Because of all the flack I got with the previous web page and not having anything on it about the horses, I am dedicating this page to those equine partners in my life.  Mark doesn't care much for the horses - he feeds when necessary and can move them around if needed, but he would rather not if given the choice.  If I could, I would spend every free minutes with them.  A great friend said to me once that horses are part of the highest highs and lowest lows in our life, and I think that she is right.  


BJ has been here 11 years now and so, earns the top spot in the list of equines in my life.  He is probably a draft cross and about 30+ years old, and as such is pretty level headed.  Because of his age, his teeth are mostly gone, but does great on grass in the summer, and Progressive Senior feed has been his savior the rest of the time. However, he is a great horse for kids to ride.  He would be even better if he wasn't 16 hands tall.  But - his disposition makes up for it.  Since Blue Eyed Sue has come, he has a little more spunk.  He has to to avoid being bitten!  The movement helps him keep going, I tell myself.  That, and the joint supplement!  He is a real sweetheart. 



Eternal Visions (Visi) is an Arabian gelding who has been here for 4 years.  He is my levels horse in my natural horsemanship journey, and is a fun and challenging horse for me.  He is a Left Brained Extrovert, with Introverted tendencies in a learning environment.  I purchased him from a friend who said he was perfect for me - and he has been.  He has made me progress as my other horses would not.  He made me become imaginative, and showed me how to really have fun.  He has taught me to lose that fear I have felt since I got my first horse at 28 years old.  My confidence has grown beyond what I thought possible.  Others always say how beautiful he is - I only see him as that gooney guy I play with.  I really hope to become a Level 4 graduate with him in the Parelli program.  We are currently studying Level 3.

I am trying something new here - a blog of our progress.  We will see how this works!!  Click here to see what has been going on.




Blue Eyed Sue (Sue) is a 7 year old Paint mare who came to our farm in 2010.  She was used as a child's lesson horse for handicapped children as a 4 year old.  She is an extrovert, but with a medium to low spirit. She is pretty funny, but I can see we have a bit to work on.  She respects my space but has none at all for Mark.  He doesn't understand that respect isn't transferable - I need to bring him out to play with her some so she develops that respect for her. 

I have had horses for 11 years now and I have to say that there have been multiple times when I was ready to get rid of them because they were more work than I thought they ever would be.  You can't just get on and ride into the sunset???  That was my idea of horse ownership.  I soon learned that this is definitely a dream.  It is achievable, but there is a lot of work that needs to go into the "pre" ride side of that vision.  Luckily, I found Parelli Natural Horsemanship in a fit of desperation back in 2002.  My start on this journey was very bumpy, and it almost became derailed a number of times.  Thank goodness for the wonderful instructors the Parelli program has out there, and the willingness of the students to form wonderful support network.

I had tried a number of other natural horse training programs, but none was easy for me to really understand.  For some reason this one just clicked with me.  They all attempt to get people to the same place, but have different routes to get there.  That is the good thing about horses today - lots of good choices out there that put the horse first and the relationship between horse and rider first. 

Links:
 

Parelli Natural Horsemanship