Our Journey

Show Jumping Successes

2011-08-08T16:18:00.003+01:00

I never gave an update about how things went at the show a few weeks ago. I entered three classes - Ridden hunters, Ridden foreign breeds and 2"3 jumps. Ridden hunters we came 3rd (out of 3 so no biggie) and foreign breeds we got a 4th (of 5). Concluded that we don't like showing :P Obviously we had tongue issues through the whole thing and kept picking up the wrong leg in canter. I wasn't especially gutted because I only really wanted to jump, and I wish that I had not bothered with the showing but done the 2"6 as well because despite being 1st in the ring we came third :) She did a lovely clear round and I played the corner on the turn to the last jump too safe so we lost of to (only) 2 people. So so so happy!
Here are some pictures from the day. My mum didn't enjoy the showing either so didn't bother with taking any pictures of it! I've also got 2 pictures pending that the show photographer took. I'll put them up when I get them.

Got a few things coming up before France, but I am so excited about it :) Just about everything for the way there is planned now, just a waiting game.
Jo xxx

Sucker for good advertising...

2011-08-04T13:49:00.003+01:00

I stumbled across this video today:

It's Klaus Hempfling promoting his book/DVD titled 'The Horse Seeks Me'. I've not read it, but I am reading his book 'What Horses Reveal' slowly but surely. As you may have been able to tell from my bit down the side about horsemen that I admire, he is on there but I wasn't totally convinced. The video is obviously made to promote Mr Hempfling and show him in a good light so people buy his material and it has worked on me. The reason I dislike the book I'm currently reading a little is that the author comes across quite arrogant, and above it all. I find humility a really important aspect of being a horseman, in fact I think its an important quality in any career. There's no point saying 'I can do it all' because then your audience will just be waiting for you to get it wrong. I guess we can look at Pat Parelli and Catwalk last year at Stoneleigh Park, just as an example. Although the Parelli's maintain that Pat was doing the right thing, it just didn't look pretty or calm. I think horsemen should say as little and they can but show as much as they can. People are always more impressed when they are suprised. Besides, that way you don't set yourself up for a potential fall.

Anyway that wasn't the point of the blog. What I wanted to right, was that I really like the way Hempfling moves with his PRE Stallion. I thought there was such harmony there and it was pleasant to watch. I want to get that book and see what else he has to say in it. It was written before 'What Horses Reveal' so perhaps he isn't as arrogant in that one as he has become since gaining popularity.

Does anyone study much of his material and have any opinions? I'd love to hear from you.
Jo xxx

So much going on!

2011-07-28T21:12:00.004+01:00

So exciting how busy I've been. It's my holidays but I'm more shattered then I was at university.
I've been teaching my brother to ride on Sundays when he's home from work and last week we took the camera and he took some cool pictures when I jumped on to show him a few things.

Then on Wednesday night I went with some friends to a local open schooling jumping course at a yard round the corner from us. It was mini week, so the courses I did were 1ft9 and 2ft. Olivia had never gone round a course though so I wasn't too bothered about heights. I was just so impressed with how she got on! In the 1ft9 she refused one jump once, but we still came third and in the 2ft we did a clear round and came 1st. So proud of my pony!! She was jumping the jumps HUGE though. After the grids I've been practising with Emma she has become a lot more careful about the jumps, and it shows in the photos a friend was taking. Here are some:

I've caught the showing bug now anyway, and on Sunday am planning to go to a local show and try out a 2ft3 course.

One thing that struck me was how excited Olivia was about the jumping. When I went in to do the laps of honour she was so on her toes about going into the ring. I think I've found the sport that makes her tick, and luckily for me it kinda suits me too :)

Love Jo xxx

Jumping

2011-07-14T19:43:00.004+01:00

I had a jumping lesson yesterday with the fabulous Emma, it was possibly the hardest Olivia has worked in several years. Emma set a grid up for us to do: 3 uprights with a stride between and a canter pole. Olivia loves to jump, especially if she can run through at a million miles an hour (except for the one time I took her to a show and we got eliminated at the first jump). The grid stopped her though and made her (and me) really think. I haven't had ridding lessons on other horses since I got Olivia, so about 4 years, let alone jumped another horse who's more technical. I got a shock as she slowed right down and realised my position had gone to sh*t!!

Olivia often chucks her head up in the air and hollows her back after jumping Emma gave me some useful tactics to help stop her doing that. The lesson was great fun and I learnt a lot, especially that if she would only keep her tongue in her mouth and focus on the jumping then she would do much better. I've been thinking for a while about getting her a grackle as a jumping & just special occasion bridle. The bridle I've got at the moment is really horrible and casual looking so I'm adding grackle to my birthday list, fingers crossed!

Since it's been so long since I blogged let alone posted photos here are some to show you how she's been getting along the last couple of years.

Love Jo xxx

Try New Things

2011-07-11T10:14:00.002+01:00

Always somewhere in my new years resolution list...

I've recently started a new bed with wood pellets (www.lancashirewoodpellets.co.uk). Got the stuff since I've gone onto DIY now I'm home for good, and shavings are just far too expensive, especially with my extra wet horse. It was getting beyond gross to muck out. For those that don't know, wood pellets are an alternative bedding which, apparently, are more popular in the states. They are cheaper than shavings, more environmentally friendly because they degrade quicker, and quicker to muck out (which is definately true). The wierd thing about them is that when you bed down for the first time you have to water them so that they expand. The glorious thing is, they soak up wet! So ideal for wet horses like Olivia. I put them down about 4 days ago, and mucking out has never been so quick. Where I used to get a full wheelbarrow of muck out a day, now I take out about a quater. Even though Olivia kicking and burying her poo, the way the pellets fall through the fork like a sieve means minimal bedding is removed. Hooray! Me likey, I'll let you know how she gets on. If you want any more specific info about the wood pellets just email me - jo.bialkowska@hotmail.co.uk.

That's not the only new thing - NEW BIT! It's great, she's still sticking her tongue out but she's a lot lighter on the bit a lot more of the time. Result.

I'm also going to go back to the level 3 booklets and work my way through them again so that everything's polished for France and we can learn new stuff. I'll write how she does and hopefully will soon have pictures and a new video. Can't wait for September!!
Love Jo xxx

New Found Motivation

2011-07-04T09:16:00.004+01:00

Good morning all,
It's been a fair amount of time since I last blogged, but I thought I may as well get back into it as I've got a lot of time and writting down gives me a chance to process what goes on when I work with Olivia.
All is good in our world, I've been away for 3 weeks so Olivia has had a lovely break and, unsuprisingly, has got a bit full of herself. I got back to find out she has been beating up her field mate and hassling the staff when they bring her in. Woops! I worked her for the first time yesteday, only for about 15 minutes of groundwork. She cantered over to me in the field when I went to fetch her, normally she just plods over which goes to show how exuberant she was feeling. In just 15 minutes there was lots of rearing and defiant behaviour but by the end she was happy to just calmly stand by me. My always hungry horse also insisted on eating the grass every time she wasn't moving; she even tried to trot and graze which produced a lovely looking stretch but wasn't really what I was going for. Probably my mistake in working her in a field that has been rested during all this rainful and sunny weather and so is full of long, rich grass.

In other news, while I was away I was watching a video I had made of me and Olivia (http://www.youtube.com/user/princessjoxxx#p/a/u/0/3kjp6OaBIjI if you're interested) and I noticed that when I used the parelli/myler cradle bridle Olivia's tongue was much quieter. Of course there is the exception of when she was really heavy in the hand during the back-up and her tongue pops out, but when the contact was light she was light in the mouth. For reasons I can't remember, but I'm assuming it was to do with being a bit hungry for some money, I sold the bridle and bit a few years ago and have been using a simple snaffle since. Well yesteday I ordered a new myler bit with a high port and am hoping that it will help with the restless tongue syndrome. The myler version is slightly cheaper than the parelli, and I didn't want the whole cradle system because I want the connection to be with her mouth rather than all over her head. When it arrives I'll let you know how she gets on with it.

Anyway, now that I'm back for a solid two months until I go to France (with Olivia) for 3 weeks - more about that another time - I'm happy to be able to try and get some proper work done with her and accomplish some new goals. Ideally, a quieter mouth.

Over and out, love Jo xxx

Minor Falls, Major Lifts

2010-02-17T19:25:00.002Z

Quite frankly, the last two days have been rubbish. Olivia's become really bolshy and disrespectful. She doesn't look very happy and I'm definately not. I'm so glad that tomorrow I've got a 1h30 lesson with Terri Martinus, maybe she can help me deal with Olivia when she's in that mood. Or maybe its me! Its been horribly rainy weather, I have a horrible burst blister on my foot that rubs against my boot, and I've just got an injection which has made my arm achey and weak. I'm supposed to be enjoying a week free from school, but I have to spend every minute I'm at home revising for the exams I've got next week. It sucks.

Anyway, I've been watching a lot more of the new levels, and to be honest I find that they have so little structure or instruction. When I'm reading back over the old level 3 booklets, they have so much infomation and detail that's easier to learn from. So I'm going to ignore the new levels for now and work my way through the stages. Stage 1 seems so simple - I've been absent-mindedly playing with the concepts for a while, and I have Olivia trotting sideways and backing up (slightly)quicker. I thought I had canter on 22 ft line down to pat, but now when I ask for it Olivia can barely do one circle at the canter. Freestyle is a different picture. Although our isolations are nothing to be proud of, the simple lead changes are just beautiful, and flying lead changes are really coming on. Yay!

I never explained my title, I was sitting at home feeling sorry for myself and heard the lyric from Rufus Wainwrights (however its spelt) song, hallelujah, And it got me thinking that no journey is full of highs. Recently, the highs have seemed too good to be true. I don't think the last few sessions have been rubbish; they've just not been the standard of our previous sessions.

I like to think I'm emotionally fit, and when I'm happy I am VERY emotionally fit. But, just like my horse, I'm a super emotional person and if one thing goes wrong I can see the wrong in everything. Something for me to work on. It's my attitude thats bought on this dip in our progress.

Savvy wishes !!

Long time, no see!

2010-01-30T12:04:00.003Z

It's been a while since I posted because I've been so busy, good or bad, I don't know. (Actually, more likely bad because I'm not so much busy because of Olivia, more because the scary A-levels are looming!!).

Anyway, major breakthroughs recently. Since I've been driving and able to get down everyday, I've been able to spend a lot more undemanding time. The weather easing also helped with that. Our liberty went from being non existent to just beautiful! The smallest area I can work in is the 60x20m school. If I wasn't so lazy, I could fence off a section with some jumps but unfortunately I'm not very strong, and would be puffed out after such strenuous work :P Anyway, all of a sudden everythings come together and Olivia's been doing circles around me, like SMALL circles! As I watch her I can see her consider pissing off, but I've had to exert MASSIVE control, and 'trust her to respond, but be ready to correct'. I think getting handy with the 45ft line has helped a lot in that respect, because now I can coil and through pretty quickly, Olivia is thinking 'daaym. Now she can get me from 45ft away? RESPECT!!' So thats my theory on why its come together anyway.

I also had fun running around with her cantering after me, doing sudden stops and changes of direction, and started a bit of the cutting. The expression on her face is just like, 'wow, who knew Jo could be so much fun!?'. It's awesome.

My fore-mentioned laziness also means that taking Olivia (and her field mate - we aren't allowed to leave a horse in a field on its own) up to the yard, saddling her up, taking her back down to the school, doing my thing, taking her back up to the yard to unsaddle and bring her horsemate back down to the field is just too much! Instead, I've used it as an opportunity to improve my bareback riding, and there have been massive changes. From being bounced all over the place, I can now sit to her canter (woopee!!!). It's not as great as my seat in the saddle (I don't want to brag, but my independant seat in the saddle is pretty solid) but it's getting there. I find that so many things are revealed when I ride bareback, such as my right leg tends to tense up and shorten a lot. I think this is why people always talk about my stirrups being so uneven. A couple of years ago I was hit by a car on my right side, and I never went through the physio to get the muscle working again, so that leg just got weaker and weaker while my left leg got stronger. Unfortunately, this isn't helped by Olivia also having uneven muscle; with her left side being much stronger. So we really have to work together to bring our right sides up to the same level as our left sides.

Loong post today, sorry about that! There's just so much to say!! Anyway, tomorrow I have a lesson with a classical dressage trainer as part of a clinic my yard is organising. I am so excited - I've designated my mum as photo taker and video maker. So hopefully loads of pictures to come. Until then - here's a couple recent ones of Olivia.

From Jo and Olivia

Happy Holidays!!!

2009-12-27T16:33:00.002Z

Merry Christmas ! Unluckily, the snow missed christmas by just a few days, but I've got a picture of Olivia in a light white covering from last week.

Today was the first day I played with Olivia since before Christmas Eve. She wasn't keen on the idea of coming out of the field, but I made sure that when she wasn't with me she was getting some exercise and it certainly didn't take long for her to come running straight to me, and then she really did not want to leave! So we played a bit with the question box online to prepare for a nice riding session. I've been working on my bareback riding for a while now for two reasons - 1. my independant seat bareback is light years behind my seat in a saddle especially in canter 2. I've been too lazy to lug my saddle around :)

Anyway, we played question box and bullseye at walk/trot and it was nice. Then we started cantering, which I'm unsure about. I know that I tense up a lot more in the canter and thats probably the reason for her being silly. She tends to toss her head about a lot and she does short, snappy strides and stops, and does little bucks and jumps normally. Because her canter is lovely under saddle, I can only assume she does this because she feels the tension in my body. So she was giving me the same today, and we just kept going through it. And then, she did the LOVLIEST rear ever! I say lovely because it would have made a beautiful photo, she was veery left brain about it and I wish my Dad had caught it on camera. Unfortunately, I hadn't asked her to do that. But after the rear everything just fell into place. She did lovely canters to both sides, and I felt totally at ease. I really wanted to keep on going with that canter, but I heard Linda Parelli's voice in my head: 'ride for tomorrow', and so I left it at that and cannot wait to see how she goes tomorrow.

Hope everyones had a fantastic christmas! Can't wait for the new year and what it will bring

Polite, Passive, Pesistance

2009-12-08T19:17:00.003Z

I started this post last week, so its a week out of date, sorry!

I think that is the main lesson I learnt today in my lesson with Terri Martinus. And along with that line, is a story she told me. When she was in the Florida centre, she was lucky enough to have a talk from a top trainer from one of the water world parks. Now this lady had trained dolphins, whales and other trainers, and one whale she trained was named Shamu. Now just the week before, Shamu had put another of his trainers into hospital. One of the students on the course asked why/how this trainer had ended up in hospital, and the lady said 'we tell or whales/dolphins to send like this (much like the way we send our horses), but this trainer made the movement twice with his finer, and Shamu was such a dominant whale he was having none of it and just went at him'.

Ok, so obviously Olivia is NOT that extreme, but she is like that! She is so very very sensitive but also needs to be TOLD you ARE going to do this.

We went right back to basics today, and spent most the lesson refining the first 3 games. We started to get really picky about what I was asking, and rather than boring her to death, this actually caught her interest. I've never seen my horse yawn so much!

Working REALLY hard on my emotional fitness..

2009-11-19T20:47:00.002Z

Because, I really want to throw the hugest tantrum that I can't be at the NEC celebration this weekend :(
Was sooo close to going - I've been deadly ill all week, and I was hoping that my geography teacher would say it would be better for me to not come on the school trip to Cardiff. Sadly, I think he barely noticed me sniffing and coughing away today in our lesson (the first one I've been at all week), and so I can't persuade my mum to let me skive. Ah well, I got my email this morning saying the whole would be televised which is (in Scrubs' JD style) AWESOME!

While everyone parelli in the UK is in Birmingham, I will be in Cardiff on Saturday and then back home on Sunday, hopefully having my mum take some photos of me doing cool stuff with Olivia. Last week was a massive break through for us, we got the bridleless canter (everyone now, woop woop!!!). It was loverly, I felt so in tune with her. In fact, the whole session was like we were on a cloud. She was so responsive, and kept a real tab on her emotions when I asked her to go faster and then slow down (when she would normally get a little stressy).

Anyway, after an amazing and motivating session like that its inevitable that I would get ill and not be able to do anything. But the last week at home as let me get back on top of all things of Parelli. Finally caught up on the last 2 savvy club DVDs, loads for me to play with there! I also finally began reading 'Natural Horsemanship Explained', a book I must have bought over a year ago. How embarresing that I'm only reading it now...!! I guess thats intensive UK education for you. Boo!!

Oh well, I'm dead excited becasue I'm going to be pestering a friend on blackberry messenger all weekend for the gossip from the NEC, I'll still be able to order the DVD, not to mention the new levels that are coming out, AND I'll still get to spend a little quality time with my beautiful horse.

I'll try and get some pictures on here soon, I hate this blog being a big fat chunk of writing. YUCK!!

So...this program REALLY works?!

2009-10-27T08:46:00.002Z

After a month of doing nothing coz I've been so busy, sunday I finally got back into the swing of things and took Olivia for a little online stuff. She was in one of those 'MAKE ME' moods' which I understood because it's been a while since I've exherted my authority over her. Anyway, as I was bringing her in from the field I noticed how bolshy and badly mannered she was becoming, after JUST a month ?! Her respect for me was waning very much...

So on Monday I came to get her in, and the little angel came straight to me :) After Sunday's session, as I was taking her back out again I was thinking 'dam, after today Olivia's not gonna want to come to me on Monday...' Then I smacked myself on the head and remembered not to give horses human emotions. She wouldn't be annoyed with me, she would respect me as her leader. And surely enough, she did :D

So online was beautiful, got a lovely sideways trot (although her hind end stills lag behind a bit too much for me to be REALLY happy with), got some lovely figure of 8s going. When I got on, the whole ride I barely had to touch the reins (I'm thinking ready for some really bridleless soon..yay!!). I'm just so happy with how we're progressing.

Also, in the good news, Terri Martinus (2* professional) is hopefully going to be coming to give me a 3hr private lesson in Decemeber, which should be great and really helpful with getting us out of this end of level 2 rut we seem to have got stuck in.

And if life couldn't get any better, I got an offer from one of my favourite universities the other day. WAHOOO !!!!

Poorly Pony

2009-10-15T19:21:00.003+01:00

Poor Olivia was feeling down over the last couple of days with a mild colic :( She hadn't touched her food (this is a horse that literally inhales her food normally) and she was very uncomfortable. Annoyingly, my mum wasn't home and so I couldn't get down to the stables, but lovely lovely Emma and Sharon stayed until about 11.30pm to wait for the vet to come down and take a look and to make sure she was ok before she was left for the night. I love where I stable my horse :D :D

Today I went down straight after lessons, and she was much perkier (phewww) and was eating her hay. Took her for a little walk to stretch her legs coz she wasn't turned out, and by the time I left she was looking a lot happier (as was I).

It was a bit of shock because my horse is never ill, and also because its really difficult for me to be down there and I trust everyone 100% but I'd like to be with her. At least its all good now, as long as nothing happens next week when I'm away in Rome with school. Then I have a week free so I can begin to bring her back into work, and we can really dive in level 3.

And in brilliant news, I've booked my driving test for December, so FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

Growing Up

2009-09-27T20:01:00.003+01:00

I think that's what Olivia is doing. She's beginning to mature and grow out of her silly ways a little.. She still throws tantrums but they aren't temper tantrums, and she's much more willing to cooperate than she has been. This weekend has been an absalote pleasure to spend with her, and shes really made my days !!

We can begin a session now and straight away she finds her comfy trot AND canter. Both online and freestyle. So I began to play with monkey riding at the canter, which so far she won't relax into it, but I'm just waiting for her to stop fiddling with her tongue so much when she feels the concentrated rein. I'm going to re-emphasize the monkey riding at a trot a lot as well, so that she remembers the feeling and will find it easier to transfer into the canter.

Yesterday my brother had a little ride, and I was really impressed with how she responded. He has ridden before, but just jumping on his friends horse in Poland, going for a bomb round the country side and coming home, so position, relaxation and calmness isn't very important for him. He picked up fairly quickly, and I think he was pretty impressed when I told him to 'stop his body and sit deep' and wooaah, Olivia came to a halt :) I'm so proud of my pony!

Today she was in a bit of a sluggish mood, so we played with our porcupine game and some transitions online. Her hindend yields are very ball-like, she just flows straight away from my fingers, every now and again breaking contact. But her front end yield and sideways yield is a bit rubbish. Something to do with being a LBI, she likes having that neck to porcupine/drive ME away, so she ain't to impressed when I play the same game with her. Transitions were beautiful, and I had a few circles around me at the walk without a single attempt to change direction or gait, which is a big thing for us because she finds walking aimlessly (as it kind of is in a circle) quite boring. What a star!

I have loads of photos from Saterday, here are some I picked out:

excuse the sun, I just love the way she looks in this photo. Totally loose and relaxed

very few corrections on the bullseye

my brother riding

standing on top of a horse, and yet he still must pose for the picture!

so i decided I want a posed picture too :)

Photos

2009-09-23T22:18:00.002+01:00

Larissa sent me some photos from the Bissell Wood course today, which is awesome! I put some up on my facebook page, so if you would like to see just add me as a friend

I would add them on here, but I'm so busy at the mintue I barely have time to write this :P

sadly, the follow on course at Bissell Wood next year is at the end of May, which is smack bang in the middle of my exams meaning there is absalotely no way I can go. It sucks, but sometimes life chucks these things at you and I'm sure its because theres something much better around the corner which will benefit me and Olivia even more :) Positive thinking, aye!

Don't be shy of adding me though :) xx

And so it begins...

2009-09-17T17:06:00.000+01:00

The beginning of the end. My god it's scary, daunting, fullfilling and exciting at the same time. We are well into the school term now and teachers are feeling confident to give us ridiculous amounts of homework. I have actually forgotten what my horse looks like since I haven't seen her in so long :(

Last Sunday she was a little star when I just did about 15minutes of online with her, just warming up to ride. By the time I got round to riding her, the horses had been bought in from the fields and we were alone at the school. That freaked her out quite a bit. I spent the whole session practising our lateral flexion until she relaxed, and she eventually did chill out. Her tongue was going crazy with its silly licking thing though, so I know she wasn't confident, its something I've got to work on, but it's hard because I don't know when other people will be using the school, so it's just luck (or unluck) if one day we turn out to be on our own.

If we had a graph of our progress, I reckon that we are a stable line going across, so increase or decrease at the moment. I wouldn't except anything else since we have so little time together, but its so frustrating because after a massive 'up' in our savvy over summer I really don't want to be pottering about at the same level. It's important for us to do this though, get our feet on the ground and heads out of the clouds before we shoot for the stars again :)

Hopefully pictures soon xx

What happened to time ?!

2009-09-06T21:19:00.000+01:00

I can't actually believe I haven't posted since I got back from Turkey. It's like every single second has been jam packed.

I had a brilliant holiday, got nice and tanned, and am safely back in chilly UK. Olivia is fantastic, she really couldn't be better. I'm gutted I have so little time to work with her because just before school started we really started to accelerate our learning.

But now its my final year of school, which means from now until October is packed full of university applications, personal statement etc. And then its packing everything in for the a levels at the end of the year. So literally all I got at the minute is weekends. And even then its not great because 8 - 2 I'm working and really tierd by the time I can do work with her. But oh well.

Good news, we went to see a car the other day and we've put a deposit on it and its coming home next week YAYYY!! Its a 2006 little black polo, super cute. I've got lessons planned and hopefully I'll find a minute to book my theory. My goal is to pass before christmas, and then I can go to Olivia every day.

So theres a super rushed update on my life, its 9:20 pm and I'm shattered and rushing this.

Hopefully I'll be able to get someone to take some photos soon, and hope you're all progressing well !

Jo and Olivia xx

Busy Busy...

2009-08-21T13:02:00.003+01:00

Summer holidays are supposed to be when I have too much free time and nothing to do, but this year has been compeltely different!! I got back home from Poland on Sunday morning, and although I was looking forward to seeing Olivia, I was sad to leave !! I love it out there, the people are fantastic and its so chilled! I rode a few other horses (for the first time in a year) and it was great, especially one Arab called Ziomek who I used to ride all the time before I got Olivia. He's so fun and quick, but kids ride him all the time so he's also uber chilled :)

From Blogger Pictures

Anyway, I went straight to Olivia on Sunday expecting a nicker or two from her being so excited to see me. I was totally ignored, how HURTFUL!! Anyway, I gave her a nice long groom, and took her out on the 12ft line just to see where we were at after a two week break. Everything was super until I asked my fat little pony to trot. MY GOD that was an effort. And to make sure I knew how much of an effort it was there was head shaking, rearing, bucking, pulling. It was hilarious to watch as Olivia exhausted all her arrows and finally thought 'ah sod it, I'll just trot!'

This week has mostly been working on Olivia's emotional fitness in trot and canter, just in the hackamore, to get her up to speed with where she was before I left. She's not being too impressed with the extra work though, and it's been a tad frustrating (don't worry I took out all my anger on my brother !!), but yesterday I thought I'll try her in the cradle and see how she goes. Lo and behold, it was a new horse..! Not a buck or head shake in sight, loverlly. We even cantered the rail, giving her opportunites to speed up down the long sides (we normally just canter the bullseye or cloverleaf). It was fan-taddle-astic :)

So yet another week is over, and tomorrow at 5am I need to leave for the airoport for our family holiday to Istanbul. I've had no time to do ANYTHING I had planned this week - load of undemanding time with Olivia. Between driving lessons, results coming out, packing, unpacking(!), looking after my grandad ETC. its been a hell of a week. I've also being having a bit of a crisis about university-esque things, in that I'm not sure I want to go but I know my parents expect me to go and I don't want to dissapoint them. BUT I just want to go straight into parelli and start having FUN!!!!!!

ARGGHHH. But thank god results are out, and I did MUCH better than expected, so thats one weight off my chest. Until next year....

Hope you all are having fun relaxed summers though, and I'll be back in a week! xxx

Video

2009-07-28T12:31:00.001+01:00

I spent a bit of time yesterday putting some of our stuff to music, its basically what we learnt at the Bissell Wood course, and a few extra things at the beginning. Enjoy :)

Quick Photo Update

2009-07-26T18:42:00.003+01:00

Here are a few of my own photos that I took at Bissell Wood, all of them taken on the first day :) It was a really beautiful place and these pictures definately don't do it justice.

June's personal stable yard, this isn't a good angle. But you can still see how pretty!

One of the hundreds of billion avenues

Looking back into the house, and a lovely view of my dads rear!

The paddock Olivia had ALL TO HERSELF!! And baasically all you can see is Bissell Wood. And more.

That place was just amazing! I'm getting more and more impatient about the photos Larissa had, so believe me when I get them you'll see them!!

Jo x

Well...

2009-07-24T19:35:00.002+01:00

Where to start?

It's been a hell of a week. I'll write my highlights because if I was to write everything trust me you'd be here tomorrow!!

I finally UNDERSTAND understand the patterns! I now know what I'm looking for before I want to take a rest. We were supposed to be trotting the rail, but me and Olivia got put on a bullseye because she was being too impulsive. So after doing the bullseye for a while she found this really nice, slow, balanced trot which she could just maintain forever. And just as Lyla and Rachel said, she fell in love with it. On the last day, we were at the back of the ride trotting. A week ago Olivia would have been rushing about and ignoring me, but yesterday she just picked up her speed and thought 'hey, I don't care how fast they go, this is MY speed'. And I could have cried I was so proud!

I also tried my cradle bridle on the last day, and she just went beautifully in it. When we were practising soft feel and vertical flexion it finally gave her busy brain something to think about.

I can't write much more, I am SOOOO tierd. But I'll try and say more later. And when I get the 1000 (honest truth) photos that were taken, I'll put some up.

Love a super happy Jo xx

:)

2009-07-13T11:58:00.002+01:00

What a week its been! Although the amount of 'work' I've done with Olivia has been minimal thanks to weather, distractions etc., our relationship has soared! In Poland all I had to do was call her name and she'd come to me, and now we're back on track again. All I need to do is go OLIIVVVIIAA, wait a little for her to figure out I'm not gonna be the one that moves, and voila, she saunters over!

I was looking over the self assessments the other day for inspiration, and online I'm totally done with L2. So I thought, how can I challenge myself? And the answer was obviously bring out the 45ft line which has been gathering dust a little bit. And was it a success? HELL YES! We did figure of 8, weave and a bit of circling. I also worked on backing her out farther, but not the whole distance because thats a bit much to do so quickly. Anyway, she was soo responsive, and I was just thinking why couldn't my mum be there to film my audition THAT day? It was awesome.

I'm a tad annoyed I might not be able to get down to the stables today because of the faboulous NHS system, where a nurse may turn up some time after 12 to see my granddad. So I don't know what time she'll be here, and then when she does arrive I need to help translate. So, knowing the system, she'll probably turn up about 3/4ish or later, which will leave me not much time for the hour journey to sunbury. :(

OH WELL. Gives me time to pack which I really should do since we are leaving first thing on Wednesday, and then tomorrow I'll spend most of the day at the stables. But, I HATE PACKING. Olivia has it lucky, all she has to do is walk onto a trailer and stand there eating hay for a few hours. Ahh, to be a horse!

Rain, rain go away!

2009-07-07T12:57:00.002+01:00

What a load of tosh! School finishes and so the skies greet us with rain and thunder. Hardly fair!!

Anyway, gives me plenty of time to watch parelli dvds, read about horses, brush up on my polish etc. Also, to plan my future :)

AND...to get more and more excited about the course NEXT WEEK!! WOOO!! haha

Anyway, I'm gutted that the fast track course won't be available in the UK next year, especially since my mum offered to help me pay. But never mind, there'll be other opportunities. I'm on too much of a summer high to be very bothered.

So, since next summer currently has no horse plans, I've been thinking whether I will embark on a road trip across Europe with my horse and base myself in Poland for the summer. Because of A-levels I'll be finished VERY early, and I have friends out there who will look after her for me if I want to dash off to majorca or barbados with friends. It would be exciting, but I haven't even looked into the cost. We'll see!!!

So the rain means little time has been spent with Olivia, so I've not got much to update with. Hope everyones having a fab summer! x

Photo Update !

2009-07-06T10:53:00.002+01:00

Whayy, so I finally got my friend to come and take photos (a bit of tit for tat since she needed them for a school photography project!) So here you go:

I like the last photo - looks like shes doing extended trot :P I also got my mum to film me ride, and I noticed my lower legs really aren't still. From the ground it does look as if I'm constantly pumping her to keep going, which obviously removes the responsibility of the horse to maintain gait. However when I'm on her I definately don't feel myself doing that, so I'm going to ask Rachel/Lyla about it next week (yayyy!!)

Also, she is quite on the forehand and I want to know a natural way to bring her weight into her hind so that she can become more collected etc. I'm gonna be bombarding the instructors with questions next week!

Jo x

New Slate

2009-06-24T17:06:00.003+01:00

The last couple of weeks have been a little challenging with Olivia, because I've assumed that just becasue Olivia has does something well once, she'll do it again.

2nd principle of natural horsemanship, 'don't make assumptions'.

I've slowed right down, and am taking the time it takes, going right back to basics where its needed and filling in the blanks. And it works, today Olivia came to me when I was at the gate, and she was offering lots. I did some driving from point a to b with her, trying to get her interested. She asked me loads of questions, and was always searching for what I would ask her to put her nose on next, which was cool.

When I saddled her up we did a lot of cloverleaf just at the trot, getting ready for canter. She knew the pattern so well that I hardly had to do anything. She wasn't offering much speed wise, so it was a verrryyy calm westerny sort of jog, but it was cool. And when I wanted to stop at x, I just let all of my energy go and she responded within 3 steps, which is VERY good for us.

Afterwards I gave her a hose down because it is HOT HOT here (well, 24 degrees) but she seemed to enjoy it. Shes got weepy eyes at the minute which isn't great, because it means I have to put a fly mask on her and no joke, she looks like an alien with it on! One of the ladies at the stable was kind enough to lend me hers until I get one on the weekend. Its nothing serious, theres no puffiness or swelling or anything, I think its just allergies. Also, since Olivia had her teeth done she has been soooo much quieter in the mouth! In September a dentist had a look and said she was fine, but the other week one came down and he said her teeth were very sharp.

But now everythings good, and shes enjoying the hot tempuratures and spring grass :) I keep meaning to take photos, but I forget to take my camera!! This page looks so bare with just writing, I'll do what I can to get my mum to come along on Saterday.

ONE WEEK LEFT OF SCHOOLL!!!!!!! x

Tried and Tested: Rodeo-style

2009-06-14T10:01:00.002+01:00

I've decided rodeo definately is NOT for me..!! Yesterday Olivia freaked at something (I have no idea what) and took off on a bronco frenzy. Usually I can sit to her bucking well, but for some reason the saddle slipped right forward onto her neck and I'm no expert on riding on horses necks. So I came flying off and landed right in front of her, and luckily she avoided trampling me, but proceded to gallop off around the field with the saddle hanging on one side of her neck...

A few things; I have NO idea why this happened! We were riding in the big field, and I know shes not 100% comfortable there but she knows the area and in Poland we would take all sorts of trail rides to unknown places. Also, the theraflex plad is supposed to be non slip, and I read that it means I don't have to do the girth up too tight. So I don't, but unless anyone has any suggestions I think I'll have to. It can't be worn or anything because I've probably used it about 5 times, and I brush all the hair off after every ride. Its really quite odd.

Anyway, thankfully neither of us are hurt. I have a few muscle strains in my back which made sleeping a little uncomfortable, but I've been through worse (hit by a car..).

ANYWAY, before all the palava happened, all was ah-may-zing. When I went to the field, I played with Olivia a little before I bought her in. Since I've adjusted myself to play with a LBI, I've felt much more connected with her. She offered to play, and was doing sideways beautifully! She was totally riveted by me, she chose to NOT EAT GRASS!! Q%*(£()%*()% That definately isn't the horse I know!!!! I think I cursed the day, because when I came in I was telling my friends, 'wow, shes being a total angel!!'

I haven't put up many pictures/videos or anything lately, so hopefully I'll string my mum into taking me down this afternoon with camera in hand :) Hope all is good!

Jo x

Horseanality Swap

2009-06-07T17:51:00.005+01:00

Is it possible that my LBE is actually a LBI with high energy? And the reason we've recently sort of hit a block is because I was reacting wrong?! How frustrating to think I've completely misread my horse for the last year!

I only just got to watch the savvy club DVD with Lois & Clyde. I saw so much of Olivia in that horse, and I was shocked to say the least! I just filled this out thinking about Olivia today:

She has a habit of 'getting distracted' and I always blamed something going on over there. I never thought she was using it to avoid doing what I was asking. So today I kept on asking even when she wasn't paying attention. I was light and patient, and she was like WOAHH, who are you?! She did a pretty huge rear and some horribly close bucks, but it seemed as if she was saying 'does nothing work now?!!' rather than being mean.

The new saddle is really cool. It fits very snuggly, I just think it needs a tiny bit of shimming to lift the front of the saddle. I'll put up some pictures later. I had a really nice ride today, we played with the question box and also having her respond to changes in my energy in the saddle so that I didn't have to do much except stop riding for her to slow down. Alls good :)

so the wintec wide really is wide...!!

2009-06-01T11:06:00.002+01:00

Just when i thought this was going to be the worst three days of my life (biology and chemistry exams), my saddle arrived! YAY!

After tearing it out of the box, I held it up and ohh boy is that a wide saddle! I put it on the banister and it takes up pretty much all the hall way. My horse realllyy isn't that fat! No matter, I have faith in the parelli system and I'm sure she'll find it comfortable on top of the theraflex pad :)

So now its sitting at home, ready for me to take it down to the stables on Wednesday and trial it. Poor Olivia, her holiday is over, but yay for me! x

Saddle Fitting

2009-05-27T12:52:00.002+01:00

I'm not sure what I've written about saddle fitting here recently, but a quick update would be that I've decided to go for the wintec wide flocked, and I'll put in the widdest possible gullet. I've got the theraflex, which is why I've decided to go for the flocked becuase the thought of air on air makes me a little uneasy. I've yet to buy any shims, simply because I haven't had time to call up the UK office and order in.

From Saddle fitting

This is a picture I took on Monday (she's all wet because she just had her first bath!). She is standing square, and although her neck is bent funny I don't think it has altered her back shape. Anyway, if you look at the lines of the wood behind her she definately isn't down hill. I also haven't ridden intensively in a loong time (probably autumn) so I can't remember what her sweat patches were like either. Anyway, this whole process of buying a new saddle has made me really interested in saddle fits, and I can't wait to play around with shimming and see what differences they will make. She is already a really comfortable ride, and from videos I've seen and pictures I haven't noticed her looking like a bad banana. Which believe me I'm very thankful for :D

Anyway, Monday was fun!! I went down and since we always play in the arena, or the next door field I decided to take Olivia to the big field with the stream running through it. She hasn't been in this spot yet, and on the other side of it in a fenced off area where some geldings she doesn't know to well so she was VERY excited and therefore VERY LBE. We played with a lot of falling leaf pattern, circles etc. Olivia even came up with a fun game where she changed direction behind me every time. Rather than get frustrated, I just thought 'how interesting!' and played the game with her! We also played with a few of the cross country jumps, and had a splash about in the stream. When we got back in she was soo sweaty I gave her a nice hose down which she seemed to really appreciate.

Undemanding Time

2009-05-23T18:18:00.004+01:00

Since exams have started, and I've got a lot going on at the moment, undemanding time with Olivia seems so much more appealing than playing. I went down today, just wanting to work more on L3 stage 1, and Olivia was just ah-mah-zing. WOW. I did so little and she gave so much, I was so happy that after ten minutes I let her back into the field, and I just sat in there.

And, being one of those who finds it difficult to sit still and do nothing, I decided to make a daisy chain out of the MILLION daisys in the field. First I was making a bracelet, which turneed into a necklace, and THEN I thought, why don't I make a necklace for Olivia!? So after literally an hour making this chain, it was long enough to go around Olivia's neck. My plan was to take a photo and put up here to show off. Did that happen? No. Because my dam mare ATE IT!! All that effort. Pfff.

What was cool was that the whole time I was making it Olivia stayed dead close to me, following me when I moved and generally keeping guard! Nawwww!!!

Can't wait for exams to be over (only 2 weeks) and then I'll be FREE FREE FREE (except for another 3 weeks of school...). But I'll ignore that :)

Hope you all are having fun :D x

LBE on half day turn out...

2009-05-11T22:25:00.003+01:00

NOT a good idea! She's only been on the half day turn out a few days and she acts like shes been imprisoned for years. So, shes back on full day turn out. Her hard feed is basically now pasture mix, so if the weight continues to pile on I'll just totally cut out the hard feed - since I've got exams she won't need it anyway.

Just a quick update - I can't get down much because I've got so much studying to do. But on the weekend I had a few quick sessions. But she was so full of energy and so LBE that all I did was just calm her down, and once she was chilled and standing still we played a teeny bit and then finished and relaxed. So rather than advance, we just learnt how to deal with a super LBE. I'm still saddleless, dispite driving round the ENTIRE county on Saterday trying to find a wintec wide with a 17" seat. I even had the pleasure of an old woman telling me there was no way I could fit into a 16.5" seat, before she interogated me on what breed horse I have, and that I would do fine with a normal wintec. My emotional fitness was definately testing me, that was the 3rd tack shop we'd been to that day, I was tierd and I wanted to see my pony. I just wanted to tell her to SHUT UP PLEASE!! I didn't, I smiled and said no thanks, good bye.

A friend at the yard is getting a saddler to come and take a look at her horse, so I figured he may as well look at Olivia, and hopefully fit her with the correct gullet and everything with the wide. I also won the bid on another black country bridle yesterday on ebay. The bit is 5", and the old one was 4.5" but hopefully we'll be ok. If not, at least its just a bit and not the whole bridle.

And now, for the best news! I was speaking to my mum today, and she told me she had to book the tickets for Poland (we go every year) next weekend. And I reminded her that we ought to buy the celebration tickets as well. And then, totally unprompted, she says 'oh, and I decided today that I will pay for that masterclass course you want to do'. Uh....WHAT??? Literally, i was quite shocked. I've worked out that if they run the 3rd week free thing they did last year, and if I discount Olivia's livery that £2500. But, being a good person and all I said thanks mum, but I won't feel like I deserve it. So I'll still work for the money, but it's nice to know that she'll chip in if I don't make enough in time. I love my mum!!

Anyway, one exam done today and four more to go. I guess that means I should get back to my work!

Jo x

:)

2009-05-03T22:09:00.002+01:00

Had a couple of good sessions with Olivia! Shes just moved fields into a haven, full of long lush grass and boy does it show! So shes being a bit of a LBIII, lets go slooowww girl ! So we have been.

As well as working on the patterns, we are working through the first stage of the level 3 booklet. So speeding up the back up and sideways. I didn't focus so much on sideways today, but we definately had a speedier back up. Lots of licking and chewing!

The lack of saddle also gave me incentive to work on my bareback riding, and she offered the lovliest trot around a weave, so we left it at that and I rode her into the field, took off her halter and just played friendly game on her back while she ate. When I was poo picking the field, Olivia would not leave me alone! It was soo cool!! Usually she'll come over once (at the very most twice), but today she just kept checking out what I was doing! It sucks that I have exams at such a nice time of year, and shes in such a good mood as well!!

I CAN NOT WAIT for the July course with Lyla & Rachel!! Brriiiinng on july! x

DAM THIEVES!

2009-05-02T12:07:00.003+01:00

Just got a call, and our tack room at the yard has been broken into :( :(

They took my wintec saddle and parelli bridle (with mecate reins, bit etc.) along with just about everyone elses stuff :(

THANK GOD they left behind my newly bought theraflex pad - clearly didn't know what that was worth!! BUT ARGGHHHHHHHH

WHYYY OH WHY must there be people like this in the world ?!! Its soo upsetting, especially because the parelli bridles are so hard to get hold of now. I'm so glad I keep all my parelli stuff in a different place, if that had gone as well that would quite possibly be £1000s down the drain...

BUT, when I got the call I was afraid that something had happened to Olivia (god forbid), and so this seems like a relatively small loss, compared to what was going through my mind...phhewwwww!!!

Rant over, Happy bank holiday weekend :) x

Pictures

2009-04-28T21:16:00.002+01:00

Some pictures I just managed to upload from the British Open:

parelli team

my proud mum took a picture of me helping carmen zulauf

Scurry driving

Super cute ponies!!

jean pignois..or something similar (natural horsemanship)

and again

I've been so busy recently with revision, so on the weekend I didn't have time to do much with Olivia. I spent loads of undemanding time with her, but I also got out my new 45ft and had a bit of fun! Its such a different feel from the other lines, but its nice and light and cool looking! Olivia was a bit freaked out by the ziiiip noise the 45ft line makes, but she got over it pretty quick which was nice.

Jo x

Parelli Zone at the British Open

2009-04-18T20:48:00.003+01:00

What a tiring day! Worth it though - I got a free parelli t-shirt :P

The parelli zone was fantastic - I got to speak to a few of the instructors which was cool, and was used as a human/horse for Carmen Zuleuf (can't spell her second name!) which was a good experience for me! (Me in front of lots of people = ()!*£)"(&**(!&£! )

It was mostly basic stuff, but a good reminder for me about the importance of games 1,2&3. And the difference between the parelli zone and the main arena was incredible. I wanted to watch the barell racing and this guy called jean pignois or something, but everything was running late so we caught the end of the Hunter Championships, and every rider was having a power struggle with their horse, and they did not look as if they were enjoying themselves. The results were horses tied down and mouths tied shut and giving little effort. It wasn't pleasant to watch. Then in the parelli arena, Alison Jones was doing her spotlight and her horse didn't jump over the barrel first try. She giggled, as did the crowd, tried again, and the horse willingly popped over. And there was less then 100m between these two arenas!!

There were a LOT of people walking around with the beginner pack (you could tell because of the huge carrot stick poking out of their bags !) which is really promising - its becoming more and more popular in the UK.

Anyway, I'm back now with loads more inspiration, and a 45ft line, theraflex pad and finesse reins (yay!), so I've got lots to be getting on with!
Jo x

Circle at Liberty Today!

2009-04-16T17:24:00.002+01:00

Title says it all! In the field, Olivia is a star at liberty! Whenever I go out to bring her in (and have her catch me), we always play a little with liberty. And today she did a whole circle around me, no wondering off despite the fact we were in a mahosive field, with other horses and plenty of grass to eat!

We're much better at liberty in the field than in the arena, which is interesting since there are so many more distractions. But soon we'll be able to do it anywhere, I'm sure.

Yesterday and the day before I didn't play with Olivia because I was off in Durham looking at the university (very scary...!), so today she was fresh which was nice, but the weather was totally against us with constant drizzle. So other than doing a bit of a figure of 8, we did nought. Back at the stables, I introduced Olivia to my hand massager and she didn't even bat an eyelid - just went on munching her hay and making a mess. That was cool :)

And tomorow the vet is coming out to take a look at her and *fingers crossed* she'll be on best behaviour and blow his socks off ! And then....on Saterday I'm off to Birmingham for the British Open which is gonna be AWESOMEEE!! Then on Tuesday I'm back to school (booooooooo) which sucks because it means exams are very very close.

Eurgh. At least the summer holidays are getting a little bit nearer!
Jo x

I got me a show jumper!

2009-04-12T23:03:00.002+01:00

Happy Easter to everyone!

Today, a lovely lady at the stables set up a grid and invited everyone to come and have a go, and since I've always enjoyed jumping and Olivia seems to have talent (see picture a few blogs earlier), I thought SURE! So off we went, everyone else looking good and smart on their thoroughbreds, and me in my trainers and rope bridle...

:P

Anyway. It was 4 bounces and then 2 unrelated jumps and my horse just flew over them all. Everyone was fairly impressed (I think..) but I was in a bit of shock because not only had my horse behaved beautifully in a arena with 1 crazy little pony shooting all over the place and about 6 other horses but she just offered to jump. WOW WOW WOW!!

It's definately something I'm going to pursue. I'm so impressed with her, but I run the risk of repeating myself if I write much more! So believe me, she is amazing !!!

Woopdidooo x

Camera Shy

2009-04-11T20:50:00.002+01:00

ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!

Its very frustrating - I've been practising my online audition for a while now, and it's really good when there is NO ONE watching...not even a bird...
But then my mum comes along with the camera and it all goes to pot :( Its quite shocking! Its happened about a gizzilion times, and I do realllyy want some kind of formal accomplishment, and a string, ANY COLOUR WILL DO!!

But nope. What happens is I tense up and I seriously want EVERYTHING to be perfect. The thing that runs through my mind is, 'oh my god...what's pat parelli going to think when he sees me do this ?!!!??'. But I'm sure he'd think 'oh, theres some one who is at least TRYING to do best for her horse'....

Well...we can keep trying I guess. I just don't want to have to pay a fee, come May!! So except from the filming, all is good in Olivialand.

Jo x

Wow...What a day!!

2009-04-08T19:54:00.002+01:00

I know that one of the problems I have is that I LOVE finished products, but I HATE middles which often means that I don't get the proper finished product... And I know thats what I did today BUT....

First bridleless ride?? YES!! It was totally spontaneous, but Olivia did fantastically! We only walked and had a few steps of trot - but woooow! Luckily my friend had come along to take loads of photos, and she would tell you how ecstatic I was!! WOW WOW WOW !!! Bridleless ride aside, it was a good session! Lots of play and energy (at the right times). Enjoy the photos:

Jo x

Springs here :)

2009-04-04T20:48:00.003+01:00

What beautiful weather we've had since I got back from freezing Iceland! Which, by the way, was incredible! The country is unbelievably baren and yet it's still beautiful. We weren't blessed with good weather though - the 2nd day we had snowstorms and couldn't leave the hotel and the 3rd day it was horrible and cold and sleety. However - I did spot herds and herds of super cute Icelandic horses!! I didn't take any pictures of them because I only saw them from the coach and I hate taking photos through windows, but trust me they are ever so cute - especially when they are up to their knees in snow!!! I was with school so obviously couldn't deviate from the plan they'd made but if I ever go back to Iceland again I definately want to see all the sights from horseback. I bought back some leaflets of horse treking as well :)

Anyway, Olivia seems to have forgiven me for not being around on her birthday (phewww!!). My emotional fitness is really improving - what used to really frustrate me is now just making me smile and laugh, and I can see Olivia's expression looks a lot more like shes having fun. I also feel like I've got loads of arrows in my quiver - I'm winning the 7 games :D !!! I'm still having trouble with sideways because she always goes forwards but when I break it down its better...ish...!! I'd also noticed that our change of direction was getting really rushed and it had begun to turn into a fight so I've taken that right back to basics as well. Today I wasn't in the mood to ride, so we had a lovely slow session. In the field we did a little liberty and she was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I was blown away by how she just stuck to me and followed me, and I drove her from zone 3/4/5 for the first time ever and she was just brilliant!! walk, trot, stop, back up. Bizarely, when I tried to do a little liberty at the school she wasn't as good...!! Even though in the field she had grass and other horses and 10000000s of things to distract her!

I think I may practise a little liberty in the field now, then I guess I ought to try the patterns at liberty..big step!! Anyway, all is good :) !!!

happy spring every one - I don't know what it's like where you are but I think I may have caught a bit of a tan today !!!
Jo x

Playfullness

2009-03-28T20:33:00.002Z

I opened my eyes for the first time today to Olivia's playfullness! We were doing figure of 8, and as I sent her off she just offered the trot, and her whole expression seemed to say 'whaayyyyy, lets have fun!!' I never really picked up on it before - but for the whole time I was with her today I was just laughing and smiling. I played with stopping at the barrel on the circle, and Olivia was watching me with such interest and enthusiasm in her eyes for when I would tell her to go again. It was so so so cool! I don't know how else to describe it!!

After a break, I'm finally working on our carrot stick riding again but this time I'm not going to miss 1000000 steps, so I'm working on our walk/trot/backup/stop transitions. A problem that I'm constantly running into, though, is that whenever I'm on her back Olivia never wants to just stand and chill. She always needs to wonder, and I'm really trying to be emotionally fit, and just keep asking her to stop but I catch myself loosing my temper and just pulling her head into lateral flexion. It's something I'm going to need to figure out, but I guess it takes time and patience. I'm also trying to work on my energy a lot - I never truly understood what Pat meant by saying, before you stop your horse, stop yourself. When I'm trying to stop Olivia, I sometimes still have a focus on a point. Today I was consciously trying to stop and stop EVERYTHING. I just stared at her neck and slumped down, and there was a difference. Fairly small, but still :)

Anyway, I'm glad to have finished on a good note because tomorrow I fly off to freezing Iceland with school for 5 days, so I hope she'll miss me !! Worst part is I'm missing her birthday :( So please do send birthday wishes to Olivia on April 1st, shes turning the big 5... !!

Smell ya later :P x

Careers

2009-03-26T19:02:00.003Z

I finally feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders - I've always vaguely known what I want to do: 'train horses', but not much more. After many career interviews (something my school offers), looking over various courses and the like I decided that I would study psychology at uni, after which I would go to the parelli university (providing they accepted me) and train to be a parelli professional.

Well, I recently found a Psychology and Zoology course, and it was writen FOR ME! It's perfect: I wanted to study psychology because I've become really interested in they ways in which people learn (parelli packs & Stephanie Burns may have had something to do with this), the way they react to things (why some people insist on being so negative about parelli) and how they think. HOWEVER, animals have always been my favourite thing EVER, so zoology would teach me all about their anatomy (I love learning about evolution and how all animals are related), as well as their behavioural patterns etc etc. What better start could I hope for?? This would all help me to understand even more about the person/animal when I'll be teaching humans and horses.

This isn't directly linking with Olivia - but knowing that have a plan and a reachable goal really puts things into perspective. Before I always thought of attending the university as a dream that probably wouldn't happen, but now I have a structure I feel like I actually have somewhere to go. And to make a good thing better, tomorrow is the last half day of school before Easter so I can go and progress with Olivia :D

Yay for me !! x

Auditions

2009-03-21T18:14:00.005Z

I'm really quite keen to get my level 2 string, thats not to say I'm really ready for my level 2 string!! My last attempt to film went horribly wrong and I lost all emotional fitness and just sat in a huff for the rest of the day, so I decided to put it off. So I thought, hey it's a beautiful day, mum's free, why don't we just film for 10 minutes? It's not really the standard I would have liked, I wouldn't get a level 2 pass, but it's all practise at making us a little bit less camera shy!!

Anyway, it starts off all right (friendly) but the trot to back up Olivia just goes off where she wants!! Then figure of 8 is ok, a few hicups, but I loose my emotional fitness a bit when sideways goes pear shaped. And then a squeeze turns into a yoyo but HEY! It's all a giant learning curve!!

Anyway, I wrote this and I was going to attach the 10min long video I made, but THEN I thought, NAHHHH!! My mum also made a few other videos of me and Olivia, so I've put them all together into a montage, and there are a few bits from the audition video in there, but I think this is much more interesting and its shorter :)

Work work work

2009-03-11T15:10:00.002Z

I'm so busy at the moment, it SUCKS!! It means that I've got no time to do any reading/watching of parelli during the week to pick up tips before I go out to play at the weekend. :(

I HATE school, can not wait for next summer when I'll have 3 months of absolotly no work no nothing to do except play with Olivia ! Yippeee!

Anyway, this weekend wasn't too bad. Saterday we did a lot - figure of 8 really advanced to the point I could see Olivia really think about going out and around the barrels. And she even offered to trot. We also practised straightening up the backup, since as soon as we speed up she goes super wonky. We just did a sloooow yo yo between some barrels which she seemed to reaallly get, so its just preparation for speeding up.

I'm still having way too much trouble understanding her horseanality, shes so exuberant and wants to move around, but then she gets really calm when she do slow things. I'm thinking quad polar, because a few times I've caught her going blank (and thank god I watched LHB because I know how to snap her out of it). But yeah, looking forward to my course in July. We are going away for a week so hopefully she'll become a lot more like herself, so either Lyla Cansfield or Rachel Morland (both will be there) will be able to give me some advice !

Sunday it was awful weather, began to rain as soon as I got to the arena, so I didn't do much at all :(

Now its just trying to find time to balance my studies and my parelli - and we all know which is more important ;) !!

Poo Picking

2009-03-02T19:08:00.002Z

Probably the best way to bring horsey people together :P

Basically, none of the liveries had really been poo picking the fields, and as a result they were FULL of it, so the yard owner decided to get everyone together so we could all poo pick, and then have a good old barbaque on the first Sunday of the month :) What a lovely day! (minus the hard work and the fact we were shovelling...yano...)

So I got down early to play with Olivia, and I toned down my actions and I laughed and thought OH BOY rather than criticise. And I had a different horse! She 'tried it on' a little, chucked in a rear and a load of head tossing, but I stayed calm, positive and progressive and she just thought ah brilliant, now I will do what you ask WILLINGLY! So the first time EVER I got Olivia doing a figure of 8 at the trot without me flapping about! RESULT!

Pats Principles:
6. BODY LANGUAGE IS UNIVERSAL

Especially positive body language !

And what was really nice, the women who also have horses in my field and me went out in the evening to bring them in, and I told them how in Poland all we did was whistle and clap our hands and the horses would come running. So they said, 'go on then Jo, give it a go' and I did, and HEY PRESTO, three beautiful horses came galloping towards us ! Woopdidooo!!!!

Cameras are soo revealing...

2009-02-27T19:11:00.004Z

My brother came with me to the stables today with camera in tow, instructed to make lots of short clips/photos pleasee (i wanted to try my hand at one of the video montages).

Anyway, the mares moved out of the field next to the school, so although Olivia can see horses from where we were, they weren't right there. This always had unsettled her, but I thought we had worked through it. One thing I definately need to work on is adapting myself in the instant she changes. I need to fill out a horsenality profile for her, because I keep seeing a whole mix of horseanalitys in her, and OH BOY is that a challenge.

So anyway, I couldn't spend anywhere as near as much time with her as I wanted to, because my brother kept saying 'how much longer are you gonna be' 'what else are you going to do?' etc etc. So we finished on a good(ish) note. And then in the car on the way home I watched some of the videos he'd made, and if I though Olivia was moving a lot, well, I was moving a lot LOT more. For me it was a BIG blow to see how I looked when we 'played'. I was micromanaging everything - on a figure of 8 I was correcting her before she'd even made the mistake. I was just rushing and it looked soooo bad and I completely understood where Olivia was coming from with her behaviour!

The thing thats so great about parelli, is that I know that its ME who needs to change, not the horse. I know that tomorrow, if I go out there with a totally different attitude (and I keep that attitude the whole time) then I'll have a different horse. Its easier to blame myself, because I can change myself but I think I'd have a lot of trouble trying to change Olivia. Thank goodness I know that!

2 steps forward, 1 step back then 2 steps forward again :)

2009-02-22T16:32:00.002Z

As I said in my earlier post, this last week has been full of breakthroughs for me :D !! Then yesteday my mum wasn't busy so she camae down and we were going to record level 1/2 online, and lets put it this way: I doubt I would have passed level 1 because it went soo badly!

For the first time EVER, a LBI turned up ??? WHAAATTT !!?? She just didn't want to move, which was really good for friendly, leg massage and touch it, but not so great when I asked for the figure of 8 in trot. She just stood. And plodded. And then stood! So there I was, completly forgot the term 'emotional fitness', with my mother filming away not noticing things just WERE NOT GOING WELL!!!! I finished with some more touch it (so we ended on a good note) and just put her back into her field and SULKED for about a million hours.

Today, Olivia made me walk all around the field with the catching game before she finally came in to me, so she clearly wasn't impressed with yesterdays 'leader'. Anyway, once she did come to me we spent a bit of time doing the friendly game, and then we did the weave pattern with my loverrllyy barrels at the trot, and after doing a full pattern she just stopped and stood, so I just held the rope tight until she released the pressure and came to me. We did it a few more times and the same thing happened each time, so I ended the pattern at the other end instead.

Anyway, our big breakthrough today came when I got on her and we were doing some freestyle. There were other people in the school so I didn't really want to do carrot stick riding because, although I can turn I don't have the brakes totally under control. So we practised drop to trot lead changes on a figure of 8, and then I though well, since she offers flying lead changes all the time I'll see if I can ask for one and.....IT WORKED!!! WOOOOOOPP!!!!!! I did it twice, and I resisted the urge to keep going, and we went to the centre and off I got! Finally a smile on both our faces :D!!

So now Olivia gets her holiday, as I go back to school and exciting EXCITING exams :( !!
Jo x

What a week :)

2009-02-20T19:34:00.003Z

I can't believe half term has been just 1 week, it seems like longer because of how much I've accomplished with Olivia. Not only did my barrels come at the beginning of the week, but so did the level 3 pack I'd ordered from Paradise Hills. I began reading the books, and watching the VHS (not got far becasue we've only got one TV that has vhs on it, and its NEVER free!!).

The combination of the two is great, because the barrels give me soo much inspiration as there is so much to do with them, and the level 3 stages give me a goal to aim for. So I've dabbled in the online stuff, with speeding up our back up and sideways, and the back up is going alright. I'm taking it slowly and steady :) Freestyle in stage 1 is brilliant! We are working on our carrot stick riding with the patterns, and already we are cantering the cloverleaf pattern without reins - and my normally impulsive horse calmly comes to a stop in the middle with hardly any effort from me!

We also jumped the barrels with the sticks, and my normally good seat when I jump was awful, which shows how much I must hang on the reins before, which I honestly never felt. My good horse put up with me though, as we poped over them a few more times, and then rested! Simple lead changes with the carrot sticks are also going well, but in the direction of the gate Olivia gets really impulsive and its hard to slow her down, so she just does a flying lead change anyway !! Awesome?? I certainly think so!!!

Although what I write may not seem like much, what we've accomplished this week (in things we do and in our relationship) is huge!! When I used to go to her field, I had to get real close to her before she would come to me, but now I take a step and look at zone 5 and she comes.

I'm so happy that I'll post a picture I took today (and also just realised how bad her topline is looking :S ). Guess I'll have to do something about that...

8 barrels and a million possibilities!

2009-02-16T19:41:00.003Z

My barrels came today - all 8 of them :D !!

I could only be bothered to wheelbarrow 2 down to the school for me and Olivia's play session, but even with those we had a lot of fun!!!

They are a looot bigger than I thought, I never though much of jumping upright barrels but looking at these I was like wooaaahh. I'm on half term this week, which is great because technically I can spend loads of time with Olivia, but not so good because I have mocks when I get back and I really should get revising.

Anyway, so far so good. I've been working on perfecting a few bits and bobs for filming my level 1/2 online audition (and hopefully level 2 freestyle). I think we shouldn't have to many problems though, and then because of the new format I will officially be LEVEL 3!! WOW!!!!

Yesterday I went on hack on the roads with a few friends from the stables, and I got a LOT of funny looks from other horsey people with my parelli rope reins, but maybe the fact I was riding on a 'scarry' road with a loose rein! There was only 1 moment where I got a bit worried, when a whole flock of cyclists came past on the other side of the road! Olivia stopped and went veerrry RBI, but came out of it quickly becasue the other horses were fine (thank god).

Back to the barrels (yayyyy!!) Olivia LOVED them! She realised she can paw them, push them, lick them, head but them! I can't wait to get her a nice big ball!!

And finishing on a sad, sad note: as it stands, the UK celebration is only two days, which means NO SAVVY SPOTLIGHT :( :( The UK team are working on it though, so hopefully they can fix this! I really want to go !!!!

Jo x

Tarptastic!!

2009-02-08T18:07:00.000Z

Ok, ok that is the worst word EVER but it sums my session today! We've both been getting a little bit bored with the 'equipment' we've got at the school (poles and cones), so yesterday I went with Mum to buy some tarp, and today we tried it out!!

First of all, we played loads of friendly, with approach and retreat, and then she just walked right over it - NO PROBLEM !!! So we repeated that a few times, and then went off to do a few things we know, and then I put her on a travelling circle, and we slowly made our way back to the tarp. For the first few times, she cut across the circle to avoid it, but then out of no where, she just OFFERED to JUMP it!! Pretty impresive jump - that tarp was really wide!! Anyway, she jumped it a few times, so I slowed her down to a walk, and WOOHOOO she walked over it! She walked over it sooo calmly the first time that I bought her in and gave her time out! We also did yoyo over it, and she backed over it without any problems!

I have such a brave/clever/curious horse!! YAY!

Jo x

SNOW DAY !!!

2009-02-03T13:19:00.002Z

YIPEEE!
haha, sunday night it began to snow, and then monday morning we woke up to a beautiful thick covering of snow! AND we got a call saying school was cancelled!! Mum stayed at home to work, because almost all transport was grinded to a halt. So, in the afternoon she took me down to the stables to get some lovely pictures of Olivia in the snow :)

I didn't do much with her, we just ran around and enjoyed ourselves!!
Pictures of home/our street:

From Snow Day

OLIVIA & STABLES:

From Snow Day

Jo x

Snow!!!

2009-02-01T17:31:00.002Z

Whayy, we FINALLY got some snow today!! It wouldn't settle, but was still very pretty! And it came while I was playing with Olivia, and she looked so pretty with white on her fluffy coat :D!!

When I went to the field today, Olivia was watching me the whoollee way in. Then rather than walk away and make me play the catching game for a while, she came to me!! HOW HAPPY!!

So I tried to make our play session as good as possible, so that next time she'll want to come to me as well. We took everything reeeeaaaaall slooooooooooow, which she seemed to appreciate, although towards the end she started to try and barge , so I just got her standing still and then we went back home.

I wish I could spend more time with her, I already know EXACTLY what my barn is going to look like :) (think smallville style...!!)
Jo x

Emotional Fitness

2009-01-31T22:59:00.003Z

I HATE IT!!!!!! www.dailyparelli.com
she's driving me INSANE!!! All of the amazing things coming to the savvy club website and they actually expect me to WAIT ?!? Paahhh!!!

I just can't contain my excitement ! My family has heard enough , so I need a new place to vent!

Pat and Linda have so many new cool ideas, I just think my head will explode! This is going to be a VERY exciting year for the savvy club and its members !!!
www.parellisavvyclub.com Worth every penny.

Jo x

Liberty

2009-01-31T19:00:00.002Z

Olivia was being so responsive today that I decided to take off the rope and have a go at liberty. For about a minute she was good, but I could see her slowly figure out the rope was no longer attached, and then she just cantered off.

When she left, she went to the gate and then paced by the gate but at a canter. She's done this every time I let her off the line, and just ignores me. The worst bit was, when I put her back on line she was reallly unconfident. She also could not keep her feet still, so I thought ok, lets move LOTS until you do want to stay still, but she just wasn't thinking at all about what to do!!

I'm really confused, I sooo want to be good at liberty, and I feel like we are prepared because we can do everything on a slack rope, and I can even leave the rope on the floor and she does what I ask her. Its just when the rope is unhooked, she gets very confident and leaves.

Talk about opening a new can of worms, I guess I am glad I could read the horse, but it used to be sooo much simpler :P

We'll work on it tomorrow! x

Winter Depression

2009-01-28T21:18:00.003Z

Booo, i hate winter!!

All with Olivia is well, but motivation is sooo low when I can only see her twice a week, and both those times its grey and cold and rainy and miserable :( . And whats really awful, is that if I wish summer to come faster that means my stupid STUPID exams are coming faster !!!

WHAT WAS I THINKING thaking Chemistry and Biology ?!!!??

Obviously, my mood is affecting my sessions with Olivia. They aren't going badly at all, but they could be a lot better. One thing thats annoying, is the lack of ANYTHING to play with in the school. There are loads of poles, but they are really heavy to move around and to be honest, there is only so much you can do with a pole. And then there are the jump wings, but they are all soo tall that the rope gets caught on them, and then Olivia gets confused when she yields to the pressure of the rope (realllyy nicely,) but I wanted her to keep going forward, and its a bit of a mess!!!

On Saterday I will talk to the yard owner, and ask if we can buy some plastic barrels, but then theres the whole problem with buying them (suprisingly enough they aren't readily available in one of the biggest cities in the world). BOO HOO JO !!

So anyway, I've been doing a lot of driving from zone 5, and I've introduced trotting. Transitions are really nice, but when we begin backing up she always starts to swing her hind quaters away, but we are slowly working on it. Sideways is also coming on really nicely, although every session we have to *almost* start again. Not to worry, its coming slowly!

Last week I was reading an old thread about stick to me on the savvy club site, and after watching some you tube demonstations I've sort of improvised, and am teaching Olivia my version. Again, we are using LOTS of transitions to get her really listening and focused.

So even though everything is very slowly coming together, sometimes I watch youtube videos and just wonder WHYYYY haven't I got there yet !!!?? The problem with me is sometimes I am just waaayy too goal orientated, but then I never have a plan of action. I sort of expect it to happen.... I suppose I can just hope that in 6 months/a year I'll be looking back on this and be like, ACTUALLY, I can do some pretty amazing stuff :)

OHHH one thing, at the stables I had just bought Olivia in from the fields, and was chatting to some of the girls, and Olivia had her head down and stepped on the ropes. One girl goes 'OMG WATCH OUT!' and by the time I'd turned around to see what happened, Olivia had just felt the pressure and stepped off the rope. The response? 'Woooww, thats soo cool! My horse would have freaked!!'

How proud am I??

Over and out, after that ridicuoulosly long post!
Jo & Olivia x

Country Bridle Arrived !!!

2009-01-17T18:17:00.002Z

After much saving, I finally bought a B-E-A-UTIFUL black country bridle for Olivia, and IT CAME TODAY!!!!!

WOOO!!

Its sooo nice, and I obviously took it down the stables with me, and it was the first time me and Olivia rode in a bite for aggess! And she was so good! At the canter she was really impulsive, but after following the rail and doing lots of different circles she fell into a really lovely rythmn, so I gave her a good long rest.

On the ground we did a lot of work at sideways, and I could see her really focusing and thinking about what she was doing. She has a tendancy to creep forwards, so I was really careful to back her up (but with a really low phase) and it worked soo well! We still have a lot of work on her right side, since she seems to have developed a block. I broke down the pieces and practised the driving game which is good, and its good when we are against a fence, so its just using lots of obstacles and such until she is confident enough to do it without ANYTHING.

But things are really going soo well.
I have some pictures of her in the country bridle (sorry about the quality):

From parelli country bridle

I have no idea why parelli don't make these bridles anymore, I think they are gorgeous!
Jo & Olivia x

Pictures :)

2009-01-13T19:58:00.002Z

I've created a picasa account for myself, to upload photos and such, and I've added an album of pictures of me and Olivia since day 1! Heres a link if you're interested:
http://picasaweb.google.com/joandolivia/JoAndOlivia?feat=directlink#5290870780243904786

Anyway, I've completed part 1 of L&HB behaviour!!

Over the weekend it was sooo cold! On Saterdauy I couldn't bare it, and so just went out to spend some quality time with Olivia , grooming and that. Then on Sunday it warmed up a little and we did some goooodd playing!

A new horse has been introduced into Olivia's herd, and APPARENTLY shes being a bit mean!! But then shes started to make friends with her, so all is good! I've noticed that when dominating other horses, she usually uses her nose/mouth and hardly ever kicks. Then, when I'm playing with her shes sooo nosy, she just has to stick that nose EVERYWHERE!

I don't know how I didn't make that connection before, but I'm glad I realise now because she really does push people about with that nose!

Apart from that, its school during the week. :( I wish I could driivee!!

Oh well, see you all later xx

How to be a good leader..

2009-01-07T13:50:00.002Z

Today is my last day of holidays, tomorrow back to school...BOO!!

Anyway, its been freezing here in the UK, and the ground is rock solid. Also, Mum and Dad are back at work, and my brother is back at uni to revise for exams, which means I don't have a lift to the stables. A combination of these means I didn't bother going to Olivia today or yesterday. Times like these I just WISH that Olivia was at home, then I could breed here (but thats a whole other story...!)

Anyway, this means I've had a lot of spare time, so I've been catching up on L&HB and right this second I'm watching Linda's section on How to be a good leader! Wow....

Its just enlightened me to a whole load of things I've been doing to Olivia which have made me a bad leader, and now I feel a bit like 'geez, why does she still offer ANYTHING to me?' I get frustrated really quickly, I'm generally quite an impatient person but I think my parents will tell you that since I've started Parelli I've improved a lot, but still not enough. I get embaressed when anyone watches me and instantly unconfident.

I guess I won't be able to play with Olivia until the weekend now, but boy is she going to have a different leader :)

Jo xx

Good Start for 2009!

2009-01-04T16:43:00.003Z

Things with Olivia seems to be getting better and better! Although it seems the catching game isn't working as I expected (although to be fair the smallest place I have to do it is a 20mx60m arena), everything else is going 10 times better :)

I realised that I was trrying to do too much in my sessions with Olivia, so I've decided to cut down the new things we are learning, and then work on 2 new concepts (max) a session, and reinforce with fun things we already know how to do!

What I'm focusing on at the moment is driving from zone 5 and sideways (which isn't new, but we definately were having problems which have already started improving!) Driving from zone 5 is going good, I don't want to move into trot until we have a really solid stop and back up from walk.

The other day I managed to get Olivia to half jump a jump in the squeeze game, and then come off it sideways! Boy was I proud !!

Then theres freestyle...I'm not gonna lie, my bareback riding really isn't something to be proud of! Its fine at walk and trot, but I'm a bit nervous of cantering..not sure why ?! But anyway, I'm working on it (meanwhile my saddle gathers dust...). But the thing thats REALLY cool? Our back up when I'm on her! She goes so fast now, and thats just after two days work on it , what a fast learner!

So...only 7 months until my next parelli course....on the bright side I suppose thats plenty of time for improvement!

Thanks for reading, Jo xx

2008... :)

2008-12-31T15:55:00.002Z

Ending on a BRILLIANT note!!!

I got the best presents for christmas - I went to my aunty's house in Yorkshire, and the family got me The Catching Game and Trailer Loading as well !!! YIPEE!!

And on top of the material I bought, the videos on the website are sooo helpful, I actually have too many ideas for me and Olivia!!

Just a quick update - we've been working on changes of direction, I took inspiration from the Parelli Puzzles with Susan and Dusty (level 2 online i think) and Olivia really seems to be having fun with that! I also started backing by the tail, only done a little on that today (a couple of steps but still...bet theres thousands of people who wouldn't even dream of it!!)

And then theres the sideways straddling a trotting pole, and the level 2 online patterns.

And an area i need to work on? My brother asked me what level I was, and I said that I thought I was about level 2, except that I haven't really been doing much liberty, and he asked me why and I said becasue I was scared of regection - basically I don't have any small areas where I can begin, so we must start in the huge school. My mum heard this and says to me, you're WHAT?!? How are you going to get anywhere if you're scared of 'rejection'??
How true. DUHHH Jo!!! I can do all the games on a slack line (prepartion for liberty) so thats my task for the new year! Good luck to me! (and olivia i guess).

And another good note, i LOVE my yard!!! Everyone is sooo nice (i've yet to meet a person who even hints at being unfriendly!) And even better? Everyone seems so interested in natural horsemanship! I've alreay had a request to borrow my level 1 dvds (which i need to remember to take down), and those who aren't practising it are at least interested!!

OHH I'm on such a high!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO EVERYONE!!!
I don't have a snowy picture or anything, so I'll post one of a very fluffy Olivia last year :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-24T20:53:00.003Z

WOOHOOOO!!!!!

Ok, so I'm polish and we celebrate 'wigilia' on christmas eve, basically this is a looong dinner followed by opening your presents (yep, we open them a day early...ish...!!)

So, the point of that is, my AMAZING parents bought me the L&HB!!! YAAAAYYYYY!! So who's not getting ANY sleep tonight? Add that to last nights lack of sleep because of the TV Shows section which has been uploaded onto the savvy club website!
The amount of savvy I'm going to learn before the year is out is ...well...a LOT!!!!!!

Everything with Olivia is going grreeatt!! We've been playing a lot with patterns, and I begun some finesse patterns with her. She's going beautifully! In freestyle, I'm starting to use the carrot sticks rather than the reins, and its good until Olivia gets going fast towards the gate (which is where we have a problem with the brakes!!)

And of course driving from zone 5!! I'll upload a pic because I HATE big blocks of writing!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!
Lots of love, Jo xxxx

Tri-Polar?

2008-12-19T21:44:00.003Z

Its getting real hard to read Olivia's horseanality, I think this is going to have to be my priority now, because she changes between these three (LBE, LBI and RBE) sooooo quickly, and almsot without any sign !

Like today, she'd be throwing all sorts of challenges at me (i want to run, bolt, rear, buck) but then she'd stop and say 'well yano what, i think i'll come and stand quietly with you now!'

And then off she goes again!!!

Luckily, my christmas holidays have begun and my mum is taking until the new year off, which means i have lots of time to spend with Olivia, and we can improve our relationship.

I've vowed to spend UNLIMITED undemanding time with her, and there are some cracks we need to mend in the friendly game!! I now notice I've sorted abandoned these, because I've been so direct line and thinking about the END RESULT!
MISTAAAKKKEE

I'll keep you all updated on our progress :)

Jo, xx

Succes is a Journey...

2008-12-14T19:32:00.003Z

Not a destination!

One of the few AMAZING things I learnt at Rachel Morland's course!!! WOW did i have a brilliant time!?!

I'll try to keep it brief, and put in a picture or two but they aren't very good photos as they are quite far away :( NEVER MIND!!

So on Saterday morning, we just played for a little and Rachel watched us. And me being me, of course froze! I think I become veerrry introverted in a new situation around new people, and i especially don't tend to like people watching me!!! So it didn't start off too well, but everyone was so lovely and Rachel was so encouraging it didn't take too long for me (and Olivia) to settle down!

So we played a bit with driving from zone 3 (and then dropping back to 4 & 5) which was interesting, and definately something I'm going to work on! We also played with focusing on what part of the horses body we want to move, and did this THING (?!?!), and I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it taught me THE POWER OF FOCUS

Fantastic! Then in the afternoon we did some riding, and I did a lot of follow the rail at the trot, and learnt about the power of neutral, and that I did a lot of nagging, and thats why Olivia began to ignore me! We did plenty of other things on the first day as well, and I came home buzzing as a bee (but tierd as a....well...tierd..!!)

Then TODAY! WOW! Well, the morning groundwork was brilliant!! Rachel reminded me the importance of making the GAMES FUN! (duhhhhhh). So Olivia has a tendancy to get bored with the circle and buck into the canter, so Rachel played with letting her stop and rest at a block, and this made her soo interested, and she responded to the lightest possible phases and in general looked like she was having fun!

Then in the afternoon Rachel let me play with carrot stick riding (note to self, buy another carrot stick!). This was FUN! we did the cloverleaf pattern at trot, and olivia wasn't too bad! It was fun to watch her nose as she tried to poke it at the stick when i asked her to back up ! Then Rachel has us each do something individually, and she asked me to canter the rail with the carrot sticks (WHAATATTTT!!!) I'm not going to lie, it took me about three laps before Olivia finally cantered, i seriously underestimated how much you have to think about when riding with 2 carrot sticks! Eventually (and after a nice big buck) we got to the cantering! and it was loveerrllyyy

Then we played with the bow tie pattern, and did some backing up and sideways. One thing that was great, was Rachel explaining the patterns. I bought them but I never really had much idea what to do with them, but now I know how to use them and I'll definately by using them from now in!

I'm too tierd to write much else, and that is just a fraction of what I learnt!!! AND on top of the all the amazing tips, I met some amazing people :D:D whooosssshh what a weekend!

Sorry, these aren't great because we were indoors and it was horrible and dark :P

Rachel making the circling game fun!

backing up with carrot sticks

very proud!

sorry about the crap quality!!!
Jo xx

A New Start!

2008-12-06T18:07:00.002Z

So, today I played with Olivia for the first time in what feels like a million years, and boy was she an angel!!!

There were a few hiccups here and there, but weellll, with out them i would have learnt nothing!!

To begin with, when i went to her field, all I did was whistle and shout OLIIVVVVIIIAAA, and she came! Fair enough, it was at the slowest walk imagineable, but still :D!!

Then, we played a little, and she did not want to keep still! I tried to get her using her brain by doing lots of sideways and backups, and it worked to an extent, but she was still buzzing! So I spotted two obstacles i could use to do a figure of 8, and off i went!

Now I'm not going to lie...I need a LOT of practise at that pattern! I really don't know why its so hard for me to grasp, but I'm definately going to watch the DVD again! Despite me being a bit of a mess, Olivia sort of got it and that was enough to make me happy!!

ANDDD i also got about 3 laps of unbroken canter on the circle! WOOOOWWW!!!

When she seemed pretty calm, I put the hackamore on and did a bit of follow the rail at walk, trot and canter, which she did beautifully. she did chuck in a buck at the canter, but it wasn't mean, i think she was enjoying her self!

So, you could probably tell that i am a happy bunny!! And I think Olivia is as well!!

MAN, i love my pony!!!!! ANNNDD the best bit? 1 week until my course with Rachel Morland!

Jo xx

Moving House

2008-11-30T13:04:00.003Z

So yesterday was the big day! We had a bit of trouble loading, but I tried to be savvy about it, and rather than forcing her up the trailer I just stood in the trailer with a bucket of her favourtie feed, and I let her be curious, confident, and take her time. After a few minutes, she just walked right in!

The journey SHOULD have only been 15 minutes, but rugby traffic (I live right near to Twickenham stadium for anyone that knows it) meant that it took us about half an hour, if not more! And Olivia got to set her eyes on world famous sites, such as Hampton Court Palace ;)

Anyway, when we arrived Olivia was a bit sweaty, but thats fair enough! I took her to her HUGE stable, which had a nice stuffed haynet in and left her. I stayed at the stables until it began to get dark, and she already seemed quite settled!

SO today I FINALLY turned her out!! She seemed so excited as I walked her out to the field and I'm so happy for her! She had a good run around, and now is just sorting out her position in the herd! I braved the freezing cold and annoying drizzly rain to watch how the herd react to her, and how she establishes her place!
Here are some photos I took:

in her new stable

There were loads more, but I didn't want to make this post tooooo picture heavy !!!

So, this week I'm going to give Olivia a nice holiday to relax, and get rid of all that energy she had, and next weekend we will get back down to parelli! YAY!!

Jo, xx

College

2008-11-13T18:08:00.002Z

Well, being in 6 form (or college, w/e) means that I have NOOO time to spend with my horse, gutted :(

But it DOES mean I have lots of time to plan my future :)

I have decided that I pretty much definately want to go on a 5 day savvy camp next July with Kaye Thomas!!! Exciting? I think so!!!

Anyway, the point is COST and this obviously isn't going to come cheap! And so begins my business career! At the moment I am searching around my home for random things that I can sail on ebay, and then I'll be getting my self a job (hopefully at the stables!!!) during the holidays, and hopefully (i repeat, HOPEFULLY!!!) I'll have enough saved up for next summer!!!

Then comes task number 2, theres no point getting ahead of myself and raising money for this course, when it is actually a level 3 course and i am level 2!! But becasue I have started everything in level 2, and we are doing quite well, I think buy then we will have some good ideas of level 3

If not, then never mind! I'll have a LOT of money saved up, all ready for the next course that i CAN do!

Excited much, I defineately am! Especially becasue I've got a real initiative to do this!
wahheeyy!!

Much love ! x

Excess Energy

2008-11-07T18:42:00.003Z

At the moment I'm having to put Olivia on full livery, because of the fact I finish school at 4 and it gets dark at 4.30, and it takes me a MINIMUM of 40 minutes to get from school to stable (on public transport).

So basically, the two girls that work there ride her (don't get me wrong, they are AMAZING riders!!!). Anyway, today one of the girls told me that Olivia had been good as gold (yay!), but that she was very sweaty so I shouldn't be shocked. Well she was sweaty, and thats fine because she needs the exercise, and she has a fairly thick coat.

So I decided to take her for a niiiceee long walk/graze (because she doesn't get turnout), and it was all going good until we got to one meadow, and she just suddenly exploded!!

I swear I can't find a reason for it, and it didn't seem like a temper tantrum because I had honestly done nothing to provoke it! The only explanation I could find was exuberance, which is funny becasue she had a long ride!

it just proves to me that I am right in moving her to a place with turnout, where hopefully she can let go of all her energy, and actually BE A HORSE!

Well I have to get ready to go for dinner, so thanks for reading!!!
Jo x

Horseanality

2008-10-29T20:05:00.006Z

Just to help you get to know Olivia a bit better, here are the horseanality charts I've filled out for her. She has consistently been LBE, but its got stronger and stronger!
The first is from summer 2007, which would be when I found her!

After she had been in her new home for a year (but no parelli was done with her over that year) this is what she was like:

Then in September when she came to her new home in BRITAIN!, I filled one out. This is probably inaccurate, because she had been travelling for days and she was in a totally new environment (5 horse herd, to 100s of polo ponies).

I'll fill her out another one when she moves to her new yard, and then when she settles in! I think it will take her a while to settle down, so it will probably be months before her true characteristics show!

LONNNGGG update!

2008-10-27T19:20:00.002Z

Olivia is settled into England life now! However, because of her horseanality (LBE) she has not been as settled as she could have been in her new stables! At the moment she is in the LOVELIEST stables, but with very limited turnout. This has caused problems for us, (rearing, bucking, broncing) and so I decided to move her.

We are playing to transport her to the new stables with turnout at the end of November, so I will tell you how she responds!!

Anyway, we are well into level 2 now, which I am so proud of! Yesterday I finally got sideways without a fence on her, and she honestly did it B-E-A-Utifully!!!!! WOW!!!

I was so proud I couldn't stop smiling!

Now I have started all the elements of level 2 (except for changes of direction and transitions and liberty - but i've had to take a break from liberty because there isn't really anywherre to practise!).

This is good, becuase on the 13th & 14th December me and Olivia are going to a Rachel Morland clinic...HOW EXCITED AM I!!!!

And before I go, I have to explain how sad I am today. This week I am doing work experience in the city (with Horse Magazine, for those that know it), and it means that I have NO WAY of getting to Olivia, so she has been put on full livery and I won't see her again until Saterday.

Here are some photos of me and Olivia:

This is just me messing about !

check out my AMAZING chaps!!!

See yaaa latterr!!

Hello

2008-08-31T17:43:00.002+01:00

Well, I decided to make myself one of these online blogs to record my journey with my horse!! I've seen quite a few people with these, and it seems like a good idea!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Jo, and I live in London, UK. Obviously not the best of places for some one who wants to spend all her time with her horse! Luckily I've found a stable nearby where I can keep my horse.
At this moment, I think Olivia is somewhere near the Poland/German border. Olivia is huc/mlp cross breed, a polish mare, born April 2004. I've owned her since July 2007 (when she was 3), and I kept her with a friend of my family in Poland, near our summer home. So that obviously meant that at the end of August last year I had to return home, and she stayed there. This year I returned, and now we are bringing her back to us!

ANYWAY, at the moment I've become really interested in the 'parelli' technique, I found out about it when I bought a book, literally the week after I got back. So after spending the whole year finding out as much as I could, joining the savvy club and buying all I needed, this summer me and Olivia have completed level 1 and we are now mid level 2!

So this blog is going to record my relationship with Olivia :) I hope it is at least a LITTLE interesting !!!!

Oliviais LBE, I'll upload the horseanality chart later because the connection is failing at the moment!