Wednesday, October 8 - Sephira

Today Sephira met me at her stall door. We played/hung out out back. Dwell time. Some GM, cookie, mirroring and a little backup from intention. A little stroking fav places. etc.

MMJ

Email posts on progress in GM/TM alignment and rewarding the release with exhale.

My email to MMJ:

Sephira and I played out front with the gold ribbon before a lesson today and have been able to do so for three days in a row.

TM energy ribbon and seeking alignment: Sephira comes to me when I move and stays aligned until I stop. However, I am unsure about whether my focusing on her stifle has any effect. I did watch her energy and it seemed to begin with her HQ. Still I don't know if I am teaching anything.

Also although she is pleasant and happy, she does not melt into the ground. I also don't know that she cares about the GM ribbon because I don't see her degree of relaxation changing AND I only feel the alignment when she is following me as I back.

Try--yesterday we did not need halter/rope, she aligns from intention and stays aligned and relaxes tho not as completely deep and rooted as she can be but I think would have if I had had more time.

from MMJ:

I so get it - I saw that in her too - so sweet, kind .. playful - but a bit of a wall up - as if she's not aware she can connect with you to the depth you are accustomed w/ Try ....

I think a bit of aligning her thoughts - through slight TM at stifle and draw, that circle of Energy - will help - but being very careful to notice her slightest release - and mirror it deeply to guide her that she is on the right track. This whole concept of connection is rather foreign to her I think.. yes, you going deeper is good (GM) - but it will only work if she 'sees' you - the alignment will help her see you - then your depth in GM will prove to her that she WANTS to see you.

Tuesday - Sephira and I lesson in the dressage field

Yesterday Sephira and I and riding lesson: I was so pleased--first of all that she blew out two separate times during walking before the instructor arrived. Also I could feel her responding to my cueing of gait transitions before I asked and she was just lovely about following my focus so that I only needed reins for some lateral cueing. This is so hugely different from where she was when she came to Rollover! 

Also we used the draw reins to avoid having unproductive negativity over using HQ. She quickly got the idea and I was able to give her slack. I look forward to not needing to use them at all!!

Next, I am looking forward to playing on the ground again today with giving lots of GM cookies to reward releases!!! 

Monday - Watched BA ride Sephira and played B Me with Sephira and Try

BA took last week off from riding etc. last week with all the work on the ring and three new horses on the farm. Today she rode Sephira--warmup WT on loose rein then asking for her to come up thru her top line a bit at WT but mostly trot as that is easier for Sephira to do. Then canter and Sephira offered the flexion at a slow canter. Interesting when BA took one of a couple breaks to reward Sephira for trying and improving, Sephira looked at me and without thinking I said, "hey girl" and she started walking to me.

Gorgeous day and after lunch went back to the barn for B Me with Try and Sephira. Try had a bit of a nosebleed so we left her pasture where we were playing to tend to it and apply fly spray as insects were totally distracting. Played on the grass in front of the barn. Easy draw/alignment from intention. Increased energy to come to me, when I increased the distance. Gave exhale cue as we were melting back to standstill but unsure it is having any effect. We have exhaled/blown back and forth at each other for years. Try has the habit of blowing to help me relax. Riding I can exhale and Try will match and exhale as well. Our riding warmup begins with walk until she blows out.

Sephira--we played beside the drive outside her pasture and MiMi hung out with us while we did. Sephira also comes to me/draw/align from the a bit of a look at her stifle and my taking a step away from her--on both her left and right sides. Also she will increase her energy to come to me if I increase the distance. I also don't know if my exhaling is registering with her. In the past when I have blown out to reduce my tension, she has looked at me curiously.

I wonder when to go back to the cookie reward of asking Sephira for something, then giving the 60 second GM mode visualization of how wonderful she just was in completing whatever task we did.??
She was really licking and chewing back when we were doing that.

Sunday yeehaw with Sephira and lesson Kathy and Try

Cold am and horses silly. Sephira full of nervous energy. In playing the circle game to release some energy she got away from me and we played a full out catch me game. In just a couple minutes she stopped and most of that tension drained away. This was a first for us to play hard and it was successful!

Then lesson with Kathy and Try--first time riding on the new footing in the ring. Lovely ride WTC.
High light for me was realizing that Try uses her HQ and comes up thru topline a lot without my cueing. Also pleased that I am finding a dressage riding form for myself at the canter.

homework: keeping forward momentum in 1/4 turns on the haunches at the walk and trot.

Thursday - Best Ever strides with Sephira

Lesson with Kathy and Sephira

After two lovely days with Sephira I was really looking forward to lesson today! Sephira and I played out front with the gold ribbon for awhile before Kathy arrived. She comes to me when I move--unsure about my focusing on her stifle having any effect. Also although she is pleasant and happy, she does not melt into the ground. ASK MMJ





LESSON:
warmup now consists of basically everything I was doing before and is basically hunter on loose rein with lots of bending lines, patterns, suppling. Walk and trot. Walk--work on my "leaning back", shoulders-pinched dressage position to make a new habit.

Bends: serpentine, bend in corners, circles and spirals, shoulder in, shoulder fore, figure eights, diagonals, leg yields. Be creative and BEND

Then take up a connection/contact and continue bending in everything we do
1. outside leg says go forward
2. outside rein steadies her balance
3. elbows not hands--wear gloves and keep the connection--especially outside rein
4. inside rein asks for bend (or my body does)
5. inside leg asks for bend
6. both ring fingers ask for her to come up thru top line.

We got--really using HQ, good impulsion, bending, HQ really stepping across at the trot and it felt wonderful. Stopped, good girl, treats! (LBI whats in it for me).

Love having the ring in the field!

What's in it for me? for us girls. B Me day

Progress yesterday...I could see an increase in energy to fill the space with Try and, although Sephira still hasn't "retained" the idea that my focus on her stifle means forward energy from the HQ to draw/align with me, we can use the exercise with the lead line in the beginning so she sees me before we proceed to doing whatever. 

I decided to organize all my session 5 notes and found myself starting over from the beginning with session 1. No riding today with Try and Sephira--reviewing from the beginning for me with both.

• Improvement today. After reviewing--started the first session with Sephira with hanging out at liberty, TTime for me and then some mirroring. Today for the first time Sephira was the strongest magnet ever and I never needed her to feel the lead rope so, bless her heart, she did learn. OR perhaps she just wanted to connect align and I did not check to see if my focus on her stifle was causing the energy to come from her HQ first.

  
  
•  Next with Try I repeated the hanging out at liberty. Ttime and mirroring. I never got around to even putting a rope on her. We did the GM energy ribbon for relaxation plus asking her to align with me from focusing on her HQ and she comes and aligns strongly from intention. BUT I did finally check to look for the energy coming from the HQ first--at first I wasn't sure--perhaps it came from the FQ (and was therefor, not a sincere thought on her part but that I was in some way Making her do it.) The second time I could see the HQ energy. WooHoo. Some success.