Last Saturday the world became a better place for us

Last Saturday I took my saddle to the arena with no thoughts to riding but it was there if everything went ok. I played with Scout first who, bucked, reared and generally decided that if I was going to be a leader I had to step up to the plate. Well i did and hence the rearing came back. Once we got that out of the way, rearing meant he had to get busy, he hates that. Then he calmed and we played patterns, touch it and chilled. Mini-weets are his new treat and he loves them! After an hour I thought, lets play with the saddle on. We did, nothing happened. Then I thought...well I will get on. So I asked for permission and got on. Woo hoo it was great and I did everything with no reins and only my stick! We did patterns, he looked for mini-weets and thanks to Bruce he found them. He really felt like a partner! We did lots of interesting things for him, at his pace and then he offered a canter! Amazing for a horse that likes to conserve energy and if it wasn't for his farting could almost be classified as carbon neutral!! I ended the day on a high with him, he got a little treat, lucerne chaff and minerals and a squirt from the hose.

Star waited patiently at the gate. He was so relaxed it was astounding. So I decided to ask permission and saddle him up. He said ok, stood still as a statue for this. I kicked myself as I had left my shims up at the stables and Star has a back with shape unlike Scout, so he needs some shims. Oh well, I saddled up, saddle sat ok but not perfect. We played a bit and then I got on. Star didn't like the idea of me getting on from the pedestal so I had to get on from the ground. Keeps me limber at least getting onto a 16hh horse! Once on board we did bending which he expected I think, we play this on the ground so he knows what I am asking. Then we set of at the walk! It was huge, his walk compared to Scout's is a huge 4 beat walk. :-) Gorgeous. He sighed as we did figure of 8 then out to follow the rail and then clover leaf. I kept him thinking and walking and with the lightest ask (I just thought it) we trotted. A calm relaxed balanced trot. Had it not been for me bracing it would have been perfect. Why can't I be like I used to be? Fluid with the horse, not a brace in sight? I don't ride Star with the stick yet, he's still needing more confidence with it but he is also a very differnt horse to Scout. He acted like a partner right from the start...where Scout has to be reminded. I think this stems from Scout being hand raised which has made him cocky and self assured as well as very LB!!!

I would have gone out and checked the fences had I had my saddle set up properly but decided to call it a day on a good note. Star was pleased I think. He yawned at least 6 times and for us both it was very emotional. Me because I have helped him come this far and for him I think he's finally realising that being with me isn't bad at all!

I was so happy I cried! Bruce got it in one. He said, "Well you have both been through so much together from the beginning to now you have both changed so much. Look at you both now, 12 months ago you wouldn't have dared to dream you would be here". He is very right. I dared to dream, stayed focused on my goal and it's all coming to gether.

I hope one day to go to a Savvy Spotlight with my two special boys and play with them together. Dreams they grow like seeds when given the attention of your imagination and the care of focus!

Thinking and assessing - what are my dreams?

My dream is to one day ride a dressage test on my partner Star. I will enter the arena with saddle and bridle and then at the halt and salute I will salute the judge, ask Star to bend to me. I will remove the bridle and continue on with the test bridleless. This is my dream, I will stay true to it and one day together we will achieve it. It's my selfish dream but I can see us achieving it.

Quality vs Quantity of Life

What to do. Next door to me is a 16hh TB gelding who is so very thin. He has a lovely LBI nature and apparently he is sick. Well that's what I am told. I am also told that he is very old. I don't believe that for one minute. I have looked at his teeth and put him between 10 and 15. He is so thin, about 2-3 on weight scale. He looks to be worm infested, lacking in minerals and is miserable. I am trying to get in touch with his owner to find out what she is going to do with him. He has two other companions who although neglected are doing ok. I really want to go into this paddock, get him and bring him home to our place. That I can't do as I could be charged with theft!

Why do people have horses who aren't prepared to care for them? It makes me so angry!

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I have since spoken to his owner. She tells me the horse is her sisters. He is elderly and has a disease which affects his ability to metabolise food. It's some sort of wasting disease. She doesn't see him much and wasn't really concerned when I told her that on the very hot days this horse was obviously suffering. I talked to her about quality vs quantity of life. Some people just don't get it. I feel for this horse.

Honesty

I have to say this.  

I have to be honest with myself.  I have to be honest with my horses and most of all I have to be honest in my actions. 

There is no point riding when my heart is not in it.  There is no point in making myself do something that should be joyful or it will turn into a chore.

I have 2 horses that 12 months ago where dangerous, unrideable and bound for bad places.  I took them on to heal me as much as to heal them.  I took them on because I knew that these horses that others told me were only fit for the doggers would cause me to look for another way.  They have and I have found it.

I also along the way have learnt to have confidence in myself, my own depth of knowledge and really LISTEN to people.  There are comments like, you are so sensible, you know a lot about dressage, how do you make your horse do that?  You are a true horse lover.  All these comments I am now HEARING because I am listening again to others. Not my own inner voice of self doubt that quickly undermines my self esteem, my confidence and my outlook.

I am facing up to my demons now because I have confidence, stability and faith in myself and my demons are shrinking!

I look forward to the day when I ride Star and feel safe and he feels like he has a leader.  I look forward to the day when Scout is at a stage where Bruce, a total beginner, can ride him and I know he will be as safe as houses for him to learn.  I look forward to the day when we can load the horses in the float and go to the forest...ride along the beach and enjoy our partnership.

I have grown wary as I have grown older and as I approach my 40th birthday I am stripping away all the things that hold me back.

My 30's were conservative, my 40's are going to be one hell of a ride!

Still hot!

Not much has happened with the horses.  The garden on the other hand now has 300 metres of drip irrigation tubing installed.  With only one minor error corrected it all works fine!  I ache all over and have spent about 12 hours in the evenings and during the day yesterday getting it all in but now I feel better that at least my plants and subsequent plantings are going to be watered and watered wisely.  We bought 9,000 litres of water that was delivered yesterday and so our house water tank looks a bit healthier!  With no end in sight to the heat at this stage I think its going to be a quiet week  :-)

So hot...45 degrees in the shade!

Well if little Pokey here had been outside today he would have been a melted mess! It got to 45 degrees at home in the shade!! I have written to a friend of mine in Canada and asked for him to send some snow!

I spent time with the horses this evening..it was still over 35 degrees at 2030. The only thing to do was congregate at the water trough...play friendly game with water. Scout wasn't interested but Star let me saturate him with water, he then walked off to his rolling hole and covered himself in dirt. A grey turned brown in front of me. Perfect sunscreen. Querida seeing Star rolling decided she would go for the environmental dry grass roll and ended up looking much like Worzel Gummage! Covered in straw she still looks resplendant!

The garden has somewhat survived..some plants are looking sad but they will get a reprieve overnight and a drink in the morning. I have had to order some more water so we don't run out over the next couple of months. We will be set next summer when our big 20,000 gallon tank is full. For now we have to be careful. I wonder how hard it will be to plumb the toilets into bore water? We shall see.

While the weather is hot it's the perfect time to get all our accounts done and the paperwork for the business..not that I like doing it but at least I am not feeling like I am doing nothing!

Water trough or paddling pool?

Tonight on my regular check of the horses I caught sight of something amusing. Two geldings playing splashing games in a 200 litre water trough. They were both soaked from head to chest! When they saw me they stopped playing and came over, the aroma of wet horse was very pungent! Tonight I gave out scratches and managed to find an itchy spot on Scout at the base of his withers. He rarely lets me scratch him but tonight he obviously felt he had to let me get this spot. Star as usual allowed me to move my hands over him and guided me to his spots, as usual head, withers and rump. Querida just had an itchy head, but playfully asked me if I had any itchy spots I needed itching. We played porcupine game...she leans into pressure..funny girl. Looking out into the distance this evening she easily measures over 15hh so she is going to be big! A wonderful evening, no glaring sun, plenty of appreciative horses and not a care in the world. If only I didn't have to go to work tomorrow life would be almost perfect!

From Danny to Scout in less than 12 months I have an amazing partner

Scout who used to be called Danny. I first saw him at a PNH Clinic where he was terrorising his 13 year old human. I saw him and thought...what a challenge. Strangely I also thought that he needed help. He needed safety, leadership and love. The more I have found out about him the more I know this is true. This is us last summer....many things have changed and we are becoming partners...equals and mates!

Star Assault - from prey animal to partner

This is the photo that accompanied the advert that drew me to him. His racing name was Star Assault and by all accounts he did assualt several unsupecting stable hands! He knows he's big, he loves to play and he was an "in your face" type of horse. This shot was very interesting as it told me a lot with no words at all.

Star Assault - Now changing to Super Star!

His racing name was Star Assault, he was bred from a very proud sire, Starraq and his father was At Talaq. Both his father and grandfather were described as temperamental hot headed horses..I wonder if they really were.

This is the photo I bought him from. His attitude was what drew me to him. He was confident, good looking and athletic. He loves to play and that was very daunting at first. Now I know how to channel that play drive and he literally stops traffic when we play at liberty. He excels at the difficult, finds the everyday stuff mundane. He's a LBE with a very good sense of humour.

Weather heating up.....horses are chilling out

Well the weather is set to bake the land for the next week. 4 days over 40 degrees is seeing us become nocturnal and the horses seek shade!
Last night I puddled around with the horses, they like being with me now. So wonderful.
Star is becoming very calm and quiet, almost ridable! This time last year he was running into trees in a right brain kinda way. He couldn't cope and would run and run until he got puffed out, or distracted! Now I know what to do when this horse turns up and he spends less time on adrenaline!
Scout is turning more and more LBI and it's taking all my savvy to get him interested in things. He looks at me asking what's in it for me more often than not now :-) I watch certain DVD's over and over again looking for extra help in tempting him to play and enjoy it.
Querida is learning avidly. Something tells me that she is going to be very special indeed.

My year will be filled with many challenges I am sure. Mostly me overcoming my long held fears. I want to ride but my horses can be challenging and so I don't. I really want to work on my position, relaxation and fluidity. I know it will change, I am taking the time it takes and while doing this I am becoming more and more confident with my horses.
Sooner or later I am sure we will all feel the same. Confident, safe and in tune.
Until next time.

Our Horses are our mirror

Well I had a BFO today.  I watched a little bit of Parelli Tellie while I ate my lunch.  This stuck in my head.  "Our horses are our mirror, as we become happier so do they.  They feel our mood and refelct where we are at."  Well I think that this is bang on the money.

My horses have become happier and I have become happier as I feel more fulfilled in my life.  No longer do I feel trapped by work and pressure that I can't control.  I am learning how to deal with stress, live in the moment and I am finally giving myself permission.  For so long I have had trouble doing this.  I can see that decisions I made regarding work, although difficult, were the best decisions I ever made.  I can see that my future is mine to shape and mould and so armed with this knowledge I am changing the way I live, look at life and react to what's happening to me.

Last night I spent 15 minutes of undemanding time with my horses.  Querida got scratches fixing all her itches to the point where my fingers were aching!  She is still sore and is symptomatic at the moment but she seems happy enough. I have to get some weight off her but even in a paddock with not much feed and her not getting anything additional other than the odd carrot she is still rotund!  She is also changing and starting her journey towards being rose grey :-(  I love her as a black bay.

Star and Scout each got itches scratched and ear massages.  I feel a very calm wave come over me when I am with Star.  He is the one I am most in tune with.  I think he is in tune with me, he sulks if I play with Scout and not him.  When I spend time only with him he gives this feeling of being very satisfied, happy and at peace.  This horse has come such a long way it's amazing that it's all happened in only 16 months or so.  I am so proud of him.

Scout is forever trying to test my leadership every morning and every night.  I still have a way to go in our partnership but so does he.  He needs to act like a partner more and I am slowly seeing this happening.  Last Sunday he stood on a stump for me after trying listlessly for 20 minutes to see if I would give up.  When he did eventually get on the stump I praised him and left him be watching him and marvelling at what he is capable of when he "wants" to try.  Someone said to me "there is nothing better than having a big solid horse to ride when you are out" I know one day that will be the case and it won't be too long away.  I want him to be that big solid horse who is safe and dependable that Bruce can ride and I will know he will be ok.

My garden is going well.  We are pumping from the bore and our water worries are somewhat gone now.  Bruce has set up a fire system run off the fire pump so we can wet the house paddock should we get a grass fire.  I can water the lawn and get it growing to reduce the dust!  Our new tank is a 1/4 full which is great and there is rain forecast for the weekend!

Oh well, back to work but I have a busy few weeks ahead and playing with the horses keeps it all in perspective.

Until next time.

2009 A New Year and more surprises

Wow, time has flown, I have not had time to write my blog but my horses are all loving life!

November 2008, we lost our herd matriach Jazz to colic.  She waited for me and told me in no uncertain terms that she was unwell as soon as she saw me.  I had come back from Equitana in Melbourne eager to get out and see them.  She was waiting under her tree, she didn't come up to me like she usually did, my intuition told me all was not well here.  She tried to come up, then turned and looked at her belly and then dropped on the ground groaning.  I ran to her, checked her and then ran inside and frantically put calls into the vet and a lovely friend of mine.  The vet for medical help for Jazz and my friend for moral support for me.  2 hours later Jazz was taken by the angels and died in my arms.  There was nothing I could do to save her.  I felt so helpless.  We buried her in her favourite resting spot with that area being fenced off forever now.  We are going to plant some maples so every autumn I will see their chestnut leaves and remember her.  Its been nearly 3 months and I still get emotional when I think about her.

The boys are becoming partners!  People who told me to get rid of them, send them to the Pal Factory are now wanting to know what I have done to change them.  My neighbours are stopping to quietly watch me as I play at liberty with Star, who offers to show me how much he values me by playing off-line like he was on-line.  There is no bigger compliment than this as far as I am concerned!

Scout and I attended a camp in Victoria with Chris Corbidge, a Parelli Natural Horsemanship instructor, and we made the biggest in-roads into building our relationship to date.  We now have an understanding and he's letting me be the leader and having faith that I am a worthy one!

We have had a new arrival in between all this.  Querida, a 2 yo Pura Raza Espanola.  She is my project, my blank canvas and my little special girl!  Well not so little as she's 15hh at 2 and won't really mature till 4 or 5 so i think she's going to get to 15.3hh possibly?  Who knows.

I am avidly learning as much as I can, reading, watching and surfing and I am collecting more savvy arrows as I go.

I hope to come back more often to fill in what's going on.  Things are changing so rapidly it would be a shame not to have something to look back on and relish our achievements!

So 2009 holds for us.  More of the same, a wonderful journey with three very special horses and carrying the memory of Jazz always very close.

Time flies!

Wow it's nearly a month since I wrote about what's been happening in our little patch of paradise!  Where to start.  Hmm.  Had many "How interesting" moments since I last wrote.  Since then Scout has gone on a diet!  Spring grass is growing and so was his middle so he's locked in at night and in a paddock with minimal grazing.  He's allowed out to free graze on the odd day and his exercise regime has ramped up to more x training which is managing his weight gain at least!  He has taken to rubbing on anything he can, gates, fences, people!  He's itchy...they are all moulting their winter coat and so they are itchy too!   He managed to rub over the night yard fences......no-one was hurt in the process and Bruce and I got a chance to hone our fence building skills!  We did a pretty good job I reckon!  

The weather the last week has been foul bordering on terrible!  Cyclonic winds, driving rain, hail and no sun.....horses were all trying hard to remain calm in the storm force winds but even I had trouble not getting scared at times!

Star has taken to nipping me, so I emailed my PP and she suggested I play yo-yo and driving before I halter him.  This is working somewhat.  I have found however that in the paddock when I play these games he's actually offering a lot of liberty stuff.  We can do, circling game, stick to me, change of direction and yo-yo.  All very interesting and I do get the feeling that he's saying to me "Oh come along dear it's not that hard just learn faster and I will give you more and more!"  So I am, fell asleep on the couch last night watching the patterns CD on liberty so I hope that some of it went into my head subliminally!!  

I have played a lot with Scout too, we have mastered figure 8, weaving and sideways at the trot. He's trying so hard.  He does have a good and not so good side and sideways shows me this.  He can do sideways at the trot to the right no worries but then sideways to the left is a bit of a struggle  :-)  I know that feeling!  I am working with him to take him to a camp at Chris Corbidges place in December and I am looking forward to this.  5 days of immersion in Parelli!  I need this and the break for sure!

I have also taken time as the weather is improving to start my new garden.  I am propogating seeds, cuttings and anything else that I think might grow!  My lovely neighbour gave me a heap of iris so I have planted them and lots of other bits and pieces.  I have increased my rose collection by 7 plants and the ones I moved are starting to shoot so I didn't kill them!  Hopefully now that we have the bore I can keep at least a small part of the house garden alive as well as maintain water to the horses over summer!

Am debating on whether to cut for hay and if so which paddock I will close off....hmmm... will have to have a think about this one.  We have completed a course on pasture management and I am waiting to do a soil sample to see if we need to improve the soil before I improve the pasture.  Re-seeding some of the paddocks will be next years project!  :-)

It's never ending but one thing I am noticing is that the weeks are flying by, the days are getting longer and winter may well have had it's last hurrah!  Also reading more which is relaxing..reading a book called Chosen by a Horse and I can't put it down, is a lovely story and worth a read for sure.

Until next time.

Weekend ramblings

Well the weekends seem to go too fast! My new Knowledge pack arrived, I looked at how much I have spent in my journey and I swallowed hard. I have invested a lot in my journey and I don't regret one cent of it at all. I have watched 3 of the DVD's so far and although there is a lot I already know "cool" there is a lot that I am learning.

I played with Star on line on Sunday and found him to be very playful to say the least. We played around a tree that had fallen down. He got all fizzed up and only thought about jumping, he did one pass over the main branches of the tree that would be 5 foot and cleared it with ease!! After a while we managed to get to sniffing the log, walking over the log, squeezing between me and the log and then we moved on to another more challenging set up. I have managed to construct a log jump and another one some way past. So we played here,all the while Scout was watching and stuffing his face :-) We managed to do the double on line without too much trouble...it was the rearing at the end that was interesting! How playful is this horse and how I am glad I am not riding him yet! He looks to play every time now which is great, now all I need to work on is constructive play!

I took Scout out for a walk along the road as the arena was too wet and the paddock too slippery for him. Interesting. I encountered about 12 years of behaviour that he has honed to perfection! He got RBE then LBE then he went dominant, reared, would not disengage his hind quarters and all while doing this sort of stuff I played games to win. He took 20 minutes and then the realisation dawned on him that when he reared, carried on and tried to be the boss he had to do some very strenuous work, when he didn't do that and was a partner he got to eat grass. It took him 5 outbursts and 2 hours to get it! During this time, he reared, pawed, shook himself all over, rubbed his jowls and threw himself on the ground!!! How interesting. I hada vision of a 3 year old at the supermarket checkout chucking a tantrum cause he couldn't get what he wanted!! The rolling was amazing, he just walked along and then quick as a flash he was down. Not like when he sat down with me riding him, more like as if to say "Well I wonder if this will work!" Nope. I directed a lot of his energy into go touch this and put your foot on that and now yo yo up that bank and now turn face and wait. By the end I was exhausted, lucky to have both of my arms....and he was a mess. Bruce came to check on us twice as he could see that it was going to be a big session! God he's a treasure!

It all ended positively with us both sauntering along. Me at zone 3 and him chilled and confident without a sign of his previous behaviour. He has so much baggage, so many issues and so many savvy arrows but now I have more! When I jogged he trotted when I stopped and walked so did he. I think he made a huge leap in his trust of me on this day. I kept repeating to him out loud that I would never let him down, would never do anything to hurt him and would only try and help him see that humans are worthy leaders and that I love and respect him.

The next morning I had a horse who looked at me with softer eyes. He has since seemed different. Tonight when I go home to play with them I will start to teach him some patterns that I hope will help him become more confident. I have a street kid who is starting to see that this home is his last and it's a good one!

August 08 - Rain rain rain

As the rain tumbles from the sky more and more I marvel at how well my arena is draining...well it needs some work but it's coping well! Update on the two tearaways! Star: Has mastered transitions on line, upwards and downwards. He has even mastered transitions with distractions like small ponies trotting past while he is supposed to be doing circling game! Catherine and her boys came over to play last weekend and it really stretched Star's mind! It was good to see him wish he could go beserk but then re-focus on me. He is still aversive to friendly game around his back legs. He is also starting to arc up about having his feet picked out. We get there cause I out persist him and quietly remind him that I want his foot. He is not doing this cause he is scared, he's doing it because it's another game of who will give up first. So Friday night it was 45 minutes to get his feet picked out. That's ok, I had all night! Yo yo is very light now...only have to wiggle my finger and we are going backwards, even when I ask him to start he knows he has to back through gates and so now he starts to take over...so now we yo yo but then we stop half way...ha ha that's got him thinking! Scout: Has an expanding girthline! Fat is the word! I have stopped rugging him cause he is so rotund and I need him to burn some calories keeping warm. He is off the paddocks at night, goes in the arena for a few hours in the day. I am even going to the local weigh bridge with him to see how tubby he is! He is building muscle but there is a higher percentage of fat there. Anyway he is going well, we do serpentine now with me on the stand and him running around. It's made a huge difference in his demeanour, me not moving my feet. He even whinnies to me when he sees me! Cool. He brings Star up if they are out together! Ah hah! I am so looking forward to taking him to Chris's place in December. I have so much to practice before then though. My transitions with him are good, he's lazy and gets bored so quickly I have to make things more complex for him so he gets more enthused. I am going to start hill work with him at a racing incline track about 15kms away to start getting him fit. Or else his stable name will have to become Norm. I am playing with him about 3 times a week for an hour or so but he can eat more than I can get him to burn!! I played with him for about 3 hours on Sunday last and it was wonderful. I did figure of 8's with him at trot and canter with the trot transition in the centre of the 8, in readiness for one day getting him to change, won't be too far away as he is starting to offer things now. He has a very full Parelli Equine Savvy chest all I have to do is slowly and carefully unpack it I think!

July 08 - First ride in my new saddle

Well quick update. I am supposed to be working but wish I was playing so I come here instead! I finally got a chance to ride in my saddle on the weekend. Saturday was a lovely sunny albeit crisp day so after I got the hundred and one jobs out of the way I collected up my saddle and trundled off to the arena. Got a new play pen organised for Scout and then went off to get caught. It takes less than 2 minutes now which is lovely. I then get a long face from Star when it's not him I choose to play with. Scout seemed happy enough! We yo-yoed into the arena between 2 poles and over one at the end. He did this with consumate ease! Ah hah...have to make it more spicy. So we did circling... at the canter.....he was showing off! We did change of gait....still showing off. Almost like he's saying....yeah what else cause I got that one. Then we did sideways at the trot....this got him thinking.....good. Then we did porcupine...now this is nort his favourite game....he does everything to not move but I have more moves than him and so he's beginning to lose. I make a huge effort to not move my feet. He gets very stroppy when this happens.....not aggressive but as though he's saying "Oh that's not fair you have worked out my secret game." Then we went over to the mounting block, I introduced him to my new saddle, theraflex pad and all the other bits and pieces. All he wanted to do was hold the green shopping bag I had my helmet in, in this mouth. So he did. We saddled up, now issues. We played in between cinching, no issues. I stood up on my elephant stand which is a bit too high for them to get on...and asked him to come over so I could get on. Being lazy. He did. We strode off at the walk and I practiced my pushing passenger lesson as well as indirect and direct reins. We practised this for about 5 minutes and we were then moving on to follow the rail. Then it happened. He pulled out his gold plated savvy arrow! He stopped as if to scratch his jowl on his leg and then gently plopped onto the ground! I let out a cry much like Bridget Jones when she slides down the firemans pole, kicked my feet out of the stirrups and then when he had landed I calmly stepped off. I DID THIS ALL ON AUTOPILOT!! I didn't get scared or bothered I just did this without thinking. Then I thought about my saddle and that I WAS NOT WILLING TO LET HIM ROLL ON IT!!! Sorry Linda I am TOO precious about my saddle. I asked him to get up, he did and then looked at me. I looked at him, he smiled at me, I smiled at him and thought, OK mister lets play some more and then I am going to get back on you. We did some squeezes over a jump, he threw a loop of rope back at me, have you ever had them do that. THEY are so SAVVY with ropes that they can do this!! Well he can!! I know when he's going to do it now and just throw one back at him! He knows I will do it too and so it becomes a very interesting experience. After about 10 minutes he asked if he could stop. I said sure, he came in and politely asked for a scratch. He got one. We then did sideways to the stand and I got on. This time I asked for "interesting" stuff. I asked for rein back, I asked for sideways and he actually seemed interested. Then Bruce dared me to ride a lap around the arena outside the fencce. Something in me..maybe fear....maybe savvy...who knows said nope I am happy here ending on a positive note for us both. After that episode I have mulled this over a million and one times cause that's what I do. I have emailed Christine and asked her advice and look forward to hearing what she think. I did get dejected and think that this horse is too much for me, why do I never pick the easy ones.....Bruce tells me cause he knows I wouldn't have it any other way. He's right too. I did start to feel un-savvy about this but then quickly thought that we must either be on the cusp of breakthrough or I am going to learn what to do when this happens again. Cause believe me it will, he's only got bucking and rearing to go in his arsenal, both of these he does on line and both I am waiting for when I ride. Luckily he's too fat to be as athletic as Star! Phew! Star on the other hand is coming along really well. He's happy for me to be his leader now. He is starting to be so comfortable around me. He's showing me all his itchy spots when we are in the paddock together.....he's even grooming me which I take as a huge compliment. He's showing me just how athletic he is. The other night he did one time changes to his feed bin! I looked at him and said now I only need to communicate that I would like to ride those and for you to say ok cause you know how to do them already! All is good, my savvy is being stretched...but one thing is for sure. I AM SO DAMN GLAD I BOUGHT THE FLUIDITY SADDLE, IT"S FANTASTIC!

July 08 - My new sadle arrives

YIPPEE my new Fluidity Superwide has arrived!! I ordered it 7 days ago expecting it to take 2 months. Well I had budgeted for it to take 2 months and then I get an email saying it's ready to go! A small holdup in Quarantine made it too late for the weekend...but this Monday it arrived!! It's as good as I expected. I actually put my old saddle up next to it to compare the width and the gullet size. Well they don't compare! My old saddle looks like a pony pad in comparison! I am not complaining that I haven't been able to get it on one of them cause it's been teaming with rain but this weekend...or possibly Friday I am going to see how it fits. have watched the DVD on fitting 3 times now!! I hope that now my riding will improve exponentially! Oh yes. As we are on tank water only we decided to take a punt and drill a bore. We are in a really risky area for bore water. But we got water at 40 metres and then a better supply at 70 meters. Our poor neighbours drilled to 150m and got nothing which is not a cheap exercise at $88 per metre!!! Everything seems to be going well for us at the moment. I couldn't be happier. After looking quite poor at the beginning of winter my lovely girl Jazz is coming good. Makes a difference with her teeth done...she hoes into her food every night now!

June 08 - The dentist comes...

Bit of an update from me! As I sit here typing, looking at my red string, too scared to get it dirty!! I have one question for you all. When did you get a real equine dentist to look at your horses teeth? Me well I have been looking for someone who "understands" teeth for nearly a year! Well after some disgruntled visits from my local vets 6 months apart I knew that what they were doing just wasn't working. More intuition than anything. I finally got onto a chap who is a qualified Equine Dentist and made a time for him to come out and look at my 3 partners! The result. Well poor Jazz, she had a loose tooth that was cracked in half, she was dropping food when eating and rubbing her jaw and I knew she was in pain. Well she was poor girl. She was so brave, the tooth was removed and after she recovered from the sedation she looked a bit brighter. I really felt for her though, having a tooth pulled with no pain killers. She has perked up no end, she's not rubbing her jaw while she eats, she's not dropping as much food and she seems to be happier. Star had terrible teeth, even though he was "floated' only 4 weeks ago. He had a sharp ridge on his very back molars, he had ramps and goodness knows what going on. High and low points, sharp teeth digging into his jaw. His bite was out.....due to poor chewing action from having sharp teeth. The end result was he had excess pressure on his TMJ and this would have been like having a headache all the time. He was so brave for the procedure which took over an hour! After having major work done he spent about 20 minutes yawning and licking and chewing. I think maybe some of his rearing might be because he was suffering ongoing discomfort! Lucky I wasn't riding with a bit in his mouth...poor boy. Scout, well he's as solid as they come. No surprises in his mouth, it was not too bad really. He did however have 2 really sharp teeth...sharp enough to cut your finger I can tell you! I could see where they had been irritating the side of his cheek! Such a good boy to put up with all that. He was the dentist's favourite, he asked me if I would consider selling him. I thought about it, looking at him all the while, then said, "nope sorry he will never be for sale. He has found his final home here, I can't think of selling him. He might be big, boisterous and beligerant but he's a great partner and he has taught me so much in such a short time." He's like a street kid really, he is almost expecting that he will get moved on from home to home. When he realises he has a home for life I think he will be happy. He's getting there I think. He lets me put a rug on him, fuss over him and be a leader for him. It's nice that he is "letting" me get close to him So if you can, get their teeth assessed by someone who "knows" how a horses mouth works!! Oh yes, very very excited. I have bitten the bullet and ordered my Fluidity English saddle..... Now all I have to do is sell my normal dressage saddle to cover some of the cost! I have waited and waited and thought and thought and then I just thought. What am I waiting for? Well I know I will have a tax bill to pay...but I will manage somehow to pay for it!!! LOL I am just hanging to get into a saddle and ride and continue my Level 1 and begin leve 2 riding..... I have also registered for the SuperCamp in Victoria with Chris Corbidge. I haven't told my hubbie how much all this is costing!! I am hoping to take both boys over there. Jazz will have Querida to keep her company while I am away! Star is beginning to actually like having me around, especially at dinner time. They only get a little hard feed as they are doing well off the paddocks but Scout actually hoovers his food, never seen a horse eat like he does. He makes all sorts of sounds as he eats and it's gone in no time. I have to defend Star so he doesn't miss out. He's learing to be less of a contemplative eater though! Scout gets the message that if he tries to get Stars food then the Alpha horse comes in and sorts it out. Very interesting now, Star stands behind me and waits for me to drive Scout away. He's less bothered about the savvy string now as well. Scout then busies himself with eating grass and then waits patiently to see if there is anything left! How interesting! Star is getting better with the farrier, played with him before the farrier came the other day. He was full of Mexican bucking and rearing beans....and I mean full! It was hillarious to watch him, I couldn't help but smile as he tossed his head, galloped with his head down with much purpose, reared on our change of directions and then OH you want me to stop and look at the poles on the ground. He did a slide stop and put his nose on 4 poles i had put together so they were quite wide. He stopped and looked at me, two ears and a workman-like look! He cracks me up sometimes, where as once I would have gotten bothered by this now I look at the athletisism before me and think, wow how is that going to be when he's really rideable! It's not too far away either! Cool!!! Querida is growing into her skin. She still looks like a baby, still has plenty of growing to do and in the spring she's going to come home to be part of our herd. Will be interesting seeing as she hasn't been split from her mum....hhmmmm. She will have plenty of friends to keep her company and I will put her in a paddock where she will be able to see her mum and then slowly move her further away.

Level 1 Pass - May 08

Ok so did the Clinic with Chris...I passed Level 1 woo hoo! Rode in the English Fluidity as I mentioned and loved it. Scout was great, well behaved, very left brain and very competant. He was mischevious and quirky as usual. Since the clinic Scout has had a break, only played one night during the week, the other times he has watched as Star and I play. Well Star is very playful at the moment. Lots of rearing. Not savvy enough to know what that's all about! This afternoon we played, sun was setting and although he started out LB Star quickly went RB! We had the tail up, huge snort...arcing back to his Arabian ancestors. Truly spectacular but not very in control! At one point he took off, I tried to wrap the rope round a tree to stop him, I managed to but in the commotion I dropped my carrot stick! Then we spent 40 minutes looking for it in the grass. Who could have thought that something bright orange could be so well camoflaged in the grass! Tee hee! Anyway after that we went down to the tree and played squeezing over a jump. All went well but interestingly he went RBI for a while. Not used to seeing that. He really did astral travel somewhere. Bruce was with me and asked what was going on. It was sad to see him do this after being so flamboyant only minutes before. He's got a lot to work out in that beautiful head! So we did something else, something he likes. we played change of direction, sqeezed over the jump one more time and then called it a day. It was wonderful to see Star so energetic but the RBI side of him is new. Do I have to read/learn more or what! Have booked in for the camp in December at Wongaburra, so have to be cool as a cucumber to float all that way!