Training Journal Week 1

Session 1 - January 23

This session was hard.  I’ve had a variety of tough liberty starts but this one ranks among the more difficult ones I have handled.  Unfortunately I can’t say that this was all due to Limra.  I have to admit that I was nervous about actually starting this project.  It’s been a dream for several years now and that first step into making it a reality felt very intimidating.  

It was a big deal for me - but Limra of course didn’t share all my expectations.  Horse’s have a way of deconstructing our ego and I had to laugh abit at myself when toward the end of the session - both of us sweaty and tired - she chose to lay down and roll.  It was at that moment I really let go of my expectations, smiled at Terral who was behind the camera, and realized that this process will be what it will be.  

From the start of the session Limra was showing only signs of stress.  There was tension throughout her whole body, she was constantly snorting, and had no interest in having a conversation with me.  She would run forward for short stints with her tail in the air and then stop and look for a way out of the round pen.  When I did manage to connect with her  it was only for brief periods and she always disconnected shortly afterwards.  

I made several mistakes this first session.  

First I didn’t establish enough forward flow.  Although I did get her to move I was abit thrown off by how confident she was toward the whips even though she was so insecure as a whole.  If I cracked them and really brought my energy up she would move but she was not truly thinking forward.  I should have applied more energy modulation and sensitized her more to the driving energy and whips.

Second, realizing her mental state and my own mental state I should have transitioned sooner to lowering my expectations.  I was looking for full circles.  Adjusting to accepting catching the eye or half circles may have been more appropriate.  I should have been using the “expect a lot, accept a little” principle. Lack of this principle caused the session to be much longer than it should have been.  

That said and done, I did manage to accomplish some things during this first session.

I did ultimately manage to catch the eye in both directions and achieve full circles in each direction.  This was in spite of her really preferring to draw to the out gate instead of me when circling to the right.  

I did figure out that she loves to be scratched and even when stressed she would show signs of appreciation when I offered them. 

I did manage to become more present throughout the session and recognize how my own nerves and emotions about this project were impacting my training.  

Session 2 - January 24

I took everything I learned in the first session and vowed to myself that I would not make the same mistakes.  I tried to be more present and attentive to what felt best in that particular moment with Limra.  I think we had both learned important lessons in the first session because this session was short, sweet, and effective.   

I was able to obtain more fluid movement forward and I think that helped her draw better to me when I caught her eye and offered her to circle around me.  

I was also more focused on spending quality time in a state of calm to reward our better moments.  I felt better able to offer her relaxation and calm with me.  I definitely implemented the fact that she seemed to enjoy scratches to further those good feelings.  

I was much clearer on my goals and they were appropriately calibrated.  I started on the left side and got her to draw in and circle me.  This took several tries but I was patient and let her explore her options.  I always let her leave and just added energy only once she had reached the far edge of the round pen.  When she chose to circle I spent some quality rest time and then worked on trying to get her to start right away in a circle after the rest without leaving me.  This also took a couple tries but soon I achieved that walk circle without her leaving from start to finish.  Then I repeated the same process on the right side.  

Session 3 - January 27th

This session we were able to develop some more consistent circling around at the walk.  Although she was still regularly departing the conversation, we had a much more secure framework for re-establishing connection.  She began offering more fluid movement in the circles around me.  

This laid the framework for starting our first reverse switches.  Some of the switches were successful but for many of them I would lose the connection as I turned.  I began to ascertain that the lunge whip dragging on the ground was spooking her and causing her to turn away from me.  To help her gain more confidence I practiced repeated reverse switches at a standstill.  When she would back up I would simply approach the shoulder and rub on her in between the switches.  As long as she didn’t turn away I just attempted to offer her a calm space where she could become more accustomed to the sound and movement of the switching of the whips.  Then I began to incorporate some circles before and after the reverse switches.  As soon as I made some progress with the reverse switches I went ahead and wrapped up the session. 

Session 4 - January 29

This session was exciting from two perspectives.  It was the first session where I felt she consistently stayed more connected to me.  There was one point where I had to ask her to move out around the outside at a trot and several times that she drifted off but the entire feel of the session was different.  Even when she was tense she was much more willing to look to interact with me and have a conversation.  This mental shift helped lead to a physical shift in her body.  She was moving more fluidly and offering more bend through her body when circling.  

In the session we continued to work on circling and directional changes.  She was still very nervous about the lunge whip dragging across the ground in the reverse switches so we continued our work attempting to not lose the draw during the changes of direction.   We accomplished several where she didn’t back up which was a huge improvement from the last session.  

We also managed to introduce a couple of front switches.  I hadn’t planned on introducing those yet but surprisingly she seemed to have an easier time with them in some respects than the reverse switches.  I was happy that I took the leap and tried them out and will continue to experiment.  

Overall I am still pondering Limra’s personality and trying to better understand her emotions.  She is quite sensitive and nervous at times while simultaneously showing an attitude in some situations that characterizes a more confident personality type.  I love how expressive she is but it has been a challenge to figure out how to direct her big attitude while also giving her reassurance when she is insecure.