The venue is a new one and the arena isn't that big so I'm wondering as I drive over how the day will go. Will it be too restricting, will the horses be uncomfortable. what will the lasses think, what games can we play that won't take up to much room but are still challenging and fun? All this is going through my mind.
I arrive to see Julia with Maverick has arrived and Maverick looks stuning. He has really matured and filled out more. No one else is here yet, but its their day and up to them when they get here. No hurry, no pressure just nice and relaxed from the start. Within minutes Dawn Amour arrives with the ever charming Mo, Dawn's husband Brian helps to unload a splendid array of props that will be brilliant to use. Thanks for that Dawn I'm sure everyone appreciated your help.

Eventually everyone was here and I set up two low jumps, one at either end of the arena and for 15min every one went though the warm up of the 7 games. Everyone then gathered in a semi circle and I give them a good surprise. Each person was to take control of the agenda for 20min each. Now I forget who went first and what we all did but this is what I can remember. One session was that everyone swapped horses and they had to play with the horse in which ever way they wanted. This helped them to see the different emotion levels in the horse and taught them how to use their energy and also the different ways they need to use body language. It is so easy to get accustomed to your horse and it can be a bit of a shock to see you have to use various principals with different horses. After the time was up everyone came back onto a semi circle and each discused what they had discovered. This ranged from; having to be clearer with what you were asking, needing to use more motivation, the horse was very sharp or very slow, found some tasks easier and others harder. It is a great learning curve to play with other horses and not just your own all the time. After this everyone took back their horse.
The next session was playing the sideways game. this was to be played using your energy to create more impulson and to bring that impulsion back down. See how little of a phrase you can use and try not to use the CS. Again this tested you and not the horse to see how well your communication with your horse was. The squeeze game was choosen but I can't remember who by but what does stick in my mind is Dawn Amour. Dawn decided everyone would play using the props, so up went the Car Wash and out came Barrels, Tarpaulin, Cones, Umbrella, Big Parelli Ball, Jumps and fillers. Again it was for you to use your energy and try hard not to use your CS. Come on own up, how many times did you use your CS..

During the morning Brenda asked how could she get two eyes from her horse. I went over and noticed Maddie looked bored and lifeless. I spent a few mintues with Maddie and then handed her back to Brenda. Brenda had taken in what I did and kept this up during the rest of the day.
I noticed Rocky take off and Hoppy sitting with her head in her hands. I heard someone say Rocky had knocked Hoppy and with a broken leg that was not good. Concerened I went straight over and Hoppy reasured me she was okay. Again I was asked to play with Rocky for a bit so I took teh line and assessed his emotional state. Rocky was on a high, rushing and pullingand noit sure where he was going or what he was meant to be doing. I decided that the first thing to do was to bring his emoitonal levels right down and show him that he need not try to escape all the time. I found that you had to use the minimum of phrases and body language but at times needed to be very firm. Rocky needed to feel safe and have have trust in you. After playing for 10 minutes Rockywas happy to walk and trot circles, play sideways, yoyo etc all at a more comfortable pace.

We had a great morning and loads of people spectating but now it was time to stop feed ourselves and rest our horses. Hoppy phoned Dominoes who said they could not deliver even though they were only five minutes away. Dawn Amour came to the rescue and with Hoppy they went and collected our food. "Phew! I could see myself with just my banana and pear for lunch.

After Lunch

Time to reveal the afternoons activity much to the surprise of everyone. I first asked for help to move all of the props into the top corner then marked the arena into 6 segments. I then explained to everyone that while playing this game they had to adhere to the safety measures. SO WHAT IS THE GAME!!!!! The game is liberty all at the same time....Dawn Amour was concerned and thought it would not work. She sugested one person went to liberty at a time to ensure safety which was a great idea. To start everyone placed their line into their belt and played with their horse without touching the line. Then while they were doing this one person went to liberty. After everyone had done this we saw that it was safe to allow the game to proceed. Catherine and Dawn Amour swapped ponies and then everyone took off their headcollars and then the horses were loose.
Maverick was clocked onto Julia one moment then the next he decided to explore. What he did not expect was to be moved out of any segment he ventured into until it was his own. How nice it was to see the look on his face when he clocked back on with Julia. Next we had Rocky having his trot around the arena but it didn't take long for him to go looking for Dawn. casey seemed quite content to play and Mo had a great time with Catherine though at times it was Mo inside the segment and Catherine outside of it. Maddie also had her time going around the arena and at first seemed unsure of where she was meant to go. Once Brenda got her body language esaier to read Maddie soon came back. At one time we had three horses loose but never was there any trouble. In fact the horses seemed to want to get back to their human.

All too soon it was 3pm, with that we stopped there and for the last 30min it was back on line and each person played with their horse using what they had learned today and with props if they wanted. A nice thing to hear was from Brenda who told me that Maddie was constantly giving her two eyes. what a difference from the morning. Dawn said that she did not think the liberty would work but was pleased it did and had great fun.

Another great day among friends, loads learnt everyone had great fun. The only downside was the photo's I took did not come out, I must learn how to use this camera.