AMAZING LESSON

I had my regular parelli professional Jen come out for a lesson. Our circling game was a bit broken and also she had a second hand saddle we were going to try on Gem.
Everytime I have a lesson I feel like our relationship is transformed all over again!
Gemma is a very dominant mare and she was controlling the game, so i needed to up my game! We did LOTS of transitions as when she went into a trot it was a crazy all over the place trot and she was not thinking at all. I learnt that to get her to go faster I raise my energy and turn/point in the direction or travel and to slow her down I turn the opposite way of direction and then up my phases until she stops. We did this at a walk and a trot only allowing a few steps before a transition. This got her thinking about what she was doing and asking me more questions. Once she was comfortably giving a few calm trot strides then we went for a little bit longer before a transition. It was amazing to see the change in her from before and after! I was still a bit all over the place with my stick and string but she is  a VERY fast learner and picked it up regardless. Can't wait to play with this some more!

Then i had a quick saddle fit lesson and learnt a bit about shimming and the theraflex pad. Then we went over saddling and mounting with Savvy. THEN i had my first freestyle lesson! yay!!!!
I was so proud of Gem, she was so confident and relaxed and I felt really connected with her.
We did lateral flexion on the ground and then in the saddle. Once again she was being dominant and doing lots of head tossing and trying to bite my show but using passive persistance in the proper position she was making great improvments, we did some hindquarter yields, emergency stopping, finding my balance point and some trotting.
So much to work on but it was such a great first attempt!

I'm just amazed at the millions of hours spent around horses, having lessons etc as a kid/teen at how little I really knew about horses. My instructor never once pointed out the horses body language, or talked about teaching the horse anything, or about how my energy and body language is affecting my horse OR ABOUT ANYTHING REALLY USEFUL!!!!!
When I first rode Gem she was not happy, she was not relaxed, she was not thinking, she was not listening, she was not in control yet I was doing everything I had been taught and had all the recommend 'equipment'... how are people still teaching that stuff!!!!

It's awesome to be riding a horse and for the first time ever i'm not thinking that they really don't want to be there. Gem was happy, relaxed, involved, thinking and NOT completely shut down or out of control. I was in control but not with any equipment, all I had was  halter, but I had her mind... so much safer and so much more fun! The possibilities are endless!
I'm just feeling sorry for those who never get to experience that feeling with their horse

Support

Pat Parelli's 7th Key to Success... SUPPORT.
Over the last month or so I've realised how vital this is, being at a facility that parelli is accepted and the property owner is a parelli student has made a huge difference in our progress. I can play without feeling judged, talk about what happened, ask questions and just share stories and knowledge.
IF ONLY there were more facilities promoting natural horsemanship in aust where people can take their horse and play in a supportive environment.
Having friends and family supporting is important and parelli connect and forums are fantastic but there is nothing quite like having someone to talk to, who's been through the same things and is passionate about the same thing!
One day........

Fascinated not frustrated

Of everything parelli has given me the most powerful thing has been to see things from another perspective. To get fascinated not frustrated. Horses being prey animals that weigh 500+kg can be very challenging animals to communicate with. It was frustrating at the start because i cant physically make Gem do what i wanted! I wanted her to do all these things and when she didn't i got frustrated and pushed harder which made it worse and sometimes made it unsafe. We are both Left brained which and we can clash sometimes because we're both dominant and stubborn but once i became less frustrated and more curious about why she was saying 'no' the arguments stopped and i could LAUGH at her cheeky antics rather than try and force the cheekiness out of her.
Neither of us have changed our personalities but by becoming aware of her horsenality and of my personality i could use strategies to communicate with her and make it fun for both of us!
On my very first parelli lesson the instructor briefly covered horsenality and we decided Gem was a Left Brain Introvert, i worked with it and learnt about the different strategies butit wasn't until i did the humanality/horsenality match report that it became to clear just how important it is and how practical!
By the way I am a left brain extrovert and so is Gem but she has a few LBI tendencies.
When I got the report back I thought 'how the hell do they know so much about me! They know me better than me!" lol It's amazing and picked up on behaviours/habits I do without even thinking I'm doing them!

I transfer this motto of 'getting fascinated not frustrated' into everything I do.
As a professional dog trainer I come accross so many people-in fact nearly everyone- completely puzzled and frustrated as to why there dogs are doing these behaviours. Once they realise there dog is not deliberately being naughty but there is a huge breakdown in communication and therefore practically no relationship they soon start to question rather than just get angry! You can even use it when you meet a new person and they do something you don't like or that makes you angry, stop and think 'why' are they behaving like this and how can I be a postive influence and improve our relationship.

Overall, it makes for a much happy life if you can take something that you can frustrated over and look at it from a new perspective and becom fascinated!!!

How I got here and why I'm here

I live in Vic, Aust, with my parents and sister. I grew up here and love this part of the world!

Im starting this blog because i want to share my thoughts and experiences mainly in regards to horsemanship and dogmanship. My goal in life is to be able to create a better place for dogs n horses by educating humans. I think theres alot we can teach dogs and horses but the lessons they teach us are even more incredible. I hope to be able to share these lessons with people and inspire them to want to make a change in the way we communicate with our pets.

I've always loved animals since i was a kid which was strange because none of my family are particularly animal orientated. I begged and begged and begged my parents for a dog and finally they caved and got a Golden Retriever, Oliver. He became my world, i loved him to bits, i wold write about him at school, read him bed time stories and attempt to train him. Unfortunately he got cancer at the age of four and passed away. It was heart breaking.
After we got Oliver i happened to have a ride on a friends horse and then i was hooked. My parents bought me a term of riding lessons for my birthday thinking i would be over it by then but i stuck with it and spent every saturday for years and years at the riding school doing everything horsey i could get my hands on. Eventually my parents found a pony i could lease
on someone elses property, it was so fun, i was the every day, feeding, brushing, riding, in heaven! Well.. The first day he wouldn't let me near him but i sat in the paddock with him ans then left him some food and the following few days he became more curious then we became close and he would wait for me by the gate. Sadly he also got cancer and passed.
I was working part time at an Alpaca farm during this period and loved it.
I was then in mid high school and study, friends and boys took over for a while.
I finished school and started a bachelor in animal science but only last 6months before i decided i liked the course but not any of the career opps i would have after it. So i moved back home and did a cert 3 in childrens services so i could be employed. This is when my gorgeous Snickers came into the picture, it took some convincing but my dad agreed to let me have another dog, my partner and i went to look at a litter of labradoodle pups and a few days later brought snickers home, i was obsessed, he was awesome and made me so happy. i really loved working with kids so i enrolled in bachelor of early childhood education. I did that for1.5 yrs aswell as being an aquatic education team leader at the local pool before deciding this wasnt for me either. I had been taking snickers to weekly training classes and the method was so unique and amazing i enrolled in the trainers course and 6months later was employed at their boarding school for dogs, this is where i am currently employed. I love it, its an amazing method with a incredible success rate and its just SO rewarding. Best of all i get to work with people as a teacher and help animals at the same time! I also got another dog, a stunning golden retriever Bailey, a constant source of laughter!

During the beginning of my employment i went back to my old riding school and had a couple of lessons which reginited my passion for horses, not long after i had Gem, a standardbred mare
on lease. I rode her ans caught her but with trouble the first few days but after a week if i tried to lead her anywhere she would straight out refuse or bite me or charge me and push ne to the ground, i lost all confidence and thought about giving up, i googled local trainers and this 'parelli' stuff kept coming up, i finally took a look and what i read made sense, i emailed a parelli professional and she said she would come and help. I wrote back 'are you sure? This horse loves food and she wont even leave that corner of the paddock if i leave a feed bucket there. But she said horses need safety comfort play and food in that order so we need to work on the first few, dont take it personally just need to learn to look at it from the horses perspective.
She came for the first lesson and WOW! The change was incredible and it had only been 2 hours! I mean she was still very challenging and we had to work with her from the other side of the fence for safety but we lead her to the arena, and i learnt to get her out of my space so i was hooked on parelli!
I went home that night buzzing with excitement and bought the dvds n equipment online. I joined the savvy club and read and watched everything i could.

That was about a year ago, we had our ups n downs including ending her lease once then changing my mind and deciding to buy her but now we are playing mostly in Level2 and loving it. Now she runs to the gate to see me and actually WANTS to be around me, she is curious, funny and at times still very challenging, but that attitude is now why i love her and why shes so much fun, instead of a source of frustration. Gem is just awesome!

So... After all that blabbering my point is i feel that through training and finding a way to communicate with these animals i learn new lessons all the time, so i want to record and share them all with you! Hope you enjoy!:)