Timeline

This is a general overview of when I learned some major things throughout the semester. It starts April 23, 2009, and it ends around July 18, 2009. A persistent theme throughout my time line, is the importance of me being dominant. The lesson was learned many times, but actually becoming dominant is something I'll likely be working on forever!

April 23
- I met Buckwheat for the first time. I played the friendly game with him. I had a fairly good idea at this time that he was a dominant horse.

-I learned more about what is entailed in the friendly game, and I also learned the porcupine game and driving game. The friendly game does not just mean petting your horse on all parts of his body, but it also means desensitizing him from objects or other things that might scare them. We played with tarps, hoola hoops and ground poles.

-The yo-yo game is a very important game for me, because it's what I use the majority of the time to get Buckwheat out of my space. I realized that I need to be able to get really big with him, because he is so extremely a left brained introvert horse, that it takes a lot of pressure to get him to even care about what is happening. I also learned at this time that due to his horsenality, I need to be incredibly imaginative in the games I play with him. Otherwise he gets bored, distracted, and completely oblivious to what I am doing!

May
-The circling game is an important part of the lessons, because it teaches your horse to think, and take on some responsibilities. The really important lesson I learned today had to do with being a good leader, and using my phases. I haven't been getting very big in my phases of asking Buckwheat to do something, or at least, not big enough for him. This actually causes our relationship to deteriorate, because I am not respected as a leader. With some help from Br. Twitchell, I see that I need to become HUGE! But, I still need to go through the phases, but I need to go through them really fast, otherwise it's the friendly game, and I am desentisitzing him! For example, when doing the yo-yo game when I want him to back up, I 1. wiggle my finger 2. put my hand into a fist and move from my wrist 3. Lock my wrist and move my arm back and forth from my elbow, and phase 4. keeping my arm straight, move my entire arm back and forth from the shoulder. Getting big is physically hard for me, because I'm already at a disadvantage than normal size people, but it's possible!

-The sideways game and the squeeze game took a little longer for me to use, and are something I still struggle with at times. But what I really learned from these games, are, once again, that it's so important for me to be a good leader, and show that I am the dominant one in the relationship. The other big breakthrough for me, was the importance of rewarding big, and rewarding instantly. Too often I forget to reward, or I don't give a big enough reward, so Buckwheat doesn't get to learn the lesson I wanted to teach him. I also realized the importance of rewarding improvement and effort. If I am asking Buckwheat to do something he has never done before, he's going to be pretty confused, because I don't speak horse very well, and the message is sometimew (most times) pretty mixed up. If he does one small step of the larger one, I need to reward that. then next time I'll be able to ask for that, get it, and ask for a little bit more! What a breakthrough!

-Rhythmic pressure is so important when playing with horses and asking them to do something. I really learned this, and how to use it when asking buckwheat to turn. Having him turn away from me, with the front part of his body was WAY beyond me, but Sylvia helped me in showing me how to start my phases by pointing to where I want to go and focusing on it, then raisng my carrot stick, and then, start applying rhythmic pressure that gets closer and closer to either his head or shoulder. If it makes contact with his body, it's just the next phase. As SOON as he takes a step in the right direction, it's so, so important that I completely remove all pressure. This allows him to see that when he does the right thing, there will be a reward. That's also how he learns what the right thing to do is- there is a release of pressure. I also learned that I need to be very clear in what I am asking, and consistent in the way I ask for it.

-May 22 some real progress was made this day. By using the yo-yo game, Buckwheat stepped onto the brigde for the first time! We did not go over it, but he looked at it, was interested in it, and stepped onto it. This experience has helped teach me that I need to be so patient, and only ask for what I can get. Before today, I've been focused on getting over the bridge, but today I remembered to reward steps in the right direction. Today he stepped on the bridge, and it was good enough for me.

-As midterms neared, everything seemed to become impossible, and I was in the "I know that I don't know" knowledge spectrum. I felt like I had forgotten everything I had ever been taught, and Buckwheat took advantage of this, and once again, I was allowing him to be dominant, but I didn't know how to do anything about it.

-A couple of days later, I went to play with Buckwheat, and I made the concsious decision to be patient, remember the things we have talked about in class, and to think about how to ask Buckwheat how to do something, before trying to ask him. It paid off, and I was able to become a better leader, and gain some respect from him again. The other big breakthrough for me was, this was the first time that I was able to get out of my "unsure of what to do" phase by myself. In the past it has taken some one on one help from either Sylvia or Br. Twitchell. This helped me to realize that I do know what to do, I just have to be patient, and think about it. I moved, to a degree, from "I don't know that I know", to "I know that I know".

-May 26 was such an exciting day, because buckwheat went over the bridge twice! I learned that I need to sometimes adjust how I ask for something, in order to make it more clear for Buckwheat. The first time he went over, I did the yo-yo game, when I was encouraging him to come towards me. (I was on the bridge, and backed up as he came closer to me). In order for him to be able to accomplish this feat, I had to implement my lesson about rewarding small improvements. I don't know how long we were at th bridge for, but it took a long time to get over it. I rewarded everything, and after he stepped on it for the first time, we left the bridge completely, because I knew that would be the best reward for him. A few minutes later, I was able to sqaure him up, then do the yo-yo game and he came across! Because it was a big deal he had gone across, and was mentally a difficult thing for him to understand, I gave him a very big and very instant release. The next lesson from this day was how truly important it is that you pay attention to those sometimes random thoughts or feelings you get. In asking Buckwheat to go over the bridge again, a few minutes later, things were not going well. I was worried I was going to ruin everything. Just as I was about to start the yo-yo game, I felt very strongly that I should step off the bridge, and I followed that prompting. As soon as I stepped off the bridge, Buckwheat confidently walked across the bridge. That prompting I received, was fromt the Holy Ghost, and it's so important to have that with you when dealing with horses. I don't always understand my horse's body language, but the spirit does, and he can teach me all things that I need to know!

-The mid term was May 28, and I learned that you can't compare yourself and your horse to everyone else. I didn't feel so great about most things in the test, but I knew that we had immproved greatly. Buckwheat and I have a relationship, albeit, a rocky one, but it's good, and I trust him a whole lot more than at the beginging of the semeseter, and I hope he feels the same way about me.

June
-As we move from playing with our horses on the ground, to playing with them while we are on their backs (riding), I learned that I need to be able to truly feel my horse, and develop better balance. The feel is important, and so hard, because in order to be able to go through any of the paces, especially when bare-back, I automatically tense up, but that makes it harder for the horse to move, and puts pressure on them, telling the horse to speed up.

-I learned the importance of being able to read his body language- at times he was being so dominant, and I didn't even realize it. Doing something about what his body language says, is hard, but I know that it means I need to get really big, reward quickly and big. In doing this, I still need to go through my phases- just very quickly.

-Around mid June, I was feeling really discouraged, becaue it felt like I was doing everything wrong, and I was not able to get Buckwheat to do anything that I asked him. I know that horses respond to the things that we do, so I have been assuming that I have been doing the wrong thing, or have not been clear. But Br. Twitchell pointed out to me that Buckwheat does have a mind of his own, and by observing his body language, there are many times when he simply chooses to ignore me. Not only did this encourage me, and help me to feel better about how I was doing, but it also made me think more about the psychology of horses. Of course he thinks for himself, and has an opinion! I also gained a better understanding of what it means for a horse to be left brained; they are not afraid, and they don't want someone to be dominant over them. Buckwheat was not looking to me to be a leader- I feel like I've been just someone who makes him go to the arena and do crazy things! I have always struggled with being a good leader, and imaginitive! He gets so bored, no wonder he's not paying attention! Having a better understanding of how my horse works should give me a better idea of how to properly play with him.

-Continually relearning the importance of going through phases quickly, and releasing pressure quickly.

-June 11 Buckwheat was so, so lame. His back right foot and leg were so swollen. He didn't want to put any weight on it. Dr. Waddups gave me some medication and instructions on how to treat what turned out to be thrush. But a couple days later, to add to the problem, there was a big, infected sore above his hoof! Although I was unable to do too much with him, this gave me the opportunity to play the friendly game in a totally new way! He needed to get Bute, and pain killer, twice a day. The bute is in a tube, and you need to shoot it up into the back of his mouth. WELL, good luck to me! He's huge, as has been previously mentioned. I may or may not have been lifted off the ground a couple times just from him lifting his head. (Ha!) But with some patient teaching from my wonderful teacher, I was able to translate all that I have learned about pressure and release to make the experience of being treated with bute, bearable! No longer was I lifted off the ground- if his head was up, I kept my hand up, because that was still applying pressure, but as soon as he even started to lower his head, I would drop my hands! Another learning and trust building experience was taking care of his foot. I had to soak his foot in a bucket of warm epsom salt water, put iodine on the bottom of his foot, and antibiotics and a wrap on the cut on his foot. Although it doesn't seem like much, it actually helped me build my trust in Buckwheat. At first I was so nervous about wrapping his foot, but it became much better, and Buckwheat learned what to do, and my daily trip out to doctor him was no problem!

-Unfortunately, problems began to arise in the department of everything else! I felt like I had hit a brick wall, because Buckwheat became more dominant, and fought any movement more than before. I "knew I didn't know" what to do. I knew his foot was sore, and that pain is a motivator, and I didn't want to put him in pain, but I needed him to move. This lasted for a long time, and it's something I'm still struggling with. He needs to move around on his foot, otherwise it will be super stiff, but with his foot being bad, we are physically incapapble of doing what we are supposed to be doing in class.

-Even when things are hard, scary, uncomfortable, and you have no idea what you are doing, keep going. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Be emotionally mature. I was having a hard time with this.

-The need to be dominant was more clear than ever, but how do you be dominant without being aggressive? I don't know!!!!!!!! By reading "Aggressive vs. Assertive" I learned it's being emotionally emotionally mature, calm, patient, and clear in what you ask. Again, this is something I will likely be working on forever. I also am having a better understanding of the importance of having a goal in mind, and a plan to achieve that goal.

July
-July 7 I began riding Jewel, because I was falling behind in class. This was a good switch for me, because I feel more confident in my skills and knowledge, because she responds to my cues. Obviously not perfectly, but her sensitivity is helping me realize the importance of being clear in my requests, and quickly releasing pressure. She has a lot of "go", so getting her to go slowly, or to take only a couple of steps is much harder than asking her to trot or lope.

-Going right to riding a horse, I realized the importance of the friendly game and doing ground things when first building a relationship with a horse- especially the friendly game, because any thing that moves, she thinks is a signal to move forward. I need to figure out how to teach her the difference between something that is moving, and something that is applying pressure, asking her to do something.

-I still need to be patient, surprise, surprise! When things are not going well, I need to take a break, and let Jewel go have some time to herself. Something that surprised me happened just on Friday, the 17th. I had her loose in the arena, she went kind of crazy and ran all around, but she also followed me voluntarily for a time. I guess I'm doing something right for her to choose to be with me. The other improvement I really noticed was the next day, when I went to halter her. Normally Jewel likes to take a few steps away from me when I go get her. Today, she stood still- not one step! That's one step closer to her coming to me!

-Being relaxed is so important! When I am relaxed on Jewel, and when I was relaxed on Buckwheat, everything goes so much smoother, and they are attentive. I feel like I've learned how to be closer to horses, and although it will be more difficult with some horses than others, I know that I can do it!

This class has taught me so much, and I know that as I apply these principles I can be successful in any horse I decide to play with. I hope others can benefit from from my experience, and especially that I will continue to learn and grow!