My sister, Chrissy, decided today to start the Parelli program. I'm really excited because I can help her get through things rather quickly and maybe eventually she can help me with my horse business. She is a soft-natured person who's got a ton of try and desire. She couldn't decide if she wanted to partner with Rain or Cowboy, so I chose for her. I chose Cowboy because Cowboy could use the time where Rain has been my sacrificial lamb for long enough - being the lesson horse for me when I need to coach someone. I also want to be able to ride Rain whenever I want to pony others or for trail competition. Where with Cowboy, as Chrissy progresses, I'll step out of the picture and she can be his sole human partner. He's also nearly a hand shorter than Rain, easier for Chrissy to mount.
We started with about a 90 min session learning the 7 games. I tried to not drown her with info, but I know it can feel like drinking from a firehose in the beginning. The learning curve is dramatic the first 6 mos. I'd like to see her truly stay in Level 1 for a couple weeks and move on and progress. I've watched so many linger and go stale and their horses become tortured. I'd like to help Chrissy avoid that if possible.
During Chrissy's coaching time, I had Nina. I've got to get her back in gear and start developing her some more. For now, she can do most things at a L1 level, but I need her doing more at L2-3. Our friendly game needs some time invested so we can progress with the other games. She's such an extrovert and she has some good tricks up her sleeve. She managed to get away from me 3 times before I got my act together enough to stop that behavior. She's learned some very non-partnership responses that we'll have to get through. I'll be getting her back on the trail soon, too.
Then, I haltered up Gem for some session time. I'm so proud of him! We had a nice, progressive ground-working session. His sideways has come along nicely and it's time to get farther away. His responsibility on the circle is better and we're now building his canter circles. He can barely canter a single circle right now. His change of direction looks fantastic going one direction, but we need to build changing to the right. Our transitions online are coming along very nicely, too!
I then mounted and used a loose ring snaffle for some arena time. We followed the rail, practicing walk/trot transitions. He was light, responsive and just generally in synch with me. I swear, I don't think he's ever felt that good. He was just willing and happy to provide a yes answer. We did a few trot/canter transitions and a few circles (me practicing counting the footfall). His down transition is sooo light and easy. I had a big smile on my face most the time.
Now, I want to start taking him off the property and teaching him to trust me away from the herd. I'm excited about the possibilities.
I trimmed his hind feet and made sure his feet were doing fine. I've got to get a few more trimmed this week.
But a simply fantastic lesson with Gemini!
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