Parelli lesson #2

Claire Burgess came to give us our second lesson today. The weather was pretty good and the time went by very quickly. I am feeling very pleased. Claire reckons we have made a lot of progress and even thinks Breeze is a different horse from the last time we met! It is so gratifying to have a PP see the difference. I spend most of my time with B without another student to share my journey with in person. The only feedback I get, apart from the most important from Breeze herself, is when people comment on my posts. To have someone there with me like Claire is worth every penny. Not forgetting Sandra of course but she isn't a Parelli student or has the same horsenality to deal with.

We focussed on circle game again today and Claire was very pleased to note how little B resists and pulls back now and how well I read her. Because we have worked through a lot of B's issues I can now start to let B 'hit' the rope instead of me feeding it out if she braces, then it can be her decision to stop. We noticed B did a lot of thinking and hardly went intro at all and not deeply either.

My draw has improved and we definitely saw a little spark of confidence building in B. She can be very unconfident in herself and in learning but has a lot of confidence in me which is really superb. I need to use even less pressure with B and really watch to see the slightest change in her confidence. This means helping her through thresholds and rewarding her on the slightest try at getting circle game in a relaxed and confident way. That way Breeze will choose the level of impulsion once she gets confident in walk and we can progress to trot and then canter.

We did some reverse falling leaf...very odd for me after all that time with Lizzie the extreme LBI with which this pattern was a definite 'no go' area lol. Claire asked me to really think about perfect s shapes from side to side and we got it going quite well pretty soon, using as much of the 22' line as possible, although I think possibly the 12' line might just have been better.

We played with going over a pole and Breeze and I are pretty good at being particular about which feet go over and when. It's obvious B loves this game and it's an opportunity to let her feel clever. More confidence building! While I asked B to come with me to get a pole from a jump set up Claire said her face lit up at the prospect of jumping as she gained momentum and almost jumped it lol. I know B loves jumping and has offered it lately, much to my joy.

And then the best bit of all........stick to me! Although I have dabbled in this a little Claire helped me realise I don't have a plan so we just meander about and we lose each other. It's all about the patterns! We did a 20m circle with smaller ones just because or if I felt I was losing B's focus. At first I was rubbish and didn't realise how much I was not moving my feet. When it all clicked I could really feel the difference.

It feels like Claire has put up new signposts for us to follow different paths in different directions now. I think I find the size of our arena too big and intimidating so I am now going to use markers to section off some of it and help with my focus. Claire suggested I stop worrying about B getting bored and just work those patterns until B shows signs of knowing them and therefore building that confidence even more. How conditioned I am for LBI's still lol.

By this time we had been playing for an hour and a half so it was time to end it and go back to B's stable. It was great to see Breeze offer a lot on the pedestals just to show Claire how clever she is. Of course, there are bits of carrot involved too!