Freestyle Patterns

I have been up in Halmstad almost all week and didn´t get much done with Milva.
Today I rode her for 30min though.
Follow the rail - passenger lesson
Figure 8 - without picking up the rein
Sideways over a pole
and finished with lay down - I did jump off before she laid down completly though, new try tomorrow.

Almost There...

Milva almost laid down under me yesterday - such a smart cookie! You really need to show her new things only once and she gets it.
We also rode over cavalettis for the first time and did figure 8´s - don´t make me pick up the rein....
This morning it was udt and fika at Anita´s stable.

Sunday Morning

I rode for a little while this morning, mostly playing with follow the rail and stop - back up - walk transitions and don´t make me pick up the rein.
Finished the session with teaching her to lay down while I sit on her.
The picture is taken after she laid down - I did jump of before because she didn´t quiete understand yet what I mean...lots of thinking for a lbi...too cute!

America´s Lost Mustangs

I really enjoyed watching this DVD. If you get a change to watch it - do so - it´s well worth the time.

Discover the last descendants of America’s first mustangs, isolated for centuries in the rural Southwest. Hit the trail with Pat and Linda Parelli, scientists and wranglers as they round up these living pieces of history with the hope of bringing them back from the brink of extinction.

You’ll be awed as you watch Pat and his team transform untouched wild mustangs into willing partners in a mere 40 minutes using humane and non-threatening techniques. Packed with excitement and education, this is a must-see DVD for anyone who loves horses, natural horsemanship or the heritage of the old west.

Saturday Morning

Playing with travelling circles ala Karen Rohlf and the result is amazing. What I like most of it is how relaxed Milva becomes only after a short while and there is no stopping or ears back. Her back swings nicely, a lovely stretch forwards - downwards and her hind legs are stepping perfectly over.
I do understand the importance of neutral and keeping up the responsibility Parelli is talking about but for what I wanna achieve right now Karen´s method suits us better.
It´s now the third time I played with Milva in the dressage paddock in front of the riding house and it goes well so far. I just need to keep her interested or otherwise she gets easily distracted with all the other horses around her.

Plan into Action

There is no need to make a plan if you don´t follow it right. I´m really good at making lists - for everything, and plans but then following them is an entirely different story. It´s so easy to get sidetracked - especially for two lbi ;).
Seems to be though that we are back on track now...

Lapis, Shagya Arab 1938

one of Milva´s descendent...

This stallion line can be traced back as far as 1816, when Siglavi was imported from the Arabian desert as a breeding sire for Babolna, the Hungarian National Stud. Nearly 130 years later, an Arab stallion, directly descended through the stallion line from Siglavi, saved the life of a German cavalry officer. Walther Schmidt-Salzmann made his way home to Germany from Central Russia after the defeated German army was dispersed, thanks to his faithful grey, Yugoslavian-born Lapis. This horse carried him through enemy lines and the perils of the Russian winter, sometimes having only the straw from thatched cottage roofs to suffice as fodder. Lapis survived the 6000 kilometre ordeal healthy and sound. Once in the safety of his hometown, Salach, located east of Stuttgart, Schmidt-Salzmann helped the staff of the evacuated Stud Babolna return to their own country. The staff, in gratitude of his support, gave him the choice of a broodmare. He selected the elegant chestnut mare 68 Fenek V of Anglo-Arab lines, born at the National Stud Kisber. Matched with Lapis she produced the mare Amsel, who founded one of the more widespread female families in the Trakehner breed in West Germany. It was 68 Fenek V's bay colt Burnus AA by Lapis, born in 1948, who was to become one of the superstars in the Trakehner breed, with his influence reaching into European Warmblood breeding. 



Dressage Naturally - Karen Rohlf

All five DVDs in the series, Results in Harmony. The Results in Harmony Series shows Karen playing with a horse as he develops his skills in Riding in Connection with the reins (volumes), and Developing Mobility (volume 2). You learn how to take control of your posture and position in some unique ways (volumes 3 & 4), and how to develop trot lengthenings (volume 5), and learn about the 9+1 Conversations for the Upward Spiral of Success (volume 6).

A result of Karen Rohlf's combined experience as a dressage professional and her immersion in natural horsemanship, this book/DVD bridges the gap between these two worlds. The material will take every horseman on a practical and philosophical journey to create healthy bio-mechanics and stronger partnerships through combining principles of natural horsemanship with the art of dressage.

...watching DVDs from my Austrian Care Package :))

"Explore many, embrace several, follow none."

A brief comment on "name" trainers and their 'methods'...I think it is best to not lock into too much to a particular trainers method. Explore many, embrace several, follow none. Learn to develop your own way which the horse will guide you on if you really pay attention and do not rely on another's way too much. If you are locked in to another's way, you can easily lose your own... (Franklin Levinson)

 

A talented trainer, who is authentic, need not tell the world he or she follows the methods of someone else. They are not that other trainer and never will be. It is how they themselves are with horses (and humans) that should be the deciding factor whether or not you decide to have them influence your horsemanship. It is never about who your mentor is or was. It is only about who you are.

 

Marina Gottlieb Sarles: Recent Interview for The Last Daughter

Marina Gottlieb Sarles: Recent Interview for The Last Daughter: http://tinyurl.com/bnuyyyk         Last night I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Elsie Kerns a wonderful advocate in the fiel...

Horsey Day

Anna from the south came up for a visit yesterday and we spent all day in the stable and watched Ray Hunt´s Dvds.
Patricia came with Agnes in the afternoon and we all hung out in the hay - as we usually do ;).
In the evening I was up in Halmstad again - perfect ending to a perfect day.
Today I watched little Agnes again and after that I longreined Milva.

Weekend in Halmstad

I´m really bad with updating lately. It´s not that nothing is happening, more like too much is going on - all positive though, which gives me little time to write in here.
I spent the Easter weekend in Halmstad. On Saturday we went to visit Sofie, our 1* PP, our guys work together which made it kind of extra fun. Sunday I went with Sofie to the stable and watched her playing with lovely Panter. Sofie is boarding at a very nice barn with a great turn out stable and nice big pastures...
At home I have been helping Patricia, watching little Agnes while she is playing with Tinker and I have been playing and riding Milva as well.
Milva took her first trotting steps with me on her back today - she offered it and I didn´t have any reins in my hand so my heart kind of stopped for a minute there.
Milva really is super sensitive and it´s pure joy to ride her. I only need to bring my energy a little bit up and she walks, ssss-sound and she stops, look in one direction and she turns. Almost scary sensitive sometimes. Scary because I fear I will screw her up. I still haven´t used my legs on her but there is really no need for it anyway - and also she doesn´t like it....but that´s a different story and typical for the Munch pony.
One of my dear Parelli friends from Austria surprised me today with a package :)). He gifted me with the originals of several Parelli, Karen Rohlf and Ray Hunt dvds. I´m totally speachless over so much generousity!!

Let the Fun Begin

After  6 weeks of healing I started to ride Milva again yesterday.
My plan is to ride her every second day and play on the ground with her every other day - when I´m at home anyway. The days I´m in Halmstad she is gonna have time off.
When riding we are playing with lateral flexion, stretching, follow the trail, figure 8s, sideways - bridleless.
On the ground we play with travelling cirlces in trot and canter with change of direction and flying lead changes, lots of active stretching and bending to build up strength and balance again.

Still Winter....

I´m not complaining though...still not tired of the snow...
Milva´s wound looks pretty good now. It´s not healed completly yet but we are almost there.
I took her for lots of small walks over the week and yesterday we started to play with a plan again.
I have quit my Parelli Gold membership and I have to admit that I almost quit Parelli all together. The only reason I did not do it is because we are so close to film our level 4 online and liberty audition and of course because I´m a LBI myself I want to finish things I have started.
The german Trakehner Verbund uploaded a picture of Milva and me on their FB page :)) - yeah!!! So among all the competition pictures there are Milva and me.
For a personal reminder: farrier was here this week and Milva was her very well behaved self again. She does love Philip the farrier for sure. Deworming next week and we put a fence around the hay during the day time cause all three ladies - all of them lbi, just stand there and eat. So even though we have a slow feeder net they didn´t loose any weight - quite the opposite actually.

Morning Walk

-11 this morning and windy and more snow is coming. I could do without the wind but I totally love all this snow.
Day three of our morning walks. Milva´s wound is not healed completly so I don´t wanna overdue it therefor we only take small walks in the morning for about 20 - 30min to build up her muscles and balance again.
Even though she was in boxrest for almost 3 weeks she behaves just like herself old  - well behaved and very mild and soft.
I think you can see in the picture how much she enjoys to get out again - I actually think she is smiling in this picture.
What an incredible mare she is!

10 Qualities for a Horseman by Pat Parelli

1—Heart and Desire
Watch a mare and foal together and you’ll see the strongest example of heart and desire. That’s how strong the bond could be and should be between horse and human. But people can have too many goals and put their heart and desire into winning or performing rather than with the horse. It’s okay to have a strong desire for competition as long as it doesn’t get ahead of the relationship with the horse.

2—Respect
We have to teach the horse to respect us. Respect from the horse is measured by appropriate response and quality and length of attention span. As humans, we ultimately need to respect the pure nature inside of the horse. Respect from both, in the end, is mental collection.

3—Impulsion
I think of impulsion foremost as emotional collection. The goal is to get the horse to want to synchronize with your energy and emotion. We need to have absolute control over our emotions so that we are calm, cool and collected for the horse even when things get going fast, or when we want things to go fast.

4—Flexion
For me, flexion is the shaping of the whole horse mentally and physically, and learning to be very fluid and flexible in our own bodies so horses match and mirror us. Every movement we ask of the horse has a certain dynamic shape the horse’s body should be in to optimize its performance, from walking to piaffe.

5—Attitude and Focus—Positive, Progressive and Natural
Your attitude needs to be positive, progressive and natural, and people who focus on bringing all three together really make great leaders for their horses. I see people who are kind to their horses, but they’re not going anywhere, and most horses are not happy doing the same things over and over again. Other people are very mechanical and use whatever bits and gadgets it takes. And there are people who are progressive and natural, but not really positive.

6—Feel
Horses have to go by feel in order to understand us, especially when we’re riding. So the feel we give them, whether we’re fluid or stiff, is how they are going to respond. But what gives you feel? In any sport or endeavor, there is usually something you need to focus on to become more natural. People who are training to jump hurdles are taught to look at a spot on the horizon, not the hurdle, and feel going over the hurdles. For us, it’s being positive, progressive and natural that will give you feel.

7—Timing
Timing is really important because horses are very rhythmic animals. You feel for the timing through your attitude and focus, and if you make even a suggestion at the right time, everything becomes easy. For example, when we ask a horse to turn but we use our legs too soon, we’ve pushed the horse like a caterpillar, and the front and middle haven’t started that way yet.

8—Balance
From birth, a horse learns to do everything in balance. The thought of movement starts in the horse’s mind. He shapes his body, gets his weight right and then moves his feet. For us, the only way for balance to be second nature is to have focus, feel and timing. When we’re on a horse we should not have any negative effect on its movement.

9—Savvy
When you combine these ingredients and start getting repeatable results, that’s Savvy. Savvy is second nature to me now, but I rode horses thousands of hours and still didn’t have any real Savvy. But we often have to have that kind of experience to get real Savvy, and once you have it, it feels dysfunctional if you do something without it, like driving a car with a loose wheel.

10—Experience
If your heart and desire are to get to a certain savvy level, and you start putting huge effort into real mastery, this is the point where it becomes addictive. That’s when it’s way beyond a physical thing—way more than riding. Your experience after you get to a certain level will reveal productive results ten times faster than all the hours you put in before that, making hoof prints in the sand and wearing out riding pants and saddles.

That`s For You Munch Pony...

Back Out With The Herd Again

looking all happy and satisfied with herself :))

Undemanding Time

...with the pony, while thinking about life in general, a planned Horsemanship clinic, work and love...
Life is good!

Iwan das Panjepferd written by Heinz Buchholz

I finally got my hands on this book while we were down in Luebeck this week. I have been looking for it some time now and was thrilled to find it - amongst alot of other books about Prussia.
It´s the story about a young boy and his Panje pony who saved the lives of many people during the big flight winter 44/45.
The book is an autobiography with lots of interesting historical details about the big flight, about the Red Army and their deeds.

This shows a picture of a Panje pony and a Russian soldier, taken in winter 44/45.

Eine Kindheit zwischen Krieg Krieg und Frieden


Mit den Augen eines Kindes gesehen entsteht sie als lebendiges Bild vor unseren Augen: Die große Flucht aus Ostpreußen - eine geschichtliche Katastrophe, von der Millionen von Menschen betroffen waren.



Als Frauen, Kinder und Greise im Jahr 1944 vor der heranstürmenden Roten Armee fliehen, die mordend und plündernd in Ostpreußen einfällt, befindet sich in einem der Flüchtlingstrecks ein dreizehn Jahre alter Junge, Heinz Buchholz.



Zusammen mit seinem Panjepferd Iwan meistert er die chaotischen Ereignisse. Dabei erweist sich der Vierbeiner nicht nur als Lebensretter in tödlichen Gefahren, sondern ist zugleich ein treuer Gefährte, dem das verstörte Kind seine Erinnerungen an eine heile Welt anvertrauen kann.

Ein Angehöriger der Kriegskinder-Generation meldet sich nach fünfzig Jahren der Verdrängung mit einem spannenden Erlebnisbericht zu Wort und erhellt ein dunkles Kapitel der deutschen Geschichte.

Conversations with Friends...

Little pony talking to her girlfriends while she is allowed to spend some limited time in the turn out stable - I usually need to take her in after a while cause she starts jumping, bucking and rearing around and flirts shamelessly with Wolfgang which usually ends in lots of squeeking and screaming. Few more days and then hopefully she will be able to join the herd again....

Red Light

Milva´s bandage came off yesterday after alot of friendly game.
Sofie our 1* instructor borrowed me her Red Light kit so that´s what I will try using on the wound today - red light and Malukka honey.
I´m also thinking about putting her back out with the herd today but I have to check the ground first if it´s still frozen...

Healing...

Slow progress but netherless progressing...
Still box rest until next Wednesday and another vet. visit.

Time for Plan B

That´s how it looked today...continued boxrest until next thursday and according to the vet after that two more dressing changes and probably another three weeks of boxrest...time for plan b...
Sofie is so kind to lend me her Photonic Red Light and Anna from the south provided me with Malukka honey so that will speed things up me think...
Feeling like a bad mum cause I´m not gonna be at home this weekend and next week we will be going down to Germany for a day...
Hanna, Anita, Patricia, Malin, Marie and Anna are taking care of Milva while I´m gone - it does indeed take 6 people to replace me ;)...
Have a good weekend everyone out there!

Is It Friday Yet....

Spent most of the day at the stable, keeping my pony company. I let her go free for a little while, while cleaning her stall every day and she always stays close by, looking what I´m doing, keeping me company. Any other horse would jump and buck around or run off after being locked up in a box for two weeks, not the munch pony though. She is still her gentle, well behaved self - she even ground tied herself and didn´t move after the rope glied off her back.
Longing very much for Friday so I can let her out again with her herd and start playing with her again next week...gotta keep up the positive thinking....

Continued Boxrest until Friday

looking much better... still feeling frustrated though...
Vet will be back on Friday to check on her wound, unfortunatelly it´s not the nice one coming so maybe I shouldn´t bring my hopes up to high...

A Forever Horse

 

A FOREVER HORSE:
Did you know that less than 1% of horses are lucky enough to have a forever home? Horses give unconditional love and loyalty to their owners, t...he least we can do is commit to them and ensure they never know cruelty, neglect... or hardship. When their time comes, whether it be through injury or old age, they deserve a dignified end instead of having to endure the horrors of the slaughterhouse; their last emotions shouldn't be that of fear, panic and terror! The only way to guarantee your once loved horse doesn't end up on a plate is to be satisfied with them no matter what, and commit to them for life.
A FOREVER HORSE:
Before you consider or think about adopting me, realise I am a FOREVER HORSE.
I am not an.... until you get bored or lose interest in me horse.
I am not an.... until your child goes off to college or finds boys instead horse.
I am not an.... until I get old horse.
I am not an.... until I get lame horse.
I am not an.... until you have to move horse.
I am not an.... until you get a new younger horse horse.
I am not an.... until you get pregnant horse.
I am a FOREVER HORSE.
If you cannot promise FOREVER, I am not your horse.
I have been through too much already.

A Few Thoughts After the Aintree, UK Horse & Soul Tour Stop

A Few Thoughts After the Aintree, UK Horse & Soul Tour Stop

Parelli Aintree Volonteer Pic

Jenny emailed this picture to us yesterday :). Pat on Grey in the background.

Smiles Througout the Day

Keeping the pony company during the morning and again in the afternoon. I took a little afternoon nap in her box yesterday and when I woke up she was all cuddly and soft. Her wound seems to be healing very well now. I got some special honey from my savvy sister Anna from the south yesterday. Her and her man Gustaf came up for a quick visit which was super fun.
I´m gonna write more about the magic honey later, need to try it first.

Even though Milva is sick, life is still very good right now and I can´t stop smiling :)).