Spring walk

Bertie and I went for a walk/play in the woods. My head is full of Breeze and how I am really looking forward to being in these woods with her. Will she be like Bertie and like the bramble leaves. I wonder how unconfident she will be and if she will turn into a horse shaped balloon!? Even if she does it doesn't worry or scare me because it won't be long before she is relaxed and happy.

Being with Bertie just gets better and better. He seems lighter and even more happy to do things but that's probably my ability to be lighter and lighter too. Breeze has taught me to be very gentle and after three years of asking/negotiating with Lizzie and not getting as far as I liked, this is a revelation. How thankful I am for that experience, because it has made me really appreciate my own skills and the absolute joy of playing with a willing and able horse.

Today we focused on stick to me which has progressed nicely and Bertie will follow my body language and stay with his neck next to my shoulder. We ambled along together and I told him about Breeze. We weaved and circled trees and backed into little corners and went sideways around the corner at the top of the straight. We had gone down the straight driving from zone 5 at the end of the 22' and trotted together back up, which was lovely. His sideways is fabulous now and he no longer gets snotty. We are slowly getting it further apart with the goal of being right at the end of the 22'. He jumps over logs, turns and faces me quietly now without getting too energetic and exploding. He can now go halfway over too and stand still which will progress to sideways later on.

We did a little bit of circle game in the wide part of the bridle path by the wood yard. I didn't want him to be bored with it so we did 1/4 circles with cod in walk and trot. Just enough to get it beautifully right and left it there.

Near the exit we came to the tree stump which I hadn't asked him to stand on going out. I stopped there and answered a call on my phone and he calmly just stepped onto it and waited while I finished my call. He got lots of treats for that and some bramble leaves to eat.

We walked calmly past the exit and for that he got to eat some lush grass and weeds and rest. Then it was yo yo out of the woods and go put your nose on the delivery lorry in the car park much to the amusement of the guys unloading.

A glorious morning walk in great company lol. I just can't wait to show Breeze the woods and have fun together.

The start of the journey.

So here we are! This is Breeze, hopefully my new partner along the Parelli journey. At the moment she is in Cornwall. I went to spend the weekend with her and the loan was agreed in principle. We have to sort out the legalities and then the logistics of getting her here.

I hadn't quite realised the extent of which I have missed having a horse. I knew I missed Lizzie and played with a few other horses. It just isn't quite the same as being with your own.

Breeze is very sensitive and unconfident and at the moment I think she in a RBI. Although she is 8 she seems younger and exhibits some foal like behaviours like mouthing and lifting her front leg up to paw the air. Very different from my experiences with Lizzie who was much older. She is also very ticklish on her belly and further back. Initially she was quite anxious about her back legs being touched but over the weekend she relaxed and was happy to be scratched and groomed everywhere. Breeze is terrified of the c/s so a lot of aproach and retreat is needed and that will be true of a lot of things for a while. I am in awe of how she turns from a wild eyed, snorting, tense creature at the beginning of our play to a relaxed, soft eyed horse at the end.

There is so much about her I love and I see a lot of potential for both of us. I am sure it will take quite a while to gain her trust but as Pat says, take the time it takes! Although I am wondering to some extent if I have enough savvy, Parelli does and I have access to tons of that savvy lol. I do have the time and the patience and the will to try and that's a pretty good start.