Wendy and Bingo's Parelli Intervention

Here is a blog I started about 9 months ago, but never finished, so now I will have posted two blogs in one night! I hope it inspires others not to give up on being the best horseman they can be.

It's been an amazing journey thus far helping Wendy and Bingo towards their Level 3 Freestyle, through our 21 Days to Shedding Predatory Habits. We've also come to call it their Parelli Immersion. Now that they have their Level 3 online (a fabulous accomplishment) I knew from the start that the key would be getting Bingo to partner up under saddle, something Wendy has had trouble getting since starting her "Bingo Journey". To really appreciate how far they have come, here is a look back.

When Wendy decided to get a horse, she wanted a good trail horse. When she started looking around, she found out about a horse that had very good breeding, had had about 30 days of training, then been abandoned in a field for 11 years, neglected and living with cows. When she saw him, 200 lbs underweight and miserable looking, her heart went out to him and she didn't even hesitate. She bought him immediately. She knew he needed rescuing. It was unlikely anyone else would save this horse from oblivion. Her relationship with Bingo had begun.

Wendy and I live in the same area, and at the time, both of us kept our horses at a barn facility near our homes. Before the barn, we had not met one another. I'm not quite sure what Wendy thought of me before we started talking to one another, but since I was the lone PNH student at this particular place, no doubt she probably thought I was a bit strange as many there did: carrot stick and savvy string instead of a "whip", a rope halter instead of the usual web halter, playing with my horse on the ground with yacht ropes, or better yet, with no ropes or halter, riding around without anything on Walker's head, well, you get the picture. I was not of the "normal" horse world.

I now know that Wendy is an innately curious person with a keen mind and an open heart. She is also not prone to quick judgment or ridicule unless seriously provoked, so what she saw me doing may have peeked her curiosity just a bit...

I do remember what I was thinking when I would see Wendy ride or try to lunge her horse. Bingo had huge energy, and it was mostly out of control. The lessons she was getting were not helping her at all. I felt sad and frustrated that she was not getting the help she needed. I also did not want to butt in. After all, outside of exchanging a few pleasantries, I didn't know her at all.

One sunny weekend day, I was walking back to my car after spending a couple of lovely hours with Walker. As I turned towards the parking lot, I saw Wendy again attempting to lunge Bingo in an outdoor arena at the entrance to the barn. It wasn't going well. 

She was trying to get him out on the circle, and he was trying to run on top of her. I was very concerned watching and knowing how dangerous this could be. I knew I could help her, but again, I did not want to butt in. However, my concern outweighed my reticence, so I hung out by the arena fence mentally willing Wendy to ask me for help.

And, amazingly, she did! She turned to me, and said something like, "Can you help me with this?" Wendy now refers to that day as her Parelli Intervention. Once she saw what a few simple techniques could accomplish, she was all in. Of course, neither of us saw how far that moment would take us.

Now, that lonely, neglected horse is blossoming under Wendy's care and guidance. And with our 21 day Parelli Immersion, finishing Level 3 is a goal within site. 

And without that encounter with Wendy, I'm not sure I would ever have become a Parelli Instructor. Her encouragement was always been a great help to me. 

And so, the journey continues...horses and humans together, creating something more than either could be alone.

A Year?!

It's really hard to believe it's been more than a year since my last blog post. I suppose that is bad and good: so busy, it's been hard to find the time to write a blog or it's a shame not to document my thoughts and feelings of the journey this last year. 

One thing is for sure, nothing ever stays the same. There have been moments of real triumph as when Walker and I got our finesse flying lead changes passed. Then getting the devastating news that he suffered a medial suspensory ligament injury in his right hind leg, leaving us up to this point, still not ready to finish our finesse audition. However, as this journey has shown me over and over, the bad comes with the good, you just have to learn to roll with it and make the most of it that you can.

The good news is his injury did not end his riding career, and Walker is almost fully rehabilitated now. But we've lost 6 months of not being able to trot or canter for most of that time. For an LBE like Walker, getting him back to that frame of mind when he was doing lovely cantering circles willingly and learning to do his flying lead changes without opposition is hard fought ground to have to recover. Not hard fought in the way many people would think, but in the Parelli program,  using psychology, communication and understanding on Walker's time line, a standard I meet 95% of the time now. 

To that end, I decided he had to learn to be ridden out in the park where we could do long lines of trotting and cantering, the best for rehabilitating his injury. It's been a bit crazy getting him to feel more confident out there and staying relaxed enough to listen for that which I am asking him to do. In addition, we've had an enormous amount of rain this summer, so being able to ride in the park on the gravel paths has been a needed godsend. 

And this past Friday, after about an hour of play on the ground and in the saddle, he did the most beautiful circles on a loose rein around one of the trees in the park, EVER. It's funny, he really seems to know when he's earned his release, because as soon as I asked him down to the walk, I could feel his confidence and "spark" rise. He gave me a huge and calm walk back to the barn. 

So, it won't be long before we get those finesse circles and lateral moves filmed, despite how challenging Walker is. He has been and continues to be one of my best instructors...