PRACTICING AT THE PARK!

PRACTICE IN THE PARK

A nice, breezy Saturday practice occurred at Pioneer Park Arena, Not, to be clear the arena is IN the park so all the “holiday festivities” folks were enjoying became “desensitizing opportunities” for everyone! Today we experienced:

• ·         Screaming children who run up to “see the ponies!”
• ·         The dullard parents of the screaming kids who think it is a pony ride situation (seriously).
• ·         Yippy dogs.
• ·         Balloons.
• ·         More dullard humans who think horses live in packs (again, seriously).
• ·         Flags.
• ·         Bicycles.
• ·         Motorcycles.
• ·         GOATS (Swear to God…GOATS)!
• ·         Frisbee passing nearby.
• ·         A self-propelled (by a HUGE rotary fan) Para-Sail!

To say that we did quite a bit of “desensitizing” and “public relations” work today would be an understatement.

Still, we did get actual training done too.

Groundwork happened first. Between each exercises we flexed 5-6 times each side (it adds up quickly) and did some sort of desensitizing. Then we got into the following:

• ·         Lunge for Respect #1 and #2.
• ·         Backing with Steady Pressure, WWWW, and Tapping the Air.
• ·         Yield the HQ #1 and #2
• ·         Yield the FQ.
• ·         Side Pass along the Fence.
• ·         Leading w/ Back Ups
• ·         Ground School Circles.

So, roughly 13 exercises on the ground. We saw improvements in communication, control, focus and body language! Even with all the distractions the work got done and learning happened!

Then we saddled up and had some fun! Warmed up with Cruising and One Rein Stops. With all the distractions around this took a bit to accomplish but once “focus” was achieved we moved on to the following:

• ·         Forward, Back, Forward Transitions.
• ·         Vertical Flexion.
• ·         Yield HQ at Standstill.
• ·         Rollbacks.
• ·         Yield FQ.
• ·         Forward, Back and Yield HQ.
• ·         The “L” Box Forwards and Backwards,
• ·         Serpentine through Cones (two gaits).
• ·         Ground School Circles Under Saddle.
• ·         Side Pass along the Fence Under Saddle
• ·         Lateral Work though Cones.

So, roughly 13 exercises under saddle along with some work on puddles and crossing water. It was mentally taxing and physically demanding but at the end of the practice some MAJOR WINS were achieved.

It was a GOOD day!

While we say that Cearra is "advanced green broke" we KNOW that she is MUCH better than other "green broke" horses and even some horses that are supposedly "trained". Our standards of performance are high but we believe that though the process, she will be ready to move into whatever discipline her future family may want to try.

Yep...a very good day!