My Growth

So this is just my closing note about this class and all that I have learned. This semester couldn't have been more different compared to last semester. And I knew that from the moment I first met Chester that it would different because he has a different personality than Shelby. The main thing I learned about myself this semester is that I still have some BIG isssues in getting BIG!! I don't know what my deal is... I just have such a hard time with it for some reason. I think I've gotten better than I did when I originally started working with Chester and especially horses in general. I love being around horses and I hope that I will always be able to have this chance of working with them for as long as possible.

I like to look back on when I first started riding... Fall of '06 when I took the Basic 1 Class when it was still used for credits. That was THREE YEARS AGO! I didn't even know how to saddle a horse or bridle them! I was terrified to lope and terrified of falling off! Now I LOVE loping its the best thing in the world! And I have already fallin of three times and I'm still alive... well for now :D I have gained so much confidence in this class. Not just when dealing with horses but in my own personal life as well.

Chester is an awesome horse, Shelby is an awesome horse. Whomever I get next will be an awesome horse as well. Each horse I ride challenges me in different ways. With Shelby it was my confidence and overcoming my fears. With Chester it was being BIG and having patience and not letting him take control all the time.

This style of training or working with your horse is a wonderful way to connect with your horse. The main thing I know now, is that everyone learns in diffferent ways and has different styles of teaching and training. I need to cypher through all of them and figure out what works best for me and take it. But I need to always remember to be open to other styles and others advice as well.

Lastly, the main thing for me to work on in general. Is to NOT compare myself to others. I can't continue doing that because it will just weigh down on me. I need to just look at how far I have come already and know that I am still learning and will continue to learn and continue to grow and advance. I have to have the confidence in myself that I can do anything I put my mind to.

Dec 12 - Loping Bareback one more time/Horsenality

When I went out to the LC today for Open Riding the tack room wasn't opened and I didn't want to call up Sylvia and have her come out and unlock it because I knew she was going to becoming out for horseball anyways in a little bit. So I just did some groundwork with Chester. Getting him to pick up my energy again, yielding his hindquarters and then I also did the cones and poles for a little bit to refresh his memory before the final. I then decided I wanted to try to Lope bareback one more time. I was having a REALLY hard time getting him to go into a lope and I couldn't get big enough. So Randy ended up chasing him and using the carrot stick and he did eventually break into a lope for a little bit. If I could find a way to keep my energy up a ton while on him bareback to keep him at a lope it would be absolutely AWESOME!!! But I'm glad I still had the guts to try it even after falling that hard the weekend before.
So a really chill kind of day but fun nonetheless.... :D :D
---- (I gotta get a hang of it before the end of next semester! you know.... HORSEBALL!)

So since it is the Final time and the end of the semester its time to re do the horsenality chart for Chester. He is nowheres near as food oriented as he was when I first started working with him. He doesn't push to go to his pen and is a lot more patient with me when I take his halter off as well. I have noticed that he has developed some more right brain symptoms however. He is a little bit more shy and timid then when I first watched him. But then it is sometimes hard to tell still when he is actually nervous of something or is just plain trying to be dominant with me. He still is overall is a left brain/introvert but he isn't too fall onto that side of the spectrum as we he was previously. I also noticed that when he gets nervous he will completely avoid looking at that object or whatever it is that scares him. He has gotten better and I can see that but its not a drastic change, but then I don't think he could have a drastic change because of his personality it will take time and lots and lots of patience with him.

Dec 11 - Lead Changes

So I've always realized that Chester lopes so much better when going to the Left then he does to his right. I've never actually tried to see why an really pay attention to it even though I definitely should. So today I realized that he always picks up the wrong lead while loping to the right and thats why it always feels really strange to me. So Randy was there and he helped me work on getting Chester to pick up his right lead. We loped around in circles and he had me put me just enough pressure on his right side to get him to push that leg forward. I had to get really big at times to try to get him to pick it up and he really wasn't getting it. Then after going around the arena a couple of times I eventually got him to pick up his right lead for a couple of strides before he decided to slow down to his fast trot (like always)

But he did fairly good and was happy with that and it took some effort and I know I should have spotted it sooner and started working on it with him awhile ago but for some reason it was a top goal on my list... which isn't always a good thing. But I'm glad I noticed it though and was able to practice it with him for at least a little bit.

Dec 4 - Loping Bareback and... falling....

Soooo... Loping bareback.... not easy for me. lol. I don't have the best of seat to begin with so getting on bareback and trying it doesn't help. However it was my ONE goal this semester i REALLY wanted to succeed in. However... my hips having been giving me a TON of trouble and are constantly in pain so going bareback definitely makes it worse. So this friday I finally got the guts to try to lope. And well... with Chester it takes a lot of energy to get him to lope with a saddle on so bareback was worse because i was trying not to fall off and trying to give him a ton of energy to get him going. It also doesn't help that he has like 5 different speeds at a trot. And when he goes to his fast trot its almost impossible for me to stay on while bareback. I finally got him to go into a couple strides of lope but he wouldn't stay constant at it.

At some point he actually took off and loped when Emily and I took off together pretending to chase someone down! It was SOOO AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to be able to have a confident seat while loping because I know it will be absolutely awesome! However... haha then my accident! When i got him into a lope at one point he suddenly decided to take a VERY sharp turn (without me wanting him to) and slow down to his fast trot and well... I didn't stay on. So I fell right off and hit my head really hard! And was really dizzy and lightheaded and my head was pounding... Raquel was there and had to help me stand up. Well I wanted to get back on Chester just to say i wasn't scared to get back on... so she helped me on again. However... there was NO WAY I was going to move while on him. My head was swimmming!!! AROUND AND AROUND AND AROUND! (I believe I might have had a slight concussion but I was alright by monday even though I pulled something pretty bad in my neck and had a headache all weekend) But hey... its my own fault! I knew what I was getting into! Sooo.... to those who wear helmets while riding good for you your smart... unlike me lol. But I'm fine now and I'm glad I tried it! It was totally worth it! :) :D :D

Dec 3 - Side Passing/Side Stepping

Today Dawn and Russell taught ways to improve with side-stepping and side-passing. Dawn helped give us ways to work with our horse better on the ground before getting in the saddle. We went on the wall and would pressure the hip then the should and back and forth. Chester tends to walk forward when I presssure his shoulder so Sylvia came in and advised that I pressure his head more and it really started to work. He moves slowly but he did better as we kept practicing it.

The saddle... was a complete different story. Russell showed us how to use the wall to help prevent our horse from wanting to move forward all the time. My problem was that I really couldn't get him to turn his hip around at ALL! He just kept running me into the wall. I started getting really frustrated. I was frustrated because I knew it was my inadequacies that prevented me from teaching Chester the proper way to do things. I have a really awkward handle on the reins when I work with horses. My hands are usually almost ALWAYS off balance and I can't quite get how to hold them without making a fool of myself. So was having difficulty with that. Russell helped me as best he could but I think he could tell i was getting upset with myself so didn't push too much.

After class was over I really wanted to see how I could do it better so Russell got on Chester for me and was able to determine how he doesn't turn his shoulder in like at all so he said to try to just going in small circles and getting him to turn his shoulder and then his hip out that before moving to the wall for side-passing. Watching him and the control he had over the reins really helped me understand that I just have to have patience and not get upset with myself because I am still learning.

This lesson was definitely one that tried my patience and my own feelings of inadequacies. I know that I am still learning but sometimes when I look at how quickly other people seem to get the hang of things it just weighs me down but I can't have that attitude. Having that type of attitude will just make my learning capabilites even worse and won't help Chester learn either.

Below is a video of Chester rolling and just really happy after working hard or playing or whatever you wanna call it.

Dec 1 - Loping Circles

Today I really practiced getting Chester to lope circles. His circles definitely need improvement and he still makes mistakes. When going to the left, he still wants to change direction right at the door out of the arena. I made sure to really focus on where the circle was and I also kept driving him forward, not letting him slow down because that is when he tends to decide to suddenly turn around. Just by continuing doing it over and over he totally started to improve. Below is a video of Chester and I loping a circle to the left and it was the first time he loped the full circle and I didn't have to correct him a whole lot! It was AWESOME! :D :D