My Letter to Linda

Hey Linda,
I really doubt you will remember me but I thought I should let you know in some way. Back in January 2008 (was it that long ago already?) I came up to talk to you at the Franklin Celebration in TN. I had just bought my very first horse ever and only had her for a week. Charlotte's Firefly after my friend who lived in Australia. I still have the photo of Sharlie that you signed.
Well a few weeks after the Celebration Sharlie got really sick. Her left eye was swollen, runny and pussy. She could barely open it. The horse that I had assessed as a LBE during the Celebration was gone and replaced with a RBE. The vet came out and said that Sharlie was blind in her left eye due to moonblindness. 
To summarize, from February to May of 2008 my mom and I focused all our attention on Sharlie's physical and medical care. I stopped riding because I was terrified of riding Sharlie and I would always need my mom to help me lead Sharlie. I basically got stuck in the same cycle you did with Regalo in a way. I excersiced her in the round pen, running running trying to wear her out when she only grew stronger physically.
In May, some how I realized that I was NOT doing Parelli. I was not doing what Parelli was all about.
That is the day everything changed. Sure, Sharlie and I still have bad moments but we get less and less every time we play together. Over the summer Sharlie and I went to a Parelli friend's house for 2 weeks to focus on our natural horsemanship. Then I spent a week interning with Emily Larramore who will be coming to Ocala in November for her Fast Track.
The results of this summer have truly come through. On Saturday I went down to go play with Sharlie on the 45 foot line for what was the 2nd time. Here is an example of how it went.
"I wonder if she would pick up a canter 30 feet away because I raise my energy?" Sharlie picked up a canter.
"I wonder if she will change direction if I take only two steps back?" Sharlie changed direction.
We did some amazing things that afternoon. Even though we still can't canter in the saddle (due to confidence issues) and we may be facing the gigantic problem of Sharlie never wanting to load in a trailer again, we still have those beautiful moments.
And I just wanted to say thank you.
:)
Happy Birthday Linda.
~Julia, Sharlie and Casper.

I wrote this on Linda's Parelli Connect page yesterday evening. I didn't even realize it was her birthday till I was about to post it and saw everyone's birthday messages. :P

Maybe we will get a reply, maybe we won't. I don't really care. But it was something that was on my mind for a while now.