Thoughts on: Positive Thoughts

"Look for what's good in your ride today. Make a list immediately after
you get off your horse of at least 3 GOOD things about your ride! Do
that every day this week. Just the GOOD stuff. Even if it's just doing a
relaxed free walk or that your horse stands perfectly still when you
mount. You may find your cup is actually half full, instead of half
empty." -Jane Savoie

 

Eddie and I have been playing with that lately!

Because today I found myself looking at what Eddie couldn't do, instead of what he could do. And all of a sudden, once I changed my focus to the things that he did well then I started to get a lot more from him! Now, granted I wasn't totally focused on the bad stuff, it was just more in the back of my mind. But I flip-flopped that and I was happier and he was too!

So that was really cool and I'm glad that I got that monthly newsletter from Jane Savoie. She is a natural dressage instructor and I really liked a few of her philosophies.

Anyway, on to what Eddie and I have been doing lately!

There's a quick video! :-) We have been doing some fun sidepasses, a little bit more of the spanish walk and we've been riding some more! :-) 

It's been really fun and I hope that we can ride some more lately. He has just been kind of spooky lately, but I don't blame him. It's chilly and windy - his least favorite weather. But he's very patient and I am too. :-) So we make for the perfect team!

Lea

Playing with all the horses!

Today was a wonderful day!
It wasn't windy at all, it was sunny, it was so quiet and chilly, but at the same time, warm from the sun.
So today I played with Eddie and Scout!
First I played with Scout though, since Eddie was asleep. We played at liberty, did a few small things and then I hopped on bareback and bridle-less and we played with some focus games! I would focus on something, and he would either go to it, or wouldn't go to it. Most of the time he did, and I rewarded him, and the times he didn't, well I just went with it and picked a new spot to focus on! He did really good, and most of the time I only had to use my legs to direct him! He is such a good boy! :-)

Then Eddie came into the outdoor with us and I played with them both at liberty, and also did some liberty just with Ed. He did so well even though he was pretty sleepy! ;-) I hopped on after that and we rode bareback and bridle-less too! We went to some different things, while we played the focus game and he did really well! He knew exactly what I was aiming for and he only decided not to go a few times. hehe! But he was so sleepy, so I can't blame him! I did get the sidepull out and we rode around for a good 15-20 minutes after that. Then I could sense that he was getting sort of bored, so we ended on a good note, a wonderful trot back to the fence!

It was a wonderful play session and an absolutely beautiful day!
Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice day too so I can play with them all again!

~Lea & Eddie & Scout~




 

Pictures!

Sitting in the wind and in the sun after a wonderful draw!

My lovely horsey! <3

Trimming Scout as Eddie watches. I think he was jealous. :)

A Wonderful Challenge

Today, my mom gave me a wonderful challenge. She spotted it before I did, and I'm glad that she did!
I made a new video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo7pOUC2XO8
On my new Youtube channel. Keep an open mind. I like the words I put in, and the thoughts I stimulated, but there was a whole lot of pnh circling game. Here's a overview of what circling game is Parelli:

"The Circling Game is really fun because your horse has to be responsible! In playing this game, your horse learns to stay in one gait and go in one direction—without clucking at him or snapping a lunge whip behind him. In fact, you don’t move at all even though your horse is going around you! It’s important to know that this isn’t sending your horse round and round in circles (like lungeing) which can become boring for you and the horse! And it’s not about exercising, either. So why do we play this game? Have you ever wished your horse would maintain a gait without constantly squeezing your legs to keep him going? This will help!"

Well, we didn't do it that way, I was still moving. But it's the same concept. "Go out there are run around!"

So mom said, do no circling game! And I was ever so glad that she did! I have found myself going, "Well, now what?" At liberty. When we play, I run out of things to do, so just go circle! Wrong!

There are things that I want to get better at in me and Eddie's relationship.

Number 1 is our riding.

And number 2 is being able to do things together with him wanting to do those things and going into a deeper level of softness.

Anyway, (maybe I'll talk about the circling game and how it's pretty backwards in another post.)

Here's what Eddie and I did, without any running around!

First we did some advanced sidepasses. We did it at a fast walk and at a trot. That was really fun! He thought it was pretty cool too! Then we did some chase me game and we had fun running around. To top it off, he almost laid down with my cue. We're so close!! :-) All in good time though. :) But it gets even better! I had him wait at one end of an arena, then I 'connected' with him and he came cantering over to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yippeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And all I did was think it - he did it! Woohoo!! Peelin' back another layer of softness and connection!!!!!

We finished with some more connection games, and then I let Scout and Eddie run around together. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad that mom tested me with this challenge! You do so much more together and as a team when you don't give the horse 'responsibilities.'

50/50 partnership all the way!! :-)

~Lea & Eddie~

Hebrews 10:35-36

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise

Videos!

A Super Fun Day with Friends!

Today was a very fun, very exciting day!

Rebecca (here's her blog) came out and played with the horses with me! We had a really fun time, and played for probably 3 hours or more!

First we went into the outdoor and played with Scout and Eddie at liberty. She needed a little help with her stick to me, and I was more than happy to help her. You did great, Rebecca! Her and her horse will get it down in no time! :-)

Then Scout got a little crazy, and before we knew it, all three of them were galloping around the outdoor! lol! But we got them separated and all was fine. hehehe, why is it every time that we're supposed to have a super play day, the horses are crazy?! lol! But they were really fine... They all calmed down when we took them out to the pasture - WITH LINES - and set up a horse agility course!

Let's see... We had:

~A Barrel Wall

~Flapping Tarp

~Jump

~Cavaletties

~Pedestal

~Wait spot

~And the final hurrah! (which was a big jump)

It was really fun, and we timed each other! I think Rebecca won though.. ;-) Eddie never wanted to leave the flapping tarp! hehe!! He is so silly! I'll upload a few video later, it was so cool! I think that's something that I could really get into with Eddie. I could really see him doing some 'agility' things. Because he loves toys, he likes being at liberty, and loves to chase me! hehe! So I think it's a perfect match! We'll see! :-)

Lea & Eddie

and

Rebecca & Scout

Videos are coming!

Proverbs 17:17

"A friend loves at all times,"

Gettin Ready for Winter!

Well, fall is here, and you know what that means!

Winter is on the way!! Snow! Christmas! Riding through the snow drifts and sweaters! ;-) hehe, I love winter!

So, lately Eddie and I have been doing some preparations for driving. We're dragging a lot of things, and I made a pretty cool harness, that has a quick release in case something goes wrong. Eddie has been doing really well with dragging things. We did the cone yesterday, and today we did it at the trot, out in the pasture. He did really well and I think he got pretty into it!

We played with that for a little bit, then we rode for a nice long time!

He's been doing so well, and we've been having a lot of fun. We're not so worried about progress now. Just enjoyment! :-) And he really likes that.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days!

I've been busy trimming them all up, grooming them and just spending time with our herd. Oh, and of course school. :-) But then again horses count as part of my school... ;-)

Hope that you all had a great week!

Lea & Eddie

Ephesians 5:1

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

 

500!

500 what?
Maybe it's... 500 play session with Eddie....
Maybe it's... 500 days until something...
Maybe it's... 500 ways to ride a horse...
500 what?!

It's my 500th. blog post!!!
Woohoo!
I have been writing on my blog for 2 years and 363 days and have averaged 19 posts per month.
It's been an incredible 3 years! Things have changed so much, but then again stayed the same in a cool kind of way.

Anyways, on to what we did today!

Eddie and I had a lovely play session out in the pasture! We did some fast paced-run around sort of things and he had a blast! See... he seems really sleepy on the outside, but he really does have a TON of energy on the inside. So it's just a matter of getting it out and playing with it. Which we did, and he had a blast!
Then we did some long reins, jumped over a bunch of things, played with our sidepass at the trot and ended there.
He was offering a lot, and I appreciated that.

So we went into the outdoor after that and I got on. He was very spunky, but we had a good time! We walked around, and just goofed around. :-) We stood on the pedestal, and chased Scout, so he was enjoying himself! lol!

We ended a really good, sweet note and then went back inside.
I'm glad to have such an amazing horse as Eddie! He teaches me so much! :-)


~Lea & Eddie~

1 John 4:16

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Pure Joy

Pure joy is the only thing that I can relate to our play session today!

I headed out to the barn, barefooted, jeans rolled up and ready for whatever Eddie had in store for me. Feeling inspired by a bit of horsemanship by Mark Rashid and a lovely story from Angel Horses, I was ready to play! And I think Eddie was too!
I went running out to the pasture, and he came running to meet me. He was at the other end of the pasture, and at first he came walking.... then he came cantering to meet me. Of course I had a little treat for him - he loves treats!

Then we started with some small things without anything. No sticks, no ropes, not a thing. All I had to do was picture him bringing his head up, and he did, then we would be off.
We jumped over a few things, walked around, went to different objects... just... together! Then we started a fun activity. I had barrels in a circle, and a few had a treat on them. Eddie's job was to find them, as I walked with him a little bit in the middle. So he went around a few times, as I refilled the barrels. By the time we did that a few times, he was walking purposefully around the circle, checking each barrel for a snack! It was really fun, and then of course, the last one came from me. So he was really intrigued and happy to play! To end things on a perfectly awesome note, we did a 'victory lap' together, soaring over jumps, cantering around, and ended up on the pedestal.


It was a wonderful play time!
And hopefully tomorrow, we'll be able to ride. I think he was a little bit sleepy today. ;-) But maybe we'll even ride tonight, who knows! It was just a lot of fun!




~Lea & Eddie~

1 Peter 3:8

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Horse Agility

Ok, so first watch this video:

Then watch this video:

Having watched that... You can guess what we did today!

Allison and I set up an agillity course for the horses!

Although it was far from what was on the video... hehe!

We had:

• A fake 'pond' aka a tarp with water over it.
• A barrel squeeze
• A jump ramp aka cavaletties that were on either side of a tube
• Pole weave
• and something else...
• oh yeah! A trailer simulator!

So we played with all those things, and the horses had a lot of fun!
Here are some pictures!

Haha! He hardly fit beneath my legs! lol!

So we played with all those things...

Then I tried to get on from Eddie's neck!
Now, considering he is not as strong (i'm probably underestimating him...) as the horse that was in the video, and I'm not as light as the little girl in the video, but considering that, we did pretty good!

He brought me off of the ground twice, and I just wasn't up far enough, so I slid off. We quit after a few tries, because I didn't want him to hurt his neck, but maybe we'll try it again soon!
It was really fun, and really easy to get on!

Check out that girl's other videos. They are really something, and something that I definitely want to try someday. Maybe on a clydsdale or something... lol!





Lea & Eddie

September 9th.

Today was downright amazing!

We all went out to the pasture and played together out there. Eddie and I mostly played with our connection, draw, harmony and sidepasses at the trot.

He did SO excellent! We cantered together, in harmony, and then we just.... were together. We were on the same page, and he was so willing.

I just love that horse!

Here is a video. We had so much fun!

We played with some long reins at the end, and trotted and cantered together while I was driving him. 

It was an amazing play session!

Oh dear, it looks like I have lost track of the time and gotten behind on my posts! Oh dear!
So this blog post is for September 8th.


Eddie and I had a lovely play time in the round pen! We played at liberty and just played with our connection. He did splendid and was so focused and connected!
We truely had a wonderful time just playing. Horse play! His favorite kind!


Here are some pictures!

Then I groomed him, and we played with some tying.
He hasn't been tied for a LONG time, so I just looped the rope over the 'hitching post' and did a quick release knot.
He didn't like it too much, but he stood very well! So I rewarded him a LOT for standing and being so good.
I also groomed him up while he was standing there, so it gave him something to think about. :-)
Oh yeah! I also trimmed his front feet. Which he was excellent for. But then again, what isn't he excellent for?! hehe!!






After that we rode in the pasture for a little bit. Nothing too much, just enough to have fun!
Then we let Eddie and Scout go together in the pasture and they ran around a lot. Lots and lots of fun for our silly ponies!

1 - 2 - 3!

If you have ever played with two horses at the same time, you know it can probably be a challenge.
Now, if you add another horse to the mix, take all their halters off, and play in a medium-sized arena, then that adds up to a lot to think about!

That's exactly what I did with our herd today! First Scout came by the gate, so I let him in and played with him a little bit. Then I let Diesel in, and Scout went out. So I played with Diesel alone. Then I let Diesel out, and Scout and Eddie came in! lol! Confusing? I know!


We just did some small things, lots of draw, lots of run with me, sidepasses, circles and lots more!
It's a far cry from:

 Jean Francois Pignon, but it's a start! Hey, he even had to start somewhere. ;-)


Maybe we'll be able to play together more, it was a lot of fun to play with all of them. I like to challenge myself!






~Lea & Eddie & Scout & Diesel~

Job 39:19

“Have you given the horse strength?
      Have you clothed his neck with thunder?

Trotting, and Liberty!

It was a beautiful day outside today!!!!!
Happy Labor Day everyone! :-)

Today Eddie and I played in the outdoor at liberty. He was very laid back, so we did some small things. We played with some pre-laying down things, I just had him dig at the dirt 'hole' that is in the outdoor. He didn't lay down, or roll, but I wasn't expecting him too. He just liked to paw at it and give it a sniff. :-)



That's a pic of him rolling yesterday, in motion! hehe!


So we did some of that, then we played with some pedestal pivots, sidepasses along the fence line 
and circles close by.


Then we just had some fun run-around time, and he enjoyed that a lot! :-)


Scout came in after us, and then my sister and I sent them around the outdoor to burn off some steam. They had a ball running around together! Then we both drew them in to us, which was really neat!
So we played at liberty for about another 5 minutes or so, then we both got on!

Eddie and I played with our backups, and then we trotted around for a little bit! It was really fun, and it was nice to get back into the swing of things, with our riding! We also did some sidepasses and more pedestal play! It was a wonderful day and a wonderful ride!




~Lea & Eddie~

John 14:23

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Long Rein Play

The last couple of days have been really fun!
I haven't been able to ride much, but that's been fine with me. Our family has just been doing a lot of things inside. We made a TON of grape jelly, and we're making grape juice tonight. It has been really fun, but I'm ready for a quiet Monday and Tuesday. :-)

So yesterday and today Eddie and I played with our long reins. We did lots of point to point, jumped over a lot of things, and played with our direction-going.
Softness has also been one huge thing we've been working with. Softness comes from the inside of the horse, not the outside. Lightness comes from the outside. It has taken a while to get to where our softness is right now. He is almost always willing to play, as long as I give him some time to wake up, ;-) and we can ride every day. It's just a matter of me getting both of us prepared for it.
So we've come a long way! And you can never loose sight of that! :-)

Anyway, we did some more long reins, then we played with some sidepasses at the trot. He did SO well! We didn't get it all the way, but we were pretty darn close! So we had a lot of fun with that!

Lovin the journey!


Lea & Eddie

Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days,
         That we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

I'm Back!

Well the KC La Pierre Course ended on Wednesday, and I am SO happy to be home! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every minute of it, and I learned a lot, but there truly is no place like home!

The first three days were classroom days. Then there was the hoof dissection and trimming cadavers on the fourth day. Which was really good, it was nice to be able to trim, and just work on my technique, and not have to worry about getting the hoof in balance. Then the last day we trimmed another cadaver, and finished with trimming live horses that the students had brought. I learned a lot, and both KC and the horse's owner were happy with the trim that I did on the horse. Yay!! :-)

hehe!

So yesterday I played with Eddie out in the pasture and we did lots of fun things! We did some long rein work and then just ran around and played. It was so nice to get back into swing of things! :-)

Then today I played with Eddie and Scout together!! :-) It was really fun, and I think that this video just about sums up what we did!! :-)

~Lea & Eddie~

Isaiah 48:17

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
      The Holy One of Israel:
      “ I am the LORD your God,
      Who teaches you to profit,
      Who leads you by the way you should go.