My first Equifeel competition

I participate in my first live Equifeel competition at CEPB at Beaumont-du-Périgord - and win my class, the Club 2! My friend Tamzin very kindly offered me her second horse, the gorgeous Raz, to participate with as she was entered with her more experienced partner, the equally handsome Voodoo. She won her class too, Club 1! 

A super day out among horsey people, looking forward to some practise and the next comp in February.

A little bit of liberty

"When the halter off comes off, what you have is the truth" (Pat Parelli and others). Meaning that you will find out whether your horse wants to be with you or leaves as soon as he has the choice. This will usually happen the first time you test your connection, but if you have done your teaching well, on line, at different distances, and you continue to use the same cues at liberty, then you should have the same connection and responses.

The first few times I tried with Fina was in the round pen. She would stay connected for a while but as soon as she felt too much pressure or lack of confidence, she left me and either wandered around or cantered circles on the limit of the round pen. It was easy enough to get her back, no chasing but waiting until the right moment to yield the hindquarters, which brought her to face me and she was only too happy to rejoin me.

Jo Bates coaching us, reminding me to cue as if we are still online

Today, she is as connected to me off line as on line. We don't need the restriction of the round pen. We play in the paddock, with Lucie and the shed and an open gate to the next field. Sometimes we go out into the big field. Building up to bigger distances and faster paces!

Meanwhile here is a bit of video of a little bit of liberty at the end of our play sessions for Equifeel training; it felt right to finish off line with some free style patterns. A work in progress but she never left me, mostly she was relaxed and connected, at one point I was able to bring her emotions up and obtain a bit more effort and impulsion, and at the end I asked her to lower her head,something we have been working on which helps relaxation and tempo if she gets a bit excited.

Equifeel (1)

Remember the Parelli games, which were showcased on Horse & Country TV? Now we have Equifeel, the French version; apparently initiated by Andy Booth in France. This discipline, which is basically playing with your horse online or at liberty with obstacles, is becoming popular in France and the FFE, Federation Francaise d'Equitation, has officialised it and established rules for competitions which can be found on their website.

All you need is a basic knowledge of how to play the 7 games, a horse, and some equipment (tarp, cones or markers, poles, something to make a small jump; and the usual kit, halter and 4m and 7m ropes, a stick if you use one, carrot or dressage).

And if like me, you don't have transport, there's no excuse for not joining in because you can video yourself and enter online competitions through Equifeel-Partage.

So no excuse!

I went to observe a competition recently in the Dordogne, at Ecuries de la H.A. near Sainte Foy de Longas; here are a few photos:

Obstacles in the sand school

The tests

Transitions in the round pen

Tamzin and Voodoo, the eventual winners of two classes

Suitably inspired, I gave it a try at home; see next post!

How not to organise a hay delivery!

What happened, and what should or shouldn't have happened...

Before the mayhem. One of the gates which I should have closed!

We have a new shelter in the winter field, so much easier to have the hay bale under shelter and a dry area for the horses to stand and eat. The photos are before it was finished with doors to the hay shelter.

The new shelter, hay shed to the right (now with doors)

Hay storage and horse shelter (the bache was soon trashed and replaced with doors). My story concerns the second bale we had delivered when this one was eaten up.

The farmer came on his big tractor with a round bale on the spike, and in order to deposit it in the hay shed he had to drive into the horse's field and manoeuvre. He was cold and it was raining or hailing, he was in a hurry and my first mistake was to let him rush things. I let him through the gate, and should have closed it (second mistake) while I sent the horses further into the field and opened the shed doors, meanwhile the tractor was turning and I thought the horses were well out of the way in the field.

Then I heard a shout from the farmer and turned to see Lucie the Camargue going for the gap behind me. She shot through the open gate and out through the secondary gate (which I also should have closed!). Fina made to follow and another mistake, I could have stopped her; she hesitated, but I thought, let them go, they will only go into the next field... 

So I helped the farmer deliver the bale. Meanwhile the two horses had continued at full gallop, round the next field and instead of stopping there, they went out into the track, and disappeared at speed, past the neighbours's house and into the woods! They saw where they went, by now out of sight, so trying to hold back panic, I set off after them with halters. 

I finally caught up with them after an anxious walk along an uphill forest track which led to a grass field, where the horses were grazing (that moment of relief when you see them safe!) but still on high alert. I had only grabbed a thin mac and boots when I saw the tractor approaching earlier, thinking I would be out for 10', so I was cold and wet as well as fighting panic. 

I realised the horses were still high on adrenalin and not approachable and all I could do was join the herd and wait until the emotions settled. So I just mirrored them as they enjoyed the grass, breathing and not allowing my thoughts to rest on catching them, even though it was late and the light was fading. 

At first, if I got too close they would move on or turn away, so I had to be patient. I already knew that it was Fina who would be the softer touch, she is "mine" but will be led or misled by Lucie, she is divided between which of us she connects with and responds to. When I considered the molecules had finally settled, I was able to scratch her underneck and felt a connection re-established, and when I offered the halter she put her nose in it without question. I asked her to graze again and checked out Lucie, I judged her not ready to respond to me so decided to make out we were on a normal outing and it was now time to go home. I led Fina off and called Lucie to follow, but she was sceptical and watched us, keeping her distance. I wanted her to feel she was with us, not being abandoned, so I turned and led Fina back to her and this seemed to give Lucie confidence to follow us back down the track, when I led off again. I was purposeful but unhurried, and strategically suggested grazing breaks on the way. Making things my idea. Now I felt I had "hooked" Lucie. She then tried to come past me and Fina so I quietly blocked her and she accepted it. Yes! That was the sign I was looking for, she was now right behind Fina and I offered my hand and when she didn't react adversely, I scratched her head. Then I offered her the halter and she accepted that I take charge. 

After that, all became normal, a walk back to the field (a momentary high head from Lucie to check that there were no tractors) and they waited patiently for me to give them some hay. 

No sign of harm on their side, the impromptu outing and exercise probably released their emotions after several days in the wet field enduring bad weather. 

I was physically and emotionally drained!

I didn't learn any new lessons only paid the penalty for not remembering the old ones and respecting the horses' way, and allowing myself to be manipulated by an outside influence, forgetting that my job is to protect the herd and their space from intruders, even those bearing gifts! Although I know I did not set it up for success, and took my eye off the ball and lost control of the situation, I am slightly disappointed in Lucie for reverting to her nature and acting like a prey animal, but she amazes me - for her age and with a gammy leg, she can still gallop like a youngster if she thinks she has to!

Goodbye 2018

As 2018 draws to a close, what were my horsey highlights to remember it by?

Each year I seem to achieve less and less, our rides get shorter and we are getting older and lazier and fatter (well, Fina anyway!). Following our coaching in June, I managed some horse time most days and was able to keep the ponies fit and make progress with Fina for a few weeks before the heatwave which continued through July and August made it hard to work the horses except very early in the morning. As there were many other jobs to be done in these precious cooler hours of the day, I lost momentum and the horses had a quiet time from then on.

Here are a few photo reminders of summer and some good days and time with the horses.

June coaching and fun at liberty

Practising our focus and body language in the saddle

Huge log stacks line one of our regular tracks

Fina has a new palette to stand on; Lucie in the background does her own thing!

The summer field during the hot dry spell

A walk in the woods

Our one chicken hangs out with the horses

An autumn ride

Foraging in the woods in December

Listen to your horse

Following on from my post about Responsibilities...

There are days when I ask myself "What were you thinking?" - usually on days when I hadn't been thinking... like a horse.

Yesterday I must have had my stupid head on because I decided I must exercise the horses as I had missed two days and they had been on a patch of good grass. I fetched them from their place in the shade and asked Fina to do some flexions on the circle, it went well but she didn't seem particularly happy or herself. It was hot so I thought we would go for a ride instead of groundwork and it would be cooler in the woods. The horses were reluctant and at each junction were inclined to head home, but I was still thinking they needed work so off we went down another track, and they kept stopping, and in auto idiot mode, after a pause I would ask them politely to go on. Then suddenly, I woke up to realise that my horses were telling me it was too damn hot for anything! What had I been thinking of? Certainly not of my horses and their immediate welfare! So I got off, loosened the girth which felt too tight, swatted some pesky flies, and apologised to my horses. Fina was very hot. Lucie thanked me and asked if she could eat, we were in shady woods and there was a bit of grass. Fina was zoned out, so much so that at first she wasn't interested in grazing, I had let it get that bad! If she is upset, she goes into her shell. We hung out and I found some tasty morsels for her but it was minutes before she was able to relax and enjoy them and even then, now that I was properly observing, I could tell some distress and tension was still there from the way she was just picking at the grass. OK girls I said, let's go home! And I walked alongside, feeling suitably humble for being a human, and for not listening to my horses. It is a good thing that horses are so forgiving. I had let purpose take over and become more important than the relationship and connection with the horses, which I had ignored completely. They had been trying to tell me something and I hadn't been listening.

Relationships first!

Today was completely different, and I was back in horse world, which I usually am these days. Above incidents are rare but I am only human after all! Also I got up and outside a bit earlier. As before, the horses were already in the shade, in their shed. So we touched, greeted, and Fina asked for scratches, and Lucie asked if we were going outside where there is grass, I said not right now, and I asked Fina if she would come with me round the paddock which she did, because she likes being top girl and is very willing to be with me. So having established what seemed to me to be a good connection and empathy, I asked her if we could put the halter and line on and then  invited her to go ahead into the other field where we have room for big circles and manouvers, in the shade. Which is what we did, calmly and with connection, including some canter which she offered. Finishing with some liberty changes of direction. Lucie checked in with us from time to time and otherwise stayed in the shed. Calm and confident, offering a couple of suggestions for adding interest to the day, I think I was perceived as an okay sort of human today!

 

Yesterday's experience and my realisation of loss of connection through direct line thinking coincided with a similar experience being posted about on the Facebook page of this website, which has some excellent articles and perspectives http://www.happy-horse-training.com/

I like this approach and understanding of herd behaviour and human interaction and how we can improve our connection. I try to do this but don't put the same words to it. It is more than undemanding time, which is a neutral attitude. This is proactive in a very nonconfrontational way. I think of it as getting into horse time and leaving human world outside. As a human I have to make a conscious effort, not to barge in on the horses and start giving orders even in the politest way; walking into their group, stall or shed and putting the halter on is still just like walking into someone's house and taking over. There is another part of this about owning space when you come into the field or barn, and asserting ownership and dominance, but even then, there is no good in being rude or rushed, if we think about how horses do it and what are the qualities of good and bad leaders.