Seasons Greetings!

I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! We don’t have too much planned for the holidays other then visiting with the family, eating lots of good food (and I do mean lots) and spending as much time with the horses as I can seeing as I have a whole week off!

So have a safe and happy holiday!!

The Good Fight Continues!

After feeding the horses I set off with my rubber curry comb, blue bristled hard brush and shedding blade. It was time to work on getting as many of the rain rot scabs as I could off of Kallie, we had actually had a few dry days so they had had a chance to dry out and were itching to come off (literally!). Kallie stood at liberty as I proceeded to curry the heck out of her hair, then brush any dirt off her coat that had come to the surface, and followed up with the shedding blade which worked awesome for brushing the scabs off. I then went and got the betadine solution that I had mixed and sprayed all over her withers, back, rub and a few spots on her neck. Let it sit and soak in while I fed her treats and talked to her before I scrapped even more scabs off with the shedding blade.

Kallie was licking and chewing most of the time or really leaning into the shedding blade. At the end of this little session she got a yummy stud muffin as a reward. She was perfect!

*YAWN*

Today was a shelter building day – or so I thought. I didn’t really build anything, just hauled materials down to the site and then passed some pieces of wood to my dad who was working on the shelter. Unfortunately we didn’t get done as much as we wanted, we need yet again more supplies *sigh*. So back to the hardware store we will have to go this week. Maybe just maybe it will get done for the New Year.

While the boys worked on the shelter I proceeded to scratch Kallie and pick off more rain rot scabs. She decided she wanted to stand beside the pile of lumber Anna and I had lugged down, even when the saw was cutting wood! She just stood there totally relaxed, couldn’t care less. I scratched her for some time, she was quickly licking and chewing, and then after the intense grooming session she began to yawn, first time I ever saw her yawn. And then she would look at me with her big brown eyes as if to say: “Please, scratch me more.”

Eventually I went up and trimmed Chance’s feet at liberty. I’d never done that before with him and wasn’t exactly sure if he was going to stay still, but he did with very little fuss. I filed back quite a bit of his toe, his white line was starting to get stretched a bit, and his frog looks awesome. So full and healthy, barely had to do anything to his heels. He got a yummy stud muffin as a reward for standing so nicely!

Quick Update

Didn’t do a whole lot today, the herd is still getting along nicely. Kallie is distancing herself from the others, she doesn’t seem to really fit in, but everyone respects her space and doesn’t bother her. I spent some undemanding time with her in the morning, picking her rain rot scabs off, rubbing her itchy spots and eventually giving her the rest of her dewormer. She had had no side-effects from the last dosage, so I gave her the rest of her normal dose. Hopefully that will clean her out, and in January we are going to start to do fecal counts. And treat accordingly.

Moving Day

Well today I woke up and looked out my window to see that the fence line was practically lying on the ground thanks to the 10-25 mm of ice rain followed by almost a foot of snow! The fence by the house was in much better shape then the fence up the road. So Andrew and I climbed onto the tractor, and drove down the road with the feed for the five up there and some hay. When we got there we weren’t surprised to see that the fence was pretty much non-existent due to all the extra weight it was bearing. And pleasantly surprised that everyone was still in where they should be!

We hummed and hawed about what we should do, I was ready to go back to the house and start walking them back to the house in pairs, but then Andrew suggested we let them follow the tractor with the hay on the trailer. I wasn’t too sure if that was going to work, but once they all spotted the hay they were more then willing to follow along behind.

Chance and Dessi took a few detours on the way back, Andrew drove slowly while I walked behind everyone to ensure they didn’t detour too far and we made it back to the house with no real trouble. It didn’t take long to move everyone into the paddock with Blue, Kallie and Lexi. This wasn’t exactly what was planned for the introductions of the two herds. Granted everyone had met before except for Kallie, Ripley and Storm. All in all it was uneventful, Kallie let out a few squeals and lifted her hind end towards Chance, while Lexi ran around bucking and rearing at any of the horses from up the road – even her own mother and “surrogate” father.

I’m very happy to have everyone next to the house, will certainly make my life a bit easier, once everyone gets into a good routine for going in the feeding stalls anyways.

Good Times

Went for another ride today and Blue was yet again perfect! We did our pre-ride checklist and he passed everything with flying colors so we set out on the trail again. He was moving forward easily, rounding pretty much the second my butt was in the saddle, so light and responsive. I would think something and he would do it! Just a perfect boy!!

We even did some jogging – hard to believe that my ex-race horse (okay so he never really made it to the races but he was bred and trained to move like hell!) can carry himself in a nice western jog. Granted we wouldn’t be winning any western pleasure classes anytime soon but he was slow and responsive. We even did some loping, we were moving as one, it felt like we were just flying over the ground smooth as could be!

We met a truck on the trail, the slowed down and Blue didn’t even balk at it, we just kept going, we even trotted through a few puddles which is a big thing for him seeing as puddles are Blue’s worst nightmare. He is slowly getting better with going through them, and will go through them if I’m on the ground leading him, but it is almost like he doesn’t like to get his feet dirty. What a silly horse.

Another wicked ride and awesome time with Blue!

Flying Without Wings

So today couldn’t have gone better I don’t think? My first big task of the day was tackling Kallie’s feet. I wanted to give her a really good trim before we got another dump of snow, and seeing as we had the knife’s freshly sharpened, a brand new rasp and a half decent day I figured heck why not today!? She was easy enough to catch, lead perfectly up to the cement pad that we have in the front lawn (we are thinking the previous owner had it as a door step when he had a trailer there – not really sure.

Chucked a bunch of hay down in front of her and began to trim. She was over-all very good for the trim, she did get a bit fidgety a few time sand tried to pull her hoof away from me so I made her back up and yield her hind quarters and forequarters then stood her up square again. After a few sessions of the yo-yo game she was great and stood well. I took a fair bit back on her front toes, evened them out, got rid of some points, cleaned out her bar, made room for her frog to expand and grow more and lowered her heels.

Then it was on to the back feet (which I am embarrassed to say I never picked up before this session as she had been so stiff when she first arrived and her legs were so sore from the scratches). She was really good for the back left hoof, but when it came to her back right hoof she decided that it would be fun to lean on me. So I had to get Anna to help balance her, by gently pulling her tail to the opposite side and getting her to even out her weight, she quickly was stand on her own three feet and not relying on me as a crutch! On the back I trimmed the toe back a little bit and really cleaned out the bars and made room for the frog to grow.

Gave her lots of rubs in between picking up her feet and making her stand on three legs to give her a break, I also picked at a few of her rain rot scabs much to her disliking. Soon it was time for Kallie to go back, licking and chewing the whole walk down to the paddock.

Blue stood at the gate basically screaming at me, asking that we do SOMETHING. So since it had been awhile since either Anna and I were able to ride (thanks to a combination of the lovely weather and hunting season in the area) we thought that today looked like a excellent day (seeing as the weather was perfect and you aren’t allowed to hunt on Sunday’s!) So Anna headed up the road with her gear to tack up Tia while I got Blue out of the paddock. I haltered him from across the fence seeing as I didn’t plan ahead and switched into my riding boots before getting my horse out of the paddock which happened to be a big pile of mud right by the gate.

He was perfect, shoved his nose right in the halter and let me guide him along the fence line and around the gate without me having to get my boots covered in mud and water! Then up to the barn where he stood ground tied while I gave him a quick brush over before starting to tack him up. As we tacked I played the Seven Games with him, testing him to see if he was “rideable” today. He played all Seven Games like a pro, no warning lights went off at all!

Stood perfectly while I mounted up (I’ve come to realize that I am getting a wee bit stiff, so had to have him down the hill from me to make it easier for me to get into the saddle!). And as soon as I had my butt in the saddle and even thought about moving forward we were walking up the driveway. Blue just felt so loose, so free under me. We soon met up with Anna and Tia along the road and decided to ride up past the big field towards the many logging roads in the area.

Both Blue and Tia had tones of impulsion and were eagerly stretching out and moving forward. Blue was tracking up beautifully, extending with each stride and his back hoof prints in the dirt road were soon over stretching where his front hoof prints had fallen. And he was doing this without clipping his front hooves; it was like riding a cloud. We worked on his head set which quickly fell into a perfect western horse headset and stayed there the whole ride, he was right on the vertical, I could feel that he was rounded and not hollow-backed.

We gave them a good warm-up at the walk, then we trotted a bit, and eventually worked ourselves up to a gallop. The horses were thrilled to be able to get out and stretch their legs. You could tell how eager they were to move forward. They required no real cues to go faster; just the thought of it was enough. Blue was having a blast, he was galloping full out, the wind was blowing through his mane and my hair as we soared over the ground, we moved in perfect unison with one another, neither restricting the other and we just flew, it felt like Blue was galloping on air, he was so smooth, so perfect it was like flying without wings. It was a wonderful feeling and I hope I get to experience it again soon.

When we finally did stop neither horse was huffing or worked up, they easily fell back into a walk, a very impulsive walk, but not trying to break gate unless asked for. They didn’t even break a sweat! Got to love naturally fit horses! The ride home was great, both Tia and Blue were perfect, could not have asked for a better end to a perfect day!

Mmmmmmm Dewormer

Well today was worming day. Blue put up quite a fight as he normally does. He was drenched a few times at the track no doubt and lord knows what else they tried to force feed him while he was there so it has always been an issue with him. But I must say it is getting better, and once I have the tube in his lips he is fine, it is just getting it there that is the issue. I think what I will do is get a syringe full of apple juice or apple sauce and get him used to having that squirted into his mouth and hopefully soon he won’t even think twice about the dewormer syringe.

Kallie was next, I had never dewormed her before so I haltered her just incase she decided to run off. I gave her a few treats, rubbed her down rubbed around his nose and mouth the slid the dewormed tube into her lips and pushed 1/3 of her normal dose in no problem. She took it like a pro! In a weeks time I will give her another 3rd and eventually work her up to her normal dose. I don’t want to over load her with dewormer just incase she has a heavy worm burden.

Chance was up next, and he was perfect as always. Stick it in, push all the dewormer out with the plunger and we’re done!

Not Forgotten!

Well it has been a little bit since I’ve added anything to the blog, I haven’t forgotten about it I just haven’t been able to really do a whole lot with the horses due to the lovely early winter weather. One day it was mild, sunny, and just gorgeous weather, the next day it was cold, windy and a combination of snow and icy falling from the sky. So between traipsing through the snow, shoveling, making paths for the horses and being cold I’ve been spending a lot of undemanding time with the horses.

Kallie is 170 days pregnant as of today, so just over her 5 month mark so it was time for her first set of vaccines. I opted to give them to her myself where she is still very untrusting. Anna was out today so we went out to the paddock, armed with a frozen carrot and pockets full of treats. It was no problem at all to catch Kallie, I haltered her no problem, and started rubbing her. She quickly relaxed so I worked on getting her to flex her neck towards me, I’d pinch her skin until I got no reaction then give her a poke. I did this a few times before I replaced the poking finger with a needle. She was perfect; she tensed slightly when the needle went in but relaxed with some rubbing and I easily gave her the vaccines. She was then offered a delicious frozen carrot and I must say it was highly amusing to watch her try and eat the carrot!

I then trimmed Blue’s front hooves at liberty, nothing too drastic had to be done, just filed his toe back a bit, evened it off and trimmed out a tiny bit of bar that had grown up. I just love his feet, I would be happier if I could get his frogs to expand a bit more, but they are coming. You just got to love the Standardbreds and their contracted heels.

Then I decided to try something I’ve never done and that was trim Kallie’s feet at liberty. I walked up, let her sniff my had, offered her a treat then picked up her foot, she stood there easily as I picked out her bars, lowered her heel slightly and evened out her toe. Needless to say I was very proud of my girl! She wiggled a bit, bit never tried to walk off or put up too much of a fight.

So that is all for now, so here are a few wintery pictures for your enjoyment:


My “Meadow Brook” Gate


Kallie’s view


Pretty snow, which can go away now :P


Poor Blue plugging through all the snow, he is such a wuss!

Short But Sweet

Had a short but sweet session with Kallie today, she was very easy to catch, stood quietly; she was a bit tense until I rubbed her shoulder before putting on the halter. We then played lots of Friendly game, rubbing her all over, I picked at a few of her rain rot scabs, she has acquired a few more after the last bout of rain we had. We then played a bit of Sideways with a log, and some Yo-Yo, practiced on getting her to not rush forward and to be calm and thinking. We also did some half circles down behind the pond and some Driving game from Zone 3.

We worked on some leading exercises then I brought out the anti-fungal spray and sprayed all over her withers, back and hind quarters. Hopefully it won’t take long to clear up the scabs she has now. It was starting to get dark quickly so we went to the tractor tires and worked on the Figure-8 pattern. She was really good, I could get her to trot around them and she wouldn’t try to rush past or make it into a circle, she was really good at following the feel and going where I pointed and sent my energy.

I then allowed her to lick and chew and think about what we just did before taking off the halter, she instantly tipped her nose into me and wanted to be close to me. I offered her some treats and she just hung out beside me, licking and chewing. It was a short but meaningful session.

Its Not About The Ball - Part II

Yesterday I watched the 5th DVD in the Liberty and Horse Behaviour Course in A Box and it opened my eyes even more to the very subtle changes in the horse, how to read a horse better and really know what they are trying to tell you. I think watching it will also help me become a better leader and enable me to continue to build my horses confidence. I think it was by far my favorite DVD I have seen yet, it was just loaded with so much information, I will without a doubt be watching it over time and time again to ensure I got every last ounce of knowledge out of it!

So today I applied some of my new knowledge in my session with Chance today. Brought out the big scary ball again, left it up at the top of the paddock and down I went to get Chance who was grazing at the bottom of the field. He allowed me to catch him easily, so again I must not have damaged the relationship too badly from our last session. I then played a lot of the Friendly Game, rubbing him all over, stirring up yet another dirt cloud around us, scratching all of his itchy places, rubbing the goobers out of his eyes, getting him to lift his tail, picking off a layer of his chestnuts and more rubbing. He was licking and chewing, nice and relaxed in no time. So now it was time to get down to “business”.

I drove him forward from Zone 3 up the hill, and eventually over to the “Play Ground” that Anna and I have set up. I had rested the ball against one of the logs to ensure it didn’t go rolling down the hill on me. So we began to go through the 7 Games, no where near the ball, not focusing on it what-so-ever. I worked on getting him paying attention to me, not the ball, doing what was asked of him and putting effort into the tasks.

After I was content with his performance we began to play the Circling Game about 40 feet away from the ball. Each time he went between me and the ball I would take a step closer, when he hit his threshold, I let him stand, process then changed directions. Each time he found a new threshold I would allow him to stand there, process, and then ask him to move on, if he hit the same threshold and didn’t make any further progress towards the ball I would drive him on until he found a new one. If he seemed to get unconfident about the location of the ball then I would immediately have him back up and change direction.


Circling.

Once we got about 14-16 feet away from the ball I sent Chance on a circle to the right and he drifted towards the ball, I let the rope slide and followed him. He walked up and sniffed at the ball. This was HUGE for him, it was 100% his idea to approach the ball, needless to say I was extremely happy with this development. I allowed him to stand there close to the ball, licking and chewing, blowing out the stress and anxiety and allowing him to relax.


Chance having a HUGE breakthrough!

I then took him away from the ball rather then ask him to go to it again to convince him even further that it is NOT about the ball! So we went further down the field and worked on the Sideways Game and the circling game over objects, some yielding with the Driving Game and slowly made our way back up the hill. A began to then ask Chance to squeeze between the ball and I, and just like the circling game we would take a step forward when I knew that Chance was comfortable with the space between him and the ball. If he hit a threshold I would wait, then ask him to move on again.

Before long we were squeezing right beside the ball and Chance wasn’t hitting anymore thresholds, he would easily squeeze back and forth without stalling. So I then began to focus on making the stopping point near the ball, then backing him away, then squeezing between me and the ball, then backing away. Eventually he wanted nothing more but to just go and stand by the ball. He was licking and chewing, standing with a leg cocked, blinking so he was thinking and actually being confident around the ball.


Hanging out with the ball.

At this point we had been playing for almost an hour, we would do some sessions close to the ball, then retreat further down the field after I had another breakthrough with him. I then started placing some pieces of carrot on top of the ball, so when he got confident enough to approach the ball and rub his lips on it or bump it with his nose there was an added surprise. It didn’t take him long to catch on that the Saber-Toothed Ball was also a treat dispenser!


Break time.

After I was quite content with how far Chance had come in this one session and feeling much stronger as a leader I decided to up the ante a little bit. And I started tapping the ball with the end of my carrot stick. Chance didn’t react quite like I thought he was going to. He looked at it cautiously, lifted his head some but kept his feet still, blinking and thinking, not turning tail and running. I just kept a rhythmic pattern up with the tapping I did on the ball and would stop and rub Chance with the end of the carrot stick for a few moments before going back to tapping the ball. Soon he was creeping up closer and closer to the ball, letting some of the tension escape his body and relaxing once more.


Starting to relax.

I had him licking and chewing almost constantly, blowing out all of his stress and relaxing beside the ball, and at this time a few of the other horses in the field had come over to investigate the ball confidently. So I decided to make it a game for everyone and I would put treats or pieces of carrot on top of the ball and in no time there were all licking the ball, nudging it with their noses trying to figure out where the treats were coming from and getting them without knocking them to the mud. The halter came off and Chance stuck by, looking for more treats on the once terrifying ball.

I am extremely happy with how the day went and can’t wait to continue to build the relationship between Chance and I, to become a stronger leader, one that Chance can depend on and continuing the wonderful journey down the road with Parelli.

Its Not About The Ball

Today was better, much better then yesterday. I started by rolling the ball out to the field and resting it up against a log so it wouldn’t blow away. Then I went to go get Chance, he was easy to catch so I don’t think I hurt our relationship too badly with my lapse of judgment from the day before. He eagerly stuffed his nose into the end of the halter and stood relaxed, leg cocked, lip drooping as I began to rub him all over, causing a large dirt cloud to surround the both of us just like that character from Charlie Brown.

We then proceeded to work our way through the games, no where near where the ball was sitting, but Chance would still look over at it nervously from time to time. So I tried to do things that would get his attention and keep him more focused on me then the Yellow Saber-Toothed Ball. The Sideways Game seemed to be the best game to really grasp his attention, as well as the Hide-Your-Hinney Game which he is quite good at. When we did the Yo-Yo Game he would get unfocused and start looking around for the location of the ball just incase it were to jump out of the grass and attack him while his back was turned.

Once I was happy with the focus I was getting we started moving closer to the ball, we played the Squeeze Game between me and the ball, starting out with at least 30 feet between us. When Chance would start to get nervous and cock his head towards the ball I would take a step back, taking some of the pressure off of him. We did this for sometime, slowly working our way towards the ball, one tiny step at a time. Then Chance did something that surprised me, there was still about 6 feet between him and the ball for the Squeeze but as he went towards the Squeeze he decided to drift closer to the ball, walking right up to it and sniffing it. I told him what a good boy he was and relaxed, going into the neutral position and waiting until I got some licking and chewing from Chance. It didn’t take too long for him to start smacking his lips, once he was done with that we moved away from the ball.

I then walked around smacking the savvy string on the ground, whipping the ground. Chance at first wasn’t sure if I was asking him to do something or not so I relaxed more and he quietly followed behind as I randomly walked around whipping the ground. Once he was comfortable with that I turned to face him and played lots of Friendly Game, tossing the rope over his back, “hugging” him with it, he stood there relaxed so I began to whip the ground, starting far away from him, but still standing facing him. Gradually I would move closer and closer until I was whipping the ground right beside his back legs, every now and then I would again “hug” him with the savvy string, then go back to whipping.

Next was some Helicopter fun, I would start off with a slow casual Helicopter motion with the savvy string and carrot stick above mine and Chance’s head, if he moved his feet the swinging would get more severe and I would follow him until he stopped moving. As soon as he stopped moving the Helicopter would stop and I would again “hug” him with the savvy string. It didn’t take him long to get the hang of this.

We then went back to the ball, I did some travelling circles until we came close to the ball, and Chance aimed himself towards the ball stood there quietly. Then he began to bump the ball with his nose, and then lift his feet like he was going to paw at it, but paw at the ground beside it. Eventually he worked himself up to bumping it with his knees and rolling it around a bit with his nose. He moved it so much that it rolled away from its safe and secure spot next to the log and down the hill towards me. This worried him a bit, but I just rolled it back into place, ignoring him as I did and after a few minutes he approached it again.

I thought this was a pretty good place to end the session with the ball for the day so I slowly and carefully rolled the ball up the hill, left it somewhere secure then took Chance away from it. We then did some Figure-8 pattern around a raise clump of dirt and a pile of manure; he was really light and responsive, traveling and following the draw and drive easily and with little effort on my part. He began to lick and chew, so we stopped and relaxed. I removed the halter; he stood with me for a few moments before I sent him back to the herd. Once he was with the herd he started to lick and chew and even yawn.

Chance Goes Right Brain

We started out with lots of Friendly Game, I rubbed him all over, ground some of the mud into his hair even deeper, got him to lift his tail and rubbed under his tail. He was relaxed, calm and happy. We then started with the rest of the Seven Games, Porcupine, Driving, Yo-yo, Sideways, Circling and Squeeze all around the big yellow ball.

He was really good, he would look at the ball every now and then, we played the Squeeze game between it and a log, he would walk right by it sniff at it, even touched it with his nose a few times. Perfectly fine with it on the ground, so then I picked it up and walked around with it under my arm, he followed along even bumped the ball with his nose a few times. He seemed to be okay with it, confident even.

So then I moved onto something else for a bit and came back to the ball, I picked it up and he bumped it with his nose again. I then started to rub it on his neck, he got tense, but kept his feet still, blinking and listening but as soon as I moved it towards his back he exploded. He began jumping backwards wildly trying to escape. I had to abandon the ball, there was no way I could hold it on him as he leapt backwards. I then had to get the situation under control so I made his moving backwards my idea and got him to move backwards in a direction I wanted, and further then what he wanted to. Once we both stopped out feet we were out of breath, both or chests heaving. I was frustrated, upset and on the verge of tears at the time. After I calmed myself down, started breathing properly and tried to wipe away all the frustration from my mind we moved on.

We then went and did a lot of circling game over the sundial, making him think about where his feet were and get him focused again. Then some Sideways along the fence, he was perfect, side passing beautifully. We then started a lot of Approach and Retreat with the ball, he was now absolutely petrified of the ball. We would Circle closer and closer to the ball, I would get him to stop on the same side as the ball was. Then ask him to move forward, bring him closer to the ball, and ask him to stop again. Eventually he would stand right next to the ball or right behind it, slowly but surely his confidence and curiosity began to rise. He was licking and chewing, would reach down and bump the ball with his nose and eventually started using his feet. He would bump it with his knees or lift his foot up and rest his foot there. Towards the end of the session I had him walking forward and bumping it out of his way with his knees or pushing it around on the ground with his nose. Licking and chewing, even taking treats off the top of the ball.

We had played for an hour at this point and he was getting more and more confident so I wanted to end it there. So I started to roll the ball up the hill, ignoring him, and he walked alongside me, looking at the ball but licking and chewing the whole time, letting out big sighs, relaxing.

Yellow Ball, Spray Bottle and Liberty Work .. Oh My!

Today I played with Kallie, was able to catch her yet again in under a minute, she is getting better and better each day. We started like we always do, because I need to show her how much I care before I show her how much I know. Rubbing her all over, picking some of her remaining rain rot scabs off and picking at some of the scabs on her legs. I had to use a lot of approach and retreat for her legs; she is very sensitive, especially on her front ones. But with a lot of patience as well as some scratches on rubs on the not so sensitive spots I got the job done. I’m glad that everything is clearing up nicely; the majority of the scabs aren’t actually attached to the skin on her legs but to the new hair that grew up under them pushing them out.

We then did some of the Figure-8 pattern around the barrels and played with the ball, she was much better with it today. I was able to rub it all over her body and even bounce it off her this time, I also walked around the paddock and bounced it on the ground to make it echo and make loud noises, Kallie followed along behind me easily and didn’t mind when I bounced it beside her or directly in front of her.


My droopy lip girl.

Next it was time to treat Kallie’s legs; she was calm and relaxed so out came the spray bottle. I sprayed it in the air a few times before starting with her withers, and spraying some on her hind quarters where there are just a few more small scabs to clear up. Next was onto her legs, she is always more sensitive with her front legs and would move around a bit until I rubbed her shoulder and sprayed at the same time. Before long she was standing relaxed, a back leg cocked, licking and chewing while I sprayed all over her legs, I just let the rope drop to the ground and “Ground Tied” her. She was great!


She seems so concerned about the spray bottle.

More Friendly Game followed with the rope, I tossed it over her back, around her legs and then spun it around her head like a helicopter then let it wrap around her like a big friendly hug. She kept her feet still and relaxed quickly.

I then took the lead line off and she followed me around at Liberty for awhile before I sent her out and worked on getting her to read off my body language and follow my direction and lead. Before long she was licking and chewing and wanting to come into the center of the round pen. I sent her around a few more times and allowed her to come in, and thought that that was a good place to end out session for the day.


A relaxed Kallie at the end of our session.

Blue Loves His Big Yellow Ball

Well it would appear that Blue LOVES to play with his front hooves with anything! Today he repeatedly played with the ball, rolling it back and forth with one leg, holding it between his two front legs, kicking it away only to walk up to it and put his hoof on it again. He even let me bounce it and was putting his nose close to it so that it would bounce into his face! He had no problem with my bouncing the ball all over his body, bouncing it on the ground, throwing it up in the air, tossing it over his back, but he would much prefer to play with it himself!

Next he started playing with the barrels in the same manner, rolling them forward and backward, spinning them around, standing with it between his two front legs, even just standing there with his hoof resting on the side of it. He went through the same routine with a pole on the ground; he certainly has become an active fellow with his front legs!

Seeing as he was so confident around the barrels I decided to try something new with Blue today. I set him up next to one of the barrels that was lying on its side and played the sideways game over the barrel. At first he just wanted to play with it some more, then he wasn’t quite sure if he should go forwards or backwards. But once I found where I should have my own body to ask him correctly he side-passed beautifully over the barrel! I did it both ways and offered him lots of rubs, scratches and treats as a reward.

I then mounted him from the barrel again and we worked on the 9 Step Back Up, as well as yielding his hindquarters and forequarters with me on his back, he is really good with yielding his hind end but is still a bit stick with her front end. I’m going to try to do more work with it on the ground.

Once I was done my session with Blue I went to catch Kallie. She did walk away from me, but again in less than 30 seconds she had turned to face me and allowed me to approach her, licking and chewing the whole time. I put the halter on, walked her around the pond and up to the tractor tires which are currently being used as hay feeders, took the halter off and gave her a pile of treats. She stood with me, licking and chewing, licking and chewing. You could see that the tension had left her body she began blinking slowly, allowed me to rub all over her face (something she is quite sensitive about).

She hung out with me even after Blue came over to pester me for more treats. The boy never gives up!! So all in all it was another good day, I am hoping that it doesn’t rain tomorrow and I can work with Chance!

Another Day, Another Session

It was a very interesting day as far as weather went, for being the beginning of November it was warm, humid even, and it wasn’t long before I was loosing layers as Blue and I worked out way through the Seven Games. Soon I had the big yellow ball out again and was able to rub it all over Blue’s body, bounce it on the ground then off of him. I was bouncing it off his but, sides, neck and legs and he just stood there relaxed, leg cocked and licking and chewing. I then put it down on the ground and sent him too it and he would happily start playing with it with his front hooves. Pawing at it, even resting his hoof on the ball – it hasn’t burst yet so hopefully it will survive the tortures of Blue!!

Next I mounted from the barrel again, went much smoother then the first time I attempted this. We worked on the 9 Step Back Up, as well as yielding his hind quarters which he did beautifully – maybe he’ll be a reining horse someday;) We worked on some transissions; walk-trot, walk-whoa, whoa-walk, trot-walk, trot-whoa, and whoa-trot all by bringing up my energy and then just taking all the energy out of my body. He quickly caught on and was doing all transissions at the first phase. I even practiced riding with the carrot stick which wasn’t nearly as awkward as I figured it would be for the first time.

Blue and I then did some playing at Liberty. Off the halter came and onto the ground I went. First we attempted to do some of the Figure-8 Pattern and Liberty and he actually did it a few times around! I was so proud of him; he just knew what to do when I set the barrels up and I could draw and drive him easily. We also did a lot of the Touch It Pattern, I would send him to the ball, which he would promptly try to squish, or the pole he would roll around on the ground with his hooves, and the upright barrels which he tried to put his hoof up on the side of it as far as he could. We also did some yo-yo which he was really good with the drawn, but a bit sticky with the send.

I was quite happy with Blue’s effort he put in and was all out of treats so figured that was a good time to end the session. Once back in the field he stood at the gate and nickered to me, lifting one of his front legs and wiggling it in the air (his favorite thing to do when he wants something and gets impatient). He didn’t head back to Kallie and Lexi until I had gone in the house for a few minutes.

When I came out I collected up my halter and headed back out to the field, this time I went towards Kallie, she was in the far half field (the whole field probably totals ~6 acres and is split by a row of pine trees and a brook), she lifted her head and watched as I approached. I did a wide arch and started to make my way towards her. She got a bit worried and began to move her feet, so I drove her forward more, she trotted a few strides to the left, I blocked her path with my body and energy and directed her back to the right, then to the left once more and then she turned and faced, licked and chewed. I had the halter on her in less than 30 seconds from when she first started to move her feet. A huge improvement in the 30-60 minutes it would originally take. Kallie then got a handful of treats; a good rubbing and itching then I promptly took the halter off and walked back to the house. I’d look over my shoulder and she was still in the same position, licking and chewing my whole way back to the house, I think I blew the poor girls mind. I highly doubt she ever had a human do that to her before.

A Ball Of A Time

Today was yet another ground-breaking day with the horses. First it was Blue’s turn, he eagerly inserted his nose into the halter and off we went to the temporary round pen that my friend Anna and I had set up. We started with the Friendly Game like we always do – which most often with Blue involves rubbing some dirt off his coat and rubbing most of it deeper into his coat, that horse just loves to try and fit in with the other horses by camouflaging with mud.

The Porcupine Game was up next, Blue would yield backwards by the nose and chest, yield his forequarters and hind quarters with the first phase beautifully. Next was the Driving Game, again he yielding backwards, his forequarters and hind quarters all with the first phase. He is just so light and responsive it makes me very proud of him and happy with how far he has come. In the beginning it would be phase four all of the time and I’d be tired long before he was ready to yield. Yo-yo game was a breeze, he has always excelled at that, I just start to reel the rope out and wiggle my finger and back he goes. Then some Sideways Game up and down the small slope without a fence line for guidance, sometimes his back end gets a little behind his front end but he is getting better and better. The most challenging part of the Circling Game was getting Blue to keep up the pace around the circle, my horse which used to be all go is way more whoa. The Squeeze Game was simple, had him squeezing between me and the fence with a tiny maybe 2’ gap.

Next came time to play with the newest purchase, a big yellow exercise ball. It had been sitting in the round pen the entire play session that I had with Blue but we just worked around it and pretended it wasn’t even there. I figured that Blue might be a little upset or concerned with it seeing as Anna was playing with her filly Lexi and she had started to bounce it around and both Blue and Kallie came running out of the woods to see what was going on. Kallie snorted while Blue just watched intently at the fence line.

But when we played Touch It with the ball Blue did it confidently and curiously. He touched it with his legs first, pawing at it, then he would bump it with his knees, he had no fear about it bumping his legs or bouncing away from him. I next picked it up and walked around with it, leading Blue, he put his lips on the ball so I then proceeded to play the Friendly Game with the ball and Blue didn’t get unconfident or worried at all. He did start yielding to the slight pressure that the ball placed on his hindquarters when it was there and would yield around in a circle so it took awhile to get him to stand still and realize that that wasn’t what I was asking. I was also able to bounce the ball off his back and hindquarters with him standing there relaxed, licking and chewing.



Knowing that Blue was relaxed and Left Brain I decided to hop on, but that is easier said then done. Normally I can hop up easily and wiggle my way onto his back (which is a far way to hop seeing as he is 16.2hh), but I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to easily be able to hop up on him like I normally did seeing as he has become ahem . . . a bit rounded over the last month or so. So we had to improvise, I climbed up on one of the barrels that was in the round pen, this was the first time I had ever mounted Blue from a barrel, but once I got him lined up he happily stood there and let me get on.

We worked on brining up my energy to get Blue to go, and bringing it down to get him to stop. The 9 Step Back up which quickly went to a 1 Step Back up, he caught on very fast. We also worked on the Indirect Rein and the Direct Rein which he did easily as well. I even worked on bringing up my energy to get him to trot which worked rather well.



And for the first time since I started working with Blue he actually yawned while I was riding him and when I put him back in the paddock he followed me around at liberty and had a few more yawns. He was a happy and relaxed horse.

~*~

Next it was Kallie turn, we went through the normal drill with lots of Friendly, Porcupine, Driving and Yo-Yo game, and all of which she does on the first phase easily. I then desensitized her to a spray bottle, she has a bad fungal infection on her legs which she came with and I have been trying to clear it up now for ages and it has slowly been getting better but I using the MTG seemed so wasteful. She was worried in the beginning but I never stopped rubbing her and she soon realized that she wasn’t going to be hurt by the spray bottle and was able to spray her legs fully as well as a few spots around her withers and tail head where a few of the rain rot scabs remained.

After playing the 7 Games again it was time to introduce Kallie to the big yellow ball. She would allow me to draw her towards it or send her towards it and touch it with either her nose or legs. When I picked it up and walked around with it she was a bit worried. I was able to rub her lots and eventually replacing my hand with the ball and rub her with the ball all over on the left side. With the right side she was more hesitant and tried moving away from it. So I took a few steps back, rubbed her with my hand and slowly worked it up to rubbing with the ball. She was licking lots, back leg cocked, eyes blinking slowly, ears on me.

I then had her Squeeze between two barrels, with lots of space, next the ball went into the Squeeze, so Kallie had to squeeze between the barrel and the ball. I gradually made the space between the ball and barrel smaller and smaller. She would get a bit worried about the smaller space so I would back it up a bit then move it a bit closer. Eventually she was bumping the ball out of her way with her legs. She really wasn’t sure what to do at first but once she got it she let out a huge sigh and licked and licked and licked.

Figuring that was a good place to end I gave her some treats and we walked down to the paddock. When I went to take the halter off she eagerly tipped her nose towards me and allowed the halter so slide off her nose. For this she got more treats. She didn’t walk off right away she stood close to me allowed me to rub her all over. And I was the one who walked away from her first.

So another wonderful day with the ponies!

One Giant Leap For Kallie

Today was a huge success for Kallie and I and I am so happy and so proud! When I walked out into the paddock today, equipped with my 12’ line and my halter Kallie turned and faced me and waited for me. She has never done this, the whole time I have had her, granted she has been getting better day by day but today was HUGE for both of us. She didn’t try to canter, trot or walk off; she just stood there and waited!

So after lots of treats and rubbing we proceeded to try out the Weave pattern and she did it perfectly. I just had to point my finger, extend the rope and she followed the feel perfectly, in and out, around the poles no hesitation, no resistance on the rope it was flawless. We then proceeded to do some Sideways Game and she was side passing three-four steps at a time without hesitation or confusion. Next we worked on some leading work, moving forward when I move forward; backing up when I back up turning her body away from me when I walked into her space by respecting mine.

I unfortunately didn’t have a whole lot of time so with more Friendly Game we ended it for the day. After work, and after everyone was happily munching on their hay I went out with Kallie and we had some undemanding time, I just stood beside her and scratched her withers and she loved it! She allowed herself to relax enough to actually enjoy the human contact, she would lean into my fingertips, her lips were moving in every direction possible and she let out a few amusing grunts. When my fingers were numb from scratching I stopped, gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away and she followed me out of the paddock!! So needless to say today was a wonderful day for Kallie and I! And our relationship continues to move towards the next level!

Playing Games - Keeping Warm

Well aside from being horribly cold and windy out today I had two really good sessions today. First up was Kallie, when she first arrived at my place the beginning of August as a boarder she was near impossible to catch if she saw you coming with a lead rope or halter, she would take off and it would take 30 minutes to half an hour to get her to square up and stand and not run off when you approached her. Today was a different story; she saw me coming, was a bit hesitant but didn’t try to move away quickly. I clucked and got her to do a few trot strides away from me, and then she turned, faced and started to lick and chew. I had caught her in under a minute! What a HUGE difference! I was beyond happy!

We always start off with lots of friendly game, I do this until she starts to let some of her barriers down and relax. We then did some work on the 12’ line, she had been progressing really well with all 7 games on the 12’ line as well as some of the patterns – so I decided to step it up a notch. We went up to the 22’ line, did some circling, then we attempted to do some Figure-8’s, that didn’t go so well. With the extra rope she was able to drift a lot more and as she wanted to go through the pattern at a trot she was drifting further and further off the mark and wasn’t yielding.

So after some fancy foot work on my part and guiding with the rope and blocking with the carrot stick and savvy string we finally got things sorted out. She really wanted to go into the pressure of the carrot stick and not follow the feel – and then she had her ah-ha moment! I would just start to point in the direction I wanted her to go, lift the rope and she would follow the feel beautifully. She got lots of breaks where lots of licking and chewing took place.

Next it was onto the Squeeze Game over a barrel, we had gone over poles and ropes on the ground, even a small log so I was going to try and step it up a notch. She would approach the barrel perfectly then plant her feet, not wanting to go over, I would back her up and try the send again then she would go Right Brained and panic, taking off in the opposite direction. So with some guidance from a friend I decided to take a few steps backwards to get her confidence up more.

First we would squeeze between the two barrels laying on their side, then a ground pole was put in, then it was set up like half a cross-rail, then finally a vertical. I got her to jump the vertical a few times both directions and decided to call it quits. I was very proud of her! When I took the halter off for the first time she tucked her nose close to my body to allow the halter to slide off her nose rather than lift her head and try to back out of the halter, AND she didn’t walk off she stuck with me having a huge licking session. She must have stood there, close to me just licking away for all she was worth for 5-10 minutes. Even after I left the field she still stood there and licked and chewed, she was processing a lot. And when I went out later to test our relationship she didn’t run off, she actually turned her head towards me looking for a rub on the head. We are making some real progress now!!

So after the session with Kallie it was time to go inside and warm up!! After I was all toasty it was time to throw on the layers again and head out side for another session – this time with Blue. He quite eagerly walked up to me and practically shoved his nose into the halter, earlier when I had been playing with Kallie he was following us around wanting to play as well.

We did some Friendly Game, some Driving and Porcupine Game, then we went into the feeding stall area which isn’t fully complete and did some sideways game, and he is doing excellent with that especially to the left. We then did a weave between the end posts of the feeding stalls (we have yet to put up the rest of the horizontal boards) and Blue was great, he would get a little sticky at the ends at first, but as we continued he basically started weaving on his own. Next we did some Figure-8’s, he is a little slow, and pokes along, but will go around and through, follow the drawn and then the drive I think getting him to do it at a trot and canter is going to be a challenge.

Next was the Squeeze Game, we were focusing on squeezing over things today, so we squeezed over the barrels laying on their side, that was easy for Blue, he has been doing it for awhile. So we made a vertical rail just like we had done for Kallie, no problem either. Then just for the fun of it I put the two barrels upright and put a vertical across between the two. I figured that he might not have enough “try” to do it but he tucked his knees up and over he went (sure he clipped it with his hooves but he really tried!). So we did this a few times, I had to work on sending him to the obstacle a bit straighter because he couldn’t angle himself correctly over the bar if I sent him awkwardly. I was so proud of my boy; he was jumping 3+ feet with all kinds of try in him!

That is where we ended our online session. I then proceeded to play with him and Lexi (my friends 4-month-old Quarter Horse filly), it was a little game of follow the leader and matching strides/speeds. And shortly I was too cold and too tired to do anything else, so I gave my ponies a hug and that was where we ended our play sessions for the day.

Kallie's Story

It is a sad story, but does have a happy ending.

So allow me to take you back in time to August 2nd, the day that I met Kallie and Dart. It was a warm day, but like the most of the summer it was overcast and threatening to rain any minute. Shortly after supper the trailer arrived with the two newest boarders of Meadow Brook Stables, Kallie a 11-year-old bay tobiano paint mare and her 10-week-old red dun tobiano paint colt who was at the time known as Fly.

The folks that had hauled them down unloaded them, Kallie was wide-eyed and snorting and Dart was giving the gentleman a run for his money as he reared up and fought the pressure on the halter. We let them into the 10-acre field with the rest of the crew and the introductions began. Chance of course had to establish his dominance and would chase Kallie and Dart away from the rest of the herd not letting them near. She would throw a few kicks at him and then trot or canter away, leaving the rest of the herd be.

It was then I found out that neither had had much handling. The mare had basically been turned out most of her life and popping babies out left-right and center. So the only times she had contact with humans were for the “routine” things, such as when the vet or farrier came out, when she was being bred or getting close to foaling, while the rest of the time she was turned out with anywhere from 10-20 other horses, possibly more during her first 6 years of her life while she was in Alberta. The colts interaction with people hadn’t been the best either, he had been pinned, held and haltered, then tied on a trailer for a 5+ hour drive with a partition up between him and his mom, (he couldn’t even see her!) and then he was taken off the trailer wrestled towards the paddock and let loose.

It took me two days to catch the mare and almost three weeks to catch the colt for the first time. Both were extremely flighty and untrusting. It was then that Fly’s name changed to Dart, I thought it was much better fitting as he would quickly dart away when approached. I spent many hours just sitting out in the field, getting them used to my presence, offering Kallie treats and scratches when she would finally stand still and not run off. Slowly but surely they both started to come around, the colt quickly became more approachable then his mother. He would let me scratch his hindquarters, stomach and withers, but was very hesitant about being touched around his neck and especially his head.

A month past by quickly and before I knew it they were leaving. Their owner had bought their new home and had had it all set up for the horses. So we loaded Kallie on the trailer and Dart followed quickly. I went with them to their new home to unload and help get them adjusted. I was sad to see them go because I had grown attached to both of them in the short time they were in my care. At least they were only 10 minutes down the road, and over the next 19 days I went out as often as a could to offer Kallie some treats, to just sit in the field and let them approach me and to scratch Dart’s itchy spots.

It was in the first week of September when I suggested to Dart’s owner that we wean Dart and Lexi at the same time, so that they each had a buddy. She eagerly agreed so we made the plans and got the ball rolling.

I had a hard time sleeping the night before and was quite nervous about how the day was going to go. I kept playing the different “plans” in my head over and over, so needles to say I was awake long before my alarm clock went off at 6am. When it did finally go off I got up and quickly got dressed and grabbed a piece of toast before heading out. I arrived at the owners place and went in to Kallie and Dart’s paddock. Offered Kallie some treats gave her a rub on the neck and just relaxed with them for a bit. Dart came right up to me and allowed me to rub his face and neck, something he had never allowed before.

But as soon as the halter came out Kallie went into flight mode and didn’t want to stand still. She had no interest in being caught. So we played the catching game for a bit and finally with the help of the hauler we got a halter onto Kallie, and offered her her grain as a big reward. Dart was also offered his grain and at this time Anna, was able to slip a rope halter onto him. A big sigh of relief, so far so good. Once Kallie was done eating we loaded her onto the trailer, Dart eagerly followed. I then took Kallie off and we left Dart on. He cried a few times, but didn’t panic. The mare called back a few times and looked over her shoulder worriedly as we put her in her stall until she calmed down a bit.

So off I went, following the trailer back to my place where we turned Lexi and Dart out in the field beside my house together. Lexi was quite upset to be away from her mom and hollered for her mom for hours. Dart would call out now and then, but didn’t seem too distressed. He was quite content to graze on the remaining grass or munch on some hay. But Lexi wasn’t that content; she worked herself up into a sweat in no time.

The first two days with Dart at my home were perfect, and at this time there was talk that I was going to buy him. I worked with him on line Saturday and Sunday and he was just perfect, the un-halter broke and hardly handled foal had become a real pocket pony in the short time I was able to work with him. Then on the third day disaster struck Meadow Brook Stables. When I got home from work he was starting to show signs of mild colic, laying down, rolling some, getting up and walking then repeating the process. So I went out and began walking him, noticed he was dehydrated so brought him over to the water and allowed him to drink, not to quickly, and made sure the water was warm. He drank his fill and seemed to perk up, he would lie down but he no longer had much interest in rolling.

Then around 8:30 he took a turn for the worse, I couldn't get him up anymore he just wanted to lay there and roll, so I called the vet, he got here shortly after 9 and at that time Dart was flat out with a glazed look in his eyes and not looking good at all. I called the owner and finally got a hold of her and the vet basically told her to get over here because we have decision making time in 10-15 minutes. So she rushed over, at this point Anna was also rushing over.

The vet had already given him a dose of Torb and banamine and it didn't seem to kick in until 5 minutes after the call with the owner, he got up and I started walking. And we walked and walked and walked. We then placed the tub again and gave him some mineral oil and a pasty substance I can't recall the name - something to help relieve gas. After that I walked some more and he really perked up, he was very eager and willing to walk around and follow and even threw in a few trot strides, was making no effort to slow down or lay down.

He had seemed to take a full turn for the better. So I walked and walked and walked until about 11, at this point he was getting pretty tired. The vet at this time decided that we could let him stand quietly, and lay down as long as he wasn’t going to try to roll, before he left he was quite happy with how he had responded to the drugs and figured the colic had passed, but was still worried that his heart rate was up and said to keep an eye on it and monitor it. So after the vet left Dart had a drink of the water then proceeded to play in it in, splashing it with his nose and putting his foot in the tub, then he went over and played with the barrels pawing at those and pushing them with his nose.

His heart rate was still up - not as high as it was but still up, but he was getting tired, his lip was drooping so we though it was safe to let him lay down. He didn't really try to roll much, he settled in nicely so we watched him for a bit then decided that I would come out and check on him every hour or so to see how he was doing. Anna and his owner both left at this time.

I went out to check on him throughout the night and he was usually standing over by Blue and Lexi relaxed not in distress, or laying down quietly in the hay. No thrashing or rolling. I get up shortly before 7am to check on him and he is laying in the corner of the paddock, I didn’t go into distress right away because he looked so quiet and peaceful laying there. It wasn’t until I got closer that I was able to notice that he was no longer breathing, not blinking, nothing. He was gone.

When I had talked to the vet later that day and explained to him how my night had went after he had left he figured that the colic was caused by a large worm die off (so please people, follow a proper deworming program for your horses, especially the young ones. Get their feces tested to find out what their worm load is and deworm accordingly. Dart had been dewormed once in the 4 months of his life and had spent the first 2 and a half months turned out with 20+ other horses, so the worm load was probably quite high). And even though the threat of the colic had passed, the heart had still worried the vet, be from my description of how he found him he figures that he had had a heart condition. Possibly a weak heart, or thin lining around the aorta and the stress from the colic and strained his heart too much and he couldn’t recover.

I know that is more about Dart then about Kallie, but it is all leading up to why Kallie came to be mine. Needless to say I was pretty messed up after Dart had passed, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I lost a fair amount of weight – and for someone who can’t really afford to loose much weight I was getting dangerously thin.

And then Dart came to me in one of my dreams, I was walking through a field, surrounded by a thick blanket of fog, and I was looking for something, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Then I heard a familiar whinny, followed by hoof beats and Dart ran up to me. He nuzzled me and told me that he was okay, and that I shouldn't blame myself for what happened because it was his time to go. And even though I didn't think it should have been it was and he thanked me for caring for him and showing him love, and apologized that we had such a short time together and that someday we would be with one another again.

So the days got slightly more bearable to live, I still miss him deeply and still cry plenty when I think about him and am on the verge of tears now writing this. A short time after Dart’s passing his previous owner messaged me and said that she had to make a very hard decision. She had decided to say goodbye to Kallie because her health wasn’t going to allow her to keep and care for Kallie like she deserved. She had had knee troubles for some time and it wasn’t getting any better, she had be to hospital after hospital and specialist after specialist and no one could figure out why she was loosing feeling in her feet or why she found it so hard to walk. So having a horse was no longer going to be an option. And she wanted Kallie to go to me, someone that would understand her and care for her and her ‘little one to be’.

Me being the type of person I am and always telling myself that everything happens for a reason agreed to take Kallie. I think she was sent to me for a reason. I was meant to have Kallie in one way or another, she was meant to be in my life.

Chance's Story

The first time I laid eyes on Chance he was standing in the back of a cattle trailer at the local auction that is held every Thursday. You could just about count every one of his ribs, he was lanky and not at all filed out, not to mention half of his tail and a big chunk of his mane had be chewed off. But there was something about that gelding that caught my eye, he had decent conformation which looked like it would only improve as he built up more muscle and got a healthy bit of weight onto him. And he had ‘the look’ now many of you I am sure have been given ‘the look’ before so you know what I am talking about. So we named him Chance as we thought it was only fitting as we were going to give the ragamuffin horse a real ‘chance’.

My friend and I bought him and began working with him right away. At the time we didn’t use Parelli methods because neither of us really knew anything about them, but both of us believe that horses should want to do what you ask them to do and be willing to do it rather then be forced into it. Chance caught on quickly to everything we asked and was very eager and willing to please. We were riding him in no time at all, he had a good solid walk, trot and canter on him, we were working on turns on the forehand and haunches, he could back-up and do it all ‘with a smile on his face’. We had had him for a few months when we started posting the ‘For Sale’ ads for him, it made my stomach turn thinking of parting with him, but at the time I wasn’t in a position where I could look after two horses, so we sold him.

It was probably one of the worst decisions I have made in my life, although at the time it seemed like Chance was going to a wonderful home where he would be loved and taken care of. The new owners had even booked another month training with a local professional trainer to put fine-tune him a bit. But he never went. The new owners came to my friend and I to show us their new saddle they had bought, we told them that they should return it immediately and buy a saddle that would fit him properly. The saddle they had bought had a very narrow tree and was designed poorly and Chance needed Full QH Bars. But they didn’t listen, they put the small saddle that pinched his withers and back painfully on anyways, and Chance tolerated that, but he couldn’t tolerate the pain any longer when they sat on his back putting even more pressure on him.

Being a natural-born skeptic, coward and panicaholic, Chance did what horses do, he panicked. He started bucked and crow-hopping trying to escape the pain. The owners were angry and they caught him and tried to get on again, he bucked even worse this time. So they ‘free-lunged’ him around the outdoor ring until Chance was hot and sweaty and completely panicked from being chased around and around and around in endless circles by multiple people all with whips of some nature. So they tried again, same result, they ended up in the dirt. So they began to gang up on him, two people held his head while another tried to get on, at this point no one could even get on his back. So their next plan of action was to kick and punch and hit the horse anytime he would flinch when they attempted to get on. This went on for three hours at least. I didn’t find this out until the following week.

I was absolutely livid. Unfortunately I was still not in a position to have another horse so I couldn’t do much about it at the time so I suggested a few good trainers in the area but still Chance never went. He became a handsome pasture ornament, he was well cared for, well fed and well loved, don’t get me wrong but they couldn’t go anywhere near him with a saddle without him panicking and running off, or trying to break the cross-ties.

In January 2007 I heard through the grapevine that they were looking to sell as they had bought a new horse. I instantly offered to buy him back, and so I did for less than a third of what we had sold him for, at least one of the owners had realized the damage that had been done, physically, mentally and emotionally.

When Chance got of the trailer it was like I was looking into the eyes of a strange horse, I no longer knew this Chance. He was frightened, trembling and had a cut on his forehead from when he had panicked in the trailer on the way to me. He couldn’t be lead off the trailer, a lead rope was clipped to his halter and the back ramp was opened. I caught the lead rope as he came off and took him to his paddock. For the next few days he wouldn’t let anyone come near him in the field, the other horses would come right over, but not Chance he would stand back in the farthest corner and snort. He had become scared and untrusting of everything, even his own shadow. It broke my heart to see how damaged such a beautiful and kind hearted animal had become.

Luckily I found Parelli shortly before Chance came into my life, so I started playing the games with him and he started to come around. I could halter him easily, walk him on a loose lead, rub him all over (he had become extremely head shy in his time away from me, and was very hesitant about you standing behind his shoulder). But slowly we began to build up the trust; there was a lot of approach and retreat. Sometimes we would take one step forward only to take two steps back.

In the late summer of 2007 I bought the Parelli Level 1 course online and began to work through it with Chance. I was absolutely amazed at how quickly he caught on to the seven games. I felt as if he had watched the DVDs over 20 times already! Unfortunately due to time and lack of facilities where he was being kept I wasn’t able to move through the games as quickly as I would have liked or as quickly as Chance would have been able to. But recently I bought my first home with my boyfriend and I finally have the horses in my backyard. I have been able to work with Chance almost daily and I can see a huge improvement in him this summer as compared to last already.

Recently I re-introduced the saddle to him, he had had it on the following year and a few times in the winter but he was often tense and unsure, but he isn’t anymore. I will play the seven games with him and make sure he is doing everything and is staying completely left-brained the whole time before I put the saddle on.

When I first started working with Chance he was an EXTREME Right Brain Introvert/Extrovert, here is a link to his Horseanality Chart that I did up in March this year:

March 10th, 2008

Since I’ve begun working with him consistently again he has gone almost to the exact opposite, he has become more of a Left Brain Introvert, here is a link to his Horseanality Chart that I did up just today:

November 1st, 2008

Blue's Story

It was fate that brought Blue and I together, for months before Blue came into my life I had been looking at many potential horses, trying to find the right one, that perfect match. But it seemed like it was a lost cause and that I was never going to find the horse that ‘fit” or ‘felt-right’ so I had decided to give up on my search because all the let downs and disappointments.

A few days later I was approached by the barn owner where a friend of mine was keeping her horse. He told me about a 3-year-old stud colt in the neighboring barn, I was instantly hesitant about going to see him as I didn’t feel that a stud colt would be a good option for my first horse. But the barn owner insisted that I go see him and mentioned that he would be heading to the local cattle auction the following day if a home wasn’t found. My bleeding heart and I decided to go and see him.

We walked over to the other barn, slid open the large sliding doors and walked into the dark, dusty, and dingy barn. It took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust, we were lead to the very back corner of the barn where a dark head peeked out over the stall door. He nickered as we approached and was I got closer it was apparent that it was love at first sight. I took the colt out of his stall, he had very good manners and eagerly walked at my side, lead him past the duty hay bales and out into the sunlight. He pranced around with his tail up in the air and nickered and neighed to all that would listen and respond.

My mind was set, I made a few calls that night and it was decided, Moody Blue was mine.

We had a few bumps in the road in the beginning, being an off-the-track Standardbred he had a few “quirks” that we had to work through but as long as I went slow with him and had lots of patience he was good. It was apparent that he had been abused in one way or another because anytime someone would walk by his stall with a shovel, broom, manure fork etc . . . he would leapt to the back of his stall and shake. So there was lots of work done to help desensitize him and he eventually got over his fears bit by bit.

Our relationship continued to grow and strengthen throughout the years but it wasn’t until we found Parelli that our bond was really solidified. I could finally communicate with him in a way that he fully understood and he was eager for each new session, each new task or challenge that we approached as a team. He became more and more enthusiastic to be with me, he’d be the first at the gate and the last to leave.

In the summer of 2007 I purchased the Parelli Level 1 Kit and our relationship was taken to a whole new level. I was able to communicate to him much more clearly and concisely. We quickly began to play through the tasks and it wasn’t long before I was looking for more information that would help us.

Both Blue and I have come a long, long way from that sunny September morning and I hope that we continue to build our relationship. This January I hope to test for my Level 1 with Blue, once the new system is in place.

My Story

As a child growing up in the city I unfortunately didn’t have many opportunities to be around horses. My first introduction to horses would have been at the Bengal Lancer Stables. To which I would return as often as possible with my mother and grandmother to marvel at the large, beautiful and elegant creatures. At three years old I got the chance to ride my first pony on a cousin’s farm. The quick little walk that I went for on the lead line what the final step on getting me “hooked” on horses.

Upon moving to the country I began horseback riding lessons and rode some pretty spirited ponies, Winston and Zeke. They were great little ponies to learn on and taught me a lot. It wasn’t long before I had my first fall, but I wasn’t about to hesitate and jumped right back on have been going ever since. Before long we were moving again (something we did a lot) and had to take a bit of a break from riding for a bit. But I still found horses, there was a stable across the road where a few Standardbred Broodmares were kept and I would go see them and their foals as often as I could.

Soon I was back in the saddle again, I quickly advanced through the lesson horses at the new stable I was riding at and developed a passion for jumping. It was so exhilarating I loved every moment of it. I continued to ride and lived for it but due to the mare I rode having her foal I had to take another break from riding, but I wasn’t going to let that last long.

During the summers of my teen years I had my first introduction to “western” riding and practically lived at a local barn that offered Trail Rides. I would be out there just about everyday with my friends, we would muck stalls, feed horses, groom and tack them up for their long days work. It wasn’t much longer until I was leading out trail rides and looking after the ponies at fairs and camps. I was in my glory.

In next to no time I was off to University, there wasn’t too much time for horses there but I quickly found other horse-crazy people and soon I was back around horses again. Between riding a friends horse here and there and working at the Truro Raceway every Sunday as a groom my addiction was as strong as ever. It wasn’t long before I became a horse owner.

It was the fall of 2004, I had just started my second year in University and had been thinking about getting a horse for sometime and then the opportunity arose. I heard through the grapevine that there was a horse in the barn next to the one a friend kept her horse in that was going to the auction. This wasn’t an uncommon thing around the track; horses were often going to the cattle auction. But we went down to look at this horse and see what he was like. An old man slide open the large sliding doors and light flooded into the basement portion of the barn. It was dark and musty but we went in, and at the very back of the barn was a lean grey stallion.

It was love at first sight. We took him out and walked him around the yard a bit, he nickered and neighed to anyone who would answer, held his tail up in the air and pranced in a circle. He was gorgeous, absolutely stunning and he was mine. Despite the fact that he was a very good natured stallion he didn’t stay intact for long. I quickly got started on his training, he was so quiet and willing it didn’t take long for him to catch onto new things. We were an inseparable team.

While in University I started up the NSAC Equestrian Club and took up lessons again upon joining the NSAC Equestrian Team. I barely had time to sleep but I loved every moment of life. In the summer before my final year a friend and I bought a horse together. We looked at him from the back of a stock horse trailer at the cattle auction. His ribs were showing, and he was long and gangly but we both saw potential in the doe eyed pinto. We decided to give him a second chance and so he was named Chance.

We worked with him and were riding around in no time; he was a wonderful horse with lots of potential. We put him on the market (as that was our original intent upon buying him) and he sold quickly. I regretted it and wished that I had been able to keep him. But before long he found his way back to me, he was no longer the horse that I had known. He was fearful and had no trust for humans, he had been hurt badly.

In the Fall of 2006 I was introduced to Parelli Natural Horsemanship, once I had my feet wet I was ready to jump right in and embrace the wonderful world of Parelli and start building and developing a life-long relationship with my boys. It wasn't long before I was addicted to the Parelli way and I certainly have no intentions on turning back anytime soon.