Expectation

I've tried to take this concept into the round pen with Phebes and The Spotted Wonder.  Though we do not always have the outcome I'd might expect, I'm finding that if I keep my human expectations out of the way that something positive nearly always "just happens."  On a windy day...you might have to search for it, but if your emotions stay out of the mix you can find the "try" in a ground work session.  I've noticed that since I've been doing less riding that I'm able to do more communicating.  I'm able to see communication barriers that require work on my part to figure out how to get across what I want in way that the horse understands.  There are barriers.  It seems neither of the girls stay in the game if they are "told" rather they seem to need to be "asked."  I'm sure that sounds kind of dopey.  Journey in particular is tough.  I can hardly believe I said that!  Phebes I'd think would be the horse more difficult to communicate with, but not so.  Journey's attention is lost to outside stimuli and the pull of the herd.  I lose her if I apply too much pressure.  I lose her if I am too aggressive, too fast, or too much of anything.  I lose her if I'm not physically attached to her by longe line, lead rope, or reins.  The Speckled Wonder is a thinking horse, but she's more interested in her own herd connection than being connected to me.   So if I troop out to the round pen with the EXPECTATION of this or that happening, the spotted one and I will have a very bad training day.  When I go out with the thought of having my tools in hand, and just sort of winging it, with a loosely defined plan and no preset outcome, we seem able to end with a small improvement from the previous session.  Not always, but usually.  It may be a good idea for me to start my own day without expectation and see how things happen in the round pen of my life.