Conclusion of what Spirit taught me

Coming into this class I thought I had a pretty good background of horses. I felt confident getting on any horse and making them do what I wanted to. The few areas I was not as confident I figured I could get around them without facing the problems. Oh how wrong I was in everything I thought. Spirit may not be the horse that fits me perfectly but he is the horse that was meant to teach me perfectly. There is an old farmers quote hanging on my wall back home that says, "When ya start thinkin you are someone of importance try orderin' 'round someone else's dog." That was how I felt with Spirit this entire semester. As I recorded in this blog, Spirit started out showing a lot of dominance, energy, and fight to him, Left Brain. This was so hard for me to address using the principles I was trying to learn, because its my instinct to stop the action or restrict it. Where in reality he may be just playing and I need to play with him to form a better relationship. At the beginning I had to try really hard to establish myself as the leader of our little herd. Spirit seemed to know I was smaller or that when I did try and send him away it would not be significant to make a difference. During this whole process of leadership establishment I was humbled at the fact that Spirit could not be fooled or intimidated. I had to understand him and not just rely on brute strength. Once I had proven myself to him. He became his real self a big fluffy yellow teddy bear. For the most part I found that Spirit likes to just relax and be, Right Brain introvert. He doesn't need to always be running, playing, investigating, or moving. When he feels comfortable in a situation he will just enjoy the moment.
I figured this new personality out and thought that life would be so easy now, but then I was taught a new trait. Now that I was the leader I had to act like the leader. I had to be persuasive and bold enough to get him to do things. I had to make it interesting, comfortable, non-fearful, and encouraging. Every day was a new day for Spirit and I. One day I would figure out what to do when he is scared or starts to feel nervous. Then the next day I had to figure out how to stimulate him enough to move according to my energy level. I was constantly learning something new. As hard as this was and for as many times as I felt discouraged I also succeeded in something worth while.
Learning the principles such as pressure motivates and release teaches was hard but valuable. I used it not only with Spirit but also with people I associated with and myself. I became more aware of the releases or the rewards I give people when I talk to them. I also learned to be more patience with the horses and life. I can't just put the maximum amount of pressure on a horse and expect him to understand what I meant. I need to suggest and explain little by little.
Many times this semester I would try and jump to the advance move or the main goal and forget about the little building sequences. When I did this I did not save any time and I usually didn't make any progress either. Just like the gospel teaches every true principle must be taught line upon line.
In the end I learned that Spirit is mostly a Left Brain Introvert with tendencies to go to Right Brain extrovert.
 Also, you are never perfect and with every new horse you get on you can learn something new. Every horse is different but the principle are the same and can be applied accordingly to help understand that horse. I am coming away from this class with a greater appreciation for the horse. They are an amazing animal that is greatly misunderstood by many people just because they have not taken the time to listen and read their body language. I know I was one of those people. Horses put up with a lot from us and are the true patient ones. Given a horse has a personality as well, which is then called a horsenality, so they can have attitudes and be stubborn or mean but we have to understand which actions are which. By doing that we can address the problems correctly and hopefully always fix them to help create a wonderful pair.

Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, I don't think I really need to make a time line now because my biggest break through was today. I went out for our last time to work before the final. I had been thinking a lot about how I could be better at directing Spirit and being intense enough. I knew that when I was kicking really hard and fast then adding the reins I was giving him no directions. So he would end up just trotting in a tight circle. So today I brought my spurs. I know many people that use spurs very harshly but I always learned that spurs have phases just like we have been practicing. They hopefully could help me have the same intensity but with less exerted energy on my part.
I got on him and just raised my energy and squeezed with my thighs and calves. Then when I wanted him to go faster I added a voice click and lightly touched him with my spurs. He responded so well. I was truly thrilled. As we worked around I could focus so much more on where my body was and what I wanted him to do. Then we ran into the same problems that we have been experiencing lately. Those problems are Spirit not wanting to go down to an end of the arena where other horses are not, and wanting to slow down as another horse passed us. Usually I would have to get really big with him by kicking fast and hard then adding the reins. Which, like I said early just made him want to go in a circle. With the spurs I was able to ask him with a high intensity with a jab and therefore give every little try a more immediate release. By the end I accomplished my goal of walking or trotting without hesitation down to the end of the arena and back and I could use small cues. I felt like I had finally gotten what Brother Twitchell had been teaching the whole time. The lessons of getting what you are asking for the first time and then building off of it.
The other thing that I learned is taking a step back and maybe riding another horse is a very good things to do. I was able to ride a horse much like Beauty, Dottie's horse, all day Saturday. Being able to apply the principles I learned to a different horse that I could not predict so easily made me more clear on what I asked for. I think this also helped my confidence which then helped my leadership for Spirit. Spirit needs a leader all the time. I have noticed that when he does not feel safe under my leadership he gets very dominant and scared. He is just trying to act brave but ends up being so on edge that he can not think rationally. So as my confidence builds so does his. Another example that horses feed off of your emotions. Now lets hope that he and I will do just as good tomorrow.

Frustration Galour!!!!

Today, Friday, Hillary and I went out to work with our horses. Once we were in the arena Spirit started out really good and we went through the different obstacles set up way easily. He was responding to me small ques and willing to go. Then we tried to lope and things started to fall apart. It all went down hill from there to where I couldn't trot, or walk. I became so frustrated but when I got bigger he didn't understand. So that frustrated me more because I was not being clear to him. I know he was trying but for some reason I just couldn't get through my own mental blocks and think of what the right thing to do was. But then I really started to think hard and I think I was pulling his head in a weird way and not using my feet enough to direct him. When I would use the reins I would tell him to turn but when I did I was pulling back and telling him to turn at the same time. I think that is what got him confused at the beginning and it became worse as I went along trying to fix it. Although Hillary got on him and she was having similar problems to. When I got on Poncho though I was noticing he started to ask the same way as Spirit. I need to cue with my legs better for sure and then be more aware with my hands.

Learning

So on Thursday we did the race in class and I still had a problem with Spirit going forward and picking up a trot. Brother Twitchell showed me how I need to increase intensity. There apparently are two ways to do that. I can either kick hard which doesn't work for me, or I can kick faster. The kicking faster works so much better. So once I started to get the hang of that Spirit and I were doing just fine. Although I still feel like I am missing something and not grasping the technique completely. For me because Spirit is usually a dominant introverted horse I can't always read him very easily. I am not good at knowing when to give him a release. I also am not good at getting big with him. The big I have to get to is what I am not use to. But I will just keeping working on it and hopefully he will be having a good day on test day.

It's getting closer to final judgement!!!!

Today I met with Sylvia at the livestock center and learned a lot about what I need to do with Spirit. I wonder if we are suppose to be perfect at this whole training thing or if we are allowed to digress as much as our horses tend to? Because, seriously from watching Sylvia I feel like I have digressed from what I once knew or for some reason I can't put two and two together anymore regarding reading a horse. Sylvia's overall advise was to get much much bigger faster and while riding remember my releases. I should know that duh! Its so nice to have someone watch you because you get so sucked up in your problems and what your horse is doing that it is hard to see the big picture. Maybe that is why dancer always dance in front of big mirrors so that they can see what they are doing and then have instructors. Now for the more specific instructions from Sylvia regarding the problems I was having. First off to keep Spirit going I need to go back a little in my instruction and reward little movements in the right direction. For instance he always wants to go to the other horses because he doesn't feel comfortable or interested in going to the other side of the arena. So where I have just been kicking and kicking what I should do is kick until he takes a step forward whether it be to turn the other way, it doesn't matter. Then just keep asking for little things and rewarding so eventually I can ask him to move in a forward direction and it won't seem like I am a mean person asking him to go work. Then with the lope I should expect him to be able to lope two circles but again start out with just asking him to lope. Next, I need to make sure I only ask when he has messed up not when I think he is about to mess up.
     See all of these things I knew before but for some silly reason I have forgotten to apply them now. Ah, I frustrate myself so much!!!  All in all Spirit did really good today as Sylvia rode him and I learned/ was reminded a lot.

Work Work Work and Then What?

Well, today I wanted to work on just trotting around in the arena in a good circle. Spirit again had a lot of energy at first so I decided to use that energy while it was still there instead of see if I could stretch it out like last time. So we walked around some then got into trotting. I found that Spirit can keep good gait and direction when he wants to. I think that is why I sometimes get frustrated with him because I have seen what he can do and when he just won't try it is hard to understand. So we went over trot polls and just tried to go on the outside of the arena. He kept stopping in the middle or whenever he came to another horse. I would kick and kick then try and use the end of the reins as a savvy string. It some what worked but when I used the end of the reins he seemed to get confused as to which direction he should go. We did this for a while and then went outside to cool down with Carlee and Cowboy. I noticed that Spirit gets a lot more energy when he is outside in the open and we can work so much better. So this makes me think that in the arena he get bored and see no point in trotting and trot polls. So what I have concluded is that Spirit is for sure a left brain horse but he switches from extrovert to introvert and back according to the situation. He is perfectly content to just stand and calmly walk around. He doesn't mind if I jump on his back bareback, stand in the saddle, jump off of his back to the ground, or be somewhat loud. That is if we are in the arena, but when we get outside he seems to feel a little more free and more fearful. When he gets scared he is very dominant and will have fits of jumping, little bucks, and pawing with his front feet. This is when he is extrovert but I know that he is not doing it to be mean he is just scared. The funny thing is that when he is scared in the green barn if I feed him some hay he gets a little calmer so that is how he can show some of his introvert left brain while being scared but it is mostly extrovert. So when I stay calm during the times that he is scared then allow him to move his feet in a positive way and feed him he does okay. From observing these things I think that is why doing these simple arena things get frustrating because I know he has energy and can do them but chooses not to. I am still learning so much about Spirit and his personality. Although, Sylvia had good advice for me today which was to stay consistent in how I ask him to trot so the kicking and reins is probably confusing him. Then she said think about him and when he has decided it is enough. That way even though I think he can go further I need to reward him for what he thinks he can do. Then slowly I can build up to what I know he can do. I will try that tomorrow. Maybe this will help him enjoy these simple things in the arena. Also when I do want him to go and he is just being stubborn or lazy I need to get bigger. Oh boy how I hate trying to figure out how to get bigger.

Only the best will survive . . .

Today when I went to go work with Spirit it was freezing cold but it seemed that he had tons of energy and I was excited to work with him. We went into the arena and walked around to familiarize everything. Once of the things that we did was go over to the west end of the arena and walk around the poles on the ground and the bridge. He did so good at following what I was trying to tell him because he jumped up on the tall side of the bridge with only one time of questioning. Then when I went to bridle him he just stood there waiting for me and he even ducked his head so I could reach the top. These little things make me so excited. We practice the different task again. Spirit is a short horse when it comes to duration and he use to be really short but now he can go longer than before which is good. Although, I wish he was a long horse because there are things that I need to practice and see a contrast in but he just wants to stop. I don't know how to help him go for a longer period of time. I know that he needs breaks but times like today I get the feeling that he does have more energy and just is being lazy. So I had to work really hard to have him even trot a little bit after a time. I have seen him work a lot harder than he did today and at least walk for me. So I guess today was a lazy day which we all have. I just wish I knew how to encourage him to go a little further or to get excited when he has lazy days.

Understanding (most of the time)

Well Spirit and I are still doing well. We still get about four or five hours in a week. We were doing so good before the Thanksgiving Break. The things that I was really excited for was Spirit was reading my energy level a lot better, I was focusing my energy into always positive direct energy, I was getting better at helping him familiarize himself with new things, he stands still a little better for me to get on, and he was maintaining a trot for at least three laps. We were working on a lope before I left for the Thanksgiving break and he would at least do it without me using a savvy string. Now that I am back I went to work with him today we got almost an hour in. There was Hillary, Carlee, and myself out there. I thought that it would be faster for me to just catch him and work either on the ground or ride bare back. Also they were working with a bob cat in the arena so I thought Spirit would be a little difficult to engage. So I went and go him from his pen and when I came up to his pen he was standing by the gate waiting for me. I love those moments when he wants to go play it makes me feel so good. Then we went into the big scary green barn, well that's the way Spirit sees it.
      Oh did I mention that Spirit is freaked out about the barn, but I think I figured out a way to help him. Spirit loves to eat I have found because on the way from and back to his pen he is always trying to stop and eat the hay laying on the ground. So I decided that if I pick some up and take it into the green barn with us then feed him it once he is tied up. By doing this I am hoping the green barn will start registering in his head as somewhere where he can get a treat. Thus far it has helped. He is not completely calm yet unless there are other horses with him but at least he hasn't freaked out again.
          So back to today. Well I just had a halter on him and we went into the arena. I went in not paying attention to the workers and bobcat and just started to ask him to do things. He was doing amazing and was not scared in the least from the workers, noise, or open door. So, I jumped on bareback and started to ask him to go around barrels and poles. He had a fabulous bend and was so so so soft around the barrels. Well, okay he wasn't perfect around it but he was softer than he has ever been. I tried to focus a lot on being precise in my ques and using my feet and hands correctly. Then we went up and down the bridge and worked on the front yields and back yields. He does them so well with just a little bit of hands and kinda a lot of leg. I think there is potential for both of us in that area. Then we worked on trotting which was harder for me because I am not that good bareback. Spirit seemed to be okay with it and kept a nice gait. I figured since he was doing so awesome that I would try a lope. The first couple of times I asked he did not want to do it. Then he did for a little distance. So, we just repeated this pattern until he was tired. We rested a while and then tried again. He seemed a lot more willing to pick up gaits. Probably because he wanted to go back to his pen and be done. He volunteered a trot and went for a longer time in a lope. I was so excited and it was great for me because I practiced sitting the lope since he has a weird one for me to stay with. So all in all today was another successful day and bareback was scary sometimes but a good choice for both of us.

 Spirit can be the funniest of horses. As you can see in these pictures that were taken a couple of weeks ago he is completely relaxed and almost lazy like. Although this last week as I have been taking him outside, down to the river, and then just in the barn by himself he is so very Spirited. For the longest time I wondered why they named him Spirit and now I am starting to find out why. He can be a very lazy horse and usually doesn't care about much but the times when he gets "spirited" is when he is scared. I have usually been able to work with Spirit in the class time til about 11:30 and then I was able to squeeze in an hour or two on my own time. I found that it was not enough and so I rearranged my work schedule and then one of my block classes finished so I have been able to work with Spirit during class times and then about an hour or so almost every day. By doing this I have been able to try a lot of new things with Spirit and have found the times when he is scared so becomes very dominant and spirited. The times when he is scared is when he is left alone without any other horses around or even when I am not there. He also doesn't care for when we go next to tall things or things that he has never seen. When he is scared by himself he jumps around, moves a lot, snorts, has really tense muscles, and even strikes sometimes.

 

Today he was showing those scared signs to me when we were saddling up in the barn. We were the only ones in the barn because everyone else was already riding in the arena and Spirit did not like it. I tried to stay calm myself and be the leader but I found it hard to be so when he started to pull back really hard and then jump forward and start jumping everywhere. I know I am suppose to be the leader at that time but for me I felt like it was not safe so I stepped back and then when he had somewhat finished his fit I stepped in because I felt like it was safer. Then when he started to be dominant towards me I became big and didn't let him step over me. I am not for sure if that is how I was suppose to handle the situation but in the end I was able to finish saddling him and walk him into the arena. Once we were in there I decided that the best way to have a good experience for both of us was to just do ground work. So we did, and I tried to engage him but going around poles and doing a squeeze game and directing his anxious movements into circles or somewhere else. It seemed to work for the most part and I thought at least he never tried to get away from me or completely forget that I was there. So I considered it a somewhat successful day. On a happier note he has been doing great this past week outside. He is still scared of things but not to where he feels he needs to defend himself. That scared I have figured out how to work through and then he is fine once he has seen it and done the squeeze game. When we were in the outside arena on Thursday he was so willing to trot and even go into a lollop and maintain it for a while. I need to work on being a better rider though, because his lollop is one that I have never felt before where his back end goes up more than his front. Then when we went down to the river he listened to me so well and trotted well for me down there. When he did get spooked he was never to where he wouldn't listen to me or listen to a one rein stop. I love the way he listens to me body and I can cue him into a trot or slow him down. So I think now I need to work on being a better leader when he is so scared he feels he needs to defend himself. So we will see what happens.

 

Spirit and my progress

So thus far I have been able to work with Spirit on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then at least once more during the week. I hope that I will be able to do it more, though. I have moved some of my tutoring appointments around so I have time. When I first started to work with Spirit it was really hard. I did not understand him in the least. All the old horse sense my Dad had taught me was not working out. Spirit and I had to first learn how to communicate with just driving and I had to learn how to drive him. I use to leave out phases or do them so fast. The phases are techniques I get to use to communicate to Spirit in a good way. In my opinion they are the safeguards for me to remember to stay calm and not get frustrated. Well so once I learned how to do that Spirit and I were doing a lot better. At the same time Spirit seemed to mellow out a lot. Before he was always trying to push me around or not listen to me. Now that I have established me being the leader he seems to be content to follow. I don't particularly like this because then he always seems board with me. So last week I finally figured it out. We were working together after class on Thursday and all the horses started to leave. This is when Spirit get nervous and anxious. So I decided to just go with it just like Brother Twitchell told me to. I brought my energy up and started to drive him in a nice trot then we got faster and faster and I started to go through obstacles. It was amazing!!! Because I felt the connection that I have been trying to obtain for so long and have only experienced glimpses. He did everything perfect and as I have thought about how that happened I have come to a epic conclusion. I put my trust in him and in my abilities. I trusted that he would listen and respect me and then I told myself that I could be the one to lead him. Spirit likes to play but on most days he seems to like to just follow but when I lift my energy and get in the mood to play I can direct him and it truly is fun. He even jumped over the jump instead of slowing down to walk over. Then today I went into the area really excited to practice what I learned on Thursday. Instead I was humbled greatly and learned something new. We let our horses loose in the arena and watched them for a time then tried to implement our driving skills in the little herd. I noticed that cowboy, one of the other horses, and Spirit did not really care about running around and goofing off. They were content to just stand there and run every so often when the two dominant horses got excited. So I tried to go in and be the dominant horse but I think I was to worried on being big and forgot to be a leader. I lost my focus which was energy directing to communicate to Spirit where to go. I was then truly humbled when Brother Twitchell came in and taught me what I should do and how I was communicating badly to Spirit. I went through the phases too fast with him and then I never released the energy that I was throwing Spirit's way. Therefore, when I would put pressure on Spirit to turn he did but it was too much pressure that never went away so he turned too much. I would run to the other side of him and do the same thing until Spirit ended up walking back and forth and back and forth. What I should do is start with small amounts of pressure and then increase until I get just the right amount of response from Spirit then just go with him. This is going to be kinda hard for me because I think I tend to come at things with a lot of energy and too much drive. Maybe, if I figure out how to control that tendency I wouldn't drive so many guys away, ha ha. Just kidding guys are a little different than Spirit but not by much. Either way that was my learning today. Peace out!!!!