Take the Time, So It Takes Less Time, Max's Journey Continues

This is a phrase heard often in the "Parelli World". Take the Time, So It Takes Less Time. When it comes down to working with horses, it often is overlooked. People want results with their horses. They want to load their horse on the trailer, go to the show, go on a trail ride, jump bigger jumps, and the list goes on and on. But what can we expect from the world we live in today. It's all about having things happen right away, with our high speed internet, instant coffee, and massive chains of fast food restaurants. Horses, of course, have not adapted to this type of lifestyle. Horses are nature in it's finest form. It's hard for us humans to slow down and really take the time that's needed, yet it is exactly what the horse needs. This phrase has been in my head quite a bit this week. Max is continuing to make huge progress. I have been working on very simple tasks with him, yet they are extremely challenging for him.. for his emotional baggage. I have been playing with his confidence and stretching into the bit at the halt, walk, and trot. I thought about our Game of Contact progress so far, and tried to think in steps. Halt: Yep, at the halt he will confidently push into the bit, stretch down, and walk forward. Halt to walk: relaxed, much more confident. Walk: Fairly consistent with his confidence and stretching. Walk to trot: Emotions come up, head high, rushes, has trouble pushing down into the bit with confidence. OK, so I had found the next step. At first, it took quite some time. Laps and laps at the walk of just sticking with him, continuing to ask for confidence and stretching all while asking for trot. It would have been so easy here to just push him into the trot, but I waited. Waited for him to stretch down, take the bit, and then trot off. Took him some time to find the confidence, but he finally found it. Then his trot started improving and becoming less emotional! How interesting! This week we have been focusing most of our ride on his walk to trot transitions. It's where his emotions first start to come up into the "my brain is falling out mode". We have been going slow and steady. Taking the time it takes, so it takes less time. Now he's starting to enjoy our rides more, he's more confident about expressing himself and being allowed to actually experiment with the bit. He's allowed to have a voice and opinion. It's not that he hasn't been allowed to be himself, he's my second horse to officially graduate Level 3, it's just that we're getting down to the source of it.. where his emotions start to come up and resolving them. Taking the time, so it takes less time can apply to almost anything in life, and especially in our horsemanship.