The First One!

I'm starting this blog because I've realized I really want to share my journey with Pistol, and I want to share it with everyone I can! :) So... starting now, I'm going to be talking about my journey through Parelli Natural Horsemanship with Pistol, my 4 year old gelding.

I got Pistol about 2 months ago, and when I got him, he was a hot mess. He was a green-broke 4 year old, with the brain of a yearling. He had been ridden and trained a bit, but I was informed that he needed 20 minutes of bucking after the saddle was on and before you got on, and that he "didn't understand lunging". Not a problem I thought, PNH has an answer for everything. I brought my friend/mentor with me to pick him up, and we brought her step-up 4 horse slant trailer to get him. However, when we got there, we found out that he had only been trailered 4 times in his entire life. Oh boy. So my friend started working with him, which took about 3 hours, getting him to yield his front and hind end, squeeze between barrels, and circle into the trailer. Well, he was having nothing of it. I had originally thought he was a Left Brain INtrovert, based on my first visit with him. However, 15 minutes into the session, it was clear he was a Left Brain EXtrovert! He bucked about 15 times when he was turned loose in the arena, ran a couple laps with his tail flagged, and stopped to look at us like "I WIN!". We finally got him into the trailer, which took HOURS, and headed home. Then, when we got home, it took HOURS to unload him! Naturally, I decided that I would need to work on trailering so he didn't get "stuck" in a bad experience and make life more difficult. His first full day at my house, he managed to take his 6 foot gate off the hinges, and was heading out when I got to the gate. I knew at that point that I had an interesting time ahead of me. He was curious about EVERYTHING, and while he would go Right Brain at first, within a week he got himself under control and has been living on the Left Brain side ever since. He managed to pick up on all 7 games in the first day, and I had no choice but to move on, because his mind was busybusybusy. So within 2 days of having him, I was already introducing level 2 concepts to him Online. The changes PNH has made in 2 months is unreal. When I got him, he didn't want to be with me, he thought he was the "dominant horse" in the herd of 2, and was used to doing whatever he wanted, since he had been a bratty pasture pet for 4 years. I had my work cut out for me, but after just 2 short months, he now trots and even canters to meet me in the pasture, lets me pet him everywhere while he is laying down, hangs out in his trailer all the time, and does so much more. To date, our biggest accomplishments include: jumping barrels on the ground because he was terrified of it for the first month, getting 2 front feet and 2 back feet on the pedestal seperately, stick to me at a trot without pinning ears, loading into his trailer while I am standing at the rear fender or the rear tire and while he is at liberty, and approaching the spraying hose at liberty and sticking his muzzle in it(he was sprayed as a 3 month old, and was TERRIFIED of the hose). We are still progressing, I hope to be riding him soon, as he is showing me he is willing, but I have a feeling our first ride will be "interesting". :) I recently acquired a Big Green Ball, and we are having a blast with it! He has figured out how to lay down on it, how to do a big high stepping trot to keep it rolling in front of him, how to herd it, and how to push it with his muzzle. He will also walk into his trailer even when it rocks up and down (I figure it is good training for the Parelli Center teeter-totter), and hang out inside while I play the Etreme Friendly game in zone 5 with a carrot stick and his lead rope. He is so smart, and I cannot wait to see where he will be in a year! I am hoping to become a Parelli Professional, and am keeping my fingers crossed to be able to attend the November 2010 Fastrack course in Ocala FL. Even though my horse is a challenge, he is so athletic and fun, I believe he will be the perfect horse to take me to the top!