Heart Felt Horsemanship

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Camp- Day 2 Tuesday

Tuesday was the first full day of camp. Bright and early during breakfast, Hannah made my day! I saw her trailer pull up in the driveway and I had this sense of relief. My idol is here.(!) We had our horses fed and tacked up and took them to the big back field that is full of toys. I couldn't wait to take Sharlie out there. I was hoping she would like several of the obstacles such as the tires, the big rings and the logs. We ended up spending a lot of time at the tires. I wish we could have had more time back there. There is not enough time for playing with everything.
Within a few minutes we were mounted up in the arena working on Follow the Rail and cantering.

That afternoon we worked on trailer loading. Sharlie got to the point where she trotted into the trailer! I was so happy!!
Then riding in the arena, we had the sprinkler on (IT WAS SO HOT!) We did figure 8's around the whole arena. Several times I could let go of the reins...Wow.

Camp- Day 1 Monday

When everyone arrive, Jennifer took us over the rules and schedule. After that we went out to go get our horses to play the 7 games with them in the arena, so Jennifer could see where we were with our horses. I learnt a lot that morning because we got so deep into the Seven Games. Unfortunately 2 girls passed out so the morning was eventful. By the afternoon, we were riding. I was prepared for Sharlie being very Right Brain and Extroverted. What I got surprised me. She was introverted. She was flipping from LBI and RBI but at least she didn't try and run away with me.

So I was surprised about the difference already apparent in Sharlie, and excited to see if Hannah would come the next day.

1 day

Wow! We are leaving tomorrow! It is just amazing how quickly today has passed. I hope that everything will pass easily and go without a hitch. When I return I will write a long and descriptive post about it.

But for now, I will say a small goodbye. I hope that this camp will meet and pass my expectations, and I am sure it will. It will all be a learning experience. From the traveling down to the simple relaxing time. To finally go to a place where my beliefs and dreams with Natural Horsemanship will be accepted and rewarded, and not flicked off like a bug.

I hope to return with a changed horse and myself a changed young lady.

Taking for granted

To take something for granted is something many people do often and without realizing it. I was taking Sharlie going down to camp for granted, but now with only a couple days away, I am not so sure. I have to face the fact that we may have to leave her behind. But I don't think that it will be a problem. Sharlie getting into the trailer won't be a problem. The time from closing the door till we get moving is what I am worrying about.
Cross fingers!
~Julia

Undemanding Time

Today I came to a very important realization. Undemanding time is absolutely essential to a true relationship. I came to terms with this with a horse I don't spend much time with. After I turned Sharlie out, I went to say hello to the herd of horses that share the field with Sharlie. The Alpha of this herd is Doc, a 25 year old (estimated age) horse that has cushing's disease. He is much more active in the winter, but the summer is when his cushing's acts up. He moves from one spot in the shade to another spot several yards away. I feel so bad because his lack of movement causes him to receive most of the flies. So I walked over to him and started just stroking his face, to shoo away the flies. And that is basically what I did for half an hour! Just stroking his face gently and slowly. He became so relaxed that he had to rest his head on my shoulder at one point so it wouldn't touch the ground. By the time I was done, the rest of the horses were all lining up to have a turn. It was very rewarding to see Doc so relaxed. I don't think I have ever seen him that relaxed before. It is hard to be the Alpha over 6 horses! (Especially when 2 or 3 can act like children) I would have just sprayed him with flyspray but that would not have done the job. Not only would it spook him, but it wouldn't have relaxed him the way it did when I did the non-lazy thing of spending half an hour stroking him (something most people at the stables wouldn't do)

This made me realize how essential undemanding time is for a horse-human relationship.

10 days countdown

Its 10 days till camp and I am starting to feel stressed. I was on vacation in Europe for 3 weeks and when I got back, I wasn't used to the extreme heat. It is very hot, and the 2 days that I have been down to see Sharlie have been during the middle of the day -the hottest part.
Over the next 10 days I am working on a few things with Sharlie. Online is something we will be focusing on before camp. And Freestyle. I hope to start riding her bit by bit starting tomorrow. I won't be doing any Liberty or Finesse so I don't go overboard on information. As well as Online and Freestyle, I am focusing on the trailer. So those are the main 3 points and I will be posting a camp journal when I return.

Update- Just plain having fun!

Despite the heat, I have been going down to the stables almost everyday, with the exception of the 1 week I was away in D.C. I am still trying to get back into the move of things in both at school and at the farm. When I got back on Friday, for example, Sharlie was swollen and very gassy because of not being exercised! Now I am trying to advance us as much as possible before we go to camp. But before camp, I am going to England and France for 2 weeks!! Luckily I have a friend who will be up to the job of exercising her once or twice while I'm gone.

I have been watching videos and thinking of ideas for liberty. I'm trying to ease a bit on the Online and work more on liberty in the arena since the round pen is not up.

This was just a quick update. I'm sorry if there aren't any updates for a few weeks. I'm swamped with horses and school!

Naturally,

Julia

Last Few Wonderful Days

Hey Peoples!!

I apologize for not writing for the last few weeks. I have been so busy. I have literally spent almost everyday down at the farm. I have been having a hard time trying to think of things to teach Sharlie. Finally I came up with this list to try and do or work on before camp:

~Lying down/(bowing)

~ Back up by tail

~ Improve Falling Leaf pattern

~ Start moving into Level 4 online

~ Level 2/3 Liberty

But overall Sharlie's general attitude toward life has improved greatly. I'm proud of her because she has been so obedient. Calm, responsive, etc...

I have already started by teaching her backing her up by the tail. If I stand behind where she can see me and gently pull, have one hand up motioning backwards, and say "back" she will take a few steps back. Its touching because she doesn't want to run me over!! :P

Anyway, I will update you again soon. I'm thinking about trying to canter with Sharlie and the new saddle soon.....

Bright Future ahead!

Dear Friends,

Today I tried my new saddle on Sharlie today. I have to say I did not have high expectations. I have bad experiences where I expect too much of Sharlie and I end up getting upset because things don't go as planned and Sharlie doesn't understand what she did wrong. So I decided to set my sights low. I decided that is would be fine if I never got to ride Sharlie today because she wasn't comfortable or emotionally ready. I was hesitant to get on after she seemed to have trouble adjusting to the saddle. But once I got on and we went down to the stream, I was already feeling a difference. She had her head lower down than usually and she lengthened her stride. And for the first time in a very long time, I trotted Sharlie more then I ever had. And I wasn't scared, I wasn't panicking, it was FUN! Her gait was much smoother and more fluid. Our future with this saddle is looking great!