2011 in Review

This past year was one of the greatest years I have had with horses. Sonny and I got to do amazing things and meet a lot of wonderful people!

Jesse and I playing the circling game with Sonny.

2011 had a slow start. Winter and Spring quarter of school were awful; I was taking really hard science classes that left very little time for anything else.

I decided to take the summer off school, which turned out to be an excellent idea! It was really time to focus on my horsemanship and start progressing, rather than being stuck doing the same things over and over. With Sonny being an LBI, he really needed me to set up my game.

June flew by. It was my first quarter not in school since the summer before my senior year, so I was trying to do as much as possible! I spent a lot of June playing with Sonny, trying to improve our freestyle and of course our relationship.

June 23rd

July 6th was the first time I heard from Melissa. Little did I know that she would be the greatest thing of 2011!

Melissa and her horse, Rydel.

In the middle of July I went to see my past horse, LaBelle for a week. What a great time that was! It was so fun to be able to play with dressage again.

The horse that started it all, LaBelle.

August 5th I moved Sonny to a new barn. It is so close to my house and they are okay with all of my parelli stuff, so it has worked out great!

Sonny's first time at the new barn. He loves
his privilege of a stall guard! 

A few days later, on August 9th, I put the bridle on Sonny for the first time since October of 2009!  Almost two years! He has some issues with bits, so this was the beginning of lots of friendly game.

This video was made on August 21st. Sonny's first time loading at liberty!

One of the greatest days in 2011 was on August 28th; Jesse Peter's playday. This day ranks way above others for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because of the effect it had on Sonny and I. After our lesson with Jesse that day, Sonny and I completely changed the way we view each other. I finally understood the meaning of being a leader, and he finally started accepting me as one. What a HUGE accomplishment! Along with that, Melissa and I had a great time overall and met so many people and did some many amazing things!

Rydel, Melissa, Me, and Sonny at the playday!

September 20th was another amazing day. This was our first lesson with 2* instructor Juli Piovesan! Juli is truly an amazingly lady and has done so much for the four of us! So thankful to have her in our lives!

First lesson with Juli.

My Parelli saddle came on September 26th! Oh how lucky I am to own such an amazing saddle!

Although it may not seem substantial enough to bookmark as an important date to an outsider, November 8th really sticks out to me. On this day I really felt a change in my relationship with Sonny. I was finally understanding how to let him have his own opinions and use his ideas to my advantage. 

Finally, on Christmas Sonny and I got a whole bunch of new parelli things that are sure to make 2012 even more interesting!

It has been such an amazing year for Sonny and I. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us; it is sure to please!