Wounds and Healing

Well as noted in my other blog we recently moved to the Inland Empire area of California.

Bently did well on the trip, we stayed overnight in Cedar City,UT which I think was a good decision, as Bently was ready to be done traveling. Bently did have swollen eyes for a couple of days after reaching our destination, but the swelling went down quickly after rinsing them out with water, I think he might have had wind burn or something.

Then his old kick injury (on his sheath) got swollen, which changed when I moved him to pasture boarding about 2 weeks after arrival.(He was in paddock boarding at first). It didn't hurt him when I touched it, and the swelling would go down after I would have him exercise for a bit, so I was pretty sure that the only cause for the swelling was lack of movement of an old injury, upon moving him to pasture boarding the swelling went right down.

I introduced him to the pasture pretty slowly to help try to avoid major injuries, but Bently still managed to get a good sized bite in his but. Because it is right on the edge under the tail it is taking a very long time to heal, and is still sore. He keeps it rubbed because of swatting flies, I clean it every time I go out. It is slowly healing.

Then because of the change in environment and climate his feet are chipping and cracking and basically falling apart. To resolve this I bought him hoof boots, which because of our financial situation is my early Christmas present, I was very excited when they came, because I knew how much more comfortable he would be. They arrived and I tried them on him yesterday. He was surprisingly unworried about the big black things I was attaching to his feet, and he was a lot more comfortable once they were on.

I plan to alternate him wearing them and not wearing them until his feet have healed, then I will use them only when riding on rocky terrain or if he gets tender again for some reason.

Until later...

Adrenaline to RBE

RBE= Right Brain Extrovert, or in layman's terms--not thinking/reactive, and having the need to move.

That is what Bently did the last time I played with him. He has done it often, but recently he has been so left brain I guess I was not expecting it. But his adrenaline went up, and suddenly he went right brain.

We were playing on the 45 foot line...about the fourth time we have played with it. He was doing great...I decided to work on some lead changes/changes of direction at the canter. He was fine going from the left lead to the right, but when I would ask him to switch through from the right to the left he would push into the pressure with his shoulder, and kept going rather then yield. I decided to slow it down...

I brought in the line, had it so he had about 30 foot or so of rope, and asked him to change directions at the trot...got those going well, so then asked again at the canter...no go. Hum, I wonder maybe if I sped it up...

I asked him into a right lead canter, which he offered willingly, I asked him for a stronger canter, then I asked him to change directions--he changed directions, up came the adrenaline and then went about a half circle around to the left--before he went completely RBE. I took a strong hold on the line--sending some energy down it to get his attention--even though he is RB, he is still a very sensitive horse--it didn't take him to long to quite running like a maniac, but he was still on high adrenaline and RB--I had him back up until he started to calm down. It took about 50 feet of back up before he started to try and blow the adrenaline off.

This is nothing new for him, but it did take me a bit by surprise as he hasn't gone RBE in months. I found myself losing my temper a little, thinking "you haven't done this in forever, why are you doing this..." but I was able to regain my cool, quick enough to help him calm down...

I got him back completely left brain using back up, sideways, and small circles with frequent changes of direction. once he was fully relaxed we ended the session with changes of direction at the trot on a larger circle. Got those really good and called it a day. It was a very windy day, so that might have been one of the factors that sent him RB. But we ended on a good note, and that is all that matters.

Anyway this happened about 2 days ago...I haven't had time to play with him since, so it will be interesting to see how he is next time.

Just trying to get into better habits...Here is a condensed update

Here are some posts that I have made about Bently and me on another site, I figured I would post them on my blog so hopefully I can get in the habit of keeping my blog more up to date.

Post are below, all posted February through beginning of March 2009. First post are about sideways accomplishments, and last post is about a water adventure.

“Thought I would share my and my boys accomplishment from the other day, it was a really great day;

Bently was very calm, did not go RBE or even get really un-confident even once (which I love when he is like that) and was asking tons of questions and offering a lot. Anyway we have been working on sideways towards without a fence from farther distances.

Yesterday for the first time He did sideways towards me from almost the very end of the 22' without a fence- it was great I gave him lots of loves, he then did it again. Yippee! Just was so happy I thought I would share.

We are not consistent yet, but we are getting there--I really have to be sure to balance the sideways towards with the sideways away, or he only will come to me and not away.”

“My boy loves coming in sideways now--the other day I played a little with him at liberty and I asked just to see what he would do for sideways toward after I had him go sideways away, and he actually came back, and looked so proud of himself to, I was very overjoyed as I was in a pasture, and he was about 10-15 feet away--he was actually better at and more enthusiastic about the sideways toward then the sideways away.”

“My que for him for sideways toward is my facing the same direction he is, lifting my arm up with the carrot stick in hand, with the sort of feel like I am going to put it up and over his back and give him a hug (carrot stick goes at a slant towards him, but is mostly up--string is caught up/not dangling).

Then I put a draw in my energy--like I am going to reel him in and give him a hug, and then I say the word "over." if he doesn't respond then I put rythmic energy into the tip of the CS, as if it was on the other side of him. Mostly though now he starts to respond when I pull with my energy, or when I say the word 'over'.

Does that make sense? There is a vid of mine on youtube(titled: "Bently movement and play 02-11-09"), and about 2 min in or so into it shows what I do basically for sideways toward, though we have refined it some more since then.

If I remember correctly I did have to tap the CS tap in the air on the vid which is my final phases before I then (if I am on-line) put a small feel on zone one, and then I will ask him to step forward (I do this as my test and to get him thinking as sometimes if he hasn't responded it is because he is frozen/RBI) and if he steps forward well then I will move a step towards him at a time, still tapping the CS in the air and saying 'over,' until he starts coming towards me--even if it means putting rythmic pressure with the the SS or the tip of the CS over his back on the opposite side to have him come over--I rarely have to do that now.”

“Bently loves sideways toward so much now that yesturday when i was playing with him he kept offering it, all I could do was laugh, looks like we may need to play a couple sessions without doing it to get it back in balance again, though it is fun that he was offering it (though I am always sure to defend my space if it is needed)

I found out yesterday that our stick to me at the canter is a bit broken--so need to work on that, and that me being on the right side was slightly harder for him to stay connected. I think it is mostly because we haven't done much of stick to me lately

--because i have a hard time keeping up in the snow, and because of all his abcesses this winter, that is why we have been working on sideways so much recently, because it doesn't require much energy

his stick to me at the walk, stop, and back up were fab though ”

“Today went out and played with my boy. we went for a mosey in the pasture, then went out to mosey down the road. Then we went along the edge of a field, then went back to the road, playing stick to me (walk when I walk, stop when I stop, etc.)

We continued down the road, a bird flew up and Bently jumped in place then kinda shook his head and looked at me as if to say "that was stupid of me wasn't it, don't I deserve a treat for only spooking a little though?". I laughed gave him a pet and we continued along the road. We came to dirt road that had a large 'pond' (due to snow run-off) so I decided we should play touch it.

He sniffed at it for a bit, then started to play with the water with his lips first, and then he stuck out his tongue and was playing with it. I mean like his tongue was a straw and he was twirling it in the water. It was very funny--I laughed again and told him good boy , and then asked him to re-approach the "pond" he did so willingly with only a slight hesitation before he put all four feet in. (it wasn't a deep pond, just about to his fetlock joints, but it was wide)

We left the pond after much praise, and a couple treats and headed for home. We then found a "stream" along side the road, so I preceded to ask him to cross it--he did so willingly after again he had sniffed it and mouthed the water some. He never did just walk over it though, he always wanted to jump it, though it did not seem he was scared of it, just that is what he wanted to do.

We then found a slightly wider section of the same 'stream' where after several tries he figured out that I wanted him to go into the stream with all four feet and stand in it next to me. He was such a good boy, got lots of pets and some treats. Then we went the rest of the way home.

Anyway just thought I would share our water adventure that we had this afternoon.”

Catching up...

Well it's been a long time...don't think I will ever be able to catch up to what has happened between now and my previous post so I will just share some of the highlights--

I have started to trim Bently's feet myself: I got Pete Ramey's book, "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You" & Jamie Jackson's book, "Paddock Paradise" for Christmas; they are both great books. I have also been using a lot of internet sources to help me as I learn to trim.

Here are some of the websites that have helped me as I have been learning to trim myself, I still have a ways to go, but I am improving; links are not listed in any particular order:
http://www.thehorseshoof.com/
http://www.belhavenequinesolutions.com/Main_Site/Home_Page.html (Leah has been a great help to me; Thank you Leah!)
http://www.hoofrehab.com/
http://www.equinepodiatry.net/
http://www.jaimejackson.com/
http://www.ironfreehoof.com/
http://www.barefoothorse.com/
http://www.tribeequus.com/


Bently had a couple of foot abscesses, but seems to be better now--crossing my fingers that he doesn't get any more, though I don't think he will.

I have posted a couple of Youtube vids of me and Bently, you can just search for carefreegirl51 on youtube to watch them, or here are some direct links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThuNvXXU_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfdjgmX8rx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syx-GYnKzFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5_AKt_TdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3M6zJFq-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bKyprDOv5o

I will be posting some more in the future I am sure.

So basically what I have been up to is trimming Bently's feet, learning about trimming, Playing with Bently (whenever weather, time, and him not being lame permitted), continuing to read and learn about horses, and just waiting for the weather to improve, and for school to be done.

We'll that is it for now--hopefully I can be better at staying up-to-date with my postings.

Parelli Journey--The Beginning

Even though I had discovered that Parelli had more to offer me, I still had to save up some, so I saved and scrimped so that I could join the club and get some of the educational material, and equipment. While I was saving I used a leather halter, and a 10 foot lead rope, and a 30 foot longe line, and a dressage whip, and Pat's book. Though not the best tools they sufficed for the time being.

Then for my B-day in March of 2008, my hubby bought me a club membership, and the Success Series(SS). We got the SS straight off as that is what was being promoted at the time. (otherwise I probably would have bought level 1 & 2, I figured the levels would always be there--Boy was I wrong! oh well can't change the past now; besides I have some parelli friends now that are going to let me watch their levels packs in the future.) Pat's book is a great resource, but I had a hard time fully comprehending the seven games without seeing them demonstrated--after I got the SS, the seven games DVD mostly cleared up any misunderstanding that I had of how to do them. I saw what the finished product was supposed to be like, and so was able to think about how to get there.

On the 17th of May 2008; I went to the tour stop in Billings Montana, and that gave me inspiration, as well as letting me buy the tools--I purchased the carrot stick, savvy string, rope halter, 22 foot rope, and the big green ball. Then about a week maybe two weeks later I was able to participate in a Level 1 clinic with Dan and Gretchen Thompson. At that clinic I put the finishing touches to my basic understanding of the seven games, and Gretchen wanted me to assess my level one then, she thought I was ready, but I decided to wait until the fall to try for level one because I felt that I needed more work on the riding part of level 1, and also finances were tight at the time. I did have level one pretty much down pat before going to the level 1 clinic (without realizing it)---I had gotten that far just with the SS, Pat's book, and L&HB. The level 1 clinic mostly affirmed for me that I was on the right path, and doing things correctly, with a few minor adjustments to my technique to make it clearer, and some work that I still needed on the riding--at least I thought so. The Horsenality DVD in the SS also helped me find out that my horse was more RB, and Gretchen helped me realize that he was more RBI, but went RBE when pressured. the other DVD's in the SS set helped me realize where I could go, and gave me ideas of how to keep my horse safe while riding (example- one rein stop, and pre-flight checks--)

Then my sweet hubby bought me the Liberty and Horse Behavior set (L&HB) for our Anniversary (in late May) because I was dieing to watch it. After watching that material my communication with my Bently increased tenfold. We suddenly clicked--and it was because I had learned how to read him better. Suddenly he was being a perfect angel--rarely unpredictable, rarely going RBE, and it was because I had learned to listen to him-- So far in my journey L&HB has been the biggest asset--followed closely with the clinic, and the book.

Throughout the summer I continued in Pony Club as usuall, though I incorporated more Parelli principles of course. I found that my horse did much better if I got off him and gave him little breaks while riding. I also worked on the Level 1 skills, and then started on the Level 2 skills.

Then in September I went an audited several days at another Dan and Gretchen Thomspson Clinic, and signed up to assess my level one, and only intended to assess my level one, but Dan thought I was ready for level two, so I went for it, and by golly I was ready --mostly--I had to resubmit my level 2 liberty tasks. So, while assessing for level 1 I ended up being further along then I had thought. I was a very happy camper.

I played and worked some more with my boy so that we could get the level 2 liberty tasks done before Dec 31st which was the cut off date. Mike allowed me to come and use his round pen as I did not have one, then my hubby wanted a camcorder for his b-day, so we bought that, and so then I was able to record without borrowing someone else's camcorder, and I sent in my liberty tasks on video to Dan about a week after Thanksgiving, and just found out today Dec. 10th 2008 that I PASSED! I am an official Level 2 Grad now, just have to wait for my red string! YIPPEE!

Now it is off to play with level 3, and the patterns, and get Bently my boy's feet cleared up--he got an old abscess, which caused the hoof wall to come off on part of one of his feet, and some thrush, so will have to get his feet better, but it is the winter so he will have plenty of time to recuperate as I can't/don't ride as much in the winter. I bought him so new feed that I am gonna try for his feet, and the farrier is coming on the 16th, and then if he still looks like he has thrush I will get some stuff to get rid of that. Anyway now that that long post is done with this blog is officially up to date!! However I did leave out some details, but then it just would have been longer.....hehehe.

?Something Different?

When I purchased Spirit, the people I bought him from said that they had done some Parelli work with him. I of course did not know what Parelli was, and so I researched it out a little.

What I found out was that it seemed like it was a mostly western horse program of training, and so it did not interest me that much at the time, seeing as I enjoy riding English.

However I do have the philosophy that you can learn something from everyone whether good or bad.

So instead of totally ignoring what Parelli was all about I bought Pat Parelli's book "Natural Horse-man-ship." I have to say that although I did not agree with everything that was in the book, the majority of his philosophies, and principles I did agree with. I applied the general theories and principles to my riding with Spirit.

When I then purchased Bently as my second horse. He was a much more challenging horse for me then Spirit. Bently had much more "spirit" then Spirit had, and he was younger, and harder for me to control. I pushed forward though and read a lot of different horse training books, that gave me some good ideas, and things improved. I also got help from my instructor. Yet my horse always seemed to get to a certain point then back track then get to that point and back track again. I was having the hardest time trying to figure out the remaining difficulties I had with him. He bucked me off more then a few times, he was scared of jumping, and bolted and reared with me several times before. I was about ready to call it quits on him and jumping and just get a different horse for jumping. Then I decided to give him one more year for us to try to figure it out.

So I went and read more books, and that is when I again remembered Pat Parelli. I read his book thoroughly again, and then searched online and found out for the first time that he had a savvy club, and other materials (DVD's and Home Study Courses) that could help me. I realized that while I had still been following the basic principles--Parelli had more to offer that would help. Thus began my Parelli Journey!

*Bently in the Beginning*

Before I parted ways with my Spirit, I purchased my second horse. Bently--a then 4 year old Appendix Quarter Horse. (part Thoroughbred/part Quarter Horse) Bently was a much more challenging horse then Spirit. He definitely was not an easy ride for me. I had to spend quite a bit of time with him. I tried to keep them both for a time (about a year) but realized that I was not being fair to Spirit, as I was spending more time with Bently. Also I had outgrown Spirit and though it broke a piece of my heart I gave him to another girl for her to enjoy.

Things just never seemed to improve that much with Bently. He was okay just as long as nothing scared him, then he took over and you had no say. He would often run off in a panic at the slightest things. (Sometimes I never could figure out what spooked him.) It took a long time to even start making some progress with him. I read book upon book about horses, and training, and got help from instructors, and he improved, but he never seemed to improve past a certain point. He was manageable most of the time now, but he was unpredictable. He would be fine one moment and the next he would be tense ready to bolt. He bucked me off several times, bolted and reared with me, refused jumps, and was generally a hard horse to ride. Gradually the bad behaviors started getting less and less, but it never seemed to get better past a certain point. by this time Bently was about 6 years old, and I was debating on whether or not I should sell him and get a different horse, I decided to not give up on him just yet and decided to try something a little different....