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.