strength muscular/aerobic and suppleness.

o   Mentally I want to add variety, problem-solving and success to keep her active and not turn into a vegetable.

o   Grooming: 3-4 days a week so she looks like a lovely, special horse.

Thoughts other than Try's Transition

·        Devon is a high level horse with natural talent for movement and enjoys moving more/has a different attitude toward moving than Try does. Try is talented physically—powerful horse and intellectually—excellent learner---She just doesn’t want to do it.

·        Is there anything I can offer Devon? Any benefit for Devon to have me as a rider? Whats in it for him?

·        Parelli system isn't a good fit for me at this stage tho I always want the philosophy to be foremost—I will never pursue level 4 with Try and might never pursue "levels" again with any horse. Good horsemanship is good horsemanship. Any further purchases of educational materials will be related to my goals of improving my riding and learning about horse development.

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