"And Ahh HAY-yulped!"

Say the title out loud. Remember that God awful English muffin commercial?

Jet's first Approach and Retreat session since our new spin on location, location, location went well, all things considered. There was quite a bit going on. Our friend/tack shed neighbor/fellow Parelli-holic Dave had HIS horse on line snacking over by our tack sheds, his other horse, Rookie, was frolicking at liberty in the vicinity, not to mention the parked cars, the dogs and the mascot baby donkey. Dave demonstrated a more effective Yo-yo game for us (Prince Charming stood at attention but lost his confidence a little on the bring-back, but he got over it) which was very helpful. Other good points:

- Jet's ears were pricked and he was a little skeptical, but didn't start breathing hard or dancing.
- Jet was reunited with his old pasture mate, Numerous (Dave's horse). They sniffed and greeted one another (I was picturing them giving manly hugs or "high-hooves"), then Numerous bit him. I had to laugh, even though I was surprised. Jet's RARELY second banana in a herd of 2 (and that includes when he's with him humans lol).
- Jet felt comfortable enough in the vicinity to sniff out Sarge, one of the ranch dogs (who was NOT happy having his nap interrupted) AND lick the trunk of Mom's SUV.

Once he was finished with his supplements (seeing the blue bucket always puts him at ease), we returned to the pasture, armed with our carrot sticks and 2 new folding chairs with little awnings so we could sit down for Undemanding Time. A brief time outside but successful none the less (baby steps). After we set up the chairs, I noticed one of the horses was limping badly. Kite, a pretty chestnut Arabian filly, already has one swollen back leg with a nasty scar that hasn't seemed to have healed as it should have from whatever happened to her. Now the other back leg was even puffier, looked scratched and bloody and she was keeping her weight off as much as possible. Dave has been working to improve Kite's people skills, as she is very scared of them, and coming out triumphant. I have tried to make friends with her as well, but she does not trust me at all nor cares for me to approach her as she does him, although looks at me with more curiosity and a far better expression on her face than she once did. Guess my Catching Game is not as strong as I thought. Anyway, Dave was still on the far side of the ranch with his boys, so I thought I would try to catch Kite and scan her quickly myself before finding him.

I began my usual tricks of Natural attraction - approaching from zone 5, turning away when she looked at me. The best I could get was a question, but otherwise she just limped away. I knew Jet was following me, but I figured he'd catch a hay pile and wander off.

What happened next FLOORED me.

I stopped the next time Kite stopped and put my back to her. Jet stopped with me, but he still faced forward, absolutely focused on whatever was in front of him. Great facial expression, ears forward. When I turned back around to steal a peak at what Kite was doing, I realized they were looking at each other dead on. When she turned around and walked away, I started walking again. Jet walked with me, completely fixated on Kite. He KNEW I had her in mind. When Kite started melting into the herd, Jet broke into a trot straight for her. He ROUNDED HER UP AWAY FROM THE HERD and got her to turn around and face me again. He looked SO proud of himself and looked at me like, "Look Mom! I got her!" Meanwhile, I stood there with my jaw dropped to the dirt. Alas, Jet was as unsuccessful as I was at getting her to join us, but he still got rubs and loves for the assistance.

I could NOT believe it. What an offer!! What service!! What UNITY....

I saw Dave walking by and alerted him to Kite's condition, so he caught her and took care of her new wound. Meanwhile, back in the pasture, Jet and Blahnik were fascinated by our chairs and provided laughs and Kodak moments (not captured as my camera is out of comission) knocking them over, pawing at them, picking them up in their mouths. Jet even managed to rip open a seam. The damage has since been dubbed "The Jet Stamp of Approval."

Jet offered his help one more time when we folded the lawn chairs up. I was struggling to get the carrying bag over it. Jet pulled it out a little for me, so I was able to slide it easily over the folded chair.

A day where not much happened, but that which did was simply incredible. Trying to catch Kite was the first time Jet's and my mind were one. Completely in tune, the first experience of true partnership. The truly fascinating part was that Jet knew this before I did.

If this sense of unity was a sneak peak at what the future holds, I am bursting at the seams to discover what else will go on!

We also just ordered the Patterns, so we can expect the journey to take a VERY interesting twist. Stay tuned.

Thesholds

Jet has lived on every side of Shiloh for over two years now, so I assumed hardly anything that goes on there would faze him.

Well, you know the old saying about assuming...

It was more than likely my own fault that Jet started getting antsy and prancy everytime he came out of his pasture. Our best fights happened outside his home base. The arena where he ran away with me. The manure pile where he threw countless tantrums. The area by the bushes where he got scared by some of the wandering horses. Any place Jill's beautiful Fresian, Tanis is (he is scared to death of him). The barn where Farrier Torture takes place. And the most nerve-rattling place of all - the wash rack. Where Jet goes from Half Dead Peanut Roller to Savion Glover, tap dancing extradonaire, and throws in some rock eating for added entertainment. Every wash rack at Shiloh we have brought him to has caused me nothing but anxiety and frustration. It's not that he freaks out and pulls back. He just WON'T STAND STILL. He becomes a total jerk about his feet, newest trick being he "falls down" in a dramatic heap when we lift a hoof. Since there is no history of him acting like this prior to us adopting him my guess can only be he picks up on whatever anticipation I have of what trials and tribulations MAY occur at the wash rack. In essence, I worry he's going to be a right-brained clown, so he turns into a right-brained clown.

So, as he was playing his, "Oh, I Just CAN'T Stay Balanced Because I Have Native Dancer Feet!" sob story while Mom cleaned his hooved yesterday, I stood there and pondered, "How on earth can we make this horse as well behaved out here as he starts out in the pasture?" And it hit me like a mack truck - DON'T TAKE HIM OUT OF THE PASTURE.

At least not for right now, and not for long periods of time. For weeks now, I have been thinking, everytime Jet does something RB, "What are you trying to tell me?" Each time so far, the nail has been hit on the head. I knew it didn't sound right to do his maintenence and even play the games in his pasture. He needs to learn how to stand politely at the wash rack and he needs to not be scared of the barn because that's where the farrier is. My reasoning was, yes, this will happen, but why not set it up for success by starting off in the pasture, where he is comfortable? Approach and retreat is a HUGE thing with Jet. He's basically confident, happy and playful, but pushed beyond his thresholds, he turns into a big chicken. This brainchild was in part created by other blogs and posts on the Forum about people who do most of their playtime in their horses' pastures and slowly take them back out in small increments before they are comfortable and quiet around the whole farm.

Jet had been trying to "tell" me this for awhile. Yesterday, I heard him. When we put him back in the pasture (a reward for standing still a whole two minutes), Mom tried lifting his feet again. No dramatic collapses. HMMM...How interesting! Today, for the official "test" we went in. I cleaned out his feet this time. He had one bouncy moment, where I actually said to him, "Figure it out, get your balance," and he instantly stopped moving. Then I tried some Porcupine on the forequarters. Jet moved on PHASE ONE!!!!!
That wasn't the best part, though. The feet cleaning and the porcupining was done...at liberty.
Three months of this horse in our life and we are picking his feet up at liberty...if you ask me, that ain't bad.

But the day wasn't over yet. Right as we were getting ready to leave, Leo, one of the ranch hands, came into the pasture with the tractor. It's just a Gator with a little plow in the back, but as he drove around to even out the dirt, the horses all ran for their lives. This occurs every day and may explain why Jet is terrified of the Gators and golf carts driving around the ranch. It's not like Leo's CHASING the horses with it, but you know prey animals...

I stood under one of the awnings as the horses tore away from the scary Gator monster. Jet was right in the thick of it, biting and herding the horse in front of him to get out of his way. He rounded the back, galloping at full speed, and as Leo turned again toward the gate, Jet made a sharp turn to the right and zig-zagged to slide to a dead stop RIGHT BEHIND ME. While he watched the Gator drive in our direction in terror, I casually rubbed his neck and looked the opposite direction. A moment later, Jet put his head on my shoulder, looking the same direction I was. Each time after that, when the Gator rolled toward us, Jet and Blahnik stood behind me and looked with concern, but did not run away. By Leo's last round, they had wandered off to a hay pile, and could have cared less when he drove right behind them.

My heart swelled. Jet got scared and ran to ME for protection.
We've got to be doing SOMETHING right :-)

Changes (Warning! Long One!)

It's been forever, I know, but I had a session where a lot of licking and chewing had to go on in my head, as I've also been licking and chewing over a more lengthy post and I want to make sure I've got all my thoughts straight so the post is as emotionally fit and thought provoking as I can prove of myself.

We had a bad session with Jet recently (Ma posted about it on the SC Forum) and while I did NOT want to give up, I had spooked myself and became filled with self-doubt. I was afraid I wasn't any good at Parelli, that I was interpretting Pat's philosophy all wrong and that I was turning Jet into a monster in the process. I figured it was time to call in the Big Guns (Marc Rea, local 3-Star instructor, *cheers* hurray!). But before I did that, I needed several days to work some things out in my head.

We also made a little tweak in Jet's diet. He eats free-choice hay living out in the pasture and gets a hoof and coat supplement everytime we visit. Upon recommendation by a friend, we were mixing a small scoop of senior feed to mask yucky tasting pellets. Basic science - more energy input than output. The mollasses turned Jet into a crackhead - HELLO, it's common knowledge at the track the racers get sweet feed to get them hypered up for race time. Basically we were putting a 16.2h, 1100lb, 6 year old, off-track Thoroughbred on a sugar rush. It was like the days when my drink of choice was vodka and sugar-free Red Bull (or as I used to call it, "The Weapon of Mass Destruction). Mom and I decided right then and there to pull the TINY scoop from his supplements - the horse will eat anything that isn't nailed down anyway, so doubtful he would notice a difference in taste.

****~~~~BRAND NEW HORSE HAS ENTERED THE PICTURE!!!~~~~****

I know, you all think I'm a moron for feeding my horse senior feed. YES, I AM, but at least we figured it out, and in my defense, it wasn't like he got a full bucket of it 6 days a week, it was a very small scoop meant to be a tasty treat in the event his normal supplements didn't fit the bill. I know quite a few horses who have it mixed into their supplements and they don't experience a difference in hyper-activity. Mine did. He told me. We yanked it.

And now, Jet is a Gentle Giant.

And guess what, it wasn't just about the sweet feed. I needed to calm down just as much as he did. I sat back for a moment and decided the best thing to to was to not do anything the next time I saw him. As Mom encouraged, "He is our horse. We train him with the method we feel is best and we spend time with him however we see fit. If you want to come up here and spend the whole day just sitting in that pasture looking at him, you do it." So that day, I did just that. I watched Jet and thought. I thought about how I was putting too much pressure on myself and was rushing like Jet and I had some deadline to meet. I watched how he pushed Blahnik out of his way and thought of how he does the same exact thing to us. I realized I shouldn't take it so personally, he doesn't do it to be mean or testy, he does it because he is normally dominant in his little herd of 2 and assumes the position with us. He groomed Blahnik's mane and I smiled because he nibbles my hair sometimes too. Then I just admired this magnificant, smart, funny, Thoroughbred in front of me and let myself be all mushy inside because this stunning animal in front of me was MINE, the horse I'd always wanted, the horse I'd been waiting for my whole life. And when he sparked curiosity towards me and put his nose on mine and took a big long sniff before going back to his hay, I saw, despite the struggles I had been going through, despite some of our arguments, Jet was - IS - a happy horse. He is loved so much, and we have done everything in our power to make him happy and trusting and he KNOWS how loved and spoiled he is.

Mom joined me shortly thereafter and we had a discussion about what to do from here. As we talked, our horse stood in between us, fast asleep, lazily swishing his tail as we rubbed under his eyes - his favorite Sweet Spot. Thanks to advice and support from the SC, we decided it really was NOT a big deal if we only messed with Jet in small increments for the rest of the summer - the flies are at an atrocious high, it's a zillion degrees and we are in the middle of monsoon season so it's been muggier than usual. We also decided to avoid L1 purgatory, we would start incorporating obstacles and toys to advance on the games Jet is already super strong with - Porcupine, Driving, Yo-yo. For stuff like Circle, Squeeze and Sidepass (which he is still learning to sidepass, but REALLY enjoying it), we would stick to basic L1. And now, anytime I get impatient or excited, thinking of all the things I want to do with Jet on the journey, I think first, "I am 25. Jet is 6. We have nothing but time. We will grow old together."

So...we took some orange cones into the arena this last session. Jet did a terrible figure 8 (thanks to my terrible cues, I was laughing the whole time because I got tangled in the carrot stick) through them, but a couple of nice drives and porcupines. The heat and constant drill Jet gives us in patience (the LBI in him) was GRUELING, but right before my eyes, I started understanding the point of L2 and playing the games with an obstacle. Slowly at first, and then very quickly, Jet realized that everything we were doing had something to do with the cone. It was SO cool to see the wheels turning in his head!!!! Suddenly, he dropped his head and put his nose on it. Mom was gearing to do a drive in another direction and I cried out, "Wait, wait! He's doing something!!" We dropped everything and watched Jet push the cone around, then knock it over, then gently put his hoof on it and try to roll it forward. It was SO cute and we were ECSTATIC that we actually engaged his curiosity and he offered to play with the cone. When he stuck his foot in the bottom and pawed it towards him, he looked up at us and said, "Did I do something right?" He got rubs and a big smooch on his kissy spot. A minute later he licked and chewed.

The session ended right then and there. We couldn't think of a more perfect way to end a session in that kind of heat.