Well, it has been a very busy summer for me. I haven't had nearly as much horsey time as I had planned. And here we are, the end of September. And although the last few weeks we've had pretty much the best weather of the whole summer, it seems that the autumn is creeping up on us faster that we are ready for. Bright orange pumpkins decorate the fields of Half Moon Bay once again, and the excitement of Halloween is in the air.
Virpi and I had the most exciting weekend since the BASP playday we attended in July. Cici Bower, a licensed one star Parelli professional, came over to give us each a two hour private lesson. It was amazing!!
We often feel so disconnected from the natural horse world being stuck in an environment surrounded with the "normality" of the traditional horse handling methods.
Working with Cici was incredibly eye opening and empowering. She has such a great energy. Her knowledge and experience is so prodigious I felt as if I was getting a lesson from a three star instructor instead. It was amazing how fast and accurately she evaluated both of our horses, Madeira and Mei Li, and knew exactly without thinking, as if it was an embedded insight in her, what to do in each spontaneously arising situation. I was thoroughly impressed. She brought with her a vibrant, vivid atmosphere we were left basking in for the rest of the day.
Pat Parelli often says: "you don't know what you don't know, until you know it." It's a wise saying. Virpi and I now know a little more about what we didn't know, we didn't know before. I have been working so hard to get Madeira to be left brain and calm, (see horsenality chart) that she has become a very calculative left brain introverted horse who challenges my leadership to the fullest. It has been easier for me to internalize that she would be innately a right brain extroverted horse, which she appeared to be for the longest time. Cici helped me realize, that she only becomes unconfident in new situations where she doesn't trust her leader. She literally remained right brain until she became to trust me. Now with her unleashed left brain she is bored out of her mind and thinks I'm a "jolly ball."
Having always picked the unconfident, more energetic horses to work with (surprise, surprise) I have concentrated the majority of my studies on the right brain extroverted horsenality and now have plenty of strategies on how to calm a RB horse. However I have to admit that I have no insights to handling a left brain horse. Reflecting back on Cici's lesson I need to find ways to become more provocative for Madeira and formulate a learning state of mind by kindling a bit of that right brain back into her. My journey into the mind of a LB introvert starts here.
One of the most powerful lessons from Cici came through simulations. Although we have seen Linda Parelli do countless of simulations on videos, and as interesting it is to see how people react to them, it almost seems silly to compare a human with a horse, because afterall we know what is happening and can logically think through the task. It took me completely by surprise how powerfully it affected me to be the one on the place of a horse. To feel what the horse feels.
I have been struggling with the figure eight pattern. Above all having enough draw to bring Madeira back around the barrel. She would get stuck behind the barrel. I had no idea that me focusing on her was creating so much pressure, that she did not want to come toward me. When Cici "clipped" a rope on me and send me around the barrels just as I had done with Madeira it was an instant light bulb flicking on in my head. I learned to redirect my focus to where Madeira felt no pressure and it instantly changed the result. Now our figure eight works beautifully. 
virpi took her lesson with Mei Li, her new center of attention, who came to us back in March. Mei Li is a delightful little Arab mare. Playful and curious. But has a bit of a right brain introvert side, which is why she had a reputation of a "Crazy" horse. Virpi has enjoyed her very much though. The two of them are a great fit and make a fantastic team.
Someone asked me after our lesson about natural horsemanship and whether it really worked on my horse. I told him I don't know, but it worked on me. We must realize while interacting with horses, that it is not the horse that needs to change for our convenience. It is us humans, who must adjust our attitudes and open up our minds to understand horses, to learn to read them and to communicate with them without force. Horses never bargained for humans to bully them around. They are forgiving animals who love to be our partners, play with us, work with us and win with us if only we can learn to be affective leaders, prove to them that we can be trusted, and treat them with respect and dignity. Love, language and leadership (in equal doses.)
