Those of you who couldn’t join us for the weekend at Crescent City will want to come out with us next year on what I suggest should be our annual play date at Crescent City.  Jody, Grace, Jan, Tara, Willie, Kathy and I had a lovely time at Crescent City this weekend.  Perfect weather, perfect setting, perfect equine partners resulted in the best play date ever.

Tara was also the perfect guide, generously sharing her familiarity with the beach, redwoods and local restaurants with us while her horses shared their calm acceptance of sand, surf, ocean, giant redwoods, bridges and creek crossings with our equine partners.  Funny that.  We humans looked to Tara for “what’s next?” and our equine partners looked to Bud and Takoda for confirmation that it was all safe.  Tara says she may become a trail guide in Maui and she has all the talent and skills to be a great one!

The Mill Creek ride in the redwoods was beautiful – the redwoods inspiring, the smell so fresh and oxygen rich, you could get drunk on it.  The only warning I’d give is that Prince and MaryAnn would have preferred to have been booted on the way down some of the hills that were rocky.

Playing with our horses on the beach and riding them on the sand along the surf was for all of us, a dream come true.  Our horses had never seen the ocean before and watching them work through their concerns, enter the water and then start to relax enough to think about moments of play with us was…… extraordinary.  Bud and Takoda are light years ahead of our crew on feeling “been there and done that” and that was all to the good as they provided a calm equine example for our horses to follow.  Friday we played on the ground wading into the water with our horses, while Saturday and Sunday we played on the ground and rode on the beach.  It was Tara and Willie’s 11th anniversary on Saturday and the ride they took together along the waves could have been a closing shot for a romance movie.   I’m still grinning from ear to ear.

Here is a short video of highlights from the glorious day!

We had a lovely play date at the ranch last Saturday.  Normally, the August heat would have been draining, but this time we took advantage of the heat to play in our well fed irrigation pond.  Horses and humans found the water refreshing on a hot day.  What a fun way to beat the heat.  And I finally found a way I can jump on my horse bareback – just get her into the water where I’m partially floating!  Piece of cake.

We also did some liberty play in the arena.  Erik connected with Deb’s mustang and had him doing stick to me as though they were best of friends.  Cynthia’s new mare NahKee didn’t have much connection with her at the first.  Rather than using pressure to keep NahKee with her at liberty, Cynthia took all the pressure off and allowed her mare the time she needed to find her.  It was beautiful watching the mare’s expression change as she initially sought comfort from the other horses in the arena – being gently sent away, hiding inside herself for a bit and then seeking out Cynthia with licks and chews and nuzzles for her human friend.

Oh, I almost forgot, that is Cynthia’s mare who is lying down in the pond with so much enjoyment.

Here is a short video of some of the day’s highlights.  Hope you enjoy it: 

Since it promised to be a hot day, we started early with an arena on-line challenge, followed by play in the wooded trail course.  The horses were all left brained and cooperative and we progressed our horsemanship as well as had fun.

As the day heated up, we gravitated to playing in the pond.  The hot weather made the water super attractive and soon all the horses were splashing happily. That is when the “play” in play date got its real meaning.  Takoda took to the water, deciding that lying down in the pond was the best idea ever, only surpassed by getting in a really good roll after he got out of the pond!

When we broke for our pot-luck lunch, we turned the horses loose in the pasture and they showed us what horse play is all about.

I captured some of the highlights on video so click on the link, sit back and enjoy and plan on joining one of our future play dates.  They are generally the second Saturday of each month but call to verify.

What a fun day we had. 

Marilyn was a trooper to play with her beautiful Haflinger Gabe with her injured elbow in a sling.  Gabe was a true blue LBI – handsome and brave and trying his best for her.

Cindy and Ollie continue to win the ‘most improved’ award.  I love the way Cindy keys into and releases on his every try.  Ollie and Mystic had a blast racing around the trail course – the most exercise Mystic has gotten in a while.  Ollie took a stumble when running through the trees, but came up without a scratch on him and just kept running.

Sheral and Baby just keep getting better and better. The two of them make an awesome pair.  Baby was also a slut today and Mystic told me in no uncertain terms that Baby was WAY more attractive to him at liberty than I was!  Can’t blame him.  She is a majestic mare.  Mark is so supportive of Sheral and Baby.

Grace brought Casper today and I think she left wondering why she had pretty much been ignoring this amazing horse for the last year.  OK, so Namaste was begging for her attention, but still…..  She had done Parelli with Casper back then, but he made it clear that he remembered all his lessons.  On the ground, in the trail course, the arena or being ridden, this boy was calm and collected – a vision of a partner having a great time with his Mom at the play date.  Poor Grace, three wonderful horses to choose from when she goes out to play……. NOT a bad problem to have.

As usual Deb brought both Gabe and Dancer.  Gabe is so left brained that Deb was opening an umbrella over his head and draping a bag of soda cans rattling around and he just happily kept munching on the grass.  This boy is afraid of nothing.  With Deb on his back, Gabe started out a bit right brained, but he settled nicely with some disengagements.  Dancer did better than Gabe did at the challenge.  That boy is coming along beautifully.  Of course, Dancer and Gabe had their customary splash and lie down in the pond time, along with racing around the pasture at full speed ahead.  They do love visiting Mystic Ranch.

Susan didn’t have a trailer and she didn’t officially want to ‘borrow’ a horse, but she ended up handling a fair number of horses as the day went on.  I’m glad she enjoyed meeting the SavvyRiders in person.  Its a great group – supportive and a good representative of Parelli.  Susan took a bunch of photos that are up on the yahoo site.  Check them out!

The ‘challenge’ proved to be a great exercise.  It clearly showed up what worked and what needed some work at home.  The horses stayed left brained and the people didn’t become too direct line.  They put the relationship first and we all had a heck of a lot of fun as we coached and cheered each other on.

The potluck lunch was delicious as always.  I love Grace’s Gaspacho, the chilled potato salad, green salad and watermelon hit the spot and somehow Deb’s brownies just disappeared – even though she thought they might have been a little soft…… no way….. though upon reflection, I think she should keep trying to produce the perfect batch of brownies.  Folks left most of the left overs for Ron and me and we enjoyed having them for supper.

Tired and happy and ready for bed.  Thanks for coming and having a good time.  Mark your calendar for July 10 as the next play date at Mystic Ranch.  I’ll come up with a new challenge – maybe two.  One for the arena and another for the trail course.

Boy, were we lucky with the weather for our August play date at the ranch.  Last week had record high temperatures, but it cooled down this week so we had a lovely day.

We started out doing ground work in the trail course.  I was playing with my 4 year old, Prince.  It was really interesting to see what he could offer easily and what caused him concern.  Backing up and down the stairs?  OK.  Circling over the ends of the teeter totter or standing on either end of the teeter totter, or even pushing down the high end of the teeter totter?  All OK.  Walking over the teeter totter? Not yet, Mom.  That was fine.  He was thinking, not trying to run me over and trying.  I want him confident and I’m happy to take as long as it takes.  Julie’s Rusty was the star on the teeter totter.  That LBE curiosity showed clearly.  With each try he gained confidence and in short order he was walking across the teeter totter with a confident expression on his face.  Namaste played dominance games when first asked to cross the bridge, but passive persistence practiced in the proper position convinced her that crossing the bridge was really not a bad idea.  Once her mind set changed, Grace took her through the car wash and Namaste was in a partner frame of mind, ready to ride.  Anthony brought his magnificent Percheron, Cole over for the first time.  Cole owned the bridge.  He was confident and I was delighted that the bridge was solid enough to hold his weight.  Danna’s Bel was a lot more confident with the obstacles this time around.  The harmony between the two of them is palatable.  Karen took photos of us playing.

We broke for our potluck lunch.  Gazpacho, pasta salad, chicken salad and chocolate chip cookie bars….. Yum!  Add horse talk with people I like and life is very good.

After lunch, we tacked up, hopped on our horses and played with some patterns in the arena.  Karen rode my Paso Fino mare Tori and while the patterns helped her to get in time with Tori’s shorter, quicker gait, Karen couldn’t help but miss her own Eva.  I hadn’t ridden Prince much this year, but he quickly demonstrated that he remembered and enjoyed doing the patterns.  It was funny.  I was demonstrating a zig-zag of leg yields down the long side of the arena and he was flowing from left to right to left.  I hadn’t gotten all the way down the rail when I decided we had demonstrated enough.  Prince politely disagreed and continued the pattern until he reached the far end of the arena.  After the horses were settled, we all did some riding in the pasture, with Karen and I playing point to point and Danna and Julie playing with the pond.

It was another lovely play day.  Glad we started earlier when it was cool enough to do ground work comfortably.  If the weather is similar on August 8, we’ll start at 8:30 am again for our next play date since the arena started to feel like an oven after lunch time.   

It was nice to see the horses (and minis) settle in and explore and boy, did they have fun playing in the pond and running in the pasture.  Whinny won the award for biggest change in confidence from arrival to departure.  Bel was the most cool, calm and collected from start to finish.  Namaste made a huge change in her confidence from last play date to this one and really partnered up with Grace.  Ollie seemed equally cool, calm and collected until Cindy turned him loose in the pasture and he had a blast blasting around the pasture with Gabriel and Dancer.  Speaking of which, Dancer won the award for loving the pond the most.  He must have dropped down into it a dozen times.  Then, of course, Dancer and Gabriel won the synchronized splashing competition.  Check out their photo on the yahoo new photos!  Mystic once more demonstrated that he loves Walker more than he loves me.  Whether doing “follow the rail” or just being left behind as Walker and Sheral trotted down the road, Mystic was drawn to Walker like a magnet to iron.  He was also drawn to Cindy’s mini, but Walker is his favorite.  Reba was very happy to be back visiting at the ranch and grazing in her old pasture.  John and Cally played around with going into the pond, but all the splashing that Reba was doing was a bit intimidating to him.  Robin rode and then hand grazed Treasure from her golf cart – avoiding the sun and keeping cool.  

Folks played in the round pen.  Danna and Bel did a lovely liberty demonstration in the round pen.  Really nice, soft communication and relationship between the two.  I helped a couple people with their figure eight positioning.  Drive, move hindquarters, draw, change hands with rope and stick, drive, move hindquarters, draw, change hands etc…. and all without tripping or tangling said sticks and ropes.  Whew! 

More patterns in the arena, both on the ground and riding by some. Mystic and I demonstrated the “follow the rail” pattern and explained how powerful a learning tool the patterns are – both for horses and humans.  After doing the pattern in the arena with obstacles, he was able to do it with just the neck string in the pasture without the obstacles – because he understood the pattern.  Patterns are the easiest path to reinless riding.  As the arena heated up, folks moved into the trail course for the shade and new obstacles to play with.  Sheral had brought Walker and a cart and after getting the horses used to them, tooled around the arena and then down the road, giving cart rides and driving lessons to those who asked. Annamaria took photos of us playing and has promised to send them over. 

As the day warmed up, everyone gravitated to the pond where the horses splashed away soaking themselves and their humans before we turned the horses loose in the pasture and trail course for their own play date while we humans went inside for a delicious potluck lunch and more horse talk. 

After lunch, there was a little more play and then everyone headed home, Mystic got rinsed off, all our horses got turned out to enjoy the pasture, I took a shower and then a nap!  Another good play date.  I do love sharing natural horsemanship with such a nice group of people. 

Thanks for coming.   See you August 8 at 8:30 am.

We had another lovely play date at Mystic Ranch yesterday.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  

Mikayla gave a great liberty “stick to me” demo with her Casper at the walk, trot, canter, halt, back up, figure eights and weave the cones.  That horse was glued to her.  It was beautiful.  Ann showed us how she is teaching Marshall to do a spin on line.  I helped Marion do some two rein driving with Mystic, helping her get her aids in time with his feet so he went straight, turned and leg yielded as she wanted. 

Everyone did some playing in the trail course, going over the jumps, bridge, teeter totter and through the car wash.  Namaste had an issue with the bridge and we spent a good bit of time being passively persistent in the proper position and reminding her that running us over was NOT an option. 

Ann and I and a freestyle demo of the patterns in the arena and had some fun talking about teaching horses to do flying lead changes through the figure eight pattern.  It will be fun to see what progress gets made on that project before the next play date.  

The potluck lunch was delicious – as always.  Ann owes us the recipe for the pineapple pistachio salad and Karen owes us the recipe for the lemon bars.  Yum!  

After lunch, we spent a bit of time getting Eva comfortable with the Dennis Reis big red ball and the Parelli green ball.  Heather rode my mare Tori and Tami tried out my 4 year old gelding Prince (the Right Brain Introvert she mentions below).  We did some exercises on riding with relaxation, energy, feel and body position and boy did that make a big difference on how Tori and Prince responded to them.  Ann and the girls played in the pond and then Mystic, Tori and Prince ambled through it as well.   Another lovely day in paradise. 

I really love our play dates.  It is so much fun seeing people enjoying their horses and keeping it natural.  I’ll post photos up on the club site.  

Looking forward to the next one on July 11 from 10 to 3 with a potluck lunch at mid day.   See you then!

Hey Jackie,

One “Wow” moment was when I realized my circle leg cues have been backwards and plain confusing.  Early on I remember being taught to lead the nose with the rein, support the shoulder with your inside leg at the girth (so it doesn’t fall in) and bend the body around the inside leg by having the outside leg back towards the hindquarters to “put the horse on the circle”.  What I felt today when you showed us the opposite was so much better.  It made perfect sense when you demonstrated it on us, having the inside leg behind the girth and the outside leg in front of the girth.  You hardly even needed the rein.  That feel is way better and it flowed so nicely.

I really liked the way you use your hips to start the back up, and can add leg in time to the lifting of their front feet to round the body.  That felt really nice.  When you find that right groove, the horses offer so much more, lightly and flexibly.  It helped closing my eyes.  I could feel the back up so much better, and it helped me keep my head up rather than looking down at the shoulders and weighting that front end.

With the leg yields, I started to recognize that sideways “rocking” feel so I could help the hind leg step over.  Once you get it all coordinated it flows so nicely.  But you’re right, you can’t think about it or you miss it.  When my brain was working, my body bogged down and stiffened.  It helped when you said “now”, “now”, “now” as the leg came up.  I could connect the feel of the horse to what my timing needed to be.

I’m having all sorts of “light bulb” moments.  My instinct, muscle memory in those leg aids is backwards.  It actually blocks the horse rather than helps them.  So I have to consciously repeat it properly until I can re-program myself to do it right instinctively.

Guess what else came to my attention.  RBI’s can’t handle being blocked!  Too much pressure.  I was blocking Prince in my stiff “thinking state” seat, my backwards leg cues, and using more rein pressure than he was accustomed to.  Poor guy.  I had him boxed in everywhere!  No wonder his brain shut down and he didn’t know what to do with all that conflicting pressure.

Their perceptiveness to subtleties is amazing.

All in all it was really cool.  Thank you.

Tami

It was a great play date today.  We had perfect Spring weather with a little breeze, but lots of sunshine.  The horses were all good, trying hard and in a partnership frame of mind.  People were abuzz with positive energy and enjoyment of their horses, the day and each other.  Tara had invited a couple of her students to come out and observe and they seemed delighted with the atmosphere and the relationship that people had with their horses.  Tara did a nice liberty demonstration with Bud and Alice in the round pen, finishing up with some Spanish Walk just before we broke for lunch.

The food was delicious and the talk was of …… horses, of course.  Tara’s husband, Willy, made a great chili and promised the recipe.  He also  took lots of photos and will post the best on savvyriders.  Check them out.  The horses had a blast during their own lunch break, eating Spring grass, cantering around the pasture and playing in the pond.  A perfect day.

My personal high point?  I did a figure eight cantering in the arena and Mystic gave me a perfect flying lead change.  No fuss, no muss, just a flying change.  Beautiful.    Tired, but very happy.

In April we submitted our video audition of Mystic and Jackie doing Level 3/4 freestyle tasks (riding bridle-less) to Parelli.

I received the following email from Parelli giving us a level 3+ for our Freestyle skills and awarding us our green string for passing Level 3.

Jackie-
Thank you very much for your Freestyle audition. The assessment team has viewed your audition and it was a pleasure. We appreciate the opportunity to be a part of your horsemanship journey.

Great impulsion, transitions and sideways!!! Just start to get more particular with your timing of your release. It is very hard to tell at times if you are asking for an indirect or a direct. Make sure you are looking for your horse to pivot! Also, make sure you stay on a pattern until you get a change. 🙂

Let me be the first to congratulate you on receiving a Level 3+ on your Freestyle Savvy! Please expect at least 4-8 weeks before receiving your certificate and string!!! Congratulations on being our newest level 3 Grad!!!

Your official score sheet is attached!!!

Thanks again for your dedication to your horse and to the Parelli program. We look forward to viewing your future success. Have fun and keep it natural!

Avery Gauthier
For the Parelli Audition Team 2009

In April we submitted our video audition of Mystic and Jackie doing Level 3/4 liberty tasks to Parelli.

In May we received the following email from Parelli giving us a level 3 on our liberty skills and great feedback on where to focus our energies in future play sessions.

“Hi Jackie,

Thank you for your audition, it had been viewed and was a pleasure
to watch!! You have a great relationship with your horse!!

Congratulations on earning your Level 3 Liberty!!!

You have some things that are well beyond Level 3 already, including
your Friendly game, your horse draw and the subtle conversation you
have with your horse!

As you continue to progress be sure to develop your circling game at
liberty. At this level you should be able to stand in the center in
neutral and have your horse circle you up to 10 laps at trot and
canter. This will help your horse build its responsibilities and help
it become an even better partner.

We look forward to seeing more from you and Mystic in the future!

Thanks
Kathy Baar
Parelli Audition Team”