Happy Birthday Juliano

My beloved Juliano is 18 today. Time flies so fast, I can't believe we have already spent 9 years together. Over these years he has brought so much into my life, amazing people, inspiration, oportunities - it'sbecause of him I'm where I'm now. He's a horse that puts a smile on my face everyday but also tested my will and patience so many times in the past.  He has toughed me so much - how to be patient, have dreams and never give up. If someone told me 9 years ago that I would be riding Juliano bitless into the woods and not worry about my safety I would have loughed in their face. It turns out everything can be done, even situations that seem absolutely without solution at first have positive outcome. All it takes is a bit of courage, persistance and patience.
I hope we will spend another 9 years together and another 9 years after that - I will annoy the heck out of him and he will continue putting a smile on my face :)

Happy Birthday Juliano!

Warm and sunny Christmas

Even thought Christmas Eve is tomorrow it feels almost like spring here. It's warm and sunny so we continue riding outside. I secretly wish for one day of snow but maybe it's for the best.

Juliano was a bit annoyed with the whole world this past week and yesterday was the first day he wanted company and wanted to do things. I got on him and we went for a spin around the arena.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoRVnHYWRE4

Tomorrow we will go for a walk into the woods as part of our Christmas tradition. We wish you a very Marry Christmas and as much time as possible with horses.

Juliano freestyle transitions Dec 2013

A quick movie from our ride today. There was only a short strip of dry sand to practice transitions as rest of the arena is covered with mud.

Trust

Yesterday we went for a walk with Juliano, Dum Dum, Magda and her dogs into the woods. It was pitch black but as we know this forest quite well we've decided to give it a go, we could always turn back.

Juliano was walking in front of me and leading the way.  As we walked deeper into the woods it got darker and darker and we got to a point where we could literary not see a thing.I could just as well close my eyes and it would be the same. Even though I was holding on to Juliano's rope I couldn't distinguish weather I was on the right track or am I going to walk into a tree. Few quick thoughts - turn back, look for Magda, stop and I was on a verge of panicking. I quickly caught up to Juliano, grabbed his tail and allowed him to lead me through the forest. This blind walk lasted for few minutes until Juliano turned onto a field where we could finally see silhouettes of trees, dogs etc. From there the road led through less dense forest so we could continue walking, giggling and talking with Magda.

After we got home I was thinking about why I trusted Juliano so much and why the second I have reached for his tail I got calm. Maybe it's because he walked rhythmically, he was confident and didn't spook or hesitate once. If he would jump in fear even once I would be completely lost. Maybe that's the secret behind trust, you have to be calm and steady to be trusted. You can't demand trust, you can offer your confidence and in time earn trust. As they say "It's a delight to trust somebody so completely". Juliano got me out of trouble in his, animal world. If we switch roles, I should be able to do the same for him in out human world. Hmmm... how interesting, when we walk through the village I always lead, as we set foot in the forest Juliano want's to walk first. Coincidence?

It was a very interesting experience and I recommend it to everyone who thinks horses are spooky for no reason at all. Think what pushes you out of your comfort zone, maybe it something as simple as a forest at night. Now who is the spooky one?

Liberty flying lead changes

We are playing on-line and at liberty every day with Cash. Usually I go out with a plan, we play around a certain idea. Every time the plan is modified either by conditions or Cash. To be flexible - hmmm how interesting. So today we set out to do driving from zone 5. We ended up at a round corral.

We have tried stick to me at canter and finally got it :) Before, I would go up to canter, she would follow but after I went down to walk she would zoom past me in canter. Today I thought to myself, canter to walk can be quite hard to synchronize between human and horse so why not make a transition from canter to trot instead. It worked! We could go up to canter together and go back to trot also together. After that we were both in quite playful moods and Cash offered quite a few flying lead changes. It was a great morning.

Hello from Pagosa Springs

So here I'm in Colorado, Pagosa Springs doing a Fast Track. I got here over a week ago but with all the things going on I didn't have much time to write.

I'm riding and playing with a very nice AQH mare - Cash. She belongs to Petra Christensen - 2 Star Parelli instructor. She is very, very sensitive and trying her best to understand me and what I'm asking of her.

Me and Cash at Parelli Games on Saturday

We are starting to build a strong relationship and I think we are going to have a lot of fun together. By the way, we got a green ribbon for on-line and black ribbon for liberty on Saturday at the games :)

Parelli ranch at Pagosa is amazing - it is surrounded by mountains, amazing nature, animals like deer, chipmunks and beers passing by. I'm learning a new thing every minute that I'm here - thanks to our superb instructors and Cash. It is a place where a horse is never wrong and people are trying to understand horses every step of the way.



Juliano is back home and he is doing great. Magda is looking after him and playing with him. It seems he is having a great time with his best buddy Dum and all his mares. I miss him like crazy but there is a reason why I'm here - to become a better horseman especially for him.

Canter sideways!

We have done our first sideways in canter! I got on Juliano bareback and we have practised sideways in trot then circled a bit in canter. After Juliano's canter got slow and rhythmic I thought "Why don't we try sideways in canter" and guess what Juliano did - few steps to the side. We are taking baby steps, J only does 2-3 stides sideways and then I ask him to continue cantering straight on and we stop. After 3 successful tries I got off Juliano and allowed him to go back to eating grass. He came back in few minutes for some scratching and yawning :) One thing that hit me today is how sideways slows the horse down. Once we started doing sideways in trot Juliano's canter got slower. Today after sideways in canter Juliano didn't rush of he did the opposite - went back to a walk when asked.

Couldn't be more proud...

Today's freestyle ride was one of the calmest we've ever had. We started off really slow, doing full zone 1 turns with hindquarters not moving. Then, sideways in walk and trot. Once Juliano delivered a precise sideways in trot we could move on to canter. As we were both very calm and focused on one another we could do graceful walk to canter transitions and after that come back to a walk. After few circles of walk-canter-walk I asked Juliano to come back to a walk after 4 strides of canter and we made it! I was super excited and proud. For some horses it is easy to come back to a walk but for us it was always THE most difficult thing - to stop. We never made it in 10 strides let alone 4. It was always: canter, please come back to a walk, 30 strides later and we are still cantering or doing a choppy trot. It was an amazing feeling when Juliano just calmly glided back to a walk.

Liberty

We are finally starting to progress at liberty. For Juliano round corral served only one purpose "Get in and run. Run like crazy". Every time we tried anything at liberty J would get on a circle and panic. Before I got him he used to be exercised in a round corral and a lot of pressure was put on him. This is why it took us ages to start doing correct changes of direction. Before, as Juliano was chased in the corral, he used to turn away from human to make a change. In order to correct that we wend back on-line in the round pen and took baby steps. Every time J would panic and turn away I waited and asked for hind-quarter disengagement. Today I took the halted of and everything came together. We did transitions from trot to walk, walk to halt, walk to canter. After that Juliano was hooked and we started playing with changes of direction. To my surprise Juliano did great. He didn't turn away, he was focused on me and didn't panic. It was amazing :)

Trying to match up with Juliano

As Juliano is very ambitious lately I found myself a little bit behind him. He is very keen on learning new things and he is showing off things he already knows. We've come to a point where Juliano is acting like a perfect partner most of the times and I can ask him for things like jumping, sideways in trot and extended trot. We could do it before but with maneuvers like this J would easily get excited and break into fast and choppy canter. My main focus over the years with him was not to go to this place and we have worked very hard to maintain gait and keep the relaxation. Now as things have changed we can move on to more advanced riding. Juliano is ready for it, now I have to work on my seat and fluidity to match Juliano's big and exuberant moves.

Here are few photos from our last freestyle sessions:

Jumping J

Extended trot

Sideways in trot

Ohhh and one last thing - I have to let go of the string! I think I will write it on my arm next time we ride "Trust Juliano, don't hold on to the string so much" :)

Sometimes, just everything falls into place

Today, our ride with Juliano was prefect. The sun was shining, J was very willing and positive, I was calm and didn't expect much. Maybe that's why our sideways in trot started working out today. No pressure, everything on "Valium" and suddenly it all came together as a rhythmic side pass. We also managed to work on our canter departures. They used to be very sudden. Canter was hard to control and I wouldn't trust Juliano, I would hold on to the string just in case. Today even this changed :) Juliano was simply brilliant.

Breath of spring

Spring is almost here and although it is still quite cold I think the winter will not last too long now.

Juliano is very positive lately. I think he is a bit bored after winter and wants to play and learn. Yesterday I walked into the paddock with my bareback pad, carrot stick and string. Juliano knows exactly what that means - time to ride. I was sure he would start playing the catching game with me but to my surprise he walked straight to me. He stood besides me while I dusted him off and placed the pad on his back.

Our ride was very playful and I could feel Juliano was having fun. One thing I have noticed lately is that our downward transitions are much better than upward. Hmmm, how interesting. Juliano was a horse very hard to stop and now canter-walk no problem. Walk-canter however is now officially broken. Who would have thought that one day I will have to motivate Juliano to go. The good news is we are very close to having go and whoa equal. This was my dream, for Juliano to have impulsion but not to be impulsive and we are almost there. Another thing we are working on is sideways in trot which is coming together quite nicely.


Juliano is acting like a partner and I couldn't be more happy with him. I think this spring will bring us great things, a lot of fun and yet another breakthrough. I also know I will have to ask more of him in order to be provocative and interesting.

Slow winter

I must admit, we are having a very slow winter. We've had tons of snow during December, which was great. After Christmas thaw came. The snow melted during the day and froze at night leaving us with our yard, fields and paddocks covered in ice. This continued for 2 weeks and it was not even safe to turn our horses out. Snow finally melted and the weather started to resemble early spring. This drove our horses wild. They went out running and bucking - playing like crazy. Finally they could blow off some energy that was building up for the past few weeks.

We didn't ride much, in January we only went for two trail rides in walk mainly. Yesterday I rode Juliano bareback with a string. Our ride was amazing - calm and in harmony. One could say 'normal' but Juliano was full of energy after two weeks of doing nothing. I could feel that energy but he didn't use it against me. He had every right to buck me off but instead he was obedient and calm. We've done some patterns in all 3 gaits, transitions, sideways, circles and after 20 minutes of riding I took Juliano out to the paddock. He rolled, run and bucked. I than played with him at Liberty a bit and he ended up with his head under my arm yawning. Great way to end our day.

Later my friend told me he didn't go out in the morning. I'm sure he wanted to run and buck but he managed to control himself when I was riding him. He is truly a great partner.

Northern Dancer

I have found an interesting documentary about Northern Dancer - Juliano's great-great-grandfather. It's very interesting how his owners and handlers keep saying that he was a celebrity, he demanded attention and was very naughty. Well, Juliano is the same way, simply has to be in the center of attention. Hmm, how interesting...

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2FrZY4mjL4&feature=related

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NsgkXi-xXQ&feature=related

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLtpKHpRPTY&feature=related

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyIPD161unw&feature=related

Skijoring - test run

Wow, what a weekend it has been! We finally had time and good weather to try skijoring. It was amazing fun. As it was our first attempt at skijoring we've decided to go: horse, rider and skier behind. In the future we want to teach Dum and Juliano driving from zone 5 and loose the rider part - just ski or snowboard behind the horse. But this weekend we wanted to see if our horses can handle pulling someone both mentally and physically.

On Saturday I went snowboarding behind Dum and Adam went skiing behind Zawieja. Dum was on fire, he cantered very fast and was happy with his new job. Zawieja did also well but got tired. After we have finished I saddled up Juliano for Pawel. Juliano struggled as Pawel is quite heavy and I guess his weight and mine combined was a bit too much for poor Juliano. The good thing is J always expresses his disapproval for certain things and started tossing his head and bucking in canter. This was a sign for me to stop. I didn't push him and decided not to use him for skijoring until I have the right equipment and he can pull me alone.



Next day we took Dum, Eparol and a trotter called Lulek. You could tell Lulek was bread for the job, he trotted with ease through the snow with Justyna skiing behind him. I went for few spins behind Eparol and Dum. All the time we were skiing and snowboarding Juliano and Lama were watching us from the next paddock. Later I rode Juliano bareback in snowboarding boots which was also fun but a bit extreme, the good thing was Juliano didn't mind.

Justyna behind Lulek
Me behind Eparol
Juliano relaxes after a day of snow fun

I'm very happy with the way all the horses handled skijoring and although for Juliano it was a bit hard now I know he doesn't mind pulling something he just minds the weight. This weekend gave us a green light to try driving in the next couple of weeks. Just need to buy a breast collar from a driving harness and of we go skijoring again :)

Magical winter scenery

Trail ride in the snow - night version

Today I woke up at 6AM to discover that last night's snow fall was quite intense. I went outside and there was fresh powder up to my knees. After a while I dug myself out and could drive to the stables. When I got there Juliano was waiting to go out and was very happy about the snow. As I was leading Juliano and Dum J got so excited that he started biting Dum's tail to harry him to the paddock. And in the paddock... boys had so much fun. Dum covered his whole head while rolling, Juliano run and bucked. Pure snow fun!





This is Juliano running to me when he got scared - one of the highlights of the day, my horse runs to me for safety :)

I went back to the stables after dark to go with Magda for a hack. We love out winter, evening rides in the woods. The snow and the moon made the forest bright and magical. I've decided to ride bareback with a savvy string and it was an excellent choice. Juliano was amazing, calm, focused and so happy. To tell you the truth I can't think of anything better than cantering through snow covered woods, the only noise is the snorting of horses and the moon reflecting on snow is truly magical. I have never felt so much in harmony with Juliano - we went together and stopped together.

Trail ride in the snow

Here is a short film from our last walk in the woods :)

First snow

Thing are very slow with Juliano, we have nothing to do due to very cold weather. With temperatures falling below -10C the ground both outside and in the indoor arena is frozen solid. Maybe today's snow will bring us some relief and we will at least have a chance to turn our horses into the paddock safely. I really hope so because the energy in Juliano is building up. Over past few days as he couldn't move his feet much he found another way to exercise - he is more mouthy than ever. He picks things up from the ground like lead-ropes, rugs etc and plays with them. The excess energy now comes out in a form of extreme mouthiness.

Autumn blues

As the weather gets worse and worse I have less creative ways to play with Juliano. Yesterday, for example, it was raining cats and dogs all day. We couldn't ride outside and the indoor arena is leaking and there are paddles there as well so there is not much room to do anything. To avoid, boredom which is destructive both for me and J, I've decided to focus on bareback freestyle. I tried not to use both the stick and the string and the result was pretty good. I've asked Juliano to maneuver around the paddles with just my feel and my seat and it worked. Then we advanced our trot sideways. Overall I think this session went very well even though we were both under the weather.


Juliano in his autumn outfit

By the way Juliano has a new friend, 3 year-old Hanoverian gelding. Juliano is teching him the basics of porcupine game and has a very positive attitude towards him. It is very pleasing for me because few years ago Juliano would beat up every new horse that showed up.

Juliano and his new friend

Expect the unexpected

Our recent learning experiences with Juliano convinced me that „never say never” is spot on right also with horses. Every day with Juliano brings us something new and even though sometimes I can't name the direction in which we took a step it is always a piece of a puzzle which will fall into place later in our journey. We learn a lot with our horses and even more from them but what goes on in our human mind when we come across an obstacle? Can we teach all horses the same things? Can my horse do that? These are the questions we face at some point of our journey, sooner or later, it doesn't matter. The important thing is how we handle new situations. Do we give up or go on?

I bet most of us have a savvy, game or a task which we stray from. In the beginning we say „Oh, I'm never going to ride with just a savvy string”, „My horse will never do lead-changes on-line” etc. but time goes by and we find ourselves riding our horse bareback and bridle-less. It is like a dream come true and we remember the times when we thought it's never going to happen for us. In our heads we know we have accomplished something amazing but we still limit our selves when next challenge comes. For us this limitation was sideways towards me. Juliano is master of sideways away from me, he can do walk, trot and canter sideways. This is now easy for him and I take that for granted.

Juliano going sideways away from me in canter

However, I couldn't picture him doing sideways towards me. I thought this is not going to happen and I even started giving myself absurd explanations for that. The truth is, every healthy horse can go sideways left, right, away and towards a human, but I still believed it is to difficult for us. I didn't even think of trying. Few days ago I finally gave it a shot. I was forced to do it really. It is raining a lot here and we only have a few dry, not slippery spots to play on, one is against a fence. So I found myself on that tiny spot of dry land with Juliano. I was thinking what to do there, jojo, tiny change of direction in walk... Juliano was bored to death, he knows it all. For Juliano boredom is worst enemy and his respect for me goes way down when I ask him for things he knows over and over. Then I thought „Oh, OK! I will try the sideways towards me. I will fail but I will try”. I asked Juliano once, twice and there it was, a step of sideways towards me! 5 minutes later Juliano was going sideways towards me in both directions with no support of carrot stick just my hand in the air. It was so easy and all this time I had it in my head marked as „impossible”. We have learned something new and Juliano was as proud as a peacock. How silly of me not to give it a shot before.

It is amazing how many things we are afraid of. We limit both ourselves and our horses with our own fear of failure. For example some horses are afraid when something touches their feet, a rope, branch etc. For a human this can mean a stop sign for sideways over a pole or a barrel. Then we say things like „My horse can't go sideways over a pole because he will get scared if he steps on the pole”. Well, why not work on the feet first, show the horse there is nothing to be afraid of. Get him comfortable with things touching his feet and then do sideways over the pole. The first step might take a while, some horses are very panicky about their feet but the next step, the actual sideways may be as easy as it was for Juliano. The point is - help your horse don't limit him. So next time you think „This is not for us” pause for a minute because your horse will most likely do it and it is only your judgment which is blocking the progress. Give it a shot, take it slow and be patient – it's all it takes.