My Thyme

Woooooooow :dance:

Well done you and well done Thyme!!

She looks very calm and relaxed and you look really pleased. I don't blame you, you must be grinning like a Cheshire cat!!
 
Well we've had another week full of 'firsts'...

Rode in the arena twice more in the week then on Friday I put Thyme up into trot:


DSC01637 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr


She has that baby-horse 'stickiness' which means she forgets what to do with her feet and gets stuck to the floor every so often :tongue: but she is never getting stressed and is doing her best to please. :inlove: Generally she figures out how to move on again. She also stops dead whenever she sees something interesting. But how's a girl to stare at a caravan or call to a friend in the field, and walk at the same time, eh? We aren't quite at multi-tasking yet!


Then we went for a HACK!!!


DSC01646 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr


DSC01652 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr

She walked past scary looking X-C jumps, ignored horses cantering along the fence line, coped with a car that drove onto the yard as we were setting off. I am still very cautious, as I simply don't know how she will react to things. But so far she has coped brilliantly with everything, so hopefully our confidence in each other will grow and we'll have lots of fun adventures.

Charlie went today :( It's the right decision but he will be sadly missed. I was fine as he was loaded - he loaded beautifully for his new 14 year old owner, bless him. And I was fine even as he was driven away. It was only as I myself left the yard and realised he wasn't there to say goodbye to that I found myself in tears. We will go and see him in a couple of weeks which will be nice.

Here's to another fun week. Enjoy the great weather NR folk :playfull:
 
Yay for sweet Thyme. :)

How amazing that you found just the perfect home for Charlie and you even get to visit!
 
And ANOTHER week of firsts....

(This is also in the show thread - but I want to have our complete story here though....One day it will be interesting to look back).

Anyway: This week:
First show, first time plaiting, first time in a trailer with another horse (and 3rd time ever...).... all happening for Thyme today! Plaiting was a nightmare but we got there in the end (Sort of). I spent all night dreaming about bloomin' plaits!!

This was all about giving Thyme the experience of travelling and of being in a show environment. The actual 'in the ring' bit was the least important bit, really. I entered her in a 2-3 yr old in-hand class.

She travelled really well and coped with lots of horse lorries coming and going and horses everywhere. She even managed to cope with her field & travelling pal doing a working hunter class in the next ring at the same time as her without neighing at her constantly :cloud9:

Anywhere, here she is in all her spiffed up glory....Not sure why I am looking quite so worried!


DSC01671 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr


DSC01675 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr

She was very well behaved in the ring. Super proud mum!

DSC01680 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr


Ooh look it's a blue one... :dance:
(There were only 2 of us in the class. Shhhhhhhh)


DSC01695 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr


DSC01703 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr

Now please can I go to sleep now, you woke me up at 5am :rolleyes:

Love my lovely Thyme :inlove:
 
Best laid plans.... :rolleyes:

Easter holidays = kids off to grandparents while me & OH worked = no taxi services to Brownies/athletics/swimming/ballet/music lessons/film club or football in the evenings = TIME FOR RIDING THYME!!!!

And what happens? Bl00dy blizzards, that's what! Finally today I got up before 6 so I had a couple of hours before needing to fetch kids. OH went out on his bike while I headed to the yard. I had just led Thyme into the arena when the phone rang: snapped chain, oops, taxi services needed again! :banghead:

Oh well. Always next week.

We are viewing a loan pony on Thursday. SO SO excited. Wish us luck....
 
I had all intention to ride today and umm....I wimped out cos of the rain :redfaced:

I'm sure Thyme won't mind the little break, she's had plenty to think about and process recently. I think you're doing a fan job with her. And it looks like she's taking it all in her stride :smile:
 
You're not the only one Sparklie, chickened out yesterday as the weather was so miserable and cold :cold: He got a hug though :wub:
 
Oh bless her, you are both doing so well and she looks lovely and what a good girl.

I know it is sad for you about Charlie - but think how happy he will be doing pony club rallies, galloping about the countryside ..........

Last week I rode out with lots of people and included was a 14 year old girl and her 10 year old brother. And they HUNT!!!!

The 10 year old has a super joggy pony - ridden in a pelham, foaming at the mouth ....... let me tell you, I was super happy to be on Tobes!!!!

Bet Charlie will have a ball and you and Thyme look made for each other. She looks such a pretty girl.
 
Back from holiday! I think Thyme enjoyed her break: she was pretty lively today :running::running::running:
Or maybe that was the spring grass :skip:

Anyhoo - she is getting better at the stopping/starting/steering business, so I am adding a bit of refinement now. Which I guess will go on for the rest of her ridden career! I have started encouraging her to move into corners away from the inside leg and to step across & under nicely on a circle. The ground work has really helped with this I think. Then a bit of leg yielding & shoulder in - just a few steps at a time.

Then I started working on transitions as she still tends to lumber up into trot and lumber back down again. I want slightly crisper transitions.... Walk, trot, walk, halt, rein back, walk, trot etc etc. She began to respond better and after a lovely upwards transition to trot I let her bowl around a bit to reward her - she launched into canter and a threw in a couple of bucks! Oops. Naughty Thyme. First unwanted behaviour from her EVER, which isn't bad going. Just a little enthusiastic perhaps!

Charlie's new owner texted me to say he came 2nd in a SJ comp at the weekend - and got through to round 2 of Trailblazers. Clever pony.

And the pony we saw yesterday - Tara - was PERFECT and is coming to live with us on Monday.... :dance::dance:

Happy days......
 
How fab, clever Charlie. I bet you are just delighted that it is going so well for him. Naughty Thyme! Clever though to be understanding about moving away from pressure even when ridden.

And another new arrival! Pics please!
 
Bitten off more than I can chew.....

Spring-Thyme and she feels like a combination of :timebomb: & :running: while I feel like :help:

Ground manners are leaving a lot to be desired. Barging in and out of stable and field. I have corrected her every time, but she sometimes catches me off guard. I have a nicely bruised/skinned hand from getting trapped between heavy stable door and rapidly departing horse!

Then there is the standing still bit. She will stand beautifully at times - we did a fun Le Trec style course last weekend and she had to stand in a ring while I ran round her, and she was brilliant. But other times it's like she's on hot coals.

Had a lesson on Thursday: RI's comment when she saw her dancing in the yard was 'shall we lunge first to take some of the fizz out???!'

The lesson was a bit of a disaster too: Thyme took a dislike to the puddles in the arena. So she went sharply into reverse, hit her bum on the fence, jumped forward again, hit the puddle.... repeat. As I sat on my yo-yo-ing horse, RI was saying "sit tall, sit deep, light hands etc". I got a rare 'well ridden' from her afterwards when all I actually did was sit still and do absolutely nothing. But that is the hardest thing to do sometimes I guess.

Worst was to come yesterday. I took her in the school and she was really on her toes, so I decided to do some ground work first. Asked her to trot in hand and she launched into canter. I let go and she bucked her way round the arena. Finally she got her leg stuck through the reins. Luckily at that point she stopped and waited for me to come over and free her. I really did NOT want to get on, but I equally thought that pulling away frrm me and refusing to stand still was unacceptable and if I did not get on I would be reinforcing this. So I climbed aboard. In retrospect I think I should have used her energy constructively and made her work forward. But I was too nervous so instead made her walk/halt etc.Precisely what she was finding hardest. Well we got through it without major mishaps so I guess that is something.

On a brighter note: on the Le Trec day she walked over tarpaulin, through a curtain and did the bending beautifully. And I went out on our first road hack with a foot soldier which was ok too. So it's not all bad. Just a little nerve racking at the moment.......
 
Spring grass has a lot to answer for, but it won't be many weeks before it is older and less fizzing for them.

I know Tobes got fed up of ground work and would take off bucking in canter when I was trying to do circling, but you sound like you are varying it all and it isn't boring for her.

Bound to be a bit nerve wracking for you at the mo because she is new to you, you don't know how she is going to react but I think you are doing brilliantly with her.

Manners do seem to come and go at times, I know just what you mean. We then have a concerted manner session which includes having to wait with her stable door open until I am ready to go first etc... guess some of them just push it more than others.

She is a lovely girl, and am sure once she goes a bit further hacking out with a friend, she will be tired and normal!
 
sjp1 said:
Bound to be a bit nerve wracking for you at the mo because she is new to you, you don't know how she is going to react but I think you are doing brilliantly with her.
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

I am still getting very nervous whenever we ride :help: But I am making myself carry on as I know she is fine, really.

She has had a bruised sole for a few days, but was sound again yesterday. I rode her this morning. Took her in the school first and she was very good. Much crisper transitions, nice forward walk, less stopping dead whenever she sees something interesting (though still a bit of that :yellowcarded:). Did our first turn on the forehand(ish).... Then after a bit of schooling we.............

HACKED SOLO :dance::dance::dance::dance:

She was absolutely fine, whereas I was absolutely terrified. :frown: But I'm glad I made myself do it. I am now aware that our slow progress is down to me feeling scared not her being too young or not ready.

Having said that, maybe I shouldn't put myself under so much pressure. I am comparing myself to 'proper' trainers who seem to get a horse under saddle and working in walk/trot/canter/jump within 4 weeks! But I have YEARS, so why the impatience..............
 
Replace Fear With Gratitude

So just back from the truly inspirational Mark Rashid clinic.

There were a few key concepts, relevant to Thyme & me that I took from the clinics.

"Work with the inside of you and the inside of the horse."

What I took from this is about the mind, the feel you bring to the horse. To Mark, horsemanship is an internal art that just uses the external body as a tool. All the important stuff comes from within. If you feel angry and frustrated with your horse, she will know. If you are scared, she will know. If you feel sluggish or energised or excited or angry or bored or uncertain, she will know. So whatever you want from your horse - turn your attention to the feel/the experience you are after. If you are well connected to your horse, she will pick this up, and offer you what you are wanting. That is when the 'inside of you is working with the inside of your horse'. He said most of the time people communicate with their horses with a foghorn! We SHOUT LOUDLY and we miss all the really cool stuff because we just don't know how to listen to horses or to communicate with any subtlety....

In the clinic I saw it over and over again. He approached a horse and he changed how the horse felt about the situation! Not by doing anything in particular but by the energy he brought to the horse. And by changing how the horse felt he then changed how the horse behaved. But the behaviour change comes from inside, first.

In the break I spoke to Mark and said that was all fascinating but HOW. How to even begin working 'from the inside'. He looked at me and said 'when you ride your horse - replace your fear with gratitude'. It was SPOOKY. Anyone who has read this diary might recall that I felt tremendous gratitude when Thyme first allowed me the privilege of getting on her back. And somehow I have lost that gratitude and replaced it with fear. So his advice was bizarrely apt for me.

Don;t think of transitions, think of rhythms

In the field horses don't transition from walk to trot, They just walk and then they trot, and then they walk again. There is no hitch/hesitation. Whereas under saddle horses (or rather riders!) will put in a hitch/hesitation by separating the gaits. Walk - aid - trot - aid - walk. Thyme is very lurchy and abrupt in her transitions, so this really rang true for me. Mark said instead of thinking aout transitions just think about rhythms. Move from a 4 beat to a 2 beat to a 3 beat to a 2 beat to a 4 beat etc....... No aids needed! Just connection and a feel of the rhythm. Again this was demonstrated by a rider who was able to get wonderful free transitions with no aids at all!

Was so excited I got up before 6 to ride this morning..... Just couldn't wait to connect with my horse again. She came straight over to me in the field. I concentrated on GRATITUDE, which wasn't hard considering that a beautiful animal was seeking me out, allowing me to lead her, touch her, ride her. So easy to take all that for granted, though. Once on board I kept gratitude in my mind and there was no fear at all. :cloud9:

Then I focused on rhythm. And it really was amazing. We floated into trot and drifted back into walk. No suddenness, no jerks, just subtle shifts in patterns and rhythms. I was so into it I actually closed my eyes and was riding around with a stupid grin on my face till I suddenly realised I was ON A HORSE and should perhaps look where i was going......

God there is so much more to write, but I have chores to do.

I have had plenty of RIs, good ones too. But no-one has ever moved me, or amazed me, or inspired me anything like as much as Mark.

On a final note, I like his low key, ego free approach but actually it is TOO low key. I want there to be Rashid associates all over the UK so I can learn more! But he just doesn't do that. So short of moving to Colorado, he remains fairly inaccessible - at least on a 1:1. If anyone has any bright ideas of somehow capturing the essence of what he teaches and preserving it then I'm all ears!!!
 
very inspirational. Thanks for sharing. When I got back into riding and training Minnie the first thing I did was re-read a couple of his books because they just bring me into the right frame of mind. You know that whole looking for softness rather than lightness thing.

Interesting concept about the transitions I haven't heard that before but we did a neat little exercise with my dressage instructor last weekend that seems to go a little bit along these lines. She was asking me while I was riding. Is there a little bit of canter in this trot? (before asking for canter) and you could feel either yes, there's a little bit of canter in this trot already or no there's not that much energy. And then the same with downward transitions (Is there a little bit of walk in this trot) so that you adjust the energy of wherever you are in so that the transitions feel soft and natural -kind of like a horse in the field rather than a car in city traffic.
 
That is really really interesting and inspiring!

I wish i could have been to the clinic also. Are there DVDs that i can purchase with regards to Mark Rashid? I am really interested in his concepts that you have mentioned!
 
Amazing. The story of his that actually made me have a tear in my eye was in whole heart, whole horse and was about 'The Black'

I find him so inspiring, so much more so than any other NH instructor or anyone else at all, but it is very difficult to learn from a book! There is no 'back him up six paces and he will .....'

Must try gratitude. Am having lesson tomorrow, and shall try more imagining/thinking, rather than aids.

I must say on Sunday, I was in mega buoyant mood for some reason, and Tobes was just fantastic. Galloping down tracks, (not super fabby for pulling up, but I was thinking as we were galloping along, I am really enjoying this!) And then he was just so good, came straight down into walking, still on a track, but no dancing or mucking about. Praps because I didn't feel nervous???
 
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