Sorry I missed a week!
I have been very fortunate that my Mum has very kindly helped out with my stable duties so I have managed to keep up working on my horsemanship and get my work in good order before I leave! Last week mum managed to cut the Cornia of her eye by having the leather popper of her rope swing into it! She had to go to hospital and was virtually blind but still managed to get my horse to the farrier! Wow!!
Paris was not due to have a trim until during the fast Track but he was moving in a way that was bothering me although I could not put my finger on it. I decided that the farrier should see him even if it is just to give me some peace of mind. Clive (the amazing farrier) noticed Paris had some mild flares and reduced them and did his break over. He said the flares were imbalances and likely the cause of Paris' odd movements. He also told me to go back to using the hoof hardener. Paris is moving brilliantly now! I feel much better about his ability to cope with the work ahead!
The saddler also came out with my newly widened saddle. He tried it on Paris and... perfect fit! It was amazing - I don't think I have ever felt so comfortable in that saddle! I went for a hack with Mum (and got in trouble for trespassing...), which we were very excited about. Mum's horse, Havewe, has had a pedal bone problem that meant she could not be ridden and we thought it would not be until I returned from France that we would be out riding together! So it was very touching when we realised we could ride together!
My friend and study buddy, Hayley, has recently started loaning her mare to an eleven year old girl called Georgia. Georgia adores horses but has had confidence issues with riding. As part of her loaning Gypsy, Georgia is learning Parelli and how to be safe and have fun on the ground so she can build a relationship and choose to ride when she is ready. It has been amazing watching Georgia quickly learn to be relaxed and have fun around horses. She is a natural at handling the rope and carrot stick and very observant! It won't be long and she'll be filming her level one audition for sure!!
On Saturday Georgia went to Hayley's and played with Gypsy. She then came to help me muck out Paris and watch me play. I decided to attempt a kind of "liberty demo" but explained that I would have the 22 foot rope ready and use it if Paris got emotional and needed me to help him through anything.
Paris met us at the gate of the field. He came out at liberty and turned and faced, waiting for me to close the gate. He then stuck with me all the way into the arena and did possibly one of our best ever liberty sessions! He was so calm and connected to me virtually the whole time and when his emotions came up a little I just sent him out on a circle at a fast trot until he came through and dropped his head - just like we have been doing on line. The previous Satuday I had a lesson with 2* PP Sara deVries and we worked on Paris finding true relaxation in motion and I have been keeping at it as a pattern in every playsession since.
After Paris had done some lovely side ways at liberty Georgia asked me if I can ride bareback and bridleless. During the winter I had had a couple of moments where I felt confident enough to ride Paris bareback and bridleless from the arena to the yard. As Paris was being so left brained and acting like a partner the thought had already occured to me so I walked to the fence and Paris side passed into position near me. He had a moment where he was not sure if he wanted to be ridden and stepped away from me so I got off the fence and sent him out on the circle game again. As soon as he had control of his emotions again I walked to the fence and this time he came over into posistion and acted like a partner as I climbed on board and tied the savvy string around his neck. We walked around, doing a few short point to points to get me focusing and then attempted sideways along the pole. We got a couple of steps and we played with our halt and back up transistions. I then decided to go onto a small circle and lift my energy. Paris offered a lovely soft jog and I was over the moon. I decided to call it a day as Paris had been an absolute star! I dismounted and Paris stuck to me as I walked to the gate but he paused before leaving the arena. We had been playing for a while but it seemed he was having as much fun as me and was happy to stay and play more. I smiled to myself because I knew he would be looking forward to our next play session. After cleaning Paris' hooves and applying the hoof hardener I turned him out and headed home.
On the way home I got a phone call from Hayley asking if I wanted to meet her at the pub for a drink. I was very surprised because she had told me she was on a kind of date and also she doesn't like pubs! I told her I had dinner plans and wanted to go home and get changed. I have been with my boyfriend, david, for 5 years and for most of that time he has lived with me at my parents' house. He moved out on Friday and so we were going to have a kind of "last supper" to mark the end of an era and the start of a new one.
When I got home David turned up and I showed him the almost empty bedroom that was so recently "ours". other people began to arrive but it was a nice evening and that is not an unusual thing in our house... I had a bath, got dressed and began helping Mum chop vegetables for the salad when even more people turned up. I saw Maisie, who owns horse at my Mum's old yard and who is starting out in Parelli. Then family friends Richard and Wendy arrived and gave me a card. Suddenly the penny dropped... this was not David's party, this was mine!
The door bell rang and five young people walked in - they were friends from my school days and I welled up and got a bit teary! It was such a wonderful surprise and I was thrilled that they had wanted to come and send me off! Chris, one of my best friends at school gave me a hug and towered above me even more than he used to! He must be at least 6 ft 6 inches and I'm 5 ft 1 on a good day! his girlfriend, Jess, was brilliant entertainment - turning corks and biscuits into personalities and performing her own warrior drum dance in front of the flaming chimera! Phred and Larry were a couple of real blasts from the past and it was great to reminisce about our shenanigans over the last decade! There was a lot of gossip to catch up on too! And it was great meeting Phreds boyfriend.
2* PP Sara de Vries came, armed with a bottle of rose wine. It was a real honour and pleasure to have her come to wish me well on my intensive horsemanship journey.
The atmosphere was so loving a friendly and I have the memory of an amazing night to take with me on my journey! I knew I had support but to find out just how much was quite overwhelming and I was very impressed at everyone for keeping the party a secret!
I have spoken to the transporter and Paris is going to come home for a few days after the course at Stonleigh before he gets picked up and goes to France. Mostly he will just relax whilst I clean up and re-pack my gear.
Things to do:
call the phone company and check my coverage abroad
test the tent - it keeps getting so windy whenever I plan to do this
wash the horsebox/car
pack!
buy food for camping!
pay for the horse transporter
There's probably loads more I haven't even thought of...
Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog next week. I have a BIG party planned on my last day of work! I'm trying to work out how I can blog whilst I'm on the Fast Track - you may end up with a four week catch up all in one hit if I don't source an electricity supply!
I'm off to bed now... :) xxx
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Three weeks to go...
So I got a quote with a horse transporter a few months back and finally called up to make my payment last week when they said "Does your horse have the dam and sire on the passport?" Paris is at least fourteen years old, born before passports were compulsory. Even if he had had a passport he ended up at a dealer and was unpapered and anonymous. The riding school that had bought him obtained a passport and that was about eight years ago! The transporters said they would get back to me but I haven't heard from them.
I contacted another transporter on Thursday night and they emailed me back by Friday, over the weekend I asked them about the dam/sire issue and I havn't heard from them yet! Getting really vervous that we are so close to going away and he still isn't booked on a transporter!
I've started to go through my belongings and seperate winter and summer clothing so the winter stuff can be packed and go at the bottom for storage until I need it when I'm in France. Paris' rugs have already been sorted.
My mum and I took Paris to the saddler on Saturday. As we had suspected, the saddler said Paris' saddle was too narrow as he has changed shape so much. He has taken the saddle but said we need to have another fitting once the tree has been adjusted (I have a Keiffer saddle with adjustable infra red tree). Why have I left all this so late!
Hoping to get my car serviced on Saturday - it needs to survive the journey to France, and be able to get back again!
So enough about logistics... Paris has been amazing lately! He offered travelling circles at trot... at liberty! and tonight we played in the field and eventually stood still for a bit of mutual grooming. I love this relationship and am so excited by how it will improve over the next seven months! I had a beautiful moment tonight - Paris had been running around with playful exuberence but got a bit emotional and hid in the trees. I did the catching game but he would only give me one step before I had to reposition. I looked at how sweet and unsure he looked and thought "it's ok, i don't mind if you stay out" turned around and walked off ... and he came straight over and followed me all the way back to the yard. It was like I had finally found a new level of neutral. It is all very well distracting yourself and telling yourself you don't want them to follow (which is mental and emotional pressure) but it is something else to actually find the peace that comes when you really don't mind! I felt like all the rules and pressure to be achieving (I constantly shock my self with how much pressure I place on our relationship) suddenly was gone. I just stood there and Paris rested his nose against my stomach and I stroked his forehead just thinking how much I love him.
It made me think, Pat always said "look at what everyone else does and do the opposite". I realised that I have made a rle that when at liberty Paris had better not rest anywhere other than with me or he'll learn to find comfort else where. But actually, if I take the pressure off I actually become a beacon of safety and he doesn't need me to do any thing to cause him. Instead I can allow him to find me! This is new... I just hope it's not me reading too much into a fluke!
I contacted another transporter on Thursday night and they emailed me back by Friday, over the weekend I asked them about the dam/sire issue and I havn't heard from them yet! Getting really vervous that we are so close to going away and he still isn't booked on a transporter!
I've started to go through my belongings and seperate winter and summer clothing so the winter stuff can be packed and go at the bottom for storage until I need it when I'm in France. Paris' rugs have already been sorted.
My mum and I took Paris to the saddler on Saturday. As we had suspected, the saddler said Paris' saddle was too narrow as he has changed shape so much. He has taken the saddle but said we need to have another fitting once the tree has been adjusted (I have a Keiffer saddle with adjustable infra red tree). Why have I left all this so late!
Hoping to get my car serviced on Saturday - it needs to survive the journey to France, and be able to get back again!
So enough about logistics... Paris has been amazing lately! He offered travelling circles at trot... at liberty! and tonight we played in the field and eventually stood still for a bit of mutual grooming. I love this relationship and am so excited by how it will improve over the next seven months! I had a beautiful moment tonight - Paris had been running around with playful exuberence but got a bit emotional and hid in the trees. I did the catching game but he would only give me one step before I had to reposition. I looked at how sweet and unsure he looked and thought "it's ok, i don't mind if you stay out" turned around and walked off ... and he came straight over and followed me all the way back to the yard. It was like I had finally found a new level of neutral. It is all very well distracting yourself and telling yourself you don't want them to follow (which is mental and emotional pressure) but it is something else to actually find the peace that comes when you really don't mind! I felt like all the rules and pressure to be achieving (I constantly shock my self with how much pressure I place on our relationship) suddenly was gone. I just stood there and Paris rested his nose against my stomach and I stroked his forehead just thinking how much I love him.
It made me think, Pat always said "look at what everyone else does and do the opposite". I realised that I have made a rle that when at liberty Paris had better not rest anywhere other than with me or he'll learn to find comfort else where. But actually, if I take the pressure off I actually become a beacon of safety and he doesn't need me to do any thing to cause him. Instead I can allow him to find me! This is new... I just hope it's not me reading too much into a fluke!
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Four weeks until take off!
This monday was exactly four weeks before the Start of the Fast Track and eight weeks before I go to France!
Paris had his final booster jabs on Monday so I faxed all the apaerwork to Parelli UK ready for the Fast Track. I emailed my booking form to the horse transporter and phoned them to pay for the booking by credit card but they said they want to talk to the boss and get another quote! Now I'm worried I have eight weeks to get this sorted before Paris needs to go and I don't know how much they will charge me! fingers crossed it is in line with the previous quote they gave me.
Paris and I have been making a lot of progress lately - he had a rather poor friendly game and, whilst we still have plenty to work on, we are greatky improving and know how to keep progressing! Basically, whilst I was earning Paris' trust and confidence he learned to control his emotions at a halt but if you tried to combine friendly game with another game, or did friendly game whilst he was moving he would get emotional.
During a lesson with 1* Parelli Professional Sara de Vries I found out that my neutral in the friendly game was not good enough, as soon as Sara distracted me Paris dropped his head and relaxed! Although I still struggle to switch my energy off I am more aware of it and keep trying different techniques to keep my focus off of what I am doing which releases Paris from the pressure of my good intentions!
During clinics with 3* Parelli Professional Lyla I learned to be sure to only quit a game when Paris showed a sign of relaxation so that he starts looking for the relaxation quicker. It felt a lot like running him around until he was tired but Lyla pointed out that the difference is knowing when to quit. And it is making a huge difference - his canter has become more rythmic and relaxed and he is having more frquent moments of relaxed trot.
I also learned that Paris hides behind a little trot that is an immitation of calmness but he would not drop his head. It was no coincidence that I bought the horsenality humanlity match report which highlighted just how RBE Paris was and how much I needed to really embrace his need to move. So whenever he offers that little jog that he hides behind I send him into a bigger trot until he finds true relaxation. Slowly the jigsaw peices are coming together.
Last week was emotional for me, a couple of times Paris played hard to get with me... he hadn't done that for months so I was wondering if I had lost his trust with m new techniques. On Saturday we went to a clinic and Paris proved to me within minutes that our relationship is stronger than it has ever been.
Paris has never rolled at a clinic and never with me online. We have been in the most perfect conditions with every other horse at the clinic dropping like flies to roll and Paris would sniff the ground and do that bendy legged walk showing how much he wanted to roll but he just could not do it. On Saturday he rolled four times within the first 10 minutes! I was on cloud nine and nearly crying as I gave him a handful of treats whilst he was lying down.
Paris also showed how much he has developed in new fond confidence as he stood all four feet on a 3 ft high tyre pedastal and by staying calm and relaxed whilst I played at carrot stick tossing from horseback!
Sunday we had a play session with two other horses and their partners. Paris was calm enough that I even had a little canter inthe bareback pad. I practiced the partial disengagement technique to help him release his ribs and find relaxation in motion. As soon as he offered I nice relaxed trot I jumped off. He really blew out and licked his lips.
Last night I just spent some undemanding time with Paris and groomed him. He enjoyed the scratches and even did a bit of mutual grooming with me.
Tonight I decided to take Paris for a walk and explore the woods bordering our yard. We haven't done this before. The woods also border a sports ground and Paris was quickly far more focused on the cricketers than me. Thankfully I knew how I had to match the strength of his focus to gain his attention and keep myself safe whilst he found relaxation. The path was too narrow to do falling leaf so I walked ahead of Paris being careful to protect my space so he would not run me over. Paris was very good at ducking under some very low branches and soon his left brained desire to munch grass took over. We followed a wider path but soon the path got narrow and then the fencing changed and I realised that we were stuck down a four foot wide path with barbed wire on either side of us! I daren't try to turn him around in case he cut himself, I didn't want to back him incase he swung his quarters at the fence so I kept on - there was a gateway ahead into an open space and I thought if we could reach it we could turn around safely. Unfortunately the gateway was designed for pedestrians and despite Paris trying he could not cross. So I realised we had no choice but to back up all the way along the long narrow path lined with barbed wire! As we began I quickly noticed how the increased stakes and purpose caused my yoyo game to be so much more accurate! Paris really had to concentrate on his feet and seemed to understand he must not touch the fence. He quickly got left brained and started asking "can we stop going back now?" To help him I let him stop periodically and minch some grass before we continued until we found a wide enough space to safely turn around. Paris really walked out and, whilst I reminded him that I was in the lead, I did not want to get into a battle of holding him back. he had already done so well and to hold him back any more would only coil the spring and cause him to want to go forward more. So I began running, as fast as i could, then slowing to a jog, then running and Paris stuck to me beautifully.
We have the saddler checking the fit of his saddles this Saturday and I am starting to sort my belongings so that I am ready to pack.
Paris had his final booster jabs on Monday so I faxed all the apaerwork to Parelli UK ready for the Fast Track. I emailed my booking form to the horse transporter and phoned them to pay for the booking by credit card but they said they want to talk to the boss and get another quote! Now I'm worried I have eight weeks to get this sorted before Paris needs to go and I don't know how much they will charge me! fingers crossed it is in line with the previous quote they gave me.
Paris and I have been making a lot of progress lately - he had a rather poor friendly game and, whilst we still have plenty to work on, we are greatky improving and know how to keep progressing! Basically, whilst I was earning Paris' trust and confidence he learned to control his emotions at a halt but if you tried to combine friendly game with another game, or did friendly game whilst he was moving he would get emotional.
During a lesson with 1* Parelli Professional Sara de Vries I found out that my neutral in the friendly game was not good enough, as soon as Sara distracted me Paris dropped his head and relaxed! Although I still struggle to switch my energy off I am more aware of it and keep trying different techniques to keep my focus off of what I am doing which releases Paris from the pressure of my good intentions!
During clinics with 3* Parelli Professional Lyla I learned to be sure to only quit a game when Paris showed a sign of relaxation so that he starts looking for the relaxation quicker. It felt a lot like running him around until he was tired but Lyla pointed out that the difference is knowing when to quit. And it is making a huge difference - his canter has become more rythmic and relaxed and he is having more frquent moments of relaxed trot.
I also learned that Paris hides behind a little trot that is an immitation of calmness but he would not drop his head. It was no coincidence that I bought the horsenality humanlity match report which highlighted just how RBE Paris was and how much I needed to really embrace his need to move. So whenever he offers that little jog that he hides behind I send him into a bigger trot until he finds true relaxation. Slowly the jigsaw peices are coming together.
Last week was emotional for me, a couple of times Paris played hard to get with me... he hadn't done that for months so I was wondering if I had lost his trust with m new techniques. On Saturday we went to a clinic and Paris proved to me within minutes that our relationship is stronger than it has ever been.
Paris has never rolled at a clinic and never with me online. We have been in the most perfect conditions with every other horse at the clinic dropping like flies to roll and Paris would sniff the ground and do that bendy legged walk showing how much he wanted to roll but he just could not do it. On Saturday he rolled four times within the first 10 minutes! I was on cloud nine and nearly crying as I gave him a handful of treats whilst he was lying down.
Paris also showed how much he has developed in new fond confidence as he stood all four feet on a 3 ft high tyre pedastal and by staying calm and relaxed whilst I played at carrot stick tossing from horseback!
Sunday we had a play session with two other horses and their partners. Paris was calm enough that I even had a little canter inthe bareback pad. I practiced the partial disengagement technique to help him release his ribs and find relaxation in motion. As soon as he offered I nice relaxed trot I jumped off. He really blew out and licked his lips.
Last night I just spent some undemanding time with Paris and groomed him. He enjoyed the scratches and even did a bit of mutual grooming with me.
Tonight I decided to take Paris for a walk and explore the woods bordering our yard. We haven't done this before. The woods also border a sports ground and Paris was quickly far more focused on the cricketers than me. Thankfully I knew how I had to match the strength of his focus to gain his attention and keep myself safe whilst he found relaxation. The path was too narrow to do falling leaf so I walked ahead of Paris being careful to protect my space so he would not run me over. Paris was very good at ducking under some very low branches and soon his left brained desire to munch grass took over. We followed a wider path but soon the path got narrow and then the fencing changed and I realised that we were stuck down a four foot wide path with barbed wire on either side of us! I daren't try to turn him around in case he cut himself, I didn't want to back him incase he swung his quarters at the fence so I kept on - there was a gateway ahead into an open space and I thought if we could reach it we could turn around safely. Unfortunately the gateway was designed for pedestrians and despite Paris trying he could not cross. So I realised we had no choice but to back up all the way along the long narrow path lined with barbed wire! As we began I quickly noticed how the increased stakes and purpose caused my yoyo game to be so much more accurate! Paris really had to concentrate on his feet and seemed to understand he must not touch the fence. He quickly got left brained and started asking "can we stop going back now?" To help him I let him stop periodically and minch some grass before we continued until we found a wide enough space to safely turn around. Paris really walked out and, whilst I reminded him that I was in the lead, I did not want to get into a battle of holding him back. he had already done so well and to hold him back any more would only coil the spring and cause him to want to go forward more. So I began running, as fast as i could, then slowing to a jog, then running and Paris stuck to me beautifully.
We have the saddler checking the fit of his saddles this Saturday and I am starting to sort my belongings so that I am ready to pack.
Friday, 6 May 2011
The Journey begins!
I decided to make this blog for two reasons. Firstly to document my journey as a horsewoman, as a person and the adventures I have along the way for my own reflection. Secondly, to keep my loved ones up to date whilst I am gone.
Technically my journey has already started! A quick review is that all my life I have been horse mad! I was one of those little girls that would plant their face on the car window to watch horses in feilds or run to the window at the sound of hooves going down the road. I would play with my friends at taking turns to pretend to be horses and I even walked to school with an imaginary horse, stopping at bushes to let my "horse" have a nibble. Unfortunately I grew up in an environment where contact with horses was very limited to say the least. When I was in sixth form I was given the oppertunity to pursue "physical eduction" activites off of school premesis. My Mum had started riding again after an almost 20 year break from horses and asked if I too wanted to have weekly riding lessons. I think her arm is just about growing back after I snapped it off!
I began the usual type of riding lessons, working on getting in balance at rising trot and canter, that kind of thing. My instructor asked me if I wanted to join the pony club so i could do weekly rallies... her arm has now recovered too!
I finished my A-levels and started studying law at university. At first it was very interesting but soon my mind kept wandering to the stables. During the summer break after my first year at university my mum and I fell in love with a horse we were riding at the riding school. Her name was Havewe.
One day I heard a girl talking about buying Havewe. I was so horrified I ran to my Mum and told her - that night we put on a presentation to my step-dad, Dave, explaining why we needed to buy this horse. On the 12th August 2005 we became a horse owning family! I would go up the stable everyday and worshipped the ground that horse walked on. The problem was that Havewe knew it and she would stand on my feet, refuse to let me pick her hooves out, fidget at the mounting block, bolt home at a trot... I realised very quickly that I knew no where near as much as I'd thought and started to feel lik my dream was turning into a nightmare. I started having regular lessons and we used different bits and gadgets. Eventually me and Havewe formed an understanding. She was lovely to ride, if occasionally a little "mareish", and we sometimes rode out for hours. One day I even rode her 5 miles on busy roads to put her in my garden, my Mum nearly had a heart attack when she got home and drove her car ahead of me at 2 miles per hour all the way back to the stables to give me her version of a police escort!
As you can imagine when I returned to uni I was even less enthusiastic about my studies.
In 2007 both me and Mum were wanting to do a lot of riding, we were starting to do local dressage and jumping competitions and soon realised that we needed a horse each. I suggested the idea thinking my Mum would say "no way, wait until you finish Uni" but apparantly she had been thinking the exact same thing, "Great idea, you can use your student loan!"
A woman at the stables had kept her bay gelding in the stable next to Havewe and said she wanted to sell him because they had never bonded. He had had a series of injuries and she had spent more time riding her instructors mare than her own horse so had decided to buy the mare from her instructor and sell the gelding. I told her I was interested in buying him. His name was Paris.
When I tried Paris out we went for a walk and trot aroung the 20x40 arena. I asked for canter and got the fastest gallop I had ever done, and in that tiny aren it felt like doing the "Wall of Death". I then (as you do) trotted Paris over a cross pole... and got headbutted for it! He threw his front end up so dramatically that I face planted straight on his neck. I then took Paris for a walk dow the road to where I would keep him if I bought him. The yard owner, who had given me riding lessons on Havewe, came to look at Paris. he told me to canter Paris until he wanted to stop. After 15 laps and no sign of tiring he said to me "he has a good wind, you can stop now". I was shaking with fear but so excited, I really wanted this horse! There was no question really.
For two years I had riding lessons on Paris and rode him most days. I was very traditional, mostly schooling with perhaps 2-3 hacks a week and lounging if I could not ride. Paris got very fit very quickly. he calmed down a lot and, although he regularly threw a 10-ft-leap-to-the-side spook he stopped running backwards everytime he got scared. Paris would weave when stressed - and this was most of the time. when I bought him he would not eat if you went in his stable and I had to feed him by hand for a couple of days before he trusted me enough to eat his hay in front of me. After two years I had made good progress with Paris but we had reached a point where he would start getting playful and would do something naughty, like bite me, and i ould tell him off and he would lose trust in me again. i felt like we had hit a plateau and I had no idea how to move forward. Some days Paris would look right at me and I felt like he was trying to tell me something. I felt so stupid when I would ask him in my foolish human speak "what is it Paris? What are you trying to tell me?" and he would look away and even sigh and I felt like I had let him down.
One day I was talking to my Mum. We had read an article in a horse magazine about Parelli Natural Horsemanship and that there was a 2 day show on in Birmingham. I wanted to go but my Mum surprised me by saying she wanted to go too and was prepared to pay for the tickets and accomodation!
As we stood in the queue for the 2008 Parelli Celebration we said to each other "We will see what this Parelli has to say. We will not get duped into anything, will not buy into anything"... after two days of the most amazing horsemanship I had ever seen we walked away as Savvy Club Members with the complete kit of DVDs, ropes, sticks, halters and strings. What amazed me was the number of Parelli students that had the relationship with their horses that I had scarcley imagined possible. Here was a program where anyone could learn to have that relationship with their horse!
Unfortunately when I got back home I was suddenly alone. I was surrounded by "serious riders" who thought Parelli was a con, a waste of time, dangerous or just plain stupid. I tried to play the Seven games with my horse but i couldn't even go near him with the Parelli Carrot stick. I would try little bits on and off but didn't really follow the program. I continued to havemy dressage and juming lessons and did the odd bit of Parelli when no one was around.
One day in March 2009 I decided to ride Paris bareback in a natural hackamore (string halter with rope reins). I climbed on and he stood still. After a couple of minutes he suddenly went to step forward and I tensed up and he flew off into a bronk and I went flying. luckily I was not seriously injured but I was sore for at least a week. I realised my ego was getting in my way and I either needed to follow the program properly or not at all. I moved Paris to a different, more supportive, yard. I didn't ban riding but I tried to incorporate Parelli with my riding as much as possible and I ended up having so much fun playing online that I hardly ever rode. I attended a demo and began studyig the DVDs again. In May I attended a level 2 clinic. I wasn't sure I would be at a high enough level to do the clinic but the instructor was brilliant and gave me the confidence to really move forward and have more fun with Paris. She introduced me to riding in a halter with one rein. I banned myself from riding with two reins for some time and even began hacking out in the halter and one rein.
Fast forward to the present day and I am a level 2 student working on my level 3. I have discovered that Paris' primary horsenality is RBE but he is very complicated, he regularly switched between RBI ad LBE with occasional RBE and very rarely LBI.
In November 2010 I decided that my 9-5 law job (which I was often working 9-9) was nither earning me enough money, nor allowing me enough time to pursue my dream of attaining excellence in natural horsemanship. I quit my job and began doing any odd job I could find. I moved Paris to a DIY yard and began playing with him mostly everyday. we had a lot of snow so I started playing at liberty too.
One evening just before Christmas I was on the Parelli Savvy Club forum when I found exactly what I had been looking for - an advert for working student placements! The advertwas for a 6 month working student placement in France. I emailed them and soon got a reply asking if I could do a 10 day trial in January!
On the 8th January I drove my little Suzuki Alto 14 hours from London to central France. I had the most amazing ten days of my life at the end of which I was asked if I would like to do the 6 month placement. I accepted without hesitation! I was already booked on the Fast Track, a one month intense course at one of the Parelli centres, to take place in June, so I arranged to begin my 6 month placement in July.
We are now four weeks away from the start of the Fast Track. Preparations for travel are underway and emotions are getting high... more about that next time!
Technically my journey has already started! A quick review is that all my life I have been horse mad! I was one of those little girls that would plant their face on the car window to watch horses in feilds or run to the window at the sound of hooves going down the road. I would play with my friends at taking turns to pretend to be horses and I even walked to school with an imaginary horse, stopping at bushes to let my "horse" have a nibble. Unfortunately I grew up in an environment where contact with horses was very limited to say the least. When I was in sixth form I was given the oppertunity to pursue "physical eduction" activites off of school premesis. My Mum had started riding again after an almost 20 year break from horses and asked if I too wanted to have weekly riding lessons. I think her arm is just about growing back after I snapped it off!
I began the usual type of riding lessons, working on getting in balance at rising trot and canter, that kind of thing. My instructor asked me if I wanted to join the pony club so i could do weekly rallies... her arm has now recovered too!
I finished my A-levels and started studying law at university. At first it was very interesting but soon my mind kept wandering to the stables. During the summer break after my first year at university my mum and I fell in love with a horse we were riding at the riding school. Her name was Havewe.
One day I heard a girl talking about buying Havewe. I was so horrified I ran to my Mum and told her - that night we put on a presentation to my step-dad, Dave, explaining why we needed to buy this horse. On the 12th August 2005 we became a horse owning family! I would go up the stable everyday and worshipped the ground that horse walked on. The problem was that Havewe knew it and she would stand on my feet, refuse to let me pick her hooves out, fidget at the mounting block, bolt home at a trot... I realised very quickly that I knew no where near as much as I'd thought and started to feel lik my dream was turning into a nightmare. I started having regular lessons and we used different bits and gadgets. Eventually me and Havewe formed an understanding. She was lovely to ride, if occasionally a little "mareish", and we sometimes rode out for hours. One day I even rode her 5 miles on busy roads to put her in my garden, my Mum nearly had a heart attack when she got home and drove her car ahead of me at 2 miles per hour all the way back to the stables to give me her version of a police escort!
As you can imagine when I returned to uni I was even less enthusiastic about my studies.
In 2007 both me and Mum were wanting to do a lot of riding, we were starting to do local dressage and jumping competitions and soon realised that we needed a horse each. I suggested the idea thinking my Mum would say "no way, wait until you finish Uni" but apparantly she had been thinking the exact same thing, "Great idea, you can use your student loan!"
A woman at the stables had kept her bay gelding in the stable next to Havewe and said she wanted to sell him because they had never bonded. He had had a series of injuries and she had spent more time riding her instructors mare than her own horse so had decided to buy the mare from her instructor and sell the gelding. I told her I was interested in buying him. His name was Paris.
When I tried Paris out we went for a walk and trot aroung the 20x40 arena. I asked for canter and got the fastest gallop I had ever done, and in that tiny aren it felt like doing the "Wall of Death". I then (as you do) trotted Paris over a cross pole... and got headbutted for it! He threw his front end up so dramatically that I face planted straight on his neck. I then took Paris for a walk dow the road to where I would keep him if I bought him. The yard owner, who had given me riding lessons on Havewe, came to look at Paris. he told me to canter Paris until he wanted to stop. After 15 laps and no sign of tiring he said to me "he has a good wind, you can stop now". I was shaking with fear but so excited, I really wanted this horse! There was no question really.
For two years I had riding lessons on Paris and rode him most days. I was very traditional, mostly schooling with perhaps 2-3 hacks a week and lounging if I could not ride. Paris got very fit very quickly. he calmed down a lot and, although he regularly threw a 10-ft-leap-to-the-side spook he stopped running backwards everytime he got scared. Paris would weave when stressed - and this was most of the time. when I bought him he would not eat if you went in his stable and I had to feed him by hand for a couple of days before he trusted me enough to eat his hay in front of me. After two years I had made good progress with Paris but we had reached a point where he would start getting playful and would do something naughty, like bite me, and i ould tell him off and he would lose trust in me again. i felt like we had hit a plateau and I had no idea how to move forward. Some days Paris would look right at me and I felt like he was trying to tell me something. I felt so stupid when I would ask him in my foolish human speak "what is it Paris? What are you trying to tell me?" and he would look away and even sigh and I felt like I had let him down.
One day I was talking to my Mum. We had read an article in a horse magazine about Parelli Natural Horsemanship and that there was a 2 day show on in Birmingham. I wanted to go but my Mum surprised me by saying she wanted to go too and was prepared to pay for the tickets and accomodation!
As we stood in the queue for the 2008 Parelli Celebration we said to each other "We will see what this Parelli has to say. We will not get duped into anything, will not buy into anything"... after two days of the most amazing horsemanship I had ever seen we walked away as Savvy Club Members with the complete kit of DVDs, ropes, sticks, halters and strings. What amazed me was the number of Parelli students that had the relationship with their horses that I had scarcley imagined possible. Here was a program where anyone could learn to have that relationship with their horse!
Unfortunately when I got back home I was suddenly alone. I was surrounded by "serious riders" who thought Parelli was a con, a waste of time, dangerous or just plain stupid. I tried to play the Seven games with my horse but i couldn't even go near him with the Parelli Carrot stick. I would try little bits on and off but didn't really follow the program. I continued to havemy dressage and juming lessons and did the odd bit of Parelli when no one was around.
One day in March 2009 I decided to ride Paris bareback in a natural hackamore (string halter with rope reins). I climbed on and he stood still. After a couple of minutes he suddenly went to step forward and I tensed up and he flew off into a bronk and I went flying. luckily I was not seriously injured but I was sore for at least a week. I realised my ego was getting in my way and I either needed to follow the program properly or not at all. I moved Paris to a different, more supportive, yard. I didn't ban riding but I tried to incorporate Parelli with my riding as much as possible and I ended up having so much fun playing online that I hardly ever rode. I attended a demo and began studyig the DVDs again. In May I attended a level 2 clinic. I wasn't sure I would be at a high enough level to do the clinic but the instructor was brilliant and gave me the confidence to really move forward and have more fun with Paris. She introduced me to riding in a halter with one rein. I banned myself from riding with two reins for some time and even began hacking out in the halter and one rein.
Fast forward to the present day and I am a level 2 student working on my level 3. I have discovered that Paris' primary horsenality is RBE but he is very complicated, he regularly switched between RBI ad LBE with occasional RBE and very rarely LBI.
In November 2010 I decided that my 9-5 law job (which I was often working 9-9) was nither earning me enough money, nor allowing me enough time to pursue my dream of attaining excellence in natural horsemanship. I quit my job and began doing any odd job I could find. I moved Paris to a DIY yard and began playing with him mostly everyday. we had a lot of snow so I started playing at liberty too.
One evening just before Christmas I was on the Parelli Savvy Club forum when I found exactly what I had been looking for - an advert for working student placements! The advertwas for a 6 month working student placement in France. I emailed them and soon got a reply asking if I could do a 10 day trial in January!
On the 8th January I drove my little Suzuki Alto 14 hours from London to central France. I had the most amazing ten days of my life at the end of which I was asked if I would like to do the 6 month placement. I accepted without hesitation! I was already booked on the Fast Track, a one month intense course at one of the Parelli centres, to take place in June, so I arranged to begin my 6 month placement in July.
We are now four weeks away from the start of the Fast Track. Preparations for travel are underway and emotions are getting high... more about that next time!
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