Fantastic Day

WOW WOW WOW is all I can say!!!! We went out to the farm and did a video level 1 online audition today and Briana went first and she did sooooooo fantastic I am so incredibly proud of her... usually things don't go that well for her and today things went almost perfect even she is sooo proud of herself which is awesome but it showed her today what a difference it makes to have a plan or at least a general plan and purpose.... and Byron is my hansom lil cowboy he did soooo well too I was so amazed to watch them hadle Cassie they are gonna make fabulous parelli people.... Even Cassie was well behaved today I think the kids having a plan and a purpose today made a huge huge difference...


THen me... I did my level 1 online audition along with the kids and of course bein an adult I got nervouse so things didn't go the way I wanted them too... but they were ok non the less we did decide however that we are gonna practice a lil more for the next time and that we will do this just for fun as well... though I did go for a bareback ride in the pen after and that went well untill my leg rubbed up against the electric fence and made a strange noise and she went right and my body went left...lol I WILL LEARN TO RIDE BAREBACK YET!!! the rest of the ride went very well it felt very good... then I rode Cassie for a bit whom I have a bit more confidence with for some reason and i rode her all over and even trotted a fair bit...hmmmm gonna have to think about that one a lil... anyway here are the videos we recorded...
Ok so after 3 days of fighting with this stupid thing I realize that you can't uplaod anything over a 100mb and the videos are just over that... oh well next time I guess maybe I can add a link to them on you tube if I get that to work...
Ok so I finally got them working on Youtube and here are the links Briana's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzAqpxMKi3g, Byron's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLB4rJ7YIV4 and last but not least mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LypbzRBjH0o. WOW what a long process this was.. I know for next time...lol

Slightly Discouraged

I was at the farm yestruday and only played with my horse for a short while on line and then rode for a few minutes and it went fairly well... the strange thing about yesturday was that my gelding was acting very strange... he was nipping at us and while we were playin with the mares he would kinda charge at them and then bite them... he even tried to mount my mare once... strange so today we tied him up cause he kinda worried me a little... Todays session started out soooo well we did some online stuff i practices my porcupine and driving properly since the clinic and she did mich better today a ways to go still but improvment is such an encouragement... I have been using my savvy string as my lead when I am playing closely with her and when we started the sideways without a fence it didn't go well I for some reason seem to really struggle with that one although when I have a fence she is fantastic... so we went to the shed and used it for a bit and practice sideways away from me and then to me... THen I went back to the 22' line and played travelling circles which was good, then some trotting circle with a change of direction which was really good, and then the leaf which was good also... but then I tried to bring her up to a canter and as soon as I asked her for it she took it but she went from left brain to rigtht brain... Not sure about that... so thenwe went to the back and i rode (oh I forgot to add I rode with one rein from the pasture to the shed which went really really well) with the hackamore and things seem to go sour from there... I am riding bareback cause I don't have a saddle and my core is a lil on the weak side and my balance and coordination up there isn't were I would like it to be so she constantly wanted to go be with the other horses... our turns are very choppy and stiff still so not sure what i need to practice more of or just the same that I am doing. then she got high headed and started acting right brain (and I was trying to get her back to left brain) and so we rode to the horses and then back to the horses and away again and thenshe spooked I lost my balance and hit the ground and she took off at a gallop... my son caught her and brought her to me and I got back on and rode around a lil more and then put her away... I definitly need to ride more and need to get a saddle I think.... oh and work out more! So yes today was a little discouraging at least the riding part but I think I have to remember that this is less than a doaen rides this summer and with no saddle and no official arena... I am using their pasture! OH, I almost forgot to add that I knew the day would come were I would get dumped (especially since I was riding bareback) I was really worried that I wouldn't have the courage to get back up... But I think that is were the cowgirl part comes in... even after trials in life we dust ourselves off and we get back up and we become stronger, smarter, and maybe even a little more confident from it. What a mighty God we serve!

Weekend at the farm!

Well, just to let you know I am still writing up thingie about everything that happened at the clinic... I really wish I would have kept a journal while I was there... I got so much information it's not funny... So, in the mean time I just had to write something on here...
I haven't spent nearly as much time with my horses as I would have liked. But one of the things that Don did mention a few times was to make sure you have a plan. Well I got the importance of that yesturday... Up until now I just went out and played I guess one of the reason for that was cause I was slightly lost and this level 2 clinic helped that greatly. I realized that when I go out there with no plan that as soon as I get out there my mind goes blank which does not help in my leadership skills at all... and things just don't go well at all... Today I went with a semi plan (the things I needed to work on in each savvy on a lil piece of paper in my pocket) I didn't get everything on the list done but a fair amount and things just went super well. OF course the other thing that helped singnificantly was my emotional state. Yesturday I felt very rushed and it was rainin and things added up and my patience level was very low and although we did ride and that went fairly well they didn't go nearly as well as today did. I went into the pen and as a rule the horses always come trottin in and today (since yesturday didn't end on the happiest of notes) she started out like that but it only took a few minutes (if that) before she totally partnered with me and we haltered and off we were... We are finally getting better at our sideways without a fence and we had a makeshift pedestal (square peiece of wood about 4inches high) that she stood up on no problem. We also did some ball stuff today (our ball is way to small) and it was soooooo incredibly cool to see her offer today. I love it soooo much when she wants to... Then we rode and she has improved way beyound words. I don't have a saddle that is fitting properly so we have been going bareback and with my very pore balance and core I really need to work on that... Anyway last year at this time she wouldn't have stood still for me to mount with a saddle and today she stepped rite up into place so i could get on bareback... It totally touches my heart... Also she was very spooky when you would give leg aids and such and now I was a lil ways off and had to kinda jump over her back and then swing my leg around over her rump and she just looked at me like ok are you ready already... she did very well. then to top the cake I put on my cradle bridle (C2) and she seemed to like that and then we rode around bareback for a bit and she was much more responsive which really shocked me... overall things went really well today! Bri played with Cassi today too and seemed to do really well although she just wants to ride... But I did watch her when she thought I wasn't and she was totally given her enjoyen playin on the ground with her... SHe trotted for a lil bit and has total balance up there and looks like a total natural... Wish I had that coordination and confidence!

Quick trip to the farm...

Well, Today was a rather odd day... We (I) thought we were doing really good cause we were gonna sneak out to the farm and take the kids for a little ride n then head off to church... well my math was way off so all we got to do was give them oats n then we had to get on the road... So we went to church and then came home for a bit in the afternoon... then I thought we could quickly sneak back out and get our ride in seein as it had stopped raining... So we went out and got Cassie and Leo saddled and were doing the "flightcheck" when I realized that the days are getting significantly shorted... so the kids rode for a bit while I just played with Blondie...
Two more sleeps (in kid Language...lol) till I get to leave for the Cardinal Ranch for the Level 2 clinic with Don Halladay. I am soooo very excited but so very nervouse. I know God has the perfect plan and I believe he is bringing the plan to light... I can't wait to see what is going to come of this week away.

Were Back :)

Soooo....
It has been way to long.... I didn't realize it had been this long since I had writte... I will give you a brief update...
Blondie and I are almost done level 2 online, playin level 1/2 freestyle and liberty 1/2 things are going so well with her... A few days ago we had played for a few hours doin all sorts of stuff and so I took her in the round pen and thought we would try liberty and so to my absolute amazement we played the cicling game, figure 8 around the barrels, she followed me around at the walk, trot and back up... by the time we had played a little and I decided it was time to be done I had tears streaming down my cheeks cause I was in such awww....
Leo and I are playin in level 1 in online and freestyle... he is doing well very well but I really need to spend a lil more time with him so he would come along a lil quicker...
Cassie is playin in level 1 online and freestyle as well and same for her I need to take a little more time for her as well...
I am very excited rite now cause I have a great oppurtunity comming up... This comming tuesday I get to attend a Level 2 clinic in Tete Juan at the Cardinal Ranch with Parelli instructor Don Halladay... I am sooo very excited (and a just a lil nervouse) since I dont have a horse trailer rite now they are generously are allowing me to rent one of their horses so that I can still attend... I am gonna take advantage of my time their and really focus on Parelli and God...
Well I better run for tonight, Later

Goin well

Well things are going very well but they would go better if the weather would warm up and I could get out to the horses more often...

So, I went out on Jan 14, 09 and took Cassie out and played with her... She is a wonderful horse but I seem to loose my patience a lil with her cause she is a bit of a left brain introvert i think. She did really well with the seven games and then i tried to push her a lil and she just wanted to stand there and i really had to work to get her feet to move. So it was later in the afternoon when i got out there so it was starting to cool off when i decided enough was enough and out her back.

Well, when i went to put her back Blondie came to me and nudged me and I thought ok and put the halter out and she put her nose in it... really shocked me! So I took her out and we played the seven games which she did supper at... the kids were still riding the quad with the sled behind it and she didn't seem to bother about anything. We played touch it and figure eight around the dog food can and the oat can... She did really well there too... so then we just played around the yard a bit and got bored... the kids had gone in the house by this point and it was dark out and all i had was a yard light. I took her over to the snow bank and started to play friendly game all over and she was very very calm so i simulated getting on.. needless to say after a lil bit I was sitting bareback on top my beautiful mare. She just stood there as i played friendly game from atop her. Then slowly i came to attention and lightly squezzed my legs until she moved forward. We then walked forward 30ish or so feet... and remaind there in complete happiness... we did this three more times before i could no longer feel my fingers and had t put her away..

On Jan15, 09 I had to go to the city for work but was determined that i was gonna sneak out and play with her before i left...needless to say i left alot later then intended... I got there and she was the first one at the gate and i walked in and she stood as i played the friendly game and again put her nose in the halter. We then went out... We played the seven games and she did really really well... played touch it and figure eight... then my son got stuck with the quad and so i went to help and she never even flinched at the quad or the tobaggon behind it... So then i got brave and decided we would try riding again. She stood perfect for mounting bareback... we walked all over the yard, a lil ways down the lane, and even around the quad and a few other things and she was so relaxed for it all and responded so nicely i can nto wait to see were we are a year from now! Anyway i hav been out to see them since but it has been to cold to play... so I am crossing my fingers for some warmer weather soon!!!