New beginnings

I have been in a rut of work, good dog time, and no horse play....That all changed today! I started my Parelli Patterns today. I played with them a little when I first got them, but never committed to doing them as a program. I was reading the most recent Savvy Times today, and there was a little article on using the patterns, and how to be most successful at them. It emphasized following the progress patterns laid out on the posters, and really starting from the botttom and working horizontally across the charts, not vertically.

So that's what I am doing! We started with baby steps today. Level 1 on line "Touch it" and "Figure 8" at the walk. Can't get more simple than that! And you know what? It was lovely! I played with Josie in her pen of horses. We played touch it on poop piles. After three or four, she realized what the game was and started sniffing the poop piles that I pointed her towards. Then I found two rocks to play figure eight with. At some point, the hill herd came thundering down and distracted her, so then we got to work on herd boundness. How fun! When I took her towards them, she had to circle (work). When she gave me rhythm and relaxation, and focus on ME, then we stopped and walked away from them. It was low stress for her, really, because we were already amongst a herd of horses, just not her number one preferred herd!

We made some good soft progress with our two tasks today. I ended our session with perfect practice for riding prep--neutral lateral flexion, then HQ disengage, then direct rein/FQ step into a few steps of back up. She did this perfectly from the ground on both sides. Then I unhaltered her and did it again AT LIBERTY. She was a rock star! Now if I can keep up with the 7 day program. Baby steps!