Saddle!

My Wintec 2000 saddle arrived today! Can't wait to try it out tomorrow!!
Please also check out the blog below! There isn't much right now, but hopefully there will be!
http://caspersavvyjourney.blogspot.com/

Long time no write

Hello dear Savvy friends.

I apologize for not writing for at least a whole month now. But lately I have been extremely busy. We have state tests and big field trips happening in April so there has been a lot of extra schoolwork. Plus I was sick for all of last week, and the make up work has been overwhelming. Yet I have found time to play with Sharlie. We have been playing with cantering on the 22 foot line, Spanish Walk, traveling circles, jumping and collecting on the ground. Riding has been more of I am on Sharlie's back and I let her graze while I lay back and doze. The reason why I haven't tried to ride more and do patterns and such is because I sent an email to Parelli asking for help and advice. I told them about our problems, etc... I got a reply a few days ago saying to just take it easy and don't try anything new. Wait until I go to camp where I can get the professional help I may need, and the help that Sharlie needs. So I have been focusing on the ground mostly. The last few visits have been focused on grooming Sharlie because she, like all of the horses at the stables, is shedding her winter coat. It is comical how I can give her a small stroke on her neck and what I receive in return is a hand full of hair!

I am also helping the owners of the barn by slowly ''playing'' with one of their ponies. Now I am not really playing with him. I am just showing him that being caught does not mean just going to go work. It means that he will be able to eat the grass outside of his field (Because he believes the grass is greener on the other side of course!) , that he will be groomed and massaged, helping him to relax and lose his winter coat. And that he can sniff and play with new things and not be punished for it. He can sniff my saddle pad and he can carry it around and then stamp on it for all I care. He should not be punished for being curious and smart. Because Casper is VERY smart. He is smarter than Sharlie, than any other horse I have ever met. And because he is so smart, it is a challenge to get him to trust me. I have to unpredictable every time I go to try and catch him, and if he doesn't want to be caught that day because either he doesn't want to or he can't emotionally, I have to swallow my disappointment and surprise him by saying "Ok, I understand. I wouldn't want to be pulled straight out of the shower and go straight to work." But I feel that we are making progress. He isn't spooking at everything. He can go up and meet horses that he hasn't met yet and not be scared of them. He is healing. But if you could comment and vote whether I should make him his own blog, or just incorporate him into this blog. Thank you.

So all seems to be well at the moment. I am on spring break now and I hope to help by grooming the fluffy horses that have still fur to lose. My birthday is only a few days away and I am looking forward to it. All is well at the moment.

May the horse be with you

~Julia

Liberty, Trailer and Camp! (Part 2)

PART 2

Hello Savvy Friends!

Let us start off where we left off. So Friday is done. Saturday I went to visit my 2 friends that have horses. They are interested in Parelli, and I hope to help them with their journey. Then on Sunday Mom and I went down to the stable to go on a trail ride. But first some liberty in the round pen. A bucket and a step stool come in handy to use for change of directions. We are going to be playing on making those change of directions into figure 8's soon! :)

Then after a quick exercise in the round pen, we went out for the trail ride. I was riding bareback. Sharlie was doing great! I can't wait till I get a saddle though so we can start trotting more.

After the trail ride we went to feed Sharlie in the trailer. I let her in at liberty, so she would be safer inside. She ate quite nicely. But then she spooked at something and ran out. But she stayed near the trailer and I caught her easily again. Then on Monday, I managed to wing the door so far that now only about a foot and a half is left before it closes.

So that's it for now

Liberty, Trailer and Camp! (Part 1)

Hello my savvy friends! These last 3 or 4 days have been warm, beautiful and excellent! So let me tell you a little bit about them... :)
Well, I can start with Liberty. If you have been following me for a while, you would know that we have struggled with liberty outside of the round pen. Well on Friday, I discovered something amazing. Either I had underestimated my relationship with Sharlie and hadn't given Sharlie and the relationship to step into the light, or our relationship has grown quickly and quietly, but strongly. Shall I tell you what makes me think this? Well as I was pulling Sharlie out of the field, I swung the rope around her neck, tied it, then turned to lock the gate. Then I started walking over to Mom to ask her something. Sharlie was grazing when I closed the gate, and I didn't think she would go anywhere. Then something amazing happened! When I was half-way between Sharlie and Mom, Sharlie lifted up her head, looked and me, snorted and came walking with me! I experimented with this interesting event. We walked around a little...Sharlie sniffed a trailer but seemed disappointed it was closed. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then Sharlie promptly went off to eat some grass while I gathered my Carrot Stick. When I returned, she did NOT want to stop eating. I was put out that this cool discovery was over. In fact, I was determined not to let it be the end. I quickly took her off the grass and started to walk. She seemed to understand the grass was not going to happen. Then she spotted something that did not occur to me. Since I was already walking into the barn, she followed. I noticed she was more enthusiastic this time. I thought I was doing good! LOL no.... Then she trotted and hopped into an open stall that had hay AND food all ready inside! I tried to get her out but she was giving me the no-way-in-heck-am-I-getting-out-of-here!!!!! Look. So I had to coax her out. Silly girl. She seemed dissapointed but relaxed into a steady canter nicely once we were away from the barn. We had a good play session with a great trailer dinner. End of Part 1!


END OF PART 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warm(er) weather FINALLY!!

Last weekend was a record warm for this winter, reaching almost 55 degrees!!! I was sweating I was so hot (being covered in 4 layers). And last weekend Sharlie and I had our first good trail ride since the beginning of fall. So the weekend went quite well. Then all during the week Sharlie had lots of spunky energy. We did a lot of Friendly Game, some cantering and a little squeeze. We have cut back on the trailer for the last week. Then this weekend (last weekend of February), I realized camp is only 3 months away!! Sharlie is now regularly getting into the trailer and eating her dinner in there. Now I need to start working with the door. Of course it is a 2-person job. I need someone to hold the rope through the other door while I am swinging the main door. So then the rope won't get caught somewhere, and if Sharlie tries to get out, but is stuck because of the rope. That will take our hard work back to zero. I am also finding out more info about camp, trailers and trucks. Thank goodness I am lucky enough to have a few options already available.

This nice warm weather really helps with Sharlie's attitude. She is more positive and in a learning frame of mind much quicker! Its drying up nicely all around the farm. Now, if it doesn't rain, I will be happy!

I am almost ready to buy a new saddle, I just need to post my black pony saddle on craigslist first.

This weekend, I had the chance to work on a Science project on Innate and Learned behavior, and I used horses, Horsenality and Parelli as my base. I am really hoping I get a good grade on it.

So let us all cross our fingers and hope the warm weather continues!

Naturally, Julia

Note to Self:

~ Find out about trailer

~ Ask about borrowing/renting truck

~Work with Sharlie

~Find more info about camp

~Get saddle

~Sharlie needs to be fit! :)

Making Progress...everywhere

Hello all Savvy Friends!
These last few Fridays seem to keep turning white....I think I have had enough snow until the end of 2010. I am starting to believe that I will have to live with mud on the farm for the rest of my 4 years here!
But otherwise, I have made great progress with Sharlie, and my hobbies, passions and pass-times. First of all, Sharlie now is quite eager to load in the trailer, and now have the door propped at a 90 degree angle to the entrance, which is a real improvement, since when we started at 180 degree angle. She rushes in to eat her food as quickly as I let her go in. (That is the opposite of what she used to do!) She also has developed a habit of turning around, pausing, then coming out. I don't know what to make of it exactly, because before, she backed out as quickly as she could. Maybe she isn't afraid to turn her back on the "evil dark metal cage on wheels" as she exits. Which is definitely progress. I am really starting to look forward to being able to close the door on her without her freaking out. And of course going to camp!!
I have taken a step back from riding since my "temper tantrum" a few weeks ago. I am mainly waiting to buy a new saddle before starting to riding again, but if I do a little bit of bareback at the walk...without Sharlie swerving too much...I suppose it works. But I am still mainly waiting to buy a new Wintec Saddle. But for that I need to know her size...etc...etc...etc...
I still need to post my black pony saddle on Craigslist and once I get a new saddle, I need to sell my brown one too.
Now, thanks to my friend Jessi, (who is mentioned in earlier posts) I have started a photography blog. The link is http://naturallycreativephotography.blogspot.com
There are already some photos posted, and I am hoping that with the return of spring, I can capture more. If it snows again, I want to try and photograph our Christmas tree. It looked splendid yesterday, covered in a blanket of soft snow. And of course I want to photograph horses, but they are much harder to capture on film. I learned that when Sharlie was prancing like a princess and the minute the camera flashed, she sneezed on the lenses. The result...snot all over the camera! Anyway, I also made another blog to teach people about the horse's point of view. How they are PREY animals and we are PREDATORS! Some people just don't get it. *sigh*
Grades are improving for camp. **Note to self- Ask Ms. Madison what grade in math is, and ask Ms. Freeman what grade in science is!**
Also improving- I can't wait to meet Kara tomorrow. It seems like the weather is plotting against us! I will post as soon as possible about tomorrow. I really can't wait to meet her, and I got her a birthday present. But I can't tell you what it is because Kara may see it! ;)

Well that's all for now, but I will report back soon!
Keep it natural!
Julia

New Blog!

Hey Everyone!
Just as promised (just a little later than expected) I have made a photography blog.

BUT WATCH OUT! :)
It says it is Naturally Creative Equine Photography, but it will not just be about horses. Just most of them will be.

http://naturallycreativephotography.blogspot.com/

1:46 -> The minute and 46 seconds that made feel like I can fly!

Wow...Today (which was actually yesterday, on Saturday) was definitely a day to be remembered! This morning we went down to go feed Sharlie her medicine in her food, and at the same time, work with the trailer. And I sure got a surprise! Sharlie got all the way into the trailer...and stayed in! As you can see in the video below, it took exactly 1 minute for her to get in, and almost twice that time she stayed in! It is a big step and i am very happy I caught it on video!

The Ultimate Squeeze Game :)

The Squeeze Game is the 7th Game of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship. Since horses are born natural claustrophobics by various degrees, The Squeeze Game is very important.

Sharlie has a problem with the Squeeze game partly because of her blind eye, and also because she is afraid of the trailer. (No longer the stall) Though it is a bit of a puzzle. Is she scared of tight spaces because of something bad that happened in the trailer? Or is she scared of the trailer because she is afraid and/or uncomfortable with tight spaces and areas? Lots of questions and several solutions that I must ALL try.

These last 2 weeks have been amazing yet tiring. I have been juggling helping out at the stable and doing chores and school. It's awesome to experience what it is like to have to be organized and plan out the day so you have time for everything. That is one part of the squeeze game at the moment. (My little squeeze game)

As I have been helping out at the stable, I had little time to work with Sharlie. Of course I spent time with her grooming and such. Bonding time, but little exercise. After all, I have had to split my 1 hour time limit for a couple of horses, with certain time periods and limits for each one. One horse I am playing with is, of course, Sharlie.

So I made a "Trailer Simulation" to practice with Sharlie until the Whites turn around the trailer. It was quite wide at first. About a yard and a half. Then once Sharlie got comfortable, I made it smaller. Now its just big enough for her to stand there comfortably. Well...physically at least. Mentally she is still hesitant, unsure. Of course food always helps! :) Also there are 2 poles that lay on the ground, just wide enough apart for Sharlie to walk through. But just! At first Sharlie was decided. "No Julia, I am NOT going through that insanely small space. No matter how many treats I get I wont dooo....wait you have 2 whole pockets full of treats? And you will give me 3 AND you will put me in the stall? And there will be food in there?! Ok...I guess I can go through..." And today I managed to get her to stand and eat her food in the spot! I was so proud! So a treat required grazing and a nice scratch. Then some more squeezes. Barrels, poles and all. And she almost jumped a small jump the size of a horizontal barrel. I will work and help her a little bit more on that, but all is going all quite well! Freestyle is coming along slowly but well. Online, good. Starting Finesse. Sharlie did an amazing sideways and half-pass. :)

On the right is hopefully what Sharlie will do very soon! (Plus that trailer is very similar to the one I work with)

Naturally,

Julia

It came! :D

It finally came! My red string, certificate and pin! It is so odd...I haven't thought about it since I sent them an email asking if everything was ok (since it was a week late). I was told it will be here around the end of January!
It's all shiny and pretty! The pin is so cute, I didn't know it came with one. The certificate too is all shiny! I'm so happy! I will post photos soon!