Today I spend a long time doing nothing... I brought my blanket and a pillow, orange juice and a snack, some books and my savvy binder... I found myself a nice savvy spot outside his pasture under the cherry trees, and the whole afternoon I slept (a lot), read a book, wrote some stuff down and watched him a little bit...
When I arrived he came to say hello, and I gave him a piece of carrot. My plan was to give him more pieces, everytime he'd come to say hello. I was there for 4 hours and he didn't come once to check me out! How interesting! I did observe that his flight line is quite long, at least longer than the other horses when he spooks. And he also pawed into the fence, so the whole thing came down ... When I tried to check whether he was hurt or not I tried to swing over my savvy string to hold him.. but off course he ran off when he felt it touching his butt... After spending more time on my blanket I could give him a carrot again
I have a happy feeling that we're friends again after the savvy string incident... on the other hand I feel a little bit confused. Shouldn't LBI's be curious? Especially about food? And what about his confidence? He still moves a lot and watches his environment most of the time....
I remembered Linda saying during a demo: when a horse is difficult to read it's probably a RBI... So tomorrow I'm going to start with that idea, which means: SPEND UNDEMANDING TIME...
But this time I'm going to sit in the pasture.. let's see what happens!
Yesterday, I did absolutely nothing... except feeding him A carrot and AN apple... Just observed... and I'm starting to think he's a left brain introvert.
So.. this is my first arrow I'm going to use: SPEND UNDEMANDING TIME... (yeah, you really have to spend 12 weeks at a centre to learn that!)
Introverted horses tend to appears withdrawn and "slow" and need things
to happen very slowly. These horses are so often misread as quiet and
stubborn, but in the RB Introvert's case, he has crawled into his shell
while the LB Introvert has shut you out, much like the teenager who
pretends he can't hear you. These horses need you to be able to do
nothing, sometimes for quite a while before they become confident
enough to come out, or curious enough to want to engage.
So finally he arrived, on may 5, 2009... and it feels strange! But happily strange
I am so nervous I can't think anymore, now how convenient is that ?! But I already spent some time with him, twice. First time I did a catching game near the fence. He was quite right brain, but it didn't take long before I caught his attention, mostly by playing a catching game and matching his energy. The next day I tried to play Me & My shadow.. and decided it's a little bit dangerous with a horse that's still unconfident, who doesn't know driving and porcupine game yet.. so it's difficult to get him out of my space. I decided to start with friendly, porcupine and driving.. and I also added some yoyo-game. Tomorrow I am going to hang out a little more...
I hope I calm down soon, so I can start using my brain again
Before my new horse can be moved from his old to his new pasture, he needs to be chipped. It's the law So the vet said he'd come last monday, but he didn't.. and he also didn't come the next day... because today is a holiday. So I have to have a little patience, and hopefully Rox will join his new herd next week
His name is Rox, he's full German blood out of Ladykiller and Landadel. I know it sounds silly but I don't know his age yet That's okay because he was given to me by a very caring owner who can't keep him anymore... He was looking for a nice person to take care for him, and well.. that's me! So from may on I can start to play again!
That morning I chose the RBI remuda. We played a name game with a fluffy pink ball and did a simulation with core strength: search the balance point to stay grounded.
*Developing horsemen: Extraverts: action, progressive, in-action is difficult Introverts: inaction, observation, not progressive Left brain: facts Right brain: feeling => RBE: focus: too quick, too futuristic => RBI: trust: too content, too weak => LBE: discipline: too strong, too much pressure => LBI: reponse: too analytical, too slow Develop all the good qualities of each quadrant: 1) Become aware 2) Understand & mirror others 3) recondition your own behavior
*Road blocks: oh no! or oh boy! Don't waste your time by listening to people who complain about a road block... just deal with it.
Birds of a feather flock together and shit on the same rock
Book: a complaint free world
What kind of leader do I want to be for my horse? * A nice human to hang out with. * Develop him emotional, mental & fysical. * A leader who takes him to lots of places & happy adventures * More provocative: every day new challenges * Safety, comfort & play partner Strategy: look at your goal, at the end of the day think of 3 positive things you did to achieve or come closer to that goal.
What do I already do to provide good leadership for my horse? *be persistent with the pond *play with the logs *friendly game
What could I do to improve my leadership? *stick longer at one obstacle/pattern *try more liberty
What was easy for my horse when preparing for trailer loading? *the half circle pattern (aproach and retreat)
What areas could he/she be more confident in? *The carwash: not so curious = confident
What I want to play with over the weekend: *Nothing... hang out with my horse and spend undemanding time
2 ways I am already a better puzzle solver for when I go home: *1. Play is a good key towards obedience *2. Liberty is a great test for your communication: does he understand me? Doe he really want to be with me? Is his mind engaged or just his feet?
All morning of day we spent watching Linda teaching a very extravert student with a very introverted horse, and a very introverted student with a very extraverted horse. The camera team of the savvy club was also represented, and there's a big chance you might see the same lesson on the DVD in June.
The only problem was that it was VERY cold that day.. and sitting on your but in the shade on the icey bleechers is very challenging to keep your attention up
This were my notes for that session (which took over 4 hours!) * LBE human with LBI horse: -move less! -effective phase 4, then psychology! -reward with cookies, but only after a good attempt.
*RBI human with RBE horse: -effective phase 4. -focus!
Today, I... * Charted my horse's horsenality in me as a leader
Interesting things I noticed about the differences / similarities in the 5 charts I filled out for my horse: *In themselves: confident *In his environment: little bit unconfident *In a herd: dominant *As a learner: little bit unconfident, reactive *In me as a leader: confident
How playing with an obstacle helped me: *More focus, more play! *See the gaps in the communication
How playing with my obstacle helped my horse: *More focus, more play! *fysical challenge
3 Things I want to think about tomorrow: *More energy! *Play with focus! *Learn, play, focus, relax, motivate,.. seek for the invisible lead rope..
That morning, I joined Julia's remuda, which was the RBI group. We did communication games with eachother and a catching game with some horses.
Then we had a classroom session with Avery about the hierarchy of needs for each horse:
Think like a horse! What's their motivation? *RBE: Safety => rhytm, relaxation, retreat *RBI: Comfort => pressure motivates, but it's the release that teaches... Comfort vs safety = finger hurts vs a coming bear *LBE: Play => variety, go somewhere: look for respect and obedience *LBI: Incentive => reward the slidest try, but ask 1% more every day... He has to figure out something new for the cookie. Use reversed psychology. Look for respect and motivation.
What's difficult for each horsenality? *RBE: bring back circling game, disengaging HQ, standing still, backing up, friendly game *RBI: moving feet, disengaging HQ, friendly game, allow circling game, driving game *LBE: backing up, standing still, moving FQ, porcupine game (biting), circling send *LBI: moving front end, porcupine game, backing up, draw, circling game, liberty
How can you help? RB: moving HQ EXT: drive LB: moving FQ INT: draw
What are you looking for? *RBE: calm *RBI: trusting *LBE: obedience *LBI: motivated
The emotional bank account rapport = 1000 $ respekt = 500 $ emotions = 100 $ feet = 1 $ => If you're only targetting the feet, it will take you 1000 times longer to build up a relationship...
Ask questions instead of questioning yourself...
Demo with Julia about RB motivation *Good leaders don't tell the answer, but set you up so you can find the answer. *Repeat the pattern for safety & encourage thinking.
Demo with Avery about LB motivation *Don't push! Wait for a try or questions. *Don't make him feel wrong, but reward only the right thing.
Classroom session about Laurens journey.... (WOW... you should have been there! but you weren't! HAHA!)
Cause your idea to become their idea, but understand their idea first.
Today, I... * Charted my horse's horsenality in himself. * Charted my horse's horsenality as a learner.
How my horse learns: - Food motivated, play motivated, safety motivated. - Needs to be engaged: quick tasks.
What I taught my horse today: -Back up when I bring him food. -Figure 8 at the trot (he probably knows this already)
List any interesting behaviors (eg. breathing, reacting/responding, licking & chewing,...) -knows a lot -bit reactive -not so easy to catch his mind -extraverted learner -has opinions
2 Things I want to think about tomorrow: 1. Pick my level up, ask more. 2. Have more of a plan.
There are a couple of things I learnt about horsenalities: * Altough I can be all 4 of them, I am most of the time a highly spirited right brain extrovert. * Addressing a horsenality helps you to observe better, wait longer, close your hands slower and open them more quickly, and also recognize your own obstacles in this process. * Left brain extraverts can be fun fun fun!
