A blog at last!

September 09
It's been a year since I started playing with Duncan, a 13.hh-ish New Forest pony. We follow the Parelli system of training and have mainly been playing on the ground and with mounting preparation. I've finally got round to starting this blog because we're just starting ridden stuff now and I can tell it's going to be interesting! Over the year, I have had lots of help from my friends Beth, Elsa & Terri (a PNH instructor - lucky me!). I definitely wouldn't have progressed so far without them. This entry is just a rundown of our progress so far:

8th August 08 - first scratching/friendly session. D very wary of me, sensitive and had a real issue with being touched on the withers/back. Loads of extreme yawning in the early days.

6th Sept 08 - D reared up at me when I approached him with too much energy. Realised (after chats) he was a lot more unconfident than I thought. The fact that he was so "mardy" to be led from the ground was also misleading as he played all sorts of dominance games. Hated circling too. Over the past year I have realised he is essentially a LBI but is RBI as a learner hence the marked distinction when we do things similar to those has done in his former training.

13th Sept 08 - Beth came and I was amazed at soft she was with D. He really liked her! She opened my eyes to him being RBI, a real turning point.

1st Oct 08 - breakdown of trust. I had been going to fast for D, it happened over a few sessions where he gradually became more RB and jumpy, not wanting to come to me. Managed to fix with a few friendly sessions, TG.

4th Nov 08 - trust building now. Lessons with Terri have really helped my energy/phases and technical skills.

22nd Dec 08 - 1st time out with M. D great, really saw another side to him, so confident & curious. He really listened to me too! Had a bit of a hairy time passing a field of horses when D got his blood up like an arab stallion but that passed without incident!

3rd Jan 08 - umbrella incident! At lat I can recall this without a twist in my stomach (guilt!). Poor D got handle of huge golfing brolly stuck up under his halter. Galloped round field, jumped a 5 bar gate, galloped round next field with M. Bless them both, they only did 1 circuit and I caught D with some food & he let me take the brolly off. Horrible day!

29th Jan 09 - 1st ride at felbridge showground. D pretty tense but well behaved. I was really nervouse which didn't help. After this I realised that my nervousness was founded as D was still worried about me mounting. At time of writing I can happily say we are past that after hours of mounting prep - lying over, rubbing and acrobatics!

14-16th Feb 09 - sitting up properly!

19th feb - 2nd ride at fab local indoor school. D more relaxed but disappointingly grumpy. Really noticing the two characters of D by now - RB bracey, head high, wide eyes. LB bolshey, nippy, stubborn, occasional challenges by charging or turning bum.

14th March 09 - starting with a bit of liberty each session. D loves PTP and kicking the ball!

19th April 09 - Level 1 filming! I had fallen down the stairs a few weeks before but managed to hobble my way through our audition. D was great. In July we heard we had passed not only L1 but L2 on-line too. What a result!

16th May - Tarp day. D walked confidently all over the tarp. Didn't take long, the 3rd time of the pattern. Smart kid! Especially good as a few days earlier he'd been wanting to leave me quite a bit - doh! Had been going too fast again.

3rd June - I realise that I don't like repeating patterns. Did a 5 day stint of making myself repeat patterns (had a marked effect on D's confidence!) Oh dear. I am a LBE - but that's no excuse! Starting to do more at trot now which D is not impressed with. He's definitely a low energy boy - unless it's his idea!

3rd June 09 - my Duncan diary stops - got a bit left behind then lost momentum. Shame as on...

10/11th July 09 - Lyla Cansfield course! Dear Beth took us all the way to Essex for the weekend. And what a weekend! The first morning D was totally extrovert - LB I think mixed in with nervousness about some of the obstacles. Anyway I had a VERY uncomfortable few hours. I'd been taming my energy for months and now I had to bring my life right back up then add some! I didn't ride D but I felt I could have done. Got lots of tips re pushing him a bit harder - which he responded to well. First cantering on-line! He was perfect pony by the end of the weekend.

July/August 09 - holidays and working meant I didn't get as much time with D as I would have liked but I did take D out by myself twice. The first time was not fun as he was extremely cross at being separated from M and I made the mistake of not playing before I went out. D kept spinning and kicking out at me, much worse than Essex! The next time was great, played before I went, went by ourselves, D chilled and didn't call at all. In fact, he didn't want to go home. Atta boy!

Riding coming along - can now happily mount and sit on. Direct and indirect rein's good plus lateral flexion and disengaging the HQ. I do notice D's reluctant to go forward, even worried - think it's because I've concentrated so much on disengaging & decide to wait until I see Terri to try going forwards!

Sept 5/6th 09 - girls sleepover at Terri's! What fun! D brill to travel, much more chilled than our Essex outing. Had a good old play on day 1. Got some good ideas re being more particular when he is LBI and going slower when he's in RBI mode (reversing through the roadworks!) I got on and RODE forward in the direction of my choice! I did feel a brace in him though, like dear Ollie after his sides had been hammered. Yes....felt a bit "nappy" to put it in traditional terms!