Mustang Savvy's blog

So today didn't go nearly as well as I would have liked, but there were a few bright spots.

Well, after having the pleasure of attending a 2 day workshop with 3* PP's  Maurice Thibault and Susan Nelson at the end of June, I feel re-energized and a new sense of purpose in my desire to succeed with my girls. Some of the simplest techniques I learned have made the biggest breakthroughs for both horses, but especially Kiowa! She had gotten very dull and lazy in her responses to my requests, but with these new strategies, she has made a huge improvement!

It has been well over a month since my last blog. Kiowa and I have a stonger bond than ever, encouraged by LOTS of undemanding time after she got kicked. She is on (essentially) stall rest for another week, then slowly easing back into a normal routine.

Lily wore a big, heavy western saddle for the first time on Sunday! She did amazing. She never once offered to buck, rear or do anything silly! Proof that Parelli really does set horses up for success! Lily took the cinch great, and then I flapped the stirrups on her sides to see how she felt about it. She never got scared, but she did initially think she was supposed to go sideways! Ijust kept doing it until she stopped and relaxed so she knew it was no big deal. I took video of her while she was doing the circling game and posted it here:

An update from my last blog....no news yet on Kiowa's biopsy. Hopefully we will have some answers Monday.

Kiowa is my best friend, my equine soul mate...the one thing I love as much as my husband. In fact, he needed her approval before I would date him seriously!

Lily, on the other hand, is my super horse.

I think for me, personally, being committed to the change in yourself is far more important than expecting change in the horses. I have met a few former Parelli students...the majority of whom were very rude and condesending. I realise now that it is because they realised they needed to change themselves and were unwilling to take responsibiliy for their end of the relationship. It's easy to wave an orange stick, and use the techniques to teach a few tricks to impress those around you.

was an amazing movie! I saw a lot of my horse's attitudes in "Toothless", the main dragon in the story. If you get a chance, I would highly reccomend everyone sees this movie! It is directed at the younger crowd, but it has something for everyone.

Thanks to Yoga4ann's blog yesterday (read them if you have time....she's a very talented writer and I look forward to hearing about Africa everytime I log on!), I was inspired to get out and ride Kiowa. I have been very inconsistent with riding her, but she knows her stuff! After doing some research, I realized that Kiowa and I were capable of doing the Level 2 Freestyle requirements bridleless with the exception of the sideways game! WOW! I hadn't even thought about testing for my riding levels because I thought we needed so much more work.

Sunday we had some of the new Horses for the Spirit volunteers over who wanted to get in some extra practice with the 7 games and the horses. They are a fantastic couple of ladies, and I can really see how much Kiowa likes Sophie even though she doesn't totally respect her leadership yet! We went out and stood with the girls and Lily came over to visit while we were talking. She has become so much more respectful of my space and is very polite with me when she wants to ask for attention.

Today we had a volunteer training for Horses for the Spirit, a non-profit that uses the 7 games (with Pat and Linda's blessing!) to teach life skills to at-risk youth in the Northern Nevada area. Kiowa and I have been volunteering for about 4 years or so, and it is great to see her teaching these lessons! She is very good at it! I brought Lily along to play and and get her used to being around other horses and in a more stressful enviroment. Lily got a little right-brain when we first got there and had to run A LOT to finally settle back down.

Saturday, I decided to take Lily out without Kiowa for some one-on-one play in the open BLM land across the street. Mom brought the new mini along so he could explore and they could bond. Lily was a little excited when we first left, especially when our neighbor showed up ground driving her gorgeous mule, Lucky! Lily and Lucky were very interested in eachother, so it was good practice for both my neighbor and I to manage both equines behavior effectively. Lily did great.

Mom and I decided to take the horses on a walk Sunday to get them out of the bog that the corral has become. Mom took her horse Kota and the new mini, now named "Ponytah" (my 8 year old nephew's idea!) while I had Kiowa and Lily. They all did great as we walked around the neighborhood meeting neighbors whom will hopefully soon be friends. As we were nearing the the homestretch, we were walking on a wide easement seperated from the paved street by a very deep ditch.