Sue – How Do Your Eyes Sparkle!

March 11, 2007Posted inSue - How Do You Do!
I've been letting Sue be a horse in the pasture for 2-3 months since it has been so cold, icy and snowy here. One day when I walked out to the pasture, I noticed that Sue was more outgoing. Her eyes were darker and more intent. Much to my amazement, she had moved up one horse in the pecking order. wow Sue got to attend a clipping and braiding clinic a couple of weeks ago. When I took her to the clinic, I noticed that she hadn't regressed. In the…

Sue – How Do You Interupt that Negative Fear Behavior?

January 10, 2007Posted inSue - How Do You Do!
I've not been able to get Sue to circle online without her going into the fear zone. Even the "S" turn manuever gets her riled up and rigid. She gets deep into fear before we hit the "S" of the turn and doesn't recover too much when we managed our direction change. She's sort of like a freight train to try to get turned and going the other way. I've been doing half circles on the wall and that has worked reasonably well to interupt that fear. BUT Tonight..we played…

Sue – How Do You Spell Bareback Riding?

December 2, 2006Posted inSue - How Do You Do!
We had a fluidity clinic. I rode JR bareback for an entire day. I posted bareback. I was so sore, walking was a big problem. Filled with confidence one late night. I saddle Sue up in the Parelli bareback pad. I got on. We both felt the situation. I made the slightest of signal to move. She moved one step and froze. I rubbed her gratefully for at least a minute. I made another signal and we moved one step again and froze. We sat in solitary splendor for another…

Sue – How Do You Do at Horse Play?

November 30, 2006Posted inSue - How Do You Do!
Jenny called me today to give me a report about Sue.  Sue isn't in any kind of training program. She's just a boarder at "For the Horse" Ranch. Jenny reports that when Sue was turned out yesterday, she ran, bucked and even got all 4 feet off the ground. Sue was playing. I marveled. Jenny marveled. Sue's normal mode of operation when turned out is to be invisible. She stands on the fringe of the group and pretends to be invisible. I've never seen her buck and play. I've never…

Sue – How Do You Do at Seeing My Heart on My Hand

November 27, 2006Posted inSue - How Do You Do!
Monday, November 27, 2006Sue How Do You See the Heart on my Hand It was chilly and late. I stopped at "For the Horse" Ranch to play with Sue. We played our right brain/left brain games for a while and she is staying in her left brain more and more. Translation: I up my body language and ask her to do things faster. She gets scared (right brain). I slow my body language and she calms down (left brain). She's starting to understand that being scared isn't the end of…