priorities

[LazyJArabs@aol.com]

this is a long message and has a lot of info that i think many can benefit 
from.

as you may (or may not) know, i took part in a buck brannaman clinic over 
memorial day weekend. clinics are great therapy and soul-searching 
experiences for me, as well a character builders. as with almost every clinic 
i have participated in over the last 4-5 years, there were emotional highs 
(smiles) and lows (tears). the highs come from accomplishing things that i 
had never thought of trying and getting incredible changes in both me and my 
horse. the lows, well, the facing the truth about where i am in my 
horsemanship skills by either just staying on through the rough spots or by 
realizing that i have not prepared us properly for the things that i am 
asking.

before the clinic started, i was very upbeat and positive about the things i 
had been working on and i thought that this would be our best clinic to date. 
in many ways, it was. i have been working on the basics for the last 4+ years 
after all. well, i soon came to realize that i was not being specific enough 
in my requests, as well as being pitifully off in my timing. in these 
situations, one can't be too hard on oneself because every year is better 
than the last...but, we always are.

within the first few minutes of entering the arena the first day, i soon felt 
that something was different. ariel (my horse which many of you may know) 
almost immediately was not focused on me. there were many strange faces and 
horses and noises in the indoor arena setting. granted, we had been in this 
particular spot before (our very first clinic experience), but we have MUCH 
more of a foundation now than we did then. it didn't take too long to get 
some feel back from her and her focus more back on me. break the hindquarters 
over here and there a bit. get a few lead-bys under our belts. finally, a 
little better and a somewhat calm horse on the end of my leadrope. soon i had 
on the hackamore (bosal) that we had been working in for the last 5 months or 
so. and i was mounted and doing some more bending and disengaging exercises. 
we then attempted to walk calmly around the arena to warm up a bit before 
buck lined us up and started chatting about what we would be covering over 
the next 3 days. standing at first was a real chore, but after a few minutes, 
ariel was standing quietly on a loose rein.

after buck was done addressing the group and answering questions, we started 
of working on one-rein stops and bending. so far so good. but then things 
changed. when we were asked to walk around the arena, i soon had a beast 
underneath me who decided that her pace would be whatever and wherever she 
would like, especially if it was contradictory to what i wanted. that meant 
that i spent the next few hours throughout the rest of that class, doing more 
one-rein stops and circles and serpentines than anyone else. but, that was 
what we needed, so that was what we did.

the second day, i spent a good hour or two, outside in the warm-up arena 
doing more groundwork and exercises hoping that it would have a beneficial 
effect when we entered the indoor arena later that afternoon. things were 
improved to an extent, but did eventually get to a point similar to the day 
before. granted, this time we were in the snaffle for the first time in 
months, but i had considerably better lateral control than the previous day. 
i still hated the fact that i felt like i was really having to put so much 
pressure on her mouth, but she was definitely attempting to run through the 
bit, too. going back to the snaffle exposed many of the gaps that were still 
there.

buck asked me more about her history and suggested that i probably shouldn't 
do any competition for the next year, if ever. the day before he asked me 
some of the history about her and how much i have worked with her. by now, 
this of course is the second time that i have teared up this weekend. he can 
see gaps where you never thought there were any, and he can see what is 
coming down the road if you don't deal with things now (or ever)... the first 
day i had put my plans of doing endurance on hold for a month, but now i was 
putting my plans for endurance, at least with ariel, on hold indefinitely if 
not forever. if this seems like heady stuff, it is. i got involved with this 
kind of horsemanship/partnership with horses before i knew about endurance, 
but the endurance thing is beckoning to me very strongly.

buck mentioned a woman he used to have coming to his clinics years ago who ws 
a barrel racer. she had a what every "normal" person would call a problem 
horse (and some people will probably call a normal horse). well buck worked 
with her and she soon came to realize that in order to do the barrel racing 
things successfully, she would have to perfect her other areas of 
horsemanship. after 2 years of not barrel racing, she took that same horse 
back to the racing scene and cleaned up. and the horse would walk calmly out 
of the arena after running her pattern on a LOOSE REIN. and she was winning! 
that's what i want to say that i have done in endurance. so, if it takes me 2 
years or 10 years, i guess that's what i will have to do.

by the end of the second day we we loping circles (in smaller groups) and 
then doing lead changes over poles. not totally on a loose rein, but we were 
making progress. occassionally, ariel would still have an "episode" but they 
continued to get short in duration.

the third day, we did our warmup in the outside warmup arena yet again. much 
better than the day before. and when we moved into the indoor arena, things 
were better than the previous day as well. still a few reversions, but not as 
many and they were further apart. we would partipicpate with the class 
excercises when we were in a good spot, and when we weren't we worked on the 
basics.

we worked on serpentines, two-tracking, lead changes and more. at one poin 
buck asked me about the crupper on the saddle, so we removed it (thinking it 
may make her more comfortable). i knew my saddle was not made for a 
balanced/centered ride and it is NOT at all made for riding a green horse 
such as she was during this experience (a new saddle is on my "list").

at the very end of the day, we progressed to lead changes over a single pole 
instead of double poles. this is where i almost met the same fate as last 
year (in the dirt at least once). my timing was off while going over the pole 
and i caused a zig zag during the transition and i was all-of-a-sudden 
everywhere but in the saddle. i did manage to recover, but i do remember 
hearing a lot of gasping in the audience. a few other times in the previous 2 
days i reacall hearing that same sound while i was working on recovering some 
saneness. buck calmly talks each person through situations like this and 
never makes a person feel inadequate or embarrassed about having lost control 
of a situation (although we always do feel embarrased anyway).

my list of things to work on is ever growing, but the list of things i want 
to accomplish is as well. so, i think that about puts the whole story 
together in a nutshell. any comments or questions are welcomed.

liz (& ariel, the trooper)

p.s. - i left out one thing. at the end of the second day, a gentleman came 
up and asked me if i was interesting in selling ariel. he didn't mention a 
price or what he was planning on using her for. i was so shocked that i 
didn't ask, either. i just gave him 4 (or more) reasons why i wasn't 
interested. first, her previous owner has first buyback opportunity. second, 
i don't think she's safe for just anyone, especially for someone i don't 
know. third, i am too attached to her. and finally fourth, i am not giving up 
on her, or myself. i saw the gentleman on the third day, but still didn't ask 
him those questions.


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