Hello, and welcome back to the blog! Today I am sharing a little about the plans for the month of December with my young horse Bryni. Click here to see last month’s plan.
As I mentioned in The Monthly Muster: November post, things have been going well. I have been considering my own training as well as the progress Bryni is making.
My Goal- Planning in advance
I have realised that I can get carried away in training sessions and ask too much. If Bryni is getting something, I then feel the need to add more to the session and it sometimes gets a little messy and I lose sight of the intention of the session.
I would like to improve this within my own training to ensure that I am planning well in advance for what we are doing, adjusting appropriately as we go and having a next step in mind (without being super spontaneous in the moment) to try if she understands and ‘gets’ the first part. I think that way, I won’t be tempted to just try things without thinking them through and it means I will be less likely to confuse Bryni or ask too much.
Our December Plan:
Continuing to work twice a week and come in for a groom now and again.
1.Get up to Game 5 of the Parelli 7 Games
I don’t follow too much of Parelli but I find the 7 Games really useful as a foundation when training horses. We did work on these alongside lunging last month but I would like to focus a little more on these this month and focus on getting each game really good.
We are good with the Friendly Game (Game 1). The second game is the Porcupine Game where the horse learns to move from the slightest pressure. We are good with back up and HQ yields, but I’d like to encourage a side pass. The next game is the Driving Game. This is where the horse can move from a rhythmical pressure, eventually one which is just a suggestion of pressure. Bryni is confident with back up for the most part (they are sometimes a little squint) and we are still a little inconsistent with the HQ yields. The next two are the Yo-Yo Game and the Circling Game. I would like to at least introduce these after we have a little more consistency from the first 3 games.
2. Lunging- Voice Commands
Bryni caught on really well last month with lunging but this month I would like to help her to have sharper responses to voice commands.
3. First Bath!
Bryni has Sweet-itch which is so annoying for her. I would like to give her a good bath with some medicated shampoo and then put her new Premier Equine Buster Sweetitch Fly Rug and Buster Fly Mask on which I am so excited for!
Happy Horsing!
BBequines 