A Clash of the Introverts: Blaze the Enigma

   I took Blaze to the playground with the intention of building on the sucuess of our last online session. Last time we played i began taking her through the 7 games in a learner/ teacher situation, rather than simply using them as a tool to move her feet in preperation for trail rides. This learning frame of mind lead to her actually engaging in what we were doing! And we were able to establish a conversation using what we had learnt. 2 individulas sharing idea's.

   It became pretty obvious that this session was not going to go as i had hoped and establishing any kind of mental engagement or connection, even on the teaniet level, was going to be challenge. We were both SO introverted. Blaze left brain and myself more right brain. She was focused on eating grass and when i asked her to raise her head she would nt even look at me, completely disinterested in the human at the end of the line. Usualy i thrive on working with horses like this. It presents with the opportunity to really delve into horse psychology because you can't MAKE these kind of horses motivated you have to cause them to want to do things and in doing so you get to indulge in the most subltlest, cheekiest, interesting conversations. Asking the very least from them with the slightest of body language. Sneaky, like it is game. Doing the unexpected and watching it blow their little horsey minds, its as if you actually watch the curiosity and play build in their face...

   ...This didnt happen...

   For some reason i found myself in a Right Brain Introvert daze. My mind was frozen, i just could nt think. I found it incredibly difficult to bring my energy both UP and way way down. My timing was completely off, i could nt seem to use my phases effectively or appropriately. It was like the lights were on but nobody was home. Usualy Left Brain Introverts suck me in and i get absorbed in their games, their energy and i can just feel what to do and when do it but it just felt like there was a wall between us. I was waiting to get absorded into conversation but instead i just stood there, static and kind of isolated. It was a very odd feeling, unfortuantely, being a Right Brain Introvery by nature it is not an unfamiliar feeling to me. Everything i tried to get Blaze's attention felt awkward. Nothing really seemed to work. I felt like i was just doing stuff without any rhym or reason. I just could nt think. 

   Normaly when i am feeling like this when working with horses they kind of pull me out of it and we can get some nice things going near the end. I think it is becuase they have some kind of energy you can feed off, or bounce off, even an introvert has energy about them and engage occasionaly even if it is just to poke you for treats or rub on you, try to bite you even! Atleast there is some kind of interaction  going on from pony to human but this dynamic is always absent when working with Blaze. She is just no interested in the human what so ever. She completely ignores you but not in that dominant im going to trample you kind of way becuase even that is some kind of two way dialog, even if the horse is deliberatly trying to ignore you they are still actively interacting with you by pushing you around and this is something that you can work off. Blaze kinda just stands there, 

"Im bored, im just going to stand here, your boring, im not going to ask you anything. If you want me to do something then ill do it hoping you ll then return me to the field or we can then go riding." 

   Becuase i was in such a isolated frame of mind and Blaze is herself so reserved it was pretty much impossible to establish any kind of two way interaction becuase non of us was in a position where we could intigate it. 

   Nevertheless i perceviered and after about 40 minuets of awkward silence she asked me a question!!!!  I had a series of obstacle set up in a line, a few barrels and some cones, there were gaps in varying sizes between some of the obstacles and some were stuck together. I sent her on the circle and set it up so as these would interurpt her pattern. When presented with the need to engage the brain and actually think she chose to eat  (surprise surpirse) i asked her to raise her head and resent her. She squeezed through some of the bigger gaps easy so i directed her to the smaller ones which seemed to give her brain a bit of a kick start as she began to hesitate slightly and really had to think about whether to squeeze, kick it, jump it ect. After a few goes she stopped at the barrel, lifted her head and looked at me with a kind of question mark face.

"What do you want me to do?"

   Game over! That will do. End on a positive note. We aren't going to get anymore engagement than that so i ended it there and we stood together having some undemanding time. After 10 minuets, for some reason, the idea of hopping on entered my head so i did. I dont know why i felt the urge to start doing some ridden work, still in this frozen state of mind there was no prior thought process that concluded such and such would be achieved if we worked on some Freestyle, infact i hopped on not knowing what i really wanted to do. I just had this feeling that i wanted to go somewhere. Hmm, how interesting.

   I asked her to walk on and we played around with squeezing between the barrels, repeating untill she no longer hesitated which seemed to get walking with more enthusiasm... 

(i realise that as im writing this Blaze sounds almost Right Brain Introvert herself, but she wasn't, she isnt, she cant be! I cant imagine Blaze being Right Brained, EVER! which i know is impossible to believe but its what makes Blaze so equally wonderous and confusing. She is NOT like ANY other horse you will ever meet. She is special. An Enigma if you will!)

Anyway... after playing around with squeeze game we worked on direct and indirect reins which were nice, we trotted around from abit and then i decided what the hell, popped her into a canter and we went over a couple of jumps. It was beautiful. The longer we rode the more i could feel my mind coming out of this frozen state. My timing seemed to be improving, i felt more.. here, if that makes sense and less cut off from what was going on here, between me and Blaze. Blaze seemed to be moving around with purpose and "yeah lets do it!" or "hmm, what are you asking for". How interesting! 

   I have absolutely no idea what to make of this session. All i know is that we ended on a positive note. I can understand why it was so dfficult to establish any kind of engagement online because of the way i was but i do wonder why i all of a sudden got this feeling of wanting to ride, why riding seemed to unlock both mine and Blaze's intorversion and as always im sat here trying to figure out Blaze, how and why she acts and thinks the way she does. Its hard when she gives you absolutely nothing to feed off. She truley is my Enigma.