Flying Dragon Milva

pictures are taken in our new dressage ring 20m x 60m
Cantering online is a whole new experience for my little girl. The only time she cantered so far was in the pasture and my guess is that it´s not cantering more galopping like maniacs with her pasturebodies.
I tried cantering a few times before but it always ended with her flying a few meters above me and pulling the 22 foot rope out of my hands.
So this weekend I did alots of friendly game with the 45 foot rope. Got her used to walk on the end of the rope in big circles - which is kind of hard for her because she loves being close to me and sometimes she looses her confidence being so far away from me.
But after a while it worked out fine so we started to do some change of direction. I then asked her to trott. The first rounds of trotting are more like a jog. It looks super comfortable and I know some people don´t agree with me but I love it when she trotts so slow and you shouldn´t ask a lbi in the beginning to go faster anyway until they are more motivated and offer it.
And right she did offer a "real" trott after a few rounds. I just can say "Oh my goodness what movements!" I think it´s easier for her to trott on the 45 foot line cause she has such big steps in trott - it looks like she is floating over the ground.
So because everything was working out fine I asked her to canter and flying dragonmilva was back. Who could have thought that a lbi is putting so much effort in bucking and flying above the ground. I have to get that on camera as well otherwise no one believes me. I can say so much - those bucks are impossible to sit and as it looks right now I won´t be cantering her under the saddle for quite a while.
On saturday I just waited for her to finish - usually it ends with her bucking towards me and stopping in front of me, but still looking relaxed and happy. I asked her to canter again and did get 4 laps of kind of a calm canter on the left lead. There were still some bucks involved - mostly in front of me, but they were not very high and nothing in compare to those from before. The bucks in the beginning were for sure a few meters above the ground. First she is jumping with all four legs up in the air and then she starts bucking - while she is up in the air.
On the right lead I just get a few steps of canter but that´s ok in the beginning. I know that the right lead is harder for her.
On sunday I blew her up. It was the same circusshow she put on again. Leaping and flying around. So I thought - you wanna run, let me help you with that. But now afterwards I can see that wasn´t such a good idea after all. I blew her up completely. She got very right brain and putting more pressure on her didn´t work at all. I don´t know if I should have waited longer or put even more pressure on her?
So what I did was asking her in and she came flying right up to me. Standing next to me, the head high and tensed and you could see the white around her eyes - very rb, I thought. The nice thing was though that she was standing next to me and didn´t want to leave. So I waited until she calmed down and started to sigh and lick her lips. I reassured her that everything was fine, asked her to back up again and to walk and trott again. I looked for any tension but she looked fine so I asked her very, very softly to canter again and got 6 nice steps before she came in again. That´s were I stopped and went grazing with her.
Maybe I asked her with a too high phase to canter before? I think I have to be more aware of how I ask her - even though I thought I asked her nicely, maybe it was still too much for sensitive her.
Another thing is that she is really not used to much pressure because I never put much pressure on her because when I do she blows up. Milva and I have some kind of agreement - I ask her nicely and soft with phase 1 or less and she does it. She hates any kind of pressure - I guess that´s why she doesn´t like the ferrier either. Sigh. And she also hates it when she is wrong so if she offers something I go with it and ask her for whatever I wanted later again.
Well, I don´t know if I´m doing the right thing or not. Sofie is coming down tomorrow and I will ask her to have a look and see what she is thinking.
Maybe I´m reading the whole situation wrong and instead of being right brain she is behaving like a leftbrain punk?
Questions, questions so many questions.

Rainy Saturday

I´m laying at the couch, re-watching the new levels pack and listening to the rain outside. The cats really seem to love the rain. Both of them are outside on the balcony sleeping. Hoodlum is sleeping on the chair and Moll-Poll in between the tomatoeplants. Too funny.
I played with Milva a little bit yesterday. Using the 45-footline and experimenting with the canter. On the first try she behaved like a flying dragon again, bucking and bolting around. The second attempt was more smooth though.
Mikke watched for a little while and so did auntie Anita and Patricia. I tried to keep the focus but it´s hard when other people are around and as soon as I´m not focused naturally Milva isn´t either. Something to work on...

Autumn Has Come

way too early this year. Even though it´s my favourite season of the year I still would prefer some hot summerdays.
I was busy all day today to find information for Malin about her Hollsteiner breedingmare. I talked to some very nice people down in Germany and got complimented on my german. Kind of amusing, being it my mothertongue.
Milva and I just hung out today together with Patricia and Tinka.

Facebook | Videos Posted by Santé et beauté pour tous!! The Meaning of ...

found this at Elisabeth´s blog

Blown Away

...by the storm. There is a reason why people call Helsingborg the windy city.

The Man from Snowy River

A wonderful movie for rainy days. A friend of ours - Greg Eady, a ferrier in Cobden, Ontario, knows the whole movie by heart. The sequel of the move is called " Return to Snowy River" (1988).
The movie is based on a poem written by Banjo Paterson and was first published in "The Bulletin", an australian news magazine 1890. Legend has it that the poem was based on a true story.
It´s definitely one of my favourite movies. And I think today is the perfect day to watch it again.

Connery

Milva´s dad Connery, picture was taken in autumn 2008, Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn riding him.
For more information go to http://www.hoerem.de/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a76SdWVhGoQ
Tomorrow I´m going to bring my labtop to the stable and I´m going to show Milva the video of her dad and granddad. So I can proof to her that she too is able to canter and trott ;) - my little munchkin :)

Favourite Pictures From Last Year

Sunday Play

3 h i t stable
1 h online
2 h udt
Playing with the 45-foot line, circling game and figure 8´s in walk, change of direction. Trotting travelling circles - it seems to be much easier to maintain trott on a long line. And last but not least....tatatatatata cantering 4 laps!! on the left lead. Right lead is not her strong side we have to improve that over the time. I asked her to canter two times and then I quit. The long line really seems to make a big difference for her which is good :). And I just love to watch her cantering. She has this naturally uphill canter and carries herself very well. So if she now just would stop bucking going in to the canter I would be happy. Little punk, she always needs to have the last word ;).

Saturday Play

5 h in the stable
1 h online
I played with the tarp, green ball and an umbrella today. Friendly game with the tarp and having it on her back again almost up to hear ears. Kicking the green ball, now I can send her towards the ball and she is kicking it, all proud of herself. Too funny. Friendly game with the umbrella, having it in all 5 zones, opening and closing it and playing with it above her back.
What she doesn´t like is having the green ball on her back.
At the same time I was playing with Milva I played with Mandrake too. Getting him slowly used to the tarp, green ball - he actually dared to sniff it, and the umbrella - he watched it from 4m away but got closer with the time. Lot of approach and retreat with him. Shawn spend some undemanding time with Mandrake as well and got him used to have his arm on his back. Mandrake is suspicious about everything and it takes alot of patient to touch him. But he is getting better every day. You just gotta love that little hoodlum horse. Too bad he is so expensive otherwise I would really consider buying him.
Playing with Milva in the ridinghouse. Lots of friendly game with the 45-foot line and a little bit of circling game with the 45 and a bit of longreining with it.
We also played with travelling circles and clover leaf in trott but with the 22 foot line and we worked on spanish walk and the compliment.

Found The Perfect T-Shirt...lol

Be Careful What You Wish For

The universe must have clearly misunderstood my quest for more time for my Horsemanship studies. My quest did not involve any tubes, bags, pain or urinestones.
I was at Ängelholm´s Hospital yesterday to get my stone removed. I waited for that appointment 4 weeks which I consider a very long time.
To make a long story short - Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy did not work on me because my lovely stone is too hard and too big and wasn´t at all impressed by some waves. So the stubborn stone is still at the same place, in the same size as it was before the treatment.
The whole treatment took more than 1 hour and was rather painful. On the way home I puked out of the car several times - the result of too much painkillers. Luckily Shawn was driving and he just took Sam for a well needed carwash. Poor Sam smelled really puky.
No Milva time yesterday cause I felt more like dying.
I have to go back to the hospital for an x-ray next wednesday and then the doctor will decide if I get another ESWL or if it´s going to be an operation. All the facts are pointing towards an operation though. Waiting time for that is approximately a month.
Hmmmm....I did get alots of time for watching Parelli Dvds suddenly :).
So I guess I shouldn´t complain too much. And no one has died of a little bit of pain yet.
It´s not going to be much playing though. But I´m thinking of doing little things with excellence. Like using "Parelli 10 Minute Tips" http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-exclusives/parelli-10-minute-tips.aspx
I´m also going to make a studyplan otherwise those timeghosts will eat up all my time and suddenly I wake up and haven´t anything achieved.

Have You Hugged Your Horse Today?

If your horse could choose, would it choose you as his partner? How many of us are taking our horses for granted and just assume they are happy with us? But are they?
Are you giving your horse what it needs? Have you ever THOUGHT about the needs of your horse? Do you think your horse is happy standing in a 4m x 4m box 18 hours a day? And do you think your horse thinks it´s fun to be in a little sandpaddock for the other 6 hours - by itself, so it doesn´t get hurt? With no room to stretch his legs with no friends to play with or scratch each other.
Oh, and why do you actually have a horse? Because you love horses or is it some kind of status symbol or is it because you want to be seen - on competition. Oh wait, wouldn´t that be kind of selfcentered? - to have a horse just because you want to compete?
NO, of course we have horses because we LOVE them, right?
So if we love our horses so much wouldn´t it be our duty to read up on their needs and make them happy? Treat them as our partners and not as some subject?
Partners, that would go hand in hand with a partnership.
So what kind of partnership do you want with your horse? An abusing one or a respectfull one?
For me partnership includes respect, doesn´t it?
Yelling has nothing to do with respect and neither has jerking your horse around or beat him up or using any kind of artificial aids.
Just some thoughts that popped in to my head this evening.

Firespying Milva

Milva got her hooves trimmed today....cough, cough....My otherwise so perfect, flawless, beautiful, well behaved horse mutated into a firespying dragon.
Hm.....how intressting... I don´t know what else to say.
Milva really does not like H. As soon as she arrived at the yard, Milva put her head up and the white in her eyes came out. I could see her thinking evil thoughts. H. approached her in a polite way but too late, Milva had made up her mind and tried to kick and bite her and wouldn´t let her even come close to her.
Japp, my otherwise so soft and kind horse tried to kick and bite our ferrier. Well, it´s not the first time. She tried it as well the last time but not that serious.
H. asked me if it´s ok to give Milva some light sedation, and well I agreed on it.
H. is also our veterinary and I´m very lucky that she agreed on trimming Milva´s hooves ´cause now they are perfect. And as you maybe all know, I´m not easily to satisfy when it comes to Milva.
When I bought Milva two years ago she was not handled at all and didn´t know anything. She didn´t know what leading was, couldn´t pick up her hooves, couldn´t stand tied up,...
In the beginning it was just me who could pick up her hooves and even with me she could get worried back then when I picked up her left hind hoof - that´s where she has her Trakehnerbrand.
When I talked to other Trakehnerowners about it down in Germany, they said it´s a Trakehnerthing. Trakehners are very much one people horses and if they have made up their mind about something or someone it´s hard to convince them to the opposite - and Trakehners never forget.
So back to her hooves. Besides me, auntie Anita and Shawn are also allowed to pick up her hooves but that´s pretty much it.
I never have any problems picking up her hooves. After cleaning the first hoof she volontarily offers me the other three - one by one.
It´s not about the trailer, it´s not about the hooves....
So the question is, how to convince her that H. is her friend and not her enemy?
I came up with a solution that I think will work.
I thought I call H. tomorrow and ask her to call me whenever she has something to do at our stable or in one of our neighbourstables. If her schedule is not to tight maybe she just can drop by and say Hi to Milva and give her a treat. After a few visits she can try to just pick up her hooves and put them down again.
With Milva you have to win her heart and trust. With force or too much pressure you don´t get anywhere. It just makes things worse. Milva is just like her owner - a stubborn donkey ;).
If there would be any other good ferriers out there I would consider to change but H. is THE best one and in this case I insist that Milva is changing her attitude towards H. I´m pretty confident that my strategy will work out though. I know how my little dragonhorse ticks ;)....lol

Parelli Play Day In Halmstad

Today I went with Anita, Patricia and Sandra up to Halmstad to check out the Parelli Play Day hosted by Karin Pettersson, 2* instructor: www.two-t.nu
It was super fun to catch up with Sofie and to finally meet Josefine in person.
Much more to write about it but I got a virus on my labtop and will keep my online time as short as possible until I got it fixed.

Saturday

Humid, hot and rain, just like Petawawa.
Listening to the rain and to Milva munching on her hay.

Chai Latte & Cinnamonbun

...for breakfast in the stable, still wearing my Pj´s and having a nice, inspirational Parelli-talk with Ulrike from http://uhaprill33.blogspot.com

Just Ordered A 45-Foot Line For My Level 3 Online

45-Foot Line


The lay of this 3/8 inch diameter, nylon lariat is deliberately softened for horse handling. It has life, sensitivity, lightness and is fitted with a brass hondo for slip and release. Includes carabiner clip to attach to halter.



See what people are saying

"This rope has so much life to it yet it is so light to use. It challenged the communication that I had with my horse and has taken our relationship to another level."

Don't forget about the purchase credit that instructors get when you buy your Parelli stuff.

Here's the easiest way to do it:
Go to Parelli.com
Log on as a savvy club member
Go to instructors
Find your favorite instructor and click on the link that reads: myfavoriteinstructor'sname.parelli.com
Then click on the "Shop" link that shows up at the top of their page.

Those instructors work hard and this is an easy way to give them some kind of benefit without cost to us.

Figure 8 Pattern

Milva & I have come a long way with our figure 8 pattern - even in trott.
The secret with my lbi is to get her first intressted and motivated before I ask her to do the figure 8s - or circles. As we all know, left brain introverts are thinkers and not movers. And for some it takes longer to think than for others ;).
When we do our figure 8s now I just need to send her once and then I can guide her around the cones. My guiding is a soft point in the other direction and a half step back, kind of opening the door for her to go in the other direction.
With Milva it´s often enough to use a soft phase 1 cause she is so responsive - well, most of the time, unless punky Milva is showing up but then I have to adress the horse that shows up, which is a different story.
Back to the figure 8s. After sending her off I give her the responsibility to do the figure 8s and through that I allow her to think and interact with me.
I´m not using the carrotstick after she walked off and I don´t use it for making her walk off either (see phase 1) -unless I need to. Using the carrotstick would be nagging and not giving her any responsibility which means we would not have any conversation going on.
If you don´t have any conversation with your horse you are not improving your relationship with him!!
That´s why I don´t lunge her! I often get asked why I don´t lunge. Well, because lunging is micromanaging your horse and not giving him any responsibility.
The circling game on the other hand gives your horse the responsibilitiy to maintain direction, gate and she has to look where she is going and yes, she is allowed to ask questions :).
Our next project is going to be to do the figure 8s and circles in canter - that´s going to be intressting for sure.

Coffebreak

6 hours in the stable
30min online - level 3
"Fika" - the swedish word for coffebreak, with Anita, Sandra and Patricia - same people that are coming to Halmstad for the Parelliday on Sunday.

Email From Parelli Central & A Free Celebration Dvd :))

I've read so much about you in your blog, that its nice to see some videos of you playing with your lovely horse, Marion! I can now put a face to all the writing!! Let me know when you submit your audition, I'm sure that you'll do brilliantly.

Anyway, we'll soon let you know if you've been featured on Parellitube, and in the meantime, we'd like to send you a copy of the Live Celebration DVD. Please give us your mailing address.

Naturally,

Kerrin Koetsier
Parelli Central

Awesomeness!!! And it comes in quite handy cause I have a list of people I wanna give one to :)) together with the Horsenality information ;).

Milva & Benny

Milva & Benny
4 hours in the stable
30min online playing in level 3
rest udt and grazing time
Wish I could implant Parelli to other people´s brain! There is so much missunderstanding going on out there in the horseworld which could be easily disolved if people would take the time to try to understand the horse´s point of view and maybe show some intresst in the different Horseanalities.
"You can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make it drink."

Nephrostomy

11 more days to my operation. Can´t wait for it! It´s going to be so great to be able to move again without restrictions!
A nephrostomy is an artificial opening created between the kidney and the skin which allows for the drainage of urine directly from the upper part of the urinary system.
Even tough I am a nurse I still think it is pretty discusting to walk around with it!

Raining Cats & Dogs

Short visit in the stable to check on Milva.
Spending the rest of the day reading in old Savvy Magazines and watching "Liberty & Horse Behaviour".

Horsenalities Bucks

out of Savvy Times magazine issue 21, november 2008 written by Linda Parelli
Right Brain Buck:
fear- and panic related, so it looks frantic. Best solved by driving the horse forward with as much energy as he is putting into the bucking, if not a little more. You redirect the energy by tasking him to accelerate forward. That will stop the bucking better than trying to prevent it, but then you have to figure out what set it off. Right Brain is fear-related, so this often happens with horses who are not confident with the saddle or cinch/girth. Check it out, solve it on the ground and do not get on until your horse consistently proves that he is no longer tense or afraid.
Left Brain Buck:
It´s deliberate and can be playful or punky. Best solved by entertaining it! If you try to stop it, this can become an argument, and this Horsenality will use it to gain the upper hoof. We have a saying called "and then some", which means, "You want to buck? Me too - and then some!" You´ll find that pretty soon your horse figures out that he cannot scare or frustrate you, so he stops using that strategy to dominate the situation. Have fun with it - much better than getting mad at him, don´t you think?
Extrovert Buck:
-high energy, usually way too difficult to ride unless you are a professional bronc rider! You definitely want to deal with this on the ground. Best solved by using the energy rather than trying to block it or stop it. You need to get it out of the horse´s system. Send him over lots of jumps so he can get in the air with a purpose.
Introvert Buck:
-low energy, usually not hard to ride. An introverted horse bucks because he doesn´t want to go forward and you´re trying to make him do it. Usually it´s Left-Brain Introverts that buck like this (the Righ-Brain Introverts freeze before they explode inte a Right Brain Extrovert form of frantic bucking). The solution lies in psychology to get your horse want to go forward rather than making him go when he doesn´t want to.
For more information check out www.parelli.com
Horsenalities and Patterns will help you enormously here.

Lead By Example

4 hours in the stable
1 h online rest udt
Patricia is going to be a Savvy Club member :)). It´s going to be fun to play with her and Tinka.
Sandra wanted me to show her some "Parelli" today. Hm...Parelli is a lifestyle and a way to interact with your horse. It´s hard to actually show it.
Well I did show her the 7 games and a bit of liberty. I also played with her horse Medea and showed her figure 8´s. Medea is super smart and got the pattern in no time. The expression on her face was priceless!!!
Helen stopped by with Dupont. I love the way how Helen is interacting with Dupont! I lent her the celebration dvd and she loved it - especially the spotlights. I´m going to lend it to Patricia as well.
Helen asked me if we could have a playsession together after my operation :). With pleassure!
If you lead by good example more and more people are going to be intressted in finding a different way to interact with their horses and therefor there path will lead them to Parelli :).
Today was also an eyeopener for me how much Milva actually can do and how well behaved she is.

"Der Zauber Des Pegasus" written by Jan & Milca Künster

Wonderful coffetable book I bought a few years back.