A Perfect Day For A Beach Ride

Do I look happy or what? (Isn't he the best looking horse you've ever seen?) Here we are on the beach for our first "trail" ride in a couple of weeks. It was the first ride of the season for MBE (Monterey Bay Equestrians) and it was G-R-E-A-T!!!! Even though it rained into the the early morning the weather cooperated and it was sunny and a little warm. The waves calmed down and we had a wonderful ride on the beach. We took the back trail with another MBE member, meaning instead of going straight to the beach we took the back trail through the dunes. It's about a mile, and it helps get the horses a little tired and ready for the scary waves, birds, and...driftwood. (That's the scariest of all.) We rode for about an hour and a half, and then enjoyed the company of fellow riders from MBE. I have been a member of MBE for 2 years and this was only the 2nd ride I'd been on (Shameful!). There was a a pot luck so we had a chance to get to know the some of the other members. I added Dave to my membership and now he can "officially" go to all of our rides. From my observation that day they are a great bunch of people who like to ride, and I think we're going to have a great year on the trail. JJ was awesome. He was calm and willing and amazingly left brain for most of the ride. The beach was eroded and narrow in places, and he went on even though he was skeptical. Sassy was a little more right brain. She was okay when it was just the two horses, but she was VERY un-confidant and protective of her herd when the other horse was with us. The other rider left us about half way through the ride. That's when she finally calmed down. When we got back to the trailer we took care of the horses before making our way to the pot luck. We left the horses tied to the trailer and they were gems. The stood quietly, and JJ even took his afternoon nap. We are so lucky to live where we do and to have these 2 amazing horses. What a perfect day!

Dinner Time!

Who says "It never rains in California."? We've had 2 weeks of rain, and I have 2 mud balls hanging out in their paddocks. We're trying to get the grass to grow in the lower pasture, so I haven't been letting the horses down there. However, last weekend we had a break between storms, and they had their noses pressed against the gate saying "Open, open, open." Since it was close to feeding time anyway, I decided to let them out while I did my barn chores, and got their "dinner" ready. Usually, they are hyper aware of feeding time, and hang out by the gate waiting for me to call them in. Not this day. They made a bee-line for the lower part of the pasture and stayed there. It's a bit of a walk to the lower part of the pasture, and since Parelli says "Don't catch your horse, make your horse catch you." and being the savvy girl I am, I have trained JJ to come to me when I whistle. It wasn't hard. Since he's a food-aholiach, all I had to do was give him a cookie when he came to me every time I whistled for him and pretty soon even he was charging up the hill. (Come to think of it, that's the only time he runs, other than when he's scared, and that dosen't count.) After I finish my chores and am ready to head in I whistle for the horses. Nothing. I can't eve see them. I walk over the hill to a spot where I can see them and whistle again. JJ picks up his head to look at me, and then continues to graze. Sooo, I whistle again. This time Sassy looks up and starts to trot towards me. Her movement gets JJ's attention and he starts charging up the hill towards me. Now, it's dusk and horses don't have real good depth perception, so I'm not real sure if they can see me. I start jumping up and down making a bit of a ruckus (the neighbors must love me) to make sure they see me. Well they charge right past me to, I thought their paddock. But no, they circle around and head back down the lower pasture. As I was standing there watching them go it made me think of being a kid, playing outside and having mom call me in for supper. Sometimes, I ran to the lower end of the pasture and pretened not to hear her call because it felt so good just to be outside.

Cult Parelli!!!

I found out I was part of a "Cult" today. I was googling some information about a Parelli supplement when I mistakenly opened up a forum that had been discussing barefoot trimming, and someone in that forum made a reference to Parelli. Of course that peaked my interest so, I read some more of the discussion, and one of the "members" referred to a woman at her barn as a "Parelli cult member." Whoa (excuse the pun)! Of course that got me thinking about whether or not I actually was in a cult because, typically, people who are in a cult emphatically deny the fact that they are in a cult. (Talk about "circular reference"!) So I asked Dave if he thought Parelli was a cult and he said , "Oh, hell yes, but it's more like a corporate cult." (again WTF?) This got me to thinking about what drew me to Parelli as opposed to any of the other trainers that I was watching on RFD TV, because let's face it, that's where I was getting my horse fix when I didn't have a horse. And of course that thought took me back to my little Puerto Rican pony, Leah. It was that year and a half that I got to spend with her that formed my image of the "Horse/Human relationship. When I got JJ and started working with a "normal" trainer, and competing in Gymkhana's I thought I was looking for the camaraderie I had with the people I did those things with in PR, but what I didn't understand UNTIL I found Parelli was, I wasn't looking to have relationships with people. I was looking for the relationship I had with that little horse. Parelli says I need to understand 6 keys which are; Attitude, Knowledge, Tools, Techniques, Time and Imagination, and the 8 responsibilities of natural horse-man ship. Of Knowledge he says "Humans teach horses, and horses teach humans." And that's what Leah did. She was a gem and I miss her everyday. She taught me that horses will love you and protect you and care for you. If you let them, they will partner with you, and form a bond that, to this day still holds strong and true. That is what I was looking for when got JJ. I just didn't know it. I thought it was all that other stuff. I knew when working with the trainer, and doing Gymkhana that "something" was missing. It just didn't feel right. When I found Parelli, and finally committed to the program, I knew that it would help me find my way back to that time when I was naive enough to just jump on any old horse and go for a ride. Parelli isn't a cult, it's just a grown-up way of trying to get you to be a kid again.

It Was A Good Start

It's been a while since my last blog. Christmas was crazy busy. All the kids were home for the Holidays for the first time in 5 years. It was wonderfully hectic and busy, and over too quick. On the way home from the airport after dropping the last kid off, I thought about how quiet the house would seem, and it dawned on me that, hey, I can go and play with my horses. I decided to take Sassy out and play with her. Since one of the goals in my lessons with Sandi is for me to have the confidence to ride a horse other than JJ. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to, maybe do at home what I'm paying a trainer for. It was a great lesson for us both. She's a lot more sensitive than JJ, and way more energetic. While I have a hard time getting the J-man to move his feet, Sassy's feet are in constant motion. Just the walk from the barn to the round pen was a big change for me. On our way down, we stopped at the gate, and the game was, she had to keep her feet still while I opened the gate, and to then wait for my direction indicating she could walk through the gate opening. We also played the "yo-yo' game with her standing on one side of the open gate and me on the other side. I drew her to me then backed her up through the gate opening several times. She did really well. She's a dancer, and this was really good practice for her. She learned to keep her feet still, and her focus on me. WOW! It took me months to understand this concept with JJ. (Poor guy). Once at the round pen we played a lot of friendly game. She really responds well to kind words. She likes it when she's told she's a good girl. She really reacts well to, and seems to really like praise. She's starting to come out of her shell. She's starting to bond with us, and to trust us. It's so amazing to see her let her guard down and to give us a glimpse of her "real" self. She's such a sweet, smart, willing horse. And to see her play drive start to emerge is so great. When we first got her, I would hold the hoof pick up so she could see it and maybe get an idea of what it was I was going to do. She wouldn't even look at it. Now she's looking at, and smelling the things I hold up to her. She's just barely beginning to actually nudge or mouth the object I'm holding up for her. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a really big step for her. I also rode her, and that was a really big step for me, but she made it easy. And, OMG she is a wonderful horse to ride. At first, she was anticipating my wants and it was kind of like riding a bike for the first time. Remember when your dad finally took the training wheels off of your 2 wheeler and you wobbled down the street. That's what she was like. Left,right,left,right,left,right...you get the picture. Finally, I took a deep breath and let it out just to quite my mind and she kinda took the hint. She settled down, waited for me and we practiced the exaggerate turns I learned from Sandi. It was a good start.

It's Going To Be A Really Good Year

I had my first lesson with Sandi Parker, and it was all and more than I expected it to be. In fact, I've committed to lessons twice a month! It took me longer than I expected to get to her place, so I was late (so sorry!), but she was great and we got started. I didn't bring my boy because I wanted to concentrate on my abilities and not worry about him. She put me on this little guy named "Rocket" which, if I would have thought about it, I might have been a little apprehensive about because of his name. But he proved to be a very good boy, and showed me the truth about my riding skills. We started with the basics and she assessed my skills and abilities. After the lesson I felt I would progress at a much faster rate and with better results with her as my trainer, rather than trying to learn everything using the DVD's alone. She encouraged me to connect with Parelli people, and I told her that I had joined the Bay Area Savvy Players (BASP). Their first meeting will be on Thurs, Jan 14, and I am really looking forward to it. I am also a member of the Monterey Bay Equestrians (MBE), and our first ride is scheduled for Sat, Jan 23rd. It's a beach ride and potluck. I have a feeling it's going to be a really good year.

I Can't Believe I Forgot the Dang Camera!

While driving home I can write amazing blogs in my head, but the minute I sit down to actually write the darn things all those wonderful words evaporate, and I am left with this white page and wondering where to start. So let's start on Saturday. We actually took the horses out for a ride. It was a spectacular day and I am so glad we (Dave pushed me a little - good man.) went. I was apprehensive 'cause I hadn't ridden since the Dave Ellis clinic the weekend before Thanksgiving. I have this tendency to freak myself out when I have to do something that scares me, and for some reason riding scares me. It's more than just the fact that I've hit the ground a few times, and that's one of the things/reasons that is compelling me to take lessons. I'm not taking them just to learn to ride, but as an exploration into why I am not confident in my ability. Can my trainer be my shrink? Is it because I now know that I do NOT bounce? Perhaps it's because I understand that I am indeed mortal? I don't think so, falling off doesn't scare me. I mean, I don't want to fall off, but it's something else, something I can almost see, almost touch, but it's just out of my reach, barely beyond the horizon. I think it's me. Getting in my own way. Making up unreal scenarios in my mind. Something just outside my comfort zone that makes me uncomfortable. The longer the space between, in my case, rides the more uncomfortable I am. But what's really weird, is I like being uncomfortable. I seek out things that take me into that uncomfortable zone. I have this darn horse don't I? I take classes, I go to clinics and seminars, and I am defiantly uncomfortable in those settings. But I still like to do them! So back to Saturday...I'm feeling a little uncomfortable 'cause I haven't ridden in a while and the horses have been cooped up in their paddocks for a few days, so I just KNOW they're fresh. To boost my confidence, I watch my Parelli "Safe Ride" DVD just to reinforce some stuff before I go down and get the wild beast. It was a good review, and it gave me something to focus on, and it also provided me with a way to measure JJ's "freshness". So, I go out to his paddock and he nickers at me (Awww). I put his halter on, and I take him out to groom him, clean his feet and just kinda check his mood. His mood was "okay, hurry up 'cause I know I get a cookie when you're done doin' all this stuff to me :). Yep, that's my wild beast of a horse. He politely walks down to the round pen with me. I take him through the "pre-ride" tests as per the DVD, and he's a perfect gentleman. No Problamo. Now Miss Sassy on the other hand, tries walking over Dave. Then proceeds to rear, buck, pull him around, run off...you get the picture. That my Friends is the difference between an Arab mare and a Paint gelding. He got a big kiss on the nose just for bein' him!!! Dave took Sassy into the round pen and lunged her (going in a circle around him) on a 12' line. Now, as I have mentioned before, she's an Arabian. She's built for en dur ance (the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity), so I'm thinkin' in her present state of mind, that maybe running her in a circle might not be the best idea, but I don't say THAT out loud. He lunges her for a few minutes then takes her off the lunge line and lunges her at liberty in the round pen. He did pretty good. She hadn't been run like that for a while (Thank God) and she was ready to quit. I did the rest of the pre-ride test and she was pretty calm by the time we loaded her on to the trailer. So, short story long...We get to the staging area at Ft Ord, get the horses saddled and off we go. About 10 minutes into the ride I realized that I FORGOT THE DANG CAMERA! The horses were great, the dogs were fun, it was an absolutely perfect Monterey day. Dave packed a picnic lunch (aren't I lucky?) and we ate lunch on the top of this ridge where we could see for miles down the Salinas Valley and also across the bay to Santa Cruz! (I can't believe I forget the camera!!!) It was PERFECT. The horses were really good despite all of the mountain bikers. Oh, a shout out to all the mountain bikers we saw, you guys were great!!! Thanks so much!! (You know who you are and you know what I mean!) We were out for about 3 - 3 1/2 hours and I'm still walkin a little bowlegged, but it was well worth it. I hope we go next weekend. But Dave wants to go to Garland Ranch and ride. Oh God, here comes that uncomfortable feeling again. I hope I remember my camera!

I Love My Horse

It was a beautiful day today, and no I did not go riding. I did spend some undemanding time with JJ though which was a good thing for both of us. Sometimes I just like hang out with him. I'll go into his paddock and just sit with him. He'll come over and try to play with me. He'll pretend he's sniffing my boot then try to nip it. Not in a mean way, but in a funny "I got you!" kind of way. Or he'll stand real close to me and smell the top of my head. He has this itchy spot on his belly that, if I scratch it, he gets this mooney look on his face and his lips go all funny and he points his nose towards his belly when I stop, cause he wants me to scratch him some more! I know, but I just just love that horse. Good news - Dave got the new hitch totally dialed in so we're planning on going out to Ft Ord tomorrow. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, a perfect day for a ride. I got a camera for Christmas which I'll be bringing along to document our rides, and to post on my blog. Also, Sandi called and I have scheduled my first lesson for next Friday!