I've always heard the admonition, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," and thought it was cute - maybe not totally helpful in any given situation, but cute.
I'm struggling not to do that! Obe has been fantastic so far this winter. Compared to last winter, she's a different horse. Taking her off grain has changed the crazy factor completely. Even though the horses have been in their stalls less than last year, there have been a couple of stretches where she's been trapped inside for several days in a row because of rain and mud. And yet, she hasn't climbed the rafters, pretended to be Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron, or attempted to off load me in a bucking spree.
Another factor in her attitude change has been clicker training. I started it a little over a month ago, and I've been more than impressed with how much she's changed. The extra feedback of the click/treat cycle has changed her willingness to try. She's much more forward...especially in the first trot I pick up during warm up. Traditionally, that's been when the "suck back and rear" phenomenon has happened; since clicker training, she's much more loose, forward and stretching through her neck and body. She's such a busybody and worry wart that I think the more I can give her various forms of feedback, the better she is. A simple, "good girl" and pat just haven't been enough. But now that she knows the click is "her sound," she's listening for it and trying for it. I love it...seriously, I love it.
So, I'm trying not to count my chickens...yet. I'm hoping to get her off the farm for a couple of lessons "away" with Debra in February. Then, there are a couple of schooling shows in Tryon in March that I would like to do before heading out to our first recognized show in April. With the way she's been acting, I'm actually excited to get out and about and see how it works. But, that's getting awfully close to counting those chickens who haven't yet hatched. I really don't want to waste a ton of money on a recognized show just to find out that my horse is completely unrideable. So, hopefully, some off-campus lessons and a couple of schooling shows can help me have a clearer picture of how many chickens I have. ;)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Not horse related...
Happy New Year! Yes, things are still moving along with Obe, and I believe the alfalfa pellets have made a significant difference in her attitude. Oh, we still have "discussions" periodically, but nothing as revved-up and explosive as we had before. I've also started playing around with clicker training, and I LOVE IT...but that's for another post. You'll just have to wait and see how it's working... :)
In other news, a new semester has started at school, and I'm teaching two sections of ENG 114, which is our Research & Professional Writing class. Honestly, the "professional writing" part of it is kind of boring to me...business letters, memos, emails, etc. But, I think I'm going to spice it up a bit this semester by making my class a business (maybe we'll own an animal rescue or something), and making all the correspondence we learn tie into the running of our business.
However, I LOVE the research part of the class. This semester, I'm teaching the research paper first, so I'm diving into early with my students. I hope this helps them in other classes. Last time I taught this class, I did the research paper last, and I had so many students say, "I wish I'd had this information earlier! It would have helped in (fill in the blank) class!" So, this semester, I'm doing the paper first...hopefully giving my students the tools they need for research papers in other classes.
Now, this also means that I'm doing research. I write alongside my students; when I assign an essay, I also write one. So, I do a research paper as they do theirs. This way, I join in discussions and show them what I'm doing - it's incredibly valuable for them to see that I struggle with the process just as much as they do. I think that opens their eyes to the fact that there IS NO SUCH THING as the perfect writer...that mythical creature that sits down at a computer and churns out perfect prose every single time.
In my last ENG 114 paper, I researched George Price, an American scientist who gave his entire life up to pursuing the idea of a genetic basis of altruism. His life (and his work...the questions he was asking) is fascinating. This semester, I'm spurred into research by another person. This time, it's Margaret Tobin Brown, better known in our culture as The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Her life has been distorted in popular culture to an outrageous myth (that has NOTHING to do with who she truly was)...but the REALITY of who she was and what she did is much more interesting than the myth ever could be (especially if Brown is played by Debbie Reynolds...what a horrible choice)! She was on the forefront of nearly EVERY influential, progressive movement of the early 20th Century - the suffrage movement, fitness, literacy, reforming the treatment of juvenile delinquents, miners' rights, immigrants' rights. She was a powerful voice in all of those...oh, and she also just happened to have survived the sinking of the Titanic. Her life is fascinating, and I'm interested in looking at her connections to all those political/social movements. I'm also interested in asking questions about why our early renditions of her life resorted to such caricatures...were those early writers frightened off by Brown's strength and intelligence? Were they unsure of how to present such a woman? Are those qualities "scary" in women? Good stuff...
I'll let you know what I come up with. Right now, I'm devouring the biography of Brown, Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen (which was a major influence in the tours and information given at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, which Jim and I visited last month...which started this whole inquiry for me).
I'll keep you updated...
In other news, a new semester has started at school, and I'm teaching two sections of ENG 114, which is our Research & Professional Writing class. Honestly, the "professional writing" part of it is kind of boring to me...business letters, memos, emails, etc. But, I think I'm going to spice it up a bit this semester by making my class a business (maybe we'll own an animal rescue or something), and making all the correspondence we learn tie into the running of our business.
However, I LOVE the research part of the class. This semester, I'm teaching the research paper first, so I'm diving into early with my students. I hope this helps them in other classes. Last time I taught this class, I did the research paper last, and I had so many students say, "I wish I'd had this information earlier! It would have helped in (fill in the blank) class!" So, this semester, I'm doing the paper first...hopefully giving my students the tools they need for research papers in other classes.
Now, this also means that I'm doing research. I write alongside my students; when I assign an essay, I also write one. So, I do a research paper as they do theirs. This way, I join in discussions and show them what I'm doing - it's incredibly valuable for them to see that I struggle with the process just as much as they do. I think that opens their eyes to the fact that there IS NO SUCH THING as the perfect writer...that mythical creature that sits down at a computer and churns out perfect prose every single time.
In my last ENG 114 paper, I researched George Price, an American scientist who gave his entire life up to pursuing the idea of a genetic basis of altruism. His life (and his work...the questions he was asking) is fascinating. This semester, I'm spurred into research by another person. This time, it's Margaret Tobin Brown, better known in our culture as The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Her life has been distorted in popular culture to an outrageous myth (that has NOTHING to do with who she truly was)...but the REALITY of who she was and what she did is much more interesting than the myth ever could be (especially if Brown is played by Debbie Reynolds...what a horrible choice)! She was on the forefront of nearly EVERY influential, progressive movement of the early 20th Century - the suffrage movement, fitness, literacy, reforming the treatment of juvenile delinquents, miners' rights, immigrants' rights. She was a powerful voice in all of those...oh, and she also just happened to have survived the sinking of the Titanic. Her life is fascinating, and I'm interested in looking at her connections to all those political/social movements. I'm also interested in asking questions about why our early renditions of her life resorted to such caricatures...were those early writers frightened off by Brown's strength and intelligence? Were they unsure of how to present such a woman? Are those qualities "scary" in women? Good stuff...
I'll let you know what I come up with. Right now, I'm devouring the biography of Brown, Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen (which was a major influence in the tours and information given at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, which Jim and I visited last month...which started this whole inquiry for me).
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