Maverick and I had a fantastic time together on Sunday morning. It was ridiculously hot, we were both drenched in sweat after just brushing him off in the barn. Without a breath of wind to cool us off, he performed like a real partner; he was fabulous. Online, he jumped the barrels from 30 ft., backed between barrels then sideways over one from about 25 ft. Beautiful cantering circles to almost the end of the 45 ft. line. I had not tried these things from the greater distances until that morning, and he did it all in that crushing heat! Then we rode and he did lovely upward and downward transitions, picking up the correct lead at the canter right and left, no problem. He even did a simple change from right to left along the rail. We finished when he did a great stop on his hind from the canter. Less is definitely more with Maverick. Drilling things is totally NOT necessary.

 

Walker and I had a great weekend playing with our Level 4 audition where we have never done it before, at the Carpenter Ranch in Hallettsville, Tx. Walker has come such a long way, to be able to do all these things in a new place. To think we lost any entire week to "New Tank Syndrome" at Fast Track in Florida just 8 months ago. Thanks, Wendy, for being our videographer, cheerleader and the best friend anyone could ask for. Your support of my dreams has meant so much.

Funny how a habit to write can become a habit not to write, but that is what happened to me over the last year. It's been filled by so many moments and events that I felt a bit paralyzed by the thought of trying to get it all down in black and white.

Tonight, I felt compelled to write once again about one thought: how do I meet a man made deadline and still keep to my natural horsemanship principles? This is a question I have been asking myself for the last several months. First, I doubted I could get my Level 4 online completed by September of this year because of the injury to my two hamstrings and another to my right knee. The hamstrings seemed to take forever to heal, but luckily, my knee bounced back pretty quickly. Neither outcomes were entirely under my control.

Then, it did not seem that I had enough arrows in my quiver to get it done, but Christi Rains has generously shared a lot of her knowledge with me, helping us make huge strides in a very short period of time. The old saying that the master appears when the students are ready was never truer than for Christi, Walker and me.

Now, Walker and I are struggling with a couple of elements, and we may still not make the deadline. I know we will get there eventually, small pieces are falling into place, but with Walker's strong LBE traits, getting it done on any given day in 10 consecutive minutes with the camera rolling is a huge challenge. If Level 3 was the moon, Level 4 is like a trip to Mars. I suppose that is why the list of Level 4 graduates in the Savvy times is a short one!

Nonetheless, I will not sacrifice my principles for the goal. My timeline is still my horses timeline. Ultimately, I have to trust and keep faith. Our relationship is so powerful now, I choose to trust it to take us so much further than I ever first dreamed possible. 

Parelli's 13 things we should all be able to do with Excellence

Catching game
Haltering
Pick up feet
Saddling
Bridling
Mounting
Neutral lateral flexion
Direct rein
Indirect rein
Supporting rein
9 step back up
Soft feel at halt
Trailer loading

This was a great list to be thinking about when I was going through the Fast Track course, but especially now that I am becoming a Parelli Professional. It gives me a blue print of what I should be asking my students to think about in their Parelli journey. So if we are supposed to be teaching to the task, what are the elements in making this list happen? My journey as a Parelli professional is just starting, but it is interesting how my new perspective is putting a fresh face on my own horsemanship journey. 

For those of you who have been following my posts, I have to apologize for not updating you more often. So many things have been going on in my life that I have had a hard time figuring out how to get it all to fit together and get done. But I have committed myself to being more consistent with my posting.

Walker, Mav and I are doing really well. I have had a very interesting 4 months with Walker. Some real highs and lows at our Fast Track course, which made it both exciting and very challenging at times, mostly mentally and emotionally. More on that over time...