Wednesday L&HB Day Eight

Today was the circling game day. Carmen took the demonstration and did a fantastic job with her mare, Miss Lukie, showing how to make the circling game interesting for both horse and human. Level 1 circling could be on a 12ft line, slow speed using the 'lead it, lift it, swing it, touch it' method. Level 2 could be on a longer line, at a faster speed with the requirement of the horse to maintain gait. The change of direction and long phase 1....... quick 2,3 and 4 could also be used. Level 3 is the refinement of all the above and then spins at liberty also.

There were a number of interesting points to consider when playing circling and the most important is a thing called 'positional truth'. This is where your body does the same things every time it makes the same request and the movement is different for different requests. For example, for the disengage tilt the head and shoulders to the side; for the turn draw stand tall and lean/walk backwards. This will stop confusion in the horse as to whether the request is 'game over' (disengage) or 'please make the turn' (draw). Another useful tool is dividing the circle into quadrants and measuring progress by quadrants.

Jesse then covered some common problems with some student's horses:

My horse won't go - play the 'Get out of my Quadrant' Game by hitting the same spot hard and rhythmically.
My horse stops - say thank you and then change direction.
My horse changes gait - resend or change direction.
My horse goes too fast - go slowly and reinforce the slowness and use change of direction.
My horse won't turn - take your time, set it up and wait.

Playing the circling game with Roget had some 'how interesting' moments today! He has been a closet extrovert all along! He lulled me into believing he was left brain introvert requiring incentive, i.e. carrots, when really he is the extrovert type needing lots of play! The circling game seems to be the game for him where his playfulness really comes out and as such his sensitivity increases enormously. I think that of all the games, the circling game he finds the least interesting and therefore makes up his own games! He is such fun! I was challenged however, I need to locate the playful extrovert in me without turning the energy up - easier said than done - practice required here!

In the evening I went to dinner with Beth (my house mate) and Lynn (see photo), as Lynn is only staying for course 1 and will be leaving on Friday :-( We have got on really well with Lynn and had a wonderful night out at Pagosa Springs' best restaurant. I drove, but Beth and Lynn got a little tipsy and we all had a really good evening. Hopefully we will stay in touch in the future.