Friday, July 16, 2010

The Intensive

Today I finished a one week intensive in Horsemanship with a smart and talented 9 year old girl, named Polly.  We met daily at 10 am at our farm, and she worked primarily with Shaman, our Kiger Mustang. This was his first week long intensive, and Polly's as well.


Shaman is a smart and determined guy, who was a good match for a strong willed and smart young woman! Here they are the first day getting to know one another at liberty.

After learning how to 'catch' your horse, by having him come to you, Polly learned to put on a rope halter.


Learning how to use the tools is part of the learning curve, giving the horse room so he's not claustrophobic. Tighter does not mean more control!

Polly then had a lesson in round pening, beginning to learn how important her body language is!
 Shaman liked coming in to hang out with Polly for scratches and rubs.


Day three was with Rascal who gave Polly a chance to see how her new skills worked on a different horse.


Polly is bending over to look at Rascal's butt - this game is to 'disengage' the horse and bring him into you. She is very clear in what she wants!  Focus is so very important and you cannot lose it for one minute!


Here Polly is doing the "yo-yo" game with Shaman. She stands still and moves him with the wiggle of her finger or the rope!


Then she asks him to come in to her, and he gets praised and stroked.


At the end of that session they played a game of 'follow me'.. Shaman liked this a lot!


Being nine, Polly asked me if I ever played with my horses... Ummm, I thought, well I think of everything I do as play, but when I saw her braid Shaman's forelock, I suggested we paint him like a war pony the next day. She said she was so excited she could hardly sleep that night.
So, we braided ribbons and feathers in his mane, and used finger paints to paint him up like a real Indian Pony. I am not sure who had more fun!   Shaman thought this was the easiest day of all!
Naturally we needed a cowboy hat for the photo shoot!


Shaman was such a good horse during the entire week. He got calmer and more relaxed each day with Polly. She has helped him grow into a better partner, and she grew leaps and bounds in her horsemanship skills!  Thanks Polly for such a fun week! I miss you already!

1 comment:

  1. That is fantastic! Stay natural.
    ~Gina
    Parelli Central

    ReplyDelete