Better, better and better

Another wonderful session! Three in a row!

I'm going to have to vote on the side of YAYE for the Patterns drastically improving my relationship with my horse. He was mouthy and playful with the cones today and with this being the 4th session, it's time to start thinking about explanding it a little. Maybe one more and we can up the ante a bit. He seemed to be making his own fun picking up the cones and throwing them around.

But remember, we can't push him TOO hard or else he has a mental meltdown. Sigh.

What I love most about the Patterns is how even in the L1 Online games, the most basic of the new program, the constant movement and change of direction keeps the horse THINKING. I noticed it the very first time we introduced him to the F8. Even in moments where he wanted to go RB, or get snotty, I could see the wheels turning in his head: "I'm gonna give those girls a what-for! But first I have to make this turn! ...Alright, NOW I'm - oh, wait, gotta turn again...eh, nevermind, I'm over it."

Hence tossing the cones every where, it probably would have been more fun for Jet had we set-up a whole Sniff This course. I tried to make up for it by deciding, "Ok, you want to smell every turd in this arena? Let's trot to them then!"

He LOVED that game! Once he realized I was always taking him to a new manure pile, he was trotting merrily with me, even gave a few sliding stops.

I got a new camera so I taped Mom bending and doing F8's. As soon as I figure out how to make the video show up on the computer, and put together a smart slide show for all the new pictures I took, I will immediately post notices here and on the Forum :0). There is one fabulous moment during one of the F8's were Jet gets cranky about being sent out again and starts pawing and backing up. Rather than matching his energy, Mom's whole body closes down and she drops all the tension. Jet lowers his head, licks his lips. Mom asks for the send again and Jet continues on like a perfect gentleman.

And then we tried the Circling Game. We had dropped that game for most of the summer because Jet thought we were lunging him, and we figured we had to go back to square one. Apparently, a core game, or several, wasn't strong enough. But I'm pleased to announce that we had no broken core games today because we got the OTHER side of the spectrum for his first circle in months: lazy, sniffing the ground. No, it's no more ideal a circle as a panicked, tearing around in a sweaty frenzied one. But for the two of us, we can improve on laziness far better than panic. I suppose it's a threshold of our own with the Circling Game. So in that sense, we were QUITE pleased with his state of mind this time.

Of course, no day at the ranch is complete without Jet doing something on his own that completely thrills us. Mom, Jill, Sally and I all went into his pasture to put a blanket on Angel, a VERY skittish, snooty mare who has no hair due to severe allergies. We managed to get the blanket on her without a hitch. My back as turned for a moment while I was looking for a halter, and when I came back, Jet was at the gate. I patted his nose and Jill was laughing, "Geez Jet, you startled me!"

"What did he do?" I asked.

"Well, he was all the way in the corner when we came in, and then all of a sudden he was tearing over here at full speed when he saw you. It was so fast."

Of course the day Jet actually RUNS to say hello, I miss it! But an eye witness is the next best thing.

Sometimes I feel like this blog is a cop-out because words can't describe how wonderful of a horse Jet is becoming. Nor can they seem to describe how amazing studying Parelli is and how it's changing everything. I've always been able to write about anything, able to paint pictures with my words and put people right at the scene with me. Writing has always come easiest. Jet is the only thing in the world that I struggle to write about because there is so much about him and so many thoughts and hopes I have for us, I don't even know where to begin. I thank all of you so much for your support and wonderful words of encouragement on this blog AND the forum. I think we can all agree that writing about our journies detail by detail just doesn't hold a torch to actually being there and experiencing it, and what we're REALLY feeling inside!