Puzzling...

What a flipping gorgeous evening to spend with my horse. It has been SO hot lately, but tonight presented the perfect combination of cloud cover, breeze, a spattering of rain and shade moving in… it was glorious.

View from the barn tonight.

While I did have an interesting ride expanding on the thought process I stumbled into yesterday, tonight I want to write about our liberty sessions, which have been equally interesting and puzzling. We’ve been continuing to play with the “Find Your Herd” exercise, but our connection is such that we don’t spend too much time there. We’ve also been playing with some basic yields and getting into a pattern of having conversations about space. Well, today and yesterday, we started out in the same place… Finn was definitely connected, but happy to follow me at his own pace, no doubt confident that he would catch me eventually.

Yesterday, I decided to experiment with sort of narrowing the safe-zone… When Finn got too far behind, I turned around and cleared the space/sent him to find his herd again. Admittedly, this felt not-great… very disharmonious, because I felt like I was breaking the connection when he was still sure we were together. If you could see the look of bewilderment on his face the first time I did it, you’d understand. It was like a confused “You don’t want me to follow you???” But I gave it the good old college try and after having to get quite loud to get him to understand that he should clear out, it did ultimately result in him quickly coming back with more energy.

After that, I stayed more high-energy and erratic, and he got more enthusiastic about following me… and also quickly more confident about my unpredictable changes of direction. The session ended with this:



I see a lot of good there. Perhaps my favorite part of the whole thing is the first few seconds where he leaves his leaf-snack to follow me without any reminder on my part. For sure he is sticking with me, and putting effort into it! But on the whole I really wondered about the session… did I break the intention of the exercise to get the result I wanted? I’m honestly not sure.

Today I took a different approach. After establishing that we had following going on, I moved onto practicing our basic yields, which went superbly. I then went back to FYH to see if I got any more motivation… the answer was no.

So, I moved onto blending having conversations about space with having conversations about energy, and tried to see if I could clear space effectively enough to have him trot off. I didn’t ask for a circle, but it’s what he offered… I think it happens pretty naturally when a horse is connected like he is. We got some really nice transitions from walk to trot through this, and I was able to send him off from a halt, too. All in all, I was really pleased with this! But when I went back to FYH, he was happy as ever to follow along at his regular amble. Hmmm.

I decided to send him out trotting and then turn and jog the other way… that got him catching up to me at a trot. I jogged around a bit, keeping things much more relaxed and flowing than yesterday, and he kept with me; maybe not RIGHT THERE with me, but matching my path and energy for sure. One thing that was interesting to me is I made a few gentle loops towards the rail to change direction, and he matched them perfectly by making a similar loop and switching sides behind me so he was still on the inside. That struck me because it was a REALLY different feeling that a game of Stick-To-Me, where I’d insist that he stay on one side and hustle to keep up. And yet it felt really… together. Together like a school of fish or a flock of birds. It was a nice feeling.

Eventually I ended the session when I got a really prompt transition to the trot, perfectly matched to the moment I started jogging. We didn’t get anywhere near the exuberance of the previous session, but on the whole today’s experience felt more harmonious. Perhaps because there was never any point where I really sent him off.

All in all, I’m not really sure if one approach was better or worse or more or less appropriate than the other. I’m still thinking about it. Possibly, they were both valid. Perhaps the first day would have felt more harmonious in the end if I had been more conscious to transition back to real peacefulness between our run-arounds. Ultimately the end goal is to have harmony and exuberance, so maybe these two sessions were just a really excellent way for me to practice having one and then the other… and if you transition between two qualities often enough, eventually the horse will offer them together.

Anyway, this liberty stuff is quite an engaging puzzle… especially so since I am trying to piece together a new approach to it from second-hand information. But I remind myself that I can’t go too far wrong if I keep the qualities of the end result in mind, listen to Finn, and keep a light-hearted attitude and an open mind. I also have to remember that perfection is NOT the goal, so there’s no point in fretting over not making mistakes. After all, it is when we fumble, get confused, and then find our way back together that our relationship grows stronger.

An Odd Juxtaposition

So I’m away again, off to LA for vacation with R this time, but I used my one full day home to spend the afternoon with Finn. S picked me up and we headed over to Washoe Lake State Park for the late afternoon and evening, and it turned out to be an interesting experience which gave me lots to mull over on the long drive down to LA today.

We started our afternoon with some Liberty in the public arena at the park, and I was so super impressed with Finn. His connection to me was even a little better than the day before playing the Find Your Herd game, and we moved on to playing with some yields and thoughts about the Friendly Game. S generously shared some info she’s learned from Aimee Brimhall (one super talented horsewoman, especially at Liberty!) whose insights I’ve been hoping to incorporate into my Liberty going forward.

There were two things that REALLY impressed me. First, even when Finn got a little confused about the Friendly Game and thought he should leave when I meant for him to stay, his version of “leaving” was to go out on a circle about 40’ in diameter at a trot. So even through his confusion he was doing his darndest to maintain the connection and stay with “the herd.” The other was that even when S decided to take her mare back to the trailer and tie her, Finn stayed with me! I thought he might get worried about his buddy going out of sight, but he seemed perfectly okay with it.

All in all, this experience at Liberty on top of the one the day before and all the others I’ve ever had with Finn add up to this “conclusion”: this horse has SUCH a strong desire to connect and be part of the herd. I mean, honestly, it’s really an exceptional quality… something I’ve always known about him, but maybe haven’t fully appreciated before. The “double-edge” to this is probably that it also increases his draw to other horses, which can be a challenge, but I still see it as more of a gift than a problem.

After our Liberty session, we took a break in the shade and then headed out for a ride. This time, though, we decided to experiment with heading out separately, because our last few rides at Washoe Finn has wanted to leave the parking area like his tail is on fire and I was wondering if it might be because he was anxious about “the herd” leaving. So I left ahead of Sally. Finn was still wanting to book it out of there, so I decided to experiment and let him… no faster than a trot, but I let him trot as fast as he wanted.

And trot we did, for a LONG while. I had to repeatedly remind him that the canter was off limits, and he eventually settled into a HUGE trot. I would have gone further, but I was conscious of Riley following along behind in the 90-some degree heat and his furry black coat, so I eventually decided it was necessary to prioritize getting the dog to water over following through on what I was hoping to accomplish with Finn.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the rest of our ride wasn’t terrible, by any means, but I rarely felt like Finn and I were really connected. We passed some other horses on the beach, and as usual he got pretty fixated on that, even though we were trotting small circles and turns the whole time they were nearby. We stopped in a few places to practice our weightless trotting and other exercises, but the feeling of constant ‘druthers was nigh impossible to overcome. Everywhere we stopped to work, Finn was drawing towards where we’d come from, and trying to get him to feel really under me was not working out that well.

If I’d had more time, I’d have used it, but the sun was going down fast so I eventually just decided to appreciate a little improvement and head back to the trailer. I guess the bottom line is, it wasn’t a terrible ride, but it was still somewhat disappointing to me. Not that I’m disappointed in Finn, but just that I didn’t really feel like that ride moved us any closer to our ultimate goals.

Today, I’ve been reflecting on the juxtaposition of the two experiences on the same afternoon. How can I have a horse who has SO much desire to connect, and yet have SUCH a hard time keeping him connected under saddle? I guess it’s not really a huge mystery, because the connection I’m getting from him in the arena at Liberty isn’t really under much stress… yet.

So I’ve been thinking about how I might begin to carry more of that connection with us, and I’m not sure what the answer is. It’s harder for me, mentally and emotionally, to be a good leader from the saddle, and also harder for me to wrap my mind around what the idea of “find your herd” and being a “we” looks and feels like under saddle. It’s definitely harder to be unattached to the outcome when I’m sitting on his back!

I don’t know… I admit, I’m a little discouraged. Probably more than I have a right to be. Honestly, maybe it just wasn’t the smartest move to try to get rides in at Washoe these last two weeks on the ONE day I had home to ride. For whatever reason, Washoe seems to really challenge Finn. It seems like we always have trouble leaving the parking area!

S will be gone for most of July, so Finn and I will have several weeks to focus on working and riding out by ourselves, once I get back from the trip to LA. As I’ve got plenty of time for him between braiding jobs, I’ll definitely invest some serious time in our Liberty, and I might also think about riding him twice a day when I can. When working means being gone for two and three weeks at a time, I feel I’ve gotta pack as much progress as I can into the days I have at home!

Anyway, these are the thoughts I’ll be turning over in my head throughout my time here in LA. I’m really looking to this vacation, but also really looking forward to getting home and back to trying to sort some things out between Finn and I.

Thinking About Liberty

Way back in 2003 when I first started studying Parelli Natural Horsemanship, I wanted Liberty SO BADLY!! Watching Pat or his high level students play with horses at Liberty was like magic, show-casing the kind of connection with a horse I’d dreamed about before I reshaped my dreams to match the world I was living in. And so, as a novice Parelli student like so many novice Parelli students before and after me, I “needed” Liberty so much that I could hardly have repelled my horse more!

It took a little over four years of tough lessons before my Liberty started to take shape, and by 2009 Journey and I were really starting to get it together:



While this video shows us playing in an arena, we also practiced our Liberty in wide open fields… in fact, we had some of our best Liberty in the “back 40.” Still, what I like about this video is A) It’s all Liberty and B) Although we sometimes miscommunicate, never once in this session does she have any inkling to disconnect from me… not a chance. It’s not the world’s best Liberty, but I don’t think it’s too much to say it’s something pretty special Journey and I shared.

So… to bring things back to the present, I have had Finn about 3.5 years now and have made no deliberate effort to develop his Liberty. Recently I’ve been thinking about that. Asking myself why, and whether it’s something I’d like to change.

It’s not that I ever chose NOT to want Liberty anymore, but two factors contribute to my current lack of investment in it. First, I did at some point make the conscious decision that I REALLY wanted to improve my skills in the saddle. I had SO much fun and learned TONS with Journey on the ground, but upon reflection when I was moving forward with developing another horse, I realized I wanted to be as good and as confident on his back… and with time being a limited resource such as it is, I decided that when it comes down to it, I wanted to invest more effort in the saddle. Second, having “gotten it” with Journey, I just didn’t have such a desperate desire for it. Having since observed both poor Liberty and excellent work on a line, I had a new understanding for the fact that quality and connection don’t hinge on the presence or absence of the rope as much as one might think they do. Beginning Finn’s education with that perspective, I just figured his Liberty would be there when it was ready, presuming I developed him on a line with quality. And it has been.

Although I haven’t “developed” him at Liberty, I have taken the line off and seen what I have every now and again. This handful of brief Liberty sessions scattered throughout the years have all been successful, in the sense that I’ve never “lost” him at Liberty. (Actually, I did once. Totally dumb thing I did there.) I’ve also never really asked a whole lot of him, but I’ve asked more than most people would think to.

I’ve thought from the beginning that Finn would make a great Liberty horse. He has a natural desire to connect that sets him up for success, and an athletic flair to his movement that adds a little something to the effect. And though I haven’t made an effort to bring these things out, I HAVE made an effort not to diminish them. From the very beginning with him, I have prioritized that desire to connect over everything else when developing him on the ground. That’s a maturity of horsemanship I did NOT have when I started with Journey!

Anyway… lately I’ve been feeling like it might be time to put a little more conscious effort in on our Liberty. Why? Well, I miss it. On some level, I’ve always expected that having a connection with my horses at Liberty would be part of my horsemanship from now on. To be honest, if you’re handling a horse with genuine feel on a rope, you have some Liberty whether you choose to use it or not. Additionally, the mental challenge of Liberty is engaging to me, and I’d like to get back into it. Further, I wonder if there isn’t something really meaningful to be found for Finn and I in developing this aspect of our relationship… mostly something that might help him embrace that I am always and will always be his herd, no matter what else might be going on around us. This speaks to the partnership part of my overall vision. I believe Liberty will help us shape that us the way I’ve been dreaming of. And lastly, a friend of mine shared some notes about a Liberty exercise to play with, and it just sounded like fun, so I went out and did it!

The exercise is called “Find Your Herd” and addresses the most basic quality of Liberty… the horses desire to be with you. I’m not going to describe it in detail here -- at least not right now -- but I tried it with Finn last night at the barn and found his connection was already pretty strong. (I wasn’t surprised by this, but I did try not to expect it TOO much, in case I found it wasn’t as there as I thought it would be.) What I’d love to do is challenge it in a slightly more difficult environment, and I anticipate doing that this afternoon, as S and I are planning to play with it over in the arena at Washoe Lake.

I doubt we’ll do THIS today, but I’ve even been thinking about possibly playing it one day over at Washoe while S rides away on her horse. If my connection with Finn was strong enough to persist at Liberty, even while one of his best buddies rode off into the distance… well, I think that would mean BIG STUFF for our relationship as a whole.

So, here’s to the beginning of a new aspect of my relationship with Finn. I can’t wait to see where it leads.