Our lesson started with a review of all of our homework assignments. Gail and I went through the checklist that she gave me, and she got an idea of where Skip and I are in our training. She had me play the seven Parelli games with him so that she could see if he had any sticking points that needed to be worked through. The beauty of the seven games is that it gives you an opportunity to apply all of the basic principles in a very clear, concise way that can be developed as your foundation for everything else in the future. We had a new obstacle to deal with in a new environment: distractions. The neighbor's cows, other horses, motion in the bushes, sprinklers, etc. All of these things had to become less interesting than me. This was a big challenge for me, but Gail soon made it clear to both myself and Skip that he was in class now, and it wasn't time to mess around and be distracted. I need to be more assertive and more particular about what I expect from him.
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| Zooooom!! |
The above picture shows Gail demonstrating to me how to be an effective leader. She asked him to move with a clear request, then just allowed him to do his job. It seems that I was being just a bit too soft, and consequently doing more work than the horse was doing!
The one thing that showed up consistently lacking was our "Porcupine game." That is, any time I put pressure on him, he should yield to it, or move away. He doesn't. I have been very patient with him all along, and now it is time to step things up. If I am going to get in the saddle, I need to be able to ask for a response, and get one right away. Otherwise, I won't be safe.
After working on these sticky points and getting my homework assignments, we moved on to the game of "Liberty." We turned him loose and tested my effectiveness with him without any lead rope or halter on. This is where the truth comes out. The distractions really came into play here, and I found out that I don't have quite the respect that I need from him. Not to say that he doesn't respect me, but again, I just need to step up my leadership and be more definite in what I am asking for.
Next, we got the saddle and pad out. We placed it on the ground and let him sniff it. No problems here! He went right up to it and touched it with his nose. He didn't worry as I swung the pad around and on to his back, and he didn't even worry much with the saddle being swung up onto his back. He allowed us to cinch him up like a pro, and I even buckled the back cinch without a problem. When it came time to flop the stirrups around, he got a bit worried, but with consistency and rhythm, he soon adjusted to that strange feeling. Next it was time for the true test: moving out. We started by disengaging his hind end both ways (moving it from side to side), then we walked together for a short distance. After turning a couple of circles, it was time to turn him loose and let him move faster. We took the halter and lead rope off again and sent him out on the circle. He walked nicely at first, but then came the rodeo! I just asked him for a little more speed, and off he went bucking! He did a couple of laps around the pen before deciding that bucking was too much work. After that, he calmed down and was able to recall some of his previous lessons. Once he was moving nicely without bucking, we took the saddle off and called it a day in the round pen.
At the end of the lesson, Gail generously offered to help us with our sprayer issues. She spent about 30 minutes getting him used to the hose, and in the end, she was able to spray most of his body with the water. Pretty impressive since it took me about 3 hours to do the same thing, and I never was able to spray him!
Thanks Gail!!
~Jackie
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