Nicola Parker's blog

Confidence is an interesting word , we want our  horse to be confident,I want to be confident , I sometimes pretend to be confident when I am not to get my self through something and I have thought Dundee is confident when he is probably not there yet . 

Trailer Loading and doing his feet has brought this home to me , I realy need to be confident in what I am doing and am getting there having lessons with Max and studying is helping me do the right thing at the right time .

Wow ! What a day we had yesterday , Max came over to gives me a lesson . As it was so hot and i didnt want to overdue it with Dundee , we worked the lesson around preparation for riding . 

I hadnt realised quite how important and precise the porcupine game needs to be for riding . But it is now all fitting into place .We played with lateral flexion and preparation for the indirect rein and hindquater yield , once DD knew what we were asking he responded realy well .

I have been watching Pat in the new L2 DVD and also listing all the tasks I need to do to progress into  level 2 ,so have made my plan of what we need to do  and aim for .

Just had 10 min of sheer delight with DD prior to turning him out . This is normally his grouchy time , but i have got into the habit of playing on the yard at liberty before haltering him  . His talent is definately getting his front leg as high as possible onto the mounting block rather like he is clinbing it ,one at a time  most amusing ,probably may be a problem when I decide to mount though . Then i got him to move sideways a little both ways as i had got his attention and interest treats obviously involved .

I had a realy sad day yesterday , my old faithful labrador Basil died , we were all so upset ,the other dogs were very quiet and even Dundee didnt do his daily morning ritual of wanting a gaim before he would let me  halter him to put him out .

Wish I could take a picture from up high , I have been playing with DD as usual moving from the stable to the paddock  , we did some travelling circles on fresh snow it looked beautiful!

Having re read my last few blogs I felt I had got a little stuck . No more procrastinating(sorry Bryan re spelling) today I had a plan .To move out of my comfort zone in order to reach my goal and continue my self improvement , With a beautiful day ground firm but not frozen relatives all gone home it was me time . My friends know I havent ridden for a long time (years ) so  I am taking baby steps to get back in the saddle.

I had an interesting play session with DD this morning ! He wasnt particulary interested so had to get his attention upping my phases backing him into the paddock which was ok , he decided to circle rather than fig 8 which was my intention so I let him do a couple and then interupted this to do the f8.my idea !

Things have been going realy well with DD recently particulary as our language and communication improves . However one problem that always arises is his aligator mouth and mouthiness when I am haltering him .

I returned from 2 weeks away last night and as always a little warey as to how Dundee will be having been looked after by someone else as he has tended to be rather dominant  .I am pleased to say he had glowing reports and all has been well  .

Since my lesson the other week we have been practising our patterns and developing the 7 games .As we arnt ready for a lot of things I have created one of my own backing him from zone 1 ( which he resists )in between 2 poles , our  sideways is definately getting better , I think we are getting  better communication.  My goal has been to engage Dundee's mind and emotions rather than just his feet . I am noticing more subtle signs of his dominance and can see how this will change as I become a better leader .

Following a chat with Max at fridays meeting I have followed her advice and been rewatching the April Savy Club DVD regarding the Lynda's session with the LBI . Using only the slightest touch on the halter she got lateral flexion and got to the horses mind , I have been playing with this the last couple of days and it works ! I have released at the slightest try , I am trying to do as little as possible and let Dundee do all the work .