It's all about the "ahhhh!"

Friday marked my fifth consecutive day with Amara and a new pattern I'm hoping to establish that helps my horse want to be with me! Amara lives with a herd of 4 other horses and she's probably 4th and sometimes 5th on the totem pole depending on the day. Lately I show up and she's leaving the herd to come and greet me! She will follow me too and I can also now lead her gently with my fingertips. :)

We mosey together to the grooming area which is probably a 20x30 fenced area. I open the gate, she goes through, disengages, turns and waits for me then we go together over to where I keep my grooming supplies. I usually have a little something sweet in a bucket that she eats and when finished, she politely halters herself and then proceeds to stand ground tied on the mat for grooming and saddling. I've noticed that during saddling and grooming she's really relaxing! Her leg is cocked and she's just patient and soft with her body language.

Our last five sessions online have really convinced me that the Horsenality information is bang on! I'm so glad that I can really begin to see what she is trying to tell me and then adjust myself to give her what she needs. The big blowups that we had online are not happening now at all. When she's loose from me (If I fumble or drop the rope etc.) then I can draw her back without much difficulty.

More and more she's in a learning frame of mind and the results are beginning to come quicker. we are riding in the round pen (for my own comfort) and today I checked off all the things on the self-assessment she can now do quietly and without tension. She is almost a solid Level 1 with her skills. We still need work on a few things but more and more I'm finding in myself that it's not about the task. I struggled a lot with patience before getting into this program. When I would hear Linda P. says she hardly ever gets frustrated with horses, in the past I would scratch me head over this. Now I GET IT! The more you give your horse what they need, the quicker the results come, the more you can start to do which all = less frustration for both you and your horse.

To me...it's all about the "ahhhhhh" which is my word for relaxation. My RBE (LBE cusp) mare is starting to do things like try and eat grass during our passenger lesson at the walk. I was a bit surprised by this and wondered if I was doing something wrong. I watched the old L2 (2005 version) yesterday and heard Linda discussing that for the extroverts it's a good sign when they want to try and eat grass with you on them as it means they are truly relaxed. Wahooo!

This week alone by making the friendly game the most important game on my list I watched my mare go from confused (and sometimes freaking out) to calm and understanding moving towards acceptance of extreme friendly game in certain zones.

I just can't wait to go and play with her again!!