OH MY GOSH!! Today was perfect!!!!!! I read (again) the Level 1 Riding Pocket Guides last night. So today, I went out to play/ride Brizzee. I haltered her, and tied her to the horse Trailer. I then groomed her, and saddled her. She's fine with being saddled, from either side. I didn't have her tied tightly. Then, I got a few tarps and laid them out in the driveway. I then untied Brizzee, walked her around. She was kinda Right Brain, and kept going over to the FOOD!! I then started to play the Circling Game. She started to buck, and pull against the rope, so I switched to a 22 foot line. We were playing the Circling Game again, and she kept bucking, and was just feeling good, or as my mom calls it "feeling her oats."
After she calmed down a little bit, we walked over the tarp. She sniffed it, put her hoof on it, and then walked across it. Then, we started playing the Circling Game around it. She wouldn't walk over it, and that's when my mom took over. I didn't ask her too, but that's okay. She does that a lot, chip in to help. So, she got Brizzee to go over the tarp. Then, I took her into "the play pen."
We did the Figure Eight pattern, which wasn't too awfully good, but it's better then it has been, so I was happy. We then walked over the poles, she was confident. We played stick to me Game, and I stood in Zone three, using my Carrot Stick to drive her to certain things. That was pretty fun! Then we worked on Jumping. I squeezed her between me and the barrels, then squeezed her between the barrels, and got the hole smaller and smaller. She ALMOST jumped, and I decided to stop there.
And our friend, (we are playing with his two mares. More info on other blog) pulled up to give Sugar her medicine, as she has a breathing problem. She breathes fine, but it's really fast and...well it's hard to describe. I then decided to take things up a notch, and play with her at Liberty in the round pen. Our friend has this foal that I would LOVE to play with...even though I haven't seen it yet. lol. So, I wanted him to be "wowed". So, I backed Brizzee into the round pen, played a little bit, then took off her halter.
She moved away, and started sniffing things. I started playing the CIrcling Game, and as usual, she turned kinda Right Brain again, and started to go at a fast trot. She usually starts cantering, because she's been lunged in the round pen, but we are getting better with that. After she did a few circuits, I brought her in to me, no trouble at all!! I then sat down, while she was circling. When I went to change direction, she came up to me, and then just stood over me. She did this on Thanksgiving also. So I stood up, and we played the Stick to Me game at Liberty. I ran a little, and she trotted beside me for a few seconds, before slowly back down to a walk. I then worked on picking her feet up, massaging her tail in zone 5, and then worked on Later Flexion.
Then, I put my foot in the stirrup on her RIGHT side, jumped up and down three times, waited, asked permission, then swung my leg over. She stood still!! Usuaully, as soon as I get on her, it's "go!" See, I have this little leg problem, where my feet stick out to the side, and it hurts to keep them straight. So, it's really hard for me to get my feet in the stirrups when no one is around. So at first, we walked around, worked a lot on Lateral Flexion, and then I reached for my stirrups. We walked and trotted with the 12 foot line. It felt really good, and I was so proud of Brizzee! This was our first time with just the halter and lead rope. She bent to a stop, and we started doing the Indirect and Direct rein, all went smoothly. I looped the lead rope around the saddle horn, and just put my hands on my legs, so I didn't use the rein for some of the time!! That was a really good feeling. I was really half tempted to take off the halter, and ride her. lol. But we aren't ready for that yet...least I'm not.
Then, I used the Carrot Stick! That went really well too. Then, we went out of the round pen, and rode in a bigger pen for a while. Brizzee and I argued a little bit, becuase she wanted to go to the gate, where the other horses were, and I kept asking her to go AWAY from the gate. So she kinda tossed her head a little bit, but nothing else. Then we trotted again, and as soon as she went intno a trot, she spun around, and went straight for the gate. Then I switched to the Hackamore, and we still argued for a little while. Then, we followed the rail. She became calm, her stride lengenthed out, and she felt really good. That's when I made the mistake of asking for a trot, she then went right straight for the gate...UGH. I don't know how to get her out of that.
Our friend, of course, left before I went out of the round pen. After I dismounted, my mom talked to me. She was telling him about Parelli, and she told him that we went to the Montana Tour Stop. She told him that she was an Ambassador, and he asked what the difference was between an Ambassador, and an Instructor. She told him, and then she told him that I wanted to specialize in Foals!! She said his eyes lit up, and he said that I needed to come out to his place and play with his colt!! YES!! I don't know when I'll start playing with the foal, but I'm excited. It was born in June, so I think it'll be fun playing with him!! There's is just one problem though...we don't have a foal halter...at all. I would ask if we could buy a Parelli Foal Halter, but my mom said no, because it's not our foal...so I'll probably have to play with him using a web halter, but at least he'll start out on the right foot...for the most part.
I had a good day! And I am so proud of Brizzee. We just need to do some more riding with one rein, and work on our Driving, Squeeze with a Jump, and Sideways Game a little more, and then I'm DONE with Level 1!! I can't wait for that. We are starting to do some Level 2 things. One of these days I hope that my mom will come out and record me playing Level 1 with Brizzee, and then if it is okay, maybe send it into an Instructor!! I'm very excited! Thank you for reading my blog, and I'll be posting some on my other blog too, so be sure and check it out!
Savvy On,
~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~
"Once the halter is off, the only thing left is the truth." - - Pat Parelli
"Love, Langauge, and Leadership!" -- Pat Parelli
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