Long time no see!

Hi Everyone!
It has been a LONG time since I posted.  So many things have happened, and I can't wait to share them.  First of all, I finished up my time as a working student and seasonal employee at the Florida Campus and came home.

I went and visited my good friend Fran Latane (2* PP, owner of Heart and Desire Horsemanship, Savvy Up blog) last summer, and ended up buying a second horse while I was there.  His name is Gunner, and he's a registered Quarter horse.  He is ADORABLE, and I  am loving working with him.  He and I get along so well, and we're having a ton of fun on our journey.  I still have Pistol and I'm working with him still, however he is available to a new home with someone who will love working with him. :)  He's ready to start his journey into being a great horse!

Speaking of starting a new journey... I have some other exciting news.  My fiance and I have decided we are going to move to Wisconsin so I can work for Fran!  He is going to continue his job as an over the road truck driver, and I'll ride along with him for the first few months while we look for a house to rent and get settled in Wisconsin.  While we do, the boys are going to be in training with Fran, which I am very excited about.  I think its going to be really good for both of them, and I'm looking forward to taking lessons with her!  We're all going to be learning tons!

And last but not least, I am hoping to attend the Parelli Universit Fast Track course, but its terribly expensive to travel there and live while you're going to class.  I found out about this website from another Parelli student  who wants to raise money to attend as well.  If you're so inclined, feel free to head over the the campaign website here and check it out!

Busy-ness again!

I thought to myself today, "Wow, its been a long time since I've updated my blog!" So here I am, typing away on my day off!  First off, its been a great day off, I've spent tons of time with my horse, who has been fabulous!  We played around with having as small of a phase one as possible, and it went really well!  I was amazed at how much effort he was putting in to things.  I asked him to back up over a pole today, first time ever, and he did it!  He also put all 4 feet on the bridge and stayed on!  Before, he would put 4 feet on, and get right off, but he finally got on, stopped and looked at me, and waited.  I'm so happy with him.  I've been focusing on doing the little things really well, and its really been paying off.  He stands still for blanketing, which is wonderful.  He has gotten very focused on where he puts his feet, especially when he backs up.  Its to the point that he can back up to any object and place his feet so close to the object that his hair is brushing it.  I'm just so proud of him.

I did find something out that wasnt very exciting though.  My poor horse is allergic to something in Florida!  The vet thinks its something around his pen that triggers it, but couldnt figure out what.  His recommendation was for Pistol to be in a pasture as much as possible, and happily, that is working out.  He is getting much better now, and even has a palm tree in his pasture!  Welcome to Florida! :)

I've been making lots of friends down here, and having a great time.  Its so wonderful to be around nothing but Parelli all the time.  I've been told I will have kind of a hard time going home though, because I'll miss everyone here!  I'll worry about that when the time comes though, which won't be for a good long time!

2 weeks at the Parelli Ranch

As I'm just finishing up my second week here at the ranch, so much has changed, that its time for another blog update!  I've settled in to my permanent "home away from home" here, a Luxury Rv trailer that I share with 1 other working student and 2 externs(for now! as more students come, that is subject to change).  We have been having a great time settling in and getting to know our new digs.  It turns out, there's all sorts of rules for living in an RV, like how you shower and what toilet paper you use!  As I have never lived in an RV before, this is all completely new to me, so I'm going to have to remember everything so I don't mess up!   I've gotten things sorted with my horse, he should be picked up Monday morning if everything goes as planned, and be dropped off Tuesday afternoon.  I'm not going to relax until I get the phone call that he's on the trailer though, because I know my horse!  I wish I could just explain to him why he needs to come down here and live with me, because I'm not coming back home to live for a long time.  I'm sure if I could tell him that, he would hop right on, because my grandparents said he stares over the fence and whinnies for his "herd-mate" all the time.  But I'm just going to trust my shipper, who sounds fabulous, and hope that they load him all right.  I've been making some friends here, which has been fun, and having some great times creating funny stories with them.  For instance, there has been a velociraptor siting on campus, and she happens to be my roommate!  I'm missing my fiance and our dog terribly, but hopefully I will get to go home for the holidays and see them both!  Anyways, I'm off to bed because we have a huge list of things to do tomorrow morning!

A whole week on the Parelli Campus!

That's right, I've finished my first week as a Parelli Working Student!  Whoo-hoo!!  Its been pretty challenging, but I've had a great time learning new things and meeting new people.  My horse didnt make it down yet, but he will.  I just have to have faith that things will work out at home to send my horse down here!  And on a more personal note, I got engaged!!  It was the sweetest thing ever.  My boyfriend and I have been dating for almost 3 years, and he was happy that I was going to be a working student, but knew he was going to miss me.  So, I didnt know it, but he put my engagement ring in the pocket on the seat of my truck, and after my first week was done here, he told me about it!  He told me he didnt want me to stay home because of it, because he was so proud of me for becoming a working student, but he really wanted to propose, so he thought up this way.  I am so excited!  There is no date set, but thats ok, because we both have to get done with school and starting our careers first.  I'm off to bed, and planning on enjoying my first day off tomorrow!

Last night in Michigan Take Two!

Yep, that's right, I'm still in Michigan.  My shipper showed up at 10am, and we spent 7 hours trying to load my horse.  Guess what?  He didnt load.  So I'm still in Michigan for one more night, and tomorrow I will be leaving to go to the ISC without my horse.  My shipper is coming back sometime in the next couple weeks, and I'm hoping to get someone to come out and work with Pistol once or twice before his pick up date and be there to load him.  So for the first 2(ish!) weeks, I will be horseless. :(

This is it... The last night in Michigan...

I've said goodbye to my boyfriend and our dog, and tucked my horse in for the night.  Tomorrow when I wake up, all I have to do is load my horse, and drive away with my truck.  We will probably make it to Tennessee tomorrow night, and be in Florida the night after.  I'm going to miss everyone terribly, but I'm counting on having a good time at the ISC so that I don't worry too much.  You know you have a good boyfriend when you're saying goodbye before leaving for 6 months to be on a horse ranch and he tells you "Do a great job down there. I know you will!" And on that note, I'm off to finish packing.  ISC here I come!

Health Certificate

Yep, Pistol got his health certificate today.  And guess what?  He's fat. :(  The vet said its not super bad, but he could tell he'd been eating grass all summer.  Especially around his butt!  I was like "oops..." I didn't think he was that bad.  It shouldnt be a big deal though, he's not hideously overweight, just a little chubby, according to the vet.  Plus we are going to the ISC, so he will be on a hay diet, no rich grass!  But at least my horse is an easy keeper!  Plus he did a fabulous job for the vet again.  He stood still for all the stethoscope stuff, and even was good about the thermometer.  He has a clean bill of health, and will be leaving the state Friday!  But he's listed as Sparty on his coggins, so his health certificate had to say Sparty too. :( 

Change of plans... again.

Yep, good thing I'm pretty laid back, otherwise I'd be a mess right now.  6 days until I leave, and we are just now finalizing plans.  Yikes!  But I found a transporter that I liked MUCH better than the first guy I talked to, so I told her I was booking with her immediately.  And boy am I glad I did.  I got an email from her that she had another horse traveling with mine to florida, and because it was just the 2 of them, she was putting them in box stalls to make it easier for both of them.  Plus she won't charge me a difficult loading fee if Pistol takes awhile to get on the trailer, thank goodness!  And best of all, she's letting him travel in his Parelli halter.  Phew.  I was going to feel silly having my horse get off the trailer at the ISC in a nylon halter.  Not to mention I was like "good luck leading him without his rope halter!".  But this new woman totally understands, and she is glad I do natural horsemanship with Pistol, because she loves those kind of clients that don't bully their horses into the trailer.  Yay!  So now I think my plans are finalized.  She is picking Pistol up October 1, and he should make it down there right around the time I do.  I'm bummed that I can't drive him myself, but I get the reasoning behind it.  And really, it doesnt matter, because I'm confident my shipper will treat him well, just like I would.  She even will give him treats if she thinks he wants one.  :D

Even shorter now!

It looks like I have a transporter secured for the time I want, but he wants to leave one day earlier than planned.  Now because this is my horse's first time doing something like this, I really would like to be at the ISC when he gets there, so I will most likely be leaving early as well.  Which means Thursday morning I will be on my way and so will Pistol!  The only bummer is that the transporter does NOT want Pistol in his Parelli halter, he wants nylon only.  :(  So I've got to have my horse show up at the Parelli center in a non-Parelli halter.  Luckily I still have the nylon halter he came with.  I tried it on him yesterday, and played with him a little bit, and boy was he confused!  He still responded pretty well, which made me really happy, but he seemed puzzled that the halter didnt feel the same, and was so much heavier.  He was super happy to get it off, and stuck his nose right in his Parelli one. :D  I am glad I still have his old halter though, otherwise I would've had to buy a completely new one for 1 trip, which seems silly.  But at least my horse will make it to the center right around the same time I will, not 2 weeks early, or 4 weeks late(I had both quoted to me by shippers!).

7 days until Florida!!!

That's right, its now my last week in Michigan!  I'm going to miss everyone, so I've been running around like crazy making last visits, but of course I have a cell phone, so I won't be completely cut off from everyone. 

I've been packing up everything Pistol and I will need, and so far I'm a surprisingly light packer!  My boyfriend predicted I would pack way more than I needed, but so far... I think I have the things I need without going overboard. 

I've been working with Pistol and my trailer, but it looks like we are going to have a transport company take him down to Florida.  Because I haven't driven a loaded horse trailer before, my grandparents were nervous about the trip, and thought things would easier if I wasn't trying to navigate and deal with my horse.  I'm kind of bummed, because I was looking at it like an adventure, but I'm guessing it will still be an adventure, except this way I will meet Pistol down in Florida.  A race! Haha. 

And apparently I'm doing a good job of not communicating any nervous excitement to Pistol, because he is acting completely normal and nonchalant.  No jitters or anything.  Its like he doesn't know he will on his way to Florida in a week! ;)

8 days and counting!

That's right, I am almost in my final week of Michigan time.  I've been working with Pistol TONS to get used to the trailer, and he's getting pretty good.  Every time I send him into the trailer, he puts 3 feet in, without fail.  And, every session he has put all 4 feet in, but hasnt stayed in.  I do have Meggie Allen, 2* Parelli Professional, coming out tomorrow to help me with him.  I can't wait, because I'm really hoping she can figure out what's going on, and maybe "solve" the problem.  I really would like to haul him myself, but if I can't get him to load reliably in my trailer, I will have to either hire a company to transport him, or rent a stock trailer to haul him in myself.  Either way, that's not really an option I like. 

I've heard from Parelli-land about things I should bring with me, so the mad dash packing starts now. :D  Looks like I wont need sheets, but I will need towels. How weird.  Plus I'm planning on bringing tons of bug spray and sunscreen!  I dont want to fry, and I dont want bugs eating me! 

I'm curious to see how Pistol will do with all of this, because he hasn't really traveled much in his life.  Pretty much he's spent his whole life on the same farm, except for the trip to the trainers.  So this whole trip should be very interesting, and I can't wait to see how he handles it.  I'm hoping he will be left-brained the whole time.  Since I've been working with him, he has gotten so much calmer about new situations, which should be an asset on the trip. 

Also, my boyfriend has found something to occupy his time while I'm in Florida: truck driving school.  I said great! you can haul my horse so I don't have to! Hahaha. 

Spending some quality time with Pistol

Another day, no time to think!

I've been so crazy  busy all day, that I haven't had much time to work on anything at home.  I was at work from 7:30am-6:30pm, watching/participating in a saddle fitting on the horses at work, and then in a meeting.  I got home and was completely exhausted, but I knew I needed to work with Pistol.  So... I went to grab him, and he did a nice job haltering.  That is something I am just so incredibly proud of. :D  We worked on some stick to me over to a figure 8 pattern.  I played with the figure 8 pattern until he did 2 nice circles on his own, and passed through the middle without pinning his ears.  Once I stopped him, he started licking and chewing.  Then I went to work on sideways, because that game needs tons of work.  I started on the fence, and discovered that going left, with me standing on his right side, goes beautifully, but the opposite side is horrendous.  We worked on that a bit, with me trying to push Pistol just enough to motivate him without actually pushing him.  He got frustrated and kept backing up from the fence, so I took him out away from it and asked for sideways without a fence.  Once he got a couple good steps sideways, I stopped, and got more licking and chewing. I went outside to work on circling on a surface with some give, and got some really nice circles at a walk and trot.  Pistol still has a bit of an issue with cantering, either he bolts off and loses focus, or he turns it into a trot.  So I've been working on that, but because it was so hot, I didn't push him to do much trotting or cantering.  We headed over towards the trailer in the backyard, because I was going to work on saddling again.  However, something came up.  As we rounded the house, Pistol noticed the gap in the porch covering underneath the deck, and the air conditioner was on!  TWO scary things in ONE spot!  So we had to do some approach and retreat with the gap under the deck and the air conditioner.  Once he walked up and touched the air conditioner with his nose, he noticed a GIANT spider next to it, and wanted nothing to do with that!  I didnt blame him because I didnt either!!  It was getting pretty late, the sun was already setting, so I bagged the idea of saddling tonight and figured I would work on it tomorrow.  I came back and looked at the spider, which is literally the size of my palm and black and yellow, and according to google, it is a non poisonous zipper spider.  I decided I didnt care though, I didnt want it living right outside my bedroom window!!!!  I cant stand spiders.

I forgot to mention, I recently joined Giddyupflix.com, and rented L&HB from them.  DVD number 5 came today, which I ordered first, because of the trailer loading demo.  I dont believe I will have time to order all of them before I leave, so I'm watching the ones I need most right now, and will watch the whole set in order another time.  I'm super excited though to be watching this. :D

a really good day

It was a really good day today with Pistol  We did some easy circling work, and I got some really nice trotting from him, very rounded and collected, and some really pretty changes of direction. Being a LBE, he had to throw in some bucks, but I've learned not to react, because then he thinks I'm fighting with him. If I just ignore it, he does his thing and moves on, and besides, I dont mind him being a bit cheeky. I think he's funny most of the time. :D We got in the trailer again to eat dinner, and he was super cute about it. Plus later when I went to shut the pasture gate, he started running around me at liberty and wanting to play, and almost playing tag with me. He would run in circles, and as soon as he looked at me, I disengaged him, and he whipped around, looked at me, and then did a little "cutting horse" moves and started running in a circle bucking again. I waited during most of this, just encouraging him occasionally, and pretty soon he got his exuberance out, and came in for a scratch. He even started scratching me while I scratched him. What a cutie.

What a great way to end my day...

Half way there, but after this he did hop right in his trailer(off camera of course!!).  This is after 6 days of not working with the trailer at all because we were fixing the brakes.  I'm so proud of him!

Whatever I'm doing is working...

Seriously, I didnt exactly have a great play session today, Pistol seemed pretty unhappy during parts of it. BUT... later tonight when I went to shut his pasture gate, he came up to me, and got really cuddly. He stuck his head right in my arms and when I started petting him he closed his eyes and leaned on me. It was adorable!! And then he noticed my flashlight, so he wanted to play with it. I let him for a bit, but then he tried to bite it and I was afraid he would break it, so I gently took it away from him. He started nuzzling my hand, and I held my palm out for him, and he starting flapping his lips on it and licking it. That's a wierd little thing he does sometimes that seems to really calm him or soothe him, he closes his eyes and just stands there. And then, here's the best part: He turned his face over to mine, and rested his muzzle on my cheek!! It was a huge trust thing for both of us, because I didn't push him away, and he didn't bite me, and it was just adorable!! It definitely made up for earlier today, and convinced me that even though today was a bit rough, he is still on board for the journey.

R.I.P. Big Green Ball...

Just after this, he somehow managed to POP the ball!! 

Trailer Simulations

I've been busy all day, so I just now got out to play with Pistol, even though he has been hanging around waiting all day.  He has a little routine, and he doesnt like it when I mess it up.  I go out and feed him, then he moseys out into his pasture to eat for awhile, and then he comes back in and wants to play.  Now I used to be able to play with him in the morning and at night, but then I got busy with work, and have only been able to play with him once a day.  So today I got out there, and he was happy to see me, especially when I started scratching him.  He even turned around and started scratching me.  Once he was in the mood, I put his halter on, and practiced driving from zone 3/4 on the right side.  That is the harder side for both of us, and I realize I need to work on it more than I have been to get it better.  So we did some driving out to the front lawn, and then I played around with the rock slide pattern with him.  He got it perfectly the second time at a walk, so I left it alone and moved on to circles again.  After just a couple laps he relaxed and gave me a really beautiful rounded trot with the rope dragging on the ground all the way around the circle, so I brought him in and scratched him, and then sent him out to the right.  This time he got a bit cheeky with me, deciding to run and buck.  So I let him for a little bit, and then added my 4 ounces to it, and pretty soon he said "can I please walk?"  Then I asked him for a trot again, and this time he did a beautiful circle to the right with a rounded body and the rope on the ground, so I started traveling.  He did great with that too, until we reached a scary spot.  So we had to do some approach and retreat with the whole area, because there were several scary trees and plants and a porch that might eat him.  Then we headed for the back yard, and my grandpa started to mow the lawn.  Not a big deal, I thought, Pistol can deal with it.  And sure enough, he dealt with it just fine.  There is a big bush in the back yard that I had Pistol back up to as practice for when the trailer doors close behind him.  It took a bit, because he would get so far, and then scootch his butt so it went away from the bush.  After the first time, I knew where his threshold was, and didnt ask him to go further.  I brought him back, yo-yo-ed him again, and he took a step closer.  A little more of that, and he had his tail in the bush.  I waited, and pretty soon he started licking and chewing.  Woo-hoo!!  Just then, my grandpa drove by on the mower, and Pistol had to go investigate it.  So I did some more zone 3 driving back to the pen, shut the gate, and had Pistol back up to that.  He got it much quicker that time, and I rewarded him with lots of scratches, and removed his halter.  I think tomorrow if all goes well, I will see if I can ride him.  I did all his preflight checks again today, and he passed them all.  He was so soft, I really wanted to get on him today, but I knew I wasn't ready for it.  Tomorrow I'm going to get a pair of boots, which is a long story, but when the store finally sent them to me, they sent the wrong size, so I have to go back tomorrow and get the right size, and I will feel better about riding in boots.  Silly, I know, but still.  One can't be a cowboy in tennis shoes. :D

circling game and exploring

I've been working with Pistol on the circling game a bit, because he's been having some wierd issues with it lately. I think its because I've been working with him on trailer loading. Its created some problems in the circling game now, mostly bolting on the send and not paying attention/tipping the nose outward. So I've been playing with him in my front yard, because that has a different feel than his pen. Its much more cushiony, and has a better "give" to it, so its more similar to what an arena would be, instead of the rock hard ground in his pen. Today I really got in depth on the circle, because he was getting so "bad" about it. I had to constantly do a pattern interrupt, and keep his focus. It took FOREVER, and quite a few bucks/rears, but finally at the end, he was doing a BEAUTIFUL circle with his nose tipped in, 1 ear on me, rope dragging on the ground and a nice rounded gait. I was so proud of him, I know it was rough, but he finally figured it out, and started licking and chewing. We practiced the rock slide pattern that was discussed on the savvy club forum, because at some point I'm planning on doing some cutting/reining/roping type stuff with Pistol. He really gets it, and seems to really love it, and constantly wants to do it FAST! :D Silly boy. He's so cute when he figures a pattern out.








Once we worked on the rock slide pattern and he was doing it correctly and licking and chewing, I started walking around with him and driving from zone 3/4. We walked all around the edge of the front lawn, which has all sorts of interesting decorative plants for Pistol to investigate. He's never seen much of anything that wouldnt be around a normal barn, so anywhere I take him, there's something new and exciting for him to look at. Today, that new and exciting thing was the yellow line in the middle of the road. Now mind you, I dont want him walking in the road, I have NO plans of riding him on the road, but I also didnt want to discourage his curiousity. So... we examined the yellow line. I had to do some approach and retreat with him because he got a little scared of the road(its a different material that he's never seen before). Just like when I first got him, he had never walked on asphalt before. He got out there, and sniffed the line, wiggled his lips on it, and stuck his hoof on it like "so THERE!" He was so adorable doing it. And of course once we had investigated it, he was done and ready for his grain.

Riding Prep

I've been working on getting Pistol ready to ride lately, because I really would like to ride him before we travel to Florida. I'm not making it a goal, because I dont want to put unreasonable pressure on us, but I would like it if we could practice some freestyle before arriving at the ranch. So, I've been researching as much as possible, and I have finally decided on a plan. Pistol was saddle-broke before I bought him, he spent months at a trainer's barn, and then all last summer being ridden by the barn owner of the boarding stable he was at. However, from the things theyve told me, I'm not sure he was actually ok with being saddled. Actually, I KNOW he wasn't ok with it, but because I didnt see it, I dont know if it was left brain "you cant make me" or right brain "oh NO!". I have saddled him a few times, and he did just fine with being saddled, but once he went to move he started bucking. The barn owner told me he did that, so I'm not sure if it is a learned behaviour, or actual fear. I'm taking things much slower with him, using a 22 ft professional line to simulate a girth/saddle and playing with tightening and loosening it, and then moving him around. So far, he's been doing really well. I start out tossing the rope over his back, and then running the rope through the ring and doing some approach and retreat with tightening. Once its tight enough to be there, but not pinching, I loop it around so that I can toss the end over his head, and daisy chain it through the ring just like you would with a mecate. That way, he has the "girth" around his middle, the "breast collar" to hold the "girth" in place so it doesnt fall down to his hips, and the "mecate" so he gets used to having that rope bouncing there. He's been doing a great job, really thinking about it, not panicking anymore. He trotted today, and even did a couple steps of a canter without panicking. I'm so proud of him!