Busy horse weekend

Thursday night I went to the gymkhana practice.  It was more fun than the actual gymkhana last month.  There were only five of us riding, so the time between turns was pretty short.  We trotted through the patterns, then we ran them for time.  It was nice to have the opportunity to trot them first.  After everyone had their timed turn, we could do a second or even third turn for time.  I didn't get home until after 8:30, which is pretty late for me.

Friday morning I went to the Buck Brannaman clinic in Pasadena.  It only took me four wrong turns to find it.  I was worried about getting there late and them being sold out, but there was plenty of room.  The first half of the day was ground work.  Buck had the group lunging their horses on leads.  I felt much better about my feeble attempts at lunging when I saw so many people having the same kinds of problems I have.  I wished I was in the arena with G.  I also wished I had a pen to take notes.  I'll try to remember the things he talked about.

The afternoon class was on horseback.  When the twenty riders first entered the ring to warm up, it reminded me of the koi pond.  They moved around slowly, avoiding each other and occasionally surprising one another into darting.  It was very hypnotic to watch. Before directing the riders, Buck spent a long time listening to the riders questions.  I was pleased to hear many of my problems voiced by the students.  Again I wished I was in the arena practicing the things I was hearing.

Buck's mantra seems to be, "Don't take it personal."  By which he means, don't get upset or angry at your horse's behavior.  Just stay businesslike.  Each time you give a direction, use as little a cue as needed.  If a gentle cue doesn't do it, do what it takes to get the appropriate response.  The next time, use as little a cue as you want them to have when they are perfectly trained, but if they don't respond, do what it takes again.  "Offer them the good deal first'," is how he phrased it.  Eventually they'll take you up on the good deal.

Today is Saturday.  I'm getting ready for my lesson on Danny.  I love my friends at that ranch and I love Danny, but I'm also longing to have my own horse closer to home.  My situation now is great and maybe I should be satisfied.  I don't get to practice what I do in class on Danny.  I take what I learn back to G, but they are very different horses.  And G is not the horse I want to own.

Addendum:

Sunday was the gymkhana.  I found that getting off of G between events kept him more calm.  We took second place in the streakin' poles event in our division (the slowest adult division).  Here is a link to the video.