|
Post by loullou on Jun 27, 2008 17:47:30 GMT 1
i like this bubble idea and the fact you can take all sorts of steps...sort of takes the pressure of which means perhaps that any forward steps are less of a big deal......
|
|
|
Post by rosisotherhalf on Jun 27, 2008 18:18:38 GMT 1
Wendy - thoughts please?
I'm thinking that in my bubble, there's going to be a lot of sideways, diagonals, a few reverses ( i don't like backwards as it is "negative") but actually, not that many straight aheads from the centre of my comfort zone. It seems to me that by going straight ahead, I'm going to walk straight into my devil but by skirting around him (in a cunning kinda stylee) me and my angel can develop some plans, routes and diversions to get ahead of him and leave him for dust in our wake
|
|
bumper
Olympic Poster
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee
Posts: 813
|
Post by bumper on Jun 27, 2008 19:16:02 GMT 1
I think I pushed my bubblegum today! I had a very tricky hack with Captain last weekend, as I have posted, with him being terrible (bolshy and pushy) on the ground when I tried to remount. So, I have had my instructor do groundwork with him all week. I worked with her on Wednesday, and found it very difficult, even with her there. He was really asserting himself and not listening to me all the time, even when we did well at times, and certainly was better than he had been. But I still found him intimidating at times. So, as I ended up with no time do to anything yesterday (kids) I went up to do groundwork with my instructor again. Trouble is, she was busy, and you know what I just got on with it on my own!! ;D Well, I decided to just pretend I was her. I literally copied the body language I had seen her do. I had him in a rope halter, with a long line, in the indoor school. I was able to get him to back up from the end of the line, walk behind me at the end of the line and stop when I did, and when I took one step backwards...he did too!! I could move his quarters away with him crossing over his back feet just by LOOKING at his back legs. He got LOTS of praise and head rubs ;D And I could also ground-tie him Its the first time I have really worked with this method and I LOVE it. Its given me more confidence in my relationship with Captain, and I am convinced it will transfer to my ridden work with him. Actually I cant wait to ride tomorrow to try it out. Crikey. I think this may be the secret of cracking the cracker. Dont concentrate on the cracker....deviate! ROH you have the same thinking I see....dont walk into the devil, sneaky stylee-ish we can fool him into looking in the other direction by doing something unexpected. Zippy: "Gah she can do that (*sulks*) why cant she try the hard thing again so I can taunt her (*sulks*)" You never know Zippy may get bored and go off to wind up George and Bungle instead ;D
|
|
|
Post by wendyihts on Jun 28, 2008 10:33:55 GMT 1
Go for it! Play with this idea and see if doing a dance around the devil when he's not looking! ROH, my thought would be just to see if there's even the tiniest forward step you can take without splatting the comfort bubble - but if not, try the sideways routes like Bumper's doing. The thing is to 'just keep moving' - it reminds me of that little blue fish in Nemo's World (what was its name?) where it was singing 'just keep swimming, just keep swimming......' Again, I love how you're all getting creative with these ideas and you're just trying things out. I've got a feeling that it might be best to leave you guys playing with these ideas so far for the weekend because I see something else happening here too. Will check back in periodically but I want to see how you get on for a day or two...
|
|
milo
Grand Prix Poster
milo, lily, bob,henry and monty
Posts: 2,704
|
Post by milo on Jun 28, 2008 14:32:04 GMT 1
well,today i did it, i burst right through my bubble and hacked out along the main road and around went for abrilliant hack for nearly 2 hours,i feel so pleased with myself,ive agreed to hack out with a neighbour tomorow too,i'm determined i'm going to conquer this fear,i was singing ten green bottles along the main road but thankfully everyone slowed down ,(every other song went out of my head i was concentrating so hard)milo was brilliant,and even led on the way home,i'm so pleased,i'm still grinning now. :)its funny i felt everyone on here was giving me the courage to do it,thanks everyone and thanks wendy for starting this experiment,i owe you alot.
|
|
|
Post by loullou on Jun 28, 2008 16:52:56 GMT 1
well done!!! thats just brilliant...
i cannot ride as my boy has laminitis and is on box rest. hes quite a nightmare in but i feel as if i am coping ok. put my hat on this mornign as he was all over the place and just remained calm with him...was less of a nervous wreck than i thought i woiuld be (Box rest has always been my greatest fear).
decided to spend a few hours just chilling out with him this afternoon. took a booka nd sat outside the stable just being there. tried to groom him this morning but he didnt want it. i guess if you are not feeling great you dont want fuss. so i thought i woud just sit by quietly as some company to him....
|
|
|
Post by silverlass on Jun 28, 2008 16:58:52 GMT 1
I have just had the best ever morning with Fin. Started at 8 this morning with a lesson which went so well he was a real star - still only walk and trot but the balance is improving so much. I had finished and was just playing with him outside his stable when a friend came over and asked if I fancied going out on a hack - she is just bringing her horse back into work after an injury so it could only be walk. That little voice who needs no introduction said - Ah!! he has done enough for today say No, and as I thought about it and stroked Fin's neck my angel voice said - come on it is only a walking hack for about 1 hour - it will be no problem and who knows when you might get the next offer and as I looked at Fin I am sure he winked at me and whispered "let's go, I'll look after you". So I accepted the kind offer, ran through a quick risk assessment - hat on, mobile phone, girth tight enough and off we went. Had a minor spook in the wheat field when a couple of birds took off - I was feeling good and relaxing and enjoying the moment and it was no problem (can't believe I said that)on we went. As we were on the way back the other horse put in a really big spook for reasons we still can't identify and Fin did jump, I sat tall and spoke to him and within seconds we were calm. My friend told me how impressively I handle the situation because the minute it happened she was looking to see how I was coping. We rode home and onto the yard - our YO (who is fantastic) saw us come onto the yard and commented on my grin - we explained what had happened and I am sure my friend exgaggarated it slightly but my goodness what a boost to my confidence. I put him in his stable (out at nights - watching his weight) and went to the car to find an apple and as I walked back to him, he called to me - I am sure he was saying "That was good please lets do it again soon". That was 4 hours ago and I am still on cloud 9. So my bubble has nicely and steadily expanded today. Saw the post from Milo - hope the rest of you are having similar experiences, I too felt that I was not alone and everyone was gently pushing me on. Isn't this just wonderful to be able to pull everything together. Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy yourselves
|
|
bumper
Olympic Poster
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee
Posts: 813
|
Post by bumper on Jun 28, 2008 18:25:52 GMT 1
Brilliant milo and silverlass! ;D It all went a bit off-course today as Cap clearly decided he was sooooo good yesterday that he really should be having the day off. And, in hindsight he was right! I was supposed to be doing more groundwork followed by a ridden lesson. Lead him to the indoor school, and he bogged off back to the stable block, longline trailing Tried again, same thing, only the second time he ended up with both front feet on the low wall inside the block, trying to work out by peering over the partition if he could possibly get out to his field that way LOL! Got him into the school and after a lot of toys-out-of-the -pram cantering around on his own (he broke away agian...but with me AND my instructor!) tripping up on the longline he worked well, but only for a short time as my instructor said he needs a break, we should have given him the day off. The thing is, there is a change, a shift in my attitude to this. Recently, I would have seen this as a complete failure on my part, a disaster, something to worry about for days, I am now saying "you know what, that was quite funny, and its fine!" ;D
|
|
em&ed
Grand Prix Poster
Grand Prix Poster
If I had just a little humility, I'd be perfect....
Posts: 3,276
|
Post by em&ed on Jun 28, 2008 22:02:28 GMT 1
OMG - The Bubble!! I forgot all about it must try harder
|
|
nute
Novice Poster
Posts: 9
|
Post by nute on Jun 29, 2008 9:13:54 GMT 1
sorry to butt in, I'll be quick. This is re the angel and devil voices. last weekend I won 2 blue ribbons (1st in oz) and the runners up trophy my 1st ever in anything. This was at our local pony club formal day. Angel voice said well done, and I ve been riding with new authority ie not a quaking jelly of a passenger! Devil voice says: well it was only beginners you"ve been riding for how many years? Does any one else have a hbit of belittling their achievements?
|
|
milo
Grand Prix Poster
milo, lily, bob,henry and monty
Posts: 2,704
|
Post by milo on Jun 29, 2008 10:28:00 GMT 1
yes,i really enjoyed my hack yesterday but i'm nervous as hell about hacking out with my neighbour ,only as i havent done it before,but i'm still going despite it raining,i'm not listening to that voice telling me not to go,i'm listening to me saying of course you can do it,every time i hear i voice,i shout over it louder,wish me luck.
|
|
|
Post by loullou on Jun 29, 2008 11:05:33 GMT 1
good luck. report back later/
|
|
|
Post by wendymp on Jun 29, 2008 12:33:27 GMT 1
Yes I do. Really badly. My pattern is - - I see something I think would be cool to do - that I respect the people who do it.
- I learn how to do it.
- I forget how much respect I felt for the people I saw doing it before I could - and forget to give myself credit for what I have achieved because it is never good enough.
- Then once I understand it I give it up.
But I refuse to give it up with horses. I'm in too deep!
|
|
|
Post by wendymp on Jun 29, 2008 12:37:53 GMT 1
This is a biggy for me. Maggie did her squeal/canter-off-for-a-bit thing in my lesson on Friday and I sat quiet and rode through it, kept my leg on, kept asking her to trot nicely, got her to trot nicely. My instructor said I handled that extremely well. It's a biggy because years ago when I was being taught at - yes you guessed it - a BHS type yard, a very well respected instructor saw my old horse take off with me and I had no idea how to handle it - because it was the first time it had ever happened to me. She said in no uncertain terms that I can't handle situations like that and offered no advice whatsoever - simply insisting that I was absolutely c :-$p. So that has stuck with me ever since. Hmm I think I'm finally getting over that (I can live in hope can't I?).
|
|
|
Post by silverlass on Jun 29, 2008 17:15:41 GMT 1
Hi everyone, after my fantastic day yesterday, today unfortunately Fin has had a reaction to a fly bite, right at the corner of his mouth so I have not ridden today - am I downhearted after yesterday. The answer is NO, I think I have done one of those diagonal moves. Our relationship is still in the early stages and so I took time to handle him, bathing the area and generally fussing over him - he was an absolute sweetie. I am finding the more I work on him and with him the better he is getting - I found myself wondering today where the "bargy", ignorant and stubborn horse I was working with a few months had gone - then I had a brilliant thought - that the horrible part of him has disappeared and that I had actually seen it galloping off being ridden by - who else but that devil voice. They deserve each other and long may they stay together. Me, I am happy to be where I am, with my beautiful Fin and my Angel voice - I could want for no more.
|
|