Kali’s Response to the Question: We often hear talk about making animals respect our space. But then most people don’t think twice about invading an animal’s space. How does it affect a horse when a person pushes into the horse’s personal space?

When a person pushes into a horse’s space, that behavior has an emotional impact on the horse. It can cause him to feel defensive or safe, unstable or grounded, or to experience any number of emotions. Therefore, we must make a decision about what change we are trying to affect and approach the space carrying that feeling. Why must he “stay out of our space”? Often times, it’s because we are living in times of ease, rather than activity, or because we are living in times of observation versus reaction. Before you ask your horse to change, you must determine the emotional pattern you wish to cultivate

Is this what you mean by EQxpressionism?

In 2009 I coined the term EQxpressionism (“equestrian expressionism”) for the type of training I do. EQxpressionism is about developing two-way communication with the horse through facial expressions in order to practice horsemanship as artistic expression. Our modality has the added benefit of creating greater self-awareness, because it allows us to learn about the dynamic relationship between gestures and internal climate. EQxpressionsim is the combination of natural horsemanship and clicker training. Rather than being based in overt body language and the patterns of wild horses, it’s based on facial expressions and…….Read more at Examiner.com

Today was all about teaching the ponies manners when being led on a walk. Most of the horses and riders  had some troubles when we first started, especially me. I was working with a pony named Jack. He was a more dominate  LBE with  RBI tendencies. His main problem was he did not know that I had a space bubble too. No matter how much I backed him, he was still coming right back up to me and trying to walk in front of me. Near the end of the first walk, Les helped me to teach Jack to stay back. Les told me that the reason I was having a problem with him was because his energy was higher than mine, so I couldn’t get through to him. Les matched Jack’s energy and when he did this Jack, stayed back and listened to Les. Jack did the whole second loop with Mariah walking mostly on a loose lead and staying back nicely.

While Les was helping Jack, I walked with Virginia and her mini pony, Moosey. Virginia rode him the whole walk and she did a great job of keeping him in line, even when he wanted to go off and eat. Sometimes Moosey would try to go fast to catch up with Raisin, who he shares a stall with. Moosey acts like Raisin’s child. He has a loving relationship with her and can’t stand to be a way from her. Virginia and Moose make a great pair. Virginia may be young but she is a GREAT rider!!

We walked a lot to day and at the end, we played games in the barn aisle. We learned the body parts of the horse and acted out the Seven games! What a great way to end the day. It was a good day. We all had a fun and everyone a had smile on their face every minute of the day!

Pony Pros 7/28/10

~Emma~

Today we went on a trail ride/walk. The first half Emma [pony pro Emma] and I walked Jack. With Jack, we were working on having him stay behind us. In order to this, Emma and I flapped our arms like a chicken, spanked the ground with the stick in front of us, and wiggled the rope behind us.

After the first loop, we came back to get some fly spray for the ponies/horses because the mosquitoes were really bad! Then Les took over Jack and we helped other kids.

On the way back, I walked with a girl named D and her large pony, Charlie. D was working on the same thing as Emma and I- having the horse stay behind the person. D did a great job at helping Charlie with this task. She has gained a lot of confidence from this clinic!

Then I caught up with Little and Bridget. Bridget had a sprained ankle from tripping in a mud hole so she rode the whole way. If it was a different horse, Bridget might have had to walk. Little was so good today that Bridget didn’t have to walk at all!

Today we went on a trail walk/ride. The kids who had introverted horses rode first then lead their ponies in hand for the rest of the time. The kids who had extroverted horses led first then rode. Like Moose for example – he is a right brain introvert so he rode first. Sometimes Moose is a left brain introvert because even though he doesn’t make faces at you all the time, he is still confident and opinionated like a left brain introvert.

On the other hand Frodo, Reagan’s pony, is a classic left brain extrovert. Frodo is a party pony, he can get anybody to party, even a twenty-six year old mare named Sophie.

Charlie, D’s pony, is a medium spirit left brain introvert with a lot of play drive. He is chestnut and white pinto.

Sophie, Emma’s horse, is a right brain extrovert with a lot of  energy for a twenty-six year old mare.

Raisin, Maddie’s pony, is a right brain introvert with a lot of attitude. She has some left brain extrovert confidence and play drive, which makes it really confusing.

Thanks for reading,

Maddie

Today was a great day with lots of new doors being opened. Emma opened a really big door today towards the end of the lesson with her horse, Sophie. Emma started with Sophie on-line going over obstacles. They were doing small jumps at the trot, crossing the tarp, and playing with the various toys that we brought with us. But when Emma took Sophie’s lead rope off, it was a whole different world!

At first Sophie was a little unsure about this “whole new world” thing, but after a few minutes, she took the chance to be  free! Before you knew it, Sophie and Emma we off like imaginary finger snap ” snap” that. Just before we finished up, Emma even got Sophie to canter!

This is a really fun trip to be on.  I am very lucky and happy to be in Vancouver, Canada!

Thanks for putting just a little time and effort into reading my post,

Maddie

Today we talked about each student’s horse’s horsenality. Once everyone had their horse’s horsenality tucked away in their heads, we did some spotlights. We got some of the kids to volunteer to perform while we asked the other students questions about what game they were playing and what zone they were playing it in. Before long the audience got distracted and soon we had everyone in the ring playing with their ponies. The ponies are getting pretty good at some really cool tricks like Smile and Chase the Tiger. After the clinic, we put the ponies away so they could enjoy a delicious lunch!

Today was a good day. Maddie and I did spotlights with two of Amelia’s horses. I did a spotlight with a horse named Aiden. He was so sweet. We did friendly game with the ribbons, a little circling, some nose targeting, and some leg targeting. After the spotlight, Aiden followed me around at liberty at a trot over jumps. It was so fun!!! Each of the students got to do a a spotlight with their horses. They all did a wonderful job performing.

After the spotlights, we all worked worked on Travel Together, Chase the Tiger, and the 7 Games. Chase the Tiger is a game where the horse gets to chase something instead of being chased himself. It brings up the horse’s confidence, but sometimes, a little to much ;D! D worked with her horse, Charlie, some more today on playing Chase the Tiger, and by the end of the day, he was pouncing on it with his front hooves like a cat!

Emma and her horse, Sophie, did such a GREAT job today. She and her horse are making so much progress in their natural horseman learning experience.

Everyone is doing a great job progressing as the days go on by. By the end of the week, they are going to be GREAT natural horsewomen!!!

Pony Pros 7/26/10

~Emma~

Today was really fun! I mostly worked with a girl named V and her miniature school pony, Moose.

We did the first five games of the seven games. The games we did were Friendly game, Porcupine game, Driving game, Yo-Yo game, and the Circling game!

After V and I did some of the seven games, V hopped on Moose. V was great on Moose, she trotted bareback while doing some stretches! Here are the seatwork exercises V did on Moose:

1. Right arm circle

2. Left arm circle

3. Both arm circle

4. Kick down left

5. Kick down right

6. Kick down both

7. Pet the pony’s neck with your left hand

8. Pet the pony’s neck with your right hand

V did those stretches over and over and  by the end of the lesson she was a pro!

When it was time to put the ponies away, Emma, Zoey, and V and I braided Moose’s mane and tail. When we put him away, I bet his stall-mate, Mellow, was jealous because Moose looked so beautiful.

A few hours later Emma, Zoey and I played a wolf game where Emma was a whole wolf, Zoey was half-dog half-wolf, and I was a wolf that could turn into a ghost!

Emma, Zoey, and I are pooped from all that good, hard work that we did earlier.

Thanks  for reading,

Maddie

8. Pet the pony’s neck with your right hand

Today we worked on the Jeffrey Method and on the Seven Games. Some people got to ride if their horses were calm enough. Others focused on the 7 games or working on the Jeffrey Method, since the clinic setting can be stressful for a horse.

I worked with a girl named M and her school pony, Jack. First, we worked the Jeffrey Method and made some progress, but we then we switched to the Seven Games. We started out with the Friendly game. Jack did not have any reaction to the stick and string, which is a good thing. Jack was great at handling each new game!

Jack is a left brain extrovert pony who goes unconfident sometimes. He has a lot of play drive and it is harder to move his front end than to move his back end. Sometimes, when he gets nervous, he likes to bite you and walk over the top of you. So, I gave M some things to do when he got like that. #1. when your pony or horse bites you back him up : ” BACKING CURES BITING “. #2. Walk with your pony and flap you arms like a chicken so that when he tries to bump you or bite you, he gets an elbow in the nose. The purpose of the 7 games is to see what your horse needs to work on and fix it at the same time.

To wrap the day up with Jack, M trotted in hand with Jack and longed over some obstacles. He was very hyper at the beginning of the day, but when we finished up, he was trotting over the obstacles calmly.

Today we started out the day by feeding the horses. Maddie, Zoey and I are getting better and better at feeding them. My favorite horse here in Vancouver is a horse named Mellow. He is 17.3 hands tall!

The first thing we did for the clinic was get two horses out named Raisin and Charlie. We worked with them on a game called Chase the Tiger/Tail Tag. Then more people got into groups to work on teaches their horses the game. The horses we got out to do the game mainly depended on if we thought there horse would be likely to have a lot of play drive. The pony who caught on the best to Chase the Tiger was the little mini named Moose. He caught on and was supper cute when he tried to catch it!

After Chase the Tiger, every one got out their horses and ponies and we all worked on different things that the horses were ready to do. The main girl I worked with was D and her horse, Charlie. We worked on the Whinny Waltz, which is you move the back feet three steps, then the front feet three steps, then sideways three steps, then backward three steps, then to finish of the waltz you move forward three steps – and that is the Whinny Waltz! After Charlie had settled and was good at the game, D got to ride and work on some seatwork!

Later on I worked with a girl named R and a girl named E with their horses, Frodo and Sophie. I taught them the 7 games, a series of exercises created by the Parellis to help the horses become calm and responsive to ride. E and her horse, Sophie, did a great job with the games! R and Frodo got a little confused and after more confusion from me, we asked Amelia for help. She cleared every thing up and got them to end on a good note.

After the clinic, we went up and ate our lunch and played a little game call Donkey Seller, where a person tries to sell you their donkey (one of us pretends to be the donkey) and you can’t laugh. We all laughed and had a GREAT time! When we were done with our game, we all rested up. Later tonight we are going out for sushi with Amelia!

Pony Pros 7/25/10

~Emma~