BFO liberty: test of quality and quantity of attention span

wow--new perspective on liberty!! new levels are so good.

Sat - magic day

level3 liberty basics:

1. enter and remove halter to promote stick to me--she easily moved her HQ as I did this.
2. friendly side and do more friendly--I did this
3. porky: lead by ears, legs w/string--wow we have never done part of this and she was light, following the feel and then suggestion
4. driving: which end does the halte go on/ HQ yield 2 eyes/stick behind the back/FQ yield--sharpen up--HQ yield much more responsive
5. stick to me: let stick and string drag and practice/sharpen up/ including back and trot good at this level
6. sideways from zone 1 get smallest try/reward/get off it--she understands this from pendalum rhythm--watch Annie again and then take this further.

Riding: posting trot and a couple circles of canter in baretek pad.

Next session: check all above and add catching attention game. from fig 8 or HQ yield/2 eyes.

1. flick rope and hold halter
2. coil coil coil and flick--looking at tail
3. look for ears, ?
4. spiral out to walk away take pressure off

TEST OF LENGTH AND QUALITY OF ATTENTION SPAN

3 days off Thanksgiving - new parelli levels packs

For Saturday plan

coming in from pasture: driving in zones 3-5
remember dwell/passenger

riding: baretek/pilates--passenger/6 laps no stirrups/canter/dressage pattern #4

level3 liberty basics:
1. enter and remove halter to promote stick to me
2. friendly side and do more friendly
3. porky: lead by ears, legs w/string
4. driving: which end does the halte go on/ HQ yield 2 eyes/stick behind the back/FQ yield--sharpen up
5. stick to me: let stick and string drag and practice/sharpen up/ including back and trot
6. sideways from zone 1 get smallest try/reward/get off it

Tue riding lesson

warmup then pattern #4 being more particular
Try didn't pick up canter immediately (left over from baretek over weekend) did walk, halt, back canter with intention to fix that ....

Sunday

Went to barn with intention after yesterday. Filmed online stuff and got video off to Kelly and Annie.

Saturday

goal: get stuff filmed to send to kelly

1. came in from other barn/breakfast--dwell and graze time. Warmup with touch it: wow black jump cup from 20 feet, straddled cavaletti pole vertically from a distance (on the popper)!! What a sweet heart. waited calmly while I set up camera and stuff in the ring. etc

lots of rest/treats/dwell between tasks and Try in great mood until I asked for S shape in circling and lope in baretek then ears/ears/ears!

2. got very nice FQ yield 361 degrees/pivoting on HQ on film
3. got improved figure 8 on film from the popper/not begging
4. one whole good section of spin/backing etc did not get filmed
5. circling never got a good send; breaking gait on the obstacle (cavaletti)
6. filmed baretek for me: lope only got a few steps

warm up did not wake Try up--needed stick to me backup or cutting game or something. The latter would be two good ones to send to Annie.

fri figure 8 and keystone

Went a little early to have some dwell time with Try and ended up sharing it with Haylee. Then brought Try in for breakfast and, because ring was being dragged, had a little extra time so went out back for liberty figure 8s--we got them both ways, slowish, and Try did not leave and I did not beg.

Then rode Keystone--better on the warmup and I love his canter. Then did dressage training level pattern 1 and it was a mess.
1. Getting the gait and the pattern was a lot for me. 2. bending on the circle remember use leg mostly and inside rein against the neck 3.getting a good shape on the circle 4. dnward trans no need to rush 5 upward need lots of energy and leg. etc

thur baretek pad

Finally got a chance to really ride in the baretek today after rain, clinic time etc. Used it for what would normally be a lesson of an English hack on the flat plus dressage pattern. Today we did not get to the pattern but found wonder of wonders that I could easily transition from posting trot to Enlgish sitting trot to western jog riding on the buckle. Could lope on my pockets and canter in an English frame. The latter better in the baretek than my English saddle! I did not feel that I lost any precision whatsoever in the English hunter riding. Who da thunk it! I can see that it is going to improve my seat and be a great weekend saddle. I love the fact that I can go play with western freestyle riding and English no stirrups posting trot strength work all in the same session. What a cool pad!

Tue

Yesterday Try and I went on a lovely little trail ride with Kat and Mac. Try enjoyed herself, after we trot back to the hay pile in her pasture together. I hung out awhile talking to Jim and Try kept coming up to visit and then going back to the hay.

Wed: I was sooooo direct line. boo hiss. trying to get some video for Kelly and be a good girl and apply all the stuff I have learned recently. Not enough time, hurried, did not warm up Try so she was still asleep in the beginning and some ears when we did the perkier stuff.

Good stuff--she still wanted to be with me, pretty turn on the haunches, and a few good steps in the hoola hoop, HQ spin 2nd one was pretty good--better to have let Try had time to think about it. circle ok I remembered to check ears/licking and chewing and diseng in the direction she is moving; figure 8s--better coord on my part, did it too many times--get off it.

Did get good clear video 1st time with new camera.

Mon

well I was so motivated but too tired when I got to the barn 2:00ish and was scattered in my thoughts and feel like I need to apologize to Try

FQ yields lovely pivots in place until I asked Try to keep her feet in the hoolahoop
Spin-carrot stick behind the back is still awkward
yoyo and backing are better, less sticky, conscious of ears

circle: forgot to shorten the rope to sent the shoulder out
did traveling variety and set up obstacles but did not really use them
bring back: good at watching for ears
better waiting for lick and chewing
half figure 8 is nice to the left

new camera for photos has video feature--accidentally turned it off but did get a couple seconds of HD and the difference in quality is tremendous. However it requires a converter software from .mov to.avi for editing in studio.

also rode just a little in new bareback pad with new girth--still working to get it just right--was a little loose still but fixable now. pad feels good--at least at trot I feel completely comfortable.

Balancing Respect and Rappore

Comments/thoughts based on private liberty session and video coaching from Kelly: todos to film for next coaching...

1. FQ yield - 361 degrees for respect
2. HQ yield - make this a spin so I am not moving my feet as much
3. FQ and HQ yields do these in a hula hoop
4. porcupine: head down to get good release from pressure with rope (online yoyo)
4. yoyo: vary the speed of the backup and get soft yield coming forward EARS
5. circle game: shorten the rope to send, shoulder needs to move out
6. circle game variety: traveling and obstacles
7. circle come back: watch for ?/ears/licking and chewing
8. circle: bend/shape/contact on the circle
9. Catching game - if she leaves me, throw halter and lead at zone 4 when she turns her shoulder/head away from me. Wait forthe ears and the ?, disengage and turn and walk away to draw.
10. half figure 8: allow her to leave, don't beg, apply catching game if needed. Continue online with belly of the rope on the ground. Send the shoulder, carrot stick under the rope, stick points at HQ, stand tall and super smiley friendly backup/draw.

Balance: what's in it for her: rest, massage, treats
Wait for licking and chewing between tasks
watch out for ear pinning

private session online with Annie Sat

Notes: Private Hour with Annie Shank 11/14/2009 Online

1. The first thing Annie taught all of us was staying neutral. She demonstrated with her husband Michael being the horse, how if we don’t have the belly of the rope on the ground our horse feels our every movement and becomes desensitized to the rope (and probably annoyed). I played with this during the day and Try really responded!

2. Overall I need to be holding the popper of the 22’ line.

3. I shared with Annie before we started (and in advance email) comments from auditions: online that I will need more exuberance from Try for Level 4 and that I was subtly micromanaging in the circling game. Freestyle: that I need to be more particular and Try needs to be more of a partner. That I was stuck on liberty with the figure 8 and had been working on respect/drive/draw to help. Annie addressed all of these and gave me some additional things to play with moving on from where I am online.

4. The first thing we did was the cutting game to get Try’s attention and exuberance—not a Level 1 etc task as it could be dangerous but I am fully confident with this knowing Try. It starts with a little tap on the shoulder to get her to move the shoulder. Progressed to beginning with suggestion with the rope phase 1 and follow up with tap on shoulder if needed. Try and I have done a little of this before but not with such clear how tos. I love this game and as Try being LBI and moi more LBE, I think it will be really fun for us.

5. If my memory serves me the next thing we did was the circling game. 4 laps each way and send at a trot—we did not worry about her ears on the allow and interestingly her ears were really nice when she was behind me. We did play with my dancing and jumping up and down to see the effect on her attitude. I was not micromanaging. I like the way Annie steps out on the send. Note: I did not need to correct Try for offering a canter then deciding to trot (I over asked) nor to correct her for a slow canter where she is trotting behind. Bring back: disengage in the speed up not slow down direction i.e. with her movement not against for a speedier bring back. Do not allow her to come in with ears pinned and back her up until the ears relax even if extensive i.e. back the whole weave.

6. We did a little smell the tail and I needed to be softer in asking but Try did it well and has really good lateral flexion.

7. Figure 8: lead it, carrot stick under, point at the hip then back up with a super friendly look. I LOVE this. I was impressed with Annie's use of facial expression.

8. Next Annie challenged me to do the weave 22’ away holding the popper at a trot. We found I needed to establish this at a walk first and then we were able to do this at a trot. Now I am wondering why this worked so well? Because Annie set it up from the warmup? It wasn’t because she was up being away from home as she was relaxed and happy as a clam the entire time at Mary’s except when she was the only horse in the barn.

9. Another fun thing is using stick to me to help Try get her weight back on her haunches: back Try up to get her on her haunches (and with her conformation she is naturally very much on her FQ—i.e. when she canters in the pasture on her own she really pounds on her front end), then lead off at a trot and IF she doesn’t respond correct with carrot stick/string back to haunches or whatever I can reach.

10. Pedestal: Annie said it is possible for Try to do 4 feet on the pedestal and we played with using savvy string around one hind leg until we reached success with her touching the pedestal with that leg.

11. Driving from zones 3,4,5 with ONE rein/line. This was frustrating to me—Try and I had not done this much in ??3 years, especially with one rope. (and a big thank you to Annie for getting us to do this) I was having problems communicating and being able to get back to zone 5.

1. Carrot stick on TOP of the rump to start the movement,
2. Little circles with stick to turn front end and little up down movement to slow or back.
3. If Try goes sideways then go sideways with her with my ribs really in. Using one rope rather than two is better for my learning to communicate.

Playing at the stations with the cards Annie and Michael provided—lots of good ideas. Try and I played with sideways 22 feet with my feet planted from the popper that was a challenge—tried it point to point between barrels to begin with and when that wasn’t so great went to the cavaletti pole which Try understands as sidepass and we saw some really good improvement and went back to barrels and improved there as well. It gave me food for thought about being too close to Try as a habit. We also played with the weave in various ways at the station.

Fri getting ready for Annie

Finally got Try clipped--needs some cleaning up but pretty good--just took an hour.

Packing up stuff for Try to spend the night at Mary's.
also took the opportunity to do catching game--asked Try to do 1/2 fig 8 (not begging)--she did it well, asked the other direction and she left so when she had her head angled away from me on the circle I tossed line and halter at her butt--only took twice before she was giving me ears and asking a question. I looked a little at her butt and turned and walked away and in she came licking and chewing.

Tomorrow one hour private time with Annie Shank, plus play stations.

rained out

Wed Thur rained out

1. did video lesson w/BA watching dressage training patterns etc at youtube. I learned that there is a huge difference between levels i.e. Olympic like Matinee and local training level. Communication is similar between disciplines. Much of the communication comes from the legs/aids should be imperceptiable (?sp). Different horses are more suited conformation-wise. Connection is perhaps do-able in the near future--collection for Try--doubtful. Benefit of doing pattrns: Try likes patterns and so do I. We can work on transitions of gait etc even if not having to deal with transition of stretching out/rounding up etc.

2. Susan sent the catching game video from 2003. Fun to watch. What was different--Pat was really driving horse's HQ by throwing rope and halter--imp--his belly button towards HQ and then watched for ear toward him/question and turned and walked away and allowed horse to come.

3. Sent video to Kelly on driving game issues: My notes/her replies:

My notes:
Other wise—have been playing with the issue of driving game from our liberty session when you were here and that is video I want to send. I was upping the respect end of things and stuff was getting really sour so I tried upping respect and laying on the rappore stuff all at the same time. It is now keeping her happy and I’m getting a little more from her but not enough. When we get through the rain I think I’ll go back to circle game at liberty.

Have been splitting time pretty much equally between my 4 savvies.

Riding: got dvd recommended in Oct savvy club dvd== pilates for dressage—nice warmup I can do for me while Try enjoys some passenger time. Also rereading Sally Swift. All ties in well to dance learning but doesn’t mean I am applying it unless it is residual from way back or I can find a way to build it in and discipline myself. Riding lesson: have been alternating riding TB with big stride and it has boosted my self-confidence. Playing with the training level patterns for dressage, just for fun and watching some videos—sometimes in bareback pad with posting trot and even some canter, riding on the buckle.

Looking forward to the new levels material.

Kelly's comments on video:
Disengaging hindquarter- move your feet less

Forequarter yield looks nice, opposition reflex, gone!

I want you to really focus on keeping the belly of the rope on the ground, particularly when you yo-yo her back! She is still giving you some resistance to game #2 on the poll!

Run backwards- even turn your back to her to increase your draw.

Play with speeds of the backup- slow then fast. Remember, your backup is your respect gauge 

Try this: do your forequarter and hindquarter yields with the front end or hind end in a hula hoop- this will tell you if they are moving too much!

Circle game- shorten the rope a bit at first so that you can touch her shoulder if necessary. You want her shoulder to move out and away from you and not to cut into your space- it is looking better, though.

Remember- wait for the lick and chew between each task.

Work on porcupine from the poll- get this really soft, with no opposition.

Second circle send looked good- very snappy. She also maintained gait- yippee!

Like the traveling circles- now she just needs to maintain gait and do them, add some obstacles- make it interesting!

Her contact/shape on the circle does look better- if she gives you the evil look, tell her to wipe that look off of her face- she is not allowed to come at you like that- she was a bit on the s bends towards you.

Liberty: Careful not to beg her!

My question
Great will work on those things and plan to film again next week.
One question: porcupine at the poll?? Didn’t realize I was working on that?? You mean I should be using game #2 to ask her to put her head down???
thanks

Kelly's reply
use your fingertips at first and can support by putting some feel on the snap to cause her her to move off pressure from the halter at the poll- in your videos, she gives you some resistance there- it is also a draw issue; however, working on that will help her alot when you put some feel on the rope and ask her to come to you :)

Tue

Tried clipping but ??blades old--ordered new.

Rode a little in new baretek saddle pad--even canter felt just like western saddle. Have ordered a girth for it--old one was way too big and pad kept slipping.

today: raining--hopefully clippers will be working with new blades and I can at least get that accoomplished today and maybe pack for Saturday.

Sun Mon

Sunday:
relationship repair day
grass, dwell time, fig8 (1/2),passenger, pilates warmup, dressage pattern #4, online circling variations, grass

Monday:
grass/dwell
online in ring: driving basics FQ HQ yoyo circle plain, to obj, traveling, Sshape
take time/rest/treats
afternoon-came back and bathed in prep for clipping tomorrow

Saturday

well filmed some and wasn't happy with what I saw micromanaging, no good drive, and Try snarky with falling leaf.

Riding: tried next dressage pattern--riding and reading at the same time--Try is so great at staying on pattern even when we don't know what it is yet ggg. Then cantered/loped in western saddle the requisite 10 laps--she was up/pounding just a little but overall nice and relaxed and it wasn't a bit deal physically for her.

New bareback pad arrives Mon ups--can't wait.

Thursday

figure 8 still a challenge: for tomorrow continue yoyo/falling leaf/s shape

riding lesson: Try/dressage pattern/no stirrups--stronger!/canter--try pounding on front end and did not settle in 5 laps. tomorrow western saddle canter til Try can relax.

Monday

Beautiful day. Try and I enjoyed liberty stuff and riding with Kathy and her horse Shirley and then dressage pattern at posting trot (bareback pad).

BUT got home and watched video. Try is really calling the shots and the leader in the round corral. I need to take the leadership, be particular about what I want and not be governed by trying to keep her in a good mood.

ok: pedestal/extreme friendly, lead by hocks, ball, jump cavaletti turn and face

needs attention: figure 8, circle, spin, lead by tail,stick to me maybe at least as means to travel from one obstacle to another

Sun am

Got out early to beat the rain

Try was so sweet
1. touch it--magic, follow my focus and her suggestion
2. circle bend - used chalk--we had it
3. behind the back - yes but I could have been lighter and used my phases better
4. pilates warmup
5. new dressage pattern - bareback pad and rope haltamore: walked the pattern--used reins for new stuff (Try has learned the previous patterns so well) and then repeated most of it at posting trot.)