History List

Whilst clearing out yesterday, I found my diaries of my progress with my Jack. What I saw was shocking and yet inspiring.I was desperate when i started Parelli, but look how far we have come. What follows are the behaviours before I found Parelli training, most of which disappeared within my first few months of training. 

1. impossible to catch, it would take hours and hours and hours.  Memories of Ian and me either chasing him round the field, or sitting, hoping, waiting for him to be nosey and come and look. 

NOW Jack is always first to the gate.  He catches me not the other way round.

2. Impossible to lead. Jack refused to move or would run backwards and rear. It would take two people one in front and one behind, and often a stick. Then you had to try and get him in a stable, which was even more fun and games!
NOW he is my shadow, where ever we may go.  If I run he runs, if I walk backwards, he walks backwards! Even without a rope.

3. Hide in the stable corner, bum to the door, and refused to look at you.
NOW meets me with a whinny at the door even when I have just gone away for 5 minutes!

4. Jack refused to lift his feet, would stamp, barge into you, pull away from you or lay down. Was unshod as it was not possible to shoe.
NOW stands patiently while all four feet are shod, well nearly ( except when he tries to stand on the tripod)!!

5. Pawing always, always pawing, and would strike with his front hooves if you weren’t careful.
NOW will paw slightly when standing for long periods or when in forward mode

6. Unable to groom. Would fidget, barge and would threaten to kick you if you ventured into sensitive areas.
NOW loves being tickled all over!

7. Dangerous to tie. Would pull back violently, rear panic and run.  Looking at this made me recall a time when he scared himself by pulling and bolted off out of the yard with all of us running after him.  Thank god I don't have to do that anymore!
NOW you don’t really need to tie, but if left unattended and tied he stands quietly

8. Impossible to bridle. He would fight you. Lots of tears had here. He was such a nightmare.  Many a time I would fail and end up throwing the bridle and stamping on it in frustration.
NOW can bridle from a chair sitting down and ask him to lower his head into it.

9. Wouldn’t accept the saddle, would evade it at sight, and would roll with it on his back.
NOW 100% standstill and actually enjoys it, because we make it fun.

10. Refused to lunge. Would evade, spin, rear, run backwards, run over you, pull you over as he run off, or throw himself on the floor.
NOW we can do  anything really on the end of a rope!

11. Mounting impossible. It could take an hour to mount on your own as he would not let you.
NOW he will standstill and is polite and waits to be asked to walk forward.

12. Dangerous to Ride Jack used to rear, spin, nap, run backwards through fencing, run forwards through fencing, bronc, and bolt bolt bolt!
NOW none of the above.

13. Spook, snort, and react to everything.
NOW calm most of the time (unless exposed to new places, people and things).  This is Jack we are talking about, he can still have his moments, but that is what makes him interesting.  you didn't think he would be perfect did you?

Even I had to be impressed with how much we have succeeded with.  A testimony to hard work and what love can do to get through the difficult times.  And oh yes, we still have so much to do to get better and better!

Meeting True

This week I was privileged to be invited to meet a lady who lives nearby who has been studying Parelli for nearly a year, and her lovely horse True Flying Colours, a coloured cob.  I was a little nervous as although I handle lots of different horses on a daily basis, I don't actually do much with them, let alone use my skills on them.

I was very pleased to find that True, who was completely opposite in nature to Jack, took to me very quickly and within minutes I had him trotting towards me happily when asked.  Very interesting how I can now transfer my learning quite easily.

Although whilst on the ground I am fairly confident in what I am doing, I probably looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, when the offer came for me to ride him to see how I got on.  Bearing in mind I haven't ridden another horse for at least 2 years, I needn't have worried.  True was a poppet.  The communication was there very quickly and I was happy to drop my reins completely and trot him round the school, getting his impulsion and using corners and rest as incentive, to get a really lovely forward trot.  This behaviour and psychology stuff never ceases to amaze me how it works.

It was great to see how much I had progressed in my horsemanship working with a horse I didn't know at all, before I picked up that rope, not to mention getting into the saddle!  If I am serious about this instructor business, which I am I hasten to add, then I will need to get to grips with lots of different horses on many levels.  First step was a good one, now what's next...........

Our Progress

So from here on in, I want to keep a proper log of where we are, where we have been, and of course where we are going!  I have had many people who have helped me along the way, and they know who they are.  Thank you!

Last year, I made huge steps to go out and about with Jack to clinics.  This was a very emotional and difficult thing for me, as Jack reverted back to a scared horse which was very unexpected.  But with lots of support we worked our way through it and we challenged ourselves and both came out stronger the other end.

These steps were just really the foundation.  This year we are much further ahead and ready to really push ourselves this year.  I would like to go all the way and look at becoming an instructor and help others who didn't know where to turn like me.  Not to mention to help all those horses get a different training foundation so that they can be more happy and confident.  So this year is really exciting.  So much to do so much to learn.

In January I attended James Roberts Foundation Station in Wiltshire, which was totally inspiring.  I came back armed with information and things to do to get my better best.  I then went along to a Level 1/2 clinic with Terri (someone who I really look up to), and I was thinking at that point how much more involved I wanted to be.  I learned so much more from soaking and spectating but realised that I wanted to be hands on and helping!  Then one day, a friend said to me that 'I should never say never', when talking about following my dreams.  So I figured, she is so right!  Had a chat with my long suffering and very lovely husband, and he has agreed that I should go for it.  I can only try, and it will be a challenge as Jack is not the easiest horse to try and achieve this with, but I wouldn't do it without him.....I wouldn't be here thinking this without him!

In the Beginning

My journey so far with my complicated Right Brained Extrovert (a little bit nutty in English), with lots of other horsenality tendencies mixed in has been 'interesting' shall we say.  Yet ever moving forward and thoroughly enjoyable, with a sprinkle or two of frustration added for full effect :0)

Jack is the name of my partner and we have been together for 6 years.  He was a neglected sorry thing when I bought him.  He had been rescued from a field standing knee deep in mud, quite literally starving to death.

I had a horse as a child but had my horse sold by my parents when I was 16 and I vowed never to ride again as I had my heart broken.  However, the lure was too strong and after 15 years I started riding again thanks to my lovely husband Ian who booked me riding lessons (although I did tell him he would regret it!!)

After 3 years of lessons I started to look around for information about what horses were out there and the costs involved in keeping them.  However my quest ended abruptly when I saw this bag of bones hiding in the back of a stable too scared to even look at me.

So on Xmas Eve, a very practical time of the year, Jack came into my life and changed it forever.

We didn't even have a headcollar to unload Jack from the lorry so I ran frantically around trying to get the minimal basic things for the Christmas period to see us through. 

At this point in time I had never even heard of Parelli but had my own way with horses which had a close basis to being natural, putting them first and establishing a relationship.  Jack had a lot of issues both psychologically and physically.  I was not able to ride him due to his poor weight and muscle tone, so we went for walks to find the best piece of grass, and lots of time was spent just hanging out and working on getting to know each other.

In our first 5 months I thought I may lose Jack as he had several choke and colic episodes and my vet thought he may have the dreaded and often terminal grass sickness.  Not to be though, it was just that his starved digestion couldn't cope with the new spring grass coming through and he had to have limited turn out.  In time he got some weight on, and at last I could start riding.  

Then the problems began!  In walk he was fine and calm but as soon as trot commenced he would tense and bolt, not stopping until I came off.  Through time and effort we managed to limit problems but he would still bolt.  He was more relaxed on the trail but was very nappy and would rear and try to turn from home.  I could never go out on my own and my confidence seeped away.

I knew I was in trouble.  Jack got fitter and bigger.  As a 5 yr old he grew from 14.3hh to just over 16hh, which was very unexpected (something to do with delayed  growth due to lack of nutrition).  He was never ever nasty and was still friendly on the ground but in the saddle he kept bolting and I kept falling.  Every time I got on I was already scared and he knew it.  I sought professional help and was told after once again he bolted with me that he was dangerous and I should sell him.  We had been together 2 years and no way was I giving up now.  He would meet me at the gate and was always pleased to see me and I would never sell him on to be treated badly again.

We made some progress forward but still had many problems.  He was difficult with his feet, wouldn't tie up, had his own mind about lots of things and when he refused I couldn't change it, wouldn't lunge, and still bolted and reared when ridden.  Then one day in my horse magazine I saw a Parelli advert.  I decided to take a look at the website and requested a free dvd.

What I saw blew me away!!!!!!  I knew I had to give it a try.  So I contacted the Parelli office had a chat with a very helpful lady and bought a couple of DVD's from the Success Series (Horsenality and Seven Games), along with my trusty carrot stick and rope.

What must I have looked like waving my arms, wiggling my rope and stick all over the place.  Jack thought I had gone mad, but something was happening.  He was thinking.  I could see something was working.  I shelved the saddle for a few weeks and figured that I was going to get this right.  His horsenality profile was quite extreme and all over the place at first, but started to show stronger in the LBE as time went by, or so I thought!  

After our first 5 weeks we hit a problem.  Jack started attacking me.  My sweet little (or quite big) friend started lunging at me and attacking with front hooves when he hadn't shown a single bit of nastiness before.  I was very concerned and after repeating this a few times I ran to my phone and called the Parelli office.

What was I told?    He is asserting his herd position over you, you need to be a leader and be firm so he knows where he stands.  So armed with some directions, with hat and gloves firmly in place I marched into the school.  Lots of friendly, then tried the driving and porcupine and the ears went back and teeth came out.  When I bopped Jack on the nose on Zone one you should have seen his face, it was an absolute picture.  And I have never looked back.

You see, he thought he was the boss.  He wasn't seeing me as his partner and he wanted to only go along with my decisions because he agreed with them.  When he disagreed he did his own thing.  He trusted that I wouldn't hurt him but that wasn't enough to break the circle and stop his difficult behaviours.

Jack is exceptionally clever.  His lips go like mad processing information and I have to think, think, think to keep him interested.  The good thing is I can match him.  He is the star of the yard with all his tricks that he does and he loves playing with toys and moving his feet.  So of course we do a lot of standing still just so he learns that too.  He asks so many questions I just have to keep coming up with answers, and if I am not quick enough he will make up his own games to play which can be challenging.

I have now been doing Parelli for 3 years and Jack is now 11yrs,  and we are level 4 on line and Level 2 Freestyle and Liberty.  I laugh and smile every day and my 'dangerous' horse is like a little puppy!  We hack out and he is steady, calm and often nannies young horses to give them confidence.  He stands still (though he can be a fidget) for the farrier and ties up brilliantly.  He will still challenge my leadership, but not fiercely, and I know how we work together to make a team.   He canters to the gate and whinnies every time he sees me, even if we have been apart for 5 mins!!!  If I sit with him in the field to read my book he will come and munch his grass by me and leave the herd.  What a privilege!

I now wish to progress my liberty and riding.  My confidence was severely knocked with his bolting but I can't remember the last time I felt nervous on his back now.  We just love being together.  

Thank you so much Parelli and I can't wait to see how my journey progresses.  I have the full Success series, Levels,Liberty and Horse Behaviour and now the Patterns.   I have aims to be even better and I would love to get to the dressage show I always dreamed of..........Jack is now ready, but I know I am not yet........so he is waiting for me, a true partner!