Beautiful Day With My Beautiful Horse

Today has been a GORGEOUS day so far!  No wind!!!!  Lots of big blue skies and warm sun! The horses are beginning to shed out some of their winter hair.  What a refreshing breath of Spring we had this afternoon!

For some reason all the horses were together in Aspen's paddock when I got there so I took the opportunity to  brush each one and get to know them all a little better.  I may have fallen in love with one of the weanlings that I helped to halter not so long ago.  He's really great!  I'll take some pictures of him and post them.  Someone tell me I don't need/can't afford a second horse! :)

Aspen got a pedicure today from my trimmer Pam Dunkle - she did a wonderful job on her feet and Aspen stood there like a lady! 

We had such fun play today - it was a hundred times better than the last time we played!  I was really aware of how much energy I had, my body language toward her, and remembering to breathe deeply.  Amazing what a huge difference that makes!  She has been steadily making progress but today was different because she was offering me so much more!  In everything we did we had a really nice balance of drive and draw which was evident in our figure-8 and weave pattern as she offered to do them at the trot, stayed on pattern, and left slack in the rope.  It felt and looked great!  Our stick to me was unlike any other time before!  I didn't have to use my stick at all - she was totally with me!  Walk, trot, stop, reverse, stop, trot, - whatever it was I was doing she was right there with me.  She even got into it a little with some head shaking and spunk!  Is that a left brain horse I see in there??

She jumped the barrels today which she has been struggling to do before and jumped my rail jump which is set at about 2'3" with ease.  Worked on transitions of gait, change of direction, and canter departs (gets her right lead easier than left).

Aspen offered to yield sideways toward me today.  I had my stick up on her neck as I took a step away from her and she brought her front end toward me then the hind end.  It was all her idea and it was really neat.  She had a lot of draw today! :) 

For the first time she had no negative reaction whatsoever when I got on her.  We did the touch-it, figure-8 and weave pattern while riding and did some trotting circles.  She's very light to my body but very heavy on the hands.  She felt hard mouthed the day I tried her out to buy her and I can feel it still through the reins.  She has a lot of opposition reflex there...starts with her bracing against the reins than raising her head to evade the pressure.  So we did lots of yield to pressure/porcupine games with lateral flexion, 9-step backup, and disengagment.  It helped some by the end of our session and I'm confident that pretty soon she'll have a really good feel in the halter.

I feel really, really happy with our time together today!  I hope this weather continues into tomorrow and I can go out there and play with her again in the warm sunshine!

My budget playground!  Buckets for the weave pattern, barrels for my squeeze game, logs shaped like an L for backing through, sideways, etc, a water trough and logs for a jump, and a tire (not pictured) for her to put her feet in.  There's also a hula hoop for me to stand in so I stop drifting around!

The Three "Fitness-es"

Physical, mental, emotional.  The three types of personal fitness one may or may not have.  No matter how fit you are there will always be room for development and continued growth in all three of the fitness-es.

Here are the definitions I use for myself when gauging how fit I currently am and where I'm headed.

Physically Fit: I am height/weight proportionate, athletic enough to pursue the things I love in life (horses!), and am balanced in my body's nutritional needs.

Mentally Fit: I am in a positive, open, learning frame of mind, I have a strong basis of specific and dependable knowledge for my line of work, my hobbies, and a broad general knowledge on a variety of topics to be well rounded.

Emotionally Fit: I am able to handle situations of stress, adrenaline, excitement, discomfort, etc in a rational and appropriate manner.  

My emotional fitness has always been the hardest for me to master.  I wouldn't say that I am an emotional person by nature, at least on the outside.  I'm in introverted personality type.  I chew on ideas, experiences, and problems for days at a time before acting on them.  I feel things intensely and, for an introvert, have a deep, driving, strong energy.

If I feel un-confident or afraid my mental side takes over and begins organizing the feelings for me - telling me that I am either over-reacting or responding appropriately.  My mind is great at saying, 'Samantha, it's not personal' or 'You should be afraid no matter what anyone else says, that horse is dangerous!' or 'Don't get frustrated.  Anger is often the result of ignorance.  You simply don't have the tools yet...'  I may know that I should get off, and physically get off the horse, but emotionally I beat myself up for it... If only I had the tools, the knowledge, the resources, the confidence, etc I could have handled that situation better.  For me knowing and feeling something are two completely different experiences.

Linda Parelli often uses the cliff analogy when talking about humans pushing horses off a cliff to do things they're not ready for.  For example, if we were to ask our horse to cross a river we know there is no danger but our horse may feel insurmountable pressure, impending doom and know a torturous death awaits them... often at times when we think we're not even pressuring them at all!   I am the the horse in the analogy that's afraid to approach the edge of the river of my fear when asked to, frantic on the inside, trying to be brave and look over... AND I'm the person saying "JUST DO IT ALREADY!  You'll be fine!  Go! Go! Go! Pansy!"  Can you see the imbalance between my mental and emotional fitness?

So, why talk about this now?  I have been thinking a lot about the other day with Aspen and I am coming around to the idea that her off day and impulsive nature was most likely a direct result of me!!  I had a rough morning and while I thought I had pushed all my irritation aside when I got to the barn, in reality it was simmering somewhere inside, and that agitated energy was up too high for her. I was happy to see her but I knew that I wasn't in the best 'state of feeling'.  (See the know vs. feel concept here again?)  I should have done less with her until I was totally neutral.  As I said earlier, I have an intense energy and I know now that with a horse as perceptive and sensitive, and bless her heart as trying, as Aspen is that my emotions and energy have to be in total check before I play with her.

I must find the balance between my mental fitness and my emotional fitness by exercising them - respecting my feelings, recognizing them, and not sweeping them under the rug.  By doing this I will be more able to understand the energy I have and am projecting subconsciously.  It will translate not only in playing with horses but in dealing with people as well.

What fitness is your weakest?  Your strongest?  How would you be a better horse person if you honed your weakest fitness and made it stronger?