New website!

Det var ett tag sen jag uppdaterade min blogg nu, det har varit fullt upp den senaste tiden. Tillsammans med Daniel och en vän köpte jag för ca en månad sen ett 3årigt sto som skulle gå till slakt i höst pga att ägaren inte kunde ta på henne en grimma eller borsta henne.
Vi tycker inte att en häst ska behöva avsluta sitt liv pga det så vi bestämde oss för att köra och hämta henne, vi har fått lägga mycket tid på att okänslig-göra henne för människor och våra verktyg. Nu har vi äntligen börjat komma till en punkt där vi får röra vid henne, hon kan njuta av att bli kliad och vi kan gå med henne i grimma och grimskaft.
Under tiden har vi även jobbat på en hemsidan, den är inte riktigt klar men ni kan följa vår blogg där.
Det kommer även komma till en film-funktion eftersom vi filmar Lilith som hon heter ofta för att lättare kunna följa framstegen.

Vår nya blogg finns på www.emeliefrid.se

Nalle har gjort stora framsteg och har börjat hitta en bra form att gå i, han har även äntligen börjat tycka att det är hans idé!




Im moving my blog to www.emeliefrid.se/ where you can follow me, Nalle and our new partner Lilith.
She's a 3 years old warmblood who was about to end her life due to "her" problems..
She wasnt used to people and couldnt be touched or have an halter on.
We've spent alot of time making her feel ok with humans, to be touched and be ok with an halter and now she can finally relax enough to enjoy a scratch!
I hope that you'ld like to keep following us, Lilith is a wonderful horse and has potential to be a superstar. 

Making friends again

I just love my horse, he's the best.
Since I work 50 min drive from where I have my horse I dont see him every day of the week anymore, so when I finally get to play with him after working mon-thurs I often got tons of things I want to do.
We were at our trainer last weekend and got a task to do at canter: 3 simple lead changes then up to galopp, down to a canter a few laps to show that he's calm again then 3 flying lead changes with the reins resting on my wrists and then melt down to a back-up from that. We start by separating and isolating, yesterday we did the melt down to a back-up from canter and some simple lead changes. Since it was warm Nalle got very sweaty so I washed him after that and then trimmed his hoofs. When I got out later in the evening to say good night he wasnt too glad to see me, "if you want to hang with me you have to come to me, Im busy".

I thought he would still be in that emotion today when I came to the pasture but he came trotting :) The plan was to do funny things today since we're attending a clinic this weekend. We started out by playing online on a field with some logs, he's not to fond of jumping unlease it makes sense and apparently jumping those logs made sense because he jumped them very nice with a flow even at trot. He usually stop before the jump, looks at it for a while, turns to me and asks if he really should jump that, "it's much better to walk around it, dont you understand that? ok I jump if jumping gives me treats, sigh".

After that we walked by the trailer on our way to the paddock, I sent him over the ramp a few times and then in. He did that very good so I gave him a rest from that by riding in the paddock for about 15 min. I didnt want to do much just check if he could move his forequarters and hindquarters easily, I also checked how little I had to do when asking him to go sideways and how fast he would backup when I asked him at a low phase. He did everything very easy, warm up hard to ride easy is soo true! We got back to the trailer so that he could eat his "after-work-food", during the ride the rain had start to fall so I stood inside the trailer to not get wet and when he started to move backwards I send him away and asked him to get back to me as in the yoyo-game. After doing that for a little bit he came back to me and rested while I scratched his ears, we stood like that for a long time so I rewarded that feeling by sending him out and let him back into the pasture with his friends again.

It feels like we're prepared for the "dressage naturally"-clinic, I hope we will learn alot but most of all I hope we will have fun!

Jörgen Schwartz: Lastning

Jörgen Schwartz: Lastning: "Lastning är ett av de vanligaste problemen som uppstår i hanteringen av våra Hästar. Momentet kan skapar frustation både hos Hästen och männ..."

Progress

We're really starting to make progress at cantering. Lately I've been able to ask Nalle to take the canter from walk and today he started to get how to do it from halt and back-up. When doing things like that Im glad that I've got a small, light and fast horse. He might not be the ultimate horse for high-level dressage but the goal is to prove everyone wrong ;) I was smiling and laughing the whole time and when he took his third nice canter from back-up there was nothing to do but to jump off and eat grass.

I fell off and Im glad I did

Nalle has not been well for the last couple of days, he caught a cold so we have just spent some undemanding time and a little bit of trailer loading. Today he seamed better so I took him to the paddock to just hang around for abit. We played at liberty, it felt really nice and Nalle was full of energy.

I walked over to the stool and asked if he would let me on, at first he hesitated (perhaps he remembered the last time we rode and I didnt understood that he wasnt feeling alright) but then he came to me.
Im abit unsure riding totally freestyle without a halter since Nalle got a history of bucking, I've been afraid that if he would get scared and run off he would buck me off. But you have to enlarge your comfort zone! It felt nice and he was listening well, but suddently he saw something in the grass next to the paddock and got scared.
When he got scared I got scared and took a "monkey-grip" at the string around his neck and he got ever more scared and started to run off. I did an emergancy dismount/fell off and landed on my feet, Nalle stoped and came back to me.
We walked to the stool and Nalle was soon to help me back up, we did some more freestyle riding so that I could get over my shaking legs. When it felt at its best I got off and gave him a carrot.

Im now glad that I fell off so that I dont have to worry about that part anymore, he didnt buck, not even with me riding bareback with NO balance at all in canter. We've come a long way, I just have to realise how far and learn from Nalle how to live in the moment.

Sleepy

 

I found Nalle sleeping in the pasture today, he use to take a nap before lunch after eating grass the whole day ;) Did some friendly game and he was ok with me sitting on him, after a while he relaxed soo much that he layed down on the side and feel asleep. "Ah excellent, I've got someone to watch my back so that I can sleep". 

When will I ever learn...

We've got a girl who's studying to become a horse-masseur coming to our stable every now and then and stays for a couple of days to get some working hours done, today was the second time she gave Nalle massage and the 4th time for him and he's finally starting to understand and really enjoy it.
Last night I rode, we started with a short trailride with the dog and then we spent some time in the paddock doing IP-games at trot and canter. We also did alot of sideways, Nalle was alot better going in one direction so we worked more on the other side. No mather what we couldnt get it to work and I started to feel frustrated, then I got sad because I got emotional and it just went downhill... I didnt want to end with a feeling of failure, I want my horse to be able to feel proud everytime and I cant lie to him so I asked him to go just 2 steps sideways in both directions with just my seat and leg as aids. He did that very nice so I got off and felt abit better but I was still very upset with myself for getting frustrated. I know that when something isnt working as well as it use to/should it has nothing to do with respect anymore, Nalle respects and trusts me 100% but I still dont KNOW it. I still blame myself for being a bad leader/horseman/friend instead of thinking outside the box to find the real reason. We walked back to the pasture and I was sure that Nalle would run away when I took the halter off, but he didnt. We did some liberty and when I walked away he neighted, at first I thought he spoke to the other horses, but then I heard that it was another sound and saw that he was looking at me. Oh what a feeling! I turned around and walked back to Nalle to scratch him abit and then we could both sleep abit happier.

No suprise the masseur found something, she found tensions under Nalle's belly that made it hard for him to engage his hindquarters. I felt really bad for pushing him yesterday instead of looking for answers on why what happened happened. I really have to learn what I learn so that I can know that I know...

Oh and we did some trailerloading aswell, the time we spent hanging around in the trailer the other day when it was raining really payed off, he walked in with the same confidence as he did last year, he didnt even bother when I closed behind him nor when I opened again.

Dual-loading

When I woke up I started the day with a ride at freestyle and finesse, after warming up mentally and emotionally for about 30 min. Figured out a way to make my saddle fit better, it's a little too wide so it moves abit when cantering. Then I let Nalle back in the pasture and did what I had to do, late afternoon I decided to trailerload Nalle and our little friend Gestora. I did it without alot of pressure, I just wanted to give them food in the trailer and play abit. Both horses did it at liberty and with excellence! Gestora did it without hesitation and Nalle loaded at liberty with Gestora cantering around beside the trailer.

Dentist, loading and a ride in the evening.

Today Nalle and I went to the dentist so check his teeth out, they're doing fine but there's still abit to fix. Hopefully alot will happen during the summer when he can eat grass, that dont get stuck between the teeth and they can move to their correct place.
When we were loading to go there it was raining and we havent done as much trailerloading lately as we should have so he wasnt as calm in the trailer as he use to, since we didnt have alot of time to fix that before the dentist and he wasnt too worried I loaded him and spent that time trailerloading on our way home. At first he didnt want to load, he was still abit gone from all the drugs..., but since we've spent so much time training I've got confidence from knowing what to do, when to do it and how. That makes is alot easier to be that alpha that dont loose it.
After a while Nalle got it and the same second that he walked in to the trailer he relaxed and rested one of his legs, then I could close the gate without him getting worried or turning (he always travel "at liberty"). Hopefully we took one step closer to being where we were when we had to stop trailerload because the snow came... We also have to get past last weeks incident when he got stuck with the halter in the trailer, now he dont want to stick his head to far into the trailer, at least not with a halter on.

When we got back I let him out into the pasture again, I've got vacation for two weeks so I've got alot of time that makes it possible for me to ride when the tempature drops or between the rain.
So I waited until the evening, then we had a nice playtime doing online, freestyle and a little bit of the fancy stuff ;)
Nalle did a few nice flying lead changes at online, I asked him to back up and then move out in circling game at canter. That gives him alot of energy and the flyings lead changes comes easier for him.
When we rode we did some bending and moving different parts of the body at walk and then we played with the walk to canter transitions, he's doing them great but starts to canter at a fast pace.
After a little while he offered me a nice collected (mentally, emotionally) canter and we were done.

We went for a nice walk around the pastures together with a friend and her horse,
but that nice walk changed to something else when we were passing the stallion who's missing his ladies... Both horses reacted strong, Nalle got up on two legs so I did an emergency dismount and then we turned and walked another way, after that they calmed down pretty fast and we could continue the nice walk at the sunset...

When we got back to the paddock we did some stretching on the horses, that's good for Nalle not just because of the stretching but also because he used to have problems with people lifting and doing things with (to) his hindlegs. That goes alot smoother now, but I still want to put energy on that and do things that he could enjoy, like stretching. Suddently the other horse started to act differently, it took us humans abit longer to see that the sprinklesystem was running and it came water from one of them.
Since Nalle doesnt love water I went to check it out with him, but he didnt bother at all so I let him back in the pasture and said good night. Perhaps all the other drama was enough for one day ;)

Trailerloading with a twist...

Today we did some IP-games and I used to trailer as a place to rest to get him to relax 100% in it again, we havent been able to play with the trailer this winter but I had to drive him a few times so it's not just a place for games anymore. I like to have one trip somewhere out of ten times playing with it.
It started out good, we rode in and after a few times he really relaxed and used the trailer for resting, in the trotgame he did circles around the trailer until I let him go in....
But then he get stuck with the halter inside the trailer, "oh shit!". He paniced and tried to get out, but he realised after a few seconds that he was stuck, that I was on his back and he had to think of me and that there was help to get. So he stood still and tried to control himself, I tried to unstuck the halter from his back, that didnt work so I tried to get it off, that didnt work either so I had to dismount and try to get him loose. I have never dismounted inside the trailer before, but he didnt care to much about that. After a while I found a way to unstuck the halter but there was a million thougts runing thru my head during that time.
When Nalle felt that the pressure got away and that he could get out he backed out but he didnt ran out, I asked him to get in again and he did that but was making a "are you really sure?"-face.

It was horrible but now I know how he reacts in panic-situations and that he understands that we are a team, Im always there to help me and that he have to think of me and not just act on his instincts. 
Im also very glad that he trusted me enough to get inside the trailer again after such a thing, he's just amazing.

A short update

It's been a while since my last blogpost, Nalle has moved to another stable in another city for the summer and I've started a new job so I havent had much time between working and being with Nalle.

He's starting to become a part of his new herd (they're 16 horses, 1 foal and 2 foals on the way) and since I work in another city Im only there 5 days a week. When I get back to him on thursday evening after being away since monday morning he gets very happy to see me and starts to play with my in the pasture when I come to get him. Our relationship has grown stronger from this since our little herd of two has become his main herd, and when we play it works even better than before. We even had our first flying lead change at freestyle and the liberty is getting very strong, he's also starting to get the new fancy manouvers and is starting to get how to do them at freestyle aswell as with contact. Perhaps it's time to put together some auditions soon...

Busy busy

Last week was very hectic with loooong days, alot of work and alot of horses :)
At the moment Im too tired to get my thoughts together but Im still smiling from the flying lead change he gave me yesterday and the wonderful liberty-session we had tonight in his big summer-pasture. He's a wonderful and lovely horse and I can't understand how people dont want to have that relationship to their horses, instead they handle their horses hard due to lack of understanding or interest in learing another way to the goal.

Had a lesson the other day...

...in dressage naturally. Here's a before and after picture, huge difference in both of us!
The best part was that Nalle really enjoyed it and had as fun as me, now we're gonna play with our new tools and see where it gets us :)

Feels like summer

This years second bath :-)

Feels like summer

Yesterday I met a friend in the stable at 9 in the morning to go for a trailride, we took a 2 hour ride and both the riders and horses really enjoyed it.
Then I went home for a shower and to pick Daniel and the dog up, we were invited to an "easter-dinner", on the way we stopped at Nalle again to hang around for a bit.
We bought icecream and brought two chairs so that we could sit in the sun and relax while Nalle was eating grass and the dog was running around with his toys.
It was a lovely day and it really felt like summer even thou it's only april!

My lovely partner

Nalle har blivit en helt otroligt rolig lekkompis, idag stod han vid grinden och väntade när jag kom men eftersom det regnade och hade regnat hela dan tog jag med honom ner till stallet så han kunde äta och torka i en box. Passade på att snygga till hovarna i brist på annat, Nalle brukar inte vara på toppen-humör när det har regnat länge så planen var att inte göra mer än så.
Brukar ta vägen över ridbanan på väg upp till lösdriften för att ta bort träningsstämpeln därifrån, dessutom kan man passa på att leka lite i liberty på vägen tillbaks utan att riskera att hästen springer till skogs.
"Woho" sa Nalle idag, "äntligen händer det något!". Ställde mig därför på en pall och hade honom lös i circling game runt mig, bad honom komma in till mig sideways när jag tog in honom. Vi har inte tränat på det innan så det blev inte sideways förrän 1-2 meter ifrån mig men det köpte jag såklart.

Varje gång han kom in så "parkerade" han sig perfekt för att hoppa upp, började fundera efter ett tag på om det var det han ville. Han är jäkligt smart så han vet även precis hur han ska stå för att jag inte  ska kunna komma upp.
När jag satt upp var det som att han tänkte att äntligen förstod den där trögskallen vad jag ville... Tänkte game over när jag hoppade upp för att han skulle få en belöning för sin fråga, red mot grinden och började öppna den. Det har vi gjort ett par gånger och Nalle börjar förstå ganska bra vad vi sysslar med, men idag vägrade han helt enkelt... Hängde med på hans idé igen och började be honom om lite kluriga övningar vi har tränat på, idag klarade han alla med bravur! Det var precis som att han gav järnet för att jag skulle förstå vilken bra idé han hade... Backade, gjorde sideways och flyttade framdel utan tyglar eller stick, när det inte kunde bli bättre hoppade jag av och lekte lite liberty igen på väg ut genom grinden (nu gick det bra att gå ut). Han är så rolig min lilla häst! Han börjar verkligen uppskatta våra stunder lika mycket som jag. 





Had the most wonderful day with Nalle today. Been raining the whole day so the plan was to take him to the barn so he could eat and get dry, Nalle usually dont like to do much when it's raining so this day was for undemanding time and cuddling. But Nalle had other plans... I often walk across the paddock on the way back to the pasture to take the pressure of that place, I dont want it to be a place where we train, I want it to be a place where we play or just hang out. It's also nice to be able to do abit of liberty on the way across on days like this one when we havent done anything else. 

Today Nalle told me that he really wanted to play when we got there so I got up on a barrel and sent him around me in circling game. When I asked him to come back to me I asked him to do it sideways, havent done that much so I bought every try. When he came in he "parked" himself like he do when Im getting on his back so after he had done that a couple of times I got on. It was like he thought "finally she's getting it!", I rewared that thought by thinking game over and rode to the gate. We've done that alot this winter so he's starting to get what we are doing, so today he did everything to make sure that I couldnt open the gate... 

"Fine" I thought and went with his idea again, and woho! It was like he wanted to show me what a good idea he had so he did everything excellent, even things he usually "cant". 
We did back up, sideways and moved the front end around without using the reins, when it couldnt be any better I got off and said thank you. Did some liberty on the way back to the gate and this time he was ok with leaving the paddock ;) He's really starting to enjoy our moments as much as I!

How we load our partners... Sorry for the quality, was taken with my mobile.

                            

Great liberty and bareback-session!

Haft en toppenstund hos Nalle! Började stunden på ridbanan med liberty, sen kom en kompis dit med sina två hästar och frågade om det var ok att hon tränade den ena och hade den andra lös. Jag tänker alltid "toppen, ett tillfälle att träna!" och inte "åhnej vad jobbigt" när såna situationer dyker upp.
Började med att testa lite vad jag kunde kräva av Nalle när de var där, hade inte varit konstigt om han ville busa med dem eller iallafall checka ut från vår lek. Men Nalle gjorde precis tvärtom, han gjorde protect your herd of two när de kom i närheten så sen tog jag dem uppgiften istället och vi hade en underbart liberty-stund.
Efter ett tag släppte hon sin andra häst lös också, en liten hingst, han kom fram och ville kolla in Nalle.
De har gått ihop innan så jag väntade en liten stund för att kolla in Nalles reaktion, han var inte alls intresserad av den andra hästen utan gick runt och ställde sig bakom mig så jag kunde jaga bort den andra.
Intressant!

När de hade gått igen la jag på barbacka-padden och hoppade upp, började med att rida med sticken i skritt och trav, övade även på sidförande skänkel med bara kroppen. Han var väldigt alert och med. Sen använde jag istället långa tyglar och la in lite galopp, känner mig inte riktigt så säker ännu att jag avspänt jag galoppera barbacka med bara sticken. Testade lite galoppfattningar och red olika vägar, efter att jag hade fått galopp från skritt tackade jag för mig och hoppade av, vilken pärla! Galopp från skritt har han inte haft några större problem med men det har absolut inte gått barbacka innan för även om jag har bett om det har jag inte egentligen velat/vågat galoppera utan vi har rullat in i galoppen. Nu när jag har börjat bli säker på att galoppera barbacka har han gjort väldigt fina fattningar men jag har bett om dem i trav fram tills nu. Han är så duktig min lilla stjärna!
Sen hoppade jag upp och vi red ut från paddocken, gjorde lite passenger lesson/käkade gräs runt paddock och stallet innan vi red upp till lösdriften.

Started the session today with liberty with pressure, I had two other horses in the paddock at the same time. One of them was working with his owner and the other one was loose walking around on his own. Nalle didnt care about the other two, he was protecting our herd of two until I started to do that instead, he even walked around me so I was in front of him when one of the came to check him out. He really wanted to continue the liberty we were doing before they came and he was brilliant. 
After they had left I put the bareback-pad on him, since the liberty was so good today we started out with riding with the stick at walk and trot. Rode some ways and did some sideways with just the body, then I used the reins instead still at freestyle and added some canter. Im still not that confident riding bareback that I can ride with just the stick and stay relaxed. After asking for and getting canter from walk I jumped off and gave him his dinner as a thank you. He do that easily with a saddle but I havent been confident enough bareback to ask for it before, up 'til now I've been asking for the canter from trot.
When he was done eating I jumped on again and we rode out from the paddock and did some passenger lesson/grasseating around the stable/paddock/pasture.

My horse loves to play

Had an amazing day today, we havent been ablo to do much the last two days since it has been raining alot. Today the weather was better but very windy so we didnt take that trailride I planned, with horses you have to be flexibel every day... ;)
Instead we went to the paddock to do some liberty but after a short while another rider came to train her horse there and I didnt want to be in there with all the negative energy they had so we went for a walk.

We took a walk in the forest with me in zone 5, did some transitions and sideways games.
At first he was very unconfident and wasnt to sure about being the one who walked first but after a while he relaxed and got alot more confident. When we got back to the stable he didnt want to go back to the pasture, he wanted to go inside the paddock again. Since he really didnt like to be there before Im going with his idea every time he wants to go there until the paddock is a nice place to be even when it's not his idea to go there...
So we went inside and did some liberty again, when I thought we were done I opened the gate and started to walk back to the pasture. Nalle joined me but after a few steps he turned and wanted to go back into the paddock...
Again I went with his idea and walked back inside with him, we wasnt prepared to ride but I feel much safer riding him bareback now so that wasnt a big deal. Made some reins out of the long rope and asked him to help me up by standing beside a chair, "woho" he said and he was a dream to ride! He was very light and responded in phase 1 in every game.

After that he was done and it was ok to ride back to the pasture, perhaps the paddock is a nicer place to be in now when I can relax in everything we're doing there now.
Im more relaxed and enjoying it more now when I feel that there's nothing we cant do and I hope he can feel the change to, Im starting to trust him now in the same way that he's trusting me.

More bareback cantering!

Woho! Im really starting to get over my mental scar of cantering. I've started to challenge myself by cantering bareback longer and longer for every day to make my comfort zone bigger, and today it felt really really nice! Rode abit bareback with the stick at trot first to get my seat and balance in order and when that felt good I started to canter, that worked so well today that we even could do a simple lead change. Perhaps getting a flying lead change bareback isnt a too big goal for this year... he's getting good at them online (as long as I can sort out the rope, stick and string...) but we havent done them from the saddle yet.

Oh Im so happy! Abit funny thou that I can get so happy from being able to canter my horse bareback, something I did without thinking about it when I was 12... Mental scars are a powerful thing, both on humans and horses. The good thing about having to deal with one yourself is that it gets easier to understand others who got them, humans and horses.

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, 
they must be felt with the heart"
- Helen Keller

Cantering bareback

Woho! Today I was cantering bareback knowing that Nalle wouldnt buck and without being afraid, what a relief! Did 3 corner to corner and then we cantered to a bucket with food, hopefully that made him like it abit more ;)

Met my instructor yesterday and had a very rewarding lesson, first "real" finesse-lesson and we learned alot.
Since Nalle is an arabian he's not the ultimate dressage-horse but my goal isnt to have a horse to do dressage with but to help my horse get stronger and more athletic with the help of dressage.
Daniel joined me and it was really fun to see him play a bit with the little 3-year old lady, that I've been playing with, when the rest of us ate lunch and was really boring in her eyes, he dont have the skills yet but he got a feeling for it. After I had my lesson with Nalle and we were ready to load and go home I had to fix some things in the arena and when I got out to the trailer Daniel was about to load Nalle, that was really fun to see because Nalle didnt trust him at all before. When I couldnt load Nalle and before I started to work on that I had Daniel to help me shut the door when we were going somewhere so when I started to practise the trailerloading Nalle didnt allow Daniel anywhere near the trailer, if he heard him he rushed out saying "oh no, you're not gonna get me!". So that Daniel could load him now is a sign for me that Nalle is really confident with the trailer and that he trusts us not to trick him.

Trailerloading

Finally all the ice in the paddock has melt! Drove in the trailer today and could do some proper trailerloading/playing, tried to do some while there was still ice but it was hard for Nalle to walk up into the trailer since his hindlegs slipped on the ice when he pushed away.
After a while Nalle got back to seeing the trailer as a place to rest, at the end he could really relax in there again.  Did some loading at liberty and he was as good at it as last time so we spend most of the time working on the flying lead changes online and taking scratching-breaks in the trailer, I also sent him over a small jump a couple of times to see if he was more confident today and he was. After playing for a while I put him in the barn to rest for a little while before we rode back to the pasture, he seamed to be pleased about today and was very relaxed.
Apparently he stood at the gate waiting for me to come back when a friend in the stable walked by abit later, maybe he wanted to do some more trailerloading!

Liberty

I had a lovely liberty-session with Nalle today, he was really with me and he gave me a nice, close circling-game at trot. Played with pressure in the shape of another horse playing with his partner at liberty in the paddock at the same time but both of horses kept focus on their partners instead of each other the whole time.

After that I put Nalle back in the pasture and took out a young horse who I started to play with today, Nalle didnt really like to be put away so that I could play with another so he ran out when I opened the gate to take out the other horse... Luckily he stayed just outside the gate since we have been doing that alot, I often take him out loose if we get a good connection when I come, so I could him back in the pasture and walk away with the other horse. But then the whole pack came running at canter (perhaps they had seen an elk) and the young horse jumped on two legs on our way down to the paddock... When we were done and I had put that horse back into the pasture Nalle was following me far as he could when I walked away and he neighed, it was like he was saying "we're not done yet, come back!". I hope he have the same feeling tomorrow when I come, there's nothing better then to be met by a happy horse! (and there's nothing more heartbreaking then to leave a horse that dont want you to leave...).

Bareback-riding

Spent some time with Nalle before work, he was really glad to see me and came trotting so I just opened the gate and walk with him loose to the paddock. We did some liberty and then we walked down to the barn so I could give him his food. Then I put a halter and the bareback-pad on and walked back to the paddock, we did some online and he had a really nice, relaxed but still powerful trott and canter. He's really starting to use his entire body now, I dont know if it's the training, fixing his teeth or getting correct hoofs but something has changed during this winter. Cant wait to see what he's like later this year!

After that I sent him over a small jump a few times, he dont trust the barrels so be still when he jumps to today we tried a jump with a pole and that worked alot better. After walking over a few times he could jump and after a while he was more confident. Did some bareback-ridning to enlarge my comfortzone, started with some sideways and shoulders in and sniffed abit on haunches in. My hardest thing, especially bareback, is cantering. All the bucking has made a mental scar that I have to get over, my goal is to be comfortable cantering with and without saddle this year. Before all the snow came with did some bareback-cantering and it started to feel better but I didnt do it enough to be confident doing it.
Today we started with just two steps and then a long break so I could collect my thoughts, after that we cantered a short distance. Cantering abit longer made me relax enough to stop and get off with a nice feeling, getting of at that moment was a reward for Nalle and a big reward for me, I did it and I survived! ;) In some situations Im a very RBI horse...

Sunny day

Took nalle and the dog for a walk before work, or to be honest, I let them loose im the forest..

Movietime!

Here's another video with me and Gestora, Ida's young PRE-lady I've been playing with before.
There's also another horse in this movie, who Im trying to figure out how to talk to..

cherokee-bridle

Cherokee-bridle and the friendly game I have done im his mouth payed off, he was still in the mouth. Took a coffeebreak, or grassbreak, after. We are getting somewhere, having the string as a rein feels like cheating.

Oh it's still winter...

Yesterday we had a very nice spring-day but today it has been snowing and raining, oh Im so fed up with winter now! Fingers crossed that the snow that came today will melt away during tomorrow's rain, Nalle is going to see the dentist on friday.
Due to the weather we didnt play today, I just asked him to walk sideways towards me downhill. He did that excellent so I didnt ask for more. Nalle didnt share my idea of "a day off", he stood at the gate looking at me when I walked away. That's both very hard and feels good, it's hard and I want to turn back and hang with him and it feels good because he tells me that he want to be with me.

Just remebered that we did trailerloading with huge pressure the other day, when we were almost done it came a tractor delivering hay. He got abit worried, he wanted to keep an eye on that new weird vehicle and looked for an escape route if he would need one. "Hmmmm..." I thought and then I asked him to go into the trailer, Nalle trusted me enough to do that and that wamed my heart. Game over and lots of treats!


I noticed that I had made it very difficult to comment my blog, I've fixed that now and made it possible for everyone to comment the blogpost. I'ld love for you to share reactions or thoughts.

Trailride and trailerloading

Took a short bareback trailride today together with a friend and her horse, it was really windy and I thought "hmm this is going to be interesting". I also brought my new kid stick so I can get used to it faster.
The wind bothers Nalle abit, not that he gets spooky (even thou I thought he would, I have to realise that my horse is growing every day), he just dont like to get the wind in his face. So walking towards the wind he was shaking his head and tried to walk abit sideways to avoid most of it.
The really nice part of the ride today was that he really payed attention to my energy, I could make a halt with just using the energy or laying the stick down his neck. That helped me become braver, I can trust my horse bareback when it's windy and he pays attention to me even in that weather and with his friend walking away from him when we stop with energy. I could feel that we were one unit today and that felt good!

After that I helped another friend trailerload her horse and it was fun to compare that horse to Nalle. Either Nalle was really hard or Im a totally different person now, what took Nalle 2 weeks to achieve took one session for that horse... Interesting, it's not about the trailer!

Now Im watching a webinar with a dutch trainer in the art of riding, a woman called Marijke de Jong.
You can follow the webinar here.

Aha!

BAAM and then it hit me! It's not just my horse that should be challanged to become more calm, brave, smart and athletic, it's me to! That's like all the other pieces in the level-system, something you know but dont know. You've got all the bricks, it's building the house that takes time...

How interesting

Yesterday we did some filming and that makes me abit rightbrain since im not used to that. I thought nalle wouldn't be so happy to see me today since I was stressed yesterday but it was the other way around, he neighted and came trotting when he saw me. How interesting, perhaps I need to make him assume less, both what to do and my behaviour but without giving him surprises

Kids carrotstick

Just got my new kid-sticks delivered, Im really looking forward to try them while riding! But I think I have to wait a week or two, the paddock is still covered with ice that's sloooowly melting and the pastures are getting to soft to ride in. At least I've got time to figure out what to do with my new sticks.

Daniel is learning to ride the natural way

Road to the horse

Just read Linda's blogpost about the event and Im very proud to be a part of Parelli!
I love the fact that Pat fell in love with the horse and brought him home :)

It was the ultimate test of Pat, of us, of his program, his horsemanship, sportsmanship and the leadership of a powerful growing force in the horse industry that puts the relationship first. But most of all, it’s because the pursuit of true horsemanship leads us up the road to being better human beings.

Today we took it easy, I think that we both had alot to think about since yesterday. Gave him his food in the paddock to remind him that it's a nice place, there's still alot of ice there's not much we can do in there yet. We played around abit with liberty at walk and just filled the place with positive energy until next time :)

First lesson of the year

Had this year's first lesson with my trainer and now Im really tired but happy. We did some online, liberty, freestyle and "stick-riding". The stick-riding really took me outside my comfort zone today, we havent done that since the snow came and the trust I gain for Nalle cantering wasnt really there at start. After a little while and some transitions it felt alot better and I could relax cantering with the stick but I still cant get over my mental scar I got from Nalle bucking, at least not a 100 percent. My personal goal for this year will be to trust him as much as he deserves, or as my trainer said "drop the reins, you dont trust Nalle but I do".
He was a real star today, did things really nice willingly and with energy. Im so glad I started with Parelli and Im so glad I bought that little filly I fell in love with by just looking at the photo in the ad. Some things are just ment to be, I've got the best teacher and partner I could ever ask for.

We also worked with the little 3-year old mare that I've been playing with a bit. She started the session with rearing and ended it with having a rider (me) on the back for the first time. That's what I call progress!

Trying to find gaps in our friendly game

Came to the stable just before it got dark so there wasnt any time to play outdoors, I put Nalle in an empty box in the barn and did some friendly game. "Can I pat your tongue? can I pat you under the tail?", then I brushed him everywhere and found his favourite brush and after that we did the game of "can I spray you all over the body with this body shine?", I've got a very shiny horse now (even under the belly..). I also packed the bag for tomorrows lesson, it's going to be so much fun! Fingers crossed that it wont snow tonight...

Oh and I did find a gap in our friendly game some days ago, I stood beside him and jumped up and down, that made him really upset. Did some approach and retreat and made it a positive thing with some treats. Must have looked really fun with me jumping around like a frog... Im still thinking about why he got so upset, perhaps he thought I was threatning him. Any other ideas?

Lekte med Nalle i stora sommarhagen idag igen, det var hemskt roligt för ensilaget var slut uppe i lösdriften men trots det ville Nalle hellre leka liberty med mig än leta grässtrån. Gick in med inställningen att se vilket humör han var på och gå efter det, hade han velat äta hade vi haft en mysig stund och ville han leka skulle vi se vilka lekar som var roligast idag. Nalle ville bara leka i början, stod jag stilla utan att hitta på en ny lek så började han gå sideways mot mig, "kom igen, nu lattjar vi!". Det är otroligt roligt att han har blivit en häst som vill leka och göra saker med mig, när hans kompis sprang iväg för att titta på hästarna i hagen bredvid stod Nalle kvar bredvid mig och bara tittade. Samtidigt kräver det mycket mer energi och fantasi av mig att matcha hans leklust så att varje dag bjuder på en liten utmaning. Vill han kommunicera med mig måste jag kommunicera tillbaks, vill han ge måste jag även ge något tillbaks (sen är det inte ett måste såklart utan ett val jag gärna gör).
Åh vilket roligt år vi kommer ha!

Nu gäller det bara att jag lär mig ta med samma känsla upp i sadeln så att även ridningen blir lika rolig, har nog ofta suttit upp med en tanke att "idag ska vi göra detta". Visst ska man ha en plan, hästar märker fort när man inte vet var man är på väg, men vägen till målet kan snirkla förbi roliga uppgifter som man kommer på för stund. Som sist vi red så testade jag att "svinga" hans framdel fram och tillbaks, eftersom det var en helt oplanerad "men om vi skulle göra lite såhär kanske!" blev det mycket mer leklust i det. Behöver lära mig att ha den leklusten i all ridning, även i planerade övningar... Eller börja med att tänka ut vilket område av ridningen vi ska träna på den dagen men leka med övningarna inom det området. 



Played with Nalle at liberty in the big summer-pasture, it was really fun because he really wanted to play with me. He responded to phase 1-2 every time and put his heart into  it. Didnt have a plan today when we came to the field, the hay was out so I think he was abit hungry, so it he had been in the mood to just eat grass that would have been alright with me. The important thing today was to spend quality-time together. 
But he really wanted to play, if I just stood there and didnt gave him a task he came sideways towards me... When Im playful and dont have an agenda he think's so much more fun, I have to find that feeling when Im riding aswell. We're going to have so much fun this year! :)

Halters

Did a few halters yesterday so now I can use one color for each day of the week ;)
Starting to get a grip of how to do them, but I still belive that Nalle is bigger than he is... 

Quality-time

Spenderade lite kvalitets-tid med Nalle idag, tog med honom till en av sommarhagarna och satte mig på en stubbe. I vanliga fall brukar jag försöka leka och lattja med Nalle för han tycker att det är kul men idag valde jag att ta ett steg tillbaka och se vad han gjorde då... är väldigt roligt att iakta hans beteende i olika situationer!

Han blev väldigt förvånad över att jag inte var lek-ledare och ställde väldigt många frågor, han försökte även visa att han ville leka och vara duktig. Men jag satt kvar på min stubbe, han fick gärna komma till mig och vara social men jag bjöd inte in till några lekar.
Efter ett tag när hade gått en bit ifrån mig kom han på att aha! såhär kan vi leka!, var på han kom galopperande i full fart med en väldigt vänlig uppsyn, "nu kan vi väl hitta på något?". Gav honom såklart lite pellets och massor med klappar men satt kvar på min stubbe. Nalle ställde lite fler frågor men sen gick han iväg och letade grässtrån igen.... sen kom han galopperande i full fart igen! Sen lekte vi sådär lite. Det var väldigt roligt att se att han blev den "påhittiga" partnern och försökte klura ut vad vi skulle leka istället för att bara säga "jaha jaja då går jag väl och äter gräs". Det bevisar för mig att han vill och tycker det är kul att leka och få göra kluriga saker där han kan känna sig duktig, det känns också som ett tecken på att vi tränar på rätt sätt eftersom han bjuder in till att göra saker. 



Spend some quality-time in one of the summer-pastures today. I didnt invite to any games even when Nalle asked me about it, instead I found a nice place to sit and watch him. Nalle tried in many ways to invite me to play with him, one of the things he did was to come canter towards me with a friendly face. He did that a few times and I gave him treats for cantering to me and did my part of that game. It was nice to see that he came to me and asked to play when I didnt take the roll as "game-leader" instead of just eating grass and enjoying the break, that shows to me that he want to and enjoy to play and to do tricky things that makes him feel like a star.

A nice weekend

Har haft en supertrevlig helg i stallet, i lördags var min kille med i stallet och red för andra gången i sitt liv och i söndags åkte vi ut till stallet och Nalle fick leka runt i en av sommarhagarna ihop med en lösdriftskompis.
I lördags fick D låna en häst av en tjej på lösdriften som är gravid och kan behöva lite ridhjälp i vår/sommar, eftersom hästen är väldigt stor och snäll är hon snäll nog att låta D få lära sig rida på honom.
Det gick väldigt bra i lördags, hästen försökte verkligen förstå och utnyttjade inte läget att äta som många andra hästar kan göra med en nybörjare på ryggen. Det var kul att se hur mycket hästen försökte samarbeta, verkar lovande inför resten av våren/sommaren :)
I söndags släppte vi den hästen och Nalle i en sommarhage så de fick busa av sig lite, de höll sig gärna nära oss människor och solade ihop med oss. 

Idag red vi en stund i den stora sommarhagen, Nalle har börjat vänja sig vid det nu och går inte upp i energi bara av att komma in där. Red och gjorde mycket lösgörande arbete, red ihop med en kompis som hjälpte mig att se när vi gjorde rätt eftersom jag ännu inte riktigt har lärt mig känslan av alla övningar.
Nalle är en riktig toppenhäst och flyttar villigt och gärna när och dit jag ber honom flytta, nu är det upp till mig att lära mig hur jag ska be honom flytta sig. Men än så länge är det viktiga inte att han gör korrekta övningar utan att han lär sig separera, vill samarbeta, får känna sig riktigt duktig och får igång alla delar av sin kropp. Börjar känna en förändring i musklerna han har i bakdelen av kroppen så vi är på rätt väg.

Lekte mycket med att flytta framdelen på olika sätt idag, det har vi inte gjort så mycket. Häromdan när jag red barbacka och verkligen lärde mig känna bakbenen för första gången insåg jag att jag inte har suttit rätt utan jag har omedvetet svankat. Nu när jag tänker på det och sitter som Michael Jackson kan jag ha vikten på ett annat sätt och flytta framdelen lättare. Det säger sig själv att vi har haft svårare att flytta framdelen i och med att jag har suttit på den, dessutom är Nalle lite stel i bogmusklerna.
Ska bli väldigt kul i slutet av året och se tillbaks på allt vi kommer lära oss i år! 



Had a nice weekend in the stable, my boyfriend took his second ride in his life and it was fun to see how the horse really tried to understand him. One of my friend in the stable is pregnant and is kind enough to let us borrow her horse during the spring/summer so that he will learn to ride in a good way (parelli-style).
It's not everyone who is able to learn to ride on a horse that you ride with a halter and energy, an it's very few who is lucky enough to learn to ride on a horse that wants to understand you and be your partner. Im very lucky to have such good friends! The day after we let our horses run and play in one of the summerpastures while we joined them to enjoy the sun, it's nice to just be outside in the sun with your horse and do nothing every now and then. 


Today we rode on the field and we did alot of gymnastic exercises to engage the whole body, Nalle is really fun to ride now when he wants to be my partner and tries to do what I ask him do. Now it's up to me to learn what the right thing to ask is... We're learing to separate the body and Im learing how to sit correctly, I've noticed that I havent used my powerhouse and Im just now starting to feel the hind legs as we ride. Learning that made is alot easier to move the front end in diffenrent ways today. 
Im starting to feel a difference in his body and Im looking forwards to the end of this year when I can look back and see all the things that I've learned, one way to do that is to read old blogposts :)

Another nice day in the sun

Fick hem ett tradera-fynd igår som jag var tvungen att testa idag, det är en westernpadd i fårskinn från Mattes. Min känsliga kille har fått skav av ullpadden vi har använt innan, bara att bita i det sura äpplet och prova en i fårskinn...
Padden låg suveränt på hans rygg men det stora testet för utrustning på Nalle är om det ligger bra i galoppen. Red en stund i den stora sommarhagen. Sist vi var där och red var det tjock snö och Nalle orkade inte riktigt göra så mycket mer än att skritta fram, han har ju inte så långa ben...
Trodde det skulle bli lattjolajbans nu när det bara är ett tunt lager kvar men han var så lyhörd och fin, märkte att hans kropp vill gå fortare än vad han tillät den för han gick och slängde med huvudet så som han gör då men han behöll sin gångart. Testade hur flyttbar han var i skritten, han flyttar undan bakdelen fint och börjar verkligen förstå skillnaden på direct och indirect rein när jag bara vinklar handen och ökar min energi. Lovande inför galopparbetet i vår. Sideways har han verkligen förstått, behövde bara ändra min sits och fokus lite för att han skulle flytta sig lätt rakt åt sidan.

En av Nalles lösdriftspolare var också i sommarhagen och lekte med sin partner, han var på lite mer bushumör så hon släppte honom lös. De var i andra änden av hagen och efter ett tag kom han galopperande i full karriär mot oss. Satt kvar på Nalle och iaktog hans reaktion, hade jag känt att hans energi hade gått upp hade jag förmodligen hoppat av innan hans ben började röra sig men han stod lugnt kvar och såg på när hans kompis kom galopperande till oss, sen började han äta lite gräs..
Var så nöjd med det och vår lilla ridstund att jag bestämde mig för att släppa honom lös, men innan jag sadlade av ville jag ta en galopp för att testa padden (och dagsformen). Inga problem, padden låg bra och Nalle höll ett lugnat tempo för att vara honom. 

Sadlade av och gjorde lite liberty, hade inte med mig någon stick utan styrde honom med focus och energi. Sprang och busade lite med honom för det gillar han verkligen, synd bara att jag inte orkar springa lika länge som han... Nöjde mig med aktiv träning för dagen och "släppte" honom.
När vi hade släppt hästarna satte vi oss ner mitt i hagen och njöt av solen, hästarna gjorde samma sak för de är riktiga soldyrkare... Var härligt att se att de höll sig i närheten av oss trots att de hade en jättestor hage att gå runt i.




Played in on the field again today. Got a new sheepskinpad to my westernsaddel that I wanted to test, Nalle is abit sensitive and the woolpad isnt perfect for him. Rode for a while and checked of the list that I've got in my mind, he's starting to move very well at the first phase. To really test the new pad we took a canter across the field and the pad worked well, it didnt move and it didnt bother him. After that I took the saddle of and played some at liberty before letting him go and play with his friend that was playing in the field together with his partner. We sat down in the middle of the field to enjoy the sun and watch the horses, they kept close to us even thou they had a big field to run in and that felt good.

Wonderful day!

Hade en underbar stund i stallet idag, gjorde som planerat och lekte med Nalle i den stora sommarhagen. Började lite online och bad honom gå ut i galopp i circling game, han brukar gilla den leken och blir väldigt uppmärksam. Efter en liten stund valde jag att ta av linan och leka i liberty.
Tog av linan och gjorde samma lek, sände iväg honom i galopp. Vi har inte lekt i hagen innan så han tog tillfället i akt att ta ett varv i hagen och kolla läget.

När han hade kollat runt och började käka gräs istället så väntade jag tills jag hade ett öra och sen satte jag mig ner mitt i hagen, Nalle såg det och kom gående för att kolla vad jag ville.
Blev såklart massa klappar och en liten pellets för att hos mig skulle vara roligaste stället i hagen, började testa av lite vilka förutsättningar vi hade idag. Testade om jag kunde flytta undan hans bakdel med hjälp av fokus, testade att flytta hans framdel mot mig genom att hänga stringen på andra sidan halsen.
Testade även att backa honom med draw i zone 5/porcupine med svansen och det gick bra.
Gick med honom och gjorde stick to me, testade övergångar till trav och sen ner till skritt igen. Han tyckte det var jäkligt kul att trava med mig, räckte med att jag ökade min energi och böjde benen några centimeter till när jag gick. Men han springer snabbare än mig så ganska snart sprang han ifrån mig, testade att stanna och tömma mig på energi. Blev glad när jag såg att han stannade och gick tillbaks till mig, testade även ett par gånger när vi gjorde så att flytta bort hans bakdel med blicken och bad honom byta håll.

Efter att ha lekt oss igenom till andra sidan av hagen stannade vi och betade, eller ja inte jag, jag föredrar kakor framför torrt gräs... När han stod och käkade som bäst testade jag att dra mig bakåt sådär 50 meter och bad honom komma till mig, när han gjorde det ökade jag min energi och då travade han mot mig. Testade där lite grann, efter ett så bra svar på energi blev det en mys-stund. Sen gick vi tillbaks upp till stallet igen, har började gå allt mer med honom lös när vi är ute och det gjorde jag idag med. Trots allt hade vi lekt i hagen med grinden öppen och han hade all möjlighet i världen att springa ut om han hade velat det.
Det är så härligt de där dagarna när hästen är helt perfekt, och ju bättre jag blir ju fler såna dagar får vi  :)







Played with Nalle on the field today, started out with some online to check him. I've been working on sending on out in circling game in canter and we played with that today, after a little while I took the rope off and did the same thing. We havent played in that field for a while so he went to check it out. When he started to eat grass instead I sat down in the middle of the field and asked him to come to me, he came to check me out and we did some stick to me. I also checked what I could do today, could I move him with focus and could I move him away from the string? Backed him up with draw from zine 5 and backed him by the tail. We played across the field and on the other side we stopped to eat grass, I moved away from him and then asked him to come to me, when he did that I increased my energy and he came in trot. Did that a few more times and then we ended the play-session with some scratches. Walked back to the stable to eat and drink some and I didnt bother to put the rope back on, after all the gate to the field was open and he knew that so he had every chance to run away if he wanted.
I love those days when the horse is perfect, and the more I learn and grow the more good days we get ;)

Playing with the tongue

Hade tänkt åka till stallet innan jobbet idag och leka lite med Nalle på i den stora sommarhagen, men det blir inte alltid som man har tänkt utan ibland råkar man sova istället... Åkte till stallet efter jobbet istället och det kändes lite sent att hitta på såna saker vid 21.
Blev den vanliga kvälls-sysselsättningen att mata, gosa och leka lite liberty i lösdriften, han börjar bli riktigt bra på de där lite kluriga övningarna och att flytta undan för "tryck" med stringen på kroppen.

Idag började vi känna lite på det där med att leka med tungan. Har tidigare tyckt att det gamla testet att kunna leda hästen i tungan både är onödigt och på gränsen till förnedrande, tycker fortfarande att det är lite onödigt att kunna leda hästen i tungan däremot har jag ändrat mig angående att kunna hålla i hästens tunga.
Eftersom Nalle har börjat bli en riktig partner vill jag kunna bevisa för honom att jag fortfarande är hans partner även om han sätts i sårbara positioner. Som att lyfta benen, göra rent under svansen, göra rent skapet, klia i öronen och vara i hans mun. 

Började idag med att lägga fingrarna mot hans tunga, han tyckte först att det var en väldigt konstig grej men började till slut förstå vad det handlade om och blev lugn i munnen. Gjorde inte mer idag, har ju ingen brådska och hade ingen grimma på honom så jag hade inte kunnat hålla kvar om han hade börjat gå baklänges och dra honom i tungan hade jag verkligen inte lust med...
Imorgon hoppas jag att vi kan leka på ängen istället! :)


The plan was to play with Nalle in the summer-pasture before work today but things didnt go as planned (I slept.. ) so I went there after work instead. It was to late and dark to play with him there so we did some liberty in their pasture. He's getting really good at the tricky things and move away very nice from pressure from the string. Since he's becoming a real partner I want to be able to prove to him that I'll stay his partner no mather what vulnerable situation I'll put him in. Like lifting the legs, clean under the tail, clean the "private parts", scratch inside his ears or being in his mouth.
He's ok with me doing the other things to today we started to work towards holding the tongue, started with trying to get him ok with my holding my fingers on his tongue in the mouth. After a while he could start to relax and I stopped for today. I didnt have a halter on and I didnt want to hold him in the tongue if he would have backed up.
Tomorrow I hope that we can play on the field, since he got so much energy now I think we can play some with lead changes online :)

An extrovert day

Lekte lite i en av sommarhagarna idag, försöker växla mellan de få ställen som går att träna på om man har en häst utan skor/brodd. Hade tänkte rida runt lite lugnt med barbacka-paden och tränat på att aktivera hans bakdel som blir lite stel av att balansera på isen i lösdriften, men Nalle hade andra planer... Hela vintern har han hållit sig väldigt lugn och "som vanligt" när vi har ridit på ställen där jag hade förväntat mig att han skulle bli väldigt extrovert, idag gjorde jag misstaget att utgå från saker. Jag utgick ifrån att han skulle vara sitt vanliga jag, men hästar är inte statiska varelser. Efter att han hade slängt med huvudet och rest sig ett par gånger hoppade jag av och lät honom springa av sig all energi som han bar på.

Nalle kan ha väldigt extroverta stunder när vi är på nya ställen, då ska han undersöka allt och riktigt visa upp sig, "här kommer jag!". Då åker arabhuvudet och svansen upp och han får en riktigt "se på mig"-utstrålning. Sådär sprang han runt idag och såg väldigt nöjd ut, förutom när han var tvungen att tvärnita för att undersöka någon intressant grästuva.... Han är väldigt rolig att se på när han springer för han rör sig med en sån lätthet, det märks att araberna har haft många generationer på sig att komma på det mest energisnåla sättet att röra sig fort på... Han riktigt flyter fram, benen rör sig inte högt över marken och det är lika lätt att springa fort, tvärnita, byta gångart och vända på en 5-öring. Märkte också att jag inte alls hade spänt gjorden så bra som jag trodde, padden satt efter ett par minuter upp och ner under magen...

När Nalles lekkompis gick iväg för att gå in i stallet och torka följde vi efter, hade inget på huvudet på Nalle så han följde snarare efter dem än gick med mig. Bestämde mig för att testa hur vårt liberty utomhus funkar så jag stannade och väntade på Nalles reaktion. När han såg att jag stannade och inte hängde med var han tvungen att stanna och fundera, skulle han gå tillbaks till mig eller skulle han följa efter sin hästpolare, vilken flock skulle han gå till? Efter några sekunders funderande vände han och kom tillbaks till mig, det kändes väldigt bra att det är vår lilla flock med två som var den starkaste i det ögonblicket. Vi tog en annan väg in till stallet och Nalle fick några mumsiga äpplen när vi kom dit :)

Så det var en lite mindre bra dag med tanke på att han stod på bakbenen ett par gånger med mig, å andra sidan gjorde han inte det som ligger närmare till hands för honom och som vi har jobbat på att få bort nämligen att bocka, men det var lite gran (eller ganska mycket) mitt eget fel som inte gjorde en ordentlig "pre-flight"-check.
Däremot var det en väldigt bra dag sett till vår relationen, det känns som om vi verkligen håller på att bli en "herd of two". Har jobbat mycket det senaste året med "protect your herd of two" genom att t.ex mata honom bland de andra hästarna så han har sett att jag kan försvara honom och han kan vara helt lugn.
Har även märkt att det funkar bättre och bättre när vi är ute med andra, vår flockgemenskap är oftast (men inte alltid) större än den till den andra hästen.





Played some with Nalle on a field today, tried to ride bareback at first but I realised that he was to extrovert and had to move his feet more than I wanted to do riding bareback so I got off and let him loose. Watched him move in his majestic arabian-way for a while (with the bareback-pad under his belly...) and then we went to the stable to out a blanket on his friend who got very warm from running with Nalle. On the way there I had him loose and today he wasnt walking with me as much as he was following his friend, so I stopped and watched his reaction. When he noticed that I wasnt joining them he stopped and thought for a little while, should he follow his friend or should he walk back to me? 
I mayed me really happy that he went back to me, our herd of two was stronger than the one with his horse-friend, all our is really starting to show! 
The not so good thing about today was that I did a sloppy "pre-flight"-check and missed how extrovert he was that day. The really good thing was to see how far our relationship has come.

adventure!

Har bestämt att det är vår nu så nu trotsar jag isen och kylan, det är ju trots allt fågelkvitter och sol!
Tyvärr är inte naturen riktigt med mig än, skogsvägarna är fortfarande isiga och paddocken är en skridskobana. Gårdsplanen har blivit istäckt igen så det blir ingen lastträning på ett tag och de flesta grusvägar i området är isiga. Den vägsnutten vi kan rida på vill jag inte använda för mycket eftersom den inte är många hundra meter och jag själv skulle tröttna rätt fort på att gå fram och tillbaks där varje dag om jag var häst...
Såna förutsättningar sätter verkligen fantasin på prov! Har gjort ganska mycket liberty under taket utanför ligghallen samt lite i ligghallen, Nalle tycker det är väldigt roligt att göra de där små finurliga lekarna som inte kräver mycket fysiskt arbete men som resulterar i mycket pellets! T.ex att lägga sig eller backa för draw/strån i svansen från zone 5. Ligghallen är precis tillräckligt bred för att Nalle ska  kunna gå sideways från och mot mig så vi gör någon slags sideways-yoyo där inne.

Idag däremot skulle vi ut i skogen, på ett eller annat sätt. Vi började med att klättra runt på massorna som blev över när paddocken grävdes ut, väldigt bra träning men mycket märkligt sätt ur Nalles perspektiv... Det blev dock mycket mer intressant när det som av en händelse stod en mathink bland högarna... Efter det gick vi ut i skogen, kunde inte gå på vägarna så vi gick rakt ut bland blåbärsriset och lekte med det som kom upp. Han fick äta mycket och gå lite som ville så länge han gick mot det som var lite läskigt och bort från flocken, han är lite osäker ute i skogen när det är snö för det ser inte ut som det brukar... Han fick verkligen hålla koll på sina fötter när vi gick runt bland grenar och stenar. Hittade ett par träd som stod väldigt nära varandra så där gjorde vi squeeze-game ett par gånger, "kan du inte komma på något svårare?".
Sen gick vi tillbaks till lösdriften och Nalle visade medan jag mockade att han är väldigt bra på att nästan lägga sig ner (det var ju hästar utanför som kom och störde!), det borde han väl få godis för?..



We've been on an adventure today, there's ice everywhere so I had to find some places without any ice. We started with some climbing, it's very good physical and it gave me an opportunity to send him up and down things. Nalle thought the game got alot more interesting when he found a bucket of food between the piles. After that we went for a walk in the forest, the tracks are still icy so we went straight in between the trees. He found alot of nice blueberry sprigs to eat and he had to watch were he was going between all the rocks and branches. We played with what ever came along, like a stock he had to squeeze over somehow and some trees that grow very near eachother that I could use to squeeze him between, "is that all you've got?". I think all the trailerloading unlocked alot of the squeeze-game, thou it's still tricky to squeeze over things. After that we went back to the loose housing and he showed me while I was clearing the dung out that he's very good at almost laying down (there was other horses sneakpeaking at him while he was trying so he wasnt in a mood to lay down) and that he deserved treats for it ;)  

playing games

My horse played games with me today, and not the bad kind where I do the game.
He caught my attention, then he walked a few step so he was in front of me and turned his ears to I could see that he was in a playmode. So I asked him to backup with draw, he backed up really nice, got some scratches and a treat and then he did the same thing again... I asked him to back up with either draw or by using a few hair in the tail and he did both really nice.
Im really happy that my little LBI rather play games with me than eat hay with his friends when Im there, and I think it's nice that he starts the game. It shows to me that he likes to play with me. 

“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?” 

- Albert Einstein

Sign of spring

One big sign of spring for me is trailerloading, along with flowers birds and all those other things ;)
This winter we've been away to alot of new places and due to all the ice we havent been abled to practise 100% mental collection while leaving. I knew I had some things to work on and I've been eager to start and finally today most of the ice around the trailer was gone. It's still a thick cover of ice in the arena, wont be able to train in there for at least one month.
Therefor I couldnt trailerload the way I wanted, do other things and use the trailer as a place to rest, but I could do alot since he's so well prepared. I knew I didnt have to let him work alot to get motivated to rest in there.
It worked pretty well, I sent him in a few times and then we played abit with backing in. We started to back in last year but it's still a porcupine game and not a driving game.
At first he wasnt so mentally and emotional collected that he could stay in there a longer time or when I closed, but after a little while that worked well.
Last year the goal was to be able to load and travel alone and we ended up with loading at canter in liberty and riding in.This year I think the goal will be to get the backing in with driving game to work, I wonder where we will end up...

I played with the little PRE princess again yesterday, it's so fun with horses who learn between the sessions!
The first time we played she flew around most of the time, in the end she was abit more relaxed.
Yesterday she was pretty relaxed all the time and there was almost no negative reactions.
She didnt react to the stick or the string and the sideways went pretty well, that was the hardest thing for her the first time.
She still stoped behind me in circling game alot but she didnt reared when I asked her to continue.
I began with playing on her at liberty, she's very playful so I wanted to catch her attetion by leading the game.
Got some ear and some draw but it's still on a play-level without any demands.
I think she understod the concept of me sitting down with zero energy, she came walking to check me out.
It's going to be so fun to follow her development into a riding-horse :) 

Black belt in freestyle-riding

Borrowing a clip from a friend's blog, I've just set my goals for our freestyle-riding (minus the bull)!

Do nothing - get tons of apples.

My little horse is so funny! Today after finishing his dinner he wanted some more treats, "hmm" he said... and then he walked away a few meters to lay down.
Last time he did that I think I scared him abit by moving towards him too fast with the treats and I didnt want to do that today so I didnt move. But when he layed down he turned his head towards me, "hello, cant you see that Im laying down? where's my treats?". Nothing else to do than to give him everything in the pocket and some scratches! I wonder what a normal person would say about that, my horse get the most treats for taking naps, and not to speak about all those coffee-breaks we have when "working" in the arena! ;)

Increasing my trust.

We've found a part of the road without any ice so today we went there to play, the road is still pretty hard so it was mainly at walk but also some trot.
Started out with some online to get connected and then I rode some, did some exercises at freestyle to get all parts of the body working (both mine and Nalle's!) and then we played with some contact.
I've seen video-material lately with Pat and Karen and both talked about seat connection, I had to check my seat connection and how much he understands when I only use my seat. We need to work more on that but he understands more than I thought. I also had to check how little I could do, that's something I always should try to do but that tend to slip my mind. He understands direct vs indirect rein very well, back up also works well but sideways still need bigger aids.
I rode him bareback today, last year I would never had done that. I still cant push that thought about him going bananas out of my mind, which is bad since he havent gone bananas one second this winter.
"Watch your thoughts because they became actions".
But Im trying to trust him more and more, every time I trust him a little more he proves to me that I did the right thing. Today I had him loose most of the way down to the stable and when we were on our way back to the pasture he was loose the whole way. On the way back he deciced to take another way than the road since the road still got some ice on it, on the way he took there's a small hill and I sent him up there. When I did that he cantered up and I thought "oh-oh, he's running back to the herd".
But when he got up there he stoped turned and waited for me, "are you coming or what?".
Ofc he got a treat when I got up and then he waited for me to show the way again, oh I love that little horse!

I know Ive got trust-issues with other people but I have to learn to trust my horse much more,
after all he trusts me with his life.

"The ultimate reason for 
setting goals is to entice 
you to become 
the person it takes to 
achieve them"
  - Jim Rohn

I found that quote on Karen Rohlf's website last year and I think it says everything about how to succeed with horses, and in the big picture.

Nice day in the sun

You know that feeling you get when you let go of tension if you e.g. get massage?
That pleased feeling that makes you want to sleep?
Nalle had that today when he finally after a month could walk and run without being afraid of falling on the ice. We went to one of the stables near by to borrow their paddock because there wasnt much ice left. I thought Nalle would go bananas when he finally could run, but no...
We did exercises online to stretch out the body and then we played some with different ways to activate the hindlegs from the saddle. We also moved the front end for the second time and he did that very well, and when my little LBI got some treats for doing it well he did it even better... ;)
But most of the time we spent sunning and yawning!

"When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; 
the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes."
Henry V (Shakespear)


I found this quote when I just started ridingschool and it has been following me since, 
I even made a painting with it that my parents still keep hanging on the wall. 
No wonder that horses are magical to me with that start :)

Trying to watch karen rohlf...

Playing with a little lady

 

Playing with a 3 years old spanish little lady who belongs to a friend of mine.

This is the 4th time she's worked with, my trainer has worked with her before and this was the first time for me.

She's very acrobatic!

I didnt release the second she did it right because I've seen her do it well before and I wanted her to get more relaxed in her body and her movement before the release, that worked pretty well.

At first she was flying, but at the end I took the rope of to check if I had pushed her to hard, "what remains is the truth", and when I did that she stilled followed me. 

She got very tense when she saw that we were going into the arena, so when we were done and the other horses had left I let her run any frustration off (I would have prefered to start with that). 

That also gave her time without pressure in the arena and hopefully she will be a little less tense the next time she walks in there. 

Farrier-issues

The farrier came some days ago to take a look at Nalle's hoofs and make them pretty again, I use to take some on them myself to get him more comfortable with that but since I haven't been abled to take him down to the stable for a while I havent done anything with them and they needed some fixing.
Lifting the hoofs has always been a tricky thing for us, at first it was hard because he had to lift his hoof and loose control of his escapeway, then it was hard to for him to find his balance on 3 legs.
It wasnt until he was around 4 he could shift his weight to the other legs and relax with me holding his leg. But ofc he had to see the farrier during this time and ofc he had the same problems with them plus the fact that he didnt trust them.
I've accepted so many things done to my horse that I regred knowing what I know now, but you cant do wrong if you handle out of lack of knowledge.
They have tried to tie his hindlegs up, they have hit him, they have tried to "raise" him, they have drugged and other ugly things people do when they get frustrated and scared.

When he was around 4 and got started he had to get shoes on his forelegs, "oh no" was my first thought.
But when he was about to get started I realised I couldnt do that myself because I couldnt communicate with him, that's how I found PNH and my trainer. So it was his farrier who was going to take care of that and he did it fast with no problems. That made me realise that it wasnt about the hoofs...
When we got back home I at last found a farrier who was good with horses, he wasnt the best farrier but he always stayed calm and friendly.
So when I moved back to my hometown I didnt know what to do, I didnt want to go back to my old farrier, no way!  Lucky for me one of the girls in my stable who practise NH got a trainer married to a farrier, so with me fixing his hoofs around once a week and that farrier with his knowledge we are doing pretty ok.
Last time he was there he was abit out of balance, nothing big but Nalle noticed that and tried to make him more emotional. But he didnt fall for that and all went well.

This time Nalle started to juggle with one of his hindlegs but as soon as he did that he got really scared, "I know what's going to happen now!". My farrier could see that Nalle got seriously scared and proved to him that he wasnt going to hit him, nothing bad was going to happen.
After a while Nalle could relax again and I hope that was a small step for him to gain trust for farriers.
Im doing what I can to prepare him and I've got other people to lift his hoofs every now and then.


Another funny little thing is that some days ago I slip and fell on the ice in their pasture. Nalle was eating and when he saw me flap my arms he got abit scared, but the moment I hit the ground he came walking towards me and put his muzzle on my shoulder, "are you okey little human?".
I had to gave him a treat for that and a big hug when I got up :)

My little LBI

The last couple of days I've spent alot of time just being in the loose housing with Nalle and the other horses. There's still thick ice on the road out from the pasture and Nalle is like Bambi stepping on it, he has been falling trying to walk on the ice the last days I've been there and he is tence in his body from trying to keep his balance all the time. I gave him some massage on the hind legs today and he couldnt decide if it was nice or uncomfortable, his ears went back and he looked like he wanted to kick me but then the lower lip went down and his facial expression was like when I scratch his "scratch-spot".
He couldnt decide which feeling to go with, enjoy it or kick me because it was uncomfortable so his ears went back and forth.
The last time he got massage from someone who knows how to give it he was abit cold and tence in the hind legs so when she gave him massage there he kicked at her, 3-4 times... It's not nice always nice to own a LBI ;)

I think Nalle likes all the time I spend there, today he neighed when he saw me. He use to be happy to see me but he's not a man of big emotions, he usually thinks it's enough to come walking with a happy face.
When he had his injury and during his rehabilitation I spent hours and hours with him since he had to stay in the stable all day for the first weeks and then he was allowed to be in s small pasture for another couple of weeks, during that time and some time after when he was allowed back in the loose housing he neighed at me every day. He also liked the training we had during the rehabilitation, short intense sessions at walk online and riding so he could use his brain but not his leg too much, and during that time he neighed as well.
Since I cant do anything with him now we will have to take it abit easy when we can start to do things again, that will give me an opportunity to really test where his limit is.
If he starts to say "oh hi, it's you again" instead of "Oh it's you! I've missed you!" I'll back one step and increase the pace even slower, after all I want my horse to enjoy playing with me as much as I enjoy playing with him. That dont mean that I will stop push him across the borders of his comfort zone, that place have to constantly grow, it just means that I will try and find a different way to plan my goals with my LBI.
I've got high goals and Nalles likes to use his brain to figure out new challanges, but I want our relation to grow during that process instead of paying for the fancy stuff with his trust.

Playtime in the barn

Today it hit that even if I cant take Nalle out of the loose housing I can still play with him... in the barn!
We did some sideways away from me and then back towards me and some yoyo.
After that he started to scratch the ground so I gave him a treat, it didnt take long for him to turn that into a game. Last time we did that it ended up with him laying down, not this time but we're working on it.
Think I'll start to keep a carrot in my pocket for when he lay down :)

Rain again :(

After a few good days with snow and sun we got more rain again and we now live in something that looks like a scene from "the Ice storm". There's nowhere to play and the roads are thick of ice so there's no point taking Nalle from the pasture and risk an injury.
We will have to do alot of undemanding time and protect your herd of two instead, but that's nice to :)
That also gives me time to catch up with all the DVDs I've got and the huge vault on the savvyclub-page! 

Riding in the snow

I thought Nalle would go bananas today we when rode in the snow in the big summer-pasture but he stayed very calm. Probably because the snow was very deep and he's a small horse... Found some tracks made by the tractor that was easier for him to walk in, he could even trot and canter without jumping like a rabbit :)
We did some nice stops, he was so with me today that I couldnt sigh without getting a stop. 

Jihu some snow to cover the ice!

Today I didnt have a plan when I got to the stable, it's hard to make plans when you dont know if there will be snow or ice or perhaps both...
The arena was hard to walk in even if it wasnt slippery today so I brought Nalle to the small field where we hang out yesterday to feed him, used a small hill to jump on his back. Im glad I've got a small horse when it comes to stunts like that! ;)
When I sat there I could feel that he suddently frooze and then I saw one of the horses in a pasture near by cantering towards us to find out what we're doing. I could feel his heart beating faster and his body preparing to run but I decided to be still and do nothing until he did his "next move".
But instead of tossing his head or get more adrenaline he made a big sigh and lowered his head to eat again, that felt so good that after he finished his food I decided to take a short trailride bareback.
In the forest he stopped every 20 meters to watch the snow-monsters, but everytime he stopped he turned his head and looked at me and asked me what to do. A year ago he would have stopped and turned and if he couldnt turn he would have bucked, so I wouldnt even had considered riding out bareback alone.
It feels like where are really starting to get somewhere!
On the way back we did some zone 5 driving, he's getting good at that :)