Oh, and thought I should mention that Arragon is pretty lame. His front right is just getting worse and worse. Today he was pretty much unrideable. We don;t know if it's bad arthritis acting up, or waht. We'll have to see what happens....

I really do not know what is wrong with this program, but I've just about decided to give up my sense of organization and clarity and just post without being able to make paragraphs. The enter button will not work on this program alone. It sucks. But until another option is found, you guys will just have to get used to it. Sorry. :/

:OOOO It's workingggggg!

Soooo....while this is working, I'm going to catch up!!

HORSE AND SOUL!!!!!

Horse and Soul was one of the most incredible experiences of my life!

I'm supposed to be doing school right now. So I'll make this painfully short. Here's the event schedule:

http://parellinaturalhorsetraining.com.s3.amazonaws.com/PDF/Horse%20and%20Soul%20Program_TN.pdf

 My favorite sessions were definitely Horsenality, Mismatch, Lead Change Logic, and Rider Biomechanics!

For the Horsenality session, they brought out four horses that were good examples of the four horsenalities with their owners. One at a time, the owners would send thier horse in a circle. For the RBE, Linda said that the best way to calm them down is to let them run. Holding them back just builds up speed. She said to speed them up for a full circle, then give them 3 laps to slow down. If they do not slow down, speed them up again for another lap. Repeat. Soon enough, they'll run themselves out.

For the RBI, don't apply ANY pressure! They are so sensitive! Linda had the owner use tiny cues, and turn away and ignore the horse when the horse did something correct. They are so willing and sensitive!

For the LBE, any time he acts up (bucks, hops, rears, bolts), mirrior him.

For the LBI, instead of asking for more speed, ask him to go even slower. One foot at a time. Then speed him up. After going so slow, he'll want to offer more.

The Mismatch was an extremely helpful to me! It was amazing how Linda kept this horse busy all of the time!

Lead Change Logic was where Pat demonstrated lead changes and how to get proper changes on Slider. Daddy said he actually enjoyed that part a lot too! Pat is so good at explaining things!

Rider Biomechanics was probably the big one for me. It was a short session with Colleen Kelly (who's just awesome!) and Linda, and 4 riders. Colleen talked about how to properly sit on the horse- to where you have the best balance and are comfortable, and it's comfortable and healthier for the horse. She talked about sitting on your butt- not way back like some riders, but not way up either. She said to sit right at the bottom of your Gluteus Bigimus (a Pat word!)- this happens to be the most comfortable position for me, so I was thrilled that it was correct! I had been working really hard on sitting way up forward, which had been bringing my whole body too far forward.

She also talked about shortening your stirrups. She said that she took up her stirrups 7 holes! Same for Carol Coppinger! She said that a long leg is good, yes, but you need to have a considerable bend in it as well. Otherwise you'll tip right off. She did some demos that were so eye opening. I've always liked my stirrups pretty short...but had kept them long because we're supposed to ride with as long a leg as possible. Bareback, I think that still applies a little, but in the saddle, I'm so happy to be able to take my stirrups up now and know that it's okay!

Let's see....some fun, awesome things!

WE SAW WYNONNA JUDD. WE FLIPPING SAW WYNONNA JUDD. SHE WAS THERE. Her husband was in a motorcycle crash recently, and had to have his leg amputated. Apparently, he's a huge reiner, so he was talking to Pat about what he can do now that he's got a prosthetic. Isn't that the most awesome thing?? So him, his daughter, and Wynonna were there!!

We also got to see Mary Ann Kennedy! She was there too! Linda introduced her!

AND WE GOT LINDA'S AUTOGRAPH. AND A HUG. A HUGGGGGGGGG! AND WE GOT TO LIKE, TALK TO HER A LITTLE, AND GOT A PICTURE WITH HER!!!!! When we were in line, we were talking amongst ourselves, and suddenly it was a our turn, and so, Katy gave me a little push from behind (because I was the introvert in a sea of extroverts), and it made Linda laugh! Totally. Made. My. Day.

AND I SHOOK THE MAN'S HAND. This still seems a little unreal to me. We had front row seats both days. We got there early both mornings to get in line before the doors opened. On Sunday we were actually like the 20th people in...close to that. Anyway, we were up front, and before everything started on Sunday, Pat rode out on Slider and was shaking hands with everyone in the front row. And so we all got to shake his hand. And, thinking back on it, I wanna scream with happiness! He looked me in the eye, and gave me the most genuine smile! Lucky for me, my handy dandy photographic memory kicked in, and I have the most awesome mental shot of that smile! I don't understand the people that say a photographic memory is a curse....I even don't mind the bad shots it takes. But anyway, I digress.

Yeah, it was a pretty amazing trip. Like, the best thing that's ever happened to me.

OH! The coolest thing happened on Sunday! At the end of the day, they gave away this huge prize- $1700 worth of Parelli gear. Linda read of the drawing. Here's what she said:
She pulled out the slip of paper.
"If you live in....*our town name*...or, maybe I'm not pronouncing that right..."
 Mrs. Miller looked at us and said: "That's one of us." So we all started getting ready to freak.
And then Linda read of the name- Sharon *last name*
And we were kind of stunned. Sharon, who was a volunteer  cashier for retail, ran out. We were totally stunned. Unbeleivably happy for Sharon, but stunned that someone else from our town was in Murfreesboro!! I mean, our town isn't even really a town! It's a post office and an auto repair! That's it! So after everything was over, I went back down to retail to see if I could talk to her and find out if she really was from our town, or if she was from a town with the same name. I went up to a cashier, and as she was checking me out, I asked if Sharon was from MO. And Jill, the cahsier, said yes!! ANd she was the sweetest lady, so she started looking for Sharon for me, but Sharon had gone to put away the prize pack. But Sharon's husband, Bill, was also a volunteer casheir, and she grabbed him and we just chatted for a while! They live on a highway that's like, 10 miles from us! It was so neat! So we just chatted, and I connected with him on Parelli Connect that night.

Dang....it was the best trip of my life. I have so many pictures. I won't post any tonight, but soon. The nearest tour stop for next year is in KY, in May. Kate and I are planning on going!

Catching up a little!

Alright...I'm using a different computer right now, so let's see if this will work.

I think it will!! :D The 'enter' button is what keeps screwing up...looks like it might be working right now!

OKAY! Let me catch up really quick, before I go into detail with the Horse and Soul tour (!!!!).

Linda! So, several weeks ago now, Melissa, our dog trainer (and a fellow photographer), called me and said that she had a friend from work that was having a lot of trouble with one of her horses. Melissa gave me the lady's contact info, but I didn't get around to calling her (Linda) for a few days. Then, Melissa messaged me on facebook one day, saying that Linda had been talking about her problem to someone else, and that someone had told her to put a stud chain on her horses and eat them into submission. I called Linda right then and there!!

Linda has two horses:

Cinnamon, a chestnut Fox Trotter mare, 12 (or maybe 7?) years old. Linda used to ride Cinnamon at a barn nearby. Cinnamon may have had some sort of natural horsemanship training to a certain degree in her younger years. She was bred, but the results of the pregnancy tests were hard to read. Linda has had problems with Cinnamon rearing and being pushy and defiant.

Polly-Anna, a fleabitten gray Gaited horse mix mare. Linda has been told that she's between the ages of 5 and 25. Kate looked at Polly's teeth, and we're pretty sure she's around 20 years old. Polly-Anna was a rescue from a lot full of starving horses wallowing in mud up to their knees. Linda has had problems with Polly being barn sour- running back to her pen.

I arranged to come out and meet Linda and her girls. When I got there and got to chatting with her, she filled me in on another thing:

Linda has talked to three other trainers. One of them came out, looked at Linda's horses, told her a few things and left. One of the trainers never showed up. The other trainer came, plopped Linda on Cinnamon's back, and drove her in fast circles and made her go go go! Nothing seemed to help.

We chatted about all of this, standing in the pasture. While we were chatting, Cinnamon came and checked me out. I knew right off the bat that she was a left-brainer! She nibbled on my notebook and gave me the sniff-over. I went over the zones and horsenalities with Linda, and then we got Cinnamon out to play.

I was right. She's and Left Brain Introvert! A fairly textbook example too. I went over the first 5 games with Linda slowly. I told her how an LBI thinks, and we went over pressure points and energy. That concluded our first day!

The next time I went over, I helped Linda with the first 5 games, and then helped Linda jump on bareback. Linda is not a confident rider- the best part though, is that she admits that! That is so hard to do! She got on though, and I just led Cinny around a little, and let Linda get comfortable.

The next time I went over, Kate came with me. Kate took Cinny, and me and Linda took Polly this time. Turns out, Miss Polly is an LBI too! She was so retreated into her shell, it was hard to get her to respond. I asked Linda if she kept any treats, and she said yes and went to go get them. Linda was halfway back when suddenly both horses heads popped up, the ears went forward, and the noses started twitching. They were whole new horses! And all they heard was the treat bag crinkling! It was a great example of how a treat can wake an LBI up. After that, Polly was very willing to respond, and did some great porcupine and driving for Linda! Kate worked with Cinny, and Cinny was doing just great! She was yoyo-ing with her lead dropped on the ground! And we were in an unenclosed area, with a yard full of green grass right next to us! That is so phenomenal for and LBI who's only been worked with twice before!

We haven't been back to see Linda yet, since we had this trip to Murfreesboro and we got rained out one week, but I am so anxious to get back into it with her! Now that my weekend job at the pumpkin patch is finished, I'm hoping to go out twice a week.

I just can't get over how awesome it is that Linda really wants to learn this stuff! And she's got the perfect horses to learn it with! Love those LBI's!!

Oh! And I'm not sure if I mentioned before...I think I did, but I'm not sure....Pistol is at Kat and Casey's house for now!! She's being worked by some of us 4-H'ers, and is doing so well!! It's really good for her!

Grrr... still having trouble with this program!! But here's a short recap of whats been going on: I got a new student! A lady and her two LBI's want to learn the games! I've worked with her several times, and they're making progress! There's tons more to that story, but I don't want to type it all out if this won't post. So I'll save it for later. BUT!! Here's the totally awesome news that I have to share!!!! *drumroll* I am sitting in a hotel in Murfreesboro, TN right now!! We just got back from day one of the Horse And Soul tour stop!!!!! And today was amazing!!!! I took 461 pictures and tons of video!! But I'll give all the details later. Gotta get some sleep for tomorrow!!

Draft Pull!

Forgot to post these a while back. These were from the last weekend in September.

Every year, there are some people nearby that do a fall festival thing. I've helped work the concession stand for 3 years. This year, I got to see a little bit of their draft horse pull, and got to take a few pictures, in between making nachos and super pretzels!

Leftbrainers, eh?

PULL!

Pulling the sledge back to the beginning.

They ran out of bricks, so the big guy volunteered to add some extra pounds.

Feeling ticked off as far as this blogging program goes....for weeks I haven't been able to finish a post because it won't work! And I'm not computer savvy enough to fix it! So much news to type down....and I can't get it to work!

Done ranting now.

Heyyyy....I think it's working now! I'm going to see if this will post!

So much fun!!

Guess where I got to go on the 27th??? The St. Louis National Charity Horse Show!!! Well, one evening of it....but it was so amazing!! I had so much fun!

Mrs. B....she wants me to call her by her first name, Pia....Pia invited us to go with her. She meets her sister there every year to watch an evening of it, and she had extra room in her car. Roman went, and Kat and Casey went too! This was part of the American Saddlebred weekend, so all horses that we saw were AS's.

We got there at about six in the evening. They were finishing up phase 2 of the S7B ASB Working Western Pleasure 2012 World's Grand Championship, phase 2, which was trail. We saw tons of English and western classes, and also cart classes, and the little roadster ponies!

Roman wanted to go for a walk, so he led us back into the barns and everything....it was so huge! There were the little tents that each farm had with their tables of ribbons and such laid out for people to see. And the fancy lockers with the horse's names on them next to the stalls, and make-up booths for the riders, and a farrier, and all of this fancy stuff....it was neat! We saw the warm up ring, and another arena entirely that wasn't being used.

Oh, and when we got back to the bleachers where we sitting, I had a soda and some nachos (cuz Roman had to stop and get food!). They started playing the National Anthem right as we got to the bleachers, so Kat, Casey and I stopped and stood still. Right as I stopped, my nachos fell on the floor. Kat and I looked at each other, trying not to laugh, and went through the whole anthem with nachos at our feet. It was hilarious!! xD

They ended up having free tacos and fajitas later, so I didn't starve. :)

I was able to take tons of pictures! It was indoors, so the light was screwy, but most of them turned out okay! I took 115 pictures that turned out, so I'll only post a few here.

Oh, and on the way home, Kat, Casey and I got so ridonkulously slap happy....it was awesome. x) Anyway, it was an awesome night! I wanted to go back for the rest of the weekend, but couldn't. :( Still, it was really awesome getting to see what we did see!

Working Western Pleasure Grand Champion!

Working Western Pleasure Reserve Champion!

Roadster pony!

She was the best rider I saw all night. Annnddd...she won first in her class!

From the Parade class, which was so cool!

This pair won first in their class!