Sunday Funday: Sledding With Horses!

Today I got the chance to scratch something off my horsey bucket list. The weather has been absolutely horrible thanks to the polar vortex of doom here in the US. However, today we decided to take advantage of the snow and play with something new. Yesterday, one of the girls at our barn decided it would be fun to hook her ponies up to a harness and have them pull a sled. After hearing about it and seeing the videos, of course I wanted to try it with my two horses!

With this plan in mind, I started my session with Rydel with a lot of friendly game. My ultimate goal was to get her to be able to drag something behind her confidently. I have to say, when I pulled the tarp out (after conveniently stashing it away all winter), Rydel's snorts and skepticism quickly had me thinking this was not going to be as easy as I had initially anticipated. After playing various versions of the friendly game in every zone for about a half hour, Rydel was still not very confident having the tarp or bag dragged behind her. Sensing the need to retreat, I decided to take a break and focus my attention elsewhere. After a short but sweet time at liberty, I decided to hop on Rydel bareback and watch as my fellow barn-mates took turns having their horses pull the sled. After some more friendly game following them around on horseback and of course, after I took a turn riding in the sled myself, I decided to bite the bullet and put the harness on Rydel. I wanted to see how she would react, and I was basically prepared for the worst.

At first, Evan stayed behind and put a little pressure on the rope while I lead Rydel around. Once we got the hang of that, I had Evan get in the sled and led Rydel again. I was AMAZED at how well she did. She really seemed to understand the purpose and even leaned into the harness to give herself more leverage. Before I knew it, we were trotting around and having a great time! We played with this with both Rydel and Lilah and they both did great! Even though we were having a lot of fun, we kept our playtime short, sweet, and successful, knowing that we would definitely be practicing with the sled again.

At the end of our playtime with the sled, Rydel let out a big yawn and had a big emotional release. I could not be more proud of the confidence she demonstrated today, and I am even more humbled that she so willingly accepted my leadership and attempted something scary that she had never done before. What a great way to end the weekend!

What is on your horsey bucket list?

"The Success of Your Horse" on the Parelli Central Blog

I have recently had a blog post featured on the Parelli Central Blog...Enjoy!

Click here to go to the blog!

Send Me On My Way

Evan recently got the new iPhone 5S, so of course we had to test it out on the horses. Here is a little video I put together using the new phone. Enjoy!

EDIT: Video was removed, please use link below

(Or view on youtube using this link).

So It's Been A While...

I'm sure you have all probably forgotten what it looks like to have my blog pop up in your reading lists and dashboards, but alas, I am alive and humbly seeking forgiveness from disappearing for so long. I have no real excuse other than the fact that blogging has not been a priority lately. Well, today I'm hoping that will change, as I have lot's of exciting things to share with you.

Rewind back to the winter, it was cold but not miserable and Rydel and I were doing a lot of riding. I have never been a particularly confident rider, but the trust and confidence Rydel has gained in the last year has inspired the growth of confidence within myself, and with each day of playing with and riding Rydel, I felt more and more willing to try bigger and bolder things.

When I got Rydel eight years ago, she was totally green and terrified of being ridden. The day I went to trial her before the purchase, the owner lunged her for about 15 minutes, tied her up and forced the saddle on her. She could not be mounted without someone forcing her to stand still, and she was so agitated with the whole situation that she threw her head so violently that she flipped the reins over her head and literally flipped the bit completely over inside her mouth. Even after witnessing all that, I still did not comprehend what a challenge this horse would be for me. She has been my greatest challenge, a wonderful success, and most importantly, my best teacher.

This is a video of me riding Rydel back in February of this year (Link Below). The purpose of this video is not to show off any great skill or ability as a rider; there are many people who ride more gracefully properly than I do. Instead, I am proud of this video because of the confidence and trust we have both gained as partners. Never in a million years would I have expected to accomplish the things I am now accomplishing with my horse. This sweet little Arab has taught me to dream a little bigger every day! :)

(Here's the video link. I couldn't get it to upload directly!)

Weekend Of Savvy

This past weekend Evan and I went down to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to volunteer again for the Parelli  Horse and Soul Tour and we had an absolute blast! From the moment we got there we were greeted with open arms from our friends on the Parelli Road Staff. It was so cool to be part of the "inner circle" and I believe wonderfully amazing things are in store (Can't wait to divulge more about it!!) In the meantime, here are some pictures from the weekend.

The first night we all went out to dinner and had a hilarious time trying to hook Liz up with the server! 

Juli Piovesan, Parelli Professional extraordinaire! <3

Carrie (who sold us Evan's horse) showed up with her family!

The girls: Athena, Jill, and me!

Evan sporting the new Parelli Outerwear and showing his support for Breast Cancer Awareness!

Pat demonstrating it's not about the trailer!

We love volunteering!

Blue skies on our ride home. :)

Sideways all kinds of ways!

Today I came to the barn with the intention of riding but ended up just practicing our sideways game every way imaginable. It all started because Evan felt Lilah was feeling spunky and would do better if given the opportunity to run around a bit in the outdoor arena (someone was riding in the indoor). So, I took Rydel out with them and just let her run a bit too. Rydel ran like a maniac at first, but eventually all she cared about was eating. My Catching game was failing, she would turn and face me but not come toward me, and eventually just quit looking at me in order to continue eating. I decided I would need to try something else to get her brain working. Since she was eating with her head toward the fence, I walked up and began asking her to move sideways along the fence at liberty. She took a few steps and then went back to eating. Next, I kept walking as I asked her to move sideways along the fence, I would only let her eat once my energy was back down indicating that we could both stop and rest together. When I switched sides to go back the other way, Rydel started trotting away from me and the fence. Taking this opportunity from her, I put more pressure with my stick on her hindquarters asking her to once again be perpendicular from me. She obliged at which point I immediately asked for her to go sideways, this time without the help of the fence and again at liberty. Well she must have caught on because she did go sideways and she did it at the TROT! I was amazed. No rope, no fence, and at a higher gait than I expected. I gave her some scratches as a reward and let her mosey off to eat more grass. She's such a clever girl, always exceeding expectations. After that I didn't pursue too much, we did a little with sideways toward me as well as backing from the tail. I also discovered that she hates when I rest my hands on her face/nose...How interesting! Something, I will have to work on in the future. For now, I am content with the progress we've been making. Tomorrow Linda Parelli comes to town for Equine Affaire!! Hooray!

February Fun!

Now Emily can have all her favorite things at the barn. :)

Little ball for little horse. 

Action shot!

After a fun day in the mud! 

Run!

Skeptical faces. 

My love <3