Frustration > Patience > Fun = SAVVY!!

That pretty much sums up Brizzee's and I playday yesterday. lol. We did a lot of new things yesterday. I messaged her back legs for a long time, almost got done on my knees!! A little more confident around her back legs, but not quite one hundred percent yet, but it'll come in time. Then I haltered her from my KNEES!! That was fun. She didn't pull up her head, back up, moved side to side or anything. She just lowered her head and stood there while I put the halter on, sweet girl.
And then we did a lot of different things with the games!!

Friendly: Leg massage, helicopter in zone 3, 4 , and a little bit in 5!! :) She wasn't real confident with that. She put her head up and her ears twitched back and she kept looking at me from the corner of her eye, but she did really good. And then we played with the tarp and I was able to rub her with the tarp, and after a few minutes I had the full tarp laying over her!! YAY!! It went from her rump, to the very back of her ears in zone 2, just draping over her. When I went to pull it up over her head she freaked out a little. I pulled it off and just as I did the wind came up and she spoked out from under it, and then she just stopped, looked at me with the "orange flying monster", and then she finally licked and came up. So that was exiting.
Then I had her walking over the tarp and stopping on it. She could stop with both of her front feet on it, but she couldn't keep her back feet on it. She kept moving away from it. But that's okay, we're playing with it! :-)

Driving Game: We did the Figure 8 with the cones, and then we did the figure 8 with the cones on the tarp at the walk. She was pretty confident with that. And I tried doing some driving her from Zone 3/4/5. She was okay in Zone 3, but then zone 4/5 is when she really started getting confused. She kept turning aroudn and coming up to me, or else she would just stand there and back up. I had just wanted to see how she'd do and what it's like. I probably gave her mixed signals or something. It's different though.

Yo-Yo Game: I backed Brizzee out of our little barn thing, brought her back in, yo yoed her out again, brought her in several times. And then we switched. Then I backed her in, brought her back out, and then backed her back in again. That was FUN!!

Circling Game: We did a transition, two change of directions and then she even did one full lap of cantering with the Circling Game! Yippee!! She was even confident. It used to be I'd ask her for the canter on the ground with something and she'd go Right Brain and have to move and run, and run, and run and she couldn't even look at me. But yesterday she did one lap, confidently, stopped when I glared at her, turned and came into me, licked, and then of course examined me for her treat. Silly goose. And we did the Circling Game where she had to move around the cones, and over the tarp. She'd sometimes go around the tarp, cut between the tarp and myself, and she knocked a few cones over. But I didn't care where she went, just as long as she watched out for them. That was fun!!

Sideways Game: Oh goodness, where do I begin with this? lol. We sideways around the cement water thing, she did pretty good. And we sideways down the fence towards the other fence and when the other fence got close, she went a little Right Brain, ran away, and then stopped and stared at the fence. We played with that a little more. She'll be okay up to a certain point going towards the fence,and then she just runs. So then I squeezed her between myself and the fence, thinking maybe that was the problem, and she did okay. She kept trotting through the squeeze so we continued playing with it until she could go through the squeeze at the walk confidently and calmly with her head down. And then we tried the Sideways towards the fence and the same thing happened.
So then I thought we'd try to do sideways towards. She didn't even budge. hehe. So the I tried to just her Zone 4 to turn to me. At first she would try, and I'd reward her as soon as she tried, and then she would just stand there with that; "Not going to do it!" Look on her face. She was being defiant. So we just played around that, tried it again, she took ONE step towards me with zone 4, and then we went to something else.

Odd: I got down on my knees, picked up her leg and brought it down giving her a treat. That went okay. Her knee was kinda close to the ground, but not really, but she didn't pull her leg, or act defiant or anything. She just reached aroudn with her neck, took the treat, and then I put her hoof back down on the ground easily, massaged her legs. I was really tempted to go under her belly, but I didn't.
And then I tapped her legs to pick them up. She finally remembered to stand still. She's so funny. She'll lift her left leg real easy, leave it in the air for a while and then set it down gently. But with her right hoof, she'll pick it up, put it down quickly, and it'll be in a different spot then what it was in before, but that's okay.

And then we did a little bit at liberty. We just walked around together, and even trotted...towards the gate of course. lol. And then I put the 12 foot line on her, hopped up on her back and we rode around for a while. As usual, she kept going towards the gate.

I'm trying to figure that out. Everytime I ride her, inside the pen she goes to the gate, no matter what pen we are in, and what's on the other side of the gate. And then when we go out into the yard, she goes to the gate again to go into the paddock, so we go through the gate into the paddock, she goes back to the gate again...hmm. I'm trying to figure out what it is about the gate the she likes so much.

But we had a lot of fun today. Everytime I would begin to feel frustrated, I took a deep breath, and just hugged Brizzee. And when I did she didn't really hug me back, but she did do something that she's never done before ;-) She kinda tucked her chin over my shoulder...sweet. I promised her that I wouldn't let anything come between us. No man is going to come between us, another horse isn't going to come between us, NOTHING is going to come between my horse and I, nothing.

And then I felt better, got my patience back, we played again. And that happened several times, but I was able to get my frustration under control and got patience, and in all and all it turned out to be a very fun & savvy day!!

And then I went out to play with Sugar, our friend's horse. You can check out my other blog www.otherhorsenalities.blogspot.com for that.

Savvy On,
~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~
PS. Only 177 more days until New Moon (the second movie in the Twilight Saga) comes out in Theaters!! hehehe.

Progress!!

Ugh, today is horrible, just horrible. It started off really nice, and now it's windy, windy, windy, windy!! Oh, and let's not forget the thunder clouds and thunder at times. It's terrible. Dirt is everywhere. Oh well.

Well, yesterday I played with Brizzee a little bit in the morning, it was all ready hot! It went okay. We did the Figure 8, Weave, Circling Game, and some other fun stuff. It went okay, I guess. I was getting really hot, Brizzee didn't want to do anything, so we ended it there and I did some other things for the rest of the day. Here's some pics of us doing the Figure 8:

After the sunset last night my mom and I went outside to play with Sugar and Ute. I was going to ride Sugar a little bit and then mom was thinking about goin on a trail ride depending on how well she did. Well we got out there and our friend was there who owns her, so we started talking to him and he had fed Sugar so she was eating.

So after I few minutes I went and got Brizzee. I didn't really know what to do with her, just mosey. I think that is the funniest time we have ever had together! We did the Figure 8, trotted around, did some other things that were fun, and then I hopped on her bareback.

Last night was a super neat night. I had nothing planned, and we just did some fun things and it went really good!! She was actually I think interested!! So from now on when I go out and play iwht her we'll just do whatever, and not even caring what we do or accomplish.

I was looking for her previous owner's address tonight because I want to write him a letter and thank him for letting my buy his horse. Even though we don't have very good days sometimes, and then other days we have great days, she is a great horse and I'm sure that in time (like a few years) we'll be able to do anything together!! I just need to enjoy the time I have with her and just do whatever we feel like...I think. Parelli Natural Horse Man Ship really isn't about the horse, it's about you. You go through all these thinking stages, you go through different things, and you need to figure out what your horse needs and become part horse. Everyday I think about this program, what I'm doing, what I need to do differently to help Brizzee more. And it changes regularly, of course, but that's okay. We're all learning!!

Savvy On,

~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~

Liberty!!

Good evening! Today was a terrific day with Brizzee. We went into the round pen, did some things on the 22 foot, and then we played a little bit at Liberty :-) That was awesome. There was grass growing up everywhere that Briz, of course, was interested in, but that's okay. For basically being thing the first time, she did really good. I'd start walking towards her hind end a few times and she'd turn around and look at me, hehehe.

Then we played a little bit more online with the 22 foot, and then I got on bareback. We rode around for a while,a nd then we went into the driveway where I saddled her up and rode her for a little while. We went up the dirt road like 10 times, road around in the driveway, and then mom came out and started giving me tasks to do.

We did some walking to places, sidepassing (she's getting a lot better), trotting, and we did cantering! She always took the right lead, not that I care or anything but mom wanted me to try to get her on her left lead, but she never did, but that's okay, I don't care. I don't even care if she canters or not, she's perfect just the way she is...compared to when I first got her. The change in her is just amazing since I got her. She doesn't seem like the same horse at all. lol.

So we had lots of fun today. Oh, and almost forgot, she even did the FIGURE 8 at LIBERTY!! Wow! I was really surprised she did that, but it went really good! I was/am extremely happy about today. And the weather is sonice outside.

I'm still having feet problems though. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but according to my mom I don't have my feet in the right position. Here are some pics that she took of my feet while I was trotting Brizzee:

Poor girl, she puts up with me so much! lol. I think I would have lost patience and would have bucked me off all ready, if I was her. lol. Oh, and guess what? She even did a lot better with the grass today. She wasn't going after it nearly as much, and when we went through it she didn't argue with me, and she followed everything that I asked of her more lighter! Yea!!! But she did eat bark....horses eating bark? Hmm. lol. But it was a terrific day today, would've been much better if I can figure out where to put my feet. Poor girl.

Savvy On,

~Randa~ & ~Brizzee (the patient one)~

Figure 8 Realization, Bath Day, Transitions, oh, and let's not forget the Starling

Boy, what an awesome day yesterday, and a warm day at that. lol. Who knew so many things could happen in one day? First of all Brizzee came right up to me yesterday, and she stood still, head almost touching the ground while I groomed her, relaxed her tail instantly, and when I got the soft brush and brushed her head she closed her eyes and pushed into the brush. Funny girl.

We did the Figure 8 at the trot, and I realized what I've been doing wrong! I've been facing HER the whole time. I just point to where I go, but I stare at HER! So yesterday I turned my whole body to where I wanted her to go, and guess what? She went there! It was awesome! She was still a little bit sticky with coming around that left barrel, but it was a lot better then it has been and we even did it at the trot and instead of getting all panicky and worried, she did it nicely, confidently, and as soon as she was done her ears came forward like; "Where's my treat? I know I did good, where is it?" lol.

Then we went out for a wakl to try to find some shade. As soon as we got out of the corral she started pulling me over to the grass. I wish I could let her graze for a long time, and just sit with her while she grazes but I can't do that since she has been Grass Foundered. Well, I can let her eat a few mouthfuls, but that's it. So I was struggling with her a little bit with that. You'd think she was starving by the way she kept going over to it, but oh well.

We walked clear down to the road, we found a nice shady spot, and we sat there for about ten minutes and I let her eat, and then we went back up, both of us sweating. So I decided to give her a bath! She was a little unconfident, had to move her feet, but then it go to where she was better, still moved her feet, but it was a lot better. When I finished she kept kicking, I guess the water tickled her back end. hehe, sorry girl. But in the end she was nice and clean and shiny, and I'm a filthy mess. Plus I didn't even think about my shoes, so my poor boots got soaked...poor things.

We walked somemore, sat down in some shade in the driveway, took pics, and then we did the Figure 8 again. We practiced our Change of Direction Online, which went pretty good. She was a little confused, but that's okay. And with Transitions, that's where it started to get ugly. She wouldn't just walk. When I asked her to go she'd start off at the trot, and when I'd try to slow her down to a walk either by wiggling the rope or putting the carrot stick in front of her, she'd either stop and turn towards me, but not asking a questions, or else she'd go really Right Brain and take off pulling on the 22 foot line. So we ended it there and did some other things like tapping her feet to lift them. She backed up at first, but then she got it and just picked up her hoof, and then stomped it back down. hehehe.

She was really dry then so I hopped on and rode her around a little bit bareback. It got to the point where when she would stop, instead of squeezing all I had to do was bring up my energy, act like I'm walking and away she'd go. I have a feeling, and I'm hoping very, very strongly that I won't need to be firm with her while riding her much longer...I hope. Once she gets what I'm asking her, but lightly, I think she'll get it for good. Wouldn't it be so much better if everyone just raised thier horses this way so they wouldn't have to forget everything they've been taught and learn something totally different? That would be so nice.

And then guess where we ended it? We ended it on a good note, with something she's never done before :-) When my mom drove the truck back up the corral from watering the horses, I hopped onto the tail gate (I switched to the 12 foot line) and lead Brizzee behind in the truck. Brizzee followed, CONFIDENTLY!! Yea! And when mom sped up a little, Brizzee trotted after the truck, CONFIDENTLY!! I was happy about that. She got lots of treats, got a roll, then we fed.

And coming up the driveway the baby Starling fell out of the nest, again, so I was going to put it back but there was another starling nest in a tree, and they looked to be about the same age (I look in on them everyday) so I just put him in there. The mother is still taking care of them, so that's a relief. Last night we stayed up until 2:00 AM watching the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Oh, that's a good movie. Sad ending, but a good movie. His personality was a lot funnier when he was...young, but looked old. Very good movie, but like I said, the ending is sad, in a way.

Here's some pics!

She had to blink at that moment. lol.

Oh, my poor soaken wet and muddy boots :-(

Savvy On,

~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~

Rescuing Baby Starling & Level 2!

First of all, it's all ready like 95 degrees out there...YUCK! What happened to the nice Spring 70 degree weather? We have cold/winter days, summer days, one day of spring, and then either winter or summer. It's either freezing outside, or blistering hot...and when it's really nice it's either storming or windy...ugh! But today there are no clouds, very little wind, and it's blistering hot. But hopefully it'll cool off this evening.

I've been very, very busy the last few days, but I think things will calm down for today, I hope.
Today my mom had to go into Twin, and I had to go out to the shed to get something, and there was a baby starling on the ground... poor thing. I didn't know where it came from, so I got a little box together, got a "Baby Starling Food" Recipe, made a nice "meal" for it. hehe. Went out there, but it in the box, began feeding it, and then a Starling dived at me! The nest was right above him, so I did some research on the internet. It said that the mother wouldn't kill it if I put it back in the nest, so I got the ladder...hands were shaking like something else...took the bird, and put it back by it's nest. Oh man! He started squealing and ran right over to its nest, and the mother came and it sounded like everyone was just so glad that he was back! :-) And then I had to get rid of the "meal"...yuck. Cat food, applesauce, water, and a boiled egg...eww. But he seemed to love it when I gave it to him. So, I rescued a baby bird.

I'm hoping to go out and play with Brizzee with Level 2 this evening! Excited about that. Maybe I can talk mom into going for a ride down the road today. I love doing that. Brizzee's stride lengthens, she lowers her head, and there's just a different expression in her eyes like happiness. And there's no grass on the road! YEA! It would be so much easier if she wasn't foundered so I could let her eat grass, but unfurtunately I can't :-( Sorry girl, but it's for the best.

Okay, I'll post more tonight or tomorrow (hopefully) about our Playday!
Savvy On,
~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~
P.S. I'll try to get some more pics of the Barn Owl. I don't know if there is a different one in the barn now or if it just got into some water because it looks a lot whiter then it did before...very pretty! Mabye we'll have "owlets" running around!! Fun stuff. I love Spring...if only the temp. would match the season. lol.

Wonderful Night!

Well yesterday (Thursday) I took Brizzee to a Team Sorting Practice. She was really different yesterday :-) She was really calm when I groomed her and she loaded really easy. She was a little prancy and anxious when we first got to the arena, but she calmed down pretty quickly.

She stayed really close to me when we get inside, funny girl. I'd start her with the circling game, and next thing I knew she was circling, but her stomach was right against me. funny girl.

The dirt was really deep, so she had to work hard to walk through it. I guess that's pretty good on her muscles. Anyways, when I started riding her she did really good. She just followed Ute everywhere, of course, but she was really listening to me, and it was pretty easy to get away from him outside of the soring pens. lol.

I went in with mom and Ute and it took a while to get her away from Ute, but when she did finally get away from him she did really good! She laid her ears back at them, and when I would get focused on the cow, she would get focused on it too. It was pretty fun!! I enjoyed it. I almost came off one time because we were going towards a steer, and it turned and ran suddenly, and Brizzee picked up her front end, spun around on her back legs, and then trotted after it until it was in the right pen. HEHEHE. I felt guilty because I pulled back and she stopped like, what did I do? She was doing the right thing, I was the one messing her up, but it was really good.

One time she wouldn't go through the gate to leave Ute, so what did I do? I backed her through the gate. lol. Everyone laughed about that, but I didn't care. We disqualified that time because Brizzee had to go, and she didn't block the gate with all the cows, but oh well, it was fun! She got lots and lots and lots of treats.

The most exciting part was when I wanted her to trot, all I had to do yesterday was bring up my energy, and pedal really fast with my feet and trotting she'd go. And we'd turn to Ute and she went into a really fast trot. silly goose.

It's amazing how sometimes when I ride her it's not very good, and other times it's cool! I love my horse!

Savvy On,
~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~

Patience, and plenty of it

Hey, sorry it's been a while. Things have been hectic this month. Our internet was done for aobut a week, and I had a Science Fair project...UGH. Very busy. Last Friday was the Science Fair, and I won a first place ribbon...course, so did 6 other people.

This is what my board looked like.

Yes, that's a real hoof. I was able to borrow it from a shoe place near us. I have to take it back today.

After Friday, however, thing calmed down a little bit. We went to get hay on Saturday, and my toe was buggin me (ingrown toenail), so after we got the hay I just pretty much sat at the computer all day. I wanted to write, but I wasn't in the mood...even though I wanted to be. But whatever.

For Mother's day we just sat in the living room for the better part of the morning, crocheting. We went for a 4-wheeler ride up a dirt road to see if we coudl ride the horses up there, and it looks okay to do so. We then went to get some flowers that mom planted while I rode Brizzee.

I can't beleive how long it's been since I've played with her. I played with her a little bit. She was very LBE yesterday. Of course, there was grass EVERYWHERE that she kept trying to get, silly goose. I played with her a little bit with the Preflight checks, then I got on.

That was funny. She just stood there while I groomed her and saddled her, but as soon as my foot was in that stirrup, off she went towards the grass. Silly. So that was exciting. I have just gotten used to her standing still, so that was a..."Hmm" moment.

That's pretty much how it went the rest of the day. She would go to the grass, go to the grass, go to the grass, and no matter what, she was always able to get her head down there and eat the grass, and then I couldn't get her head back up. I'd let her eat the grass, but she's foundered and I don't want her to get worse. But she acts like she's starving, which she's all ready too fat. lol.

But that was exciting. It wasn't really...Enjoyable, but at least we did somethign together. She's just so used to a man riding her, using a heavy hand on her, getting firm with her and everything that she doesn't listen to me at all, UNTIL I get firm with her...:-( I don't want to do that, but I guess I'll just have to get firm with her before I can start getting lighter and lighter.

But she cantered again yesterday! I was trotting her around, and just barely squeezed and she cantered!! YEAH! It lasted for about 2.5 seconds. lol. She's such a funny girl.

We ended it on a good note though. We have four calves that we let out into a big pen, and Brizzee and I went in there and just started seperating some of them, walking around them, etc. She was so funny. She laid her ears back at them when they wouldn't move, and hten she would like pounce at them. I thought I was going to come off. It was fun. And then it was time to put them in their pen, so about thiry minutes later Brizzee had them all rounded up into their pen. That was fun.

I love my horse so much. I know she would be better if I could get my feet in the right spot. I don't know why that is so hard for me to do, but it is. I just a place where I feel very secure, and then something happens and I loose it...UGH!! I was starting to loose patience with myself yesterday because I couldn't get my feet right. I felt like my butt was on the Balance Point, but my legs weren't. So I was loosing patience, but I was able to stop, get my patience back and smile.

But we still have a lot of fun things on the Ground to play with! I think I enjoy playing with her on the ground more then I enjoy riding her. :-)

As soon as school is done I'll be moving in with my dad (we need to fix the corrals up though. The cattle that our neighbor had in our corral tore up our fences) and then I'll have plenty of time to play with Brizzee!! YAY!!

Savvy On,

~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~

No Title

Welcome Spring!

Wow, it finally feels like Spring is here!! Yes! It's raining, and doing all the "normal" Spring stuff outside, so I'm excited. I am going to be staying with my dad this summer after school gets out,and of course I'm bringing Brizzee (can't leave her behind, that'd be impossible. lol). So that'll be fun. I'll be able to put a lot more of my time with her, and stuff. Work through some of our thresholds and things. I won't have to worry about putting the other horses up, or in their pens or whatever, because for one, Simmer-On will be the only horse here besides Brizzee, and he'll be out on pasture where as Brizzee will be in the corral, so they'll be seperated all ready.

I'm very excited to start doing things in Level 2. I think our Transitions Online and Change of Direction on Line will be a little tricky, since we are now having...discussions with the Circling Game#5, but hopefully we'll get through that threshold, I hope.

But the future holds so many promises! :-) I'm really excited for when School gets out and I can do a lot more with my horse.

It's funny how playing on the Ground is like one world. Things can be going really fun on the ground, and your horse pays attention to you and everything, and you get on their back and it's like a whole other world...hmm. EXCITING things to learn!! I love the PARELLI PROGRAM!! ;) But more importantly, I love my HORSE!!

Savvy On,
~Randa~ & ~Brizzee~
PS. Whenever a UPS comes by I hold my breath hoping he'll pull into the driveway with my certificate and red string!! lol.