Lessons & Plans

Everyone's lessons here are coming along nicely, although not too nicely. What's life without a challenge right?  This morning Zorra stood tied for the 1st time. I must say here that if I had had Zorra as my 1st young one,I would have thought I had some magic touch. So far all her lessons have gone super smooth. I'm calling her "Ms. Perfect Jr" as I've often referred to her dam as our "Ms. Perfect". Zorra pictured here leading the the herd on a trail ride. Kisia the lovely round grey & Foxy, the chestnut is Zorra's dam.

Kisia & I have had some challenges of late. She is now with Foxy & Zorra. While they all get along great, she's decided that she really doesn't want to leave them to hang with me! I've had her since she was 5 months old & leaving the herd has never been an issue. So what's the difference? Zorra. She & Kisia have bonded closely. Zorra hates to see her Auntie leave & lets us know by doing that cute little whinny. All of us want to come running right?? Well Kisia does too. After a really frustrating ride in which Kisia was jiggy & constantly wanting to head to the gate/barn causing me really lost patience (ie total loss of emotional fitness), I decided I needed a new plan. So the next day I groomed Kisia, tacked her up & went out with NO plan!!! I love plans & hate not sticking to them which was the problem the previous day. I just went with it....turned her loose & picked a spot to plant myself. Her options were...1. hang out quietly with me 2. stand quietly looking at me from a distance or 3. Move her feet at whatever gait she chose. She could not 1. Stand staring at the other horses. 2. Refuse to look at me when standing still or 3. Stop at the gate. It was a long session with some pretty impressive bronco moments but in the end it worked. She stood with me of her own choice as her herd headed to the back & out of site. Zorra eventually gave up when Kisia quit responding which was nice too. We had a nice short ride & another the next day. I don't think I've seen the end of this particular issue but am pleased to have discovered an arrow for my quiver to help deal with it.

Fun with the green ball!

Steamroller from Randall Barr on Vimeo.


Kisia here having a good time with the Parelli "Big Green Ball". When she was around 6 months old, I introduced her to a large white pilates ball. Would roll it around her, under her & all over her body. One day when we were doing this, her pasture mate (huge 16.3 hand pinto warmblood Holly) looked up & seeing the huge white monster on Kisia's back, spooked hard & took off. Kisia of course followed suit running with her head high looking from side to side as if to say "OMG!! What are we running from?!?!" She spent a lot of time playing with that ball in her stall & when we would hang out together. She eventually squashed it. Her first meeting with the green ball was like a happy reunion. She loves having something that she can really be aggressive with. When it comes to other horses & people...much as she wants to dominate...she's really just too sweet & gentle. So if looking for a laugh...check out "Steamroller". It's almost as much fun as Kisia in person.

Zorra's Optimization

In a recent Parelli Audio CD, Pat discusses "Optimization". Optimization is basically providing a foundation for the best future for a horse. Much thought & planning went into our little Zorra. The first & probably most important step in her optimization started years ago & took years to develop. A relationship of trust with her Dam. Foxy allowed me to do anything & everything to her throughout her pregnancy trusting me to be around & handle her foal immediately upon birth & in the weeks after when so many mares are guarding their foals violently. This relationship also set an early example for Zorra that people are trustworthy & interesting! Foxy rarely fails to nicker or whinny when I'm heading her way....Zorra started following suit at only a few weeks old. Of course, choice of parents is a huge contributing factor. Breeding a mare because she's too lame or difficult in temper to ride is done way too often. It's the mares that are a pleasure to ride & handle who should be allowed to pass along those qualities. Foxy is hands down the best riding horse to be found. Easy to train & she stays trained. One of those rare creatures who can stand in a pasture for months or more un-ridden only to behave the same undersaddle as the last time you rode her. Doesn't spook, argue, or over-react & takes care of her rider. Yeah, she's THAT nice. For years I've wanted her in an English sport horse package. Thus the choice of stallion had to be one that would contribute that to the package without possibly taking away from her better qualities. As a young stallion, Chulo was consistently passing on some particular characteristics to his foals. I had seen his foals inherit more bone, height & his really lovely & gentle temperament. He is a good mover &, unlike some Andalusians,his walk is very much a walk. While Foxy prefers to gait, she has a beautiful trot with an outrageous overstide so I knew the chances of non-gaiting foal were good if the stud had a nice & clear tendency to W/T/C. The icing on the cake was discovering that the combination of Foxy & Chulo's DNA for coat colar could only produce black. Next step in our foal optimization was to choose a Vet with years of experience in reproduction to provide the best health for Foxy & her growing foal. Our fabulous vet at Akin Equine was wonderful in getting Foxy bred & helping us to provide Foxy with everything she would need to stay healthy & foal successfully. Much sleep was lost in my attempt to be there for Zorra's birth. I missed the birth by not too much & was there to provide early imprinting within an hour or 2 of her birth. Since her birth she has been handled minimum twice daily, continuing her optimization as she learns her early lessons. She takes it all in stride & rarely puts up a fuss for anything. She did gait at her dam's side her first few days. Her legs were so long (Thanks Chulo!!) that it took her some time to figure them out. But when she started trotting, she stoped gaiting & hasn't gaited for over 2 months now. So looking like all the planning has worked. I have a lovely tempered, nice moving, tolerant, self-secure, friendly & sweet as real sugar black filly. Obviously the optimization will continue but so far so good!

Zorra meets the big green ball.....

Pics here of Zorra at 2 months old getting her introduction to the Big Green Ball. So far looking like a female clone of her sire Chulo. She does share her mom's sweet & tolerant nature with the exception of being very people oriented & desiring physical contact with people & horses alike much like her aunt Kisia. That said, Zorra is more sweet & respectful preferring to stand next to you rather than crawl all over you like her more bold auntie. Zorra is very big for 2 months old & looks to finish well over 16 hands. She's bigger now than 15.3 hand Kisia was at 6 months old. I've told Randy I should find her a person who wants something really big. But she's so sweet & easy to work with....can't imagine I'd ever find another like her & have to admit that I can't wait to see how she finishes. Gorgeous faced, fabulous tempered, huge BLACK mare......that's just fantasy!

Letting go is hard to do.....

Kisia & I have been hitting it hard with our freestyle riding. Not so much in intensity but in consistency! Being young & quite green, this has been great for her. I've learned much about both of us through this push to get her past green to true-blue. Not surprisingly more about myself than her.

The big lesson I've learned regarding Kisia's needs is to be very consistent in HOW I ask for things but not consistent in WHAT I ask for. Her pattern so far is to take some time getting things. She has opinions & prefers to make sure I understand them first before she "gives in". Then she "gets it", really perfect like getting it. If I ask for a repeat the next day, I get fussy, sour-puss attitude. She got that already, right? Jeesh, let's do something else Alice! So...if I step it up asking for same but in different gait or add obstacle, no problem...we're moving forward again.

Now, I've learned several lessons as far as my own issues. The main one being that change is hard. Relaxing in my seat & really letting go of the contact is HARD! My body keeps telling me this bouncy, slinky like creature surely is about to buck. She is so different from riding Miles who was more like a rocket just shooting around very straight & fast. Kisia is all flex & bounce. So first lesson, trust her. Drop the reins & be ready to pick them up IF I need to. She was constantly offended by my lack of trust & letting me know it. Second lesson, ride her forward (need to trust her for this too). No more "Gitty up...a little bit!" Third lesson, don't be too nice. Long phase 1 then quick phase 4 works best with my expressive one. Give her time to understand & choose to do what I ask, then follow through. If I don't give her long phase one she gets offended. If I don't follow through with phase 4 she decides she's boss. This came out with carrot stick riding. Asking her to turn with carrot stick was hilarious. Asking nice, then as the stick is almost to her face she would go for it, trying to eat it. Yeah, I laughed..several times. But was missing phase 4 here & allowing her to make a game of it that she could win. So got serious & allowed her to bonk herself in the teeth ONCE with that stick. That's all it took. So a lot learned & finding a little bit of fun in this freestyle riding that for so long just felt like ick to me. Letting go of the contact for me has thus far been all about trusting my horse to do what I've taught her to do & what I ask her to do. Not easy & has been a real obstacle for us in moving forward with freestyle. When I did it though, really dropped the reins & asked for real forward energy....well that's what it's all about. That's the un-named feeling all horse-nuts live for & why we keep going back for more, more, more!

VIdeo of Zorra at 3 weeks old....

Welcome, Zorra from Randall Barr on Vimeo.

Slideshow of Kisia riding & notes on Freestyle riding

Was a beautiful day to be outside doing just about anything. We got some nice video footage of Zorra at play. Watch for her "introduction" in video here soon. Kisia got played with a couple days prior to riding then a ride after about a 6 week break. I've removed the reins from her headstall to force myself to really give Freestlye riding a good shot. After years of dressage & riding a dressage trained horse (Miles), giving up my upright seat & contact with the bit has proved to be challenging. Doesn't help that Kisia rides beautifully with contact, but like Miles, seems to depend on that to do her thinking. SO, she's carrying the bit now & being ridden in rope halter & lead rope. My goal at this point is to get her to 1. go where I point her & 2. maintain the gait I've asked for. Goal for myself...not micromanage her every move.