Thea came out of that session a different horse. It's not that she's been calmer consistently since then; she hasn't been. But in moments of quiet, when nothing has been going on, she's looked...dare I say it? relaxed. Like for a moment she trusts her environment and Sage and the barn and us humans in her surroundings. And I see her being just a little more willing to think about things, to mull it over, rather than just blindly react...
This right here is what I love so much about this type of horse. I can totally grok why they're not everybody's cup of tea, and I think it's fantastic that there are lots of different kinds of horses and people in the world, so you can have all sorts of different matches, whatever's best for the pair in question. But wow, that moment right there. Oh, yes.
I'm so glad to have my trusty little pony...with all my nerves, I need him. But this...coaching a horse like this from a distance...that works for me. And boy do I feel a sense of deeper satisfaction with her when it goes right.
Especially since, in some ways, she works so hard for it. While I was sick Mom's the one that mucked out, fed, and otherwise took care of both horses 24/7. Now that I'm feeling better I can help out sometimes, but she still does the lion's share of work. So it's doubly nice to see her have some fun too.
Sounds very interesting work. Thea is clearly an intriguing horse if not an easy one to work with. You're lucky to a) have her to work with and b) have Sage for enjoying yourself with xD
It is amazing hearing that. I *so* want to take Jelmer, one of the friesans I look after and do similar things. He's dangerous. I've said this and explained this but I can't 'tell' them this. Having taken Everest, no matter the tragic consequences, from a complete pyscho nutbag to what he was, it can be done *exactly* how you are doing it. You end up judging what they can and cannot take. To some folk it may even seem dangerous but you understand how far to push.
Even with NH training I think one should break the rules, because there aren't any rules, there are individual horses. They aren't machines any more than we are and each one of them thinks differently. So I applaud people who allow them that.
Yes, I am much happier since I decided to do things as I saw fit and not try to conform to 'parelli-land' anymore. They really are all individuals. Not sure I *was* really breaking any NH rules during this session but that's not the point; horses need first and foremost for us to use our sense of intuition, and not rely on some book or video to tell us about them. They are perfectly capable of telling us themselves as long as we know how to listen...
There aren't really any NH rules as such - term is so loose as to be mostly meaningless anyways - just the rules different teachers put forward. Maybe you broke some parelli rules by not making sure you got the pattern you asked for exactly the way you asked for it but you would have been breaking one of Steve's by not working with the horse in front of you and building on what they have to offer.
The people who seem to do the best job, in my opinion, all agree that they have learned most from the horse.
Well, Parelli teaches you to allow an unconfident horse to drift when they are going a little nuts, whereas with a confident horse they say to 'be like a post.' I think, like Steve though, they really emphasize figuring out what mood and what horse you have today before deciding how to handle it. Even with their new horsenalities marketing (which annoys me) they discuss how any horse can be any of the horsenality types depending on the day. Honestly, not insisting on her doing the pattern correctly is absolutely something I learned off of the darned dvd's!! It's actually me that's been slow in understanding it and applying it to Thea.
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This right here is what I love so much about this type of horse. I can totally grok why they're not everybody's cup of tea, and I think it's fantastic that there are lots of different kinds of horses and people in the world, so you can have all sorts of different matches, whatever's best for the pair in question. But wow, that moment right there. Oh, yes.
Variety and the spice of life and all that. :)
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I'm so glad to have my trusty little pony...with all my nerves, I need him. But this...coaching a horse like this from a distance...that works for me. And boy do I feel a sense of deeper satisfaction with her when it goes right.
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Yeah. And watching somebody else "get it," in this case your mom...that's awfully cool, too. :)
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Especially since, in some ways, she works so hard for it. While I was sick Mom's the one that mucked out, fed, and otherwise took care of both horses 24/7. Now that I'm feeling better I can help out sometimes, but she still does the lion's share of work. So it's doubly nice to see her have some fun too.
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Even with NH training I think one should break the rules, because there aren't any rules, there are individual horses. They aren't machines any more than we are and each one of them thinks differently. So I applaud people who allow them that.
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The people who seem to do the best job, in my opinion, all agree that they have learned most from the horse.
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