Canter, canter and more cantering!

I have done two more sessions of Freestyle canter with Jack and it seems to be going well! Our sessions are certainly not graceful but we are getting some canter that doesnt end up giving me whiplash! I think part of the solution was to just get Jack cantering. We dont canter very much because Jack doesnt stay calm but because we dont canter often Jack gets really exciting and wound up when we do! So the plan for the next couple of weeks is to just keep cantering! Lots of canter transitions and you never know, maybe we will be able to make turns at the canter in the not to distant future! :)

My Savvy Kicked in!

We have been lucky enough this week to have had a few days in a row with some nice weather so Jack and I have been able to do some Freestyle in one of the flat fields. I am concentrating on Level 3 Freestyle because once we pass that audition we will be Level 3 Graduates! :) A big part of Level 3 is doing more in canter. This has always been a challenge with Jack because he has trouble staying calm and relaxed when it comes to canter. So I started in the first session we did this week by using the bullseye pattern and focusing on Jack being relaxed at the trot. He is progressing really well with this and did well in the session so we moved on to canter transitions the next day. I started once again by keeping Jack in the trot and waiting until he was relaxed and listening before asking for the canter. I did so by simulating what Linda has shown in a recent Savvy DVD by moving my body as if I was in the canter, using an almost rocking motion. I have also been trying to ride with a Carrot Stick, again moving into Level 3, and was able to keep Jack on the bullseye pattern using the stick rather than my reins. The canter transitions didnt go so well and Linda says to come back to the walk and ask again and keep bringing the horse back to the walk if he trots. I found that Jack became less relaxed when I did this, I think because he was anticipating the canter. So I just kept asking, even if Jack went into the trot, until he got the canter then would wait a couple of strides then disengage Jack and go to the middle and stop. Jack did seem to get the canter a little quicker each time so I tried this same thing the next day. Today, however I think I found a combination of techniques that I have learned through Parelli to make the canter transitions easier for Jack to understand. Partial disengagement has worked well for Jack from a relaxation point of view and I had to use a little today as Jack was a little more on his toes. When using partial disengagement on a bullseye pattern I have always bent Jack to the outside and pushed him around the circle looking to the outside pushing his ribs inwards, But today I found that Jack would then drift off the circle and would be in the wrong position for the canter. My savvy kicked in (and my memory of a Savvy DVD that Pat did about the horses body position when getting the right leads) and I decided to bend Jack to the inside of the circle to relax him then ask for the canter as I released hold of my inside rein when he relaxed. It wasnt perfect, we had some trot but I would give our last canter transition today the best quality score of the week :) So, I am a happy bunny today. It feels like we have finally made some really progress with our Freestyle canter, lets see how the next couple of sessions go :) excited!!

Cool Squeeze Game

Well, the weather still isnt too nice so havent been able to do too much with the boys but Jack and I played a really cool squeeze game a couple of days ago... Since there isnt alot of grass in their field at the moment and there is an abundance of it in our garden i decided to bring the boys down the garden for the day. I have done this before with Jack and i usually take him between my house and a big container that is right next to my house (about a 4ft gap) so a cool squeeze game just in that! But we have now had a fence put around the garden with a proper gate so i use that instead now as i have put a big outdoor chest across the gap between the house and the container so the boys can roam the garden unattended. Well a couple of days ago, as i went to open the gate, Jack strode past me and it seemed had decided to go down the gap between the house and the container as we used to. I have now put a water trough for the boys on the other side of the box i mentioned so moving the box for Jack wasnt an option and since turning around could be complicated i decided to test our partnership. Last year i taught Jack to back up from me putting a little pressure on his tail (really cool!) well it was even cooler to put principle to purpose to back Jack out of the squeeze game he made! No one was around to see it but the look on Jacks face was satisfying enough for me :)

Two is company...

...Jack and Bobby are now living together at home with me :)

Three is an engaging conversation...
I am trying to have Bobby use his mind a little more in our play sessions as he is getting good at doing as i ask but i want us to start having more two way conversations. I thought the catching game was a simple one to start with since he likes coming to me anyway, but it ended up being a three way conversation :)
i started by heading towards Bobby and stopping when he looked at me, then as i got closer i started slowly putting a little pressure on his hindquarters so he would turn to me. well, Jack has seen this all before and came straight over to me! it was really cool because it made me feel like Jack and i are really becoming partners. it also made me laugh because at one point Jack seemed to be looking over my shoulder at Bobby as if telling him what he was supposed to be doing.
now, Bobby is a LBE so when i play with him i always have the phrase in mind, encourage him! so when he decided that instead of yielding his hindquarters he would trot away, i encouraged him to run. Jack decided to join in with this as well so i encouraged them both to run around the field and then i moved quick so i could change their direction and keep them moving. they started to slow down after a couple of laps so i went to neutral and waited for them to stop, which didnt take long. Jack was over to me like a shot! again, he is experienced with this game :) it was interesting to watch Bobby as Jack stood with me because his mouth stayed really quick for a long time which is unusual for him so i knew he was having a good think. i left him be for a little while to see if he would wander over, he didnt so i slowly starting heading towards his zone 5. Jack had been grazing a couple of minutes at this stage but he was right there with me as i set of towards Bobby, he walked really slowly next to me and stopped when i stopped. it was amazing! i know its only the 'stick to me' game which he knows but i wasnt paying full attension to him so he could have wandered off and done his own thing but it was the fact he had chosen to stay connected to me :)
Bobby got the idea when we were a little closer to him that he could come to me for scratches and today he came to me alot sooner so im pleased with his progress, hes very clever! we are going to have alot of fun :)