Getting started

This is exciting! I now have a way to log my progress (or lack of) with my 4 horses and get instant feedback! This is so cool!

So, some history... I learned riding and horsemanship "the old fashioned way" - which is to say, essentially forcing the horse to do what I want; or if you don't get it the first time, ask HARDER (it's like communicating with someone who doesn't speak English and then SHOUTING the same things louder thinking they'll understand if you say it louder! Kinda stupid huh? Sheesh). Needless to say, I wish I could go back and apologize to those first horses I rode for all the idiotic and heartless things I did to them. So now I'm "unlearning" so I can relearn the right stuff.

I was introduced to Parelli Natural Horsemanship in June 2006 as a result of trying to find help with the weanling fillies I bought at an auction in Sept. 2005. They were completely wild and I was only able to halter-break 1 of them (IndyAnna), while the other remained completely wild and virtually untouchable (Skittles). A full year after buying them I had progressed to being able to scratch Skittles on her face and sometimes on her neck before she turned tail and ran away. And even when she would let me touch her, she was head high, snorting, leg cocked and ready to bolt. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever gain her trust, but more importantly: what the heck was I doing wrong?

I took a level 1 clinic in September with Gypsy (my mare). Parelli recommends you get through the first 3 levels with a seasoned horse before attempting it with a young horse. We got through all 7 games with flying colors. :-) Well, we had a few gliches, but she was awesome. Me... well I need some refinement. Thank God Gypsy is so forgiving and patient! So we practiced a bit more at home and then winter hit. We haven't done much of anything since (it's been a nasty, cold and snowy winter!), but we're going to another level 1 clinic in June and I'm determined to be tested and pass level 1 at that clinic.

In the meantime, I decided that I needed help with Skittles. I heard about a trainer who lives close to me and contacted him. After meeting him, and a couple conversations later, I decided to send her to him for 2 weeks -- just to get her to the point where she was halter broke and I could work around her, pick up her feet, etc. Long story short, she's an entirely new horse! She leads like a dream, loads like a dream, you can walk up to her and put a halter on, she'll even walk up to me! She's learned to trust, is curious and willing... I can hardly believe she's the same horse (she's the one in the picture). I also learned a ton from her trainer and intend to keep in touch. He is not crazy about Parelli, but I figure if they're both singing from the same songbook, what does it matter who the singer is? It's the horse that counts and they both agree on that point!

The rest of these entries will be specific to the horse and activity completed.