Updates

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to do a whole lot of anything, just a little of everything. I haven't been able to spend any time at all with Sonny, which is dreadful, but the time will come.

First and foremost:
I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I have finished 2 of my 3 classes for this quarter. I have been so lucky to have two classes that have optional finals, which meant with one class I didn't have to go the last two weeks and the other class I finished today. That means I only have to take one final, on Wednesday, and I will be done for the summer! I am beyond excited!

Things with the horse farm are really coming along. I am absolutely thrilled about it. Our accomplishments so far include:

• Cleaning out the stalls (Not just pitchfork style, literally digging them out)
• Power-washing the whole barn (who would have guessed that under all those cobwebs and dust there would be good-looking stalls and even windows?) 
• Tearing out all the fence (and I mean every last piece)
• Filling the fence post holes (what a joyful job that was...)
• Mowing (it actually looks like a farm now, rather than a jungle) 
• Tearing out bushes, laying plastic, and mulching (getting fancy now, eh?)
• Removing the giant pile of concrete that came from Sonny's stall (thankfully, that wasn't my job) 

When I first took on the job, I was a little nervous. The barn was so rough and out of shape I worried that it would be mission impossible. After seeing everything today, I am thinking that the future looks very bright :). 

A bright, bright, sunshiny day at Jesse Peters in 2011.

Wordless Wednesday

Yee-Haw!

Sonny and I had a fabulous ride today! Even though it was hot, he was surprisingly active.

We warmed up online and went sideways over the barrel twice. It was only his good direction, but it is a start!

I haven't rode in my saddle lately so I got on and walked around a bit to get adjusted. I really wanted to focus on transitions because his downward transitions have been really slacking lately. During my walk warm up I really monitored my breathing and energy and that seemed to help a lot.

Once I got into the trot he started getting a bit frisky and pulling his normal "I am going canter and dive into the middle of the area so you stop me". I always push him forward, but usually that behavior upsets me so much. Today, I didn't let it bother me at all. I put a smile on my face and YEE HAW off we went! I really pushed him and played a passenger lesson. Thankfully, I have a really good seat. I felt like we were bouncing off of walls and going all different directions but surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Normally I like to go back to my dressage background and hope for a collected canter along the rail and get upset when that isn't how it is. Today was the total opposite: we had cutting horse moves as he dashed to one side of the wall at the last second (sightly scary, with a touch of adrenaline). I think the fact that I was able to laugh it off and hang on made it not so fun anymore because it didn't take long for him to relax into this beautiful canter. Huh. How interesting!

After calming down we had some great trot circles using my only my carrot stick! Hopefully canter circles are in our future. I will be anxious to see how he is the next time I ride!

Such a happy face ;). 

Out With the Old

I mentioned Sunday that Sonny's new stall is going to be out in a really old barn that used to be a milking parlor. Well, it is going to be quite the project so of course I am going to blog about the progress!

Since it was an old milking parlor, the whole barn is concrete. Yeah, that's kind of a problem... Well, not anymore!

Just getting started. 

Making good progress.

Almost there! 

The area is 15x16, so getting the concrete out was no small feat. Thankfully, I have two men in my life that really love Sonny and I: my boyfriend and my godfather. They worked all day long jack-hammering, prying, and throwing out concrete. Wow! Am I lucky or what?

The concrete is out, but there is still loads of work that need to be done. Stay turned for an update on Sonny's Sanctuary!

In the Direction of Dreams

I hate to admit it, for fear of jinxing myself, but lately things have really started to fall into place.

It started with me being chosen as an ambassador for the Parelli Horse and Soul Tour. It was a heck of a lot of work, but I sure did enjoy it! It was such a great opportunity for me to meet Parelli people in the area, but more important introduce Parelli to more people. It still shocks me how many people haven't even heard of it, and I am thrilled to be a part of helping spread the word. Anything to make the world a better place for horses and humans!

Along with that, I got chosen to volunteer at the tour. Even though I have met so many wonderful people as an ambassador, I hope being a volunteer only adds to my list. After all, the seventh key to success is support, and I think that will really come in handy on my journey to becoming a Parelli Professional.

School also seems to be falling into place. I just found out that I only have 3 semesters left. Still seems like a long time, but thats actually half of a year sooner than I should graduate. I was thrilled to find that out considering I switched my major not too long ago. So happy that all that worked out!

Last but not least, I have been offered an amazing opportunity to run a boarding facility! This is why I haven't posted much lately: I have been working hard to get everything sorted out. The facility isn't that old (about 15 years), but it hasn't been taken care of for at least the last 7 of those. It needs a lot of work, but we are making progress!

The best part: Sonny's soon-to-be new home! There are two main barns that run perpendicular to the huge indoor; about 20 some stalls in each. But, there is a really, really old barn closer to the house. I mean it is old; it used to be a milking parlor! But, There are huge doors that open out to the outside, and once they get all the new fence installed it will be connected to a little paddock. So Sonny will be able to come and go as he pleases! It has been my dream for so long to have a place where he has the option of being in or out, and it is finally happening! I can't believe it!

I still have two more weeks of classes left and a lot of work to do, so my posts may be more irregular than normal. I have a lot of work to do this summer and am going to be very busy, but I may just be on my way to living the dream :).

Perfection vs. Excellence

I have always been a perfectionist. The LBE in me screams "Let's do it my way...now". I want everything to be just the way I want it all the time. Thankfully, my LBI is teaching me it is not always my way or the highway. If it was, he would have never left the highway.

As I start to prepare myself for the fast track, I keep getting caught up in "I have to be able to do this now and it needs to be perfect". Of course, it won't happen over night. So, I have been setting little goals for myself and trying to work on them a little bit everyday. The amount of progress I have made so far has even surprised me a little bit.

For instance, at least every other day I get out my 45' rope and carry it around with me. Then, I throw it and and bring it back into to me 5 times with each hand. Along with that, I have been playing with Quick Draw and working on my accuracy. In the beginning, I couldn't even catch my carrot stick. By day three, I could hit the same target (an old show number), up to 5 times in a row.

My goals with Sonny have been just as simple but will go a long way. Our catching game is a huge one. He has no problem coming to me when I call him from out in the field, but anywhere else he is great at ignoring me. So my plan was to let him loose in the fence in area behind the barn (that isn't his field) and groom him out there. I can only take one tool with me at a time. Every time I go out there, I play the catching game before I groom him with that tool. By the time I curry, brush, pick feet, fly spray, and sunscreen him, that is a ton of catching game. This is maybe day 3 or 4, and he is started to walk over to me from over 20 feet away. Awesome!

Another thing that I have been trying to improve on is him only eating grass when I allow him to. I think he somewhat gets it, but the problem is I am not consistent enough with it for it to really mean something. But, it will come.

What I am getting at is this:

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence".

                                                                  ~Vince Lombardi

Even if things aren't perfect all the time like I expect them to be, if I put the effort and dedication into aiming for it, then I can still achieve excellence.

We Are Parelli Ohio

Oddly enough, I have multiple people find my blog from googling "Parelli Ohio". To clear things up, I just wanted to to post a link to the group in case anyone needs to find it and clicks on my blog in the future.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/parelliohio/

If you are doing Parelli in Ohio, I highly recommend becoming a part of the group. I just started it a few months ago, so it has a long way to go. So far, it has been great, though :).

For one, we have REALLY cool shirts.

Front - with Linda! :)

Back - Photo by Sjoukje

For two, we are planning on lots of playdays and get-togethers.

For three, it is a great way to network with other parelli people in your area and get connected. I have already met so many fabulous people from the group! 

I hope this helps direct people to the right place in the future :). 

Grinning Ear to Ear

Another fabulous day to add to the "Horsenality Movement"!

Yesterday I started to pay close attention to his faces with everything I do. For instance, I haven't been allowing him to come into my space until he has at least one ear forward. Although I would prefer two eyes and two ears, anything is better than both ears back. Usually he doesn't have them back in a super ugly face, but it isn't anything pretty, either. If at least one ear isn't forward, he doesn't get to come within a few feet of me. Guess what doesn't happen a few feet away from me? Treats. I don't get mad and only back him up if his ears are back and ugly, but he doesn't get scratches or treats unless he has a better face.

Along with that, I have been much more conscious about his face's during the games. For instance, I never realized just how many times he asks me questions out on a circle. I always am so neutral (in fact, too neutral!) that I pretend like he isn't there. Without putting pressure on him or changing my energy, I tried to really recognize all the times he either a) keeps an ear on me b) gives me two eyes and two ears or c) does anything except have both ears back. This was really eye opening to me. I get discouraged very often when it comes to his faces (especially when I see my friend's horses lock on with their eyes and ears constantly). But, I fail to take into account all the great things my LBI offers me. Today, especially.

My goal was to work on my slow hand transitions, from all gaits. Interestingly, he loves to come down from a walk to a trot from my slow hand, but not to a halt, back up, or even trot from a canter. My theory is that when I was first playing with the slow hand, it was easiest for him to go from a trot to a walk so that's when he was reward the most. So today I worked on all sorts of different, and snappy, transitions from my slow hand. I asked in the same spot, but not every time. Within about 3 circles he came to that spot, basically half halted himself, and then shot two eyes and two ears at me "Stop or keep going?". Bam, game over :). Not only was he rocking the questions today, he even continued into my space with two eyes and two ears. That makes me all smiles :).

Ignoring my big, fat, finger, doesn't
that face just melt your heart?

After a few good changes of direction and coming into me with a happy face, I moved on to the bridle. We haven't played with it in a while, which is my fault. I need to make it more of a habit to help him overcome his confidence issues with the bit. Today I put it on him and was standing there playing with instagram (just got it for my droid) when I noticed him yawning. Not one yawn, not two, maybe not even three, but more like four yawns later, I was totally in shock! I have been pressuring him to sigh or lick and chew for months now, and the minute I turn away he lets out the biggest release. Huh, imagine that ;). Maybe he isn't the one that is so tense anymore? Definitely food for thought! (That is Sonnys least favorite kind of food). 

Love this little booger so, so, so very much.

Over the Moon

I had such a wonderful weekend with Sonny. Although nothing spectacular happened, he had me over the moon.

Friday we had a short, sweet, and successful liberty session. My lesson of the day: Don't micromanage! Man, oh, man! I get so LBE and caught up in perfection that I don't always realize how much I can micromanage Sonny. Only recently have we been playing with figure 8's at liberty, with very little success. Things were going great Friday so I rolled out some barrels and started the pattern. Things weren't going so smoothly so I stopped and thought about what was broken. As always, it was me. I was so focused on getting these tight, perfect little turns around the barrels that I was oblivious to all the great things Sonny was offering me. I tried again with a better attitude and it went so well! He went pretty far out and around the barrels, but I was barely doing anything and he was putting so much effort into the pattern! He kept moving instead of stopping at the barrel, and did really well going back in-between then and turning back towards me. The best part: we ended with him coming back towards me with a very happy face :).

We also had some small achievements Saturday. My favorite came when I was talking to some friends during a circling game. My friends were standing directly in front of me and I had some barrels lined up directly behind me. I had sent him out on a circle and was passing the rope behind my back when my friends told me he had jumped them. For a minute I didn't quite understand what had happened. "You're trying to tell me my LBI jumped barrels behind my back without me asking and with plenty of room to go around them on either side? No way!" I was flabbergasted. Sonny is pretty darn good about keeping up with his responsibilities, but they usually don't hold up with things that require too much energy. For him to maintain gait, maintain direction and look where he was going behind my back, well I couldn't be happier!

Today was pretty great, too! We focused on touch it: touch it from a long distance, touch it with on one foot, touch it with your tail, etc. I also really gave him time to think today. I didn't do anything until he gave me two eyes and two ears. It was a long, boring process and my inner LBE was digging to get out, but I think it will really pay off. Along with that, he had some excellent jumps! In attempt to move more towards level 4, I put standards with a pole higher than barrels laying down. The pole was only a couple inches higher then the barrel, but it was a good start. He jumped it three times and was pretty good about it. The last jump he actually even started cantering before it when I only had him at a trot. I believe that would be effort :).

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

It's currently 1:00 in the morning. I am still up, [attempting] to study for my two midterms today. Not going too well.

I have had a lot of coffee, spent a lot of time staring mindlessly at notes, and have been on facebook more than ever. When you sprinkle a lack of sleep onto that plethora of fabulousness, you get...

BATMAN shaped blog statistics. Yay.